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So whats next guys?

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:03 pm
by Zeke
I love the new release of SOWG and the changes to this since it was originally released are phenomenal. In particular the Artillery (and the effects caused),the cavalry and also the way in which the infantry move forward in battle line are far more realistic....I was playing Antietam last night and at one point got totally lost and disorientated by the smoke of battle......Made me think what it must have been like for real. :blink:

I'm assuming by the inclusion of the carryon battles that some sort of campaign rather than and individual is on the cards possibly?

So what is next for SOW? Are we going West or are we staying put in the East ?!!! :) Either way I'll buy it.

We are all waiting with bated breath B)

regards

Zeke

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 6:35 pm
by Little Powell
We just released a map pack and an anniversary collection less than a month ago, and you're already asking for whats next? Boy, you can't get enough can you. Thanks for your support. :)

I can't say much about our plans right now, just that we have the largest team we've ever had that is hard at work doing some great things. So just stay tuned, as they say.

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:51 pm
by KG_Soldier
7 Days please. And I want it next week if not sooner. :evil:

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:24 pm
by Zeke
We just released a map pack and an anniversary collection less than a month ago, and you're already asking for whats next? Boy, you can't get enough can you. Thanks for your support. :)

I can't say much about our plans right now, just that we have the largest team we've ever had that is hard at work doing some great things. So just stay tuned, as they say.
Aw well.... I guess I can wait - Little Powell;)

KG_Soldier.....Seven days battles .....That could come sooner than you'd think ;) ...That's possibly my next Campaign OOB pack after the Valley Campaign OOB pack mod

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:41 am
by Yankee Rebel
I would like to see some western battles like Shiloh, Pea Ridge and Wilsons Creek. That whole Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas campaign in 1861 had some great battles. Not only, I live about 20 miles north of Wilsons Creek, so that would be great to game a battle so close to me. I also think they should do Fredericksburg soon. Mainly because they have already released all the main battles before Fredericksburg (except the Seven Days Battles). Antietam is done and so is Chancellorville. Fredericksburg is right in between those two battles. Just a few ideas. To me however, Chickamauga will be the ultimate SOW game. But there are tons of battles before that.

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:11 am
by IronBMike
How about actually making the Antietam uncross-able except at historical points? :whistle:

I still play SMA over SOW because of this. Really it's just lazy to ignore such an important battlefield feature.

(Unless it's already been changed and I missed it ;) )

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 3:42 pm
by Little Powell
How about actually making the Antietam uncross-able except at historical points? :whistle:
Believe me it's not laziness and it wasn't ignored.. There is no way to make creeks or any other terrain completely impassable. All we can do is place movement penalties and there are limits on how high we can set it. Too high, and the troops will get stuck when they march on it.

This is a subject that has been beaten to death, but many have said that the creek was passable and troops could have crossed it "without wetting their waist belts in any place". Others have said it wasn't passable. So in the game we had to come to a compromise. Troops can cross it but they are going to receive a hefty fatigue and movement penalty and are basically going to be sitting ducks to the enemy as they cross. There are also historic fords where troops can cross without penalty.

So again, we weighed all of the options and made the best decision based on historical accuracy and game play. It wasn't ignored.

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 5:07 pm
by Saddletank
Interesting reply. If a v2 of SoW is in the pipeline, please design the game so that uncrossable water features can be made, and I don't mean the mess we have now with the main river on the Brandy Station map. The AI needs to know it can't cross, so that it doesn't try and instead heads towards the nearest crossable point, either direct or by roads depending on the orders its given. That would be a great leap forward in AI behaviour and would be really cool.

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 5:35 pm
by Little Powell
Interesting reply. If a v2 of SoW is in the pipeline, please design the game so that uncrossable water features can be made, and I don't mean the mess we have now with the main river on the Brandy Station map. The AI needs to know it can't cross, so that it doesn't try and instead heads towards the nearest crossable point, either direct or by roads depending on the orders its given. That would be a great leap forward in AI behaviour and would be really cool.
There is a boundary that surrounds the larger rivers like the Rappahannock on Brandy Station that attempts to solve this problem. The AI will try to go around it but I understand there is room for improvement--they may still try to march across it a passable point isn't near by. This boundary is also on the Potomac on the Antietam maps, and the Rappahannock on the CV maps.

Re: So whats next guys?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 6:52 pm
by Marching Thru Georgia
The impassable grayscale only partially works. It will prevent units initially from crossing. But once they retreat and reform, they ignore this terrain. They will simply cross the impassable pixels as if they are not there. It's a game bug. There is considerable experience with this because the nappy mod has a number of maps where we surrounded certain streams, including Antietam Creek, with the impassable pixels. The bug is easily reproducible.

There is another problem too. If a unit is ordered to the far side of such a stream, the game will plot a path to the stream edge. Finding it cannot go further it will continue the path along the stream edge until it finds a legal place to cross. Once across, the unit will follow the opposite stream bank until it reaches the point it had originally wanted to cross at, but couldn't. At that point it will continue on to its final destination.

The impassable terrain grayscale is a good idea, but it needs testing and refinement.