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As they are all fucking cheap on Steam today, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation as to which iteration of the game would be the best for someone starting from scratch.

The second, especially considering you can get good sprites etc. for free.

I've heard the Arsenal of Democracy game - a massive modification of the original HOI2, created with Paradox's consent by another company - is damned good too.

But yeah, HOI2 is the best iteration of the series so far.

Unless they revamp the fucked-up command system in HoI3 (which makes it impossible to take decent controll on your own) and fix the messed-up map, stick with HoI2.

Oh, and pro's don't care about sprites, they use NATO-symbols^^

Serafina wrote:Unless they revamp the fucked-up command system in HoI3 (which makes it impossible to take decent controll on your own) and fix the messed-up map, stick with HoI2.

Oh, and pro's don't care about sprites, they use NATO-symbols^^

Not if you get the awesome country and unit mods.

I never actually used the Nato-symbols .

Either way, HoI3 offers nothing that HoI2 doesn't offer. Or rather, it does - but it has so many more problems (crazy amphibious landings (Mexico conquering Germany ), a messed-up map, a messed-up command system, a messed-up political system etc.
Compared to that, Hoi2 is stable, has no such crazy problems and the only things that are actually better in Hoi3 is the brigade building system and research.

HoI 2 is absolutely terrible at simulating Naval and Aerial warfare though. Their is still a bug in the game to this day in which a fleet with Carriers AND battleships will always make the Carriers close to gunfighting distance. Among other things.

HOI3 is just awful now that Paradox has switched to a model of extorting more money from their fanboys by releasing expansion packs to fix problems rather than releasing decent patches. Or check out Arsenal of Democracy, though I don't have any experience with that.

Screw HOI2. The original was the only one that I found any fun.

I am going to break the topic condition and say to buy AoD, it's HOI2 but actually semi decent, things actually work in it and it is a vast upgrade over HOI2. Air power is useful, fleet battles are reworked and spying mechanics and such are massively improved.

Agreed with Bluewolf. AoD is basically HoI2.5, and unlike HoI2 is still a current release game with ongoing support.

Get HOI3. Although I remember having good times with HOI2 (if you get HOI2, make sure you get the expansion, Armageddon), I HOI3 is still a step forward.

Except that HoI3 is nearly unplayable and turns take ages to complete.

Would you care to elaborate on the unplayable bits? As for your point on it taking ages to complete, I don't find it much of an issue. The length of the whole campaign is something that I enjoy.

Start a campaign in 1936 and take great joy and watching a tech tree for the next 3 years in game. Which at max time compression is still going to be about 1-2 hours.

Norade wrote:Except that HoI3 is nearly unplayable and turns take ages to complete.

If you start a game as early as you can the turns by the end will lag so much as to make the game a near impossible chore to play. Many 'features' aren't and in general AoD is better, that said with some patches in it I might try HoI3 again. Have any come out to fix major issues like the many map errors?

I would say you should get either Hearts of Iron II or Arsenal of Democracy. Steer clear of HoI3, and don't bother with HoI1. In the end, Arsenal of Democracy might actually be cheaper, since you won't need to get the two expansion packs like you would for HoI2, and it's development team is comprised of modders who care more about making a good game than wringing as much money out of bleating fanboys. On the other hand, the modding community for AoD isn't as developed yet, but HoI2's is nearing its end. On a similar note, AoD's multiplayer is a bit more lively than HoI2's.

Tritio wrote:Get HOI3. Although I remember having good times with HOI2 (if you get HOI2, make sure you get the expansion, Armageddon), I HOI3 is still a step forward.

On second thoughts, AOD looks like it might be better than HOI3. I had previously come across AOD but I didn't read up on it. Now that I have, it does look pretty good indeed. I would think it's an improved version of HOI2+Armageddon (which is already good) and the new features implemented look good.

Have any come out to fix major issues like the many map errors?

I think they have. Semper Fi tweaked the terrain and added quite a few new urban zones for the cities.

Our of interest weemadando, did you end up getting any of these while the sale on them was still on?

I grabbed HoI2 COmplete Pack and am now regretting not getting AoD from what people are saying.

One note though - fuck the HoI "mod" community. Instead of just releasing a resolution fix (or you know, having the devs do this to start with), they all just repost fucking hex editing instructions and details on how to edit the *.bmp's involved.

Fuck y'all. I'm able to do this, but if you've already done it all, then fucking zip it up and let me download it, after all, I'm sure that 1280x1024 isn't exactly the rarest of resolutions.

weemadando wrote:I grabbed HoI2 COmplete Pack and am now regretting not getting AoD from what people are saying.

One note though - fuck the HoI "mod" community. Instead of just releasing a resolution fix (or you know, having the devs do this to start with), they all just repost fucking hex editing instructions and details on how to edit the *.bmp's involved.

Fuck y'all. I'm able to do this, but if you've already done it all, then fucking zip it up and let me download it, after all, I'm sure that 1280x1024 isn't exactly the rarest of resolutions.

Waaah? There are a lot of easy to install HoI2 mods out there. Google the stony road for one.

Thanas wrote:Waaah? There are a lot of easy to install HoI2 mods out there. Google the stony road for one.

There might well be, but not an easy to install resolution changer, which is what ando is talking about.

weemadando wrote:I grabbed HoI2 COmplete Pack and am now regretting not getting AoD from what people are saying.

Just as a FYI, AoD still appears to be on special for US$10.

AoD is indeed very much a massive improvement over Hoi2, the whole ability to retool active production lines to the upgraded versions without cancelling and remaking them is what sold me and was severly disappointed that Hoi3 lacked that to me, most basic feature.

However Hoi3 on a decent computer does appear to be playable with Semper Fi though it could still use significant improvement.

Didn't Lord Ederon release a one-click resolution changer ages ago, which worked for all the games on the old engine - ie Victoria 1, HoI1/2/AOD, CK, etc. I think I still have a link to his site somewhere, I'll chase it up.

IIRC Paradox's T&C include that you cannot redistribute altered or hacked executables, so people can't pass resolution-hacked exes around. One release of TRP got pulled because they had a hacked exe in it, and that's run by Lothos, the prime AI dev for the HoI2 series.

[EDIT] Link to Ederon's site - http://www.ederon.net/
You want the Pegasus Hexa Wizard.