New Open Beta Commander: The Great War v1.20 now available!

[lordzimoa]

New Open Beta Commander: The Great War v1.20 now available!

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.as ... =&#3265366

Hello All,

There is a new Public Beta available in the Members Club. It has a number of changes and improvements, including many effecting the naval war, and added Language support.

Important! This build is using a test PBEM server, so you will be unable to continue your current live server games until the patch comes out of beta.

Please give it a try, and let us know how it works for you.


Change History:

v1.2.0 – Feb 5, 2013

Changes and Improvements:

German and Italian language options added to main menu.
Ship defense increased.
Port & home attack bonuses reduced.
1914 Fleet sizes increased.
Naval upgrade costs lowered.
Loading screens added with random gameplay tip.
German convoys spawn if Entente naval power is broken (or disbanded).
DOWs of Entente nations now occur during Entente turn, so they now get the first moves. France & Belgium are excluded from this change.
Canadian corps now spawns in a UK port city.
Higher ammo cost for Bomber & Airship attacks.
Fighters now correctly intercept enemy strategic attacks against empty cities.
Cities recover faster from damage.
Disband refund is 100% in home territory (owned by unit's nation), 50% in friendly non-home territory, and none in enemy territory.
Most nations now surrender quicker rather than fighting to the death.
Entrenchment no longer stopped when being attacked by enemy (if not forced to retreat).
Fighter & Armoured Car LOS increased & cost reduced.
Better handling of pbem game creation time-outs.
Numerous bug fixes and other tweaks.

[stockwellpete]

Some very good things there. One thing that might be missing from the list (unless it is in "the other fixes" mentioned at the bottom) is the Russian ports situation in the Baltic where Petrograd and Helsinki should really be ports. Has that been included in the patch please?

[krieg63]

Not realy satisfy with most of the change.

nothing about train

nothing about cavalry

nothing about diplomatic

nothing about Russian port

nothing about landing

what about US entry?

Disband refund is 100% in home territory (owned by unit's nation), 50% in friendly non-home territory, and none in enemy territory.

German player will still be able to disband after russian revolution
Brits player could still be able to disband med garrison

It's only an advantage for the defender upon the aggressor. nothing historical.

Entrenchment no longer stopped when being attacked by enemy (if not forced to retreat).
don't remember any discussion about it. again an advantage for defence

Fighter & Armoured Car LOS increased & cost reduced.
what's purpose here. to have plenty of Armoured Car. unhistorical

Higher ammo cost for Bomber & Airship attacks.
at the opposite, only advantage of Bomber disappear.

the only good point for me
German convoys spawn if Entente naval power is broken (or disbanded).
DOWs of Entente nations now occur during Entente turn, so they now get the first moves. France & Belgium are excluded from this change.

and
Most nations now surrender quicker rather than fighting to the death.
but need to be tested

look like i will continue to play with house rules

[stockwellpete]

According to a chap in the Matrix forum the Russians still only have a port at Riga, not at Petrograd or Helsinki. Might that still be considered please? I think it is a relatively easy change for you to make.

[lordzimoa]

Of course, this is an Open Beta and more changes are planned before we release an official version... like French language support, map-editor and whatever feedback, suggestions, bugs, problems, wishes we collect.

This is the reason why we use Open Beta`s in the first place.

We do what we can and are open to suggestions and improvements, eg. we are working on a more elaborate diplomacy system, experimenting with destroyers and other naval improvements as posted, but some of these may only end up in a new game based on the Commander engine, if possible we may back patch into CTGW, but not all will make it, it depends on so many factors, in theory it all sounds easy and splendid changes, but anyone who ever created a game and code knows that this is theory in practice the most simple and tiny changes sometimes cause big problems.

A good example was the animation bug we had in the third party open source video codec Theora we use to play some in game animations, like the turning loading gearwheel... that little bug cost us two weeks to conquer, rewriting a lot of code and disabling almost half of game functionality...

Reason why we handle with care: stability, bugs, balance, MP, localization compatibility, time...

So please test and report your feedback, we are listening and do what we can to accommodate your wishes, but understand not all sometimes can or will be granted and if they don`t get in, be sure we have good reasons.

[stockwellpete]

Thanks very much for your reply. I understand that everything is not as easy as us players would like to think. And it is very good news to hear that you are working on a more nuanced diplomacy system for the game. I appreciate that you can only spend a limited amount of time on each game before you have to move on, but given that the centenary of WW1 is rapidly approaching, this might be a title that warrants some extra resources as I expect there to be a lot of media coverage, new films and books etc about the war. Just to give an example, I live in London quite near to the Imperial War Museum, which has a lot of WW1 exhibits in it. The museum is currently undergoing major refurbishment and will fully re-open again in July 2014 to mark the centenary of the beginning of the war. There will be lots of publicity and events and I expect the place will be packed with tourists and schoolkids after it has re-opened.

[stockwellpete]

Aha! Port facilities for Petrograd have been added to the new patch list in the Matrix forum!

[FOARP]

Of course, this is an Open Beta and more changes are planned before we release an official version... like French language support, map-editor and whatever feedback, suggestions, bugs, problems, wishes we collect.

This is the reason why we use Open Beta`s in the first place.

We do what we can and are open to suggestions and improvements, eg. we are working on a more elaborate diplomacy system, experimenting with destroyers and other naval improvements as posted, but some of these may only end up in a new game based on the Commander engine, if possible we may back patch into CTGW, but not all will make it, it depends on so many factors, in theory it all sounds easy and splendid changes, but anyone who ever created a game and code knows that this is theory in practice the most simple and tiny changes sometimes cause big problems.

A good example was the animation bug we had in the third party open source video codec Theora we use to play some in game animations, like the turning loading gearwheel... that little bug cost us two weeks to conquer, rewriting a lot of code and disabling almost half of game functionality...

Reason why we handle with care: stability, bugs, balance, MP, localization compatibility, time...

So please test and report your feedback, we are listening and do what we can to accommodate your wishes, but understand not all sometimes can or will be granted and if they don`t get in, be sure we have good reasons.

Glad to hear you're working on a more nuanced diplomacy system. Plus - thinking of a further Commander title? CEAW2 perhaps?

[krieg63]

does that mean we will have to bought a new game ?

[Myrddraal]

nothing about train

The armoured train defensive capability has been reduced in the patch. That is one of the 'other fixes'.

[DukeOfLight]

canadian corps in my game last night its still spawn in canada

[Myrddraal]

Did you start this as a fresh game after installing the patch?

[DukeOfLight]

Yes, of course....play as allies at balanced level

[jenner68]

I miss the "undo"-Function like in Panzer Corps. Is there a possibility for the next patch?

[Douaumont]

I really love this game, and this latest beta patch has definitely helped with a number of issues. In regards to the map, Williamsburg is/was a minor city, and should not be on the map. The correct city (i.e. major port and US Navy base) for that spot is Norfolk.

[Douaumont]

Played 1.20 through a number of times from both sides starting in 1914. AI remains very good (Played on balanced setting). However, the German fleet keeps doing the kamikaze attack in the North Sea each and every time. Definitely needs to be fixed, especially given the major blow to morale that the loss of battle fleets causes. Also, while I have had the Canadian corps show up in Britain (as per update), I have also still had it show up in Canada in other games, as reported earlier in this thread. Fantastic game guys, looking forward to the next round of fine-tuning.

[kirk23]

However, the German fleet keeps doing the kamikaze attack in the North Sea each and every time. Definitely needs to be fixed, especially given the major blow to morale that the loss of battle fleets causes.

Maybe there should be a die roll to see if the Kaiser allow's the High Seas Fleet to sail as per history,as he did not like his precious Dreadnoughts risked on fool hardy missions!

[Douaumont]

New mechanism for surrender works great in 1.20, *much* more realistic for both sides.

However there is a problem. The game crashes constantly with any non-1914 scenario start, in fact I can't even play one turn to completion. This has happened as CP and Allies. No problems before (original or 1.14), and no problems with 1.20 playing start date of 1914. However, none of the other scenarios (1915, 1916, etc.) work with 1.20.

[stockwellpete]

I am not playing with the new beta but I still have one game going (we started just after Xmas). A couple of things have happened that might be bugs . . . firstly, the French and the Italian battleships were sunk in the same turn (June 1917) but only the French lost 10% in NM (the SOS message only came up once); secondly, the Austro-Hungarians captured Malta but then did not get a green dot zone around the port.

[Myrddraal]

You only get green dot zones around cities that were originally yours. Captured ports still provide a port bonus for ships actually in the port itself, but no green dot zone.