Ultimate General: Gettysburg - Sid Meier Would be Proud

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Ultimate General: Gettysburg - Sid Meier Would be Proud

Zawath: Sep 9, 2011

Available now on Steam's Early Access

The guy responsible for the famous DarthMod (made for the Total War series) has now released his first standalone game called Ultimate General: Gettysburg. In many ways the game is similar to good old Sid Meier's Gettysburg or Take Command series, so you can expect to see tons of pixel guys shooting at each other with muskets in realtime. The developers are also planning to add multiplayer in the near future.

Features:

quote:

Smart AI Commanders
Ultimate General: Gettysburg does not use �AI gameplay cheats� because it does not need them. The game�s difficulty is accomplished only by nine distinctive AI personalities, each with their own advantages and special skills. AI Commanders are able to evaluate and gain tactical superiority in real time, reacting according to their different commanding skills, aggressively or defensively, heroically or cunningly and resemble different, competent human players.

Multi-Day Dynamic Battle
On the morning of July 1st 1863, the two armies meet near Gettysburg. Reinforcements arrive from historically accurate directions as the battle progresses, however, random events, delays and tactical differences are always a possibility that can change the results of each engagement compared to history.

Can you re-enact Pickett�s Charge? What if Lee attacked the center of the Union Army early in the morning of July 2nd of 1863 instead of attempting to flank the extreme left in the afternoon? What would happen if Meade counter-attacked on July 4th 1863? These questions and more can be answered within the game engine of Ultimate General: Gettysburg.

The battle is dynamically fought in time phases and can last up to 4 days. Each day can be separated by up to 3 time phases and the armies� condition and positioning on the map are saved.

According to battle events, you have the possibility to take decisions that can change the tide of the battle based on your prior tactical prowess. For example, when leading the Confederates, on the morning of July 2nd, you can choose to attack at Cemetery Hill and not make a delayed flanking maneuver at Peach Orchard� if you have managed to take Seminary Ridge the previous day! You can even choose to defend and wait for your AI opponent to take the initiative between days. These choices will greatly increase the number of possible battle outcomes and challenges.

Detailed Map of Gettysburg
Utilizing satellite images and historical maps, every major location, house, ridge and hill are depicted as accurately as possible within the game�s unique art style. If you are an American Civil War enthusiast, you will be especially happy to notice the amount of precision and information that the map provides. Not only will you be able to better understand the historical layout of the map, you will also be able to make use of each location and landmark in battle, thanks to the simulation of cover, concealment, terrain and high ground in the game.

Historically Accurate Forces and Leaders
Ultimate General: Gettysburg includes the full order of battle for the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Unit sizes will range from the small artillery batteries to vast infantry brigades with cavalry and skirmishers in between.

All brigades have troop numbers and differing competencies based on historical facts. Additionally, all artillery battery numbers and types are correctly simulated. Lastly, major generals and officers actively participate in the battlefield to organize and support the armies and will also appear in after action battle reports to help you monitor battle progress.

Easy Controls & Unit Self-Awareness
Drag simple movement arrows to command large forces easily. Units do not need your micromanagement because they are able to act on their own initiative and re-align, switch targets, withdraw and form battle lines without player input. Consequently, you are able to give generic commands to your units and can rely on them to fight efficiently without the need for �babysitting�.

Advanced Line of Sight
Elevation and obstructions will affect unit visibility realistically. Units may make use of concealment and cover to survive artillery barrages, stage ambushes and more, but beware � the AI will attempt to do the same to you. The units enter or exit the Fog of War gradually with a fade in/out effect that helps you perceive their hiding and course seamlessly.

Numerous Tactical Factors
In Ultimate General: Gettysburg, you will realize that army units are not �machines� that blindly follow orders, but will need to conserve strength and courage for decisive battle actions. Every basic tactical element that is expected for a strategy game is incorporated into gameplay. Most importantly, morale is affected by many factors including flank or rear attacks, casualties, volley shocks, artillery fire and fatigue.

Furthermore, every inch of the map has a strategic role. Sloping, terrain type and obstructions will affect unit movement realistically. Elevations, ridges and hills provide excellent firing positions and give increased sight, morale and accuracy to troops stationed there.

By placing your units close to each other, they become more resilient to charges and flank attacks but get more vulnerable to projectile fire. Thus, forcing your enemy to keep his lines dense while you shell him with artillery can be a valid tactic. As the condition of your units changes dynamically during the battle, the effectiveness of your whole army is affected. For example, units fire more coordinated volleys when they have high morale and have more discipline and tight formations.

These and many more deep gameplay mechanics are packed into a simple and intuitive GUI that aims to ease the game experience for the player without overwhelming with complex statistics.

Custom Battles
Different AI Commanders and the dynamic multi-day battle will provide countless ways to enjoy the Battle of Gettysburg every time you replay it. The replayability increases with additional custom battles. As you fight the Multi-Day Battle of Gettysburg, you can unlock dozens of speculative scenarios that you may play afterwards for quick battles, either randomized or with full unit strength and default army deployments.

Screenshots:

Really nice 22-minute video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_b2xJ_t-VU

# ? Jun 12, 2014 07:37

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 16:07

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

This honestly looks pretty cool, Sid Meier's Gettysburg was a great game. I love the art style. Yet, it's the dude behind DarthMod... so I'll be waiting for the reviews.

And not the steam reviews which consist of DarthMod fanboys it looks like.

Sheng-Ji Yang fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Jun 12, 2014

# ? Jun 12, 2014 18:47

Carolus: Dec 21, 2009

Bought into the early access yesterday, 10$/7Euro is extremely cheap. I�m really enjoying it. At first the pace was slightly fast but I got used to it. Love the way movement is handled, very intuitive! Is there any way to change the width of a units line?

# ? Jun 14, 2014 15:02

Mans: Sep 14, 2011; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

It's surprisingly good for, well, a Darth Mod productions.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 15:40

Diogines: Dec 22, 2007; Beaky the Tortoise says, click here to join our choose Your Own Adventure Game!

Paradise Lost: Clash of the Heavens!

I am conflicted.

On the one hand, this looks very cool.

On the other hand, the guy who makes the Darthmod mods for Total War is kind of a pompous jackass and I don't want to give him any money? A shame.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 16:36

Huskalator: Mar 17, 2009; Proud ~~fascist~~
anti-anti-fascist

I'm having fun with it. It definitely needs some refinement but I think that's to be expected from early access.

I'm not a Civil War buff but I'm not sure artillery should be able to retreat 50ish yards after I take it's position then just turn around and start blasting away again with canister at my troops.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 17:23

George H.W. Cunt: Oct 6, 2010

I loved Gettysburg and Antietam back in the day. This looks promising but the creator is a douche. Of course so was rocket for DayZ and the mod was fun enough. gently caress it, I'll give it a go since it's only :10bux:

As long as there is no Star Wars randomly placed about

# ? Jun 14, 2014 18:11

ate shit on live tv: Feb 15, 2004; by Azathoth

Huskalator posted:

I'm having fun with it. It definitely needs some refinement but I think that's to be expected from early access.

I'm not a Civil War buff but I'm not sure artillery should be able to retreat 50ish yards after I take it's position then just turn around and start blasting away again with canister at my troops.

I haven't played this yet and I'm not a full-on civil war gronard, but yea one of the reason Napoleonic warfare 'worked' was because of how important and permanent positioning was. If your artillery was overrun, for all intents and purposes it was gone. The packing up and deployment of artillery was relatively slow especially with lack of training, experience, and the chaos of battle.

Here is a great article on Napoleonic Artillery
http://www.wtj.com/articles/napart/

Now while a true civil buff would say that the American Civil war wasn't really Napoleonic any longer, I think the comparisons with artillery of that era are insightful.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 19:05

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

Diogines posted:

On the other hand, the guy who makes the Darthmod mods for Total War is kind of a pompous jackass and I don't want to give him any money? A shame.

I think he's a lot better making his own game rather than making GBS threads on CA for making theirs. The tone's a lot better.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 19:07

cool new Metroid game: Oct 7, 2009; hail satan

I've put in a couple of hours and I'm enjoying it. it can be a pain in the rear end to figure out where the high ground is sometimes and line of sight though. also needs a mini map.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 19:09

Carolus: Dec 21, 2009

Megadyptes posted:

I've put in a couple of hours and I'm enjoying it. it can be a pain in the rear end to figure out where the high ground is sometimes and line of sight though. also needs a mini map.

Developers said they were working on some kind of solution, maybe an overlay you can toggle on off. I dont think a minimap is needed since you can already zoom out quite far.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 21:26

Pornographic Memory: Dec 17, 2008

I hope they intend to put in previews of where your units will be positioned when you give them movement orders, and let you set their rotation ahead of time. It's kind of mind-boggling that a guy who so (in)famously modded TW games would miss these things.

# ? Jun 14, 2014 21:32

Carolus: Dec 21, 2009

Pornographic Memory posted:

I hope they intend to put in previews of where your units will be positioned when you give them movement orders, and let you set their rotation ahead of time. It's kind of mind-boggling that a guy who so (in)famously modded TW games would miss these things.

This bugs me too, as well as simply shifting a unit left or right makes it turn and expose its flank. Something like holding ALT or something and draging the unit should make it not change facing.

# ? Jun 15, 2014 14:37

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

Carolus posted:

This bugs me too, as well as simply shifting a unit left or right makes it turn and expose its flank. Something like holding ALT or something and draging the unit should make it not change facing.

I believe oblique movement is something that'll be added soon.

# ? Jun 15, 2014 14:39

justsharkbait: Dec 20, 2013; HOO HA HA; Grimey Drawer

I liked Sid's Gettysburg, so I will be giving this game a try. It looks very promising.

# ? Jun 15, 2014 18:13

ZwobotJones: Apr 30, 2009; Click click

justsharkbait posted:

I liked Sid's Gettysburg, so I will be giving this game a try. It looks very promising.

Darth might be a douche but the game is really enjoyable. It's pretty satisfying to retake a position after being pushed back over and over.

# ? Jun 15, 2014 18:41

Carolus: Dec 21, 2009

So it seems the quality of the troops is a huge factor. I had (I think) the confederate general Armistead�s unit of 1800 something men advance on me. My guess is his troops were 1 star wuality, I answered with a unit of maybe 700-800 men but with 3 stars. My guys would fire almost 3x as fast as the rebel unit and despite the numerical difference the rebels lost too much morale and had to pull back. On their next try they charged (same units involved) and and the rebels retreated again.

# ? Jun 15, 2014 20:00

nollek: Jun 13, 2007; We speak for Earth

Game looks pretty interesting. I've been watching TheGhostie play it for a little while on twitch but it seems like even if you kill 2k more than the enemy and capture all but one of the points it ends in a draw on the same map every time. Is there any redeeming qualities to it yet or is it as early access bare bones as I'm seeing so far. I love Civil War games so much and haven't seen anything like this since Robert E Lee Civil War Generals, I may just pick it up anyway.

edit: So I assume you cant precisely place troops in a perfect line like on Total War, that seems like one of the things you must have in a game like this.

nollek fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Jun 18, 2014

# ? Jun 18, 2014 02:42

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

I can't play any battles as there is no UI and I can't seem to give any orders to my soldiers, however the game actually runs as the enemy moves and attacks and cannons fire. So I just have to sit there and watch my army get massacred. :negative:

# ? Jun 18, 2014 19:26

cool new Metroid game: Oct 7, 2009; hail satan

click and drag

# ? Jun 18, 2014 21:04

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

Megadyptes posted:

click and drag

drat I'm dumb.

Is there not supposed to be a UI at all yet?

# ? Jun 18, 2014 21:50

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

Sheng-ji Yang posted:

drat I'm dumb.

Is there not supposed to be a UI at all yet?

Looks like a UI to me, though some things are a bit bare bones.

# ? Jun 18, 2014 22:01

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

Panzeh posted:

Looks like a UI to me, though some things are a bit bare bones.

Yeah, I don't have any of that...

e: works in windowed mode

Sheng-Ji Yang fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Jun 18, 2014

# ? Jun 18, 2014 22:04

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

Sheng-ji Yang posted:

Yeah, I don't have any of that...

Must be a bug.

# ? Jun 18, 2014 22:06

cool new Metroid game: Oct 7, 2009; hail satan

new patch, some nice poo poo with group formations and the like
http://steamcommunity.com/games/306660/announcements/detail/1299601471431176192

# ? Jun 18, 2014 22:45

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

They really need to just add in a way to skip the Buford part of the battle because the game does not handle skirmishers/videttes all that well, and it's frustrating to both use and go up against these guys. Just take us straight to I Corps, because brigades and batteries are where this game is at.

# ? Jun 19, 2014 02:37

Walamor: Dec 31, 2006; Fork 'em Devils!

So the game is now officially released, and it seems like there's generally good reviews. Is it worth the $15, beta goons?

# ? Oct 16, 2014 22:57

George H.W. Cunt: Oct 6, 2010

I haven't played it since it first came out but it was worth 15 bux then. With multiplayer and better ai I imagine it's must better. If you liked Gettysburg youd like it

# ? Oct 16, 2014 23:13

Walamor: Dec 31, 2006; Fork 'em Devils!

SaltLick posted:

I haven't played it since it first came out but it was worth 15 bux then. With multiplayer and better ai I imagine it's must better. If you liked Gettysburg youd like it

I was on the fence, bought it, had a fantastic time. Buy this if you're on the fence about it.

# ? Oct 17, 2014 02:22

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

Game is really great.

# ? Oct 17, 2014 02:37

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

One thing I will say is that the opening scenario with Buford is not very good because they give the union a ton of little pinprick units that either require the use of an entire confederate brigade to defend against or allowing all your artillery for the scenario to get routed immediately.

It's just a problem with the way the game scales. Once the battle is in motion, and both sides are committed, the game's a lot better.

# ? Oct 17, 2014 02:42

Fish and Chimps: Feb 16, 2012; mmmfff; Fun Shoe

I can also attest to the awesomeness of this game. Buy it, it's definitely worth the (low) price.

# ? Oct 17, 2014 16:49

HerpicleOmnicron5: May 31, 2013; How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?

I think that there are some big flaws (A single unit getting past me and taking Culp's Hill, whilst I have dudes going to take it back battle ends, now pushed back to south of Gettysburg even though I have EVERY OTHER POINT) but the game as a whole is fantastic, and with post-launch support it will only get better.

# ? Oct 17, 2014 17:03

davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

I really hate that I can get behind the enemy with a calvary unit and go ham on their artillery, but it seems to do little damage.

If 100+ dudes on horseback charge your 60 man field gun unit they should route the poo poo out of it or kill so many of the gun crew the arty unit disbands. Instead it just slowly pushes the arty unit around the map a little.

Also flanking attacks and attacking from the rear on the infantry formations don't seem to do nearly enough damage either in morale or casualties either.

# ? Oct 19, 2014 05:45

Carolus: Dec 21, 2009

davecrazy posted:

If 100+ dudes on horseback charge your 60 man field gun unit they should route the poo poo out of it or kill so many of the gun crew the arty unit disbands. Instead it just slowly pushes the arty unit around the map a little.

I find that when charging lone artillery with the cavalry unit it quickly kills the unit. Problem for me is taking casualties from surrounding artillery to the point that I can no longer charge with the cavalry.. But usually it will have killed a few arty units before that.

# ? Oct 20, 2014 16:09

davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

How the hell do you deal with the Union Calvary at the beginning of day 1? As soon as that arty reinforcement comes on the map they're all over the rear and only Heaths skirmishers seem mobile enough to harass them.

e: Arty usage and placement is an exercise in frustration. My guns are eitther being obliterated because they're too close or sitting idle because they don't have LoS.

davecrazy fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Oct 21, 2014

# ? Oct 21, 2014 04:28

HerpicleOmnicron5: May 31, 2013; How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?

davecrazy posted:

How the hell do you deal with the Union Calvary at the beginning of day 1? As soon as that arty reinforcement comes on the map they're all over the rear and only Heaths skirmishers seem mobile enough to harass them.

e: Arty usage and placement is an exercise in frustration. My guns are eitther being obliterated because they're too close or sitting idle because they don't have LoS.

Do not have guys in front of the arty, and they'll have clear lines of sight. Have men ready to get in front of them to form a line. Once you get a hang of arty positioning, the game becomes a triviality.

# ? Oct 21, 2014 10:30

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

davecrazy posted:

How the hell do you deal with the Union Calvary at the beginning of day 1? As soon as that arty reinforcement comes on the map they're all over the rear and only Heaths skirmishers seem mobile enough to harass them.

e: Arty usage and placement is an exercise in frustration. My guns are eitther being obliterated because they're too close or sitting idle because they don't have LoS.

The scenario at the beginning of day 1 is really dumb and doesn't fit what UGG's engine can do. Honestly I would rather see it just skip to Reynolds so you can just have the cavalry brigades and Reynolds' brigades rather than all the videttes and skirmishers.

# ? Oct 21, 2014 11:35

davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

quote:

*UPDATE* 12/11/2014

Added final changelog.

The patch will be available soon after testing it in closed beta.

Ultimate General: Gettysburg Patch 1.01

LINUX version available!
Linux users will now be able to enjoy Ultimate General: Gettysburg. It is good to notice that the game is bought once in Steam store and is multi-platform compatible for Windows, Mac and Linux.

MULTIPLAYER

+6 New Multiplayer maps:
- The Confederates counter attack Seminary Ridge
- Fight for 2 hills
- Meeting at Cemetery Ridge
- The Round Top hills attacked from the south
- What if Buford had not held McPherson Ridge
- Pickett's charge! (MP edition)

Chat functionality: You can chat in battle lobby using the special text window as well as during a battle by pressing the �Enter� key.

Updated Gameplay to fit single player new improvements (Read below).

Fixed some stability and functionality issues of multiplayer.

�Conquer the map� now gets cavalry reinforcements properly from the west valleys giving greater opportunities for the Confederates to flank Cemetery ridge.

AI

AI will now be a stubborn defender when it has to be. It will actively attempt to protect the objectives of high priority and will not chase other units away as it did before. This is especially noticed in maps that the AI Union has to protect Cemetery hill.

AI will be more decisive in its decisions to storm your positions with multiple unit charges.

AI will often maneuver its units in columns behind its lines to support flanks and mobilise reserves. This helps AI a lot when it has to defend locations such as Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill where is needed to switch reserves between the hills.

AI will often advance its artillery closer to your positions to inflict more casualties.

All AI personalities got improvements according to their character.

AI will not use cavalry & videttes irritatingly and too much aggressively but will use them to harass you whenever it is needed, as player does.

GENERIC GAMEPLAY

More resilient morale that takes into consideration much more than before the units' combat effectiveness. Units that inflict many casualties will fight more heroically and will have steadier morale. On the contrary, units that are badly beaten and have poor combat effectiveness will be more fragile through out the battle.

Rebalance of overpowered charge. Uncoordinated frontal assaults at heavily fortified positions will be suicidal actions that can lead to units losing their fighting condition very fast. A slower advance results to units being effective for a longer period of time.

Rebalance of overpowered cavalry. Cavalry is now very fragile against fire arms.

Improved unit targeting and auto-line management. Your units will require even less baby sitting.

Artillery movement speed is increased in relation with infantry speed.

Intensified terrain movement penalties. Units climbing hills, entering house or tree areas will slow down significantly. Defensive positions now will get an even bigger bonus.

Rebalanced terrain cover bonuses/penalties so that the benefits of concealment are clearer.

Units moving in a firing formation line will be much slower in relation with column formation. You now can use columns to maneuver faster or slowly fire and advance in line formation without isolating from the main force.

Increased ranged combat lethality. Musket close range fire will be lethal as well as canister fire. Artillery will be an essential defensive weapon and from distance it will sufficiently support the attack, especially when it shoots at flanks.

Improved soldier movement mechanics. Sprites die in the formation more evidently and they are less synced with each other for more realistic visuals. The new soldier mechanics affect also gameplay as wider formations receive more damage and trigger melee collision more properly.

Improved melee damage and visual mechanics.

Increased available time for many scenarios that could be rather short in duration.

Increased command radius for Confederate Generals Hill and Ewell.

Balanced some Generals' morale and condition regeneration bonuses that were very high.

BATTLE FLOW

Pender's division infantry arrives now sooner and can participate in the first battle engagement for the Confederates. This increases the tension of the first battle and opens more ways for speculative scenarios.

Stannard will arrive sooner if the Union withdraws to Cemetery Hill in the 2nd phase of the battle. Stannard helps the army of the Potomac to hold its ground significantly.

Battle delay is now triggered properly. If objectives are secured, then the timer will start and you will not have to wait a lot unless your enemy pressures the attack.

Battle will now end if one side throws away from the map the whole enemy army.

Fixed several battle flow errors that could result in the battle campaign to end prematurely or not to continue to a special scenario. For example, you could lose Cemetery Hill even though before 2 battles you had secured it, or you could retreat to Cemetery Ridge while your forces gave a hard fight to hold Oak ridge etc.

Fixed errors in some battles that gave not victory message even though you had captured the most important objectives.

BUG FIXES

Major artillery targeting fixes. Artillery will no longer refuse to fire in locations that provide clear line of sight or ignore nearby enemies. Canister auto-targeting is now deadly due to this fix.

Fixed back and forth irritating movement of units that was especially noticed for skirmishers, cavalry and artillery.

Solved many problems that could result in wrong retreat directions.

Fixed or made very rare a bug that makes units to target dead eradicated enemies.

Fixed a Freeze bug when Slocum reinforcements arrived.

Fixed wrong randomization setting for some historical custom battles. For example you can now enable �Randomize� for Pickett's charge battle and units will start from historical and not random positions with varying condition.

OTHER

New music volume slider in options. The volume is by default 100% and this could not change because it could corrupt your user generated options.

Tilt-Shift is now brighter and less blurry.

All custom battles are unlocked. You can play any of them from the start without the need to unlock from the campaign.

Improved 3D perception of map and repaired various sections that created problems of no visibility.

Intensified terrain elevation of Cemetery hill area (it was too flat) increasing this way its defensive bonuses.

# ? Nov 13, 2014 03:21

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 16:07

Gaj: Apr 30, 2006

I bought it, its good, think of it as giving him money not to make future total war mods.

# ? Nov 13, 2014 03:23

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