Scourge of War Boards

All kidding aside. Martin, Digby, means well. No one cares more about this game than does he. We should embrace his OCD.

The flags let you spot who is who, not the uniforms.

I don't really WANT to add to my other comments that have been less than supportive but I find the sprite shapes to be the best yet - you can easily forget you are looking at 2D animations and not 3D models when viewing them. The 'shape' is excellent.

But, yeah... there are some colour interpretations that are not right. The bright blue of the French is apparent - it should be a much deeper blacker blue - an indigo. Remember these French uniforms were almost all new. If Napoleon's administration from April hadn't produced them, then Louis XVIII's over the winter of 1814/15 had, so the faded cloth argument does not apply.

The Prussians are a bothersome purple shade. I have no idea why this colour was chosen. It's clearly not correct. The Prussian army is also too uniform. It was by far the most heterogeneous and ragged of all the 1815 armies. Peter Hofschroer's two recent books give all the reasons why.

I saw a Prussian Hussar regiment depicted as Uhlans in an MP game last night. I think it was the 11th Hussars. NSD has produced Prussian hussar sprites, yes? Why use Uhlans for Hussars? I know some Uhlan regiments did not receive their lances and so could be represented by Hussar sprites, but not the other way around.

Sadly the French guard is just... bad. In every way. The Old and Middle guard bearskins are entirely the wrong shape and their greatcoats are the wrong colour and shape. There are accounts of the Old Guard wearing bonnets de police in this campaign and not bearskins. The Empress dragoon sprites are really crude and pixellated vs the other troops. The Chasseurs a Cheval seem to be wearing a chasseur uniform of the line and not the guard. Guard artillery have the wrong uniforms. Given how much interest the French guard is going to attract among informed gamers in this game, there is a lot that is incorrect.

Lastly the animations. Why do the troops scamper about like people in old pre-WWI films? The animations are too rapid. Halve the animation speed and it will look so much better.

Hi Saddletank - I'll to try to answer some of your issues. As I said previously the uniforms are brighter than they may have been in reality. I just wanted to show off the colour and spectacle of the period albeit with a campaign look. One thing the sprites were criticised for in Gettysburg where they were too dull.

The Prussian blue is dark - I tried to adjust and on my monitor it looks good to me. Again they are primarily based on the Mont St Jean site which shows very bright colours - mine are toned down from this. As for being a rag bag - there is a limitation on memory - I would have loved to do more sprites but we hit the limit and so the Prussians variations suffered a bit.

The Hussars as Ulhans will be an OOB issue - if you could let me know the regiment we can fix asap.

The Old Guard bearskins is based on the following pictures and photographs of an original bearskin in the National Army Museum in London and contemporary(ish) pictures.
http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/ ... 3-09-303-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Guard_(Napoleon_I)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Guard# ... _Guard.jpg

From my research it wasn't the great big bearskin that most people seem to think is was - nothing like a British Grenadier guard bearskin for instance. But then I could be wrong - if anything I've probably made them too tall.

Again shade based on mid range on the huge variety of images on internet and my uniform books.

As for the great coat - this is due to the limitations of animating a 3d model. If it doesn't billow out a bit then when the guard runs/walks/dies etc the legs poke through the coat which looks terrible. I'm not a professional animator and its the one of the things I try hard to work on - its a great skill to skin a 3d model and then animate it to look natural with only a few frames of animation. There's reason why every single modder sprite maker has simply used the Total War models and animations - it's a lot easier than making them yourself - that's how I started. These models, textures and animations are all made from scratch by me.

There is some compromise between having lots of frames for smooth running or less uniforms - a balancing act which I think we haven't done too bad at. Norbs new overlay system was a massive boon when making variations. I didn't think of the bonnet - could maybe do that and then add an overlay sprite for the bearskin. But again may hit the memory limitations.

Empress Dragoons, Guard Chasseurs a Cheval and artillery use the line uniform due to the memory limitations. Not sure why the dragoons are pixelated - maybe need sharpening don't they should be the same as everyone else.

If you feel the animations are scampering around then you can slow them down in the csv's. It was something I spent some time on and again its a balancing act between lots of frames and lots of uniforms.

There's a major flaw in this game.

I put my nose to the screen and couldn't smell any of the French funk.

These guys should really reek of body odor. I'm not playing anymore until you guys put in the proper B.O.!

That only comes with the boxed set...

That only comes with the boxed set...

LOL indeed..

Sorry to go off topic (but it's Friday), does anyone remember the Leisure Suit Larry games? I remember there was one that came with a scratch-and-sniff paper, and at several times during the game there would be a number displayed that corresponded with a specific scent for that particular scene.. lol. Great stuff.

One thing the sprites were criticised for in Gettysburg where they were too dull.

but i like it. the uniform colors in Gettysburg just perfect! it makes the game more immersive and authentic for me. if there's a thing that i don't like from SOW Waterloo, it is the color of the uniforms. that's too bad because everything is great in this game.

If you don't mind a mod, this is easily doable by the desaturation of the troop sprites. In Paint.net I know the individual colors can be desaturated leaving the skin tones alone. Except red uniforms which would pale the skin tones. Anyway, something to consider.

If you don't mind a mod, this is easily doable by the desaturation of the troop sprites. In Paint.net I know the individual colors can be desaturated leaving the skin tones alone. Except red uniforms which would pale the skin tones. Anyway, something to consider.

never used a mod, i prefer a vanilla version of the game

Feed back on the prussian cavalry: I have spotted two regiments of hussars with dragoon and uhlan uniforms. Will check our sources and correct.

Hi Saddletank - I'll to try to answer some of your issues. As I said previously the uniforms are brighter than they may have been in reality. I just wanted to show off the colour and spectacle of the period albeit with a campaign look. One thing the sprites were criticised for in Gettysburg where they were too dull.

I understand. "You can't please all the people all the time."

To me the GB sprites are perfect; just the right dusty shade that implies dirt and sweat and a bit of haze on a warm day. The WL sprites are too bright for my eyes. If we can dull the colours down with a mod that's good news.

The Prussian blue is dark - I tried to adjust and on my monitor it looks good to me. Again they are primarily based on the Mont St Jean site which shows very bright colours - mine are toned down from this. As for being a rag bag - there is a limitation on memory - I would have loved to do more sprites but we hit the limit and so the Prussians variations suffered a bit.

Maybe its my graphics card but the infantry looks decidedly purple in shade to me, especially on the highlighted areas like the shoulders and elbows.

The Hussars as Ulhans will be an OOB issue - if you could let me know the regiment we can fix asap.

Pretty sure its the 11th Hussars.

The Old Guard bearskins is based on the following pictures and photographs of an original bearskin in the National Army Museum in London and contemporary(ish) pictures.
http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/ ... 3-09-303-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Guard_(Napoleon_I)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Guard# ... _Guard.jpg

From my research it wasn't the great big bearskin that most people seem to think is was - nothing like a British Grenadier guard bearskin for instance. But then I could be wrong - if anything I've probably made them too tall.

Yes, not at all like a Crimea-era British guard bearskin. It was definitely slimmer than that. But those images do show a "plumper" object than your depiction. Only in the last drawing is one figure shown with a rather tall thin hat, the original and the artworks all seem to show a hat of different proportions to your sprites. Given how famous these troops are I am sure a few grognards will be puzzled over this.

As for the great coat - this is due to the limitations of animating a 3d model. If it doesn't billow out a bit then when the guard runs/walks/dies etc the legs poke through the coat which looks terrible. I'm not a professional animator and its the one of the things I try hard to work on - its a great skill to skin a 3d model and then animate it to look natural with only a few frames of animation. There's reason why every single modder sprite maker has simply used the Total War models and animations - it's a lot easier than making them yourself - that's how I started. These models, textures and animations are all made from scratch by me.

If I may make a suggestion - please download the Blenheim mod for SoW:GB and observe the infantry marching animations in that. Coats of that era were below knee length and full-skirted and the animator there has made the coat open and flap as the lower limbs move it about. Its a very nice set of animations. I hope watching those sprites move helps.

The other issue I have with your Old/Middle Guard greatcoat is it looks a little like a ladies dress with a pronounced narrower waistline. Bulking out the middle of the torso shape would benefit things I think.

Can the blue be darkened a little?

Empress Dragoons, Guard Chasseurs a Cheval and artillery use the line uniform due to the memory limitations. Not sure why the dragoons are pixelated - maybe need sharpening don't they should be the same as everyone else.

This is a great pity, the guard cavalry are going to be popular units among a majority of your customers. Surely 2 more sprites for Chasseurs and Empress Dragoons wouldn't break things? They are really famous troops with many fans! Artillery I can live with - I suppose on campaign in the mud and crud the prettier uniforms would quickly disappear under shako covers, overalls and the like.

Talking of mud and crud - your artillery and limbers are very clean and bright! Make 'em filthy please!

If you feel the animations are scampering around then you can slow them down in the csv's. It was something I spent some time on and again its a balancing act between lots of frames and lots of uniforms.

Ah, we can actually slow down animation speeds now? That's useful to know. Thanks.

Amazing how crisp some of these sprites look. This looks like a photograph.

from what I have read and seen there was little conformity of colour and design in uniforms of the period depending more on the skill of the unit tailor and materials procurred