Question on map.csv file

Been having a jolly old time with 1.34 except for the occasional quirk which I have learned to live with.

I wanted to move away from the restricted movement maps onto one of the Random maps just for a change but the .csv files are a puzzle. It looks as if the "Movement Modifier" is a percentage reduction so, for example, in the Klimovitchi_Rus_KS.csv it seems as if a unit crossing a river is reduced by -0.8 ( which I am assuming is 80%) It certainly slows them down. The Fatigue penalty seems to be in the form of an integer so, -10, or whatever when ever you step into a stream and that works fine.

However, I have tried various values to get it to the point where they can't cross a river at all and that does not seem to work. I tried -100.0, -1.0 and the unit still crosses, although they are totally fatigued when they get across. I was going to try -1.1 to see if that worked but I figured it would be better to drop by and ask the experts, first.

Which led to a second observation which was true even on the RM games. Infantry and artillery was stopped dead but cavalry still crossed the rivers as if they weren't even there. I don't see any kind of terrain modifier for cavalry in the various logistics file although maybe I just haven't stumbled on it. This led to a third observation. I have come to regard my own cavalry as a bunch of wusses which will not cross any kind of terrain except open or clear. The slightest hint of a different color on the map sends them scurrying backwards whereas the AI seems to suffer from no such reluctance. I don't quite get why there would be a difference between AI controlled and human controlled cavalry and, as I said, it doesn't effect other units.

I can confirm that TC-d cavalry goes backwards on anything that is not open terrain. I think this is deliberate so that the TCd cavalry control is a nightmare task. If it's not deliberate and Kevin overlooked this I'd rather have this behaviour removed. Yes un-tcd cavalry doesn't suffer from that but then they can do whatever other crazy thing - like run up to nearest square and charge it

Yup. The AI cavalry seems to love to charge squares....which rarely results in any positive outcomes.

There was a coding bug which made TC'd cavalry retreat from any terrain with a defensive value > 0. Since version 1.34, the cavalry logic was completely reworked. In the process that bug was fixed. Now the TC'd cavalry will retreat if it is forced to go into terrain with a defensive value greater than 25 as was intended. This is primarily to keep players from forcing the cavalry into woods or heavy woods. They can be ordered into the woods unTC'd but they will stop moving fairly quickly. You can get the latest version of the SOWAIInf.dll in the download channel of Discord.

Cavalry will not cross restricted streams just like any other unit. What you are likely seeing is the retreat bug. Once any unit retreats, it will ignore the restricted movement grayscale color. It is a bug in the game engine that has existed since SOWGB.

There is no number that you can put in the Movement Rate column of the mapname.csv to make a unit completely stop. Likewise, there is no number you can put into the UnitGlobal Walk Speed to make it immobile. I don't know if these were intended or bugs. It's just the way it is.

Muchas gracias.

The retreat bug makes sense.

The bit about cavalry not charging into woods makes sense.


I may have to stick to the RM maps.

You have to be careful when using the RM maps. The game engine doesn't take the RM grayscale value into account when plotting the path of a unit. In fact, it doesn't take anything into account. It just draws a straight line from A to B. It give the player a very unfair advantage.

Yes, I have run into the occasional "Path Not Found" error. I get around it by not using the "Auseroad" command. Seems to be a road thing.

Also I found another reason for cavalry to ignore rivers. Gotta watch out for "Fords" which are not always crystal clear on the maps.