Hearts of Iron III - info galore

[Llyranor]

For those who are unfamiliar with the Hearts of Iron series, they are turn-based CRPGs based on an alternative setting of WW2, where werewolves and dinosaurs exist. Your party consists usually of a group of meddling kids tasked with infiltrating the enemy side and sabotage their operations from the inside.

 

Okay, so HoI3 is old news. It's been announced for a few months now, though I haven't really been following its development. Since I got around to reading the dev diaries http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379311 today, might as well sum them up in one place.

 

Map:

- 10,000 provinces (vs 2608 in HoI2)

- Especially favorable for continents that had less provinces before (eg. Asia)

- This is mainly for combat/maneuvering purposes, rather than politics

- More opportunities blitzkrieg, encirclement,etc

- 3 sizes (small, med, large), depending on tactical importance (coastal = small; desert = large)

 

Production:

- Oil = now crude oil (converted from energy) + fuel (created from crude oil, consumed by units)

- Increasing complexity in HoI3 will be mainly in warfare/logistics

- IC system for production remains similar to HoI2

- Concept of efficiency for resource extraction and output

- Gearing = efficiency in production based on continuously producing said goods on a national level, rather than based on individual production queues

- Gearing effiency decays over time unless you keep producing those goods

- Producing more of a certain line of goods (eg. naval) means researching naval tech is easier/faster

 

Technology:

- HoI1 = too much micromanagement, and no differentiation between nations

- HoI2 = tech teams meant each country had its strong points, but this was hard-coded, so limited customization

- HoI3 = tech teams are no more, replaced by 'accumulated research knowledge and practical experience' for each particular country (defined at the start)

- This will improve or decay depending on how much or how little research you pursue for various fields

- So, concept of tech teams is more or less retained, but this will fluctuate depending on what fields the player will want to research

- General (eg. aircraft engine) and specific techs (eg. air-launched anti-ship weapons)

- For example, you can research tank gun, tank engine, tank armor, tank reliability individually

- This allows you to cater to specifics per nation (eg. early British heavy tank = good armor, slow, under-gunned, prone to breakdown)

 

Leadership:

- Doing research consumes leadership points (the workforce involved); the more you research certain fields, the fewer points you require

- Leadership points also represent sub-divisional officers (you still have named officers for division and up)

- Investing leadership points as 'officers' into troops = better troops

 

Land combat:

- Move = attack

- Movement penalty when fighting (affected by how the battle is going)

- Can use small units to delay an opponent

- Maximum attack frontage, per attacking province = super-mega stack less effective/efficient

- Force-to-space ratio = the more fronts you attack a single province from, the more spread out the defenders have to be

- If defending province is not max'ed out ('maximum defense frontage') = force-to-ratio penalty

- Therefore, too many units = suboptimal; too few units = penalty

- Penalty mainly applies if each attacking province is substantial (not just one unit)

- Unit composition, doctrines, terrain all affect frontage

- Units in excess of maximum frontage = reserve (might join combat if a combatant drops out)

 

Politics:

- HoI2 = event-heavy, too static

- HoI3 goal = more dynamic, but focus still on war

- Political parties

- Party organization = how well an ideology is organized (also affected by espionage)

- Concepts such as 'party membership, newspaper editorial stance, the views of opinion formers in the country, campaigners going out trying to convince people to support them'

- Ideological group out of power = change for coup d'

[Hurlshort]

Psh, Oblivion with dinosaurs.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Turn-based taxes, hun.

[Whipporwill]

Awful lot of strategy-game stuff for a CRPG.

[Leferd]

Turn based huh? Sure, if you consider Real Time with Pause to be turn based.

[Nick_i_am]

I like vampires, they're so goth.

[alanschu]

I have been following this. Was giving you until the new year to start a post on it

 

 

I am looking forward to improved naval battles. I know carriers are the keys to success in naval battles, but they were I win buttons with invincible CAG that was a poor abstraction.

 

I like the increased level of detail for the divisions. I look forward to creating artillery regiments and whatnot, as well as army groups. I hope that the HQ system they have planned works out well. Having von Manstein directing the theater of operations in France, with Rommel as a subunit busting up a storm and running amok with his panzer division sounds like fun!

 

I like the improvements to research and development, combined with the gearing bonus of production. Building lots of tanks improves your economy's ability to research and produce tank improvements. The general and specialized technologies (for aircraft) I like as well. It seemed a bit absurd in HOI2 that I could have the best interceptor planes in the world, but I'd still have to take years to make a quality air superiority fighter plane. I am curious how they will deal with allied research, or research in general. I'd kind of like the idea that as a particular tech gets researched, every country that researches it makes it a little easier for other countries to research it (kind of like what Civilization does), as research knowledge becomes more well known.

[Aponez]

[Kaftan Barlast]

Is this game humanly playable or do I have to be a strategy buff?

[Morgoth]

Sounds like this is more work and less game. No thanks.

[Aponez]

Is this game humanly playable or do I have to be a strategy buff?

 

It's humanly playable, at least the HoI and HoI2 were

[Nick_i_am]

It's the only game I

[alanschu]

The tech teams were nice flavour I agree. Though I think they were a bit too rigid. I like the idea of being able to focus your technology in different ways if you want, which the tech teams didn't really allow.

 

I think Johan said in one of the threads that this is not the case.

 

However, I do know that in HOI2 air units prioritize areas that are currently in combat.

[Rostere]

HoI 2 was one of my favourite games of all time. I've been keeping an eye on HoI 3, and if it's anything like what I think, it will probably earn a place in my "Best 5 games of all time". Or something. Anyway, I look forward to playing SU on Very Hard in HoI 3

 

I am looking forward to improved naval battles. I know carriers are the keys to success in naval battles, but they were I win buttons with invincible CAG that was a poor abstraction.

 

I like the increased level of detail for the divisions. I look forward to creating artillery regiments and whatnot, as well as army groups. I hope that the HQ system they have planned works out well. Having von Manstein directing the theater of operations in France, with Rommel as a subunit busting up a storm and running amok with his panzer division sounds like fun!

 

I like the improvements to research and development, combined with the gearing bonus of production. Building lots of tanks improves your economy's ability to research and produce tank improvements. The general and specialized technologies (for aircraft) I like as well. It seemed a bit absurd in HOI2 that I could have the best interceptor planes in the world, but I'd still have to take years to make a quality air superiority fighter plane. I am curious how they will deal with allied research, or research in general. I'd kind of like the idea that as a particular tech gets researched, every country that researches it makes it a little easier for other countries to research it (kind of like what Civilization does), as research knowledge becomes more well known.

 

100% agree, those are basically my opinions on this as well.

[Killian Kalthorne]

This game sounds like a turn base strategy game, not a CRPG. Where is the information on the skill system for individual characters? What is the dialogue system like? Does it use pre-made characters or do we get to make our own?

[Nick_i_am]

Good point Hades, good point.

[alanschu]

We'll not be constrained by his narrow definition of "CRPG."

 

As for character creation...there's usually a lot of it, depending on which country you choose.

[Killian Kalthorne]

We'll not be constrained by his narrow definition of "CRPG."

 

As for character creation...there's usually a lot of it, depending on which country you choose.

By the looks of it, calling HoI3 a CRPG is like calling Starcraft or maybe even X-Com a CRPG. You can, but I could call a lump of coal a diamond and be just as accurate.

[alanschu]

Astutely put.

[Killian Kalthorne]

Astutely put.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but since you do tend to be one of sarcasm I'll just assume you are.

[Nick_i_am]

It's a CRPG, i'm suprised you havn't heard of it.

[alanschu]

Silliness aside, one more month to go!

[213374U]

I can't wait to remilitarize your Rhineland!

[Rostere]

Hearts of Iron will be the RTS (RTwPS?) of 2009, I tell you! I have already preordered two copies.