HOI4 Dev Diary - Bag of Tricks #2

[Mr.Grizzly]

I'll start off by saying good luck and best of wishes to Podcat on his next project and hope is next game is great! I do admit that I have been pessimistic of a lot of design decisions of the game under him but it was out of love for Hearts of Iron IV and wanting the best out of it. Hopefully its East vs West, I've been dying for a PDX-style Cold War game or even the supposed fantasy game.

Regarding Arheo taking on the role as head, I'm quite happy and already have the trust from Imperator. I seriously hope we get some more content added to the game in not just focus trees or war mechanics, the game is in desperate need for affairs at home and diplomacy in my opinion. The game doesn't need to be Victoria or Imperator, it should focus on war more, the game does feel dry when you're not the fascist aggressor and even then you speed 5 your way until you invade. There is nothing on diplomacy despite the game having some sort of mechanics, no world organization monitoring things which at 1936 the League of Nations wasn't completely dead yet and could've come back, nothing on the situation at home besides random events of worker strikes or draft dodging during the war. Countries like America and Bulgaria have shown its possible to have mechanics for internal political affairs before the war that actively need to be monitored instead of acting like the parliamentary governments of Great Britain and France are mindless drones despite going through quite a few issues before and during the war. Again, I don't expect Victoria III level of detail, though personally I would love that, the game in my opinion does need more than just being a war game. I know some find it appealing that a game can be done in 6 hours, and with the game being set over the period of about 10 years, you're not going to get something like EUIV length but I still would like to see the average game length extended by quite a bit. Perhaps I'll get lynched by the more active MP players but HoI IV really feels like a beer and pretzel game next to the other PDX titles. I don't need world economy management but politics and diplomacy are very important to warfare and the complete lack of it for the game has been a serious detriment in my opinion.


The weather becoming meaningful is a nice change to see, want to see how the AI handles it first though. Allied construction is very nice to see, I would be tempted to make them a rule on restrictions though. A singleplayer Britain isn't able to cheese it with forts in France for example as the AI does its own thing as well as other faction members. Also I do think allied built radar should be the limit of the constructor, it's odd that an liege can't build better radar in his subjects not to mention essentially gift better radar to their allies. It'd be nice if I was playing as Britain and was able to build my good radar systems in my colonies or allied colonies. Again, perhaps making this a rule would be better to avoid cheese? I do understand ports being completely off limit to build though, that would make D-Day or other liberation landings way too easy, I just hope we can repair the ports ourselves though. The Allies troops didn't stop and wait for the French government to repair the port of Cherbourg themselves. The encirclement animation I'm mixed on, it looks nice at first but I'm confused on how it'll work with attacks from multiple directions and also if it means only one division is shown we don't actually see other units encircling and attacking. Not to mention I can see it getting confused if people have units stationed and think they're attacking from the animation if they don't pay attention to the unit icon on the map. On a positive note, I will say it's nice to see more animations added, the game could use more I think so that's nice.

A lot of changes have been made in the course of the past 5 years, some difficult decisions. I think one of the biggest was the decision to move from producing small, focus-tree oriented DLCs like Together for Victory and Death or Dishonor, to producing larger expansions with a bigger emphasis on new mechanics like Man the Guns and La Resistance. I think this was the right call, even though we've had to wait long periods of time. It's been nearly two years since the last fully fledged expansion, but looking back at the content we received in the first few DLCs, I'd rather wait and have solid content than receive lightweight and mostly forgettable additions that we had with TFV.

While that's true, we also have a situation where the game has been out for 5 years and entire theatres of war are missing or historical countries that fought have nothing, not even a historical tree. The game really could've used small patches and country packs in between of the large patches and expansion packs. Don't get me wrong I understand why they chose to do expansion after expansion, the game was quite lacking in mechanics and needed more but now we have the problem that Northern Europe has nothing, South America has nothing, Middle East has nothing, Southeast Asia has nothing, etc. Even if we ignore the country content in the game there were long periods of time where nothing was going on, none or little communication and just 0 patches when the game needed some, unless it was a game breaking issue with MP. I think a better path would've been 2 expansion packs then 1 country pack or something along those lines. Just so the game didn't feel so empty in terms of the world we're playing in.

 

[Poopfaust]

Nice. I hope you will continue to communicate closely with BICE and Old World Blues.., those two are great!!

 

[Sighfer]

While I appreciate it's important not to be to 'unforgiving' to players, this seems a very 'gently gently' take on mud. My impression on the impact of mud, from reading Mud: A Military History (as well as military history more generally - although I don't focus on the dirty, landy stuff unless I really focus on the dirty landy stuff!), is that it has a significantly greater impact on both speed and attack. I'd suggest -70% movement and -60% attack, with movement modified by infra (like it should be already) - but with strategic movement not impacted if strategic movement is tied to rail networks.

Yes, HoI4 is extremely lenient with environmental conditions. Mud chokes off supply throughput. Tanks do not dare to go near forests. There's no fog, no distinction between a light drizzle and a heavy downpour (which would create mud), no hail, no black ice. And the game is very shy about weather and environment effects dealing damage directly to HP. Reminder the winter in 1941 dropped to -40 degrees C, and Germans did not provide their troops with winter gear.

 

[Lord Valdyr]

Though let's face it, I play all Paradox games...

If I don't, the Paradox Hit-squad will find me.

 

[Iskulya]

While that's true, we also have a situation where the game has been out for 5 years and entire theatres of war are missing or historical countries that fought have nothing, not even a historical tree. The game really could've used small patches and country packs in between of the large patches and expansion packs. Don't get me wrong I understand why they chose to do expansion after expansion, the game was quite lacking in mechanics and needed more but now we have the problem that Northern Europe has nothing, South America has nothing, Middle East has nothing, Southeast Asia has nothing, etc. Even if we ignore the country content in the game there were long periods of time where nothing was going on, none or little communication and just 0 patches when the game needed some, unless it was a game breaking issue with MP. I think a better path would've been 2 expansion packs then 1 country pack or something along those lines. Just so the game didn't feel so empty in terms of the world we're playing in.

Those things really aren't up to Podcat and the team though, so this criticism of the HoI 4 team doesn't really make sense. It's ultimately Paradox corporate that decides what resources to allocate for development.

I think the team has done well given the huge limitations they have faced there, although there have been some dissapointments with long standing bugs and mechanical issues, some of which have been present from launch. That's also largely a corporate level decision as I see it. Money that is spent on bug fixes, past a point, will not increase sales, so more resources are allocated to shiny new things that will sell a new product.

 

[Voigt]

Its never too soon for memes

Maybe it is a direct switcheroo, with Arheo from Imperator to HoI4 now podcat from HoI4 to Imperator 2? ^^

 

[Metz]

@Arheo

Can an option for encirclement be added in the division planning? Maybe you circle which tiles you want to apply containment to so long as it is drawn behind an offensive line. This way your divisions will move forward and around the enemy and then cut off their supply without automatically engaging.

 

[Djambo]

I have a conservatoire education in vocal studies (primarily early renaissance music), and I've worked for a number of cathedrals as a Lay Clerk (I don't know how prevalent this position is outside the UK!). I also play a variety of keyboard instruments; organ, harpsichord, piano etc. Largely a freelance career - recordings, concerts, etc, with a bit of teaching here and there.

So essentially you should win every Paradox Karaoke event?

Good luck to both of you on your new/current assignments.

 

[Maxsdox]

Probably it is worth adding in addition to the rain( and so on) modifiers-Fires, which could play the role of a distraction. For example, even the Japanese had a super plan for setting fires in the United States with the help of" balloons " that launched a free journey across the Pacific Ocean.
It was also good to add in the” province " in addition to the terrain such things as: the nature of the development 1-4, the number of small rivers and reservoirs 1 (no) -4(very large), to take out vegetation separately (1-8 or names), the type of soil ( sandy , clay ,stony, mixed (chernozem)),. For example, take the" province X " plain, then the nature of the development 1 would mean for it that there are no buildings, for rivers 2 that they are but insignificant, the type of vegetation is grassy , the type of soil is mixed .

 

[Maxsdox]

The example that I would give would mean that in the imu, the lack of buildings of the division is more susceptible to weather events . A small number of rivers means that the equipment will not receive an additional staff , and grassy vegetation gives an advantage to the equipment but also to the artillery.

 

[Maxsdox]

Add a partial cotrol of the "province" for the fight , like ENG 1 GER2 (out of 3) . This would reflect both the bridgeheads on the rivers and at high water, and the environment . If we surround the divisions in 2 provinces by the reception and then get control of 2 on one, then the depletion of the enemy will increase even more .It is also suitable for fighting in the city, as well as for displaying descriptions of partisan actions. Of course, this will require a dorobotkt animation of the battle . Partial control can be displayed by hatching. By the way, this will turn out great with the new supply system . For example, controlling for 2 prov. then there is still control over the railway, but the delivery is limited , but when controlling for 1 prov. only motor transport can reach through the province.

 

[Simon_9732495]

Changing of the Guard

Here, I’ll hand over to @podcat to cover an upcoming change in the HoI development team.

Hi everyone Dan here, I want to let you know that you’ll be seeing Peter more and more as he is now taking over as game director on Hearts of Iron IV.

Looking back I have been working on HOI4 for about 7 years now and before this I worked a few years on HOI3. So it's fair to say that Hearts of Iron will always be close to my heart, but I also feel like it's time for something new to sink my teeth into.

I’m going to be working with a Secret Project which I can't tell you very much about - except that I am super pumped about it, and that it isn't HOI5. While I’m sure the time will come for that, right now we feel that HOI4 still has room to be developed with content and cool stuff.

Timing wise it fits well for me. No Step Back was the last expansion step I had penned down back when the original game released in 2016 so it's time for another 5 year plan (heh). It takes the game full circle as with NSB we will have touched on all the major systems in free updates and expansions at least once. It's also a perfect time to get more fresh perspectives to help evolve the game when most of my original ideas and plans have now been done.

Of course you will still see me around and I expect I’ll be poking around here and there in HOI (one does not simply let go of their baby so easily!), but I am confident in Peter and the team to take the helm and keep steering the ship now, and I am sure No Step Back will be awesome and that you will all love it.

Thank you for your work @podcat and good luck on your way!

 

[Edungeon]

Hey Podcat, what about a warhammer40k grand strategy...

 

[Simon_9732495]

Weather 2.0

One of our long-standing goals with the new supply system, was to introduce some changes to the way weather affects the gameplay experience. To give some strategic relevance to weather, we’ve slowed down the system to modulate between potential weather effects on a less frequent basis. This gives a player some time to react to potentially advantageous/disadvantageous conditions, as well as being somewhat more predictable on a larger scale.

In addition to this, we’ve taken a broad look at the combination of stat effects on ground conditions, temperatures, and weather, in order to mesh more closely with the new supply system, and to give a greater impact on campaigns - especially those conducted in adverse conditions:

• In addition to Org recovery, weather will now affect org loss from movement, and in extreme cases, supply consumption.
• While temperature has no new modifier effects, we’ve taken a pass on temperature data across the world, with the intention of improving accuracy.
• Ground conditions now also have the potential to affect org loss on moving divisions. This becomes particularly important in muddy/cold conditions such as the eastern front, where the combination of various conditional effects can severely slow an advance.

New Weather Effects: (WIP)​

Condition	Org Regain	Org Loss While Moving	Supply Consumption
Rain	-5%	+5%
Storm	-15%	+10%	+10%
Snow		+10%
Blizzard	-10%	+25%	+15%
Sandstorm	-20%	+25%

New Ground Conditions: (WIP)​

Condition	Attrition	Div Speed	Div Attack	Div Defense	Dig In	Org Regain	Org Loss While Moving
Deep Snow	+25%	-25%	-30%				+25%
Snow		-10%	-10%				+10%
Mud	+70%	-50%	-40%				+25%
Flood		-50%		+50%	+20%		+25%

Visually the weather effects have been updated to be easier to spot on the map, with updated particle effects weather will look better than ever. This also makes it clearer when a region is experiencing a weather event so you can react to it faster.

I just looked up the current values for this because I thought the effects got a lot harder, but I realized only the "org loss while moving" and "supply consumption" changed. The other values are already in the game.

Did I get this right?

 

[Simon_9732495]

Equipment Management

In NSB, we’re upgrading the ability to manage specific equipment usage by division template. This means you can ensure that your elite breakthrough divisions have everything they need, while line divisions have equipment of a lower priority.

Will the new Equipment Management effect garrison templates?

Right now, even if you select only old and foreign guns for your garrison templates, your newest produced guns will still go to equipment used for garrisons.

 

[kettyo]

Hi Arheo,

Is there a plan to improve AI political decision making, especially the handling of war focuses, wargoals, and war declarations?

Ahistorical games tend to fall into an utter mess really soon by nations declaring unreasonable or outright suicidal wars, many times resulting in an everyone against everyone else scenario.

The force comparison logic should be improved at first as as far as i know the game still only compares division counts to assess the power of a country. It should rather compare estimated combined attack values or something like that. Also it should factor in important things like guarantees, land and air power of would-be-enemies, land and air power of would-be-cobelligerents, and naval power of allies and would-be-allies as well as enemies and would-be-enemies in case the target is overseas.

The handling of wargoals should be changed so that they don't automatically mean an instant preparation for war for both sides but it rather means a kind of hot claim upon which the country might start preparing for war when he thinks he is in a position to win, handled by decisions. So that wargoals would not mean essentialy a state of war from day 1 like they do now but this state of war would be ignited by the country having the wargoal running a decision to prepare war against the country having the wargoal against. In the meantime the wargoal would cause a severe diplomatic and trade penalty but the countries would not treat each other like outright enemies.

Thanks!

 

[Prozolion]

Any improvements coming to combat log feature, which was added in Together for Victory and has remained unchanged since then?

 

[wisecat]

We actually added this yesterday, with the ignore setting tied to order execution status.

Could you please post a screenshot of this switch?

 

[Mr.Grizzly]

Those things really aren't up to Podcat and the team though, so this criticism of the HoI 4 team doesn't really make sense. It's ultimately Paradox corporate that decides what resources to allocate for development.

I think the team has done well given the huge limitations they have faced there, although there have been some dissapointments with long standing bugs and mechanical issues, some of which have been present from launch. That's also largely a corporate level decision as I see it. Money that is spent on bug fixes, past a point, will not increase sales, so more resources are allocated to shiny new things that will sell a new product.

From my understanding the choices of what DLC to make was the choice of Podcat, as he even says here No Step Back was his last planned DLC, implying he had some authority of what they were making and when. Obviously there's the publisher side of things but Podcat would be the one pitching the expansion ideas to the publisher if he's the one with the planned DLC. And of course there is the publisher saying don't spend time fixing bugs forever, we've seen that plenty with other game series both of and not of PDX but that is one of the major flaws of the live service style games. Maybe you're right and I'm wrong or maybe it's vice versa, I doubt we'll ever know. In the end we all want HoI IV to be the best it can be, we just have different visions for it.

 

[Toybasher]

On the subject of weather, it was mentioned in dev diary 2, "Early look at supply and the coming year" weather and terrain would affect supply flow to hubs. In diary 14, "Supply and Mulberry Harbors" the supply system was further tweaked, and weather is not mentioned, only terrain.

Was the effect of weather on getting supply up to the front removed for this? Realistically a bottleneck because the area behind you is covered in deep snow and the trucks can't reach you should be a thing.

Also, I compared the weather values for the WIP to the current values, and it seems as if weather is less impactful than before. Org regain from sandstorm is being lowered from a 50% penalty to a 20% penalty, deep snow lost the 5% org regain penalty etc. although maybe the new org loss when moving penalties could offset it.

Call me a masochist but IMHO weather should have some serious impact on fighting and more heavily favor the defender. (And IIRC it already DOES favor the defender, since it only affect division attack, not defense)