In general: brilliant game and excellent that you will keep developing it, but do it at a relaxed pace, please:
Its better to have a few good and worked-through changes without any bugs than to have a bunch of things that look great on paper but *^`?´s up the game in reality! (no analogies to The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named ... )
Other than that then I have 10 ideas, which seem feasible, and where the benefits outweigh the effort needed:
1) Use the graphic representation of the influence system from HOI1 and HOI3: ie where you have a visual representation of all the nations in a triangular interface - its much easier to see the general trends as well as see changes. In the same vein then implement the ability to continually affect the other countries - in much the same manner as you have done with spies - which is an EXCELLENT addition. It always annoyed me and puzzled me why it was dropped from HOI2, because it also shows the different tug-of-war between the 3 major sides in a very comprehensible and interesting way.
2) Use and implement the expanded tech-tree from the HOI3 mod "Common weapons of WW2". No matter the pros and cons of The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named (much ), then the mod in question is a brilliant concept for immersion and playability, and one which makes history buffs like me clap our little hands. A very good mod and seems on the surface easy to convert (hopefully), because it primarily expands the tech-tree in a very elegant way.
3) Not so much a change as a bug (perhaps?). In the logistics icon when choosing a provinces, the logistics level starts at 100%. This is a little puzzling but it also makes it hard at a glance to check the level of infrastructur in a province. It would be nice to have it inverted: ie. that it starts at 0 % and reflects the ACTUAL infrastructure level in a province as a numerical value.
4) Special forces are strangely absent in HOI: if possible then it would be nice to have something that somehow represented the actual widespread use of special forces during WW2 by all the nations. This includes LRDG/SAS and royal marine Commandos from United Kingdom OR Ranger, First Special Service Force, Merrill's Marauders from USA OR Brandenburgers from Germany OR Decima Flottiglia MAS from Italy. The list goes on, but in my opinion there are 2 possibilites to model it: Either at brigade level where you could attach SF brigades to relevant divisions OR as independent units which would probably be harder an be somewhat out of focus.
5) Addition of more researchable technologies in the tech trees, including: Modern submarine (e.g. the german Type 205), supersonic Tactical/strategic & naval bombers/CAS/CAG, Improved SAM and in general more fighter doctrines (in general poiting towards the trend of dual purpose fighter/bombers which have existed since late WW2). This does not nessecarily change gameplay and balance a lot as they are all at the ends of the tech trees. Its primarily for those wanting to expand their gameplay into the early cold war.
6) A graphical representation of progress in the "overview" tab under technology. This should be together with and NOT instead of the numerical values which exists now. This could be in any form but a Pie-chart could be a easy possibility where the % of discovered and undiscovered could be coloured in grey and blue respectively (or any other colour).
7) The ability to research the OTHER tech trees with regard to Land and Naval doctrine, the premise of which being that ALL the techs in your "own" tech tree has been discovered. Also this could be linked to other late techs so you cant make for instance "supernavies" by studying all the techs regarding naval doctrines (if you had the time and research teams). Also you should NOT be able to research the "basic" or starting technology (e.g. Fleet-in-being/Base strike/sealane interdiction), because they offer too much with regards to improving your forces.
8) Introduction of chronology in saves byt the Year, month, day - so the latest save is always the top one, instead of having to check through the entire list if you cant remember which date you saved.
9) The ability to Zoom further in to the map. Thanks to the brilliant new ideae where I can adjust the resolution to 1600 x 1024 x 16, then the map looks MUCH better. However the downside is that it makes the map provinces a little hard to distinguish if you are an old fart like me who refuse to wear glasses. Also the tabs should be expanded to fill more of the screens - again if using the high-resolution, then the text becomes very small.
10) Perhaps more period relevant tunes for the major combatants. This off course under the important premise that they are not bound by copyright, which i kind of doubt about Katyusha, Kalinka, Horst wessel and so on...
I hope that all will be considered and I would just take the opportunity to thank the guys who reinvented and reinvigorated HOI2. Now I have something to play until The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named will reach a satisfactory level of playability. And actually I think I will keep playing it because it ROCKS !
Tell me if you need help with anything.
Its better to have a few good and worked-through changes without any bugs than to have a bunch of things that look great on paper but *^`?´s up the game in reality! (no analogies to The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named ... )
Other than that then I have 10 ideas, which seem feasible, and where the benefits outweigh the effort needed:
1) Use the graphic representation of the influence system from HOI1 and HOI3: ie where you have a visual representation of all the nations in a triangular interface - its much easier to see the general trends as well as see changes. In the same vein then implement the ability to continually affect the other countries - in much the same manner as you have done with spies - which is an EXCELLENT addition. It always annoyed me and puzzled me why it was dropped from HOI2, because it also shows the different tug-of-war between the 3 major sides in a very comprehensible and interesting way.
2) Use and implement the expanded tech-tree from the HOI3 mod "Common weapons of WW2". No matter the pros and cons of The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named (much ), then the mod in question is a brilliant concept for immersion and playability, and one which makes history buffs like me clap our little hands. A very good mod and seems on the surface easy to convert (hopefully), because it primarily expands the tech-tree in a very elegant way.
3) Not so much a change as a bug (perhaps?). In the logistics icon when choosing a provinces, the logistics level starts at 100%. This is a little puzzling but it also makes it hard at a glance to check the level of infrastructur in a province. It would be nice to have it inverted: ie. that it starts at 0 % and reflects the ACTUAL infrastructure level in a province as a numerical value.
4) Special forces are strangely absent in HOI: if possible then it would be nice to have something that somehow represented the actual widespread use of special forces during WW2 by all the nations. This includes LRDG/SAS and royal marine Commandos from United Kingdom OR Ranger, First Special Service Force, Merrill's Marauders from USA OR Brandenburgers from Germany OR Decima Flottiglia MAS from Italy. The list goes on, but in my opinion there are 2 possibilites to model it: Either at brigade level where you could attach SF brigades to relevant divisions OR as independent units which would probably be harder an be somewhat out of focus.
5) Addition of more researchable technologies in the tech trees, including: Modern submarine (e.g. the german Type 205), supersonic Tactical/strategic & naval bombers/CAS/CAG, Improved SAM and in general more fighter doctrines (in general poiting towards the trend of dual purpose fighter/bombers which have existed since late WW2). This does not nessecarily change gameplay and balance a lot as they are all at the ends of the tech trees. Its primarily for those wanting to expand their gameplay into the early cold war.
6) A graphical representation of progress in the "overview" tab under technology. This should be together with and NOT instead of the numerical values which exists now. This could be in any form but a Pie-chart could be a easy possibility where the % of discovered and undiscovered could be coloured in grey and blue respectively (or any other colour).
7) The ability to research the OTHER tech trees with regard to Land and Naval doctrine, the premise of which being that ALL the techs in your "own" tech tree has been discovered. Also this could be linked to other late techs so you cant make for instance "supernavies" by studying all the techs regarding naval doctrines (if you had the time and research teams). Also you should NOT be able to research the "basic" or starting technology (e.g. Fleet-in-being/Base strike/sealane interdiction), because they offer too much with regards to improving your forces.
8) Introduction of chronology in saves byt the Year, month, day - so the latest save is always the top one, instead of having to check through the entire list if you cant remember which date you saved.
9) The ability to Zoom further in to the map. Thanks to the brilliant new ideae where I can adjust the resolution to 1600 x 1024 x 16, then the map looks MUCH better. However the downside is that it makes the map provinces a little hard to distinguish if you are an old fart like me who refuse to wear glasses. Also the tabs should be expanded to fill more of the screens - again if using the high-resolution, then the text becomes very small.
10) Perhaps more period relevant tunes for the major combatants. This off course under the important premise that they are not bound by copyright, which i kind of doubt about Katyusha, Kalinka, Horst wessel and so on...
I hope that all will be considered and I would just take the opportunity to thank the guys who reinvented and reinvigorated HOI2. Now I have something to play until The game-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named will reach a satisfactory level of playability. And actually I think I will keep playing it because it ROCKS !
Tell me if you need help with anything.
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