Sovereignty, a few "new" screenshots

[Agesilaus]

Okay I got it and gave it a go, it's pretty good. At first, I was going to put it down because it didn't grip me, but now I like it a lot. I am playing as Maledor, and the cheap cultist unit is really great for blitzing Ladvia. The damn gypsy vampire guy keepings demolishing me, but I just pin him down and steal all the towns.

That said, is the necromancer hero bugged? I can't use the special ability that lets me swap one standard unit for another. Everytime I click the card, it says that there's no valid target. What gives? The hero is not represented on the battlemap, so it can't be a range issue, and there are plenty of units on each side that don't have medals.

Also, it crashes a fair bit. I've had about 3 crashes in an hour and a half of play.



Okay, so I can't play anymore because there's a bug that causes the game to crash whenever you kill the Ladvian cavalry unit that looks like a person with a dagger sitting on a rock at night. It's an interesting game and I enjoyed playing it, but my current playthrough is at an end because the game is broken.

 

[Agesilaus]

Okay, tried playing again, this time purposely avoiding the "spy" unit that was crashing the game. I came within one turn of conquering the all the little forts, and then it just crashed when the vampire killed a cultist. The game is not playable in its current state.

 

[Mortmal]

Okay I got it and gave it a go, it's pretty good. At first, I was going to put it down because it didn't grip me, but now I like it a lot. I am playing as Maledor, and the cheap cultist unit is really great for blitzing Ladvia. The damn gypsy vampire guy keepings demolishing me, but I just pin him down and steal all the towns.

That said, is the necromancer hero bugged? I can't use the special ability that lets me swap one standard unit for another. Everytime I click the card, it says that there's no valid target. What gives? The hero is not represented on the battlemap, so it can't be a range issue, and there are plenty of units on each side that don't have medals.

Also, it crashes a fair bit. I've had about 3 crashes in an hour and a half of play.



Okay, so I can't play anymore because there's a bug that causes the game to crash whenever you kill the Ladvian cavalry unit that looks like a person with a dagger sitting on a rock at night. It's an interesting game and I enjoyed playing it, but my current playthrough is at an end because the game is broken.

The spell only work on units without medals,butif they get a ltitle xp i think you are out of luck, had glitches with it too. Most of my playthrough ends up being broken at some point too but using the latest beta builds help quite a bit.

 

[Sranchammer]

Paradox kiddies are going to kill this game

 

[Sranchammer]

Playing as maledor is fun

 

[CrimsonAngel]

So far i like it and with a bit more polish i think this could be the Fantasy EU game that i always wanted.

 

[Sranchammer]

1.4 is a game breaker due to autoresolve. My maledor AAR must wait

 

[muds_animal_friend]

This game is a piece of absurdist performance art on the futility of war.

The least expensive upgrade option for a non-damaged province costs 4500 gold and earns 150 gold per turn maximum. It takes one turn of occupation for an enemy force to destroy that upgrade. So an upgrade that takes a minimum of thirty turns merely to pay for itself can be destroyed in one turn, and that is the best case scenario. Nor does the size of the occupying force matter. A single unit causes as much destruction as a full twenty unit army. On the other hand, to annex a province its economic value must be reduced to zero, so newly captured territory is worthless beyond any special resource it may contain. Nor does pillaging a province provide the occupier with any gold. To expand to any notable extent requires leaving valuable provinces vulnerable in order to obtain worthless provinces. This might be offset by the value of obtaining special resources if said resources had any significant worth, but they do not as the market economy is broken. I've only ever witnessed resources selling onto the market at a minimum (79 gold) and selling off at a maximum (299 gold) regardless of supply and demand, so tough shit if you want to play merchant prince. As for needing resources to build units: well the resources aren't required anymore after the units are built and thus play very little role beyond the early game.

Also, the battlefield AI appears to be a Brownian motion simulator. The AI is completely -- and I mean completely -- incapable of defending victory locations, which is compounded by the bizarre decision to start the defender's unit scattered across the battlefield. In this game it's always defender who starts at a disadvantage. On the offense it fairs little better as turn timer ensures victory for the player by simply camping back at the victory point furthest away from the front line and clicking end turn repeatedly, a tactic that would also work for the AI if the AI ever employed it. It does manage to form shield walls supported by archers from time to time, but will frequently dissolve its formation at the height of battle for no reasons that are clear to me.

Warlords are absurdly over-powered in comparison to all other hero types given that warlords are actually useful in every battle whereas the other heroes are situationally useful at best, the druid for example, or utterly useless.

tl;dr:

Pros: Better than Pillars of Eternity.
Cons: It's shit.

Spoiler

I actually quite enjoyed it in a strange way. Perhaps due to Fantasy General nostalgia. It's got a certain charm.

Edit: I was wrong about the resources market. Prices can change, but 79 gold is actually the max a resource can sell for which makes the situation worse. A resource is worth far less than a single upgrade level in one province. And the fundamental problem with the tax-based side of the economy is that it works like a typical Paradox grand strategy game where economic growth is very slow and requires long periods of consolidation. Paradox games are real-time and feature a fast forward button. Sovereignty, in contrast, is a turn-based game where dozens upon dozens of turns spent in inactivty is simply watching the metaphorical paint dry while the AI plods through its turns.

 

[Sranchammer]

Is finding the sweet spot between Paradox and AGEOD's Pride of Nations so hard to ask?

 

[Sranchammer]

Just an update from devs are planning to release the OpenGl in 'a few weeks'.

 

[Sranchammer]

This is a massive patch, focusing on user experience issues, and bug fixes.

There are a total of 60+ changes in this update. As well as a number of fixes to the UI (especially in tactical battles), there are also 3 new unit types which you can earn (one for Ladvia and 2 for the Boruvian Empire) by meeting particular goals.

There are still a few outstanding issues, we are well aware of, but little by little one travels far, so we will address those in the next patch along with anything new you guys discover and report asap.

Complete patch 1156 notes:

Spoiler

Fixed incorrect pathing allowing attacks from harbours to landlocked provinces
Fixed crash when clicking delete on load game screen with no save selected
Fixed crashes when packing/unpacking units under some conditions
Fixed crash when fearsome unit dies while attacking
Fixed Info toggle in tactical battle not working
Increased animation speed of Hero cards in battle
Increased text size on Hero cards
When AI asks you to join allied war, it will now actually declare war
Fixed tactical battle speed setting
Fixed unique units appearing as if you have one already when it is dead
Improved ownership flags in tactical battle
Fixed broken Anti-Aliasing settings
Fixed Recon unit ability not granting additional move
Fixed missing attack/move indicators in tactical battle
Code of War restriction no longer applies when counter-attacking your own province
Improved various on-map icons, especially with regards to mouseovers not working
Bottom area in battle now reacts to mouseovers and clicks
Enemy units in battle can now be selected, allowing inspection of their stats and abilities
Select Previous/Next unit buttons no longer reset every time no unit is selected
Economy mode button is now below the minimap (like the old upgrade button)
Provinces can be upgraded from the Provinces List
Provinces can be upgraded from their info cards
All province upgrade icons/buttons now have tooltips
Reduced default audio volume
Audio volume setting now works in 1% increments
Fixed crash on exit caused by sound system
Increased text size on "select your realm" list
Realm select screen no longer fades out the realm names when zoomed in
Deploying Units by clicking directly on the target army now works
Increased text size on most of the pull-out panels
Fixed placement issues on purchase screen when large UI scale is used
Increased text size in event message (top-left area)
Enemy units in tactical battle no longer visible during deployment stage
Terrain in tactical battle now has tooltips
, and . keys (< and >) are now shortcuts for prev/next unit in battle
Mouseovers and clicks now work properly in tactical deployment
Moved menu button in tactical battle to better location
Tactical battle camera now centres on selected unit
Tactical battle camera now centres on units which fight
Fixed a number of missing or incorrect texts
Fixed crash when AI attempts to use Siren's Song spell
Fixed possible crash when unit is disbanded
Fixed text renderer crash when blank text is vertically centred
No longer possible to save while pre or post battle report is on screen (creates bugs on reload)
Fixed possible crash when casting the Ranger hero card
Fixed crash in battle caused by displaying the stats of a dead unit
Fixed crash using Sea Dog or Guild Insider with 20 units already in the army
Siege units can now fire immediately when they unpack
Adjusted Odenheim campaign to make Mrymont more likely to declare war
Defensive units in tactical battle now deploy closer to the VPs
Name Ironman Save dialog now accepts return key
Increased margins on info card descriptions
Clicking minimap now animates camera instead of insta-travel
Player realm appears bold and a different shade in ranking lists
New Unit: Satisfy the bloodlust of Von Telvich to get Bloodhounds
New Unit: Help the Empire to reclaim Berany to get Cataphracts
New Unit: Help the Empire to reclaim Galeni to get Hospitallers
Fixed morale not working properly in tactical battles
Fixed Odenheim campaign related crash
Fixed Error send dialog issues when large fonts are enabled
Irregular units no longer try to Hit and Run when making ranged attacks
Increased margin on rankings list
Fixed AI only calling realms to war if they have Mutual Defence (and not Alliance)
Units on a bridge in tactical battle no longer have disorder
Fixed bridging units not being able to use bridges
Defedning AI will no longer try to cross rivers to meet attacker
Added warning message is you are disbanding the last unit in a Hero-led army
Wagons (packed siege) now move slower over rough terrain


Have fun playing and testing!

And again thank you for your patience, testing and feedback, we could not do it without you.

 

[Agesilaus]

Hmm, perhaps I need to reinstall this game. I haven't played since early/mid 2015; does it have a lot of new content? I enjoyed it last time I played, but it was too buggy.

 

[Raghar]

And release date is sooner than in next decade?

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

I playde this last night. beta version. Dragonhold and Iron Barony had invented stealth siege engines. (itsa bug)

 

[Sranchammer]

If you want to pick up the game it's 20% off due to Slitherine sale.

It may not be for everyone but it has a one more turn factor I haven't experienced in a long time. Even now, fending off Maledor hordes when the South goes to shit is always a rollicking time.

Current beta fixed a ton of issues but the most glaring tactical bugs (invisible siege + CTD on retreat) bugs will be fixed no later than next week

 

[Tanaka]

It is a fun game but I cannot get very far without it crashing every time...

 

[Sranchammer]

New patch

We are adding a province building system, as we are now bringing updates weekly, I believe we 2-3 weeks of pushing 2.0 to the public branch and already are working on 3.0 behind the scenes.

Please all try out the latest 2.0 Open Beta and keep on posting any feedback!

Spoiler

Changes from patch 1182:

Magical attack types now grant +1 attack against Shield Wall
Flipped battle UI to place end turn button on right
Cavalry can no longer charge if the move ends on a water tile
Fixed vampirism working on other undead units
Added several new status effects to combat result previews
Fixed duration of Diseased effect in battles
Fixed display of combat preview results when there are multiple status effects
Spells which can target an ally now work on realms you have a Defence treaty with
Improved display of economy value on province info cards
Fixed unit bonuses from Cradles and Patrons not affecting units already in training
Frozen Hoofprints spell now applies an area effect
Spells targeting units can no longer be cast on targets which are not Scouted
All Agents affecting a realm are now recalled if the realm is destroyed
Fixed units becoming invisible when changing to/from transports
Transport units during tactical deploy now display the unit they are carrying
Fixed transport units at end of battle moving into province without unpacking
Fixed naval units retreating to land and land units retreating to sea in battle
AI units now use healing abilities in battle
Autobattles now make use of healer units
Galeni campaign - now requires less units to have Loyalist Brigade
Provinces under occupation now have a red pulsing outline
Fixed issues with Turkish locale settings preventing game from starting
Fixed crash when unit is captured while retreating from morale damage
Fixed crash when accepting changed settings
Added resource names to trade table/trade offers
Fixed crash when trying to display details of a destroyed unit
Unit info card now shows damage type colours on attack stats
Fixed being unable to accept or refuse to join war if a battle has already started
Fixed non-working Dormant unit ability
Fixed invisible units after loading game in tactical battle
Fixed invisible units when using Necropolis power
Fixed tactical battle returning to deployment phase when loading saved game
Fixed being able to merge armies which are too large in sea zones
Fixed group/single tooltips on unit purchase screen
Restored the option to Liberate an allied province if you capture it in battle from a mutual enemy


Have fun playing and testing!

And again thank you for your patience, testing and feedback, we could not do it without you.

 

[rezaf]

Tried this and I really have to wonder how it looked like before years of early access. The UI is so horrible.

Can anyone explain (or point to a good YT video) on how you're supposed to "properly" play the game? I ran into the same problems muds has explained above. Lots of gameplay questions arose, and the manual failed to answer any of them.
For example ...
Can you build/expand forts?
Can you improve your armies somehow? I was playing those empire dudes for an easy start, but their units (even the elite ones) where utter shite even compared to the shovelware ones enemies churned out in hordes.
I found out you can gain access to units by allying to another power, but is there anything else you can do?
Is there an economy overview where you can see what you earn and pay and for what?
I ended up spamming the cheap milita unit en masse in all of my provinces to prevent them from being destroyed, is there any reason not to do this?
Is there an actual storyline unfolding or is it a totally random affair?
What's it with the spells?

Weird game.

 

[XenomorphII]

Yes, forts are built like other buildings now, you just require the materials and money for them.
Sort of. Your units gain experience and can level up and you can sometimes use magic to give them a boost, but it isn't much.
Yes. If you meet your campaign objectives you unlock some additional units. Not sure if this is true for every faction though. Pretty sure the empire gets theirs from taking out the two factions that broke away (Galeni and Berany I think) and they are decent.
Yes. The top of the screen there should be a little blue down arrow next to your money. Click it and you should end up with a full overview of your economy.
If you can afford them as spam and a few real armies for attacking, probably not.
I honestly don't know. There are a few popup events that happen, but I don't think they really do anything.
Some are pretty neat, most are kinda useless, all seem to be very situational.

 

[Sranchammer]

Weird? You mean glorious.

 

[XenomorphII]

I think it is pretty weird, but I also think that it is that weird quality that makes me enjoy it so much.

 

[rezaf]

Weird? You mean glorious.

No, I mean weird.

Thanks for your tipps Xeno, I figured out some of the stuff on my own - after opting into the beta versions, the version you get otherwise is horribly outdated.
For example, the building stuff is kinda hard to figure out since you only can build buildings of a certain tier, it's very unintuitive - but I'm happy you provided answers to some of the others.
I don't think I'll ever get warm with this game.
If this was the very first alpha version, it'd still be an embarrassment for the UI designer, but after more than a year in EA?
The most intriguing part of the game is the world and it's handcrafted factions and their relation with each other. Kinda reminds me of Dominions in that regard.
Except, with the static nature of the map, it's kinda sad that there's no event system to speak of.
All in all, it would even be pretty sad for a freeware game, but I can't see why anyone should spend $25 on it (or the MUCH higher price they hinted at in the EA video) over another game.
It made me chuckle how even some of the totally crappy and uneven art they have is actually stolen from other games - the terrain tiles are from Panzer Corps (on which The Lordz worked of course - so it's safe to assume they have permission, but it's still kinda cringeworthy).
At least it makes you appreciate the (also pretty bad) UIs Illwinter creates...

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

So, any updates on this? I've been keeping tabs on this game and supposedly it's basically finished and official release should be in early 2017. From screenshots and videos it looks really cool, finally a fantasy, grand strategy game with tactical combat that actually has 2d graphics and captures the old school vibe really, really well.

But then reading forums and reviews makes me pretty worried about it being an unfinished mess.

 

[Raghar]

But then reading forums and reviews makes me pretty worried about it being an unfinished mess.

Do you know the company and what they released?

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I think I made it obvious on a few occasions that you are pretty retarded and I'm not really interested in reading your redundant posts? Uh, thanks for the reply though, I guess, I don't know, maybe...