Since the patch, units fire in perfect synchronization like robots.

[Graphic]

I thought that was something we were after? Like a properly drilled line unit should at least start out firing with excellent unison in one big crack of musketry where untrained/poorly trained units should give a ragged mix of out of synch shots.

No, no. You're not getting me. I'm not saying it's wrong that they fire in an orderly fashion. When I say perfect, I literally mean "perfect." They don't simply fire in an orderly fashion like any properly trained unit at the time would. They fire at the exact same time. Each volley sounds like one single shot. The whole rank fires on the exact same frame. That's wrong.

The bug only seems to come into effect once you have Fire By Rank researched, and then it only effects Line Infantry.

Here, I took a video: http://www.xfire.com/video/b0f40/ (note the lag of recording throws it off a bit, but it's still pretty clear to see, especially the 3rd rank in the second volley at the end of the clip).

Then after they all fire with robotic precision, the reloading animations are all perfectly in synch as well, then they keep going on like robots. There's practically zero variation between each of the soldiers' animations or firing. This wasn't the way it was before, and it's not the way it's supposed to be.

I've got confirmation from several others. If you haven't noticed it yet, I suggest you make a custom battle, set techs to Late, and just have it 1 line inf vs. 1 line inf and watch them, and see for yourself. In a large battle, having 8 units of line infantry with fire by rank enabled sounds like 8 individual men firing a shotgun 3 times a minute