Hearts of Iron 3 announced.

[Gandalf]

I hope they make the alliance system a little more interesting for the AH enthusiasts. If I play as a fascist US that wipes out Germany and turns on the Allies while remaking the world as I see fit, I want some recognition on the end screen.

This new game will have 10,000 provinces. HoI2 has 2601, including all of the oceans, seas, etc. If the shots we've seen are any indication, France will look the same as it does in HoI2. This leads me to think that the world might be a globe as opposed to a flat map. This can make the inevitable US/USSR conflict more interesting, and also serve as a way to make the geography a little more interesting.

What annoys me is the 3D graphic they're talking of implementing. Why do that? I can't see how it helps the game. It looks great as it is. They might be able to improve the 2D sprites, or the colours of the countries, but I can't see why they should go 3D.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

What annoys me is the 3D graphic they're talking of implementing. Why do that? I can't see how it helps the game. It looks great as it is. They might be able to improve the 2D sprites, or the colours of the countries, but I can't see why they should go 3D.

The reasoning given for Europa Universalis going to 3D was that it makes it easier to let the video processor handle all the visuals so that there's more room for calculating all of the AI and such. I have no idea if that's bullshit or not, but if it isn't, it could also be the reason for the change in HoI.

[Vendetta]

As long as it's easy enough to tell what's what, it doesn't matter how many dimensions it's rendered in.

[Vympel]

and have you ever bothered seriously playing as any country but the USSR? (I ask because most of the complaints I've seen from you about HoI2 specifically concern the USSR)

.......

Are you saying that HoI is not a USSR simulator?

[Gandalf]

I wonder what they mean by more "strategic warfare"? If I carpet nuke something, will they be more likely to surrender without me landing on their soil?

The reasoning given for Europa Universalis going to 3D was that it makes it easier to let the video processor handle all the visuals so that there's more room for calculating all of the AI and such. I have no idea if that's bullshit or not, but if it isn't, it could also be the reason for the change in HoI.

I'll buy that, because I know bugger all about this. All I know is that I'll have to buy a better PC or upgrade the one I have in order to buy this game.

[Ace Pace]

I wonder what they mean by more "strategic warfare"? If I carpet nuke something, will they be more likely to surrender without me landing on their soil?

The reasoning given for Europa Universalis going to 3D was that it makes it easier to let the video processor handle all the visuals so that there's more room for calculating all of the AI and such. I have no idea if that's bullshit or not, but if it isn't, it could also be the reason for the change in HoI.

I'll buy that, because I know bugger all about this. All I know is that I'll have to buy a better PC or upgrade the one I have in order to buy this game.

Uh Gandhi..nearly every PC nowdays has a GPU processor that is not utter and total crap. Even intel ingrated will probably be able to run HoI3. What kind of PC do you have? One from 98?

[Gandalf]

Uh Gandhi..nearly every PC nowdays has a GPU processor that is not utter and total crap. Even intel ingrated will probably be able to run HoI3. What kind of PC do you have? One from 98?

It's a Dell thingy that I got in 2006. I've installed a new graphics card, and I'm waiting on RAM.

I can barely run EU3, as it takes about five minutes to load a game.

[Ma Deuce]

Are you saying that HoI is not a USSR simulator?

I know you're being facetious, but the more I think about it, the more I realize why the artificial constrainsts on the USSR were necessary for game balance: Lets face it, in real life there was no real way the Great Patriotic War would end in any other way than Germany's defeat, even with such handicaps as Stalin's purges. Even with the artificial constraints imposed by the game (The USA also has an artificial handicap: It can only use 25% of it's total IC during peacetime), the USSR still holds the ultimate advantage: I have NEVER seen AI Germany actually beat AI USSR: At best they get locked into an endless stalemate, or at worse get swallowed under the Red Tide. So with the USSR in the hands of a reasonably skilled human player, able to arbitrarly free themselves of such restraints as Stalin's Purges and build a competent army from the start, they'd easily PWN any country or likely group of countries on Eurasia that dared cross them.

With that in mind, what if someone wants to play as Germany and beat the USSR? I actually managed that once, conquered most of their territory west of the Urals, at which point they sued for peace and let me keep what I had conquered ( ). I accepted of course, as my armies were strained near the breaking point, and I need them elsewhere anyway. Without constraints needed to give Germany a fighting chance, would there be any point to a human vs human Great Patriotic War matchup? Furthermore, without some kind of constraints on the most powerful countries, would it even be possible to actually make a difference while playing as any of the smaller powers? (I wanna kick ass playing as Canada, dammit!)
I'll admit some of the handicaps are a bit clumsily implemented, though after thinking about it, I can fully understand why they're there.

Besides, if you have Doomsday, you also have a handy dandy game editor, which you could use to edit the scenario to be more to your liking, or download a copy of the Total Realism Mod.

[RRoan]

I have NEVER seen AI Germany actually beat AI USSR: At best they get locked into an endless stalemate, or at worse get swallowed under the Red Tide.

I have. Of course, I was playing as the US and sending them 50 oil a day. It took germany three different wars to totally do the soviets in, but they succeeded at taking them out in 1949.

[Vendetta]

(The USA also has an artificial handicap: It can only use 25% of it's total IC during peacetime)

Great Britain gets this as well, 50% peacetime IC reduction until the "Gearing Up For War" events, as well as the peacetime IC reduction that everyone gets. Of course, the right slider move and a bit of diplomatic wheel greasing can get you an alliance with Republican Spain before the start of the Spanish Civil War, and you can intercede in that by pulling in the Indian divisions to Gibraltar in time for kick off, then bottling up the nationalists in one province for as long as you need, and bypassing your isolationist tendencies because you're not declaring war, you're having war declared on you. (you lose the free slider moves to interventionism, as you don't get the Gearing Up For War events, but the massive IC increase more than makes up for that, and the rest of GB's sliders are pretty much optimal anyway).

Phony Wars are great!

[Shortie]

Sweet. One of the good things about HoI was that you could take an alternate path in history if you wanted to

What, turning America fascist and allying with Germany before marching on to world domination doesn't count?

BTW, what version of HoI2 were you using (because I've never had a problem with the German AI not attacking the USSR in Doomsday, then again I always set the AI to Furious), and have you ever bothered seriously playing as any country but the USSR? (I ask because most of the complaints I've seen from you about HoI2 specifically concern the USSR)

They get scared off by too large an army very easily, so you've got to attack them.

I screwed up on a game and took all their oil by trade, and they never even attacked Poland. It was kind of dull.

[MKSheppard]

That reminds me. Oh yeah. The stupid Allies/Communist/Axis three alliances in the ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD made no sense.

Can't we have dozens of little alliances that we can make on our own?

[PeZook]

That reminds me. Oh yeah. The stupid Allies/Communist/Axis three alliances in the ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD made no sense.

Can't we have dozens of little alliances that we can make on our own?

HoI 2 had that, the little alliances just didn't show on the world map.

So when I conquered the world as Poland, I got a victory screen saying 0, 0, 0

[Adrian Laguna]

There is a trailer that has a few screen shots of the game.

Look at the map closely at the 40s mark, Germany is invading Belgium and France, and there are three provinces that have split ownership.

I wonder if what Paradox means by having 10,000 provinces in the map, they really mean 10,000 sub-provinces, each of which can hold a military unit. That probably would make sense, since managing hundreds and hundreds of provinces could potentially be annoying, and it fits the screen shot because in terms of actual administrative divisions, Northern France seems to actually has less than HoI2.

[acesand8s]

I wonder if what Paradox means by having 10,000 provinces in the map, they really mean 10,000 sub-provinces, each of which can hold a military unit. That probably would make sense, since managing hundreds and hundreds of provinces could potentially be annoying, and it fits the screen shot because in terms of actual administrative divisions, Northern France seems to actually has less than HoI2.

Based on what I've read on the Paradox forums, it's kind of like Victoria's region and province system. So, all IC, infrastructure, AA, etc construction gets done at the region level. Each region contains many provinces in which you can maneuver your military units. That way, you get a fluid combat zone but your aren't stuck micromanaging 500 provinces.

[Adrian Laguna]

Based on what I've read on the Paradox forums, it's kind of like Victoria's region and province system. So, all IC, infrastructure, AA, etc construction gets done at the region level. Each region contains many provinces in which you can maneuver your military units. That way, you get a fluid combat zone but your aren't stuck micromanaging 500 provinces.

Ah, just like I suspected. That's really, really cool. One of HoI's problems was the abruptness of the combat sometimes, you can have a huge area of land change hands because of the results of just one battle. This way will feel more natural. Also, there hopefully will be far more urban areas than in the original game.

[Enigma]

Victoria is the only Paradox\Strategy First game that doesn't bog down my computer. If HoI3 follows Victoria's example than HoI2 or EUIII then I am very happy.

[Gandalf]

There is a trailer that has a few screen shots of the game.

Look at the map closely at the 40s mark, Germany is invading Belgium and France, and there are three provinces that have split ownership.

What's also interesting is that there's a second line running down the screen, a few provinces to the west of the German front.

[Adrian Laguna]

What's also interesting is that there's a second line running down the screen, a few provinces to the west of the German front.

The blue line? Passing near Paris? That's the Seine.

[Vympel]

Victoria is the only Paradox\Strategy First game that doesn't bog down my computer. If HoI3 follows Victoria's example than HoI2 or EUIII then I am very happy.

I found Victoria impossible to get into. Just too dense. Incomprehensible.

[Enigma]

Victoria is the only Paradox\Strategy First game that doesn't bog down my computer. If HoI3 follows Victoria's example than HoI2 or EUIII then I am very happy.

I found Victoria impossible to get into. Just too dense. Incomprehensible.

Not to me. The only thing I hated about Victoria is the revolt risk system. Conquer some territory and be prepared to keep your troops in your new lands for about a decade since they are a hotbed for rebels. I also hate that using native troops means that they'll be more likely to rebel against you.

[Thanas]

^But that is only correct history.

[Enigma]

^But that is only correct history.

True, but I would like to be able to edit it out which I can't since it is hardcoded into the game.

[Duckie]

Native troops rebelling isn't that bad because you can drain, say, Korea or India of manpower and have a million man army marching over Russia. The majority or even a minority of troops almost never rebel.