A new interview with Johan about HOI4.

[Modestus]

...And what if the manual plan is also something I have been planning and preparing for a long time? For example, manually placing my divisions right where I want them on the eve of invasion, clearing supply lines and ordering my industry to focus on incoming heavy casualties? And tweaking my plan for over a month or two to maximise potential and minimise casualties?

Isn't that the same thing, but done manually, like in HoI Darkest Hour and to some extent HoI3? If so, those bonuses are unreasonable...

Ha, actual preparation does not count.

 

[Skjold89]

I certainly hope that "later this year" doesn't mean Q3.

 

[Will Steel]

I just hope it doesn't mean another year's date extension. We saw "later this year" once before, and much more than one year has passed since then.

 

[Sir Garnet]

"Later this year" can be anything till the end of Q3 (Q4 is not an option for pdx).

Why is Q4 not an option?

 

[Anichent]

Why is Q4 not an option?

Maybe he's referring to the fact that Paradox has stated they don't like releasing their games around the winter holidays. I'd say that puts November and December off the list of possibilities for sure, which essentially means Q4 is unlikely.

 

[Oddb@ll]

Why is Q4 not an option?

I think it is because of the stiff competition of other games that usually release around that time.

 

[Sir Garnet]

Makes sense. Those other games are more hyped and mass market as well. And I expect Px don't want to spend the holidays working on post-launch support.

 

[Wulf145]

I just hope it doesn't mean another year's date extension. We saw "later this year" once before, and much more than one year has passed since then.

At the moment the best one can hope for is end of Q2, but since they are not in Beta yet (AFAIK) I think it will be more like end of Q3. Which is not good for me since I was hoping to be able to play HOI4 in the summer when work stress is not so great.

 

[kanenao]

Thanks for the post OP. Looks like we have somewhat of a release time frame. Looking at Q3 or Q4 release would be my prediction.

For me this is really annoying because the first release should have been Q4/2014.

 

[mdw1985]

For me this is really annoying because the first release should have been Q4/2014.

It is, what it is...no one can change that! befriend with september/october as the worst case...

 

[Had a dad]

For me this is really annoying because the first release should have been Q4/2014.

Don't flame the thread with statements that are so erroneous.

 

[CocoCincinnati]

I do kind of like the concept of the battle planner. First it's fun to plan operations like that and secondly, it does add a bit of realism because IRL the CIC has to delegate the actual fighting of the war to subordinates. I can see how it might upset a lot of hard core strategy gamers though and it might upset other people as well if the AI has a hard time implementing the vision of the planner. My question is, what happens when the player deviates from the plan? Do you lose the planning bonus for any division that you move off the planned route? In other words, could a player just select the whole front and put in the most basic plan allowed to get the planning bouns but then ignore that plan and move every division on their own once the war starts? If so, then that should please everybody regardless of their play style.

 

[Thracian]

i predict Q1 2017 release

 

[Had a dad]

i predict Q1 2017 release

If people just start spamming this thread with release predictions, it will be closed.

 

[inteljoe]

Why is Q4 not an option?

Historical Release Dates of PDS PUBLISHED games.

Darkest Hour - April 8, 2011
Arsenal of Democracy - February 23, 2010
HoI3 - August 7, 2009
HoI2: Complete - January 6, 2006

EU4 - August 13, 2013
EU3 - January 23, 2007

EU:Rome Gold - November 19, 2008

CK2 - February 14, 2012

Victoria2 - August 30, 2010
Victoria: Complete - August 17, 2006

Supreme Ruler: Cold War - July 29, 2011

January Release: 18%
February Release: 18%
April Release Date: 9%
July Release: 9%
August Release: 36%
November Release: 9%

 

[bkuepers]

inteljoe your name is fitting considering your great informational post.

 

[Will Steel]

Historical Release Dates of PDS PUBLISHED games.

Darkest Hour - April 8, 2011
Arsenal of Democracy - February 23, 2010
HoI3 - August 7, 2009
HoI2: Complete - January 6, 2006

EU4 - August 13, 2013
EU3 - January 23, 2007

EU:Rome Gold - November 19, 2008

CK2 - February 14, 2012

Victoria2 - August 30, 2010
Victoria: Complete - August 17, 2006

Supreme Ruler: Cold War - July 29, 2011

January Release: 18%
February Release: 18%
April Release Date: 9%
July Release: 9%
August Release: 36%
November Release: 9%

Should not CK1 be taken into account too?

Other than that, very nice.

 

[jamesd]

Making a battleplan is the way that you tell your troops about your plans. All what you described(and more) is basically being abstracted into making a battleplan and waiting for the planning to finish. If you don't do that you can still do your invasion, but at a reduced efectiveness because your generals and armies didn't have time to prepare for it. Think about D-day. How many years of preparation did it take to do the landings?

The detail planning for the D-Day that actually happened didn't start until Montgomery was appointed. Prior to then the staff officers were working with unrealistic restrictions on the availability of ships and width of assault imposed by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Montgomery decided that there needed to be more troops in the initial assault, resulting in the planned simultaneous invasion of southern France being postponed, and the plans were redrawn. He first presented the plans on 7th April, meaning that was the first opportunity divisions could have started preparing for the actual plan that was carried out on D-Day. Prior to that units could practice beach landings and loading and unloading from landing craft etc, but they are general skills not specific to any one landing.

So what is a HOI4 battleplan? To me its the troops preparing for an operation where the higher ups (i.e. players) have already drafted the plans. That would mean preparation for D-Day was no more than 60 days. Preparation for operations that don't include an amphibious invasion should be faster.

 

[Slyvena]

So what is a HOI4 battleplan? To me its the troops preparing for an operation where the higher ups (i.e. players) have already drafted the plans. That would mean preparation for D-Day was no more than 60 days. Preparation for operations that don't include an amphibious invasion should be faster.

I don't think that's entirely correct. While the exact plan was being revised up until 60 days prior sometimes in significant ways, it does not fully discount the earlier preparation. All the planning with logistics and the general manner and coordination in which troops would be delivered to the shore, Intel on expected resistance and counter measures, assigning and preparation of commander's tasks. It would have been absolutely impossible to prepare in 60 days if these and a hundred other preparations had not already been well under way,

To me this is what the HOI4 planner represents, it's you the supreme commander alerting your various levels of command (which are currently abstracted out of direct control in the game) to begin preparation. It's the point of commitment where you go from having 15 possible plans to saying 'that one, focus on that one'

 

[jamesd]

Just read the article, and this jumped out at me:

"Players looking to micromanage the formation of every single division or battalion had best look elsewhere for their gaming fix."

I'm hoping that's not a quote from Johan as I liked micro managing every division in HOI3. That game had functions that allowed players to manage battles or to let the AI do so. The more I'm railroaded into using the AI in HOI4 the less I'm going to enjoy it, and it could potentially be the end of my adherence to the franchise, just as some of the radical changes to Civ5 saw me stop playing a series that I'd loved for 2 decades.