Ageod's American Civil War PC Game
 

DaddyTorgo was kind enough to bring to our attention, a soon-to-be-released American Civil War game from the makers of Birth of America.

http://www.a-acw.com/

What I did not realize about Ageod is that Phillipe Thibaut is there, one of the original designers of Europa Universalis.

In looking at the review at wargamers.com of Birth of America, I saw this


For a strategy game, that is refreshing to read. And here's a link that DaddyTorgo provided to a forum post showing screenshots

http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2047

This game looks awesome. When is it due?

it's due sometime in February, March at the latest apparently according to the devs, depending on how bug-squashing goes.


I didn't know if Phillipe's name would hold any sway with you Bucc, but apparently it does in a good way ;)

LOL, you're right. As much as I had a falling out with EU, I was glad that Ageod has some pedigree, esp. since I had not heard of them (or had forgotten about BoA).

The reviewer at pcgames wasn't high on it. Of course, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

hxxp://pcgames.gwn.com/reviews/gamereview.php/id/991/p/0/title/Birth_of_America.html

Yeah, esp. since they got 12 yr old kids doing PC reviews online at pcgames. Definitely a huge grain of salt site.

Yeah let's not forget he also was the producer of fine products like 'Pax Romana " and "Great Invasions";)

OMG, IT HAS A LEARNING CURVE!!!!1!1!!!!

PEOPLE LOST GAMING TIME!11!!!!1!

That was a horrible review...

Their Birth Of America game is said to be the best wargame of 2006 in a lot of places, I have been tempted to buy a it a few times already, but now i'll wait for this civil war one as the period is more fun for me.

"There is literally tons of information available"

:D

Gotta like a Spaniard who digs the American Civil War period.

Any further news?

nope. i'm checking the site 2-3x a day and nothing yet. sometime before march is still on target according to phil though

LOL. Thanks and let us know.

of course.

philippe just provided an update on the release over on the site..."not before late march. Before April unless something unexpected crops up in which case we could push it into early April."

so there you have it guys. We'll be waiting a little while longer it appears.

Thanks.

I wonder if their boards are filled with internet morons who are screaming, "I WANT IT NOW" and threatening lawsuits if they don't get it right this minute?

Not much of that, but someone did mention that the beer tent RoXored and that Quantrill's Raiders were looking great in the pre-season.

Found this after following Bucc's links above:

That's awesome.

That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time--I had tears rolling down my cheeks by the end.

Brilliant!

Perhaps my favorite exchange:

release date is said to be "before the anniversary of the war's beginning" btw guys

oh, and the manual for the game is out. If you visit the forum there's a link to DL it in the sticky thread at the top.

April 12th, if you're scoring at home.

I was about ready to pick up Forge of Freedom and am curious how this AGEOD game will basically differ from the Forge of Freedom? And wasn't Forge of Freedom pretty good?

thanks cougar. I was trying to leave that nice and vague to force people to think:p

woot

just saw this over on the forum, from one of the AGEOD employees

AGEod's American Civil War development has been stopped.

---

... because it's 100% finished!!!!

Sorry, I could not resist this one...


We're busy testing and fixing the last details, you can expect some really good news in the next coming days...

Did we mention something about Fort Sumter?


Best regards,

Korrigan


NB: Spread the word, post on you favorite forum, tell to your grand-mother, the public has the right to know!!!!

RELEASE...WE HAVE RELEASE

actually we had release like 4 hours ago, but the servers were so slammed I couldn't even get onto the website to confirm (true story)

hxxp://ageod.telechargement.fr/fiche.html?REF=648880

make sure you order the english version in your cart

Umm really tempting, but... afraid of possible bugs on release day. How is their usual support and bug fixing?

Btw, It's the price 39.99€ for everybody or just for Europeans?

45.00 US$ is a little steep for a game from a indie like developer and with it being a download only with apdf manual that needs to be printed out. I think I will wait for a sale and/or more impressions;)

well I purchased so when I dig into it (likely this weeknd) i'll have more impressions n such

from what I read on the boards it's good. And it's a stable platform (2nd game on this platform) so any platform-related bugs are likely to be already squashed/minimal. I've seen a couple grammatical oddities, but being as you're Icy, that likely won't bother you (not being a native english speaker I mean).

Any word on when a demo will be available?

no word yet. But like I said, i'll be digging deeper in this weekend and i'm willing to take screenshot requests or whatever

A couple of weeks ago Pocus (the lead developer) stated that a demo would probably be out a week or so after release. I'm keeping my eyes open for that.

woot! I just captured DC in the gettysburg scenario by ignoring gettysburg and sending Stuart + Ewell to beseige the city while Lee drew off the Union Army westward and then force-marched to DC and stormed the city.

he stated demo wouldn"t be out for a month or so.

Yes, a demo would be good.

I don't doubt you, but where did you hear your information? Mine came from here:

hxxp://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2970

I'm about to pull the trigger, but have doubts between this and Forge of freedom that is also about the ACW. What i like from what i have read from FoF is that apart from the startegic map and game features, you can choose to fight each battle in the tactical level, something like Steel Panthers (my fav wargame).

Daddytorgo, have you tried FoF? if so, how do they compare?

Yeah, great question. I too am ready to buy but am wondering about FOF?

I asked the same question in my fav Spanish games website as both games were being commented today. A forum member i trust a lot made me this comparative:

FoF is for ACW what WiTP is for the WWII. You control it all, from the big strategic details to the small weapons upgrades to your regiment, including tactic map small battles. It's complex, maybe overwhelming and had a step learning curve if you want to control it all (it has different levels of control). The AI and balance were a bit questionable in the release, it seems that the south was too strong and it could win the war easily, but there is a downloadable beta patch that corrects it (or seems to).

Ageod's ACW is more towards the strategic military side with less micromanaging and the AI looks a bit better programmed, but still too soon to say it. Also the customer support and bugs fixing from the developers looks better based on the past game (BoA) and that they have already published a patch today on the release day.

Both are awesome games, the decision factor should be more depending on the level of control you want and how "grognard" you are.

I picked up AGEOD-ACW last night, and I spent the evening fiddling around with it. This game certainly has a learning curve, and I think it is going to take me several evenings of playing before I really get a handle on what is going on. Then I'll be able to make some more useful observations.

Someday I'll pick up FoF as well, but if that game's learning curve is even steeper than AGEOD-ACW, then I might be in some trouble :)

FWIW, AGEOD's support of BoA was outstanding, and I am confident that its support of the ACW game will be just as good.

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to playing this sometime later.

I still would like to see another series of games like No Greater Glory, Revolution 76, etc. Those games were awesome.

Yeah. I'm hoping this game will be No Greater Glory without the tedious troop movement.

havn't played FoF. I badly with there was a demo of FoF, because it sounds awesome, but I'm very leery of buying games sight unseen, at least until a dev has earned my trust.

i'll say this...since I bought ACW it's all I've played for games. No OOTP, no FM...just straight ACW. And I am planning to get deeper this weekend and will post further impressions as I go.

Ah, some people are reporting on the developer board taking Richmond in 2-4 turns and beating the game. Hope this is just abug and not crappy AI?

Ummm....hi. Welcome to Hollywood?

i'd say that's just a bug. I havn't gotten DEEP into the game time-wise, but I wouldn't call the ai "crappy"

Just letting everyone know that the demo has been released.

http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3692

this game is absurd. I can't stop playing. I dream about strategies and moves.

Then give us your @%#$! review or AAR or something about how it plays.

Please.

can't stop playing.

But honestly...i will try to work something up. Feel free to ask questions if you want tonight.

I will run through a typical-turn tonight, maybe even complete with screencaps. I am up in early 1862 and having great success as the south, so it should at least be interesting.

there's so much though...questions would be greatly appreciated. Or even questions after I post things tonight that I can further clarify or something.

I'll get right on that.

there's just so much. I could skim right over something that's important to you, but let's see what I can do hmm?

Just start with something early on to give us (ok, me) a taste of how this game plays. I haven't read any reviews (or remember much about this, truthfully) because I have been waiting for you or someone here to do it.

What are the decisions you go through each turn? What are the screens/information you view each turn to make those decisions? How well are the information screens presented - are they clear, concise with just the right amount of information without being overloaded?

okay. Sorry I was tardy on putting something up. It's defiantely deep...took me 4 or 5 restarts to stop screwing up and get it actually going

That's interesting, I'll add a question asking what happened? I don't care what happened on the map but as you can tell, more interested in how you play or in this case, how you learned to play.

principally trying to figure out the whole "chain of command" thing. It's in the tutorial, but figuring it out in practice takes some time. Especially cuz the manuel is so long I probably glossed over some stuff. So one game I was going along fine till I realized your units have to be in a level 2+ city and in defensive or passive mode to receive reinforcements...not realizing that led to the massacre of a whole army...ditto with the winter weather one time wiping out two whole corps...things like that.

I've got hotkeys setup for screen captures and i'll give you a nice run-through of all the screens and my "typical turn" type thing.

screenshots and a "turn in the life" uploading to rapidshare right now. You all will have to let me know what questions you have too after that.

figured it was easier to do it that way then bomb this thread with the huge file and all.

linky-goodness

http://rapidshare.com/files/29187380/AGEOD_ACW.zip.html

the document is in there and the pics are too so you all can enlarge them to your heart's content.

questions welcome and I will do my best to answer them all

Do you know what the system requirements are? Thanks.

Thank you.

system reqs (from the manuel)

minimum
1200 mhz processor (intel, amd)
1024mb RAM vRAM, direct x 9c compatible
16-bit direct x 9c compatible
8x CDROM (for cd version)
keyboard, mouse
xp or win 2000 (not sure on vista, check forum)
1500 MB HD space
direct x 9c

yw. Let me know if you have more specific questions on anything. I went pretty broad on that document

Daddy Torgo...see your private messages please.

I see. I got distracted yesterday, figured i'd give you a nice response 2day

Anyone else have any thoughts on this game. I see that patch 1.06 was released in mid July. I also read the battles are determined for you and really you are just dealing with strategy. Though it is stated that this game is very deep. Thanks

I love this game. I played up through mid-1862 before the first patch even came out. Since then i've been waiting for a couple of the patches to fix a couple issues before I really pick it back up and dig hard into it (minor stuff like the blockade feature, and pictures for all the minor 1-star generals). My first run-through was really just spending a year and a half trying to figure out the mechanics of the gameplay really.

although you don't play out the battles, strategically the game has more than enough depth for me. The AI consistently has me reacting to its moves (although this may be a mark of how much I suck more than anything else).

see earlier in the thread where I did a "step by step" walkthrough of a turn. if the document is gone from rapidshare I can re-upload it or email it to you.

I'd be interested in that. I'm messing with the demo but am a bit overwhelmed, i'm sure that would help a bit :)

uploading again. Linky goodness in a moment


http://rapidshare.com/files/47041006...eport.doc.html

I definitely need to check this game out, it had slipped off my radar but it looks great.

Awesome, thanks!

This is, like, the best thing on the internet.

Any more thoughts on this after a few months?

I've grabbed the demo for this game and their new one, Napoleon's Campaigns. I'm torn a bit between which one to get. I'm much more familiar with the Civil War, so it has that going for it..but I've really been wanting to read up more on the Napoleonic Wars which I know next to nothing about apart from what I've learned from Aubrey/Maturin and Horatio!

The Napoleon campaign also has the added benefit of being newer, so I'm wondering if it's got any new cool features that make it stand out, and also by the fact I'm not sure I have the desire/ability to actually play out the whole Civil War campaign so the shorter scenarios are tempting.

The Civil War game however has the advantage of being about the Civil War.

I'm torn.

Just curious if people were still enjoying these AGEOD games and which they preferred.

I actually bought Birth of America but for some reason became enamored with For Liberty much more than I did that one. It was simpler, and just clicked with me for some reason. Anyway, I enjoyed both, and I love the art for these AGEOD games. Far and away the best I've seen in the wargame genre.

As an aside, in my attempt to learn more about Napoleon and that time period I've been listening to a series of podcasts called Napoleon 101, that has about 30 or so hours of talk discussing his life and exploits and I've listened to the first 4 episodes and it's really great stuff. It's led by J. David Markham who I think is a pretty well respected Napoleon scholar and it's highly recommended.

It's still a mighty fine game....but the learning curve is...steep. After the initial gaming frenzy i'm down to only about 1 hr per week with this one which is pretty good since I have the attention span of a gnat. That said, for Christmas break i'm gonna pick up FOF just for the tactical part.

You can get the Ageod version from NWS-online for a lot cheaper than getting it from Matrix

I was messing around some with the demo today for the Civil War game. I merge units way too easily and don't always remember to lock first, so that's a pain in the ass, but the game itself seems pretty fun. I think I'll end up picking this one up.

I still enjoy it. TBH it's fallen behind FM on my gameplay scale (what hasn't), but I still pull it out and have a go at it, usually on the weekends when I have more extended time that I can pay attention to it (versus weeknights where i'm usually distracted). And I believe they are porting back the big improvements from the Napoleon-game back to the Civil War one, so don't worry too much about that.

And, now instead of paying Matrix's price of $50 for a download or $60 for a boxed copy, you can get a boxed copy soon from retail for $30 thanks to cdv.

So, I will finally be picking a copy of this game up, hopefully in the next week.

Fry's has it for $24.99 this weekend.

bump

Went to play a little bit last night after finishing up a book ("The Fall of the House of Dixie") and discovered that American Civil War 2 (the next generation version of it, not some fantasy mamby-pamby) is on the way.

Totally snuck under my radar, but I've seen some sites listing Tuesday as release date.

Post with teaser AAR from developers.

View topic - Civil War II teaser AAR: Shiloh Scenario

Saw another post from last week that it's approaching Gold Master, so I presume that Tuesday may actually be the release date...

Release day tomorrow...release day tomorrow...

Has anyone played the new game yet?

Is it only on Matrix? I'd eventually purchase, but not at 39.99. Matrix doesn't ever seem to lower prices.

It's also on their site.

I've poked at it a little, but I plan to really dig into it this weekend when I have some longer blocks of time.

They lower their prices for their sales...Otherwise you pay close to full price forever......Niche product so they cant afford to go the way of most pc products.

I think the way other indie developers have worked through Steam proves they could do things differently.

I've been wanting to buy Forge of Freedom since it was released in 2006, but it's still listed at 49.99. My Steam list shows how weak I can be, but due to the high initial prices and the lack of reductions, Matrix hasn't gotten a penny from me.

edit: Maximum Football is still 39.99

They are offering deals of the week for their titles nowadays but tend to be older titles. In fact, back in April in one of the first deals, Forge of Freedom was on sale for $19.

Anyone try the new game yet? If so, thoughts?

Most of their games are such niche products even steam might not be to help them too much...PC wargaming such as what Matrix sells and not the pseudo wargaming like RTW II, while not dead is not exactly flourishing.

I'm fine with their prices. If I want one i'll either buy at their price or beta test it. I have over 25 of their games, with about a quarter coming in free from being a beta tester and the rest pretty much at full price or close to it...

[Necro-tastic]

Has anyone played the new AGEOD Civil War II? Is it significantly better than the old AGEOD Blue and Grey that I already own and never finished and don't really want to pay $40 for a upgraded graphics on a game I never really got through in the first place and I just want to play 'cause I've been watching the History Channel's Civil War in Color series?

I really like it, but there's a pretty steep learning curve.

Is it much different than the old AGEOD Blue and Grey (which I already own)? i.e. Is it worth buying this when I already have that?

I would love to play, but that learning curve and my overall interest in thus genre probably dont match up well enough to take the plunge.

It is much better IMO, great detail, challenging AI and a multitude of things to manage. But as mentioned by JPhilips, steep learning curve, though they do have a couple of small scenarios, like only managing the war in the west that help.

I haven't played that, so I don't know. It's very similar to ACW 1, just much better. My initial problem was the lack of intuitive UI. It can take a while to figure out how to accomplish simple tasks. Strategy isn't hard to figure out, although you'll likely get whipped for a while.