Hearts of Iron III

[JALU3]

Anyone else following this?

I can't wait. Another round of turning Mexico to the Comintern and launching an invasion.

[Egan]

There are only a couple of games im looking forward too this year and i cannot wait to get my hands on this. Hoi2 was one of my favourite games ever and this just looks so much better. I was really disapointed by 'Rome' but if even half the features in Hoi3 work as they say they will, Paradox will be back up there in my eyes.

[SteamWake]

First Ive heard of it actually.

I had hearts of iron 1 and enjoyed it. Skipped 2. Might get 3 we will see

I rarely get titles at release with a few exceptions

[Raptor1]

2 was so much better than 1 and I still play it

Been looking forward to 3 ever since they announced it, looks promising so far

A shame they're not making a Victoria sequel, easily their best game

[JALU3]

When it does come out, we gotta do an online game. I call Philippines!

[Raptor1]

Right, I'll play Luxembourg

Speaking of which, does anybody want to have an HoI2/DD/ARM game? They closed Valkyrienet but you can still play it with direct-connection games

[Dowly]

Right, I'll play Luxembourg

Speaking of which, does anybody want to have an HoI2/DD/ARM game? They closed Valkyrienet but you can still play it with direct-connection games

How does the online game work in HoI 2? All players pick a country and otherwise it's like the SP campaign? Dont have HoI2 installed atm, but if it's like I described then yeh, I might be interested. :up:

[Raptor1]

How does the online game work in HoI 2? All players pick a country and otherwise it's like the SP campaign? Dont have HoI2 installed atm, but if it's like I described then yeh, I might be interested. :up:

Yeah, except IIRC you can't pause or change the pace of the game, also you can save the game and continue it later, so we can play the grand campaign without taking a week off and living off caffeine

[Dowly]

Yeah, except IIRC you can't pause or change the pace of the game, also you can save the game and continue it later, so we can play the grand campaign without taking a week off and living off caffeine

Great! This is something I've been looking for! I'll see if I can be arsed the game tomorrow. I take DD = DoomsDay, but what is ARM? Also, to which version should O upgrade the game to?

Ow I must warn you, I'm kinda noob in the game. :salute:

[Raptor1]

Armageddon, it's the expansion to DD, but I think everyone who has ARM can also separately install DD so it shouldn't be a problem

We will, of course, need a few more people to play the grand campaign, so if we have another volunteer I'll start a separate signup thread

I do believe if we're going to play it's going to be DD with the 1.3a patch

[JALU3]

Well you guys go do HoI2, I don't think I have the expansions.
I'll have to wait for HoI3. You can already pre-order it on UK's Amazon site, but not here in the States.
And after Manila falls, I will get to play from Washington. Yay GiE availability :woot:.
Also there is an effort on the Paradox boards to try to get some edits to the Philippines to allow for a more epic naval combat (which saw the largest naval battle in modern history), and for more accurate and detailed land combat (ability to hold out near Manila, etc.). Only time will tell if they succeed, but I doubt it.

[Janus]

A shame they're not making a Victoria sequel, easily their best game
Yes! Yes! I only got Vicky a few weeks ago but it is a good game. Less focused on the fighting than HoI of course but the combat system of HoI is a bit meh. Too much "dice rolling" for my taste.

I haven't followed the development of HoI3 and I won't buy it right after release either. I'll probably buy it in a few years unless there are really major improvements over HoI2 in which case I might purchase earlier.

[Raptor1]

It looks like they're bringing the political systems in HoI3 a bit more in line with Victoria, they now have different parties, elections, different occupation policies, governments-in-exile and so forth

*shamelessly ripped off the Paradox forums*

http://www.gamersgate.com/eu3/hoi3/beta_apr1.jpg

They also said something about buying and selling on the world market and expanded strategic bombing, but the Victoria economic system isn't likely to be there (What with none of them over-complicated POPs that make Victoria so much fun not being there)

Combat is expanded with customizable divisions, frontage limit and stuff like that, but the basics of it are the same as in HoI2 (Though I have no idea why you would consider it to be dice rolling, with all the factors taken into resolving it)

[Egan]

There are so many new things I cannot wait to see in action like the chain of command stuff and the theatre AI. Also the ability to fully customise divisions looks like it will be a lot of fun.

I'd like to see a Vicky2 as well. I loved the first one and played the heck out of it even though i often felt i was just scratching the surface. I heard a rumour a while back that a sequel was unlikely as it sold pretty badly in comparision with their other titles. I really, really wanted 'Rome' to be more like 'Vicky' in terms of complexity (so much opportunity for clever little touches,) than EU3 but, well, perhaps next time. 'Rome' just feels like 'Rome: Total War' without the 3d battles to me. The political system had so much promise but when I ended up with a Carthiginian Asylum seaker as consul of Rome I just gave up.......**Shut up Egan......Don't start moaning about 'Rome' again....it'll just get you all worked up..*** :DL

[jumpy]

Have HOI2 Doomsday
I really wanted to like the game with its uber strategy stuff... but it was just too uber for my n00b fps ways :oops: :O:
No matter what I seemed to do, none of my button pressing seemed to have any outcome or relevance to the game. I tried it with the Stony Road community mod (version?) and the no time limit patch. But I just never got my head around the resource management/development tech/battles thing.

Tbh I think I was more disappointed at myself than the actual game :roll:

This new one might be worth a look at, but maybe I should at least figure out HOI2DD first... after all I must have had it for 2 years or more?

[Raptor1]

I thought it was complex at first, then I went and played Victoria...HOI2 was child's play after that...

Vicky truly does deserve a place among the best grand strategy games ever, IMO

[stijnvranken]

just like europe universalis III in Nomine.
Its still one of my favourites. In some parts even better then vicky

[Oberon]

I know how you feel jumpy, HOI2 has me face-desking at my strategic ineptitude on a frequent basis.

[Raptor1]

Well, you know, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best...

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!"

...who needs strategy? :O:

[Torplexed]

I've tried to get into HOI with one and two and Doomsday as well. I just found it too much of a constant juggling act. I guess I'm used to old board games where every happened in it's own distinct phase. In HOI with it's real-time aspect you're being bombarded with everything at once. You've got a convoy battle going on in the mid Atlantic, at the same time that a panzer division has bogged down in the mud in the Ukraine, at the same time that your research project is stalling in need of more funds at the same time that British bombers are ravaging a city you forget to defend, at the same time that Costa Rica has rejected your trade deal. I've really tried, but it's just too much mental overload for me. :oops:

[Arclight]

Not sure this is anything new for you guys, but there's some in-game footage (http://www.gametrailers.com/game/hearts-of-iron-iii/10189).

[Raptor1]

Not sure this is anything new for you guys, but there's some in-game footage (http://www.gametrailers.com/game/hearts-of-iron-iii/10189).

I've seen it, just gives me more reasons to think this will be a major improvement over HoI2

[KeptinCranky]

Oh yes, I've been following this (mostly from work :D ) I think it'll be quite something...
I didn't like EU3 so much but have played a lot of HOI2, though it was hard to resist using the various exploits available in that game :hmmm: I hope HOI3 will be less prone to that, but we'll just have to wait and see

[Arclight]

Special offer on Steam: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1143078&postcount=55

[Raptor1]

Special offer on Steam: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1143078&postcount=55

I already have all of HoI2 (and HoI1, also every other Grand Strategy game Paradox developed with the exception of EU1 and that Crown of the North game nobody remembers), so not much use to me. Though if you don't have HoI2 I'd highly recommend it anyway

I'd probably buy it from Paradox's own GamersGate

6 days to go!

[Arclight]

I already have all of HoI2 (and HoI1, also every other Grand Strategy game Paradox developed with the exception of EU1 and that Crown of the North game nobody remembers), so not much use to me. Though if you don't have HoI2 I'd highly recommend it anyway

I'd probably buy it from Paradox's own GamersGate

6 days to go!Does GamersGate ship boxed editions or is it download?

Anyway, prices are the same between the 2, but Steam has free stuff. I already checked with every store around here, and none would be retailing HoI 3. Seems like Steam is the best and cheapest (no shipping) option for me at this time. :yep:

[Raptor1]

Does GamersGate ship boxed editions or is it download?

Anyway, prices are the same between the 2, but Steam has free stuff. I already checked with every store around here, and none would be retailing HoI 3. Seems like Steam is the best and cheapest (no shipping) option for me at this time. :yep:

Download, I probably won't be getting a boxed version here for a while (Or ever), so might as well get a download

GamersGate preorder has an extra sprite/model pack (There was some debate on whether the sprites and models should be included or released separately, but I think most of them will be in the normal game), but mostly I would like to buy it off them because of how simple and uncomplicated their release methods are

[Raptor1]

Demo will be released tomorrow. They say you could play the 1939 scenario for 4 months until January 1940 as Germany, France, Poland or the UK.

[mr chris]

Hmm been thinking of getting HoI 2 for a while now.
But as im on a week off i think i will just check out the demo tomorrow instead.

[Raptor1]

The demo is out now, but Paradox's forums are dead from overuse...

EDIT: Ah, here it is:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415797

[Bartolomeus]

Thx for the info. Cant wait for the german release of HOI 3.

[Raptor1]

Oh, and to anyone that downloads the demo and/or buys the game: Do not skip the tutorial, it's absolutely hilarious (And brought to you by Mr. Strange Little Man himself).

[Task Force]

yay, demo...:DL

[Melonfish]

DEMO!
sweet, grabbing this tonight methinks. took me ages to get to grips with hoi2 but can't wait for 3. :yeah:

[Arclight]

Jumped on that deal on Steam, been playing HoI2 for past 2 days. Brings back memories, played P.T.O. on the SNES, pretty much the same gameplay-elements but limited to the Pacific theater. Spend an entire summer vacation playing every waking hour for 3 months straight. :rotfl:

Actually played it a lot more than that, but you get the idea. Anyway, HoI3 release == life down the drain. I won't be seeing much sunshine the coming months. :yeah:

[Raptor1]

Having played the demo, I can say that HoI3 is quite a lot different than HoI2. Besides all the shiny new stuff, pretty much everything has been doubled or tripled. There are about 3 times as many provinces and your base unit is a brigade rather than a division now, so you have to manage about 3 times as many units (Unless you leave it to the AI). There is also a much longer delay for issuing orders after combat (I think it's a week or slightly less compared to a day in HoI2), so you have to plan and execute most of your attacks ahead of time.

All this is not necessarily bad, it will just take a while getting used to...

EDIT: Ah, the time between attacks is reduced by technology. Since the tech tree in the demo is horribly lacking for all nations (That is, the techs are there, but most nations are still around WWI or the early 30's, even Germany), that would probably not be the case in the normal game.

[Dowly]

HoI 3 unlocks in ~3hrs says Steam's website. :salute:

[Raptor1]

My (And many others') download from GamersGate has been incredibly slow. After slightly less than 8 hours of download, I am at 98.6%...

EDIT: Finally, I possess it! Now Luxembourg's army shall march to annex the world!

[Dowly]

My download's coming at good speeds, 27min and counting. :rock:

[Dowly]

German flag replacement
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/GER.jpg

Save picture, convert to TGA with paint etc. and copy to /Hearts of Iron III/gfx/flags/

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/hoi3game2009-08-0720-08-40-61.jpg

[Task Force]

I knew there was something strange when I was playing the demo...

[Dowly]

Hmpf... Swedes did it again. HoI 3's Finns are wearing american uniforms and BARs and stuff instead of the grey uniforms that they should. :down:

[Arclight]

Just got home, coming in at good speed. :up:

What are those DLC sprite packs?

* :o I thought they tried to make it more accesible. :doh:

Picked up 2 pretty easy, but not this one. Thoroughly confused by the whole "unit hierarchy" structure.

[Arclight]

Is it just me, or are the production sliders screwy, ie settings don't stick and clicking the "need" button to auto-set yields strange results.

And the whole world having a supplies deficit seems a little strange too, though noone having geared up for war in '36 might explain that one. :06:

Think the game was patched from 1.1 to 1.1b day of release too, seems like it's another case of 'launch now, finish later'. :(

[Raptor1]

The auto sliders were requested by the community and Paradox said they would put up a poll on whether to include it in the next patch.

Overall, that and some horrible map errors are my current problems with the game. It's very hard to get used to compared to HoI2 but once you do it's a great improvement.

EDIT: AI needs some work too, it's way too crazy...

[Arclight]

It seems so minor, but the sliders problem is killing my enjoyment. Pause the game, go to productions tab, set a slider to, say, 10.48, exit prod tab, reenter and it's at 10.53. Game was paused, so no reason for the thing to jump. :doh:

I constantly see dissent rise or production slow down, just because the darn things won't stay where you set them. :nope:

I agree it's a great improvement though. Even in the manual it says some things like the weather system aren't actually finished, so I'm sure it will pick up soon enough.

[Raptor1]

It seems so minor, but the sliders problem is killing my enjoyment. Pause the game, go to productions tab, set a slider to, say, 10.48, exit prod tab, reenter and it's at 10.53. Game was paused, so no reason for the thing to jump. :doh:

I constantly see dissent rise or production slow down, just because the darn things won't stay where you set them. :nope:

I agree it's a great improvement though. Even in the manual it says some things like the weather system aren't actually finished, so I'm sure it will pick up soon enough.

The auto sliders was one of the most requested things on the PI forums before release and it still is. I have no doubt it'll be in in the next patch or so.

There are a lot of things to be fixed and balanced by patches, but I don't think any game of this scale can be truly bug-free until well after it has been subjected to the sort of merciless whining demonstrated on the PI forums. Victoria, for example, pre-patched, was practically unplayable, now it's easily PI's best grand strategy game.

[Arclight]

There are a lot of things to be fixed and balanced by patches, but I don't think any game of this scale can be truly bug-free until well after it has been subjected to the sort of merciless whining demonstrated on the PI forums. Victoria, for example, pre-patched, was practically unplayable, now it's easily PI's best grand strategy game.
Aye, well said. It's not like we're talking about a new C&C. :D

It gives me comfort to know I'm not the only one, that it's indeed a bug. Off to conquer the world it is then. ;)

[eddie]

Raptor, I was going to ask this question in another thread, but since you made reference to "Victoria" here, what I was wondering is, what do you think is better from your experience with these sims, EU3 or Victoria Complete?

[Rilder]

Hmpf... Swedes did it again. HoI 3's Finns are wearing american uniforms and BARs and stuff instead of the grey uniforms that they should. :down:

Are you sure its not the Americans wearing Finnish uniforms!

[Raptor1]

Raptor, I was going to ask this question in another thread, but since you made reference to "Victoria" here, what I was wondering is, what do you think is better from your experience with these sims, EU3 or Victoria Complete?

Definitely Victoria, though I might be biased because I love the era. The depth of Victoria is pretty much unrivaled by any strategy game I've ever seen, once you know how to play it that is (Which is the real problem).

I do believe I was referred to Victoria at some point on these forums, actually...

I didn't really like EU3 as much, but it's also a good game, if you want a slightly less difficult learning curve or like the era better.

[stabiz]

Are you sure its not the Americans wearing Finnish uniforms!

Or the Finns wearing Unfinnished uniforms!

[Oberon]

Or the Finns wearing Unfinnished uniforms!


http://thefurtiveglance.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/rim-shot-johnny-utah.jpg

[eddie]

Definitely Victoria, though I might be biased because I love the era. The depth of Victoria is pretty much unrivaled by any strategy game I've ever seen, once you know how to play it that is (Which is the real problem).

I do believe I was referred to Victoria at some point on these forums, actually...

I didn't really like EU3 as much, but it's also a good game, if you want a slightly less difficult learning curve or like the era better.

Thanks Raptor, I too like the period that Victoria covers, and yet part of EU interests me also. The era's of the Vikings and/or Mongols would be fun I think. With the Vikings I could raid England, and force them to eat Lutefisk, and with the Mongols, I could raid deep into Europe, teaching them the fine art of cooking with a wok,lol

And with the price of these 2 sims as they are now, I'll eventually get both! I've enjoyed the AAR's you guys write, interesting and at times, hilarious!! Good stuff all around!:DL

[Dekessey]

Having played the demo, I can say that HoI3 is quite a lot different than HoI2. Besides all the shiny new stuff, pretty much everything has been doubled or tripled. There are about 3 times as many provinces and your base unit is a brigade rather than a division now, so you have to manage about 3 times as many units (Unless you leave it to the AI). There is also a much longer delay for issuing orders after combat (I think it's a week or slightly less compared to a day in HoI2), so you have to plan and execute most of your attacks ahead of time.

All this is not necessarily bad, it will just take a while getting used to...

EDIT: Ah, the time between attacks is reduced by technology. Since the tech tree in the demo is horribly lacking for all nations (That is, the techs are there, but most nations are still around WWI or the early 30's, even Germany), that would probably not be the case in the normal game.

Thanks for the info. I was somewhat disappointed at HOI2 because the map was almost identical to HOI1. More provinces is good because it allows more strategic options.

I guess I'll have to get this new version now... oh well, there goes my spare time for a while.:O:

[Arclight]

They're really at each others throats on any HoI3 forum (particularly the Steam one is nasty :rotfl:), you just can't please some people. :nope:

[Arclight]

Hotfix for 1.1 is up:

- Fixed a problem which made troopsneed become much too large.
- Made a few minor speed improvements.
- Game now defaults to lower multisampling to make performance better.
- Tweaked temperatures to feel a bit more natural.
Fixes the rather game-breaking CG issue. Should be much more enjoyable now. ;)

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=419327

Ah btw, you need to register there and then register your game (CD key) as well, before you can access.

[Raptor1]

Aye, I was just about to post this.

[Arclight]

What a remarkable coincidence. :D

Before this, I coudn't even keep up production of the 2 DD and 1 SS flotillas UK is building at 1936 start, without supplies dropping by 100 to 200 each day. Glad Johan smoothed this out so quickly. :salute:

[Ilpalazzo]

I just tried this game...well, hardly. I went over the 'tutorial' and proceeded to start a game. 5 minutes later I quit. Seriously. I don't know what I'm looking at. Is it so much to ask for a hands-on/hand-holding tutorial? Simply introducing me to the interface is hardly what I would call a tutorial.

I just don't have the patience to figure it out. Yeah I suck, but this game is overwhelming.

[Arclight]

Yes, it's a very deep grand stategy game.

Did you read the manual?

[Raptor1]

I just tried this game...well, hardly. I went over the 'tutorial' and proceeded to start a game. 5 minutes later I quit. Seriously. I don't know what I'm looking at. Is it so much to ask for a hands-on/hand-holding tutorial? Simply introducing me to the interface is hardly what I would call a tutorial.

I just don't have the patience to figure it out. Yeah I suck, but this game is overwhelming.

I found the tutorial in Paradox's games were always quite lacking, you can never that easily explain them with just a simple tutorial and they even removed it from some of their games completely (Victoria, again) because there was just no point...even though the last one was quite hilarious...

Read the manual, read the strategy guide and take the time to get used to it. Nobody ever jumped into a grand strategy game and knew how to play it in just 5 minutes.

[GlobalExplorer]

I have a beginners question. Can someone tell me the best way to see combined/absolute strengths of Armies / Corps? So far all I see is that there are divisions attached and that the HQ has e.g. 3000 men, but to see the strength of the divisions, I have to click them one by one and then do the same with brigades, and sum them up somehow on paper or memory. Playing Italy in '36 I just spent an hour to get a vague idea of my forces, is this normal? And do you think this UI is in any way offering an enough intuitive way to visualize army strength?

[Raptor1]

I have a beginners question. Can someone tell me the best way to see combined/absolute strengths of Armies / Corps? So far all I see is that there are divisions attached and that the HQ has e.g. 3000 men, but to see the strength of the divisions, I have to click them one by one and then do the same with brigades, and sum them up somehow on paper or memory. Playing Italy in '36 I just spent an hour to get a vague idea of my forces, is this normal? And do you think this UI is in any way offering an enough intuitive way to visualize army strength?

Look at the statistics page (Under 'Army Strength'). Not sure if it lists complete army strength, but it should list how many brigades of each type you have, just multiply every line brigade by 3,000 and every support brigade by 1,000 and you have your army's current strength (Or at least the mobilized strength of it).

Or you could settle for just the brigade numbers.

[Rilder]

Gonna try it out, though my processor is below minimum by a bit. :shifty:

[Arclight]

I think he was referring to the combined division stats, to see what the strenghts and weaknesses are, and how it's distributed. Might be wrong though.

That little plus on the right side opens up a structure that gives you a pretty decent overview of unit strength (in numbers of men). But to see division stats at a glance is not possible afaik.

[Dowly]

Having now played it quite abit the last 2 days, I still cant really get into it. Having more provinces is nice, but it tends to make things pretty hectic. Which wouldnt be the case if the combat would be shown abit better, for example, like in EU:Rome where you see the amount of lost men pop up above your unit each "turn" of the battle, that was nice and simple.

Another gripe I have is the slowness of the game. Not 100% sure, but I think it's kinda like SHIII's TC, the better the PC the faster the TC is. But with my current rig, it takes maybe a 10-15sec for 1 day to pass. That's pretty darn long if you are playing some small country, like I'm playing as South Africa, there's nothing to do before I get my submarine fleet done.

Now, the good stuff is the automation, I reallllly like that. Diplomacy havent been in very big part in HoI, so it's nice to have the AI do it for you.

Ow yeh, and my hometown is there, I think for the first time in gaming history. :yeah:

Definitely need to get used to it. Just shame that few things that worked in EU:Rome are not implented in HoI 3.

[Raptor1]

Having now played it quite abit the last 2 days, I still cant really get into it. Having more provinces is nice, but it tends to make things pretty hectic. Which wouldnt be the case if the combat would be shown abit better, for example, like in EU:Rome where you see the amount of lost men pop up above your unit each "turn" of the battle, that was nice and simple.

Another gripe I have is the slowness of the game. Not 100% sure, but I think it's kinda like SHIII's TC, the better the PC the faster the TC is. But with my current rig, it takes maybe a 10-15sec for 1 day to pass. That's pretty darn long if you are playing some small country, like I'm playing as South Africa, there's nothing to do before I get my submarine fleet done.

Now, the good stuff is the automation, I reallllly like that. Diplomacy havent been in very big part in HoI, so it's nice to have the AI do it for you.

Ow yeh, and my hometown is there, I think for the first time in gaming history. :yeah:

Definitely need to get used to it. Just shame that few things that worked in EU:Rome are not implented in HoI 3.

The slowness seems to come from a bug in the intelligence and diplomatic AI spamming trades and spying missions. There's a lua fix on the Paradox forums that improves the speed by a lot (I'll try to find the link) at the expense of the Diplomatic AI being a bit less active. Also the hotfix made things a bit faster for me.

EDIT: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/877292/SpeedFix1.2.zip

I'm not sure it works with the mod folder like that, if not, put the files directly in the Scripts folder (After backup, of course).

[Dowly]

Thanks! :up:

[Rilder]

Tried it out today, I'l probably have to try that speed fix but thus far I don't really like it, just too bloated with stuff to really be enjoyable.

Also managing your armies just is an utter pain in the ass.

[goggles]

well i been reading about the series and i finally caved and got hoi3 and hoi2

so far i suck utterly (the tutorials suck) i cant seem to maintain any lvl of energy or crude oil my stock piles just get sucked dry and my industry grinds to a halt no nation will trade me the resources i need and im not strong enough to conquer the land with that has it

ive noticed the speed issue with time compression as well

also the ai performs pretty un historically

in my first game as canada nationalist spain joined the allies, italy blitzkrieged france before being beaten back by a massive spain amphibious assault followed by a british one which crushed italy by 1940, germany launched a semi sucessful invasion of britain but was driven back before being invaded from british occupied italy

all in all fairly erratic to say the least

this game has a steep learning curve to say the least the manual offers some insight but its still leaves you fumbling in the dark mostly my biggest issue is getting resources to fuel my industry my stock piles seem to simply drain to nothing before i can research enough improvements or trade for them

im thinking its much easier to play a major power so far all my games have been minor powers

[Pohl]

I got both HoI 2 Doomsday and just got HoI 3...but I didn't liked that HoI 3 ends in 1946 while Doomsday (I know it's a expansion) ends in 1953 giving you more time to research technologies to help you rule the world...like I'm doing in HoI 2 :P
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt348/arleccin/a970481f.jpg

I'm really enjoying this game, but I'm sure that my greed to control all of the middles east and crush the allies will lead to me a big problem as years come :arrgh!:

[Raptor1]

well i been reading about the series and i finally caved and got hoi3 and hoi2

so far i suck utterly (the tutorials suck) i cant seem to maintain any lvl of energy or crude oil my stock piles just get sucked dry and my industry grinds to a halt no nation will trade me the resources i need and im not strong enough to conquer the land with that has it

ive noticed the speed issue with time compression as well

also the ai performs pretty un historically

in my first game as canada nationalist spain joined the allies, italy blitzkrieged france before being beaten back by a massive spain amphibious assault followed by a british one which crushed italy by 1940, germany launched a semi sucessful invasion of britain but was driven back before being invaded from british occupied italy

all in all fairly erratic to say the least

this game has a steep learning curve to say the least the manual offers some insight but its still leaves you fumbling in the dark mostly my biggest issue is getting resources to fuel my industry my stock piles seem to simply drain to nothing before i can research enough improvements or trade for them

im thinking its much easier to play a major power so far all my games have been minor powers

The unhistorical things happening are supposed to happen, the AI just has problems with it's priorities (When it does something it's surprisingly good) which should be fixed in a patch or mod.

Most of the whines on the PI forums (Other than the slowness) come from the fact that the game is dynamic, unlike HoI2, and things which did not happen in real life might happen due to how the player or other nations play. Some people just insist on playing the game like HoI2 and then whine that they don't get the same results. My personal favorite sort of whining is when someone comes and cries that half the world is joining the Allies after he, as the Axis player, went on an annexing spree and killed off half the neutrals in Europe.

@Pohl - HoI3 ends in 1948.

[CaptHawkeye]

Why would anyone want the game to play out just like history anyway? We already know what happened during 1939-1945. The point of the game is to make your own World War 2.

[Arclight]

Exactly. What's the fun in knowing exactly what will happen? Don't get those complaints either. :nope:

[Egan]

Well, I was holding out for the hard copy but I went to a preview screening of Inglourious Basterds tonight and immediately came home with a WW2 hunger. Downloading now. Sweet Lord the DL speed is awful.

I liked the demo but I never liked been thrust straight into the Poland campaign with someone elses OOB and command structure - exactly the same reason I always played HOI2 from 36 onwards: I love the three years of tinkering time before the big show kicks off. Looking forward to playing.

[Dowly]

...a preview screening of Inglourious Basterds...

:o

NOT FAIR!!!! :damn:

[Egan]

:o

NOT FAIR!!!! :damn:

Lol. Yep.

Two things:

1:It's totally worth the wait. Totally. :up:

2: So many people are going to hate it. :up::up:

[TheSatyr]

Just got HOI3,but the text in the manual is too small for my eyes. What I find odd is that people have complained to Paradox about that in previous game manuals and Paradox started to do manuals with larger sized text. I'm surprised that Paradox went back to this size text. I'm not going to be able to play the game till I get a damn magnifying glass so I can read the manual.

[Arclight]

A .pdf manual got installed with the game, most likely. Could try reading it in electronic form, at least it's easy to magnify. ;)

[AngusJS]

I love HOI2 DD, but a few things really bothered me:

Being offered a hundred divisions by all your allies at the same time, and having to manually confirm each and every division.

Having your allies decide 3 days later that they want their divisions back.

Playing as Germany and being dragged into war by some two-bit minor ally, as if invading the Soviet Union requires no preparation and can easily be done on a moment's notice. I think if you're playing as a major combatant, YOU should be deciding whom your alliance will attack. That's how it was in EU2, right?

Have these been addressed in HOI3?

[Raptor1]

I love HOI2 DD, but a few things really bothered me:

Being offered a hundred divisions by all your allies at the same time, and having to manually confirm each and every division.

Having your allies decide 3 days later that they want their divisions back.

Playing as Germany and being dragged into war by some two-bit minor ally, as if invading the Soviet Union requires no preparation and can easily be done on a moment's notice. I think if you're playing as a major combatant, YOU should be deciding whom your alliance will attack. That's how it was in EU2, right?

Have these been addressed in HOI3?

I haven't encountered any of these problems (Except the expeditionary force spamming in some mods, but you can turn off the messages, also you have a 'Don't send me expeditionary forces' button in Armageddon), are you sure your game is patched?

Minors don't declare war on anyone except by event or AI scripting, if you don't want to be part of their war, boot them out of the alliance.

[Raptor1]

HoI3 is IGN's PC game of the month for August (http://games.ign.com/articles/101/1019950p1.html), not bad.

Also, the fateful 1.2 patch should be released in a couple of days.

[Raptor1]

1.2 is now out (Can download it through the launcher), now we just need to prepare for another wave of whining.

EDIT: Guess what, Stalingrad is where it should be...

[Arclight]

I didn't think it was possible. :rotfl:

:salute:

[Egan]

1.2 made the game a lot more fun but there is still a long, long way to go. I flat out love the command chain stuff even though it rarely seems to work in the way I want it too.

For instance, playing as Germany, I left the invasion of Poland up to the Ai after I had assigned it some objectives. I kept all the armour under my control and declared war. AI did for Poland in 12 days. My personal best in HOI2 was about a week but in HOI3 so far it has been a month to six weeks when doing it manually, so full marks to the AI here. In the invasion of the west it was lousy: redeployed the best part of an army group to Denmark and the Yugoslav border and took four months to beat France and the Low countries. In Barbarossa it has been mixed....

I keep thinking about the Ai in the Airborne Assault series. I know its at a different operational level but quite often the AI in that game left me amazed - and always in a good way. I remember having secured a perimeter around the bridge in 'Highway to the Reich' and after nightfall spent a few worry hours watching as the AI conducted probing attacks with light and recon units as it searched for weak points in my lines. There always seemed to be little things like that. I wonder what their AI would be like if they ever did a game on HOI3's scale? I wish Paradox would hire Panther Games so we could find out. :)

Other than that, I'm enjoying the way that Diplomacy and Intelligence seem to have come together almost as a sub game. It's not perfect yet but keeping the world off your back is a real and vital element that was often lacking in HOI2. I also like the Occupational Policy set up and the various laws that can be enacted. Who doesn't get a thrill when you authorise Total Economic Mobilisation while playing as the USA? A very good reason for the axis player to expend the diplomatic effort keeping them sweet, that is.

On the downside, I'm finding I have to baby sit my navel and airforce units more than I had too in HOI2. My aircraft just seem to get destroyed far faster than should be possible even if I am superior to the enemy airforce. I don't know if it has something to do with the enemy airstacks or not; sometimes there seems to be huge fighter groups that, if i were to use them, would result in a vast negative attack penalty....I just can't get a handle on air warfare at all. I do like how strategic bombing and convoy attacks has an effect on national unity, though. I wonder if anyone has tried to bomb the enemy into submission yet?

[Raptor1]

1.3 is out and, after extensive community testing, seems to improve the game a lot more than 1.2 did. Also makes the game much faster.

[Arclight]

Are the sliders staying in place yet? :-?

[Raptor1]

Are the sliders staying in place yet? :-?

There's been autosliders since 1.2...

[Arclight]

Yeah, but they haven't been staying where I set them from version 1.0, so I'm just asking. :roll: :O:

[Raptor1]

Yeah, but they haven't been staying where I set them from version 1.0, so I'm just asking. :roll: :O:

Are you using the 'Need' button or the autoslider setting above the sliders themselves?

[Arclight]

Manual method, click "need", it sets it to something like 40.77. I leave the production tab, come back immediatly and it's at 40.75 (in the red). Very annoying to see your dissent rise while you just set it properly, or get the little icon in the corner telling you IC is being wasted while you just set everything right.

It's kept me from playing from day 1. Did several reïnstalls. :-?

[Raptor1]

Strange, I use the autosliders so it sets everything automatically every day

[Arclight]

I'll probably do the same when I get back into it, but it's high-season now for games. Was in the middle of a game of Fallout when Dragon Age popped up, and there are more waiting around the corner.

At any rate, thanks for the update. I'll be looking forward to spending some time wtih HoI. :salute:

[Egan]

Fired up a game with 1.3. One of the things I noticed was the blizzard conditions and frozen ground across the whole of the Soviet Union east of the Urals in the middle of summer. I'm fairly sure it was snowing in Japan as well, it was certainly snowing in Central and northern Norway.

I'm guessing the weather engine still needs a bit of tweaking.

[Raptor1]

Fired up a game with 1.3. One of the things I noticed was the blizzard conditions and frozen ground across the whole of the Soviet Union east of the Urals in the middle of summer. I'm fairly sure it was snowing in Japan as well, it was certainly snowing in Central and northern Norway.

I'm guessing the weather engine still needs a bit of tweaking.

It's much, much better than the 2-year long rainstorms and the permanent freezing in the Berlin area.

[Egan]

It's much, much better than the 2-year long rainstorms and the permanent freezing in the Berlin area.

Yes it is. I haven't seen anyone else report this on the Paradox forums so maybe it's just down to randomness rather than a bug. I'll play through another year or so of this game and another one and see how things pan out.

[Méo]

I've played a lot HOI 2 and expected HOI 3 with enthusiasm but once the game was released I've been quickly disappointed :down: (I felt a bit like SH4, all pretty but awful gameplay).

Like SH4, I've played HOI 3 only a week, left it on the shelf then SH5 was announced and it kept my attention.

I wanted to know if you guys continue to play HOI 3, with all patches and updates is it getting better?

Are your AI Generals more efficient?

Is the battle of the Atlantic well simulated?

[UnterseeBoogeyMan]

I've played a lot HOI 2 and expected HOI 3 with enthusiasm but once the game was released I've been quickly disappointed :down: (I felt a bit like SH4, all pretty but awful gameplay).

Like SH4, I've played HOI 3 only a week, left it on the shelf then SH5 was announced and it kept my attention.

I wanted to know if you guys continue to play HOI 3, with all patches and updates is it getting better?

Are your AI Generals more efficient?

Is the battle of the Atlantic well simulated?
I hadn't played HOI2 or 1 but started with HOI3. I think the patches have helped as some of the bug-like AI behavior is gone. The game still has issues with slowing down if on for longer than an hour or two - saving and restarting the game is the only fix.

I am dissappointed that submarines aren't a factor like they should be. Don't get me wrong, if they are micro-managed they can sink ships. But becuase nations can stockpile mammoth loads of resources, the effect of sinking ships alone won't make them sue for peace. So, the Doenitz plan of pumping out 300 subs won't make the UK sue for peace. I dont like that because anyone that atleast is an Atlantic War enthusiast knows the value the sub war played.

As Germany, you have your hands so full with land battles you don't have time or resources to build subs. I find I need panzer divs to punch holes and infantry to hold what was taken and then flanks. I find also, that USSR WILL come after Germany if Germany doesnt declare war. So, right there, you need so many ground units just to cover the E. front there is no time for a navy.

I will say I am big on paratroops. Using them for the Germans has been a lot of fun. They were big in taking Denmark, and huge in taking Norway.

[Méo]

if they are micro-managed they can sink ships. But becuase nations can stockpile mammoth loads of resources

I can't believe they repeated the same mistake again!!! :nope::nope::nope:

What I quoted from you is exactly what happened in HOI2, it's a shame...

[eddie]

Have any of you guy's tried HoI3 with the new "Semper Fi" addon? I believe Raptor has, and I'm still trying to figure out this new system. Sure looks promising though, now back to the manual and the tuts,lol

[Happy Times]

Have any of you guy's tried HoI3 with the new "Semper Fi" addon? I believe Raptor has, and I'm still trying to figure out this new system. Sure looks promising though, now back to the manual and the tuts,lol

Good that you reminded me, ive been waiting it before even starting with HOI3.:salute:

The new features sound cool.


Hearts of Iron 3 - Semper Fi - Trailer - PC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H6WyLk9OJM

[Raptor1]

Aye, the expansion is pretty good. The OOB editor and manual theater setup really help a lot in organizing your armies, especially if you're playing the SU or something like that. The new supply and diplomacy rules work quite nicely. The best thing is the new AI though; the old AI was pretty good in offensives but sucked horribly in defense, but the new one pulls out of encirclements and defends in depth, so Barbarossa is no longer a German victory every single time.

The only thing I don't like is the achievements and battle events, the system itself is nice, but I think it's being used for the wrong things. Thankfully the whole thing is moddable, so it shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to proper things.

[Arclight]

Seems like the whole army-management thing is now actually manageable. :lol:

Another "this is how we wanted it to be from the start, but we ran out of money" expansion imho. :-?

[raymond6751]

You guys should check out WW2 The Big One.

[Task Force]

Hmm, wounder if they will do a complete pack, includeing semper fi and HOI3... (maby even the sprites)

[Spike88]

Well, I ended up getting HoI 3 due to the fact that HoI2 doesn't fit on my screen.(I haven't played either before, so I'm a newb to the series) I watch the tutorials and learns absolutely nothing from them, so I try jumping into Japan 1936, Having no clue what I'm doing I quit and go looking for some newbie guides.

I find a good one on the HoI wiki and decided to give it a try. I start up a game with 1936 National China, and follow the guide. Which suggests that I go for Infantry and Quantity of Quality.

After figuring out that producing more than enough Consumer Goods doesn't really benefit me and putting all my extra IC into Supplies I end up with a surplus of 100+ a day, I sell this and end up with a stockpile of Money(2000+), Power(6000+), Metal(Only 2000), Rare Metal(3800+), Supplies (20000+) and Fuel(7000+).

Expecting to go to war with Japan I have 8 Stacks of 5 Infantry divisions compounded of 2 brigades a piece. I set up the command structure so most of them have a Corps, an Army and then the their all under the command of my main army. To claim any territory they've pushed through I have about 5 stacks of 3 division Militia.


The Marco Polo Incident occurs and I move my army line into Shanxai inticipating the Japanese attack, I'm going to let Japan take Shanxai so I can take Shanxai back and use their resources.

Now this is where things go bad and my 2nd game comes to an end. Shanxai falls and I'm waiting for Japan to attack. I get yelled at because I'm in a Neutral country(Shanxai) and my troops are attacked by the Japanese. I highly outnumber the Japanese troops(one stack of mine equaling around 24,000 units compared to 10,000 on the Japanese side.) I'm thinking i should be winning these battles left and right. For for some reason instead of fighting my troops all end up fleeing even though they did not take any casualties. This happens to my whole line and my troops are all in dissaray. Finally Shanxai becomes my enemy due to their truce with Japan.

Was this a glitch or did I do something wrong?

[Raptor1]

Well, first of all, the Japanese troops are probably better than your troops in general, most likely having better technology and doctrines and possibly better led (Not sure how good Japanese\NatChi generals are). If they have some armoured brigades then a number of their divisions might fight much better due to combined arms.

Secondly, you might be overstacked. Only so many troops can fight on the front line and if there are too many the rest go into reserves and have a chance of reinforcing the front if one of your divisions is knocked out of the battle. If you have way too many troops, you might be getting stacking penalties for having too many units in a province; if this is the case, you might want to reorganize your 2-brigade divisions into the usually more common 3- or 4-brigade divisions, since the stacking penalty works by division count and not by brigade count.

How's the air war? I suppose the Japanese probably have you beat there, which could also have an impact.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, and of course how was your supply situation inside Shanxi?

[Spike88]

Well, first of all, the Japanese troops are probably better than your troops in general, most likely having better technology and doctrines and possibly better led (Not sure how good Japanese\NatChi generals are). If they have some armoured brigades then a number of their divisions might fight much better due to combined arms.

Secondly, you might be overstacked. Only so many troops can fight on the front line and if there are too many the rest go into reserves and have a chance of reinforcing the front if one of your divisions is knocked out of the battle. If you have way too many troops, you might be getting stacking penalties for having too many units in a province; if this is the case, you might want to reorganize your 2-brigade divisions into the usually more common 3- or 4-brigade divisions, since the stacking penalty works by division count and not by brigade count.

How's the air war? I suppose the Japanese probably have you beat there, which could also have an impact.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, and of course how was your supply situation inside Shanxi?

I'm pretty sure the Japanese troops are better trained, I was going for a quantity over quality strategy, but still my men would retreat without actually losing any casualties. And they had been dug in for quite a while so they should have the benefit when the Japanese line hits. I've retried the game and will let the Japanese come to my northern Border before I attack back.

For Over stacking the guide suggested stacks of five divisions, but I guess I'll see what happens in this game.

As for the air war, I have one bomber(which I have no clue on how to make it actually drop bombs) and one Interceptor. I was currently building another bomber because my Theatre HQ had requested one.

Also the game is on Easy because I'm new. :haha:

As for supplies my units were fully supplied and the supply lines were all green for that area.

[Raptor1]

Now that is strange. No casualties at all, or just a few casualties?

[Spike88]

Now that is strange. No casualties at all, or just a few casualties?
Zero Casaulties.

[Raptor1]

Never had that one before, with troops fully supplied and dug in retreating with zero casualties...they weren't on AI control or anything, were they?

Do you have HoI3 1.4 or 2.0 (The expansion)?

[Spike88]

Never had that one before, with troops fully supplied and dug in retreating with zero casualties...they weren't on AI control or anything, were they?

Do you have HoI3 1.4 or 2.0 (The expansion)?

They were under manual control. The only thing that I could think of was just the fact that they were in Neutral territory.

1.4, I'm going to get the expansion once I get used to the game.

[Raptor1]

How's the officer ratio? It could be that your troops organization was horrible because of a too-low officer ratio and they lost most of everything else in bombing then retreated as soon as the attack began (Though I'm not sure if they do that with 0 casualties).

[Spike88]

I'm actually not sure what the officer ratio was. I think it was in red though. Maybe that was it. I guess in this playthrough I'll try for more officers.

[Spike88]

Okay, I'm now back to war with Japan and in my second playtrhough, I'm dominating the Japanese and pushing through Shanxai.

[Santini]

For anyone playing with the DI:G expansion (highly recommended btw) here's a link to a mod we're working on: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?536165-Sub-mod-for-Dies-Irae-quot-Vorw%E4rts-Panzers!

[Castout]

I'm looking for friendly casual game of HoI 3(with Semper Fi) modded with ICE 3.3.3


Currently playing Italy and doing great. Conquered Ethiopia which started the game being already at war with Italy and subsequently annexed then made it a puppet country under Italy.


Now grinding slowly for WWII. Still haven't even reached June 1936 however. Never realized Italy had a relatively good pre-war relationship with US historically.

[Krauter]

I would be interested... but I'd have to wait until after June when I'm back in Montreal with a more stable Internet connection and a freer schedule.

Cheers!

[Castout]

I would be interested... but I'd have to wait until after June when I'm back in Montreal with a more stable Internet connection and a freer schedule.

Cheers!

That would not be a problem. I'll PM you when June comes.

Cheers :DL