EIA v1.26.00 Beta Available

[pzgndr]

Attached is the first beta for the next v1.26.xx official patch. This beta version should be applied over the installed EIA v1.25.03 Official Update game files. It includes all of the previous v1.25.03 HOTFIX files. You should be able to extract (copy&paste) the new EXE, \Data\database GED files, \Data\docs Release Notes, and \Data\programtext files from the zip file directly into your v1.25.03 install.

Release notes so far, including the recent EIA v1.25.03 Official Update HOTFIX:

Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.26.00
=============================================
- 0000774: [Rules Deviation] Garrisoned depots are not blocking enemy supply lines – resolved.
- Winter Land Movement optional rule not implemented correctly – resolved (see revised rule 13.1.3).
- find_path bug for missing path type when checking if the adjacent area is adjacent to the target area – resolved.
- find_path improvement for AI to bypass combats and non-access areas enroute to target area – resolved.
- AI-AI combats and human defender versus AI trivial combat attacker not seeing correct losses in game log – resolved.

Version 1.25.03 (08/15/2023)
Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.25.03 Hotfix (10/9/2023)
================================================================
- area_determine_owner bug - resolved.
- area_nation_exerting_control bug - resolved.
- minor country not being conquered by one month's unbesieged occupation of its capital - resolved.
- surrender conditions display glitch - resolved.
- 0000530: [Game Enhancement] Computer not choosing the optimal path when moving multiple areas – resolved.
- Controlling Major Powers issues - resolved (now, AI Major Powers with forces in range of a minor declared war on or close to Instability are excluded from selection).
- some AI garrisons not taking assault losses - resolved.
- game freeze due to insufficient pursuit losses - resolved.
- outnumbered AI garrisons keep attacking larger besieging forces - resolved (recently added feature deleted).
- combat freeze when some human garrisons take final assault losses - resolved (but combat summary does not capture final round losses).
- Accept Control checkboxes in Diplomatic Reactions screen clearing selections - resolved.
- game messages for Attacker to click DONE to resolve siege inappropriate for AI attacker - resolved (\Data\programtext files updated).
- AI not taking correct losses in some battles – resolved.
- human defender versus AI besieger not seeing final forces eliminated for taking losses and not seeing correct losses in game log – resolved.

There are a few AI-related items not included in the v1.26.00 release notes that I'll share separately:

- [updated ai_ai_select_casualties and ai_ai_select_pursuit_casualties consistent with ai_select_casualties update made in v1.25.03 HOTFIX]
- [added nation_nat_obj_minor and nation_nat_obj_major]
- [adjusted AI naval builds for Spain, Turkey, and Russia vs Great Britain]
- [updated text for manual, game options, and mouse-over messages] (\Data\databases .ged files updated).
- [AI weakness supporting battles – resolved]

The revised Winter Land Movement optional rule is implemented as discussed at https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=179583. I think it's working fine but I welcome feedback if you think it's not fine and why. The National Variants from the USAFA version of Empires in Arms for the AI computer opponents is implemented as discussed at https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=397701. I have not observed any significant effects of this yet in my playtesting, but as I mentioned previously these are subtle adjustments to everything else going on.

By far, the things that challenged me the most with this new version were the changes to the find_path algorithm and the ripple effect throughout the code where this is used. One example is how the AI would determine if enough units were in range to DOW a minor country, and then to assign units to attack, and then to move those units; all three parts need to work consistently or else a lapse of war may occur. Similarly, checks for amphibious operations also need to work consistently or else a lapse of war may occur. As I got lapses, I resolved them. Along the way, I spotted and resolved various other issues such as the battle summaries in the game log. What I present here for your consideration is working fairly smoothly and you should see some noticeable improvements in pathfinding and AI operations. I invite players to give it a go and see what they think.

I'll give this a week or so for some feedback and if I need to post a hotfix to resolve something then I will. Then I will move on to v1.26.01 with the goal to implement some deeper AI grand strategies. This may take a while, but it's also something that's been in the back of my mind for years and now we're at a point where we can dive deeper into the AI code. It should be fun.
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EiANW 12600 Beta[0].zip

(3.4 MiB) Downloaded 87 times

[pzgndr]

FWIW, Empires in Arms is available at the Matrix Games store for only $9.60 these days with the Winter Sale discount. See https://www.matrixgames.com/game/empires-in-arms If'n you're still on the fence about trying this game, now is a good time to check it out. Great price plus all of the many bug fixes and improvements and enhancements to the original release many years ago

Full disclosure. I am not making anything off of my hobby effort to keep this game going. It is a passion of mine, and the C++ programming is like puzzle-solving for me and keeps me at it. My only desire is for folks to enjoy playing this game, cuz I think it's well worth playing it. Have some fun with it!

[pzgndr]

Attached is an excerpt of the new game manual update for v1.26 with a new section about the National Objectives. Players should be able to better understand what's going on under the hood based on comments I've made so far. I am going to try making this a new game option if I can, so folks can turn this on/off if they want. But if messing with the options proves problematic then this will be the new default for the AI computer opponents. Again, these are subtle adjustments to everything else going on and shouldn't be too noticeable.
.

National Objectives.zip

(1.43 MiB) Downloaded 39 times

[lucliu]

Attached is an excerpt of the new game manual update for v1.26 with a new section about the National Objectives. Players should be able to better understand what's going on under the hood based on comments I've made so far. I am going to try making this a new game option if I can, so folks can turn this on/off if they want. But if messing with the options proves problematic then this will be the new default for the AI computer opponents. Again, these are subtle adjustments to everything else going on and shouldn't be too noticeable.
.
National Objectives.zip

Sounds good.

[pzgndr]

I made a curious observation. As of today 43 players have downloaded the v1.25.03 hotfix, but only half of you have downloaded the v1.26.00 Beta. You can make multiple installs of EIA, one for the official version and another for the Beta(s), don't you know? I recommend doing that and playing with the latest Beta version. There's nothing super special about the Beta(s) other than a few more bug fixes, game enhancements, and AI improvements that I've made. If you're going to play and find some issues, I'd prefer that you do so with the latest Beta version. (I may have already fixed what you want to report!)

v1.26.00 is here, and I've moved on to v1.26.01 development. One thing I've worked on is the EIA rule for the Great Britain and France Start At War game option:

11.9.2.1 START AT WAR: France and Great Britain must start at war in the campaign games starting in 1805. France and Great Britain may _never_ make an informal pace and... may never be allies.

There are other rules for mandatory peace conditions for Great Britain and France but these two were easy to implement. Certainly for the 1805 Campaign it matters if players want to announce pre-existing states of war, but this rule makes a difference for games where Great Britain and France are in a duel between them to the bitter end. Even though the 1812 Campaign starts with Great Britain and France At War, selecting the game option for whether or not Great Britain and France were At War in 1805 now matters with regard to giving players the maximum flexibility in creating their own diplomatic climate (for what it's worth in 1812) or not. And also for 1813...

Another thing I've been working on is the 1813 Campaign Game for classic EIA and alternate EIH. This has been a good exercise scrutinizing the rules for these campaigns and comparing them to the 1812 Campaign in the game. I have already identified a couple of discrepancies with the 1812 Campaign. I should have playable 1813 Campaigns and updated 1812 Campaigns for v1.26.01. I'm thinking this will be useful for me to then proceed with AI grand strategy development and to be able to use 1805, 1812, *AND* 1813 as start points for playtesting.

As always, PLEASE chime in if you see any issues or have any suggestions for improvements. I've already fixed an issue with text overlap for unit stack display that was reported here. I have also found and fixed several UI issues where some popup windows have a white edge on the right and bottom sides. Something shifted these settings at some point and I'm fixing them as I see them. I also noted that the Political Standings Screen had "Normal" instead of "Neutral" so I fixed that. Yeah, I'm at the point of scrutinizing all of the little stuff now since most of the big stuff has been fixed. Feedback is helpful. Thanks!!

[Zovs]

Bill,

Thanks for your continued hard work on this game and keeping it alive and fresh.

Just downloaded the beta, since I don't have any real games or matches going on why I eventually learn this.

Don

[pburton2000]

Hi Bill,

How does the EiH version of the game play out ? The rules are quite different are they not ?

Cheers

[pzgndr]

How does the EiH version of the game play out ? The rules are quite different are they not ?

Hi. Both the classic EIA and alternate EIH campaigns play out the same way, using the same game rules. But there are differences in OOBs, setup forces, minor country minor country national modifiers, and such. As for the rules themselves, there are some optional rules and EIH rules that are made standard in this game (e.g., trivial combats, naval forced retreats if one side has heavies and other side has none, etc.). But yeah, it would be too challenging to have separate maps and rules for EIA and EIH.

And I'm noticing that 15.2 Minor Country Chart only has one set of national modifiers shown. I'll update that to show EIA/EIH differences.

[roos]

Looks like we have a problem with IA not taking losses in naval battles. I keep killing the Turkish fleet every turn

I'll get you a save tomorrow.

[roos]

Here is the save for the naval combat losses bug.

AutoSave Game Naval Combat.zip

(225.14 KiB) Downloaded 29 times

[pzgndr]

Looks like we have a problem with IA not taking losses in naval battles. I keep killing the Turkish fleet every turn

I thought we fixed this. Now(!) it is fixed. I found the issue. AI fleets are now taking losses and the game log is now correctly reporting starting forces and losses. Turkish fleet started with 12, took 7 losses, and remaining 5 withdrew to Adalia. Thanks for the bug report!!

This fix will be in the new 1.26.01 Beta that I am wrapping up and should be posting soon.
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naval combat.jpg (896.83 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

[roos]

There is still a problem with computer pursuit losses in 12600. Computer (Spain) tried to attack human player forces in Madrid. Assault vs defend, Spanish forces broke after second round with huge pursuit losses. None were noticed either in game log or in the battle screen. Really hard to duplicate since the only save i have is from the players combat phase before the battle that drove the Spanish forces away Madrid in the first place.

[pzgndr]

There is still a problem with computer pursuit losses in 12600.

Added to my list for v1.26.01 Beta.

[La Provence]

Hello,

I bought the game EIA when it was released a few years ago.
But today, I would like to know if the game is finally stable. Is it possible to play in PBEM without problems ?
If this is the case, I would like MATRIX to replace my game (which does not work and which I paid for) with the latest version.

Thank you and best wishes to all for 2024.

La Provence

[Zovs]

As far as I know it’s completely stable. No reason for Matrix to replace your game, just login and redownload your games. Easy pesie.

[La Provence]

Thank you for the answer.

How do I download the full game ?

[Zovs]

Thank you for the answer.

How do I download the full game ?

From up at the top where it says "My Page", then hover down a bit (its weird) and click on the link in blue called "My Page" and sign in, and then find your purchased games and go into the link that says "file downloads" and download the base game and updates from there.