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Wolfpack
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:49 am
Location: Raleigh, NC

Geographical errors in North Carolina

Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:23 am

I've just now started the game, and don't have time today, and probably not much for the rest of the week (I'm in the process of moving) to really try the game out, but I did notice quite a few map errors in North Carolina, my home state. I don't have the specifics on most of the errors, though I will post those when I have time. The first error that I noticed however, because I live only a few miles from it now, is the spelling of the Neuse River. In the game it is spelled Neuss. I'm not sure if this is a French spelling for the word (I only know 2 languages and French is not one of them), or simply a typo, but I cannot fight a war in my backyard on foreign soil. :sourcil:

As I said, I noticed many other geographical oddities in my state, but I don't have time to post them here at the moment. If others are familiar with the "Old North State" (which is relative only to the other Carolina, I guess), please post your opinions, and I will give mine when I'm not busy moving sofas and spackling walls. Also, is there any way I can modify town and county names myself, or would this require a patch?

Thanks for the feedback,
Brandon

P.S. Despite the apparent errors on the map, at first glance the level of detail looks nice. Can't wait to get some free time to jump into actual gameplay!

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PhilThib
Posts: 13705
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Meylan (France)

Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:23 am

Feel free to post here your remarks and comments.

FYI, it is almost impossible for you to modify directly the names in the game without a patch. Technically, it is very easy, but the fact is that too many game's DBs are interconnected and if you change a name in one place, you have to change it everywhere it may be in use... it requires hours of work, and is prone to many errors (the Betas will recall the famous 'Marion Militia' issue :sourcil: )...

So our aim is to wait till we have a sensible lot of changes, and make one big patch with them all. And is it even worse for the map printed names change (like Neuse) because it requires redoing a 500 Mb+ bitmap :bonk: ...

Last word: many county names (and may be also locations and rivers) were not spelled in the 1860's like they are today. We have debated this hundred of times during development. So beware, what could look like a error today was a fact back in 1860 :indien:

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will b
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:58 pm
Location: Outer Banks, NC

Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:04 pm

Wolfpack:I listed a few in the sticky minor name/city accuracy list. Take a look at those and see what you think.

ncsu90
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Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2007 5:21 pm

more NC observations

Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:21 pm

Wolfpack wrote:I've just now started the game, and don't have time today, and probably not much for the rest of the week (I'm in the process of moving) to really try the game out, but I did notice quite a few map errors in North Carolina, my home state. I don't have the specifics on most of the errors, though I will post those when I have time. The first error that I noticed however, because I live only a few miles from it now, is the spelling of the Neuse River. In the game it is spelled Neuss. I'm not sure if this is a French spelling for the word (I only know 2 languages and French is not one of them), or simply a typo, but I cannot fight a war in my backyard on foreign soil. :sourcil:

As I said, I noticed many other geographical oddities in my state, but I don't have time to post them here at the moment. If others are familiar with the "Old North State" (which is relative only to the other Carolina, I guess), please post your opinions, and I will give mine when I'm not busy moving sofas and spackling walls. Also, is there any way I can modify town and county names myself, or would this require a patch?

Thanks for the feedback,
Brandon

P.S. Despite the apparent errors on the map, at first glance the level of detail looks nice. Can't wait to get some free time to jump into actual gameplay!


As a native Tarheel ... gag, cough NCSU fan, I have to say that the errors in NC are so significant that I wouldn't be able to recognize it as the NC of the 19th century unless I was told. However with one exception (Fayetteville), the location of cities and rivers accurately captures the strategic objectives within the state, even if they aren't named or located correctly for the period or even today.

Ignoring misnaming, which is OK for me, here are the changes I think affect the strategic/gameplay withing NC.

Fayetteville was the strategic center of North Carolina until it was burned during the Civil War. This is a consistent error in all Civil War games, which over emphasize Raleigh. The NC legislature met at Issacs Tavern in Raleigh, but the administration was in Fayetteville until the town was burned down.

The Neuse River is navigatable almost to Raleigh.

Beaufort is on the Outer Banks and is should be considered part of Morehead City. I think Washington, NC should be as strategically important as New Berne (currently spelled New Bern). I'm iffy as to Southport's being a large eough port to be on the map. Also I assume Garys, NC is a mistake for Gatesville, which is also not a major town in NC. But the location of Garys, NC is OK for Halifax, NC which would still be a strategic economic/supply point in this period.

One thing that I think is ahistorical is the percentage of land considered civilized in NC and VA. The Charlotte area and King's Mountain was heavily wooded with Charlotte having a population just over 7,000 during the war. Also the area north of Richmond was and still is in many places unbelievably thickly wooded and diffcult to traverse off road. Also during the war Washington, DC was basically a hill above a swamp.

In spite of my observations I think the game captures the feel of the Civil War (BoA is great too) and is certainly the best computer game on the topic. I eagerly await the obvious culmination of the Ageod game system in a great Napoleanic game.


Daniel

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