READ FIRST: I know there will be people that will disagree, and I understand that. I want to clarify before that these are not me saying that these features are bad, but rather airing my concerns about the trajectory of Hearts of Iron IV as a game.
The ship, tank, and air designers added by Man the Guns, No Step Back, and By Blood Alone respectively are great additions to the game. However, I do think that there should be an option to toggle that feature off in game settings and have it without the DLC. This would not only give players a smoother experience, but it also ties in the next concern I have, which is overengineering of the game, or as I like to call it, nanomanagement.
Hearts of Iron IV, with its myriad of wonderfully interesting decisions, timed events, and features adds depth to the game. Depth is great, but then it gets to the point where, especially after the release of Götterdämmerung and the upcoming release of Graveyard of Empires, that the game is beginning to stray away from just micromanagement (which isn't a problem in itself, sometimes it needs to be done, like in all PDX games), but into the territory of what I dub nanomanagement. You have too many things to focus on at once, which causes some things to slip your mind (whether in research/special projects, timed decisions, focuses, designing new tanks/ships/planes, or even on the battlefield), which can make or break a playthrough (or several). Nanomanagement isn't just a problem for normal people, as it can make playthroughs inconvenient at best or ruin them at worst (which sucks, especially if you've spent hours on a playthrough), but also for people with certain mental conditions (especially those with autism spectrum disorder). The addition of new features is great, but when it gets to the level of so many buttons to click (see mods like Kaiserreich, Cold War, and especially TNO for examples of this) and you get lost in a sea of things to do, it can become incredibly hectic for someone to manage, and before you know it, you have to restart.
This gets me to my final point, and that is the priority of what should be updated. New features are wonderful, as I stated before, but there's also some things that have a lack of updating (sometimes to the point of being several years since they were last touched upon). Hungary used to be included under this category, but with the release of Götterdämmerung, it is no longer so. Countries like Japan, China, the PRC, Manchuria, and the various Warlords, for example, haven't been majorly updated since the release of Waking the Tiger. Countries like Mongolia, Mengjiang, the Philippines, or even flavour events (or possibly a playable administration) for Korea, don't even have focus trees, even though these countries did more for the war and World War II history than a country like, say, Switzerland or Afghanistan (note: I love the Swiss focus tree). This point is even further cemented that for the first time in almost ten years, we're getting an update for at least one of the British Dominions: the Raj. I've wanted an update to the Raj, as well as an overhaul for all the Dominions, for quite some time, and it's good to see that we're finally getting one. I think we should update them all, as the Dominion trees are notoriously in need of an update, and especially with their interactions with Britain (this is especially poignant with Newfoundland, as it was a Dominion, then put under the rule of a non-elected "Commission of Government" from 1934 to 1949, and almost joined the United States or resumed "responsible government" instead of outright joining Canada. The referendum may or may not have been rigged in Canada's favour--something that is up for debate to this day).
TL;DR: The ship, tank, and air designers in recent DLCs for Hearts of Iron IV are great but could use an option to toggle them off for smoother gameplay. The game is adding in too many buttons, leading to nanomanagement, where players get overwhelmed with all the things to manage. This can especially affect people with certain mental conditions. Additionally, while new features are great, older content like focus trees for certain countries (e.g., Japan, China, Mongolia, Canada, Australia, etc) still need updates. The recent Raj update is a step in the right direction, but more updates are needed for these countries with ailing focus trees (or lack of content at all).
The ship, tank, and air designers added by Man the Guns, No Step Back, and By Blood Alone respectively are great additions to the game. However, I do think that there should be an option to toggle that feature off in game settings and have it without the DLC. This would not only give players a smoother experience, but it also ties in the next concern I have, which is overengineering of the game, or as I like to call it, nanomanagement.
Hearts of Iron IV, with its myriad of wonderfully interesting decisions, timed events, and features adds depth to the game. Depth is great, but then it gets to the point where, especially after the release of Götterdämmerung and the upcoming release of Graveyard of Empires, that the game is beginning to stray away from just micromanagement (which isn't a problem in itself, sometimes it needs to be done, like in all PDX games), but into the territory of what I dub nanomanagement. You have too many things to focus on at once, which causes some things to slip your mind (whether in research/special projects, timed decisions, focuses, designing new tanks/ships/planes, or even on the battlefield), which can make or break a playthrough (or several). Nanomanagement isn't just a problem for normal people, as it can make playthroughs inconvenient at best or ruin them at worst (which sucks, especially if you've spent hours on a playthrough), but also for people with certain mental conditions (especially those with autism spectrum disorder). The addition of new features is great, but when it gets to the level of so many buttons to click (see mods like Kaiserreich, Cold War, and especially TNO for examples of this) and you get lost in a sea of things to do, it can become incredibly hectic for someone to manage, and before you know it, you have to restart.
This gets me to my final point, and that is the priority of what should be updated. New features are wonderful, as I stated before, but there's also some things that have a lack of updating (sometimes to the point of being several years since they were last touched upon). Hungary used to be included under this category, but with the release of Götterdämmerung, it is no longer so. Countries like Japan, China, the PRC, Manchuria, and the various Warlords, for example, haven't been majorly updated since the release of Waking the Tiger. Countries like Mongolia, Mengjiang, the Philippines, or even flavour events (or possibly a playable administration) for Korea, don't even have focus trees, even though these countries did more for the war and World War II history than a country like, say, Switzerland or Afghanistan (note: I love the Swiss focus tree). This point is even further cemented that for the first time in almost ten years, we're getting an update for at least one of the British Dominions: the Raj. I've wanted an update to the Raj, as well as an overhaul for all the Dominions, for quite some time, and it's good to see that we're finally getting one. I think we should update them all, as the Dominion trees are notoriously in need of an update, and especially with their interactions with Britain (this is especially poignant with Newfoundland, as it was a Dominion, then put under the rule of a non-elected "Commission of Government" from 1934 to 1949, and almost joined the United States or resumed "responsible government" instead of outright joining Canada. The referendum may or may not have been rigged in Canada's favour--something that is up for debate to this day).
TL;DR: The ship, tank, and air designers in recent DLCs for Hearts of Iron IV are great but could use an option to toggle them off for smoother gameplay. The game is adding in too many buttons, leading to nanomanagement, where players get overwhelmed with all the things to manage. This can especially affect people with certain mental conditions. Additionally, while new features are great, older content like focus trees for certain countries (e.g., Japan, China, Mongolia, Canada, Australia, etc) still need updates. The recent Raj update is a step in the right direction, but more updates are needed for these countries with ailing focus trees (or lack of content at all).
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