[ACW] Feedback & Discussion Thread

[Oforrsteel]

Would you be able to release this trench re-skin as a separate mini mod by any chance? I would like to utilize them for other purposes. I never understood the strangle looking trenches/ barricades (idk) in etw and these are beautiful.

[Railin12]

This is a source of long turn times, The union will place a single stack or sometimes a single unit and it will temporarily confuse the computer and will make the game to stop responding for about a minutes.. Just wanted yall to know!

[The_Doctor [EV]]

Hello folks. I'm new here, and I've encountered an odd bug I need to report. My apologies if this has a reported fix, but there's a LOT to go through in this thread...

Basically, during any battle with a stretch of straight road (generated on the campaign map, I haven't had any issue with the pre-made historical battlefields), the game generates these odd wooden log barriers smack dab in the middle of the road. A few meters long for each section. They appear to be destructible, and they're passable at SOME of the connecting joints, but only in single file line. These weird barriers are making maneuvers in battle inconvenient in some cases, and nearly impossible in others.

I'm currently running 3.4.1, having made no attempt to up to 3.5 as of yet. I'll upgrade if it'll fix it.

Has this been encountered before? I hope there's an easy fix.

[Trig]

No fix. The logs are there. You can use them for fire cover. You can force the enemy to come at you over the logs, therefore breaking their formation...

[Primergy]

Lol, the logs are an leftover of some experiments regarding building placing in campaign battle maps... Didn't knew they were still there

[Steveholmes]

I thought the logs were to represent railways.. lol Or something.

[Rifter]

If you guys are looking for something new to do that won't destroy the game, I think it would be awesome if you used more of Randy Edelman's Gettysburg music, especially to replace the in-battle vanilla junk. Granted, that music is all pretty high-powered and every battle will not be, but let's be honest; that's the best soundtrack ever written, so personally I'd be fine just sitting and listening to it.

[Heisen]

I really like this musket sounds used in ACW, could somebody may extract it (together with the other sounds in the mod) and transform it into a single sound mod file ?

[Kagestorn]

I have a BIG question to Ask. I really Like Playing with 40 units - Actually gives me Historical battle feeling. But with 3.6 out I have this huge problem - because I literrally have no Idea how to have 40 unit stacks in new version.

In 3.5 I used http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...s-Campaign-Mod - and it worked pretty well, but it's outdated now.

The problem is - the ueid.templates file that is changing your interface to fit 40 units is still working - I tried it out.
But The problem Lies in the Saves.

The 3.5 and 3.6 saves are of course incompattible, and [NC]Master Hasn't updated it yet.
It makes me really saaaad Panda...

BUT. I didn't lost my hope - so I searched around for any possible solutions and I found this on the Progress Thread (It's a discuss about bugs that go with 40 units):

I myself am playing with 40 units and i can confirm that i had no crashes on 3.6 yet. I used to have crashes too in previous version but this also might had to do with my old rig. Required is a 64bit machine to play with more than 20 units and at least 4gb of ram. Out of my experience anyway

So Practically - [NC]Master has the 40 units working on 3.6

I felt bad about contacting him directly - So I ask Here.

Is there a way For me to have it working as well - If there are any working 40 units saves in free access? Becaus I really need it...

[tikijoetots37]

It's Real easy to make the saves your self:
1.Download: ESFEditor for empire/napoleon. (Just google it.)
2.Start a new save game.
3. Open up the save game using the esfEditor. It should be located in User/appdata/roaming/creativeassambly.
4. Under the tab campaign_ENV, click and highlight campaign_model.
5. There you will find the number 20/20 The first one is the amount of land units and the second one is naval. Change these to you desired setting.
6. Save and launch the game.
The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
You can do this from empire up to Attila.

[tikijoetots37]

The next thing you need to do is a little time consuming. The game will be unbalanced until you Half the cost of every single unit. When I have more Time I might post the files in the sub-mod forum that has this already done.
For that process you need pack file manager and have to track down all the pack files to find where the units are located. Then you have to go through many many units and cut there recruitment and up keep cost by half.
Then you need to change the recruitment cap for each individual unit and double it. The whole process takes a few hours.
I've been playing with 40 units and its pretty unstable. After about 20 turns battles start crashing at about 50/50 rate due to the armies being too big. I've played Dartmouth for empire through hundreds of turns with 40 units with
no problem what so ever. I think that the very well detailed unit textures in acw are a little too much for the game to handle. That on top of the amount of artillery pieces firing at any particular time pushes the game to crash. I would reccomend playing with 30 units
instead of 40. I have an amazing build:
I7-5960x
sli -980gtx
16GB Ram
The game runs at well over 60 fps with 40 units. Even with that it still crashes. Vanilla Empire uses the same unit textures for almost every faction and just changes the color. I think the problem with ACW is that each unit has its own textures which looks beautiful but
Empire can't handle 40 unit armies squaring off. I think the allocated memory the game uses is pretty low no matter if your using 64bit or not. The game tops out 4GB of Ram if i'm not mistaken and putting so many units goes over that which leads to it crashing. (Just my theory)
It would be awesome if we could use generic units for both sides to reduce the amount of crashes but most people are not going to play with 40 unit armies. It wouldn't make sense to expect the team to forgo their beautiful units to appease the few who do wan't to play with 40. I'll
stop rambling now, lol.

[Brooklyn]

It's been a long time since I've played this mod, so I was just wondering if the 1st New York Zouaves or the 14th Brooklyn were ever added as units to the mod? That was something I really liked about this mod was the different historical Regiments.

[Aussie-tosser]

No fix. The logs are there. You can use them for fire cover. You can force the enemy to come at you over the logs, therefore breaking their formation...

TBH I actually really like the log barriers, they add some variation to the battlefield.

[Railin12]

Props to tikijoetots37, I can confirm that this method works, tried it, I honestly think 30 units would be better, if you have to many units its becomes like shooting fish in a barrel and if you play on VH/VH the AI will steamroll you, and every inch of land gained will come at great cost. If that is what you want, then you might takes Rifters idea and use Randy Edelman's Gettysburg music as ever battle will be intense..

[Kagestorn]

The next thing you need to do is a little time consuming. The game will be unbalanced until you Half the cost of every single unit. When I have more Time I might post the files in the sub-mod forum that has this already done.
For that process you need pack file manager and have to track down all the pack files to find where the units are located. Then you have to go through many many units and cut there recruitment and up keep cost by half.
Then you need to change the recruitment cap for each individual unit and double it. The whole process takes a few hours.
I've been playing with 40 units and its pretty unstable. After about 20 turns battles start crashing at about 50/50 rate due to the armies being too big. I've played Dartmouth for empire through hundreds of turns with 40 units with
no problem what so ever. I think that the very well detailed unit textures in acw are a little too much for the game to handle. That on top of the amount of artillery pieces firing at any particular time pushes the game to crash. I would reccomend playing with 30 units
instead of 40. I have an amazing build:
I7-5960x
sli -980gtx
16GB Ram
The game runs at well over 60 fps with 40 units. Even with that it still crashes. Vanilla Empire uses the same unit textures for almost every faction and just changes the color. I think the problem with ACW is that each unit has its own textures which looks beautiful but
Empire can't handle 40 unit armies squaring off. I think the allocated memory the game uses is pretty low no matter if your using 64bit or not. The game tops out 4GB of Ram if i'm not mistaken and putting so many units goes over that which leads to it crashing. (Just my theory)
It would be awesome if we could use generic units for both sides to reduce the amount of crashes but most people are not going to play with 40 unit armies. It wouldn't make sense to expect the team to forgo their beautiful units to appease the few who do wan't to play with 40. I'll
stop rambling now, lol.

Thanks A lot - I'l try - I'm am good with this stuff if I concentrate...

Props to tikijoetots37, I can confirm that this method works, tried it, I honestly think 30 units would be better, if you have to many units its becomes like shooting fish in a barrel and if you play on VH/VH the AI will steamroll you, and every inch of land gained will come at great cost. If that is what you want, then you might takes Rifters idea and use Randy Edelman's Gettysburg music as ever battle will be intense..

Lol I know - Bu I love Massive challenging battles - and with modifeied numbers (560 per a line unit) - It's sometimes really massive (No thin 2ranks Lines) but at least is closer to really historical battles (Especially With Reinforcing Armies).

But It's working for me because my computer is good - my RAM is bad though - I would rather havelike 1000 people per unit - would make it Looooong 50\70 000 battles.

And Yes I prefer dealing with bugs and crashes occasionally to have Grand Battles - I just love them.

But It's totally my choice - Thanks you a lot Guys!

[Trig]

That sounds massive.

Just a word of warning tho... The stats and regiment sizes were designed for playing on medium size, with each line unit being between 150 and 200 men. If you play on larger settings the units may not behave as we had planned them to. That might not really be a problem for you, just pointing it out.

[Kagestorn]

Yeah I know - It's just that when I'm operating... 5000 men armies on Global Map... I feel not like a Leader of a country - I feel like It's a joke.

Besides - With 560 line units I never really felt any big difference yet... I really mean it. Moreover - When I fight Big battles - I tend to use reserves more - Units stay fighting on longer and I don't lose control over the battle - Sometimes it turns in to a dozen of local messy struggles.

That's why I love Darthmod so much - It helps avoiding this stuff.

I Liked default unit aizes buuuuut... Largest Armies Feel much more... Authentic...

Total Imho though.

[Railin12]

That sounds massive.

Just a word of warning tho... The stats and regiment sizes were designed for playing on medium size, with each line unit being between 150 and 200 men. If you play on larger settings the units may not behave as we had planned them to. That might not really be a problem for you, just pointing it out.

Wait So were not suppose to play with Large unit sizes?

[Trig]

Wait So were not suppose to play with Large unit sizes?

You can do what you like. I just pointed out it was mainly designed for medium size.

[The Dee]

Hey Trig and Pappagoat,

As advised by Trig I have posted my gameplay feed-back here.

The Campaign.
Playing as the CSA I am enjoying it a lot.
After declaring war the Union blockaded my ports. (as they would do historically)
Then the Union landed a force in the Carolina's (again, with a 'historical' feel!)
Then of course large armies started to form and I had my first significant battle in Northern Virginia.(Bull Run !?!)
A lot of neutrals wouldn't make any significant treaties with me apart from some trade here and there which gave my CSA that 'unrecognized by foreign powers' feel to it which was great.
I have edited my game so that my armies are 40 unit armies, the campaign and therefore the battles have an even more epic feel to them.
Organizing my forces into Divisions and Brigades I have a nice immersive feel going. (In battle this feel of Brigade/Division is really nice I must say, especially because the units you guys have modeled/textured are excellent)

With Beauregard out west on the Missouri River, Johnston and Cleburn holding down Mississippi and Kentucky I have Lee (With Longstreet and Jackson of course) giving the Yankies a hard time in Virginia-Maryland.
It's very challenging and difficult of course but a whole lot of fun.

The campaign is well worked by you guys; the replacement of religion with secessionist/union a very nice touch, re-working the resources is a nice touch too.
I like the state-originated volunteers as the Union had a very small regular Army as of 1861 (16,000 strong, most of it out west) and the CSA had none.
Volunteer regiments were the backbone of both armies during the conflict.
As a thought it would have been nice to be able to recruit a few more state militia's (the cap is at 11 atm). Militia's were/are an important part of the semi-militarized way the USA ran/is run and lot of the first volunteer regiments began as militia organizations but as I said, t'is just a thought.
Also, as another thought.. giving the Union a few more regular units to recruit would reflect the 'old regular army' a little more as well.

The monthly turns is excellent and feels about right. You can plan for the seasons (well, you have to!) and units that suffer less in extreme climates can contribute well in battle!

Tech note: I've only had one campaign crash so far (I'm into spring 1862, about 18 + turns-ish), which is similar to how Rome 2 TW is regarding campaign crashes.
I am using the v3.6 startpos.

The Battles.
The battles feel very different from the vanilla ETW battles.
With the sounds of the guns and muskets, the marching music of the battalions and well as the look of the units the whole experience is nicely immersive.
Smoke lingering on the field, mist hanging around the trees and the Napoleons banging away in-between the crackle of musketry it gets me involved in the battles deeper that ever before.
A nice touch is nearly all units being able to hide in long grass, shrubs, trees etc. It requires you to actively scout the field with your cavalry (which is one of their main jobs) because you cannot see the opposing army until you are closer to them.
I know you guys intend to bring in an LOS system (Like Rome 2 TW) and I think that would be great, but as it is now it still works well.
I'm sure an LOS system would add even more to the battles though.

An observation about artillery: The siege mortars are (sorry to say) WAY too accurate. A Union mortar battery 'one-shotted' (kinda) one of my battalions even though not one of their units had any LOS to it. It was 2 shots actually, one hit the unit, the second hit it and they just ran all the way off the field ( a long way).
I noticed this again in other battles , siege mortars being almost as accurate as a modern 105mm gun ! Field howitzers are incredibly accurate as well. Of course this period introduced the use of rifled cannon in increasingly large numbers but I had my fast moving cavalry moving through trees wiped out by two shots from a Union Howitzer battery. Insane accuracy as the battery couldn't really see the cav moving fast through trees.
Apart from that the battles are great. The different quality muskets having differing effective ranges etc is a really nice touch, meaning that you have to use some units differently to maximize their effectiveness and so on.
Cavalry work well. Using them as scouts, screening troops and mounted infantry is the best use for them (Not the classic Napoleonic CHARGE! ) It is more reflective of the cavalry tactics of the conflict.

I like the different units types; skirmishers, line, cav and 'missile' cav. Giving you a nice tactical repetiore to add to the boom of the guns!

Tech note: I get battle cashes no matter what the graphic settings are, unit size etc. They just happen, sometimes I have a few battles consecutively and have none and then one battle and I'd get one, two or three regardless of what settings I use. It is just random.
Nothing I have done reduces battle crashes or makes them more frequent.

All in all I am enjoying ACW v3.6 a lot and look forward to further campaigning.
As it stands I am into the spring of 1862 with Union armies moving across the Missouri and also through Kentucky. We will "show them the bayonet" as Jackson said.


A big thank you to Trig, Pappagoat and the crew for an outstanding mod.

Regards,
D