NEW: State of the Game and Future Plans as of June 2017

[pzgndr]

Hello, it's been a year since I posted State of the Game and Future Plans as of June 2016. A year ago I set out with some ambitious goals:

The plan is to complete a v1.21 official release in 2016 to build upon the work already done for v1.20 and v1.21, and also to tackle some of the major bugs and several other minor issues. This should also include new setups for EiA v3.1 and EiH v4.0.

It took a bit longer to get the official release out, but v1.21.04 was finally released in April. I think I largely succeeded in continuing development where Marshall Ellis left off with wide-screen implementation. Some notable improvements include:
- Numerous bug fixes
- AI enhancements
- Separate campaigns for both classic Empires in Arms and alternate Empires in Harm

For the past few months I have been struggling to migrate the game code to a new compiler. Despite making some headway, I have determined that the challenges are greater than I anticipated. So I have decided to end that effort and return to doing what worked for the past year. At least the game runs in WinXP compatibility mode and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future under Windows 10. I know there are some data issues with PBEM file transfers and other quirks in the game, and hopefully I can track these down and resolve them.

I had hoped that the official update would attract some players back. This is still a great Napoleonic grand strategy wargame! If you have played the latest v1.21.04 update, please share some feedback to let me and others know what you think. Going forward, I'd like to continue doing what I was doing to work off issues from the old Mantis bug reports: bug fixes, AI improvements, game enhancements, and the 1812 scenario. Resolving PBEM issues is a priority. I have some other priorities in mind, but I'd like to hear from players. What do you want to see done?

[Kai]

Really appreciate all the additional work on this game.

You asked what players wanted to see done.

I use EIA mostly as a campaign engine for miniature battles. Anything that could be done to facilitate miniature battles would be greatly appreciated.

I have not tested the new build, but in the past, the naval battle miniature support was buggy (with the option to resolve via miniatures not being available for blockade running, for example.)

I will play a few games and provide feedback.

Thanks again.

Kai



[Edit]

Fired up the game to give it a test run. Can't start it. Get a floating point divide by zero error on the load screen. Running Windows 7. Tried various compatibility modes. Not successful.

[Pans]

Hi Bill,
thanks a lot for doing all this work.
We (a seven Player PBEM game) using the latest Version v1.21.04 and enjoying the stable gameplay so far. As we are in the June eco turn 1805 we have not much to Report but one issue just popped up - the loaning Money bug. The MP can send Money but it will not arrive. as this is an old issue you possibly have this on your list already.
cheers
Andreas

[pzgndr]

Kai, there are 4 items on my Mantis list related to 3rd party combat resolution that I do want to get to. Not forgotten!

Sorry to hear about your error but this sounds like an install issue? I recommend a clean install of v1.00 and then apply the comprehensive v1.21.04 update, and maybe also a reboot. I had this running fine on a Win7 laptop last year and others are running the game OK. Hope this helps.

[pzgndr]

It's been a couple of months so I want to provide a quick update. Last month I posted a v1.22.00 beta that addressed some PBEM and Third Party Combat issues. I have since been working on some Kingdom and combat issues. So far, here's the list of issues addressed in v1.22.01:

Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.22.01
=============================================
- 0000061: [Game Enhancement] Optional rule Overwhelming Numbers - resolved, but 6:1 criteria and no defender withdraw exception.
- 0000157: [Rules Deviation] Unable to reinforce into a battle after the round in which the battle completes - closed, leave as is.
- 0000166: [AI Enhancement] AI doesn't defend its navy in port - resolved?
- 0000210: [UI Enhancement] Battle Casualty Selection Buttons are hard to see - closed, O/S in charge of displaying the face of speedbutton.
- 0000214: [Rules Deviation] Disbandment of the Holy Roman Empire should be required before forming Confederation of the Rhine - closed, leave as is.
- 0000257: [UI Enhancement] Put focus on corps after siege success - closed, players can set Auto Garrison Level.
- 0000304: [UI Enhancement] Battle Summaries not posted - resolved.
- 0000357: [Rules Deviation] Reinforcement rules - closed, leave as is.
- 0000381: [Game Bug] Ottoman Garrisons have issues not merging or not being able to add factors to them and in side by side display - closed, could not reproduce.
- 0000512: [Rules Deviation] More than 3 Provinces of Home Nation can be ceded; also capital province should be cedeable - closed, leave as is.
- 0000599: [Rules Deviation] Corps in Garrisons are not counted as part of a garrison to contest control of city upon DOW - closed, garrison forces only per rules.
- 0000628: [Rules Deviation] Corps in city areas should be able to withdraw into cities if there is capacity for them - closed, all retreats must be into an adjacent land area per rules.
- 0000691: [Game Bug] Unable to add Nelson to blockading fleet during reinforcement phase - closed, leave as is.
- 0000698: [Rules Deviation] Defeated fleet fled to enemy-controlled port - resolved.
- 0000699: [Game Enhancement] Make setting orders for one fleet in a stack automatically changes the orders for all fleets in the stack - closed, leave as is.
- 0000704: [Game Bug] Tie result does not register in game - closed.
- 0000717: [UI Bug] Selecting all forces from second page of outflank does not allow removal of casualties – resolved.
- 0000727: [Game Bug] Minor countries showing in log as winning or gaining political points - closed.
- 0000741: [Game Bug] Fleet can attack evil twin - closed, could not reproduce.
- 0000742: [Game Bug] When French and British ships are present in same area, Nelson is placed on French ships - closed, could not reproduce.
- 0000744: [Rules Deviation] Only one of many corps in an area able to besiege - closed.
- 0000771: [Rules Deviation] Capture of transports should require fleet to declare an attack - closed, leave as is.
- 0000788: [Rules Deviation] Implement Forced Naval Retreat Rule - resolved, also deleted -1 penalty for all light ships.
- 0000798: [Game Bug] Timing of naval evac is incorrect – resolved.
- 0000804: [Rules Deviation] Loser of trivial battles incorrectly losing political points - resolved.
- 0000829: [AI Enhancement] AI never attempts to reinforce - resolved?
- 0000830: [AI Enhancement] AI never commits guard – resolved?
- 0000835: [Game Bug] Poland not receiving money or manpower - resolved, added income and manpower collection at Kingdom creation.
- 0000844: [Game Bug] Transport fleets without escorts attacked in port fight back – resolved.
- 0000850: [AI Bug] Battle crash when selecting units to lose - closed, could not reproduce.
- 0000853: [Game Bug] Free States not at war with same enemy as controlling major – closed.
- 0000860: [Game Bug] Producing units in a Kingdom – closed, could not reproduce.
- Piracy rules improvements – resolved (see 12.2.1).


Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars - 1.22.00
=============================================
- 0000106: [Game Enhancement] Implement external combat option for naval battle – closed.
- 0000581: [UI Enhancement] Warning of extensive foraging losses – resolved, to provide more warnings for player confirmation.
- 0000619: [Game Bug] Cannot Specify a Surrender in 3rd Party Combat – closed, PPs are supposed to be awarded if corps or fortifications are involved.
- 0000670: [Game Bug] There is no 'draw but defender withdraws' option in 3rd Party Combat System – closed, only the attacker retreats in draw.
- 0000782: [PBEM Bug] Diplomacy Phase messages – resolved?
- 0000817: [PBEM Bug] Awaiting battle results pop up message is confusing – resolved.
- 0000846: [Game Bug] Lend money to Major Power – resolved?
- 0000849: [Game Enhancement] Can't use 3rd Party Combat Resolution when running a blockade – closed, running blockade forces an immediate combat resolution during naval move not naval combat phase.
- 0000859: [PBEM Enhancement] Clearing PBEM Battle Folder – resolved?
- Restore phase skip for simultaneous diplomacy – resolved?
- Add prompts for PBEM phase skips if no reinforcements arriving or no naval forces – resolved.
- Cosmetic improvements for View Turn Income Summary readability – resolved.


Some items are marked "resolved?" because I still need some independent confirmation or see the AI actually do stuff like commit guard or get reinforcement. Playtesters are welcome (Hint!). I'd like to still tackle AI-vs-AI combat using chits and proportional naval losses for v1.22.01 but these are tricky.

My intent is to proceed into v1.22.02 and address alliance issues and surrender rules. The intent for v1.22.03 is to work on the 1812 scenarios and some other stuff. After that, wrap it up and shoot for another official release with v1.22.04 or whatever. Maybe by end of the year.

Marshall Ellis mentioned to me that he is still interested in getting back into EIA code development, perhaps in the next couple of months. We shall see!

[Kaeller]

About that divide by zero error, it´s old, I´ve seen it on 32bit versions of Windows 8 and 10, don´t remember of seeing it on a 64bit Windows. Compatibility mode doesn´t make any difference here.

And thanks for keeping on improving this game, my whishlist is only a better ai for solo play.

[Jimmi_Magnus]

I come by this forum once every 6 months or so, keeping my fingers crossed, just in case.

So, after seeing this post I finally got around to installing this update, and boy....
I started a game as Prussia and immidiately France declared war.
I was almostholding my own for a few months, but the AI was a lot better than in the past.
Diverted its forces, attacked several minors, and concentrated, when required.
I think it's safe to say that it's the first time I've actually been able to lose a war against the AI.

I think I might end up dusting EiA off and taking it down from the shelf after this update.
Please keep up the good work.

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Jimmi_Magnus
the AI was a lot better than in the past

Thank you. Marshall had made some changes to make the AI smarter at surrendering and I made some adjustments to DOWs. Getting the AI to build ships and minor forces helped a lot. There is still room for improvement. I'd like to tackle alliance issues to get the AI cooperating more with both human and other AI players. I've been busy/distracted these past couple months but hope to get back to EIA soon.

[pzgndr]

Heads up. I've had a breakthrough getting proportional naval losses to work, by unit type only without regard to mixed nationalities. I want to playtest a bit more and then wrap up v1.22.01 for release this weekend. Not as a beta but as a semi-official interim release while I continue to work on v1.22. It will be a simple zip file download to be installed over the previous official comprehensive update, not as a new comprehensive update with installer package.

[pzgndr]

FYI, here's an example of proportional naval losses. France started with 46 heavy and 17 light, and the combat results gave France 20 losses. So, 17/63 x 20 = 5.4, rounded down to 5 light ships max. In the screenshot, France has taken 5 light ships as losses (17 - 5 = 12 LF remaining). In attempting to take another light ship loss, the program breaks and prompts you to take a heavy ship loss.

I have now verified this works for both the human player using the combat form and for the AI selecting naval casualities. In this example, Great Britain was limited to 2 light ships max out of 9 losses and the battle summary showed casualties as 7 heavy and 2 light. Score!

[Pans]

Hi Bill,
that´s great.
FYI - we (our 7 Player PBEM Group) have just installed the v1.22.00 Beta to give it a try.
We are in June 1806 and will have shortly some Money Transfer coming. I will Keep you updated.
Andreas

[Agathosdaimon]

AWESOME, i love the continued work going into this masterpiece

[pzgndr]

I just posted the v1.22.01 patch. For those who are interested, attached is the Mantis bug list that I have been manually working off. Of note is that I worked off about 21% of the documented issues with the previous v1.21.04 official patch, and another 25% with the v1.22.01 interim patch. Slowly but surely trying to work off the rest of the list, either to actually resolve the issues or to close them out as not be resolvable (at least for the time being). Hope this helps.

[gazfun]

Will have a look at it again