Wow. When I made my little post I definitely wasn't expecting to spark such a long and interesting discussion.
Thanks especially to @Archangel85 for the post on how Paradox creates National Focuses. It was a really interesting read. National Focuses are a feature I particularly enjoy in HOI4 and TfV, both being able to chart a path through history, but also have the option to go down ahistorical routes which are none the less grounded in history. It's also interesting getting to learn about some of the less well known features of the era, like Poland's "Between the Seas" plan, the Australian Emu war and the Bob Semple Tank.
(I'm also not surprised to see that the initial idea, basic pitch and first draft represents a small part of the overall development time. As a writer I know the basic story idea and first draft can often be done in a relatively short time. It's the research, editing, proofreading, writing second, third, fourth, fifth etc drafts and the realising something you've spent hours on just doesn't work and so needs to be scrapped... that's often the most time consuming.)
Oh and also agree it would make a great Developer Diary. Maybe you could add some screenshots from the development of one of the existing National Focuses to illustrate? (Plus it would just be interesting to see how what we see in the game now came to be.)
All the Best,
Union Jack.
Thanks especially to @Archangel85 for the post on how Paradox creates National Focuses. It was a really interesting read. National Focuses are a feature I particularly enjoy in HOI4 and TfV, both being able to chart a path through history, but also have the option to go down ahistorical routes which are none the less grounded in history. It's also interesting getting to learn about some of the less well known features of the era, like Poland's "Between the Seas" plan, the Australian Emu war and the Bob Semple Tank.
(I'm also not surprised to see that the initial idea, basic pitch and first draft represents a small part of the overall development time. As a writer I know the basic story idea and first draft can often be done in a relatively short time. It's the research, editing, proofreading, writing second, third, fourth, fifth etc drafts and the realising something you've spent hours on just doesn't work and so needs to be scrapped... that's often the most time consuming.)
Oh and also agree it would make a great Developer Diary. Maybe you could add some screenshots from the development of one of the existing National Focuses to illustrate? (Plus it would just be interesting to see how what we see in the game now came to be.)
All the Best,
Union Jack.