EIA v1.27.03 Beta Hotfix #3 Available

[pzgndr]

Attached is the v1.27.03 Beta for the next v1.27.xx official patch. This should be applied over the installed EIA v1.26.04 Official Update game files and previous v1.27.03 Beta. You should be able to extract (copy&paste) the new EXE file from the zip file directly into your v1.26.04 install or previous v1.27.03 Beta install.

Release notes so far:

- AI naval redeploy and move_free_fleets adjustments
- area_which_location_owns_city and area_who_is_besieged changed to simple check for besieger and besieged
- move_free_fleets adjusted for Great Britain fleets stuck in Baltic
- AI Spain surrender calcs adjusted for AI victor versus human victor
- aitalkcode to allow request loan of ally's minor units
- AI Moving Army To Defend Capital adjusted to include redeployment of additional forces
- AI Great Britain reserved money for Prussian manpower fixed in 1812
- Fixed several unit_delete_unit instances (causing removal of units from game) that should have been delete_unit_from_area
- Fixed area_is_undergarrisoned function for siege combat modifer
- Fixed combat PP loss/gain issues
- Adjusted default intercept orders to None for minors at war with another MP not at war with controlling MP
- Adjusted nation_scan_all_areas_for_control to verify NSfalling and reset nation status if not falling
- Fixed AI for Great Britain to reserve funds for Prussian saved manpower and to transfer those funds
- New ai_look_at_amphib_raid function for specific port targets
- Adjusted area_nations_inf_corps_in_area to include minors
- Fixed ai_place_remove_leaders for sometimes placing a leader where a leader is already present
- Adjusted naval AI to remove leaders from risky amphib ops
- Fixed a couple of ai_assign_redeploy_units glitches
- Adjusted nation_friendly_factors_present_in_home_nation to include minors and allies
- Fixed nation_scan_all_areas_for_control for nation_convert_control issues for kingdom minors/provinces
- Fixed nation_vacant_factors to accurately sum max-current factors, to resolve AI surrender issue
- Revised Eco Phase current forces for maneuver corps land factors only, not garrisons or depots
- Fixed unit_create_garrison to set kingdom unit garrisons to kingdom nation, not original minor nation
- Fixed naval pursuit issues and updated game manual
- Fixed naval retreats for run blockade battles
- Adjusted checks for evacuation of ports to fix evacuation issues
- Created new functions ai_withdraw_available_units and ai_assign_withdraw_units for late-war AI France
- Fixed auto_conquer_minor to delete double PP gain for conquering and undo DOW
- Fixed nation_scuttle_port to include PP loss for scuttled fleets
- Fixed remove defender depot after combat

This has been in development over the past few weeks. I'll say something more later in another post, but for right now I just want to post this new version and get it out there. I'd like this to be a candidate version for the next official update. There will probably be a few hotfixes along the way to resolve any issues, but mostly to make additional AI improvements and adjustments as needed.

Feedback is welcome. Please see how this version goes and let's resolve anything - anything - that needs fixing, enhancement, or improvement. Thanks. Enjoy!

UPDATE 10/26/2025 - Removing this beta to resolve a few reported issues.
UPDATE 10/31/2025 - Reposted v1.27.03 Beta.
UPDATE 11/22/2025 - Posted Hotfix #1. (See later post with details and attachment.)
UPDATE 11/23/2025 - Removing Hotfix #1 to resolve a few reported combat issues.
UPDATE 12/3/2025 - Reposted Hotfix #1.
UPDATE 12/22/2025 - Posted Hotfix #2. (See later post with details and attachment.)
UPDATE 1/7/2026 - Posted Hotfix #3. (See later post with details and attachment.)
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EiANW 12703 Beta[0].zip

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[pzgndr]

Alright, some comments about this version. Firstly, the good news is that I did not get many issues reported over the past few weeks. Most were minor or due to some faulty "fix" on my part and fairly easily resolved. This allowed me more time for playtesting on my own to find and resolve issues. Mostly I was playing the 1812 campaign looking for AI performance issues. I like this one because France is at its high water mark, there are advances and retreats in Russia, and then the real fun starts as Prussia gets back into the game in early 1813 and then Austria gets back into the game in mid 1813. Meanwhile, Great Britain and Spain are pushing on the French in the south.

1. AI Great Britain needed help with naval operations, specifically to get some invasions going and to get Sweden involved. This is better now. I added a new port raid function but it still needs some work.

2. AI Great Britain was supposed to be reserving money for Prussian manpower and then giving it to Prussia as enforced peace is ending. It wasn't working; now it is. So come December 1812, Prussia gets money to build forces, which start arriving by March 1813 in time to DOW France.

3. Poland surrender to Russia was still not happening, so that needed some attention. Yet again, I had to dig into code to resolve the status of provinces versus minors versus kingdoms and sort it out. This is working now.

4. Speaking of kingdoms, France had Confederation of the Rhine units creating garrisons, but they were being created as minors; e.g., the Baden corps was placing a Baden factor and not a COR factor. Since Baden doesn't exist as a minor when its part of COR, the garrison could not be attacked and caused other combat issues. Once I figured out the cause, it took some time to figure out the solution. This is working now.

Those were probably the four most challenging issues I was dealing with; the rest were relatively minor. The early game already looks pretty good with most all issues resolved. The late game now looks pretty good - with France withdrawing gracefully, Poland and COR minors being conquered, and multiple French surrenders working. That leaves the middle game. Are there AI grand strategy issues that need some attention? Are there any other bugs or gameplay issues that need to be resolved? What else is needed?? I still have a short ToDo List to work through, but I would still appreciate feedback from players with any issues you may spot or suggestions for improvements you may have. I'll keep working on Empires in Arms through the end of the year, but at some point in the New Year I want to wrap it up and send files to Matrix for a final official update. That's the plan.

I also want to mention again that the Admin Menu function is available for solitaire games. For PBEM games, only the PBEM admin has access to it. Players can use this to resolve minor issues on their own. Please report any issues to me with a game save, but feel free to make your own game adjustments and play past whatever issue(s) you encounter. I use this myself in my playtesting, as well as other debugging tools I have available. Anyways, it's there if you need it. (Or you want to use it in lieu of "cheat codes" to adjust something.)

[pzgndr]

I reposted the v1.27.03 Beta. There were some reported combat issues related to some units sometimes not loading properly for battle, which corrupted the battle and then caused some other issues. I am still investigating the root cause for why this happens, but I've added some comprehensive error-checking to verify that units that should be loaded for battle are in fact counted as being there and loaded properly. And when I say "comprehensive" I mean for each type of battle and for all units - major, minor, or loaned at war with the opposing force. So far, this appears to be working fine.

I spent time playtesting 1805 to verify AI performance. Good news is that naval invasions are working very well now and I saw a lot of activity in the Mediterranean as Great Britain, Spain, and Turkey competed for North Africa. As France sometimes gained control of North African minors, I had to make some adjustments to restrict Great Britain from some amphib ops into Spain or Turkey's DOWs. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but risky for 1805, so the adjustments are just for 1805. I saw Great Britain perform an amphibious raid on Amsterdam, which provided an opportunity to troubleshoot some landing/combat issues with that new function.

This should be a solid version build to play now. We shall see. I'd like to see all gameplay issues resolved so that I can playtest and work on AI grand strategy improvements. Sooner or later, we'll get there. Enjoy!

[pzgndr]

Posted Hotfix #1. Full notes here:

- Cleaned up combat_set_battles and combat_load_forces consistent with changes made for load_units_to_battle
- Fixed naval pursuit issues and updated game manual
- Fixed minor error in nation_convert_control
- Adjusted naval AI for blockades and for Great Britain guarding the channel crossing
- Fixed naval retreats for run blockade battles
- Deleted unit_validate_area calls in detect_unit_location causing endless loops
- Fixed nation_scan_all_areas_for_control (Again!) for nation_convert_control issues for kingdom minors/provinces
- Deleted redundant find_path checks for redeployments
- Included cav corps as special units for advancements to reduce reckless advancement
- Fixed AI-AI combat to record eliminated units and captured leaders
- Adjusted naval AI to exclude moving to ports under siege
- Fixed AI bug for corps creating 0-factor garrisons
- Adjusted AI redeployment function to improve late-war France performance
- Adjusted checks for evacuation of ports to fix evacuation issues
- Fixed a couple of access violation errors
- Added checks for forces assigned before ai_clr_assignment that could clear previous assignments
- Created new functions ai_withdraw_available_units and ai_assign_withdraw_units for late-war AI France
- Fixed auto_conquer_minor to delete double PP gain for conquering and undo DOW
- Fixed post battle cleanup for AI-AI and AI attacker combats
- Fixed nation_scuttle_port to include PP loss for scuttled fleets
- Fixed combat_nation_unit_pp_value_for_loss (again) for fleets in naval combat
- Fixed check to remove defender depot after combat

There are two themes here. One, more fixes for naval issues and for conquering kingdom minors/provinces. Two, and I'll say more about this in another post, late-war AI issues needed some more attention. Along the way I resolved a couple of access violation errors and other glitches. I continue to keep my eyes open for these challenging game bugs that lock up the game or slow down performance. Good news is that this build appears to be running very smoothly. As I've mentioned before, I plan to continue playtesting and making AI adjustments through the new year in anticipation of wrapping this up and releasing a final official update. As with v1.27.03, consider Hotfix #1 a pre-release candidate. We're looking for any remaining issues that need some attention. Feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

[pzgndr]

Late-War AI Issues

I've spent quite a bit of time lately playtesting the late war, 1812 scenario and 1813 scenario. One nagging issue was the conquering of kingdom minors and provinces. After several deep-dives into the applicable code sections, I think I got it figured out. I could say more, but suffice to say it's just complicated. The other nagging issues were the performances of AI France and AI Great Britain. I pretty much resolved the Great Britain issues with v1.27.03 and got the AI to perform amphib invasions and port raids in 1813 and 1814. So that's much better now. But France is a challenging case with enemies closing in from three directions: Prussia/Russia (and Great Britain) from the north, Austria from the east, and Great Britain and Spain from the south. I struggled to find a decent balance between retreating outnumbered units, defending the capital Paris, and redeploying available forces towards the enemies. I found France retreating too many units to Paris and not leaving enough to make possible counter-attacks. That reqired some adjustments to the capital defense checks. I also found France getting too many units "stuck" fighting some enemies and neglecting the others, requiring some rebalancing of forces. That required a couple of new code functions to get AI France to withdraw 'excess' forces back to France to then engage other enemies or redeploy toward them as the case may be. I think this is all working much better now.

Another interesting dynamic of the late-war is when France starts surrendering to some enemies but not all. As France retreats to Paris, it concentrates its army. Individual enemies are reluctant to attack, and France being outnumbered is reluctant to counter-attack. But as France loses territory and minors and dips into Instability or Fiasco, it starts surrendering in mid- to late-1814. The remaining enemies become more vulnerable to France lashing out. Ultimately, France finds itself in a No-Win situation and it's a matter of time before a victor is declared in early- to mid-1815. I find these late-war playtests interesting. Players who have not tried 1812 or 1813 and may be looking for a shorter game are encouraged to play these scenarios. If you identify any other issues with late-war AI behaviors and have suggestions for improvements, please let me know! Thanks. Enjoy.

[pzgndr]

I just reposted Hotfix #1, which is a comprehensive v1.27.03 Beta. I apologize for the delays with this one. There were some combat issues reported that I had not noticed in my playtests. This took time to resolve and verify. Along the way with a couple of late-game 1812 and 1813 playtests, I was able to make a few more AI improvements/adjustments for the late-war. The playtests went well.

AFAIK, most gameplay issues are resolved now. I got an early-war playtest report into 1806 that only spotted one minor issue that I think I resolved. I am cautiously optimistic that what we have left to look at are AI grand strategy issues and fine-tuning the AI computer opponents for optimal gameplay. Not perfect or brilliant, but challenging.

I will comment about use of the admin menu for solitaire games. This feature is available to players, so if you spot an issue with AI performance you can easily delete units or move units and continue playing your game. I used this myself a few times when a siege wasn't working or an AI corps was 'stuck' somewhere and not moving back into the fight. Call it a cheat code or whatever, it provides a tool for players to make minor fixes themselves and play on. Just saying.

Alright, let's see how Hotfix #1 plays out this month. Game saves for any spotted issues are welcome. Feedback and other comments are always welcome. Enjoy!

UPDATE 12/17/25 - Reposted v1.27.03 Beta on first page and posting Hotfix #1 here separately.
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EiANW 12703 Beta[1].zip

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[pzgndr]

Deleted.

[pzgndr]

Late-War AI Issues, Part 2

I continue to focus most of my playtesting on the late-war scenarios. I've made several AI adjustments and its better. But I generally playtest with HardAI for all opponents and I find that AI France struggles. Lately, I've been playing Austria but with AI France at HardAI and all others at MedAI. Also, I've been playing with half-bids for the late-war; e.g., Fr 15, GB 14, Sp 2, Pr 3, Tu 2, Ru 11, Au 5. See attached file regarding average bids. I am finding that this is resulting in a more satisfying game. AI France is holding its own a bit better and not dipping into Instability as quickly. The allies are not over-running central Europe as quickly.

I mention this to encourage players to experiment some with different AI difficulty settings and also to consider use of the average bids to help compensate for the higher AI difficulty settings. At the end of the day, or game, solitaire players can decide for themselves how satisfying the game was and who most rightly deserves to be declared Winner, despite the calculated VPs. It's just a game. At some point, you can find an optimal balance and enjoy playing.

EIA Average Bids.zip

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[amandkm]

I was unable to install this...

Thanks for all that you do to keep this one alive.

I am going to try something new this time and post draft hotfix EXEs as I resolve reported game bugs. When I have enough material to update the original post with a comprehensive update, I will do so. Players are free to keep up, or at least be aware of reported issues.

For now, I have made the following changes:
- fixed ai_land_amphib_forces to besiege city only if no enemy rural forces
- fixed combat_setup_naval_battle to verify adjacent fleets only for interception battle attackers

UPDATE 12/8/2025
- fixed movetocityExecute to verify besieger/besieged locations
- fixed combat_set_battles to verify rural attackers are current player units, and also verify no current battle set (ships, then rural, then city)
- fixed combat_load_forces to be consistent with combat_set_battles for unit stack indexes (ships, then rural, then city)

UPDATE 12/9/2025
- corrected combat_set_battles to verify all combatants are current player units or enemy units
- corrected movetocityExecute for unit_mass_move into city

UPDATE 12/11/2025
- added redundant checks to cede_minor_province and nation_scan_all_areas_for_control to verify control of Warsaw for creating Kingdom of Poland
- added redundant checks to unassign and remove lone leaders

UPDATE 12/18/2025
- made a few AI adjustments

UPDATE 12/19/2025
- fixed nation_scan_all_areas_for_control to allow owner of Free State at war to remain Free State if enemy DOW invasion fails
- fixed "corrected" combat_set_battles to include minor nation combatants of current player
- fixed combat_build_blockade_run calls to not also call combat_clear_all_battles to clear other naval battles
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EiANW 12703 Beta[2].zip

[pzgndr]

I was unable to install this...
Thanks for all that you do to keep this one alive.

You need to do the official install and official v1.26.04 update first, then the v1.27.03 Beta, and then the hotfix. Try that.

I note that not many players are bothering with my interim Hotfix #2 updates. I get it, folks don't like being playtesters. Regardless, I think the latest hotfix update is really solid. I playtested 1805 as Russia last week and made some AI adjustments for France. I'm playtesting 1805 again as Turkey now and I'm into 1808 without spotting any gameplay issues. I hope to continue my game into 1809 to verify a few things. If all goes well, then I'll post an 'official' Hotfix #2 for folks to play with over the holidays. Either later today or tomorrow. I think we're close with having a release candidate for the next final official update for this game.

[amandkm]

I have 1.26.04 installed. I've tried both downloads and neither works. Which message has the proper 1.27.03 beta update?

[pzgndr]

I have 1.26.04 installed. I've tried both downloads and neither works. Which message has the proper 1.27.03 beta update?

1st post above has v1.27.03 Beta[0]. The hotfix is Beta[2].

[amandkm]

OK, got it! Thank you for your patience. I will take some time over the next week to dig into this. Are there particular areas you'd like a set of eyes on?

[pzgndr]

Hotfix #2 posted. This is a comprehensive update with Data and Setups files included. Changes include:
- fixed ai_land_amphib_forces to besiege city only if no enemy rural forces
- fixed combat_setup_naval_battle to verify adjacent fleets only for interception battle attackers
- adjusted ai_assign_redeploy_units to determine odds ratio at save_areas 2 and 3
- fixed movetocityExecute to verify besieger/besieged locations
- fixed combat_set_battles to verify rural attackers are current player units, and also verify no current battle set (ships, then rural, then city)
- fixed combat_load_forces to be consistent with combat_set_battles for unit stack indexes (ships, then rural, then city)
- corrected combat_set_battles to verify all combatants are current player units or enemy units
- corrected movetocityExecute for unit_mass_move into city
- added redundant checks to cede_minor_province and nation_scan_all_areas_for_control to verify control of Warsaw for creating Kingdom of Poland
- added redundant checks to unassign and remove lone leaders
- changed combat_retreat_units to not "retreat" garrison and surrender city if not a siege battle
- fixed combat_is_special_overwhelming_numbers_situation to accurately assess relative strengths
- fixed nation_scan_all_areas_for_control to allow owner of Free State at war to remain Free State if enemy DOW invasion fails
- fixed "corrected" combat_set_battles to include minor nation combatants of current player
- fixed combat_build_blockade_run calls to not also call combat_clear_all_battles to clear other naval battles
- added new feature for loading average bids when starting a solitaire game. Click Bids button. When asked to Load Master Bid File, click Cancel. When asked to Load Average Player Bids, click Yes. These may all be manually edited by entering new VP Bid values as desired for each player.
- fixed Builds screen messages for unit name when selecting Feudals, Freikorps, and Cossacks and added map outlines for allowable placement areas
- fixed ai_assign_units to raise max corps from 12 to 20

There's a lot here. Bottom line is that most all combat situations are resolved and working correctly now. Nation/province control issues appear to be resolved. There are two new game enhancements: loading average bids and placement areas for special corps are highlighted. Most everything is working correctly now; however, I still see a few minor issues like lone leaders remaining on the map or odd retreats and I'm continuing to investigate what's going on. As players spot anything odd, please let me know and provide a game save so I can fix it. The admin menu is available to PBEM hosts and solitaire players, so please feel free to fix whatever you can to continue your game.

I want to see how this hotfix goes for a couple of weeks over the holidays. If all is well, I may repost it with minor adjustments as v1.27.04 Beta in the new year as a release candidate for the next final official update for this game. Please give this a go if you can. Enjoy! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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EiANW 12703 Beta[2].zip

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[pzgndr]

OK, got it! Thank you for your patience. I will take some time over the next week to dig into this. Are there particular areas you'd like a set of eyes on?

And thank you for your patience! I know I challenge everyone's patience with this game, with all of the back-and-forth fixes and fixes on top of fixes. I've said it before, but if one were to design a more complicated game than EIA then one would be hard-pressed to do so. LOL

I'm hoping that most all gameplay issues (bugs) are resolved now. What I'm really interested in is how the AI computer opponents are doing in the mid-game now at higher difficulty levels (MediumAI and HardAI) and what weaknesses there may be with the AI grand strategies. As I've often mentioned, I cannot make the AI brilliant but I can always make it less stupid if we can identify specific stupid or reckless behaviors. So as you and others observe weaknesses or just interesting situations, please provide some feedback and game saves for me to look at. Have fun with it! Thanks!

[pzgndr]

Hotfix #3 posted. This is again a comprehensive update with Data and Setups files included. Changes include:
- fixed combat_eliminate_all_units to exclude garrisons if not siege battle
- fixed ai_look_at_amphib for 1805 DOWs vs later amphib ops
- fixed naval AI to unload invasion supply depot if not needed
- adjusted use of area_find_enemy_in_range for Prussia/Austria and for later amphib ops
- adjusted surrenderparmscode for conditional surrenders and France restricting enforced peaces on Prussia/Austria
- fixed ai_place_remove_depots for placing specific depots
- fixed ai_assign_units (again) to raise max corps from 12 to 20, and adjust AI France for Prussia/Austria
- fixed unit_move_fleets for -1 factors for AI naval moves
- fixed AI naval moves to restrict risky invasions when enemy is stronger
- fixed find_path (again) for map glitch at Tripoli for blockading previously fixed v1.26.04 for leaving port
- fixed ai_play_reinforce for placing new fleet counters for minors
- fixed lone leader check introduced v1.26.03 that was incorrectly unassigning leaders
- fixed combat_set_battles (again) for an issue regarding some attackers not being set correctly
- fixed ai_run_computer_combat for human player preselected combat chits not working
- adjusted naval AI for redeploying corps from North Africa minors

I had hoped that this would be a minor hotfix and perhaps rolled into a new v1.27.04 version as a release candidate. Alas, I keep finding and fixing more than I would like. And with the holidays I have not had any independent verification playtests to confirm or deny what I am seeing in my playtests. So, another hotfix and we'll see how this goes for a while.

Since it's been quiet and I've had time to play/playtest on my own rather than fix reported issues, it gives me the chance to scrutinize AI behaviors based on what I expect to see (or not see) versus what I observe. So most of these "fixes" are AI adjustments rather than gameplay issues. I did get one PBEM game report with an issue related to setting Standing Orders for defending against AI, which had never been reported before. I did resolve the lone leaders issue. And recently I've been working on the naval AI, specifically to return Turkish corps from Egypt back to Constantinople which wasn't always working well and wasn't working at all to redeploy the Suvarileri cavalry corps. So far, so good. I'm basically happy to be in AI Improvement space rather than bug fix mode.

As always, if there are any lingering gameplay issues then that's my priority to fix. If all stays relatively quiet for a couple of weeks then I'll look at posting a v1.27.04 release candidate and allow that to sink in for a couple of months before going final. That's the plan. Enjoy!
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EiANW 12703 Beta[3].zip

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