EIA v1.27.04 Beta Available

[pzgndr]

Attached is the v1.27.04 Beta for the next v1.27.xx official update. This should be applied over the comprehensive v1.23.08 SetupRelease Installer (10/11/2021) and latest official v1.26.04 Update (10/7/2024) game files and any previous v1.27.03 Beta files. You should be able to extract (copy&paste) the new Beta files from the attached zip file directly into your v1.26.04 install or previous v1.27.03 Beta install.

Release notes so far:
- fixed unit_unload_unit to verify loaded unit loc and sub_loc
- fixed unit_validate_all_unit_locs to exclude units loaded on transports
- fixed detect_unit_location to verify enemy sub_location to move friendly unit to other sub_location
- fixed unit_can_unit_goto_city to set ALallycity as default
- fixed area_find_over_garrisoned_city to verify if city undersiege
- added additional checks to shut down siege battles
- revised movetocityExecute, redundant checks added recently may not be working correctly so I commented these out for now
- added additional checks for AI creating garrisons (redundant garrison or garrison with enemy present)
- fixed combat_find_retreat_area for kingdom minor unit issues

There are two annoying graphics glitches that I am aware of that I cannot quite figure out. One is the Surrender Settings screen where occasionally the Conditions are not correctly displayed. Reloading the game turn generally corrects this. The other (unless I fixed this with the naval transports issue) is related to certain naval combats that cause fleets in port to not show on the map. Generally only one fleet is shown but all fleets are displayed in the Selected Area box at the bottom and may be selected there. This usually corrects itself in the next turn. So, be aware of these glitches and their workarounds.

The previous v1.27.03 Beta went through five hotfixes over the past four months. Lots of playtesting, lots of reported issues, and lots of resolutions to fix the lingering issues and continue to make improvements to the AI computer opponent. After some final playtesting over the past week, we're comfortable releasing v1.27.04 Beta as a candidate version for the next (final) official update. I've been at this for about 10 years now, having taken over code development from Marshall Ellis, and I'm ready for a break. I want the final update to be darn near perfect, or as close as possible, so we can step away and just enjoy playing the game with whatever minor blemishes or AI weaknesses remain.

I fully expect that there may yet be a few more lingering issues that need attention. The AI computer opponent will still need some fine-tuning as more gameplay reveals weaknesses. But, hopefully, we won't need more than a couple of hotfixes moving forward. (Famous last words...) And here's the plan for moving forward... I want to wait a couple of months before going final. I want players to play the game and verify that all is well, or, if issues are spotted, to report issues and provide good game saves (.dat and .sav files).

Thank you to my playtesters and all others who have provided feedback to keep this thing moving along over the years and over the past few months. Let's finish strong. Enjoy!
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EiANW 12704 Beta[0].zip

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