Is HOI IV playable on a tablet?

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I'm torn on the strategy game on tablet concept. On the surface, it sounds cool. But practically, I'm not sure.

If I'm going to play a game, that I need to really dig my heels into, I'm not sure I want to "experience" that laying on my couch with a 10" screen, mouse or not. Strategy titles on tablets need to beer and pretzels games at most. Meaty strategy games need to be on a big screen, preferably windowed with multi screens for easy access to reference material. I want to be in my office, with my headphones on and the removed - Had a dad door shut and locked to keep the kids, wife and dog OUT. If ever I'm found lying on my couch, I'm interrupted every 5 minutes for every kind of honey-do or tech support task imaginable.

+1. I would actually develop stress, if I play a grand strategy game and were interupted constantly...
 
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I'm torn on the strategy game on tablet concept. On the surface, it sounds cool. But practically, I'm not sure.

If I'm going to play a game, that I need to really dig my heels into, I'm not sure I want to "experience" that laying on my couch with a 10" screen, mouse or not. Strategy titles on tablets need to beer and pretzels games at most. Meaty strategy games need to be on a big screen, preferably windowed with multi screens for easy access to reference material. I want to be in my office, with my headphones on and the removed - Had a dad door shut and locked to keep the kids, wife and dog OUT. If ever I'm found lying on my couch, I'm interrupted every 5 minutes for every kind of honey-do or tech support task imaginable.

Wait, why does the dog need to be removed? My dogs have always been my best friends. They always come sit next to my chair or on my lap. If I can still play the game without hindrance, then my dog will always be welcome and loyal. Let the wife and the kids do their own thing, my gaming time is my time, and my dogs always understood that.
 
I think HOI with a touch pen could be really cool. I understand that HOI4 won't be built around that. But I think it be really cool to draw arrows and things with a pen on the screen. Just a thought towards the future.
 
I think HOI with a touch pen could be really cool. I understand that HOI4 won't be built around that. But I think it be really cool to draw arrows and things with a pen on the screen. Just a thought towards the future.

I prefer another solution: I draw the arrows with an actual pencil on an actual map and hire a mindless goon to take it over in the game. :D
 
I prefer another solution: I draw the arrows with an actual pencil on an actual map and hire a mindless goon to take it over in the game. :D

Hmmm printable maps that you can draw on and then scan back in .... Take my money now :D
 
there's no reason why a (sufficiently powerful) tablet couldn't deliver full-fat HoI4 (or EU4, or CK2) gameplay.
As it has been since EU3, the "sufficiently powerful" is the problem. Main issue will be the GPU; while the Intel GPUs used in most Windows tablets are far better than older Intels they still aren't at the level these games are designed for. It will probably run but I doubt most people would enjoy it. Tablets are designed to optimize weight and battery life at the expense of performance. I don't think there's any technical reason you couldn't build a tablet-sized device with enough power but I don't think there's enough demand.
 
Ugh. Intel HD graphics is just not worth it. Believe me, get a device with a dedicated graphics card and you won't be faced with a brick wall down the line. In my experience, mainstream products are not intended for any meaningful gaming whatsoever - unless you consider smart phone games enjoyable (shudders). I'm not saying you need to buy the brand-spankingly newest machine on the market. A solid i7 or i5 with a respectable amount of dedicated video memory will probably be more than capable; this is Paradox after all.
This. I've tried running EU4 on two different laptops with integrated graphics and on each a year took almost 4 minutes. I just got a new laptop with a 2gb dedicated graphics ram and on it a year takes 1 minute 10 seconds.
 
Tablet's just a platform - as long as the res was big enough to facilitate touch controls, there's no reason why a (sufficiently powerful) tablet couldn't deliver full-fat HoI4 (or EU4, or CK2) gameplay. I really dislike gaming with touchscreens, so wouldn't go for it myself, but as far as I could tell, the only reason not to make HoI4 playable on capable Windows tablets running an OS that HoI4 is already compatible with (don't forget the Windows 10 approach - one OS, a bajillion pieces of hardware - I'm not saying it's good, but that's what's coming next) is parochialism. Let people that like to play on tablets play on tablets, if it's easy enough to do.
That's the sort of thinking that led Pdox going Steam exclusive. Thanks but no thanks. Designing proper touch support isn't just about the resolution, it affects the GUI heavily and it's pretty much impossible to avoid the mindset "tablets = casuals". You can see this in Shadowrun: Returns, for example, which was originally a purely tablet game that was later expanded to PC/Mac markets thanks to a very successful Kickstarter. But you couldn't manually save, the GUI was a mess, there were hardly any hotkeys, the game didn't provide you with much information (because on tablets those icons/text would have been too small) and so on. At least HBS eventually released a Director's Cut which fixed all the above issues but it is a warning example.

The dev team have already stated that they want to avoid micromanagement and clutter and complexity because "players hate that" (I know I don't). Now if you throw on top tablet support, you're getting close to 1C Games multiple-personality disorder with their BoS "we make flight sims to casual gamers"-attitude.
 
That's the sort of thinking that led Pdox going Steam exclusive. Thanks but no thanks. Designing proper touch support isn't just about the resolution, it affects the GUI heavily and it's pretty much impossible to avoid the mindset "tablets = casuals". You can see this in Shadowrun: Returns, for example, which was originally a purely tablet game that was later expanded to PC/Mac markets thanks to a very successful Kickstarter. But you couldn't manually save, the GUI was a mess, there were hardly any hotkeys, the game didn't provide you with much information (because on tablets those icons/text would have been too small) and so on. At least HBS eventually released a Director's Cut which fixed all the above issues but it is a warning example.

The dev team have already stated that they want to avoid micromanagement and clutter and complexity because "players hate that" (I know I don't). Now if you throw on top tablet support, you're getting close to 1C Games multiple-personality disorder with their BoS "we make flight sims to casual gamers"-attitude.

I'm not suggesting changing the design, just that if it was possible to get on a tablet with minor changes that didn't compromise design, then why not do it? Sure, people can make the design more casualised at the same time, but that's a whole 'nother decision and one doesn't mean the other (and I'm _not_ suggesting anyone make HoI4 more casual, and there's no evidence in the DD's yet that it's the case - we'll get to build individual tanks, capture enemy material and make variants from current models for the first time in the series :D) - I'm definitely not suggesting they design for tablet first and port to PC (a la your example of Shadowrun returns), anything but.

At the end of the day, a tablet is just a screen, interface and processor - just like a computer - and there's no reason why the screen, interface and a processor of a sufficiently advanced tablet couldn't do a game like HoI4, particularly if it had mouse/kb support.

I also don't get the reasoning that a more broad-based approach to platform support is the same kind of thinking that leads to platform exclusivity - quite the opposite. In my view, you'd make Paradox games readily available on as many web stores as possible that didn't involve significant extra work, just like you'd make them available on as many platforms as possible that didn't involve significant extra work - like tablets that can give you mouse/kb support. I didn't know PDS games weren't on GoG, Impulse, GMG or others, but it's sad that they're not.
 
Each to their own. I've got a great laptop that plays everything really well for me, but its a big machine. I use it more as a desktop replacement as my lifestyle doesn't allow me to have a proper desktop. I'd hoped the tablet could replace this and give me even more portability but it seems I'd be better to wait for HOI4 to come out and see what others find first with regard to playing it on a tablet.

Perhaps one of you could just clarify why HOI is GPU intensive for me please? I always thought it was games like COD that needed lots of GPU power! Apparently CIV 5 works great on Mid settings on the i7 SP3 - is that perhaps a good indicator that HOI4 may be playable on the SP3?
 
What would be cool is support of a touch tablet as a secondary input device.

The game runs primarily on the desktop, but you could then use a tablet to enter orders and draw up battle plans. The rest of the time, it can serve as a second screen, and serve up statistics and stuff like those who would be given to a general every day.
 
What would be cool is support of a touch tablet as a secondary input device.

The game runs primarily on the desktop, but you could then use a tablet to enter orders and draw up battle plans. The rest of the time, it can serve as a second screen, and serve up statistics and stuff like those who would be given to a general every day.

As long as this was optional, it'd be alright. They had a crack at this on the consoles, but every implementation I've seen of it has been lacklustre - nothing I haven't turned off after giving it a bit of a try.
 
When HOI3 appeared, many decent PCs couldn't handle the start of Barbarossa. I am totally sure that HOI4 will hurt many decent PCs when the WW2 will start(or Barbarossa Operation). So probably no Tablet could handle HoI4 soon after it is launched
 
Egads..I hope they will never make me play a grand strategy game with a touchpad...

...exactly. This stuff is exactly why so many gamers are hating the "Steve Jobs mobile revolution" (yeah I made that up), "console peasants" (didn't make that one up!), and the whole "casual gamer" crowd. The day that Paradox jumps on that bandwagon and starts to design for these or consoles (ugh) will probably signal my exit from PC gaming.

But a Surface Pro is probably an exception. If you get a mouse to use with it, it's supposedly running a full version of Windows so it might work (just don't count on it to be fast). The touch screen would probably be useless, though. And personally I can't stand playing a game like this on a tiny screen. I love the idea of being able to hook a tablet up as an auxiliary device, though.
 
Laptops, tablets - Pish !

Nothing will beat a Powerful desktop and huge screen for these games. Anything else just isnt tennis old boy.
 
I know people that play War in the Pacific on tablets and they seem to like it just fine. After playing it on my desktop monitor I'm just not sure I could adjust down to a 13" screen experience.

I actually considered a Sur 3 when my old laptop finally died, but went with a 17" laptop instead for that reason. In this case bigger is better :D
 
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