While I found these playing the Spanish Civil War Scenario, I am inclined to think you will find them in any/all scenarios:
1) Upon CTRL+ESC and re-opening game I noticed loss of 3 functions:
a) Units will no longer deploy from FORCE POOL
b) Unit stack and units in stack can no longer be renamed
c) The name of any saved game can be shortened by using the DELETE key, but inputting any letter results in that letter becoming other keyboard symbol.
Magically, all three problems end simultaneously anytime later. I am not sure what I am doing to fix it, but I think it has always been connected to some new unit entering FORCE POOL, and as I try to deploy it, it suddenly works. Now all remaining units previously locked in FORCE POOL will also deploy, unit renaming capability is restored, and SAVE GAME can be titled anyway one wishes.
2) Towards the end of game I was getting severe "IC bouncing". At the time IC was 34/36. However, every second day IC wouls shift to about 24/36. All provinces were 100% repaired.
3) There are huge decrepancies between base IC shown (top right corner) and the addition of total factories counted in all provinces. The two must be identical, correct? If all factories in your country add up to 36, then your base IC is 36, right? Well, my country's factories add up to 39, but base IC is displayed as only 36. That is a considerable error. I understand that the 34/36 as regards the first part 34 is the actual IC those 36 stated factories are putting out. While the first number will vary according to repair, techs, etc the second number (base IC) should be verifiable by simply counting all factories, I trust.
4) Statistics/ Territorial Info would be useful if it showed all provinces owned AND controlled. It only includes owned provinces. The abcense of all controlled/occupied provinces makes this listing "useless info".
5) Other quite useless statistics include:
a) four (4) graphs of "maintenance costs" as these facts are best learned by simply looking at consumption figures in the production orders, and one graph should be able to give an overall view quickly (and simply). Try again!
b) "Compare losses inflicted" is not nearly as important as "Compare losses". And adding a further "Compare losses chart" makes me realize that designers do not know what information players really do want. Your superfluous info is just cluttering the drop down box and preventing users from easily reaching what info is digestable.
c) "Naval battles summary" misses the point by omitting enemy ships sunk by aircraft, even though our forces had a joint naval/air operation that resulted in enemy ship loss. Even if we have only air units resulting in an enemy ship loss, that loss must still be shown in this summary because it was a "naval battle" - our air units against the enemy navy. You could simply insert the word "aircraft" in the "Our Size" column when we use airraft only to sink enemy navy. As is, the info presented is incomplete, incorrect (our navy's contribution to sinking enemy ships in the same multi force battle is not recorded) and, thereforee, useless. Who needs the clutter when "Sunk ships" is an excellent info source, and would be greatly improved if would include date (also zone if room).
QUESTION: Just how do you decide it was aircraft that sank the enemy ship when our fleet was hammering them at the same time? This is critical info. When a multi force sinks enemy ships perhaps - in "Sunk ships" you should use the term "multiforce" and reserve the term "aircraft" for when our aircraft were our only forces present in the battle that sank enemy navy.
CONCLUSION: I would pay 10 bucks to the guy whose signature (if I could find it) states something like "Any engineer can design things to complicate them, but it takes a true genius to simplfy them again". Compared to HoIDD, you have made AoD overstuffed with useless info. My real concern is how much is the extra needed computing power to record and track all that info daily affecting the AI? I hope the AI is not basing its build decisions on analysis of "maintenance costs charts". And hopefully not basing it strategy by digesting the differences between "Compare losses" and "Compare losses inflicted".
I am very disappointed that game designers will spend time on such wasteful things as I criticize above as long as they have NOT fixed the game's main development thrust - better AI. I find no difference in "furious" versus "aggressive" testing the game in a simple scenario to purposefully limit variables.
Hearts of Iron is a great game, but I will not excuse designers developing the game to inject useless new features because they feel they need to do something in the absence of not being able to perfect the AI. (Just read other's mention of what AI is doing in their 1.05) I don't see how introducing new useless statistics is helping you achieve in the area we are all praying you will succeed - an AI that truely is impressive.
In my experience the AI has gotten better, but mostly is still pretty passive. When it has a clear win opportunity it now takes it aggressively. But if there is risk to attacking it fails to attack, whereas the human player will marshall all forces to reduce the risk of that attack. Of course one easily losses if giving it any less than best. And the AI units next to a key province they are losing will do nothing, instead of using the AI forces in neighbouring provinces to counterattack (even at poor odds) to diminish the total attack directed at the key province, and so save the defense of that key province.
FINALLY, I would like to tell developers just how badly they bungled the new button for "Traits" in Leaders - Available Replacements. The button, to easily list leaders by trait, was badly needed and is appreciated by all - including myself. But it soon became evident that one still ends up having to scroll thru the whole long list looking for every leader with any specific trait BECAUSE leaders with several traits will only be listed by one trait (probably not the one a player is searching for). The only way to make this "finding all leaders with a certain specific trait" easier is to use a search box that has every trait of every leader registered. Perhaps typing in the first 3 letters of a trait (eg. to find Engineer, just type eng) would then list every leader who has that trait from the top down in order of highest skill first.
Good luck developing AoD not so it is different, not so it does more things, not so it looks different, but just so it plays better. IMO this game falls very short of HoI2 - especially the redundancy of the new financial sliders. I"m looking for a strategic war game - not economics. Sorry,
1) Upon CTRL+ESC and re-opening game I noticed loss of 3 functions:
a) Units will no longer deploy from FORCE POOL
b) Unit stack and units in stack can no longer be renamed
c) The name of any saved game can be shortened by using the DELETE key, but inputting any letter results in that letter becoming other keyboard symbol.
Magically, all three problems end simultaneously anytime later. I am not sure what I am doing to fix it, but I think it has always been connected to some new unit entering FORCE POOL, and as I try to deploy it, it suddenly works. Now all remaining units previously locked in FORCE POOL will also deploy, unit renaming capability is restored, and SAVE GAME can be titled anyway one wishes.
2) Towards the end of game I was getting severe "IC bouncing". At the time IC was 34/36. However, every second day IC wouls shift to about 24/36. All provinces were 100% repaired.
3) There are huge decrepancies between base IC shown (top right corner) and the addition of total factories counted in all provinces. The two must be identical, correct? If all factories in your country add up to 36, then your base IC is 36, right? Well, my country's factories add up to 39, but base IC is displayed as only 36. That is a considerable error. I understand that the 34/36 as regards the first part 34 is the actual IC those 36 stated factories are putting out. While the first number will vary according to repair, techs, etc the second number (base IC) should be verifiable by simply counting all factories, I trust.
4) Statistics/ Territorial Info would be useful if it showed all provinces owned AND controlled. It only includes owned provinces. The abcense of all controlled/occupied provinces makes this listing "useless info".
5) Other quite useless statistics include:
a) four (4) graphs of "maintenance costs" as these facts are best learned by simply looking at consumption figures in the production orders, and one graph should be able to give an overall view quickly (and simply). Try again!
b) "Compare losses inflicted" is not nearly as important as "Compare losses". And adding a further "Compare losses chart" makes me realize that designers do not know what information players really do want. Your superfluous info is just cluttering the drop down box and preventing users from easily reaching what info is digestable.
c) "Naval battles summary" misses the point by omitting enemy ships sunk by aircraft, even though our forces had a joint naval/air operation that resulted in enemy ship loss. Even if we have only air units resulting in an enemy ship loss, that loss must still be shown in this summary because it was a "naval battle" - our air units against the enemy navy. You could simply insert the word "aircraft" in the "Our Size" column when we use airraft only to sink enemy navy. As is, the info presented is incomplete, incorrect (our navy's contribution to sinking enemy ships in the same multi force battle is not recorded) and, thereforee, useless. Who needs the clutter when "Sunk ships" is an excellent info source, and would be greatly improved if would include date (also zone if room).
QUESTION: Just how do you decide it was aircraft that sank the enemy ship when our fleet was hammering them at the same time? This is critical info. When a multi force sinks enemy ships perhaps - in "Sunk ships" you should use the term "multiforce" and reserve the term "aircraft" for when our aircraft were our only forces present in the battle that sank enemy navy.
CONCLUSION: I would pay 10 bucks to the guy whose signature (if I could find it) states something like "Any engineer can design things to complicate them, but it takes a true genius to simplfy them again". Compared to HoIDD, you have made AoD overstuffed with useless info. My real concern is how much is the extra needed computing power to record and track all that info daily affecting the AI? I hope the AI is not basing its build decisions on analysis of "maintenance costs charts". And hopefully not basing it strategy by digesting the differences between "Compare losses" and "Compare losses inflicted".
I am very disappointed that game designers will spend time on such wasteful things as I criticize above as long as they have NOT fixed the game's main development thrust - better AI. I find no difference in "furious" versus "aggressive" testing the game in a simple scenario to purposefully limit variables.
Hearts of Iron is a great game, but I will not excuse designers developing the game to inject useless new features because they feel they need to do something in the absence of not being able to perfect the AI. (Just read other's mention of what AI is doing in their 1.05) I don't see how introducing new useless statistics is helping you achieve in the area we are all praying you will succeed - an AI that truely is impressive.
In my experience the AI has gotten better, but mostly is still pretty passive. When it has a clear win opportunity it now takes it aggressively. But if there is risk to attacking it fails to attack, whereas the human player will marshall all forces to reduce the risk of that attack. Of course one easily losses if giving it any less than best. And the AI units next to a key province they are losing will do nothing, instead of using the AI forces in neighbouring provinces to counterattack (even at poor odds) to diminish the total attack directed at the key province, and so save the defense of that key province.
FINALLY, I would like to tell developers just how badly they bungled the new button for "Traits" in Leaders - Available Replacements. The button, to easily list leaders by trait, was badly needed and is appreciated by all - including myself. But it soon became evident that one still ends up having to scroll thru the whole long list looking for every leader with any specific trait BECAUSE leaders with several traits will only be listed by one trait (probably not the one a player is searching for). The only way to make this "finding all leaders with a certain specific trait" easier is to use a search box that has every trait of every leader registered. Perhaps typing in the first 3 letters of a trait (eg. to find Engineer, just type eng) would then list every leader who has that trait from the top down in order of highest skill first.
Good luck developing AoD not so it is different, not so it does more things, not so it looks different, but just so it plays better. IMO this game falls very short of HoI2 - especially the redundancy of the new financial sliders. I"m looking for a strategic war game - not economics. Sorry,
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