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PDX_Per

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Generals!

We have some good news! Prototype Vehicles are almost ready to roll out, so instead of releasing them in Q3 as initially announced, we will launch them in Q2! Yes, the Prototype vehicle pack will be dropping soon, and you’ll find some juicy details below. But first, a small disclaimer:

When our latest DLC comes out, Expansion Pass 1 will become a dynamic bundle. This means that you will get a discount for any DLCs from the Expansion Pass you already own. Good news for any holdouts! But, this also means the preorder bonuses will no longer be available in the bundle, so choose timely.

And now, for the juicy bits:

Hello generals!
@Slurpen_Paradox here again to talk about 3D art for Hearts of Iron IV. This time, I’m also joined by @MordredViking , who is one of our content designers on HoI4. We are here to bring you a closer look at the new vehicles in the Prototype Vehicles Unit Pack, as well as some fun facts along the way!

These are vehicles from a time when the arms race was in full force, and any means of getting the upper hand on the enemy was a battle within itself. Many vehicles were designed to improve on existing concepts, others were meant to tread new ground, and some were created purely out of desperation. Some of these prototypes were never built or fully developed, others reached the battlefield and were even successful to various degrees!

In some cases, we will never know what the final designs may have looked like. This is, however, my favorite part of this pack! We have had to look at the original blueprints to give you our illustrations of what these vehicles would have looked like had they been fully produced. I hope you have as much fun looking at these designs as we had making them!

These vehicles make for some fun topics of discussion. I have included the names of each one, so feel free to read up on the history of each one. We had a blast doing this ourselves!
Mordred Viking and I will make brief comments on our personal favorites as we go along!

Here are the high-res close-ups of these vehicles:

image 1.png


*The Modra Revolving Tank was designed with a rounded rotating hull that would deflect incoming projectiles.

*The “Grasshopper” was a tank designed to combine the newly developed helicopter designs with the power of a tank. However, this design was swiftly dropped due to a multitude of design issues.

*The Czech Skoda SK 13 was the German answer to the looming fuel shortage towards the end of the war. This vehicle was actually coal-powered.

image 2.png


* The “Praying Mantis” was an experimental machine gun carrier prototype that was tested for use in the British Army. At a glance, it looks quite futuristic, even though it’s anything but from the crew's point of view. Its fighting compartment can pivot up and down to lower its profile or shoot over terrain!
* The Jasquet Articulated Tank is a caterpillar-like tank designed to move over the trickiest terrain. Part of the idea is that if one cabin loses traction, the others would help push it along over hills and other obstacles thanks to its “bendy” design.
image 3.png



* The Giacomini Entrenchment is an interesting design that sticks out among other tanks. The tank features an entrenchment mechanism in the front. The design is unique, and the designer’s identity and nationality remain quite mysterious.

image 4.png


* Water was always going to be a barrier to a proper tank blitz, and it’s remarkably difficult to get a tank to float properly. How about just turning it into a submarine instead? The Biemmi Naval Tank, stealthy and practical!

* So-To Anti-Tank gun carrier. It’s a moving hull with a cannon on top. Why overcomplicate things?

* The Moto-Guzzi Semovente is a tank that features two tracks that can move up and down completely independently from each other. This enables it to move forward along sloped terrain!

image 5.png


* I want a tank with a big gun. I said a BIG gun! The 2B1 “Oka”. Perfection.

* The “Cobra” Light Cross Country Combat Vehicle (quite a mouthful), this vehicle featured multiple designs with different types of armament. This is our illustration featuring the four large caliber cannons!


image 6.png


* The M-V-Yoh is an American tank with a very interesting design. A crew member would sit inside the back of the turret and man the small MG on top. If you look closely you may also have noticed that there are backup tank tracks inside of the main tracks. These would provide friction if the main tracks would break.​


We also included some interesting plane designs for the people who prefer air combat! However, we can’t guarantee that all of these planes are safe to fly..

image 7.png

* Belyayev DB-LK is a plane that is designed for people who don’t want to fly alone! This design features two cockpits as well as gunner seats in the back!

* Bachem Ba 349 Natter, The pilot in this aircraft would be launched into the air, and the plane would steer itself for a short period of time. After that, the pilot would take control of the aircraft and fly as close to the enemy as possible in order to launch multiple rockets into the enemy aircraft. This aircraft did not feature any landing gear, so it was up to the pilot to eject from the aircraft once the mission was complete!​


Let’s wrap things up with a taste of how some of these vehicles look and behave in-game:

image 8.gif

Can this thing really fly?

image 9.gif

The mantis stalks its prey..


image 10.gif

Rockets away!

image 11.gif

It’s a caterpillar! It’s a snake! No.. It’s.. a tank?!

image 12.gif

Don’t let your dreams be dreams!​

That’s all for now! Thank you all for joining us through this brief look at some of these crazy and cool vehicles of the past. I hope you have as much fun using them as we had making them!

Until next time, generals!
 
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Can you at least put the most impractical and irrealistic designs as an option please? Also I'd like to know how this content integrate with the vehicle designers, if it does at all.

These won't replace any of your existing or default models. They are selectable only by opting-in to changing a model design on a piece of equipment through the equipment designer (including the non-NSB version if you only have that).
 
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Cool designs but can you guys address all that's been said about the open beta? What are the priorities now? Is previous DLC content being revisited? I was working on research for a brazilian suggestions thread and I hope I can expand it if the devs take notice. Is GoE being revisited or are we forever stuck with the "Army" spirit for Iraq and a lot of "buy equipment" focuses?

We have no plans to revisit old DLC at the moment, same for GoE, except through future war effort patches, so if you do make a very helpful research post, this could insprite our content designers to pick up some of that stuff for said future war effort patch!
 
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Some of these are cool and make sense for the game (such as the Waffentrager and the Sov. super artillery), but most are just ridiculous. I'm all for alternate WW2 tech, but this doesn't even fit in that category. So many awesome obscure german and allied designs, yet you pick weird vehicles from beyond the game's settings.
We tried to provide a broad selection of different models, both realistic and more fanciful. It's amazing just what actually made it into the war, just look at Hobart's Funnies.
 
Are these only 3D models? Will they come with accompanying 2D models or will they be mismatched with the existing ones.

The model pack includes 2D icons for each of the models.

Are any of them new special projects? There are so, so few land projects ingame at the moment, I feel like a bunch of these (articulated tank, heavy amphibious, round tank) would make amazing new projects

No(t yet), this is a cosmetic pack only.

At what point do you say too much? When the designer has anime skins?

Which we wouldn't do (you may hold me to that); but if we sold an "Anime Skins Pack", it would likely include Anime Skins.

I'm sure there are more grounded designs, as we see from some of the selection.

This is intended really as a companion piece to the special projects theme in GtD, so we've tried to include a fairly even array of feasible/grounded, anachronistic, and failed prototypes.
 
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When are these models used?
Like, could i make the matilda look like a helicopter?
The models are bound to specific countries. The helicopter tank will be available for Australia. Some 3D models are available for more than one nation, This depends on whether or not the prototype was designed or used by more than one nation.
 
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Are these only 3D models? Will they come with accompanying 2D models or will they be mismatched with the existing ones.

It would be nice if this DLC came with new experimental and wacky tank/plane modules that we can add to our designs.

3D models are cool but they're probably the least seen type of art in game. 3D unit models are one of those things that look cool but you can't actually admire during the game as there's more important things to do than be fully zoomed in on pause and staring at your unit. Frontline for 90% of countries are too big to risk being zoomed in enough to see them while the game is moving.
The 3D models will also come with 2D icons that you can select in the tank designer or plane designer!
 
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I hadn't imagined the tin that says 'prototype vehicles' meant an immediately (?) available and viable helicopter tank in a World War 2 sim where the tech tree is over in '43 and doesn't require a special project.

These don’t have any gameplay connotations, to be clear.

What's next, a prototype ship pack that includes the avenger's carrie-

Oh god.


Why not just include it in Special Projects? Why did you guys feel like we needed more of this very fantastical content beyond that at this moment? Why not just the more grounded stuff?

Because some people want different things. These are visual-only, opt-in 3D models that you will not see if you don’t choose to engage with them.

I can accept that breaking immersion could be an argument against having them there, though the extent of interacting with models you don’t like is seeing them and deciding you don’t want to use them.
 
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Did you guys do some focus group where a plethora of the people in it said they wanted this? People do want different things, what about the people who want Hoi4 to return to at least being a semi-plausible WW2 game

Supporting different player fantasies means providing for them all; not cutting other people's fun out of the game in order to appeal to any given subgroup. There are different ways to do this though, but I feel like making potentially divisive stuff opt-in is generally one of the better ones.

What it really looks like is GoE bombed so hard that this seemed like a quick way to get, what I'm assuming will be at least $4.99 out of a few players to try and offset that.

This was announced along with GoE back in October(or whenever it was - time hasn't been the same since COVID). I don't see how this could be true even if we assume that actually we're all evil.

I'd love to use many of them, most look excellent, I'd love to just have more realistic designs - or even more actual designs. But having an immediate helicopter tank next to more grounded designs is still immersion breaking. Especially when in multiplayer. This is stuff you see in mobile games or their ads. It's also strange to be adjacent to special projects, rather than building on them - being in the same expansion pass.

Again, to my point about going from 0-90 on the more prominent and unserious parts of the game, this is just contributing to that, and where the direction/focus of the game is going.

What makes this all worse is the timing. This unnecessary and fanciful addition comes right after a poorly received release and serious building concerns of the games support. Just like with previous content packs, we were told that issues would be seriously addressed and communication would improve. Yet here we are again - no meaningful responses from the developers in the dev diary thread, and once again, quickly moved on to its next release. We still don't know what went wrong with GoE.

I won't argue the timing has been an issue here. But timing doesn't release us from an obligation to release something we've openly announced. Outside of that problems with GoE, I think the connection between special projects and prototype vehicles makes thematic sense, even though we might disagree on the extents. I hear you on them being adjacent to SPs though - unit packs have always been cosmetic, but this does give me some ideas.
 
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This is a strange stance to take that you don’t plan on revisiting the older content to update it to work with the current game. Maybe I’m misunderstanding but do you mean you don’t want to retroactively update it or you just don’t want to take care of the game. Most of the original DLC’s are showing their age; they need to be unkept with a custodian team. It just seems like you don’t care for the game anymore

I think this was a comment on the schedule, rather than the intention: there will not be another specific GoE-focused update, but we'll continue releasing updates along with War Effort patches, and they'll likely contain GoE changes for the forseeable future.
 
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it will be available to US, Netherlands and Dutch East Indies I hope?

Currently they're available to their "main" country of use/purchase. In this case Netherlands. Could expand that to DEI fairly though I think, but the US might be a bit of a stretch.
 
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I like what this pack adds, especially the French tank with the oscillating turret. But please, please add/update models! The T34, Tiger I/II, most regular tank models feel old, and the tank models pack(s) only add tank destroyers! Why does the game still lack a T34-85 and IS-1/2? Why is there no late war Bf-109? why do the Soviets have a broken modern tank model?

Updating the models would really help the game and the players, at least the players that like to look at the models. You don't have to add every tank/plane into the game, but the game lacks a lot of it right now, and updating the model packs would go a long way. As I said, you don't need to add 100s of tank models, just enough models to fill the majors. At least a good model for the improved, advanced and modern chassis/airframe for the US, Soviets, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan... And It wouldn't even be a lot of effort as half of the allies would be reskinned and just a little modified version of american equipment! Allies had a bunch of lend-leased equipment towards the end.

As one of the staff said, they are trying to appeal to every player(it was something along the lines of that if i didn't misunderstand) so, this wouldn't be something bad, right?

We're definitely open to other model updates. Some of the basegame models have been around for a decade now, but there's also room for some other cool stuff.
 
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Just a friendly reminder that the topic of this thread is discussion of

Dev Diary - Prototype Vehicles Unit Pack​

Please restrict your comments to this topic, if you wish to discuss other related topics or other DLC then start a new thread on that topic.
Thank-you for helping us keep the forum organized and following the Code of Conduct.
 
You know, people are talking about PDX concentrating on memes instead of fixing broken mechanics, but they can absolutely do both.

We can, do, and intend to continnue.

  1. Add a peace treaty mechanic. Play as Tannu Tuva, and instead of straight-up capitulating the Soviets, when you've done enough damage, offer peace, ask for the needed states for Turkestan and/or Siberia in exchange for leaving the Soviets alone, and get ready for the next major war.
  2. Add spy missions that causes rebellions to happen in occupied territory. We already have the Orchestrate Coup operation, as well as the Warsaw Uprising Operation. Let it happen with any occupied territory; watch as Egypt or the Sudan rises up at exactly the wrong time for the U.K. as the Axis pushes through Africa, or if you want to get super memey, watch Scotland rise up.
  3. Add the ability to make decisions for your puppets (assuming said puppet is controlled by the A.I.) Prioritize what research, what Focuses, or what Decisions they should take. Make a Caribbean or Pacific island chain your puppet, have it prioritize the industrial Focuses for factories, the communist Focuses for manpower, change its conscription law, and give it a Division design that you can actually use. Boom, that tiny country actually becomes a good source of manpower.
  4. Add the ability to acquire land peacefully. Civilization has a mechanic where you can trade for cities, and there are already Focuses like that in game (Germany's "Danzig for Slovakia", Ethiopia's "Unite the Aussa", and of course, the East India Company). Buy states the same way you buy guns or convoys.
You get the idea. There are so many possibilities to mix up the gameplay.

Thanks for the suggestions! We've looked at most of these. I think both 2 and 3 are the most likely to see implementation in some form (at some point). Peace treaties are a difficult one. I know a lot of people would like to see this, but in practice it runs counter to HoI's design philosophy of "crescendo to war" in most cases. I don't think that means similar things can't be done, but the ability to simply peace out when you've had enough is unlikely to be seen.

Acquiring land peacefully is something that for similar reasons is unlikely to exist in a systemic form. There are narrative beats where we might want to make this happen, and you'll see it happening in focus trees because they also contain an arena to explain the what/why and the fallout from a narrative perspective.
 
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