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Saw this, looks interesting and releasing at the end of October....

http://thesevenyearswar.com/index.htm
http://store.steampowered.com/app/400470/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

Real time battles no thanks. I will stick with AGEOD's Wars in America.

Looks like an interesting indie competitor to the upcoming Cossacks 3! Except set a generation or two back, so not so much a competitor as a possible quasi-expansion in a way.

Been looking forward to this.

Looks interesting, but on the Steam video, during the battles the movement of the troops seemed to stutter.  Even his mouse was a bit jerky, like his rig couldn't handle what was going on.  A little concerning for optimization.

It's still too early to tell, but it looks like it has the potential to be a good game. I'm a bit concerned about the jerky graphics, but looking at the past updates it seems the developer is still working on improving things. Has anyone played a beta of it?

hi guys,

may i introduce myself, i am oliver, the developer of this game.

here is a link to my playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbPafvWljII1U6CrAVk4YoX_kRcZsw9RQ (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbPafvWljII1U6CrAVk4YoX_kRcZsw9RQ)
(don't mind the older videos - graphics have been enhanced since then)

if you would like to get a sense of game depth, read the tutorial overview:
http://thesevenyearswar.com/tutorials.htm (http://thesevenyearswar.com/tutorials.htm)

and don't mind about rts and game flow - you can always pause the game and give orders, the battles run smooth so far (even the large ones with more than 100 regs). but rts in this case is a nice feature - e.g. cutting enemy supply lines with fast detachments  O0

^Welcome, and thanks!

Quote from: keppelmueller on November 01, 2015, 02:57:42 AM
hi guys,

may i introduce myself, i am oliver, the developer of this game.

here is a link to my playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbPafvWljII1U6CrAVk4YoX_kRcZsw9RQ (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbPafvWljII1U6CrAVk4YoX_kRcZsw9RQ)
(don't mind the older videos - graphics have been enhanced since then)

if you would like to get a sense of game depth, read the tutorial overview:
http://thesevenyearswar.com/tutorials.htm (http://thesevenyearswar.com/tutorials.htm)

and don't mind about rts and game flow - you can always pause the game and give orders, the battles run smooth so far (even the large ones with more than 100 regs). but rts in this case is a nice feature - e.g. cutting enemy supply lines with fast detachments  O0

I saw the website mention other platforms to come.  Will there be a GOG version (I hope, I hope)?

Welcome!

R&SW look at the game..
http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-seven-years-war.html

Interesting write up...although I would have liked a little more detail, I actually think I agree with the premise. There is a lot not to like about the game, but for some reason, it is still intriguing and worth struggling through to play and explore.

I placed a request in to Steam for a refund.  I wan't my money back and I will get it.

This feels like a case where 'a few more eyes' on the project before release would have helped. It's surprising some of the missteps that made it into the release, notably the glaring shortcomings of the UI and readability, inability to scroll map, etc. Seems like these problems could have been caught much earlier.

Anyway, hope these are priority changes for upcoming patch.  I remain on the fence in the meantime, purchase-wise...

Yeah, this one is screaming "Buy me!" but I'll continue to wait to see if the issues are addressed.

hi folks,

update to v1.084 is on for release this or next weekend including a campaign tutorial and bug fixings. the small ui thing is in work and should be fixed next!

greets, oliver

Awesome news!  Thanks, oliver :)

Sweet! Definitely good news.

I'm looking at this with some interest, but would like to see more at this stage. I hope the forces are appropriate for the period - no British lancers, for example (not until 1816 anyway!).

New update released today.

Quote
Game enhancements:
- campaign tutorial added (playable as first scenario with Britain)
- optimized fps performance when searching building sites or setting waypoints for armies/fleets
- changed font contrast

Game balance:
- increased delivery priorities for building sites
- changed necessary building resources for mines (skipped ari)
- reduced effect of corruption (be aware that corruption leads to losses in tax revenue and trade income)
- increased resource range of provincial buildings

Fixed bugs:
- fixed problem with multiple arranged regiments if drag and drop to a new div
- fixed embarking/debarking problems: shipped units now can debark if fleet is selected and rmc on land with wayrights (or enemy or own)
- fixed not chooseable buildings while upgrading
- fixed disappearing buildings while upgrading and seasonal change
- fixed problem with hanging armies after reloading an autosave game which was saved shortly before battle
- fixed problem with not chooseable policies shortly after a new game was started
- showing staff experience 0 if personal utilization is at 0
- fixed multiple division references after deleting buildings
- adjusted sensitivity with diagonal scroll
- corrected wrong campaign scenario ending display

Next Version:
- scaling UI
- implementation keyboard controls

Good stuff. I'm going to go in and check it out.

I'm happy to report that the UI is very improved. It is much easier to decipher and reading menu items is no longer a painful chore. Font is still pretty small, but overall, much improved.

Additionally, the tutorial, although pretty basic, is still very helpful and much appreciated. It does a good job of exploring the key menus and their functionality.

I'm still experiencing some issues with the game's dislike of multi-monitor set ups. For instance, in windowed mode, which is the only way I can keep my multi-display up, I am unable to scroll the map down. I am forced to use the mini-map if I want to access southern portions of the map.  I do really hope that the developer eventually adds hotkeys and keyboard functionality. Being able to use the arrow keys to move the map around would be really helpful.

Overall, this latest update is a good step forward. Now excuse me while I go deliver some firewater and small pox infected blankets to some local Indian tribes (yes, you can actually do this in the game!).

Good news  O0

Urge to buy... Growing...

Whether game will be any good will depend on the strategic AI and to a lesser extent the tactical AI. I haven't heard much about either.

Quote from: Swatter on November 08, 2015, 05:04:38 PM
Whether game will be any good will depend on the strategic AI and to a lesser extent the tactical AI. I haven't heard much about either.

I've only played the new tutorial scenario, which, as far as combat is concerned, only involved embarkation, some very basic maneuvering and a siege. Not really able to judge the strength of the AI yet. You can buy it and try it out and then get a refund if you're not satisfied. It is hassle free.

hi, larger ui and fonts as well as hotkeys are in work for 1.085
greets

Quote from: keppelmueller on November 09, 2015, 01:08:34 AM
hi, larger ui and fonts as well as hotkeys are in work for 1.085
greets

Wooohooooo!

Hmmm...this game, much like Jessica Alba, just keeps looking better and better.   O0

Quote from: keppelmueller on November 09, 2015, 01:08:34 AM
larger ui and fonts

excellent. just what my bespectacled eyes need.   O0

Quote from: sandman2575 on November 09, 2015, 08:12:52 AM

Quote from: keppelmueller on November 09, 2015, 01:08:34 AM
larger ui and fonts

excellent. just what my bespectacled eyes need.   O0

What's that?!

Speak up, sonny, I can't read you!!

:P


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.telegraph.co.uk%2Ftechnology%2Ffiles%2F2013%2F11%2FOldManPhone.jpg&hash=bacf48e3f21e96a322376124d237ac2cd32e4481)

Quote from: Nefaro on November 09, 2015, 12:51:06 PM
What's that?!

Speak up, sonny, I can't read you!!

:P


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.telegraph.co.uk%2Ftechnology%2Ffiles%2F2013%2F11%2FOldManPhone.jpg&hash=bacf48e3f21e96a322376124d237ac2cd32e4481)

Hey Nef...Where did you get my pic from?  ;D

It still bugs the s**t out of me that I have a beautiful 27" Dell 1440p monitor sitting unused in my office closet, because the eye-strain using Windows and trying to play games with non-scaling UIs (esp. Combat Mission) proved too much. I have no idea how anyone can use a 4K monitor...and am incredibly jealous of those who can  :)

Anyway, easy-on-the-eye fonts and UIs are a big deal to me. 

This is starting to sound like an AARP convention.

The wargamer demographic is like the baseball demographic: old as hell and crotchety to boot! ;)

Will you damned kids keep it down! Some of us are TRYING to take a nap.  >:(

New update

Game enhancements:
- added hotkeys for scrolling, rotating, menu and clearing of orders -> can be set in options menu (for english and german keyboards, others work also but may see other characters in options menu although it works without problems with the pressed keys)
- ui (menues, information, buttons and text) are now scaled automatically based on your screen resolution

Game balance:
- changed view of trade income in nation comparison menu to per annum from all-time accumulated

Fixed bugs:
- fixed crashes related to surrender of divisions after manually played battles
- traders now pick up more than one resource of the same type if supplying building sites
- fixed too tight radius of provincial buildings regarding resources (some resources placed on the edge of the radius could not be harvested)
- effect of research initiative now included in research duration calculation
- fixed crash due to manual saving with long file names
- fixed bug where fleets were not supplied or did not reach supply harbor after loading a saved game
- fixed problem with production, building maintainance, supply of divisions/fleets and loaded goods of traders occuring if a game was newly started after an old one
- resetted data in nation comparison menu after restart
- fixed wrong reference to garrison units after regiments were deleted

New update to version 1.088 - Authentic Fife & Drum Music Pack added

Game enhancements:

    added
        new main menu music compilation
        6 nation specific fife and drum marches for menu and battlefield
        authentic drum signals for infantry orders

Game balance:

    rebalanced needed construction material for provincial buildings to prevent lack of construction material
    change of alliances with country Britain from Austria to Prussia now leads to gain in diplomacy points and thus increases the chance of being allied with Prussia after declaration of war
    Austrian infantry can now play fife and drum music
    reduced influence of unemployment and income level on happiness

Fixed bugs:

    added algorythm to recalculate waypoints if objects have suddenly lost their way
    added further game stability when reloading campaign map (after battles and seasonal changes)
    fixed crash after switching the nation in campaign menu several times
    regiments in garrison can now be moved to a new brigade (not only to existing ones), double unit appearances cleared
    fixed stuck campaign map objects which occured after a fleet finished patrol mode and the patrol points were set to narrow
    influence of health, language and religion now implemented properly
    added overrides for 0/0 waypoint settings or double waypoint settings in campaign mode
    fixed bug where only Britain could default on debt
    quarterly balance description now turns correctly at the end of each quarter
    transactions between traders and companies are now cleared correctly (led to a small continous loss of money)
    fixed scale of black background on high resolutions for battle statistics after battle end

Others:

    supply, ammunition and repair buttons of fleets now deactivated if new waypoint is set or harbor was reached
    restricted ingame resolution changes to a max of 1920x1080 as there were crashes on some graphic cards using higher resolutions

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthesevenyearswar.com%2Findex_htm_files%2F3473.png&hash=a4cbd76090ded4d1524e1f84f574629cb77d2672)

Authentic Fife & Drum Music Pack played by Anthony Heyde

- British grenadiers (GB)
- Over the hills and far away (GB)
- Auprés de ma blonde (FR)
- Zum Ausmarsch (AT)
- Hohenfriedberger Marsch (PR)
- Preobrazhensky march (RUS)
- Main menu compilation
- 6 authentic drum signals for orders on the battlefield

Anybody have a good idea about the state of the game?

Quote from: Swatter on December 12, 2015, 12:30:12 PM
Anybody have a good idea about the state of the game?

Wondering this myself. Sounds like one of the recent patches made improvements to the UI, but I see a lot of complaints on Steam forum that font is still too hard to read. That's a deal-breaker for me, unfortunately.

I get the sense that the dev might have been better served by launching this as an Eary Release. It sounds like the game was not ready for prime time at launch, and that it's still hampered by issues that make it seem more like a Beta than a finished version.

Fife & drums?? That's awesome. I hope the game has improved, it seems to be approaching an awesome critical mass from the work being done on it.

Hi folks, I am the developer of the game. Scaled UI was already implemented (including scaled fonts). For some players the fonts are still too small, so increasing size of some menues is next on the list...

^Thanks again for posting here and for the work you appear to be pouring into your project!

It is cool that the dev posts in here and listens to feed back. 

I have a question on screen resolution, it says above that 1080p is the max res for some gpu setups.  I have a 1440p 28" monitor powered by a gtx 690.  Does this mean I will have a 1080p screen with black bars on each side or will it fill the screen but at 1080p ?

hi skoop, you can play in fullscreen mode where you have no borders or windowed mode where you have your 1080 resolution on your higher scaled desktop (if you wish to use other progs parallel)

Update to Version 1.089:

Game enhancements:
- battle time limit can now be disabled in options menu

Game balance:
- added algorythm to improve goods pickup from companies
- increased battle duration
- improved starting conditions in terms of supply when starting later campaigns
- increased army action range by 25% in campaign mode

Fixed bugs:
- fixed delay in keyboard hits

Others:
- reduced depth of line and skirmish formation
- placed siege casualties reports closer to mouse cursor
- improved contrast of angle-platforms in battle mode

Ack, forgot this game exists! Definitely on my Christmas buy list this week.

Dear Mister KM, have the sales been enough to see a " War of the Austrian succession DLC?

I am a fanboy of de Saxe.

Well, I helped add to those sales this afternoon, so...  O0

(Although I'm happy with the  7yearwar, thx.  :smitten: )

On sale at Steam right now. I have no more excuses. Bought!

I actually made a point of buying BEFORE the sale. Because I am that willing to support a 7YW campaign game.

(Though I suppose technically Creative Assembly already did that with Empire: Total War...)

Sorry.  $3 isn't enough to get me off the fence.

I lied. I decided to get it after all - downloading now.

Update to version 1.090

Game enhancements:
- added arrows to switch in army hierarchy menu between all the close divisions

Fixed bugs:
- added workaround for fps at 0 and therefore too high battle speed
- fixed disappearing divisions after embarking/debarking related to deloading goods near harbors

Layout:
- polished campaign selection menu
- increased font and menu size of historical battle menu by 30%
- increased font and menu size of campaign menu by 30%
- increased font and menu size of tutorial menu by 30%
- increased font and menu size of tooltip menu by 30%
- increased font and menu size of financial balance menu by 30%
[other menues to follow...]

Finally the fonts get fixed? Cool. I'll have to spend some time with this today.

Quote from: amandachen on December 23, 2015, 11:11:12 AM
Finally the fonts get fixed? Cool. I'll have to spend some time with this today.

Still a bit squished IMHO. The dev is trying hard. and open to suggestions.

Definitely give this a look  O0

One thing I found really helps the fonts is setting the game to your native resolution.  It made a huge difference.

Eh, the tooltips are still tiny. Has the developer even seen his own game? Sod this for a game of soldiers.

Update to version 1.091
25 December

Game enhancements:
- at close distance to enemy the regimental commander takes over command (faster order execution but higher chance of uncoordinated orders)

Game balance:
- limited diplomatic payments (claims) to the maximum available diplomacy points
- increased cost/earnings of subsidy payments

Fixed bugs:
- fixed incorrect display of unit icon infos in battles (sometimes shown as pixel boxes)
- fixed crash when opening unit hierarchy of divisions in city view

Layout:
- updated font type and sharpness

The fonts are a lot better. Still room for improvement in font selection IMHO. Good support from the Dev  O0

^Excellent support! Once Steam is back to normal I will pick this up.

Puhhh - the font thing was harder to fix as it sounds. I think the problem here is/was to set the correct font for each resolution. Just post further ideas if it still not fits...
Happy holidays!

Manual (version 1.092)

http://downloads.thesevenyearswar.com/THE%20SEVEN%20YEARS%20WAR%20%281756-1763%29%20-%20Manual%20ENG%201.092.pdf

Oooooo....  :smitten:

How are the tactical battles in this game? Is it like total war were you just move your units around or do you basically give them general orders like advance and they do everything on their own.

the unit controls could be more compared to sid meier's gettysburg. you mostly define waypoints and give orders for each regiment, brigade or division. only in some cases the regimental commander takes his own decision which mostly isn't crowned with success 😁 (retreating or attacking uncoordinated if to less experienced)

I've been tempted by this one. Does it have smaller scenarios, i.e. just the North American portion of the war?

Quote from: Rayfer on December 30, 2015, 08:34:56 AM
I've been tempted by this one. Does it have smaller scenarios, i.e. just the North American portion of the war?

Since on Steam, give it a try....Steam still has the option to refund your money so really no risk in giving it a shot:)

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 30, 2015, 08:44:34 AM

Quote from: Rayfer on December 30, 2015, 08:34:56 AM
I've been tempted by this one. Does it have smaller scenarios, i.e. just the North American portion of the war?

Since on Steam, give it a try....Steam still has the option to refund your money so really no risk in giving it a shot:)

Thanks for the reminder....I keep forgetting about the new refund policy!

Any thoughts on why divisions show up in this game?  I don't think they were really used before the French Revolution.

Update to version 1.092

Game enhancements:
- added english game manual in root directory (steamapps\the seven years war (1756-1763)\)
- added hotkey for pause
- campaign game can now be continued after reaching all scenario goals or time out
- added arrows to fast switch between own cities in city menu (shown at the bottom of the city menu)
- added mouseover information if a building is fully upgraded

Game balance:
- increased chances of native trades
- reduced influence of alcohol deliveries on native clans
- increased speed of fast marches in campaign
- increased duration of battles by 25%

Fixed bugs:
- fixed wrong allocated fleets and traders (false references and numbers in cities) which led also to crashes when loading saved games
- effects of Rousseau historic event of country France now set correctly
- limber/unlimber order with group selection now is only executed for artillery units and rest of formations vice versa
- removed german phrase of historic event Russia protecting Northern Germany
- added workaround for divisions not accepting battle due to a prior retreat
- fixed problems with cities still beeing besieged although siege was broken off earlier
- fixed option where every city building could be built although tech was not researched

Layout:
- increased menu and font size of load/save menu by 30%
- improved font sharpness for low resolutions (below 1600x900)
- updated ground texture quality in battles
- updated tree sprite quality in battles

Others:
- removed citadel research from stationary artillery (also researchable with trench constructions)
- allocated lumber mill (2) to tech large capacity buildings
- allocated lumber mill (3) to tech industry buildings
- further zoom in on battlefield possible
Share:                

I actually do have this game. So here is my two cents.

The combat is like a mix between scourge of war and total war. My absolute favorite aspect of it is units are grouped accoriding to their hierarchy by division, regiment and brigade. So you can select the flag of each and order them around. The scale is absolutely massive, where you can fight multiple sections on the map at once, imagine that each division is one fill scale total war battle. So about three different places you have to manage at once. Sound is ok, but the gunfire sounds like distorted popcorn.

The strategic map is bad. The font is tiny, the buttons are tiny, the economic system is badly explained, and theres not much feedback

It has potential, i love the tactical battles, but the strategic system needs work

Quote from: Hofstadter on January 02, 2016, 07:42:38 PM
I actually do have this game. So here is my two cents.

The combat is like a mix between scourge of war and total war. My absolute favorite aspect of it is units are grouped accoriding to their hierarchy by division, regiment and brigade. So you can select the flag of each and order them around. The scale is absolutely massive, where you can fight multiple sections on the map at once, imagine that each division is one fill scale total war battle. So about three different places you have to manage at once. Sound is ok, but the gunfire sounds like distorted popcorn.

The strategic map is bad. The font is tiny, the buttons are tiny, the economic system is badly explained, and theres not much feedback

It has potential, i love the tactical battles, but the strategic system needs work

Just curious...is your experience from recent play since the last series of updates, or from an older version when it first came out? I have this one my Steam wish list but haven't pulled the buy trigger yet.

Last time i played it was on thursday. I was going to make a video showcasing its gameplay but it went weird with OBS

Hi folks,

Update 1.092 is out including manual. I have also added a new video about the Battle of Leuthen with a bit polished ground and tree textures:


Game enhancements:

- added english game manual in root directory (steamapps\the seven years war (1756-1763)\)
- added hotkey for pause
- campaign game can now be continued after reaching all scenario goals or time out
- added arrows to fast switch between own cities in city menu (shown at the bottom of the city menu)
- added mouseover information if a building is fully upgraded

Game balance:

- increased chances of native trades
- reduced influence of alcohol deliveries on native clans
- increased speed of fast marches in campaign
- increased duration of battles by 25%

Fixed bugs:

- fixed wrong allocated fleets and traders (false references and numbers in cities) which led also to crashes when loading saved games
- effects of Rousseau historic event of country France now set correctly
- limber/unlimber order with group selection now is only executed for artillery units and rest of formations vice versa
- removed german phrase of historic event Russia protecting Northern Germany
- added workaround for divisions not accepting battle due to a prior retreat
- fixed problems with cities still beeing besieged although siege was broken off earlier
- fixed option where every city building could be built although tech was not researched

Layout:

- increased menu and font size of load/save menu by 30%
- improved font sharpness for low resolutions (below 1600x900)
- updated ground texture quality in battles
- updated tree sprite quality in battles

Others:

- removed citadel research from stationary artillery (also researchable with trench constructions)
- allocated lumber mill (2) to tech large capacity buildings
- allocated lumber mill (3) to tech industry buildings
- further zoom in on battlefield possible

Old news. Scroll back a few posts.

Quote from: amandachen on January 03, 2016, 01:37:15 PM
Old news

Perhaps the developer has enough on his plate that getting the word out to every interested party might take a wee bit of time. The level of developer interaction is admirable, and would be great if we appreciated it as such.  I'm sure if he made no efforts to communicate or update his game, you would chide him for that as well.

Whatever. I was just thinking of poor, dear Asid.

Quote from: amandachen on January 03, 2016, 02:13:16 PM
Whatever. I was just thinking of poor, dear Asid.

Thanks  :-*

This is a good dev. He seems to listen and is trying hard to make the game the best it can be.

Regards

^Absolutely. The above is also extremely out of character for amandachen.

...so time is running out on the Steam sale and I have yet to buy anything!  I have been keeping an eye on this one.  Has the font/screen readability increased significantly?  I've already got enough games that I have trouble reading the fonts (yeah, looking at you Ageod, etc).  I may still risk picking this one up what with Steams current refund policy, but inquiring minds want to know.  Thx...

Quote from: steve58 on January 03, 2016, 04:59:09 PM
...so time is running out on the Steam sale and I have yet to buy anything!  I have been keeping an eye on this one.  Has the font/screen readability increased significantly?

I struggled to read anything at first. It is significantly better now. The tooltips do require a little squinting, by me anyway. However the dev knows about this...Especially after I put it quite simply that I could not read most of the text.

Hope this helps

Regards

I think for the most part the screens are very readable now, but might depend on your screen size and resolution...I am on a 39inch monitor, using 1920x1080 and things look fine, except for one area.  There is an area for country comparisons for various things, the font is still a little small, but more importantly it has some kind of graphic gauge where the color seems to overwrite the actual text on it.

If I were you and your only concern was the text, I would recommend purchasing, the developer has shown he is willing to improve things and if you don't like it, you always an refund your money.  I still haven't played the game much so can't really answer any questions on gameplay yet.

I made a video showcasing a battle. Check it out in the video thread. The font has increased and is much more readable

JC looks over Seven Years War

http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/not-all-cavalry-is-same-seven-years-war.html

Quote from: Hofstadter on January 04, 2016, 03:08:25 AM
I made a video showcasing a battle. Check it out in the video thread. The font has increased and is much more readable

OK, just grabbed it before the sale ends today.  O0

Patch 1.0921 today with smaller updates:

- fixed technology bug where loading a game led to loss of technologies and research time
- balancing: slowed research by about 20%
- corrected "city switch", now the last city can be viewed too using this arrows
- removed irrational numbers of diplomatic tech trade with HRE

Quote from: steve58 on January 04, 2016, 08:56:34 AM

OK, just grabbed it before the sale ends today.  O0

Same here

yes, i can't compete with asid 👌
currently working on french and spanish version...

Any chance of some more battles?

yes, extensions in terms of more historical battles are planned but before i would like to add more quality to the game (sprites, mouse control)

Quote from: keppelmueller on January 08, 2016, 01:40:19 PM
yes, extensions in terms of more historical battles are planned but before i would like to add more quality to the game (sprites, mouse control)

Kudos Keppelmueller! That's is absolutely the right approach. Improve the base release until you are happy with it and then focus on expansions or DLC.

Update to version 1.093
10 January

Game enhancements:
- added Spanish version
- added French version
- added mouseover tooltips for harbor buttons

Game balance:
- improved pre-good utilization calculation of companies with influence on the output numbers

Fixed bugs:
- fixed stuck campaign objects due to bad balancing of waypoint finding
- removed possibility to move out troops of occupied enemy forts on own terrain
- added workaround for non embarkable divisions due to earlier canceled sea transport
- fixed problem that new ship type technology did not lead to activation of relevant ship type
- fixed peak weapon supply of new recruited units and garrisons
- fixed problems with loam mines losing production efficiency after seasonal change, battle or reload [not effective for old savegames]
- fixed bug where mines could not find a resource if constructed directly in the middle of the resource
- influence of increased production of new technologies now implemented correctly

Layout:
- switched farm ground texture cotton <-> tobacco

interim patches: 1.921
- fixed technology bug where loading a game led to loss of technologies and research time
- balancing: slowed research by about 20%
- corrected "city switch", now the last city can be viewed too using this arrows
- removed irrational numbers of diplomatic tech trade with HRE

Update to version 1.094
16 January

Game enhancements:
- added annexion of cities (occupied cities now have higher corruption and recruiting is disabled, ownership can be claimed after peace negotiations) - added details to manual
- added victory points for auto-calc battles (can be seen now in battle result menu, top right)

Game balance:
- now preventing armies with relative low strength from taking offensive actions
- increased cost for exchange of provinces

Fixed bugs:
- cost of peace negotiations now deducted correctly from existing victory points
- now preventing background actions and mouseinformation if below open menues
- file menu in campaign mode deactivated if battle start screen shows to prevent stuck situations when reloading
- suppressed high goods demand (e.g. for food) on the first day of a new scenario
- fixed crashes related to new gamestart after deleting buildings in an older game
- added workaround preventing too high goods demand in the first minutes of play
- fixed problem enemy units did not engage in battle if they have fought against AI before
- beaten armies now retreat promptly after battle (sometimes they went for a second engagement)

Layout:
- added complete black background in red/black tutorial informations
- added multiple smoke color and slightly more smokey battlefields
- added possibility to lighten then background of the menues (adjustable in options menu)
- increased side of unit icon information in battle

Others:
- now indicating if diplomacy partner has researched tech to exchange or not (until now only the own research was signaled by checkmark)
- added small moving delays for soldier sprites in battles to simulate unorderly movement
- added single click attack (with normal speed) when rmc on enemy unit and ceasefire is activated or unit has no range weapon
- armys on enemy terrain which have too low moral (currently <20%) or too low relative strength (currently <40%) are routed and moved to the nearest friendly city to rally
- army on enemy terrain moved back to nearest city if peace is declared

here a small screenshot of the battle of Minden, smokes have been drastically increased.

By all means, please keep working on the main program.

I was just wondering if at sometime you were planning on adding more battles and perhaps more wars.

I would think that there would not be too many differences in the world map from 1740 to 1756.

I am not saying it would be easy and thank you for all of your efforts, both before and after release.

Update to version 1.095
26 January

Game enhancements:
- added abortion of recruiting by clicking on the progress ring
- occupied provinces are now automatically annexed if prior owner was defeated (no provinces left)
- diplomatic actions with defeated nations now not possible any more
- added option to deactivate mouseover-infos (although you won't like to do this)
- added information about highest demand or offer of own and foreign provinces if mouse cursor is placed over city short info
- provincial forts now constructable

Game balance:
- increased probability of AI constructing defense buildings and holding garrisons

Fixed bugs:
- corrected weapons of dragoons in the historic battle of Torgau
- fixed some not applicable weapons after tech was researched
- fixed payment of fleet supply costs while not having fleets
- added stability for campaign battles (fixed some crashes related to high memory usage)
- fixed wrong resource demand for building repairs
- corrected negative building or repair duration

Layout:
- smoothed battle ground texture on greater distances
- polished vegetation for battle & campaign mode
- polished winter tree textures
- added autumn landscape for battles
- polished ground textures in campaign mode
- polished water animation in campaign mode
- added light font for scales

Others:
- reduced smoke effect of canister shots
- removed plain mouse cursor in windowed mode (but not the specials like target cursors and mouseinfos)
- added mouseover-information for ammo options in battles


Update to version 1.096
6 February

Game enhancements:
- added intelligent fire range radius for artillery and infantry in battles, now showing real fire distance for each angle

Fixed bugs:
- two high weapon technologies set to not researched (was set to researched for debugging purposes)
- regiments placed on water at the start of the game are replaced now
- added workaround for sometimes happening "sailing over land" fleets and "moving over water" divisions
- removed dark lines on campaign map when showing posession colors
- lost graphics due to alt+tab are now reloaded in campaign mode (battle mode to follow)

Layout:
- increased width of barricades
- national borders now colored darker than provincial borders
- updated unit GUI for battles

Others:
- prices for products can now be adjusted into negative
- renamed provinces with capitals Dublin and Cork to Leinster and Munster
- regiments which have lost all of their strength are now removed from battlemap

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdownloads.thesevenyearswar.com%2F2016-02-06_00002.jpg&hash=08ca10c93a7f9ccc3b035931c789f1bbd41251f2)


Version 1.097 presenting new unit animation and better 3D Models
13 February



Game enhancements:
- now multiple menus of battle GUI can stay opened
- animation of regimental casualties and replacements
- implemented intelligent memory sprite quality: in battles with a lot of different unit types the memory utilization is reduced by loading less smooth unit sprites to prevent too high memory utilization and crashes
- implemented intelligent pathfinding in battles to increase waypoint searches (now balancing depending on the pc speed)

Fixed bugs:
- fixed crash exiting from battles by clicking retreat button
- solved scenarios ending one month too early
- fixed not passable bridges in battles
- fixed traders and supply trains stuck in campaign map near rivers

Layout:
- improved house and church models on battlefields
- improved unit sprite quality in battles
- improved 3d artillery models

Others:
- smoothed sprite positions when regiment turns

Excellent, now throw an email to the Histwar guy and explain it to him ;D.

Definitely picking this up in the next steam sale, looks like it's maturing nicely.

Keppelmueller's support of his game has been really extraordinary. The improvements have been coming out at a quick and steady pace -- and the fact that he's doing this all on his own makes it even more impressive.

That said --

I really hope someone puts together a Steam guide or walk through. There are a couple of recent YouTube vids by a Hofstader, but they mostly emphasize the battles.

The game at first blush, and at second blush, is fairly baffling. I've done the tutorial, but it fails to explain things in context. It proceeds in a "You can do this, and you can do that" fashion, but it doesn't adequately explain *why* you'd be doing any of these things, and how those actions contribute to the big strategic picture.

The manual is also inadequate. Again, explains some of the "what" and "how" of the game, but not the "why"...

I've fired this up a few times now, and my feeling hasn't changed: it's a feeling of utter helplessness. I have no idea where to begin.

Quote from: sandman2575 on February 15, 2016, 07:56:11 PM
Keppelmueller's support of his game has been really extraordinary. The improvements have been coming out at a quick and steady pace -- and the fact that he's doing this all on his own makes it even more impressive.

That said --

I really hope someone puts together a Steam guide or walk through. There are a couple of recent YouTube vids by a Hofstader, but they mostly emphasize the battles.

The game at first blush, and at second blush, is fairly baffling. I've done the tutorial, but it fails to explain things in context. It proceeds in a "You can do this, and you can do that" fashion, but it doesn't adequately explain *why* you'd be doing any of these things, and how those actions contribute to the big strategic picture.

The manual is also inadequate. Again, explains some of the "what" and "how" of the game, but not the "why"...

I've fired this up a few times now, and my feeling hasn't changed: it's a feeling of utter helplessness. I have no idea where to begin.

Yeah I keep trying to make new videos. I had the developers economics tutorial up and ive been reading the forums. But economics is far and away from being my strong suit.

Ill do some extensive testing and see what I can do to make a proper economics guide. God knows if any of it would be right though. In my opinion he needs to make a flowchart showing economic trickle. A good example would be the production guide in war in the west, where it shows how oil is distributed throughout the warmachine. The limit of my economic capability is total war where my soldiers are shown against my income XD

After WitP:AE, I am not afraid of any game system, but I will not touch this game until I see some sort of detailed review of the campaign AI. Many posts in this thread, but there are very few people who actually play this game. This graphics make me want to poke my eyes out, but I don't care much about that. What I want is an AI that makes it all worthwhile. You can have the most detailed economic system in gaming history (Supreme Ruler 2010, 2020, CW), but without a decent AI it is all wasted (Supreme Ruler).

Anything you can do to help lessen the steep learning curve would be much appreciated, Hofstadter. Especially anything that helps clarify the larger strategic picture and how to approach it in the early game.

Quote from: Swatter on February 15, 2016, 10:47:25 PM
After WitP:AE, I am not afraid of any game system, but I will not touch this game until I see some sort of detailed review of the campaign AI. Many posts in this thread, but there are very few people who actually play this game. This graphics make me want to poke my eyes out, but I don't care much about that. What I want is an AI that makes it all worthwhile. You can have the most detailed economic system in gaming history (Supreme Ruler 2010, 2020, CW), but without a decent AI it is all wasted (Supreme Ruler).

IMHO, the battle AI needs a little work for some historical scenarios. But its far better then Total war Napoleon and Empire.

In Seven years war, the AI actually knows HOW TO FORM A BLOODY LINE.

Hopefully we can get an in depth campaign review at some point.

Well I made the first part of a Russian campaign video, check it out in the video thread.

Swatter...if we get you a copy of the game, would you be interested in doing a detailed in depth review?

The offer is open to any serious gamer who is prepared to put the time and effort into playing the game and then reporting details about your experience in a written review.

PM me if you're interested.

hi folks, thx for all your comments. as i am still working on major game improvements the expansion of tutorials and manuals unfortunately have second priority. every type of support like hofstadters is welcome. and pls use the "right way" of support if you are interested in a further game development. thx everybody ;)

Update to version 1.098
20 February -

Layout:
- new commander pictures by Peter Lebek
- improved winter campaign textures and vegetation
- replaced campaign division sprites

Fixed bugs:
- improved campaign game stability regarding crashes due to VRAM usage
- regimental commander now can use his rally orders
- removed floor of zero victory points, can now go negative
- fixed disappearing GUI or crashes after besieging divisions had to retreat due to low moral
- corrected church elevations in battles
- fixed never ending repairs

Others:
- enemy armies are now surrendering if they are beaten and no home provinces are left

I love the new sprites, it was a bit hard to see the unit types before at first glance, also the memory crashes have gone down.


I know I said I would make an economy tutorial but my other gaming projects and uni are taking up so much time. Im still wrapping my head around some of the concepts, anything with numbers take a while for me to grasp

Your videos are a big help, Hofstadter. Hope you'll keep them up for 7 Years War.

Honestly, I think Keppelmueller would be better served at this point taking a (brief) break from the game updates to think about what he can do to help folks figure out this incredibly daunting game he has produced. All the graphics improvements and bug fixes don't mean much when it's so difficult for new players even to break into this game.

Don't mean to sound ungrateful - K has obviously been doing a ton of work to improve the game. But I honestly don't have the sense that *anyone* besides K understands how to play the main campaign, or how the economy is supposed to work. The tutorials as they are now just aren't enough -- as I've said, they show lots about 'what' you can do, but don't explain anything about 'why' you should do any of it, what the larger goals the player should be aiming for, and how your economy plays into it.

7 Years War right now reminds me of a first generation Paradox game. Overall that's a compliment in my book. But this reminds me a little of the original Europa Universalis / Victoria / Crusader Kings -- where there's a ton going on under the hood, but the game left most of it opaque and hidden, and hence confusing. Pdox hadn't learned yet the huge importance in games of this complexity of detailed, context-sensitive tooltips and useful 'warning' indicators when you were leaving something important undone or incorrectly done.

Problem is, 7 Years War strikes me as even deeper and more complex than games like the original Europa Universalis...

Well to Olivers credit he does have the warning indicators in game. One of the most useful was that one of my companies was taking a heavy loss or something to that effect. A thing he could implement is a context menu. My idea would be to have a question mark in the top corner. When you click that little boxes highlight around sections of the ui and a pop up box would hover as long as the mouse is over it, saying what this button does and a basic two or three line over what it does, with a manual reference for more detail.

He clearly cares about his game being accessible, which is why he upgraded the ui with the bigger font and vasty improved battle interface, so im sure being patience is what we need for his work.

what do you think about the following?

adding optional question marks next to buttons and statistics, if mouse over additional info is shown, eg.: use tax increase to ... which has negative impact on ...

Yeah, thats pretty much what I am getting at, the implementation isnt that big of a deal.

Also can I ask what is the state of scripted events. I went to record a video for Austria, sat all my soliders at the border and waited for the 29th of August, that is the date the Prussians invaded saxony and kicked off the war with the austrians to start their offensive to regain silesia, but the prussians never invaded.

the historic events are not only triggered by date but also by special constellations like nation a needs to be allied with nation b. so if an event like the change of alliances is chosen the other way the following events may not happen historically acurate. sometimes only a small change in diplomatic relations may cause an event not to happen. but maybe i should stay closer to history. what scenario did you play? road to war or evening of war?

It was the Austrian campaign, started on the first of August 1756

Quote from: keppelmueller on February 23, 2016, 01:40:17 AM
what do you think about the following?

adding optional question marks next to buttons and statistics, if mouse over additional info is shown, eg.: use tax increase to ... which has negative impact on ...

Hi Keppelmueller -- just my opinion of course -- but I don't think this is the way to go. I think what's "ideally" needed (and it may just take too much effort to be worth programming, I freely admit) is something more like the dynamic / context sensitive tooltips you get in Paradox games. The latest generation Pdox games -- Europa Universalis IV, Crusader Kings II -- have refined this to the point high art  ;) so I'm not suggesting it's something that can easily be copied -- especially since you are a one-man crew! But I think it gives a template of what to aim for.

I personally find generic "Help" tooltips... not all that helpful. In other words, tooltips that are just 'static' boilerplate information about how to do something, and it sounds to me like this is what you are proposing. Anyone who has ever played a grand strategy game beginning with Civilization knows in a general sense what the pros and cons of raising taxes are.

K, have you played Pdox's Victoria II? If not, I think it might be interesting to you just from a game developer perspective. Victoria II has a fairly intricate commodities economy like Seven Years War. But Vicky II does a pretty good job of making clear -- via dynamic tooltips -- what the commodities are used for, market fluctuations, and so forth. I feel like this is what's missing right now from Seven Years War. Especially in the economic area -- the game needs to do more -- provide clearer information -- about how the different parts of the economy fit together.

A tall order, I admit. 

ok thx sandman, if you take a look at the current tooltips which are also triggered by special events (eg lack of resource, high jobless rate etc). what exactly are you missing here? should i take more focus on economics or is there a lack of systematics?

Was able to spend a little more time with this last night, and I have to say it worries me that I still don't feel like I've made any progress in penetrating the game's strategic / economic layer.

Unfortunately a lot of the icons, in the city view or really in any informational window, are quite small and really hard to make out what they stand for. For me, having more tool tips in this area would be a big help. Essentially, I think it would be helpful to have tooltips for *every* icon in the game. Not hugely detailed tooltips for these things, just "what this symbol means" tooltips. The player shouldn't have to wonder, "Now what does this thing stand for, exactly?" There's unfortunately still too much of that in the game -- too many things that are just puzzling as to their meaning. 

A roughly contemporary view of the Americas seen through European eyes.





Rameau rocks! (And the singer who does the funky chicken and walks like an Egyptian about two minutes into the clip is seriously hot).

....was... was that stage anime??

Quote from: Philippe on February 24, 2016, 11:06:59 AM
And the singer who does the funky chicken and walks like an Egyptian about two minutes into the clip is seriously hot.

Speaking as the straightest man alive, I can only assume you were talking about the guy, who was admittedly impressive in a Woodelf King kind of way.

That was the William Christie production of Les Indes Galantes. 

Patricia Petibon is not the greatest singer in the world, though she's very, very good.  But she completely upstages everyone else in this piece with her comic acting.  Her secret weapon is the way she uses her eyes.

At first, I thought I was having a flashback.

Then it started bring back memories of Mumenchanze? It was a troupe who had ads on TV in the seventies. They were dressed in black and had antlers made out of coat hangers with toilet paper rolls stuck on them.

Back to the video, they are very good at what they do, what the hell it is I have no idea.

Another little suggestion, I would change the icon for cavalry melee, as it is it just looks like a move order, so its hard to tell if it ordered correctly with that small sword symbol. So I would change the color of the move line or give a seperate end symbol, that line facing thing, to indicate that it ordered a melee attack.

Update to version 1.099
28 February

Game enhancements:
- added more smoke animation to the battle
- implemented first parts of new battle GUI part 2 (minimap and battle information comes with 1.100)

Game balance:
- improved pathfinding near coasts, should result in less stuck traders and fleets

Fixed bugs:
- fixed not coming to the siege menu if a city with upgraded fort is besieged
- fixed preset ship constructions without orders at the beginning of a new scenario
- fixed damaged buildings at the beginning of a new scenario
- fixed occupied fleet storage by earlier loaded divisions when restarting game
- fixed problems with embarking/debarking related to the transported fleet not finding accurate waypoints
- fixed diplomatic technology transfers having no effect
- unit sprites are now reduced when suffering losses
- fixed crash at the beginning of second battle related to loss animations
- fixed colonels could not be replaced on regimental level

Update to version 1.100
5 March

Game enhancements:
- added minimap for battles
- added battle event information
- added optional automatic price adjustment for companies (button next to product price in company menu)
- added mouseover tooltips for campaign mode for further ingame descriptions (may be disabled in options menu -> tooltips on/off); French & Spanish version to follow in next version

Fixed bugs:
- removed retreat question at the beginning of second battle if retreated in the first one
- deactive regiments (with 0 men) cannot be chosen and are now hidden on battle map
- terrain information of single chosen unit in battle can now be turned off
- fastmarch orders for whole brigades and divisions now work properly
- fixed bug where defending garrison sometimes did not suffer from attacker's artillery fire in sieges
- fixed not selectable armies and forts in sieges (unfortunately works not for older savegames)

Others:
- synchronized fatigue information in mouseover information: now a full green bar goes down when moving and shows red color if fatigue is critical

I'm very interested in this and will buy it; BUT, only once a full manual is done. I have seen several people complain that nothing tells them WHY they should do something or HOW things work (like the economy).
Developer seems to be very good about updates so I'm hoping he can take a break from game fixes and update the manual maybe?

I don't know, I haven't played it (but have the manual). Anyone who has played this have a different opinion?

I am working on a review which will be done this month, so you could wait till then. I promise that I will figure out how things work and give you guys a summary and tips as needed.

Quote from: Swatter on March 05, 2016, 02:26:57 PM
I am working on a review which will be done this month, so you could wait till then. I promise that I will figure out how things work and give you guys a summary and tips as needed.

I look forward to reading it. I for one remain completely in the dark when it comes to the main campaign and economy management.

Update to version 1.101
5 March

- enabled permanent windowed mode (1.101) - fixes some incompatibility issues with windows 10 resolutions and you can now alt+tab without loss of textures

have added "what to do" mouseover tooltips for 1.101,
enhancement of manual is under way

Will take a look when i get home, might start a new campaign series

Dude really nice work on those blue tooltips. That really should help people understand the economy!

Updated Manual

Work is underway on an expanded/improved manual. More details to follow.

How many games with great concepts fell by the wayside because the company did not listen to fan feedback?

Whatever the final result, my deep respect for the efforts being made to tweak the game up to its potential.

I second that.  keppelmueller has done an outstanding job staying on top of this and listening to feedback and incorporating it.  Bravo, sir!

Very much agree. Keppelmueller's dedication to his game and willingness to listen to player feedback have really been exceptional.    O0

I'm sure Keppelmueller appreciates all the kind words, but how many of you have actually bought the game? Support his efforts with your wallet. He deserves it.

I bought it but have only made a couple of attempts to play a campaign. It looks like K. is making some good strides toward making the strategic level / economy a little less confusing. 

Looking forward to Swatter's review.

Bought it a while back; actually looked around in it a little a weekend or two ago, and toyed with starting an Absolute Newbie AAR campaign (as Prussia, because I'm suicidal like that). Decided I wanted to do the Fortresscraft AAR more, which I had been working toward already.

I haven't given up starting a Prussian (or other) campaign, but I'm waiting for the patching to slow down somewhat. I'm glad to support the game, but I consider it a pre-order -- some games I'm willing to pay to be a beta tester, and others I'm not.

(And I echo previous praise for the developer. :) )

I am slowly starting to figure out the economic part of the game and I have a very important tip for the developer: Everything needs tool tips! Whenever your mouse hovers over some sort of graphical icon, you need a tip that says what it does or what it represents. The UI is really not up to the task of supporting this fairly involved game and will inhibit people actually trying to play. Tons of tool tips will help. I don't think I like the help icon tool tips you implemented. Why not just have the standard hover-over tool tips?

I will credit the developer, the economy part is pretty good. Its a lot like Victoria. The military gameplay seems a lot like Empire: Total War, but much more realistic and detailed. I haven't gotten far enough to judge the AI as far as conducting war. I am feeling better about the game the more I play, but the UI is an obstacle to learning.

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 08, 2016, 08:35:23 PM
Support his efforts with your wallet. He deserves it.

I plan to, after seeing the continued efforts. 

It's moved up fairly high on my wishlist but my game purchasing, and playing my current backlog, has dropped quite a bit recently.  :-\  I suppose it's a good thing for us consumers, having too many PC games to play, but the market must be pretty damn tight these days. 

This is an excellent game.

When he has fine tuned the game to there he wants it. I only hope that he then adds in a War of the Austrian succession,The great Northern war or The War of the Spanish succession or perhaps all three  O0

Will make a psuedo economy tutorial within the next few days. The blue tips are really helpful, but they may need a little context into their direct cause and effect. Especially the different types of trade from the city screen.

Battle Pack DLC announced!
13 March


This should include:

- 6 additional historical battles
- custom made battles.

The DLC is scheduled for Q3. To vote for your favorite historical battle visit the following thread:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/400470/discussions/0/412449508285925363/   

Update to version 1.102
13 March

Game enhancements:
- added scaleable windows (options menu), should be used if borders are cut off
- divisions in battle can now switched through in the hierarchy overview
- added information about necessary building and technology for activating recruiting of higher units (lmc on technology symbol next to unit jumps to the relevant tech category)
- added information about necessary technology for upgrading buildings (move mouse over disabled upgrade button)
- added building chain mouse over information (move mouse over top left corner of the building picture -> you will see the complete building chain)

Game balance:
- AI forms lines more properly in campaign battles

Fixed bugs:
- changed menu title "Reinforcements" to "News" for battle event information
- fixed wrong brigade and division reference when clicking on flags
- removed blue mouseover tooltips information buttons when recruiting menu is opened due to overlay
- fixed wrong bridge rotations on the battlefield
- removed possibility for foreign traders (& fleets) to pick up goods when returning to home city despite one sided trade treaty
- tech "improved loading ramp" now leads to medium supply depot (instead of small supply depot)

Layout:
- hiding windows mouse cursor when game is shown in windowed mode
- removed black borders around the campaign unit sprites
- improved water quality in campaign mode

Others:
- reenabled fullscreen mode although I recommend using windowed mode (if you have troubles setting fullscreen mode with steam overlay try to start the game directly from the game folder, steam is already working on this issue)
- polished German version of the game - many thanks to Michael Höhndorf!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1j96FJv3h8&feature=youtu.be

I made a tutorial. It sucks on a magnificent level.

Maybe you could pull an iota of wisdom from this pile of garbage

Thanks for the video Hof. I had no idea this game was so deep.

well done hofstadter!  O0
don't think it sucks...

Hof's economy discussion for the game, recoded for convenience. :)

Out of date by now, but for comparison here is Oliver's (the dev's) own economic tutorial from late January this year.

Update to version 1.103
26 March


Game enhancements:
- polished battle statistics menu including best regiment and regiment with highest casualties
- adding side information if treasury is empty
- adding side information if allied meeting point is set and troops are within

Game balance:
- AI divisions now combine strength more often against enemy armies
- AI positions more garrison units in towns
- every city now has garrison quarters and one placed garrison unit from the start on
- reduced received/payed diplomacy points for prisoners exchanges

Fixed bugs:
- fixed memory access violation crashes in battles -> if you experience further crashes: right click on thesevenyearswar.exe and choose compatibility mode: start as administrator
- artillery units now not starting in line formation but limbered up
- fixed crashes when opening options menu in game
- fixed occasional drop to main menu during campaign game
- fixed not playing sound when ordering fife and drum music
- melee buttons now automatically deactivated at the start of each battle
- fixed additional attached unit when selecting brigades in battle

Layout:
- now auto scaling menus if resolution is smaller than 16:9 aspect ratio
- added more characters in battle unit hierarchy for brigades to see the brigade number
- production information of the building paths now is shown completely within the box

Others:
- added French and Spanish version of blue mouse over tooltips
- empty forts which are located on own terrain can now be chosen (to upgrade etc.)
- updated manual to version 1.103

The website mentioned "other platforms" to come.  Any idea if there will be a GOG version?

Hi bobarossa,
The game is also available at greenmangaming, bundlestars and indiegala. Have not a setup at gog yet. But nevertheless it is DRM free so you need not to run steam for it. But as I update the game nearly every week it is the best way to keep updated!

Update to version 1.104(2)
2 April

Game enhancements:
- native clans now "spend" fireweapons and horses if they attack enemy trains (1.1034)
- added native range if a clan is selected (1.1036)
- reduced information about enemy units in battle if fog of war is active (1.104)

Game balance:
- increased necessary relations for native alliances (1.1036)
- increased damage for naval battles (1.104)
- reduced influence of distance on the goods pickup by merchants to support pickup of low cost products along a larger distance (1.104)
- AI now does not cancel player's trade agreements unless war erupts (1.1041)
- reduced influence of educational buildings on research (1.1041)
- reduced cost/earnings of technology trades (1.1041)

Fixed bugs:
- fixed crashes related to choosing empty forts (1.1031)
- fixed crashes related to multiple start of battles or campaigns in one session (1.1031)
- fixed overlay in campaigns after starting second campaign in same session (1.1031)
- fixed units with no platform which led to hardly attackable enemy units after first campaign battle (1.1031)
- fixed non intentional start of a siege if a unit ends its final waypoint near the city but reaches interim waypoint (1.1031)
- fixed native ally ranking (1.1033)
- fixed traders not delivering fireweapons and horses to natives (1.1033)
- fixed enemy regiments not attackable if they have not moved since the start of the battle (1.1034)
- allied divisions in range can now participate in battles (1.1034)
- improved line of fire in battles (1.1034)
- game gui is now visible if autosave was reloaded which was saved when a menu was open (1.1037)
- fixed starting position of French 9th Division in North America, starting in British terrain in "On the eve of war" scenario (1.1038)
- fixed crash when deleting a division while fort overview is open (1.1039)
- fixed not recognized forts for unit transfers if buildings were earlier deleted (1.1039)

Layout:
- maximum game resolution is now limited by the desktop resolution (max 1920x1080), this led to larger menus (1.1032)

Others:
- implemented ok button to quit final battle statistics of campaign battles to prevent quitting due to accidental clicks (1.1031)
- keyboard scrolls in campaign now also possible if armies and fleets are selected (1.104)
- rivers are now (very slowly) passable (1.1041)
- updated manual to 1.104 (more details on natives)

Update to version 1.105(3)
17 April

Game enhancements:
- added new mountain models for campaign mode
- added fallback of skirmishers

Fixed bugs:
- fixed crashes related to high casualty animations in battles
- fixed disappearing unit sprites in battles
- units search their retreat path better now, preventing rush into enemy units
- improved aiming at enemy units in battles, sometimes enemies in range could not be fired at
- fixed cavalry units moving constantly with uncoordinated orders on
- advance/fallback orders now stop barricade building
- ammo range is now used correctly depending on the chosen ammunition type
- fixed freezing of dying sprites
- Louisbourg loam resource has been replaced to gain access
- fleets now move back to resupply correctly

Balance:
- improvement of performance of battles
- rebalanced uncoordinated orders for sudden artillery morale drop if enemy advances
- reduced experience growth in battles by approx. 30%
- barricade building is now stopped if unit is under musket fire or in melee
- increased losses of artillery units in close combat
- formations cannot be changed if unit is in close combat
- increased realism of square formations: forming squares take more time, if cavalry reaches before finished -> square is broken up, cavalry retreats automatically if hitting a square
- reduced native village growth
- reduced starting quantities of products depending on the city size

Others:
- melee unit scattering is reduced
- improved regimental unit selection -> move mouse over flag to watch mouseover-information, click on each sprite and flag to select
- both first divisions (own and enemy) now reach the battlefield at the same time, no waiting for the own troops or opponent
- if clicked on a news entry, mentioned units are now selected
- barricade building can now be stopped by pressing the barricade button again
- AI uses skirmish and column formation more often
- when war is declared victory points are starting with -15 to prevent immediate peace negotiations
- increased population contrast of the bigger nations to the smaller ones for more historical accuracy
- armies of Austria, France and Russia have been increased at the start of a new campaign
- experience of Prussian units has been increased at the start of a new campaign
- added minimum levels for diplomatic actions (technology transfer)
- AI behavior of natives is used more against the player

Layout:
- replaced shrapnel and bullet animation in battles
- reduced casualty sprites in battles
- reduced size of battle provincial buildings

Update 1.106 - MAJOR BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS
24 April

Game enhancements:
- adopted new fatigue balancing system

    added fatigue for different terrains
    standard formations now cost only 10% fatigue
    marching column reduces fatigue
    building barricades increases fatigue
    increased fatigue effects when running
    implemented fatigue for close combat and firing
    if fatigue is high then melee casualties are also higher
    high fatigue now leads to loss of morale

Fixed bugs:
- fleets attacking trading fleets got stuck in a "naval battle" and could not disengage
- conquered trading fleets were reappearing but were invisible
- recruiting mercenaries from neighbouring provinces caused too high negative relations
- attaching regiments to mother regiment now works
- fixed wrong sprite appearance after cannons are captured
- removed duplicated regiments in hierarchy which were detached earlier
- fixed crash related to detached regiments after battle ends
- unit marks now move when attacking enemy regiments (targets, waypoint destinations)
- improved regiment to object facing (barricades, captured cannons)
- artillery targets could not be set manually
- sensitivity and numbers of close combat information windows improved
- barricade building timer was shown on top of GUI

Balance:
- naval combat experience gain reduced and limited
- new morale balance in general, heavy salves lead to high morale loss, small casualties from the distance have low effect
- removed AI fastmarch for artillery
- improved retreat behavior due to routs
- melee now stops regiments movements to prevent better combat lines, fallback orders units in melee to retreat

Others:
- improved click sensitivity on enemy units
- when ordering a new target for close combat action a sabre sound is played
- repressing the barricade button stops barricade building or renews building if nearby
- brigade and division flags now change size with the zoom mode

Update 1.107 released
30 April

Game enhancements:
- implemented automanage tax-option in city menu (lmc for single management, rmc for all of your cities)
- added drum signals for brigade and division movements (if infantry regiments attached)

Balancing:
- general improvements of FPS in battles
- improved unit selections (now switching when units are overlapping) and attacking (stick to target)
- improved routing and retreat behavior of units

Fixed Bugs:
- solved issues with detaching/attaching regiments (brigade selections and crashes at the end of battles)
- new mountain models disappeared after seasonal change or battles
- fixed fallback order moving into wrong directions
- fixed stuck regiments in battles
- fixed non producing (AI) companies at campaign start

Others:
- allies now automatically have and grant wayrights
- the speed of autorally now depends on the unit experience

Update 1.108
16 May - keppelmueller

Balancing:
- improved AI switching from line to skirmish formation
- forming squares and unlimber/limber delays now go slower
- melee adjusted for better lethality (except artillery reduced a bit)
- routing and morale gain readjusted to make units flee for longer time
- reduced demand of cities with higher population
- readjusted population of nations for better balancing
- better working economy progression when starting later campaigns
- improved waypoint accuracy (e.g. reduced stuck armies near foreign borders)
- capped diplomatic relationship with 100 when earning points through ally meeting points
- increased diplomatic cost for subsidy payments
- diplomatic costs of claming non occupied provinces increased
- diplomatic costs and minimum requirements adjusted (alliances, wayrights)

Bug fixings:
- regimental flags are now centered properly for all unit formations
- fixed influence of fatigue errors in different game speeds
- regiments may now not shoot through own units in front, but may shoot over if terrain behind is slightly higher or artillery shots on high distance due to higher fire angle
- fixed bug where units sometimes moved off from their given waypoints and sometimes crossed impassable terrain
- removed footprints of embarked troops in the embarking region (sometimes enemy divisions could engage there already embarked troops)

Others:
- sea terrain may now not be moved on, new terrain coast added
- routed units may now not be given orders or moved (buttons greyed out)
- added historical event of Prussian invasion of Saxony 1756 for Austria and Russia for more historical accuracy

Note: huge download volume (~1 GB) due to redrawing of battlefield skins to add coast terrain.

To ask the $64,000 question, is this game worth buying in its current state, or should I wait another year?

Does the economic game work ?

Does the strategic game work?

Does the tactical game work?

How well does the tactical game mesh with the strategic game?

I don't care so much if the graphics aren't what Creative Labs would produce as long as the game delivers a convincing mid-eighteenth century experience.

Content over eye candy.

So how's the content shaping up?

(And I find it a little scary that this game has a frighteningly small team developing it, but then the team behind DC:Barbarossa isn't that much bigger).

Small sale (-15%) on Steam for the next week.

Even at the non-sale price of $20 Seven Years War was very reasonably priced -- (and, hard to resist saying -- were it a Matrix/Slitherine product it would likely be priced at twice that).

At $17 it's pretty much a no-risk proposition for anyone interested. Philippe, why not give it a try and decide for yourself?

Quote from: sandman2575 on May 16, 2016, 06:23:09 PM
Even at the non-sale price of $20 Seven Years War was very reasonably priced -- (and, hard to resist saying -- were it a Matrix/Slitherine product it would likely be priced at twice that).

At $17 it's pretty much a no-risk proposition for anyone interested. Philippe, why not give it a try and decide for yourself?

Plus, Steam allows refunds so very little risk to try....

The economics are ok. But it's really hard to feel any affect due to its complexity. Half the time your income just feels random.

Strategically it works very well. Due to no turns it feels much more dynamic with how you move your armies. But the supply system is a bit to be desired since you can only set priorities and not directly control supply wagons. And the diplomacy is a bit confusing, I almost never use it.

Tactically I think it's superb since its really easy to lose focus on certain fronts of the battle. Since its so big it really feels like you're fighting on multiple fronts

I really want to make a concerted effort to learn this game. I'm incredibly impressed by Keppelmuller's constant updating and improvement of this game, and his responsiveness to player suggestions / criticisms.

Have to admit I haven't really touched Seven Years War since the early days of its release. My sense then was that it was a very deep and complex -- but also opaque as to how certain mechanics worked, especially economy -- and this complexity was not helped by a fiddly and hard-to-read (with *tiny* buttons!) UI. Very possibly many of these problems have been corrected through updates -- at least, that's my hope if I'm going to devote serious time to learning it.

Seems quite apparent that K. has poured his heart and soul into creating this game -- and hard to imagine just how much time and work have gone into producing it. All this just to say that I want to support him in that effort by actually giving his creation the time it deserves. Just not sure how much positive feedback he has gotten and sure seems like he deserves some recognition and applause.   

Bravo, Keppelmuller!
O0

Here is an except from an unfinished review I have written:

"Without a doubt this game is a curious creation, it's a labor of love and bears all the hallmarks of such games. Its highly detailed, but rough around the edges. In this case, though, its rough around more than just the edges. I found myself wanting to enjoy it, but simply unable to. It has some really good points and credit is due in those places. Yet, its bad points are far more numerous and damning."

This has been a tough review to write because I have so many bad things to say and the developer poured his heart and soul into its development. To sum it up simply, the game very poorly interacts with the player. The economic part of the game is detailed, but highly flawed for a couple of reasons. The first is that there are a lot of things going on and the player is simply left to guess what is happening. There are too many pieces of data that are not labeled and you are left to deduce what it happening by the look of the icon over the stat. There are no useful tool tips in the game and the directions are not nearly detailed enough. Second, you can muddle your way through it and your economy won't collapse because you can borrow money and the duration of the game is short. This makes the entire system almost pointless.

I am also extremely unhappy with how the player interacts with his forces and assigns leaders. The user interface simply is not up to the task and is woefully inadequate in certain areas. Just attempting to click on map objects can be a pain. You can assign leaders down to individual regiments, yet the interface will do you no favors and it will battle you at every step.

When you finally make it to the ground battles, you will be rewarded with a tactical battle that grognards will appreciate. It reminds me of Sid Meir's Gettysburg. This is where the game shines, but unfortunately it is not enough to overlook the other fabulous flaws in the game. This game was clearly inspired by Empire Total War, but with the idea of adding a more realistic representation of battle. Yet, when the developer attempted to add a Victoria like economic system to the mix, he failed. He no doubt spend countless hours getting the economic system to work, but that time would have been better spent implementing something much simpler and focusing on making the user interface experience smoother.

At the end of the day, I think most people's game collection is too extensive to justify putting up with the game's faults. There are simply too many games out there with solid designs and efficient user interfaces to justify spending much time with SYW. Unless your obsessed with the Sever Years War as a historical topic, I doubt many people will get much mileage from this game.

Writing a review has been a tough process for me, I am thinking of doing it on YouTube with a written summary.

Swatter, are you at all encouraged by the direction of all the patching and updating? That is, do you think K's changes are tackling some of the bigger issues you describe?

I just checked on the game and I noticed he put more "tool tips" in there. The tool tips need to be more organic and on everything still. There is progress on that front, though.

At the same time, I still really don't understand what is going on as far as economics. There is too much going and not enough feedback. The game has what in essence are "factories" and I don't understand how they really work. Due to the fact that you have different levels of the economy (local, regional, and national) and you have traders physically traversing trade routes, it is very hard to gauge what your actions are actually doing. It is far too complicated without a much better way of informing the players what is going on. Plus your income levels fluctuate wildly and most times I have no idea which way is up.

I don't know. He puts so much effort into it I'm starting to feel guilty for not playing it.  :-[

It's understandable, games of this scope are not usually made by one guy and he is trying to improve it. I don't think the economic part of the game is broken or anything, its just that the user interface is woefully inadequate. The player really needs a lot more feedback in order to understand what is happening. Otherwise the economic game becomes pointless because you don't understand what is going on anyway.

I love what he's trying to do.

I especially liked the concept of his siege routine.

But the game doesn't seem ready for prime time at the moment.

I never thought I'd say this, but the UI gets in the way of figuring out what's going on as well as giving orders.

I hope it improves over time.

The game is in serious need of an overhaul, and it's not something that a few patches can fix.

thanks folks for your feedback! would you think an additional economy report would close the gap? e. g.: what is exported/imported by each province and the whole nation, what are possible problems (supply of pre goods etc),...

if yes, what would you like to see as additional info?

Update 1.109
17 JUNE - KEPPELMUELLER

Game enhancements:
- implemented zoom mode for campaign mode
- added optional historical features (historical units, artillery ammo and formations only)
- added additional 18th century background music for campaign
- city overview implemented in statistics bar on top of campaign page; army and fleet statistics now combined in the right army & fleet statistics button
- Added UI enhancements access via tooltip (top right "i"): information about city macro economic troubles, information about supply shortages
- detailed trade reports for each province and the whole nation -> can be accessed via the goods overview menu
- new research functionality: the more nations a tech have researched, the faster it goes for the remaining nations
- information about new construction possibilities for sieges shown in the side information (hammer)
- added F-key support for statistics menus in campaign mode

Balancing:
- Research speed increased
- improved AI forming of battle lines in micro combat to reduce overlapping when firing
- enemy cavalry units now not attack headless the enemy lines but wait for opportunities or flank movements
- improved retreat paths to avoid retreating through enemy lines
- improvement of fatigue influences
- improved economy progression model for later scenarios
- corruption now depending on the city size -> larger cities have more base corruption
- increased negative effect of unemployment
- reduced available supplies for defending towns
- improved diplomatic tech trading
- balanced garrison and defense building settings
- reduced fort damage during sieges
- rebalanced naval battle damages
- improved scroll (decrease) speed in campaign map so that time for scroll-finishing is reduced

Others:
- now distinguishing between conquering and occupying provinces in the campaign goals (depending on the scenario length)
- units do not rally if suffering more than 50% casualties (automatic or manual rally)
- increased update cycle of melees
- reduced melee scattering to prevent better front lines
- improved corruption information
- empty fleets are now returning to harbor automatically and have to stay there or be disbanded
- building upgrades: level 2 farm now not requiring 1 artillery any more
- setting Russia as ally of Saxony in the 1756 campaign
- next/previous town buttons now "loop"
- normal size cursor in battle preview screen
- fixed several typos in English version
- in battle start screen (campaign battle), OK button is enabled after loading (similar to battle results) so accidentally clicking somewhere will not take you to battlefield
- sieges: weapon symbol next to unit symbol in hierarchy menu now indicates it is placed in a trench

Bugs fixed:
- ships that go back to harbor are automatically getting new crews
- fixed: sieges of towns near the sea start if fleet is moved close to the enemy town, although division is still on board
- fixed: battles start if enemy divisions are on the coast and a fleet with carrying divisions is moved close by
- officer recruiting and recruits growth now work properly
- fixed: when loading a game or fighting a battle, sometimes the units taking part in sieges are forgotten (and moved out of trenches)
- fixed time cycles at the start of a new game (not updating charts, not updating sieges)
- fixed: unit stopping in range of enemy town starts a siege still sometimes
- fixed: sometimes if battles happen during sieges, player loses control of the defending units in siege
- fixed: AI divisions not engaging in combat sometimes
- fixed: sometimes border colours are not updated promptly
- fixed: order buttons (double time, advance, fall back) sometimes remain looking like they were pressed down after use
- fixed: death animations are slow on normal speed: the animation frames are shown a few seconds each
- fixed: build industry menu: clicking industry, if something under it, it's selected instead
- fixed: when saving a game, Pressing "P" when writing the name of the save, functions as PAUSE
- fixed: when a unit is selected in campaign and player RMC left side info icon (to make it go away) instead a movement order is given to the unit.
- fixed: battle ground textures near buildings are sometimes drawn in the air
- native firewater actions now have the shown amount as relations effect
- fixed: 25 OCT 1760 - a message about Hannover (crown icon) appears, but it has no text.

Update 1.220
25 JULY   - KEPPELMUELLER

Update 1.220 balancing updates & fixing smaller issues:

- added information in the terrain info: if unit has advantage from barricades
- added information in the terrain info: terrain elevation
- added information about coming DLC features
- fixed: if player constructs buildings the jobless rate rises instead of falling
- correcting wrong experience effect on loading speed (only to be seen in
- rebalanced fog of war distances & terrain influences

It's only $13.99 at Green Man Gaming during their VIP sale. Maybe another 24 hours?

Announcing: The Battle Pack DLC
28 JULY - KEPPELMUELLER
Heading for release in September 2016:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/485840/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.akamai.steamstatic.com%2Fsteam%2Fapps%2F485840%2Fheader.jpg%3Ft%3D1469680695&hash=4852411f46463aa0617e42fbc93526f6629ec620)

The Seven Years War (1756-1763) Battle Pack
- 6 Additional historic battles
- Build your own custom battles
- Weather effects with influence on the troops' conditions
- Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield
- New unit: horse artillery
- Additional unit statistics during and at the end of battles
- New quick attack and retreat orders
- Polished battle goals

Based on the community votes, the new historic battles include:
- Abraham Plains (1757)
- Sainte Foy (1760)
- Zorndorf (1758)
- Carillon (1758)
- Prague (1757)
- Lovositz (1756)

Update 1.224 released
Community Announcements - keppelmueller

Balancing
- increased battle time scale
- added higher speed for cavalry when in fastmarch
- adjusted artillery unit speed
- renewed melee actions (better sticking, more updates)
- readjusted melee casualties when fatigue is high
- AI retreating units do not start barricade building if on retreat
- increased aggressiveness of AI cavalry
- improved AI wheeling to concentrate more on one target
- improved fallback of skirmishers
- increased speed of land traders
- land traders now return immediately to their hometown if no cargo was loaded for way back
- automatic trigger of historic AI events
- improved financial behavior of AI to prevent bancruptcy of AI

Others:
- improved FPS in battles
- increased RMC sensitivity in battles to trigger better fastmarch orders and exact attack orders
- added additional campaign battle tooltips (english version)
- greater distances for single regiment movements to allow better wheeling
- garrisons in occupied provinces are now dispersed

Bugs:
- fixed sometimes flickering campaign map (green, white, red)
- fixed: campaign fog of war: if an alliance is cancelled by player, the fog of war does not return to cover ex-ally lands
- town fires now fit to terrain level
- fixed huge mountain in baltics map
- unit states and routes from former (historical) battles fixed
- fixed: when buying/selling provinces via diplomacy, they are not fully given, but only half and need to be annexed via town menu
- fixed: if player has units inside another country and cancels alliance, the wayrights automatically are lost, but the units in foreign lands remain and cannot be moved (no wayrights).

I really, really must play this properly.  I'm one who admired kepplemueller's efforts from pretty early on and have the game bought and installed.  To my shame, all I've done with it so far is try out a single battle - which I'd summarise as a groggy TW affair* - so now I feel I should launch into the full game.

*a good thing, in my book

Has *anyone* managed to get a handle on the main campaign?  I'm am completely befuddled by this game, to a degree that few games have ever confused me (probably Ageod's first WW1 La Grande Guerre game comes closest on the sheer confusion scale -- and yet I eventually made headway even there -- with Seven Years' War, I'm just baffled).

My main problem is that I have no idea what to prioritize when I start a campaign. No idea what's crucial to do, and what's of secondary importance. None. The economic system is very detailed (good!) but gives almost no hint of how its many intricate components mesh together (bad!). Production chains are completely mysterious. What should I be building? Why?

If anyone has figured out a way into this labyrinth, I'd love to hear it. I have no doubt there's a real gem buried in here somewhere. But I increasingly despair of ever being able to get access to it...

Quote from: sandman2575 on September 08, 2016, 09:26:03 PM
Has *anyone* managed to get a handle on the main campaign?  I'm am completely befuddled by this game, to a degree that few games have ever confused me (probably Ageod's first WW1 La Grande Guerre game comes closest on the sheer confusion scale -- and yet I eventually made headway even there -- with Seven Years' War, I'm just baffled).

My main problem is that I have no idea what to prioritize when I start a campaign. No idea what's crucial to do, and what's of secondary importance. None. The economic system is very detailed (good!) but gives almost no hint of how its many intricate components mesh together (bad!). Production chains are completely mysterious. What should I be building? Why?

If anyone has figured out a way into this labyrinth, I'd love to hear it. I have no doubt there's a real gem buried in here somewhere. But I increasingly despair of ever being able to get access to it...

This is a beat guess, but what I would do first is to figure out what is selling at what price. You can see your companies selling their goods at the specified price, and the world market price at the bottom, if the company selling price is higher than the market value, its not going to sell. I usually sell the good at two notches below market.

Then youd want to see if you can build anything, do you have flour nearby do make bread, do you have ore deposits. Then you want to want to pretend you know what you actually did, then cry for 20 minutes because you think youre a dumb tool

Quote from: Hofstadter on September 08, 2016, 11:58:26 PM
This is a beat guess, but what I would do first is to figure out what is selling at what price. You can see your companies selling their goods at the specified price, and the world market price at the bottom, if the company selling price is higher than the market value, its not going to sell. I usually sell the good at two notches below market.

Then youd want to see if you can build anything, do you have flour nearby do make bread, do you have ore deposits. Then you want to want to pretend you know what you actually did, then cry for 20 minutes because you think youre a dumb tool

This is sadly why I know that this game is not for me. Dealing with complex economic simulations is just far too much like work for me. It bums me out because I'm really interested in this period, but I know I would just bounce right off of this.


That's not a criticism of the game, that's a realization on my part of what I like and don't like to play. All credit to the developer, who has clearly poured his heart and soul into this one.

Can you just fight the battles without the economics or campaign?  I would just like a tactical game from the era.  I am deciding between this and Pike & Shot.

Quote from: RyanE on September 10, 2016, 08:30:12 AM
Can you just fight the battles without the economics or campaign?  I would just like a tactical game from the era.  I am deciding between this and Pike & Shot.

Comes with (6) Historical battles....Kolin, Rossbach, Leuthen, Minden, Kunersdorf and Torgau

Also this upcoming DLC will add more historical battles and custom battles......

Heading for release in September 2016:

The Seven Years War (1756-1763) Battle Pack

- 6 Additional historic battles
- Build your own custom battles
- Weather effects with influence on the troops' conditions
- Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield
- New unit: horse artillery
- Additional unit statistics during and at the end of battles
- New quick attack and retreat orders
- Polished battle goals

Based on the community votes, the new historic battles include:

- Abraham Plains (1757)
- Sainte Foy (1760)
- Zorndorf (1758)
- Carillon (1758)
- Prague (1757)
- Lovositz (1756)

I noted the comment about custom battles.  Does that mean you can build your own with the included armies?

How does the battle part of the game compare to Pike & Shot?

Quote from: RyanE on September 10, 2016, 11:50:23 AM
I noted the comment about custom battles.  Does that mean you can build your own with the included armies?

How does the battle part of the game compare to Pike & Shot?

Take a look at the manual...has a section on the custom battles (which sounds like what you describe) and also shows you the battle stuff....I haven't played both games extensively, but the battles don't look comparable.

http://downloads.thesevenyearswar.com/THE%20SEVEN%20YEARS%20WAR%20-%20Game%20manual.pdf

Given the upcoming DLC and a price of $20, I'm going to give it a try just for the tactical battles.

If you don't mind, let me know what you think.  I am torn between this and Pike & Shot.

Quote from: RyanE on September 10, 2016, 01:50:19 PM
If you don't mind, let me know what you think.  I am torn between this and Pike & Shot.

Aside from the fact that Pike & Shot is a different period, get Pike & Shot. There are a ton of scenarios for it now, it's a great tactical system, and has excellent PBEM. I don't care for the campaign system, but YMMV. This may very well end up being a great tactical game covering the period, but it can't come close to what Pike & Shot is. I consider Pike & Shot a "must have" game.

Will do...I was waiting for someone to convince me.

Quote from: RyanE on September 10, 2016, 03:51:55 PM
Will do...I was waiting for someone to convince me.

You won't be sorry. An excellent game. Let me know if you want to PBEM. Don't forget to grab the community scenarios, which are universally excellent.

Quote from: RyanE on September 10, 2016, 01:50:19 PM
If you don't mind, let me know what you think.  I am torn between this and Pike & Shot.

Although I guess I'm a bit too late, I 'd like to point out that they're pretty different games.  I have both, and they're each good, but they do try to do different things.  To my mind, 7 Years War is keppelmueller's take on a Total War title set in that time period.  Of course it's his own game, but it has the same strategic-map-followed-by-real-time-tactical-battle formula.  Pike and Shot, though,  has turn-based tactical battles which are pretty abstracted, almost chess-like.

Both are good games, IMO - my post is just to point out that you're choosing between apple and oranges.  Get both!

I am not getting both.   This has nothing to do with cost.  I have a limited amount of gaming time and just am looking to not waste my time.  Or at reduce the risk of wasting my time when I could have been playing a better game (for me).

I don't play campaigns.  I typically want tactical battles with a semblance of forcing realistic tactics.

I made a serious go at trying to learn 7 Years War this weekend. Results are decidedly mixed for me. After spending a bunch of time reading manuals, guides, and watching K's economy primer on YouTube, I have a modest handle on the economy. Lots of things still elude me though. A bit like in Distant Worlds -- your income frequently skyrockets / crashes based on God knows what. I don't feel I have any control over what influences this.

All I keep thinking as I play the grand campaign (1750 start), and do nothing but upgrade building and build farms / mines / craftshops -- is an overwhelming sense of "What's the point? And why is this fun?"  I can't help but think K. has devoted enormous energy to building a highly complex economic model that is ultimately beside the point... All this could have been massively simplified without impairing gameplay -- indeed, I think it would improve gameplay immensely, since the real enjoyment of the game is the battles, but in the campaign you spend 90% of your time managing a confusing economy and waiting for the real fun to start.

That sounds a bit harsher than I intended. But I'm inclined to agree with Swatter's assessment a few posts back. 7 Years War seems designed in a way that emphasizes its weaknesses and underplays its strengths. I think it's telling that a pure battle-pack DLC is in the offing. The battles are what makes the game fun. And yet the Campaign -- the meat & potatoes of the game -- seems almost perversely determined to keep you, the player, away from what makes the game fun... Definitely frustrating...

Excellent review...honest and concise.  Thank you.

@sandman, and how are those tactical battles? They look like SoW type battles as far as I can see...meaning bad graphics but possibly realistic in terms of tactics

I think SoW is not a bad comparison, mikeck, although the combat is not quite as detailed. As someone who does not like twitchy-RTS type combat, I enjoy the deliberate, realistic pace of 7 Years War's battles a lot. I actually enjoy them a lot more than the battles in Empire/Napoleon Total War -- as with SoW, I'll take realism and attention to historical detail any day over flashy AAA production values.

7 Years War was clearly envisioned as a 'thinking man's' Empire Total War. Its indebtedness to the TW format, right down to copying some if TW's UI features whole-cloth, is obvious from the get-go. It even 'one-ups' TW in being entirely real time, not turn-based strategic layer + real-time combat. But 7 Years War's emphasis on a very complex economic development and logistics layer is, in my view, the game's real stumbling block. 7 Years War doesn't pull off what Pdox's Victoria did well: making a complex economic mechanic *interesting* and fun to manage.

I genuinely hate to criticize this game because I know it has been a labor of love for the one-man developer, Keppelmuller, and the devotion shows. I really like a lot of things about 7 Years War's overall aesthetic. A lot of pure design touches are really nice. But integrating that design with a user-friendly UI, for example, is not something the game pulls off. The UI is something you have to patiently put up with if you're going to play the game -- it does little to facilitate gameplay.

Update 1.226 released
Community Announcements - keppelmueller

Fixing some smaller issues:

- fixed occasional crashes or low FPS caused by minimap in campaigns
- fixed double information of war declarations
- siege attacks now work properly when multiple sieges active
- remaining food calculation in sieges improved
- fixed: lumber mills do not find resources if number of trees is reduced in options menu
- loan interest costs now shown properly in finance menu
- fixed: building upgrades now replace building model instantly on campaign map
- newsfeed tabs: information now fit into tabs
- fixed overlapping tooltips in city menu
- confirmation of renaming regiments now does not switch to next city
- fixed overlapping windows if historical events are triggered
- text now fits into mercenary tooltip
- population effect on corruption now shown as positive
- preventing running through of opposing regiments in melees
- red barricade timers now hidden if fog of war is activated

The Battle Pack DLC Released

£3.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/485840/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.akamai.steamstatic.com%2Fsteam%2Fapps%2F485840%2Fheader.jpg%3Ft%3D1469680695&hash=4852411f46463aa0617e42fbc93526f6629ec620)

The Seven Years War (1756-1763) Battle Pack
- 6 Additional historic battles
- Build your own custom battles
- Weather effects with influence on the troops' conditions
- Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield
- New unit: horse artillery
- Additional unit statistics during and at the end of battles
- New quick attack and retreat orders
- Polished battle goals

Based on the community votes, the new historic battles include:
- Abraham Plains (1757)
- Sainte Foy (1760)
- Zorndorf (1758)
- Carillon (1758)
- Prague (1757)
- Lovositz (1756)

Anyone got the battlepack, I would like to hear some feedback.

I have not had much time with it but the following make a difference, especially for those who are interested in just the military and not the economic side.

- 6 Additional historic battles
- Build your own custom battles
- Weather effects with influence on the troops' conditions
- Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield
- New unit: horse artillery
- Additional unit statistics during and at the end of battles
- New quick attack and retreat orders
- Polished battle goals

Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield. You simply click the button and the AI does the rest for that unit.

The DLC does add quite a lot and I think is good value at £3.99.

Regards

Thanks Asid,
I am interested more in the battle, so I guess I will get it.

Pomeranian War - DLC announced!
18 OCTOBER - KEPPELMUELLER

Available: 25 November

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.akamai.steamstatic.com%2Fsteam%2Fapps%2F538430%2Fheader.jpg%3Ft%3D1476765797&hash=d8848a3e202e541f367908760f1ce689885a0dae)


ONCE A GREAT NORTHERN EMPIRE, NOW DEGRADED. A FLEETING MOMENT IN HISTORY. A CHANCE TO RESTORE WHAT WAS LOST?

In 1757, with the Seven Years' War raging in Europe and the colonies, the so far neutral Sweden under the political leadership of the hard line Hats -party decides to take advantage of the situation by allying once again with France, joining the anti-Prussian coalition.




Features:
- new playable nation: Sweden
- 5 new campaign scenarios for Sweden, where you may attempt to lead the nation from 1750 all the way through the war, or go for historical goals in the two major operations of the war. Or maybe even restore the empire of the era of great power, "stormaktstiden", lost in the Great Northern War...
- two new national policies: Naval invasion preparations and mercantilism
- new nation specific historic events and march music for Sweden
- revised and expanded roster of Swedish military units
- bonus scenario for the French, with historical strategic goal of invading Britain in 1759

I think I've played maybe a minute-and-a-half of the original game so far, and I'm STILL getting this dlc.  :smitten:

Quote from: JasonPratt on October 19, 2016, 11:04:25 AM
I think I've played maybe a minute-and-a-half of the original game so far, and I'm STILL getting this dlc.  :smitten:

Not necessarily with this game, but this is a disease that afflicts many of us on this forum.  :-[

The Seven Years War30% off

-30%  £14.99  £10.49

http://store.steampowered.com/app/400470/

Pomeranian War DLC released: £2.79


Update 1.336 released!

Update 1.336 improves the AI behavior and balancing in campaigns:

- AI aggressivity can now be adjusted in options menu, choose from: normal, aggressive, warmonger
- select option "military focus" to let the AI control your economy, your construction, your research, your financials and your policies
- enemy armies now make invasions over greater distances and also from allied territory
- enemy armies now wait for supply before continuing invasions
- increased AI naval movement
- rebalancing supply duration of sieges
- AI now assaults in sieges depending on the relative strength and morale to the defender
- AI now places more garrisons in occupied cities or forts
- breaking out of war due to historic events and behavior of allies now better balanced
- improved repairs and upgrades of AI buildings
- occupied provinces are now only tradeable in peace periods and to the claiming nation
- rebalancing of maneuver order

Fixed bugs:
- removed double goals after resuming historic battles
- loading commander data properly when resuming battles
- enemy armies now not moving away within sieges
- fixed some smaller fog of war topics in campaigns
- fixed not accessible buildings during repairs
- sieges are now broken up if peace is declared
- fixed infinate morale and strength numbers due to zero strength regiments sieges
- 12pdr now researchable

Others:
- updated manual:
http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/400470/manuals/THE_SEVEN_YEARS_WAR_-_Game_manual.pdf?t=1480015314

Quote from: Asid on November 25, 2016, 01:48:21 PM
The Seven Years War30% off

-30%  £14.99  £10.49

http://store.steampowered.com/app/400470/

Pomeranian War DLC released: £2.79


Update 1.336 released!

Update 1.336 improves the AI behavior and balancing in campaigns:

- AI aggressivity can now be adjusted in options menu, choose from: normal, aggressive, warmonger
- select option "military focus" to let the AI control your economy, your construction, your research, your financials and your policies
- enemy armies now make invasions over greater distances and also from allied territory
- enemy armies now wait for supply before continuing invasions
- increased AI naval movement
- rebalancing supply duration of sieges
- AI now assaults in sieges depending on the relative strength and morale to the defender
- AI now places more garrisons in occupied cities or forts
- breaking out of war due to historic events and behavior of allies now better balanced
- improved repairs and upgrades of AI buildings
- occupied provinces are now only tradeable in peace periods and to the claiming nation
- rebalancing of maneuver order

Fixed bugs:
- removed double goals after resuming historic battles
- loading commander data properly when resuming battles
- enemy armies now not moving away within sieges
- fixed some smaller fog of war topics in campaigns
- fixed not accessible buildings during repairs
- sieges are now broken up if peace is declared
- fixed infinate morale and strength numbers due to zero strength regiments sieges
- 12pdr now researchable

Others:
- updated manual:
http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/400470/manuals/THE_SEVEN_YEARS_WAR_-_Game_manual.pdf?t=1480015314

   This turned up on sale on steam so I got it.  The battles are quite convincing.  I got beat up by the AI when I attacked as the Prussians at Kolin -- very nice -- all the Austrian Croats were where they should be and fought as well as they really did.  So there you go.   The terrain is a bit murky, but that simulates Frederick's poor eyesight very well.