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HOI4 Dev Diary - Portugal

Olá everyone and welcome to another dev diary for La Resistance! Let me begin by introducing myself: My name is Manuel, I’m from Spain and I joined Paradox as a Content Designer for HOI a couple of months ago (just on time to attend PDXCON, yeah!).

I’ve been working on the implementation of Portugal for La Resistance. The original design of the focus tree was made by Portuguese professor Pedro Santos. He came with what I consider to be a really interesting idea, where the political branch of the tree has multiple possible interactions with the Spanish Civil War.

While I worked on Portuguese Events and Decisions, the whole tree was implemented by our producer, Vachon (big kudos to her!). We tweaked the design of the Focus Tree a little bit, specifically the communist branch, which we felt was a bit dull compared to others, and the SCW-related branches to make them properly interact with Spain. Now I’m the one who will polish the tree and will attempt to get rid of all those lovely bugs our great Betas are reporting. Talking about Betas, our freelance artist @Indyclone77 is the one to blame for all the wonderful Portuguese event pictures and new icons you are about to see in the focus tree and national spirits, he has done an amazing job not only in making all that cool art, but also in providing crucial feedback during the development, so big kudos to him as well!

Before going on, please note that balancing is still a work in progress, so there may be changes in what you are about to see.

So I’d like to start talking about the National Spirits Portugal will start with in 1936:
  • Unreliable Army: Representing the poor state of the Portuguese army during the period of the First Republic, which historically led to a major reorganization in 1937, it provides some penalties to Division Organization, Recruitable Population Factor, War Support and Division Attack, so you want to get rid of this before entering any conflict (probably not the best idea to join the Spanish Civil War only to see how your disgusting Spanish enemies defeat your unprepared troops and occupy your precious mainland in a blink...).

  • Unstable Republic: During its 16 years, the First Portuguese Republic saw the inauguration of nine presidents and 44 cabinet reorganizations. Even during the Ditadura Militar there were several failed coup attempts. In 1933, after Salazar’s creation of the Estado Novo and the new Constitution approved in a referendum, Portugal’s stability slowly increased (maybe the censorship system and the different police forces that repressed all kinds of dissidents also helped a little bit with that). So another no-good spirit applying penalties to your Daily Political Power Gain, Stability and Construction Speed. You will be able to remove it through the different political branches, and you will probably want to do it ASAP.
01 Initial NSs.png


Now let’s look at the Portugese Focus Tree and talk about the different paths a player can choose from:

02 Focus Tree.jpg


As you can see, the general structure varies a little bit from the standards of other trees, where you have clear separate branches for industry, military forces and politics.

Let’s start with the colonial branch, shall we?

Through the first focuses, Portugal will receive big bonuses to non-core manpower that will prove really useful in the early stages, since Portugal’s initial manpower is really low. The player can then choose between integrating the African colonies (which will also provide some extra manpower), or allowing them to form their own governments and puppeting them (something that will be appreciated by other democracies in the world).

There is also a sub-branch that joins the industrial one, developing industry and infrastructure in the African colonies.

03 Colonial Branch.png


Regarding Industry, by continuing the public works initiated by Salazar’s regime around the early 30s, Portugal will gain access to the first focus that will provide her first extra research slot (take into consideration that Portugal starts with only two research slots, so it seems just fair for her to get an early focus to fix that). The player can also choose between a fast development of the civilian industry receiving more factories or, with a slower approach, invest in future development getting some nice bonuses to industry research and construction speed.

Portugal can also improve infrastructure and resource extraction industries on the mainland and, of course, there is a focus representing the construction of dams, something Iberian dictators liked very much to do.

And then we have the military industry sub-branch, where the player can get (much needed) military factories and some useful bonuses to production and research for aircraft, vehicles and artillery. Make sure you don’t miss the extra research slot “hidden” between all these industrial focuses!

04 Industrial Branch.png


The first focus on the Naval Branch will unlock decisions to buy ships from either The United Kingdom or Italy. If they accept to build your ships (make sure you have good relations with them before activating the decision!), you will then be presented with three different options to choose from.

05 Purchase Ships Decisions.png


06 Purchase Ships Event.png


The central and left sub-branches focus on Convoy protection and submarine warfare, providing a number of research bonuses for destroyers and submarine warfare, as well as adding a couple of dockyards to boost your naval production. These sub-branches then merge, eventually leading to a focus that unlocks Portugal’s third and last research slot (for a total of five).

The right side of the naval branch is focused on the production of the big ships, as well as fortifying the vulnerable Portuguese possessions in the Atlantic Ocean and Asia.

07 Naval Branch.png


The Army Branch, although fairly small (don’t worry, you will find more military focuses under the Political Branch), will help Portugal to get its army in shape for the conflicts to come. The first focus removes that nasty Unreliable Army National Spirit and leads to some research and production bonuses in the next focuses. Finally, you will have to choose between building heavy fortifications in Lisbon, or creating a light fortification line along the coast.

08 Army Branch.png


Now, let’s take a general look at the whole Political Branch before getting deeper into each of the sub-branches:

09 Political Branch.png


As you can see, you can choose between Popular Front and Estado Novo. The first focus leads to the Communist branches, the latter to the Fascist and Monarchist ones, and both of them lead to the Democratic one.

If you choose to go with Popular Front you will unlock the National Communist branch (to the left). This sub-branch starts with the training of socialist militias, followed by focuses that will help make your people see the benefits of living in a Communist society. Nationalize Industry will get rid of the private capital draining your country, putting you in control of new civ factories, but also hurting your stability. After the Reorganization of the Communist Party, your country will be ready and willing to have a Communist government, and the Soviet Union will receive a nice opinion modifier boost on you, which should help you joining the Comintern via the next focus.

The Popular Front also unlocks Support the Republic, allowing you to support the Republicans and send volunteers to the Spanish Civil War, it leads to two different sub-branches:
  • To the left, we have a “radical” approach to the Spanish Civil War. Workers of Iberia, Unite! will trigger a Civil War in Portugal, in which both sides will instantly join their Spanish counterparts (I mean, you do not have a proper civil war unless you have 6 different tags fighting in it). After (presumably) winning the SCW along with your comrades in Spain, you will be able to unify the Iberian Peninsula, annexing the Spanish Republic. Finally, you will be able to create your own faction and appeal to the Latin American countries to join you.
10 Workers of Iberia NS.png

  • In the right, we have the “cautious” approach to the Spanish Civil War. Here you won’t be able to join the SCW until you have swapped to a communist government. It’s a much slower approach, but after the war, you can pick different focuses to interact with foreign countries, including one that will grant you a war goal against Spain, in case their ideology is no longer desirable for you.
11 Fight Alongside  the Republic Decision.png


If you go with Strict Neutrality you won’t be able to interact in the SCW, but you will gain some nice boosts to your industry, production and Democracy support via the British, as well as some recurrent decisions to purchase equipment from them.

11 bis Democratic Leader.png


You will then allow free elections, swapping to a Democratic government and unlocking not only focuses to join the Allies, but also some shared focuses with the communist branch and the right-wing shared focus Iberian Summit, which unlocks the decisions by which Portugal and Spain can jointly send a petition to join the Axis or the Allies together.

12 Iberian Summit Decisions.png


13 Iberian Summit News.png


In case you go with Estado Novo, you will have to choose between Strict Neutrality (mentioned above), Support the Nationalists and the Monarchist branch.

Support the Nationalists, as its Republican counterpart, will allow you to support Nationalist Spain and send volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. You can join the SCW against the Republic in further focuses, and also intervene in Spain after the civil war if the Spanish government does not match your ideology.

13bis Fascist Leader.png


National Syndicalism will pave the way to become Fascist, leading to some interesting focuses: You can either join the Axis, or claim that Portugal will be the nation that finally unites the entire world under the same rule, ideology and faith (this will provide a powerful National Spirit, but it will also annoy some people around the globe).

Refuse the Naval Blockade unlocks a decision for countries at war with the United Kingdom, by which they will use some of your convoys to carry supplies where they cannot reach, increasing their War Support and, of course, diverting the production of one of their factories to meet your needs.

14 Refuse Naval Blockade Decision.png


From there, you can claim the African territories between your Angolan and Mozambican colonies (righting the humiliation of the British Ultimatum of 1890), recover the East Indies and Brazil, and even declaring war on a threatening Japan!

Last but not least, we have the Monarchist Branch. You will start by uniting the Brazilian and Portuguese royal houses (wedding bells ringing in the distance). After that, your goal is to restore the Monarchy not only in Portugal, but also in Brazil, some recurrent decisions will help you in that matter. Once you succeed in that, you will be able to politely ask Brazil to submit under your rule, re-establishing the Empire of Portugal and Brazil.

15 Empire of Portugal and Brazil.png


In the case of a Carlist Uprising happening during the Spanish Civil War, you can support your Monarchist friends in Spain and join the war against all those misguided souls that refuse to bow to the god given rights of monarchs to rule the people.

16 Carlist volunteers NS.png


And that’s all from me, I hope you enjoyed the dev diary and make sure to stay tuned for the next one. Anyways, we wish you all a merry Christmas and very happy New Year. See you all in 2020!

xmas.jpg
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if Turkey was featured in the USSR DLC we'll probably get soon. I expect the next DLC will be either the Soviet Union or the Mediterranean. If it's the Med, I expect Italy will be the main player along with African/Middle Eastern content, and come to think of it, also possibly Turkey due to its location.
 
e reason PDX has veered away from that in HoI4, and gone more in the direction of just making the game a sandbox set in the 1930s-40s.

1930s and 1940s...and subsequent versions of HoI4 includes a bit of 1920's, 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's too, for good measure. :)
 
Ships need to be added to Lend Lease. When's the next update?

What a good idea! The Japanese lend-leasing their navy to the Italians in 1936, and the Americans and Russians lend-leasing theirs to the British in 1939 is just what we need.

In all seriousness, best leave the transferring of ships to other countries to decisions or focuses.
 
Any Turkish focus tree will most likely come out in the same DLC as a Greek focus tree, and Greece is most likely to come out alongside an Italy rework.

think it is not necessary for the Greek tree together Turkish tree, it may be Greece come in the Italian rework together with Austria and Bulgaria and some more. and Turkey will leave another DLC set in the Middle East together with Iran and Iraq could also be implemented with Egypt. both countries obviously would not come Soviet rework will surely be accompanied by Finland and posibly by Norway and Denmark
 
think it is not necessary for the Greek tree together Turkish tree, it may be Greece come in the Italian rework together with Austria and Bulgaria and some more. and Turkey will leave another DLC set in the Middle East together with Iran and Iraq could also be implemented with Egypt. both countries obviously would not come Soviet rework will surely be accompanied by Finland and posibly by Norway and Denmark
Both countries are historically and gameplay-wise very interlinked with eachother in a way most other nations aren't, and a lot of Greek or Turkish alt-history will most likely involve several events and focuses regarding relationship with Turkey/Greece. Sure, they COULD do them in speerate DLC's, but I feel doing so would be like doing Portugal and Spain in seperate DLC's. Sure, you COULD put Portugal in a DLC with Brazil and some others instead, but it's just not the same.
 
Both countries are historically and gameplay-wise very interlinked with eachother in a way most other nations aren't, and a lot of Greek or Turkish alt-history will most likely involve several events and focuses regarding relationship with Turkey/Greece. Sure, they COULD do them in speerate DLC's, but I feel doing so would be like doing Portugal and Spain in seperate DLC's. Sure, you COULD put Portugal in a DLC with Brazil and some others instead, but it's just not the same.

Agree with you. Greece deserve a focus tree more than portugal i guess maybe more than Turkey too cuz they fought in the ww2. I think we have to wait new DLC.
 
Both countries are historically and gameplay-wise very interlinked with eachother in a way most other nations aren't, and a lot of Greek or Turkish alt-history will most likely involve several events and focuses regarding relationship with Turkey/Greece. Sure, they COULD do them in speerate DLC's, but I feel doing so would be like doing Portugal and Spain in seperate DLC's. Sure, you COULD put Portugal in a DLC with Brazil and some others instead, but it's just not the same.


by that same rule Belgium should also have come in resistance due to clear interactions with France but it will not be that way at that time Greek and Turkish relations were not as conflictive as other periods despite being difficult relationship as neighbors. There is an important difference with Portugal participating in some way actively during the Spanish civil war despite publicly maintaining a neutral position somewhat Turkey never became involved in the offensive of the axis on the Balkans including Greece therefore I do not see so much necessary that they come in the same dlc
 
Agree with you. Greece deserve a focus tree more than portugal i guess maybe more than Turkey too cuz they fought in the ww2. I think we have to wait new DLC.

But we actively participate in the war actively in the Spanish civil war I think it was essential that he came when he touched Spain and also had his role in the II GM although publicly he was neutral but he sent volunteers in the Eastern front within the blue divison apart to look for balances in the commercial / diplomatic issue there were several resources between the allies and the Axis mainly between British and German something also similarly affected Spain
 
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Angolan Oil

Hey Billcorr, you are correct that Angolan oil drilling only sky rocketed after the "liberation of the country", but you miss something crucial in here. First of, SACOR was created during this time (game's time frame), to help with the industrialization process as well as to reduce financial costs for sending oil to british refineries to be turned into fuel (not to mention Salazar's "autarky" - he wanted a country independent and self-suficient after all). It was really something crucial - you had to pay big bucks to the Brits for them to do it for you, before SACOR's creation. Secondly, Angola did play a big part on that process, since it did produce - more than enough for Portugal's modest comsumption. Portugal didn't have many automobiles in circulation at this time, so it was pratically something only the military / heavy industry used, and most likely one of the reasons why the drilling was reduced, as well as to keep prices high enough and to leave enough for future generations, of course.

If Italy can exploit Libya's Oil production, so should Portugal exploit's Angola's Oil. Portugal actually exploited the Oil from Angola during this period, while the Italians only found oil by 1938 - drilling started only in 1940 and due to the available equipment, it didn't go far since the equipment was inadequate to deal with the severe conditions of the Saharan Desert. By 1943, Italians were already out of Libya, as you are probably well aware. They never drilled much Oil - the Axis powers would have actually defended North Africa more ferociously if they knew of the deep reserves of Libya.
 
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If Italy can exploit Libya's Oil production, so should Portugal exploit's Angola's Oil.

Italy's situation is one of those aforementioned precedents represented by "If "X has it, so should Y" ". I agree, in addition to the Italian example, there are several examples of Paradox stating that "here be X during WW2", when such a situation did not actually exist.

One thought is for Paradox to slowly remove the anachronisms version by version.

Portugal actually exploited the Oil from Angola during this period,

It would be helpful to learn more about Portugal's exploitation of oil from Angola during this period. If anyone has information about Angolan oil production 1936 to 1945 or so, please provide details. Thanks!
 
Italy's situation is one of those aforementioned precedents represented by "If "X has it, so should Y" ". I agree, in addition to the Italian example, there are several examples of Paradox stating that "here be X during WW2", when such a situation did not actually exist.

One thought is for Paradox to slowly remove the anachronisms version by version.

But it was a big IF. The Oil during the 1930's was pretty cheaper when compared to the equipment and the cost of building infrastructures in the middle of the Saharan desert (!). That is why Mussolini didn't give a straight "damn" about it. In the case of Angola, it is pretty much the same case except for the cost of building said infrastructure.

There are plenty of anarchronisms in this game, and frankly, most are for the good. On this dev tree, you could see the Fuzilieiros but they actually came much later (1961). This is a much worse problem than the Oil of Angola, which did exist but on a tiny scale compared to modern numbers (pretty sure of it at least).

It would be helpful to learn more about Portugal's exploitation of oil from Angola during this period. If anyone has information about Angolan oil production 1936 to 1945 or so, please provide details. Thanks!

Pratically impossible to find sources on the internet. There must be some, but after the big (nearly useless) debate about Vasco da Gama I am pretty worn out to search for them, so be my guest.

Pre-1930, Vacuum, Vacuum-Socony, Shell Oil Company and Atlantic Petroleum provided fuel to Portugal.
In 1933, SONAP is created. The state owns a vast amount of it (40%), but it is controlled by foreign investors mostly and the refining process always taking place outside of Portugal.
In 1937, SACOR is created to counter this - you needed refineries, in Portugal. Some (jewish?) Romanians are in control of this group.
In 1945, SOPONATA is created. During ww2 the transportation of (crude) oil was extremely hard and limited, so SOPONATA was created (by the state) to counter this.
Most drilling started after 1950, for exemple, in Cabinda (Angola). But given the large amount of territory I am pretty sure oil was being drilled (or had been found) somewhere. I also included this small story about oil in Portugal because Portugal wasn't dependent on outside refineries for the process (during the game's timeframe), so it should have either a focus (that adds refineries in Lisbon) or Oil being provided on Angola to reflect it's autonomy.

But it's pretty redundant, because, if Italy pratically didn't exploit Libyan Oil during the game's timeframe, and is able, there is no reason for Portugal not to have a focus as well, as I said previously.

… And come on, Italy even with Libyan Oil is tremendously dependent on Oil and will always have issues with it due to the fleet alone, not to mention the army (on land) and the airforce. Portugal will be exactly the same, even worse if there aren't any.
 
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After Italy entered the war and the French collapse in May-June 1940, the possibility that Spain and Portugal would enter the war was seriously considered by the Allies. In Britain, the CoS produced a plan to occupy Portuguese colonies with the help of South Africa, India, and Rhodesia, if Portugal became hostile; The only British operational division after Dunquerque was earmarked to occupy the Azores. Cape Verde and Azores were to be occupied if either of these conditions would occur: (i) Hostility from Portugal or Spain; (ii) Certitude that one of these countries will enter the war; (iii) If the Germans pass the Pyrenees (iv) if the objectives of economic war are not attained; The attacks were to be launched by surprise, and no resistance was expected.

Portugal started to quietly support the British war effort. For instance, tracking stations were allowed on the islands; in July 1940 2,500 evacuees from Gibraltar were shipped to Madeira. Also on 29 Jul 1940 an agreement was signed between the Banks of Portugal and England guaranteeing unlimited credit to British companies and the State for purchases of goods in Portugal, valid while the war lasted. Several small combat ships (naval trawlers) were built and loaned to Britain. At the same time, Portugal was trading with Germany. So Salazar's strategy was betting (and quietly helping) on a British victory, but do not give any reasons for either the Allies or the Axis to want to attack Portuguese territories.

Finally, I would like to address the concern some here expressed, that there is no "Historical Path" that allows Salazar to stay in power. In fact, Salazar stayed in power exactly by not committing to any political path but balancing the different forces of his coalition. He adopted some ideas from Fascist Italy, but never let the movement get out of hand. He appeased the Monarchics, by giving them high government posts, supporting the royal marriage and returning some estates. He gave them some hope of restoring the Monarchy up until the 1950s, but never actually allowed the heir to return. And he managed to stay in good grace with both the Western Allies and the Axis powers.

You say you are the professor of history that is giving some advice to Paradox? Well, then let me teach you some history...

1º The biggest threat to Azores wasn't the UK, or Germany, it was the USA. With War Plan Gray. The threat was so big that Marshal Carmona visited the islands and in a famous speech (right after setting foot on the islands) said "This is Portugal". The imminent threat was so clear, that pratically 99% of the airforce was sent to the Azores, alongside a vast amount of soldiers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Alacrity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Gray

2º Portugal didn't loan Naval trawlers to the UK. In fact, the UK was the one loaning Naval trawlers to Portugal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isles-class_trawler
Classe Faial Link (translated into english from portuguese)

They were classified as Classe Faial in Portugal, for your information, and they were given to Portugal in exchange for basing rights on Azores after the plan for invasion was canceled due to the UK invoking the anglo-portuguese aliance (which Salazar answered favourably).

3º Salazar's path was, Salazar's path. There should, definetely, be one for it. I mean, all democratic countries that decide to follow democratic ideals, have one path for it. Democratic paths (in-game), are also boring (for most people), but they give passive boosts of some sort. It should be no diferent than Portugal's neutrality path (with the difference, that Portugal's neutrality path, is a neutral one - non aligned - and not a democratic one).

P.S: I will release my own mod (in a few months) for Portugal (historically plausible and without OP buffs like the mods that exist right now) since I don't trust Paradox to actually do it the right way… For reasons more than obvious from what I have seen and written previously, but I will keep them for myself.
 
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There are plenty of anarchronisms in this game, and frankly, most are for the good. On this dev tree, you could see the Fuzilieiros but they actually came much later (1961). This is a much worse problem than the Oil of Angola

I do agree that there are plenty of situations in HoI4 that are not concordant with the the precise WW2 historical timeline.

Portugal's marine corps (Fuzilieros) might not be the strongest example of something belonging to another time period, given that its most recent version had been dissolved in 1934 (More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Marine_Corps )

But I think I get the main point, "one shouldn't be so rigid about when something happened."
 
You say you are the professor of history that is giving some advice to Paradox? Well, then let me teach you some history...

Just a clarification, form page 9 of the thread:

IlDoge said:
Hi, here is Pedro, the nerdy professor who did the initial design for this Focus Tree, which then Vachon and Manuel did a fantastic job implementing. In fact, I teach Game Design and Game AI at the university, and this Focus Tree was done during a stay working at Paradox.
 
Thanks to all the folks who are working on the upcoming Portugal release, to include Portugal's National Focus.

Reading the previous posts, there was much effort and research by:
And a bit later, we'll have a mod for Portugal:
P.S: I will release my own mod (in a few months) for Portugal

Best wishes!