EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

Empires in Arms is the computer version of Australian Design Group classic board game. Empires in Arms is a seven player game of grand strategy set during the Napoleonic period of 1805-1815. The unit scale is corps level with full diplomatic options

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EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

Post by pzgndr »

Attached Hotfix #1 for the v1.26.02 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 - 1.26.02
=============================================
- Added game status percentage to Victory Point Status – resolved.
- Added AI grand strategy options – resolved.
- Added Alternate Dominant Powers optional rule – resolved.
- Updated Fog of War optional rule for AI-AI combat – resolved.
- 0000110: [Game Enhancement] Add: Restrictions on Territorial Losses rule – resolved (v1.24.01 implemented the three province restriction on territorial losses, v1.26.02 implemented the one province per victor restriction for AI only).
- Change AAR land move arrows to center of areas – resolved.
- Game freeze when militia in outflank pinning force cannot be taken as casualties – resolved.
- French I Corps not appearing in Classic 1805 Campaign – resolved (updated database file eianw001.ged).

Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.26.01
=============================================
- Text overlap for unit stack display sometimes unreadable – resolved.
- Political Standings Screen shows Normal instead of Neutral – resolved (also changed Neutral zone color from Gray to White).
- Victory Conditions Screen showing some units, leaders, and fleets available to be removed that are not in play – resolved.
- Political Restrictions on Peace implements rule that France and Great Britain may never make an informal peace and may never be allies if the Great Britain and France Start At War game option is selected – resolved (see revised rule 6.4.3).
- Royal Marriages not broken upon declaration of war – resolved.
- Added Create Kingdom function to game editor – resolved.
- AI naval combat not taking losses or recording at-start forces in the game log – resolved.
- Added new data files and setup files for the 1813 Grand Campaign and made applicable code changes - resolved.
- AI improvements for Prussia saving manpower and Great Britain loaning money to support wars against France – resolved.
- AI land combat not taking pursuit losses – resolved.
- Reported bug with Turkey Ottoman nations falling to Austria in Fiasco zone – resolved.
- Updated data files and some setup files for the 1812 Grand Campaign and made some applicable code changes – resolved.
- Prussia unused manpower not being saved correctly or shown on nation status – resolved.

Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.26.00
=============================================
- Updated ai_ai_select_casualties and ai_ai_select_pursuit_casualties consistent with fixes made in v1.25.03 Hotfix – resolved.
- 0000774: [Rules Deviation] Garrisoned depots are not blocking enemy supply lines – resolved.
- Added new AI National Objectives functions – resolved.
- Adjusted AI naval builds for Spain, Turkey, and Russia vs Great Britain – resolved.
- Winter Land Movement optional rule not implemented correctly – resolved (see revised rule 13.1.3).
- Updated game options test in game manual and mouse-over messages - resolved (\Data\databases .ged files updated).
- Adjusted AI supporting land battles – resolved.
- 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.
I just posted a v1.26.02 Beta playtesting AAR for 1813 at https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 6#p5159056. Please take a look. The big takeaways (of this Beta version, not the 1813 AAR) are the implementation of AI grand strategy options and Alternate Dominant Powers optional rule. Many setups have been revised slightly, either for minor corrections or to support the new AI strategies. Economic builds for the AI have been revised again, with extra scrutiny for every dollar and man spent. I've seen a LOT of issues and revised a LOT of issues over the past several weeks, some minor and some not so minor. I cannot guarantee that I've seen and fixed them all.

Please give this Beta version a spin and see what you think. This will likely be the release candidate for the next official patch a few months from now, time to work through any final issues. I will likely release a couple of hotfixes to address any bugs reported or any AI performance issues reported. So, if you see something, say something, and please provide a game save from the previous phase so I can recreate the issue, track it down, and resolve it. Fellas, I think we're very close. Let's make this game version the game we've wanted to play and enjoy for so many years now.

UPDATE 4/12/2024 - Hotfix #1 posted.

UPDATE 4/22/2024 - Hotfix #2 posted.
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Bill Macon
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Available

Post by pzgndr »

In my 1813 AAR, I reported the issue with British I Corps disappearing in Spain and reappearing in Prussia. I suspect there's some glitch associated with the unit grid that displays the units in a selected area, if there happens to be more units present than the grid can handle. I've added a couple of redundant checks where possible to verify that a unit is actually in the selected area. I've expanded the unit grid from 11 columns to 15, so two rows should be able to handle up to 30 units. I also found that if you right-click the unit grid to get Area Zoom and then right-click back you get a default of 8 columns, so I changed that to 15 also. There is still a nagging issue with French I Corps showing up as ghost units in the far right of the unit grid for some reason and I cannot figure that out. I'm going to assume that's not a contributing factor to this unit teleportation glitch. My changes will be in the next hotfix and I'll continue to playtest to see if I can recreate a monster stack situation and see what happens. I just saw a reported issue with Alternate Dominant Powers morale changes and I'll be investigating that.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Available

Post by pzgndr »

FYI, I have been busy working on a hotfix. I had the 1813 campaign working well. My playtests of the 1812 campaign revealed some issues that I've been working on. I will resume code development next week. Once I have satisfactory playtests for 1805, 1812, and 1813, then I will release the hotfix. I apologize for the delays but I really do want to ensure all is well before releasing the hotfix. Please stand by.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Available

Post by pzgndr »

Alright, we're getting there. I've been wrestling with the 1812 campaign all week. France does well initially in Russia but falters as battles and foraging take their toll. I've got Russia being a bit more aggressive now when the time comes to start pushing back. Cossacks are more active now. As 1813 begins, the British start getting more aggressive. Screenshot shows amphibious landing from Stockholm to Copenhagen. I'm feeling more satisfied with the 1812 campaign now, and ready to move on to the 1813 campaign and a recheck of the 1805 campaign. The hotfix should be ready after that,
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Bill Macon
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by pzgndr »

Hotfix #1 posted above. A couple of items added to the change log. I looked at the Restrictions on Territorial Losses rule (11.9.1.1) again to update documentation and added the one province per victor restriction for the AI only. I also made an adjustment to the AAR move arrows for land moves; I think they look better now center-to-center.

As discussed previously, most of my efforts these past couple of weeks have been for playtesting the campaigns to ensure the new AI grand strategy options are working. Those playtests revealed a lot of issues that needed time to resolve. Mostly AI issues, but I also found and fixed other minor issues along the way.

I have to admit, I am burned out from doing this every day. I think I've got all three campaigns (1805, 1812, and 1813) playing alright now. More adjustments will be needed, I'm sure, but players should be able to enjoy these campaigns now. Please try them and let me and others know what you think. If there are any showstoppers, I'll update the Hotfix quickly. If not, I'll continue my own playtesting for the next few weeks and watch for any comments regarding AI behaviors (good, bad, or ugly). Let's see how close we are to having a release candidate.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by pzgndr »

I'd like to add that I've reached back to several of my former players/playtesters to try this latest Hotfix #1 version and provide some feedback. As I mentioned to them, I really need good feedback to get this next version as good as it can get. Frankly, I'm reaching the end of the ToDo List that I started with several years ago and I'm looking forward to putting Empires in Arms into maintenance mode so that I can pursue other projects. This game has been consuming.

I've been relaxing these past few days and catching up on chores. I'll get back to code development soon. My plan is to play several longer games for the three campaigns and just make notes. Based on my notes and any other feedback I get over the next several of weeks, I'll work on another hotfix that could be the release candidate. And I'll let that go for a few weeks and see how it goes. Maybe by June we'll have any final adjustments made and I'll send files to Matrix for the next official update. After that, who knows.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by roos »

Bug!
Hard to provide a save, but you can test in most battles.

It occurs when the player chooses outflank against an AI op and the pinning force consists of INF and MIL and runs out of INF. If there is no more INF in the pinning force and morale is too low to be able to take MIL losses, then the game gets stuck.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by pzgndr »

roos wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:15 am Bug!
Hard to provide a save, but you can test in most battles.

It occurs when the player chooses outflank against an AI op and the pinning force consists of INF and MIL and runs out of INF. If there is no more INF in the pinning force and morale is too low to be able to take MIL losses, then the game gets stuck.
That's a good description, thanks! I'll track it down and fix it. I had another reported issue with the game hanging with AI Russia trying to redeploy forces across the marshes and the sea crossing at Crimea, and fixed that yesterday.

I'll try to get a Hotfix #2 out next week. If anybody sees any other issue(s), please let me know. If you're playing Hotfix #1 and not seeing any issues during several years of gameplay, please let me know that too; a confirmation that everything else is OK is also helpful.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by pzgndr »

roos wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:15 am It occurs when the player chooses outflank against an AI op and the pinning force consists of INF and MIL and runs out of INF. If there is no more INF in the pinning force and morale is too low to be able to take MIL losses, then the game gets stuck.
roos, I need to clarify. This is for a human player choosing outflank and you run out of INF in the pinning force. We probably don't want to make an exception to take MIL losses here. The "Pinning Force Defeat" rule should apply and the whole side (including the outflanking force) considered to be broken and may be pursued. I would assume the remaining MIL in the pinning force should be eliminated first, prior to pursuit? I need to figure how to make that work in the casualty selection. If you have any insight as to how this is/was applied in the boardgame, I'd appreciate it.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by alexmike1 »

I just had a game hang on AI Spain land moves redeploying. Sounds similar to the issue you mentioned above, but let me know if you want the save. Spain have overseas possessions Morocco and Romagna (pretty impressive for the ai).

Earlier in my save I had Prussia in the dominant zone for about 6 months. I can confirm that it did show the enhanced morale on the counters, but I'm pretty sure it had the standard morale for the battle against a minor state.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

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alexmike1 wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:16 pm I just had a game hang on AI Spain land moves redeploying. Sounds similar to the issue you mentioned above, but let me know if you want the save. Spain have overseas possessions Morocco and Romagna (pretty impressive for the ai).

Earlier in my save I had Prussia in the dominant zone for about 6 months. I can confirm that it did show the enhanced morale on the counters, but I'm pretty sure it had the standard morale for the battle against a minor state.
If you still have the save for the game hanging on AI Spain, I'd like to check that. It should not be looking at overseas minor locations for units to redeploy. The morale bonus if shown should be applied in combats, but if you see it again and can provide a save it would be helpful. Thanks!
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by alexmike1 »

No problem. Its in the following land movement phase. Tried 3 times and each time it stuck.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

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alexmike1 wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2024 9:48 am No problem. Its in the following land movement phase. Tried 3 times and each time it stuck.


OK great. I'm heading out for the weekend and will take a look next week. I'll see if anything else gets reported. I should get another hotfix out next week. Thanks!
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by roos »

pzgndr wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 2:48 pm
roos wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:15 am It occurs when the player chooses outflank against an AI op and the pinning force consists of INF and MIL and runs out of INF. If there is no more INF in the pinning force and morale is too low to be able to take MIL losses, then the game gets stuck.
roos, I need to clarify. This is for a human player choosing outflank and you run out of INF in the pinning force. We probably don't want to make an exception to take MIL losses here. The "Pinning Force Defeat" rule should apply and the whole side (including the outflanking force) considered to be broken and may be pursued. I would assume the remaining MIL in the pinning force should be eliminated first, prior to pursuit? I need to figure how to make that work in the casualty selection. If you have any insight as to how this is/was applied in the boardgame, I'd appreciate it.
Yes, that is correct. I agree that the outflanking side should be considered broken. However in the next step, it may be easier to just take the INF losses from the outflanking force, than to use the remaining MIL in the pinning force.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

Post by pzgndr »

I found the function that eliminates the pinning force if the live troops are <= casualties. I added a check to ignore the militia if ineligible. Interesting that this never cam up since release!
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #1 Available

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alexmike1 wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:16 pm I just had a game hang on AI Spain land moves redeploying. Sounds similar to the issue you mentioned above...
I could not recreate Spain hanging here. My fixes for Russian redeployments probably fixed the Spain issue too. We'll see. I'm about to wrap up what I have and get out another hotfix.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

Post by pzgndr »

Hotfix #2 posted above. A couple more items added to the change log. The game freeze with outflank pinning force losses was interesting. I also got a report that French I Corps was missing in the Classic 1805 campaign for some odd reason, probably my mistake with a recent update. In a couple of the posted saves I noticed something odd about AI Great Britain in 1805 so I made an adjustment. I also noticed the AI creating too many garrisons in provincial capitals due to a recent change I made so I made an adjustment there too.

As I mentioned previously, since there were some showstoppers I updated the Hotfix #1 quickly. Hopefully all is well enough for now for some deeper AI playtesting over the next few weeks. As before, any comments regarding AI behaviors (good, bad, or ugly) are welcome. Or any comments. Let me know soon over the next few weeks. Thanks.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

Post by alexmike1 »

Can confirm that hotfix 2 sorted the problem with the game hanging for me also. Great stuff!
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

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alexmike1 wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 9:26 am Can confirm that hotfix 2 sorted the problem with the game hanging for me also. Great stuff!
Good to hear. Since the saves I looked at for you and others got into 1806, I'm assuming all else is well except for the few issues reported.

So, while I'm here, I'll share how I was doing my playtetsting. Certainly, the opening moves for 1805, 1812, and 1813 got a lot of scrutiny. But I also played 1805 into 1806, 1812 into 1813, and 1813 into 1814. One "disconnect" I noticed was how to faithfully progress from the 1812 start to similar conditions for the 1813 start as of March, 1813. Unless the French really suck, it's difficult to recreate the rapid Russian advance to Leipzig and Dresden. So, maybe not by March but by spring/summer 1813 you can have a similar situation. Anyways, I was looking for competent AI behaviors similar to how a human player would act - advancing/redeploying as needed, retreating as needed, placing depots and garrisons as needed, etc. I wanted AI Great Britain to be more active with amphibious operations. The thing I saw in the saves was GB hadn't invaded Scandinavia or North Africa in early 1805 (they need money and men), so I found and fixed an issue there. Should be better now.

Moving forward, I plan to playtest longer games. 1813 to endgame. 1812 into 1814 or endgame. 1805 into 1812/1813. The "middle game" 1809-1812 probably needs some attention for AI behaviors. As always, any bugs or other showstoppers are a priority. But beyond that I'm looking for competent and challenging AI behaviors, things one might expect from an experienced human player to the point that folks will enjoy a solitaire game and also feel comfortable substituting the computer opponent for a human player in PBEM games. If any of youse guys could playtest a quick 2-4 person PBEM game and provide feedback, that would be great. As I mentioned previously, assuming I don't have to get another hotfix out to fix something, I'm going to playtest some more and just take notes. Then I'll review my notes and any other comments I get and work on another hotfix that likely will be a release candidate for the next official update. Hopefully around June or July. We'll see.

On a personal note, I'm looking to relocate in October or November. We just made a purchase agreement on a new home and it should be ready sometime in October. So I really do want to wrap this up. Get another official release out this summer and then put Empires in Arms into maintenance mode. See how it goes for a while and then maybe I'll work on another version if needed. We'll see.
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Re: EIA v1.26.02 Beta Hotfix #2 Available

Post by roos »

East Galizia does not get added to Poland when created by Austria.
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