August Storm Mod Review

[shepherd352]

I used military symbols during 21 years in the Australian Army. Surprisingly, I had never heard of the use of shapes to identify friend and foe until earlier this year, when I did a Wiki search. I understand the sense of it (in difficult field situations) but it also makes sense to use colours when we have the resources of our computers. This extends to "flavour" such as waffenfarbe. Waffenfarbe may not be a part of formal military symbols but they add flavour to the game.

Well before I joined the Army I played board games and they used a form of military symbols. Nostalgia causes me to prefer the use of some form of military symbols but, even if that was not the case, I would respect the right of the modders, to create the mod they want. Lazy people like me rely on modders to fix the many problems in the game and/or add variety to the game. August Storm gave me many hours of enjoyment in HOI3 and I have enjoyed using it in HOI4. I look forward to its ongoing development and I appreciate the effort of the modders and their willingness to share their work with us.

 

[Krilnik]

Thank you for including NATO counters. Can see there is a lot of hate here though, and I understand it. But it's your choice people.
IMO, you can only learn something from it, but if you prefer Paradox cartoony symbols that's fine.

 

[Elwin00]

Can the AI part be installed separately as a standalone mod?

 

[CHRIS3169]

NATO counters are the deal-breaker for me. Pass.

I like how people disagree with your personal preference lol. How is that something anyone would ever possibly disagree to... That's like someone disagreeing that I like bananas.

 

[jackda]

I like how people disagree with your personal preference lol. How is that something anyone would ever possibly disagree to... That's like someone disagreeing that I like bananas.

Even better, those players that are very proud to boast that they give us a dislike on Steam because they "love the mod" but "hate the NATO counters"...

 

[Deathshead419]

Even better, those players that are very proud to boast that they give us a dislike on Steam because they "love the mod" but "hate the NATO counters"...

It's almost like they really want to play this mod, but are turned off by the visual identifiers you're forcing those who play the mod to use.

 

[jackda]

It's almost like they really want to play this mod, but are turned off by the visual identifiers you're forcing those who play the mod to use.

But most of them actually play the mod ! Despite the counters. Are you trying to "force me" not to find it funny ?
We force nobody to do anything. We are just giving for free the result of our work.

They could have done their own sub mod with super cartoon models, but they feel more powerful giving "a dislike" instead...

 

[Deathshead419]

But most of them actually play the mod ! Despite the counters. Are you trying to "force me" not to find it funny ?

Yes, I'm a member of the secret comedy police force and am I quite capable of using "The Device" to rewrite the minds of those with an ungood sense of humor.

We force nobody to do anything. We are just giving for free the result of our work.

Look, I get that you find NATO counters the superior system and want to employ them in your product. In a way I admire how you stick to your vision in the face of dissent. But the fact is that a number of people disagree and want to use Paradox's system instead. In the vanilla game players have the option of disabling the sprites and switching over to NATO symbols. I'm really glad this option was included because it's clear that a sizable part of this game's player base prefers them and it's quite irritating to have a sequel alter a fundamental part of visual design for no good reason.

The thing is, it's an option and your mod is in essentially turning it on and graying out the ability to turn it off. And I find that disappointing. I prefer the visual style of vanilla "counters" and obviously a lot of people are in the same camp for one reason or another. For me it's aesthetics. I think the NATO boxes are visually unappealing and clash with the stylized look of the rest of the game, which detracts from my enjoyment.

Perhaps you could find someone (I've no coding skills unfortunately) who could implement a featured sub-mod with the non-NATO counters? Surely there's one out there and it would at least expand your player base by one.

I'd also like to add that I'm genuinely impressed. It's clear that a lot of time and effort went into/is going into what is essentially a free piece of DLC. I hope that somewhere down the line your talents are richly rewarded.

 

[Fulmen]

In the vanilla game players have the option of disabling the sprites and switching over to NATO symbols.

You can't turn off sprites in vanilla. You also can't get counters, only NATO symbols (some of which are incorrect).

I haven't played August Storm so I don't know has the mod disabled sprites (technically 3D models). If it has, then how do you see which way a division is going? In HoI3 we had little green arrows, which btw is a far superior way of showing direction compared to waiting several seconds for the 3D model to animate. But so far I haven't seen anyone re-doing the arrows, so I don't know if it's even possible in HoI4.

 

[tom_jones]

If it has, then how do you see which way a division is going?

Divisions on the move are shifted from the 'centre' of the province they're in, and are instead placed against the edge of province, in the direction they're heading. To see it you need to have the view zoomed in, otherwise the counters get grouped and this functionality isn't visible.

 

[Fulmen]

Divisions on the move are shifted from the 'centre' of the province they're in, and are instead placed against the edge of province, in the direction they're heading. To see it you need to have the view zoomed in, otherwise the counters get grouped and this functionality isn't visible.

I wonder how practical that is to the player. I imagine showing sprites could still display information in a more clear fashion. The HoI3 method with the small arrows would be the best though.

 

[Deathshead419]

You can't turn off sprites in vanilla.

 

[Wilbry]

You can't turn off sprites in vanilla. You also can't get counters, only NATO symbols (some of which are incorrect).

Yes you can. Its in the VIDEO section of OPTIONS...3D models on/off.

 

[tom_jones]

I wonder how practical that is to the player.

From personal experience i'd say it is quite efficient -- I've been playing with the 3d models off for a while, and the combination of counter placement and current order cue (the icon on the side for move, attack etc) manages to convey information clearly enough. Again though, this is probably helped by my preference to play zoomed in (unless I want to watch the entire continent-wide thing unfold) I also use a mod which keeps in check the game's tendency to group the counters, because that is really annoying and removes most of these visual cues.

 

[Mjarr]

But most of them actually play the mod ! Despite the counters. Are you trying to "force me" not to find it funny ?
We force nobody to do anything. We are just giving for free the result of our work.

They could have done their own sub mod with super cartoon models, but they feel more powerful giving "a dislike" instead...

Well, what would it hurt to have alternate version without the NATO counters to see how popular it is to begin with and whether to keep making a separate version?

And last time I checked practically every mod is released for free as a result of someone's work. What's so special about August Storm to emphasise that? Secret dlc talk deals which blew over? Someone funded you on patreon?

 

[Zoob]

Shame about the developers petty attitude towards allowing players the choice of which counter to use.

 

[krogoth21]

Shame about the developers petty attitude towards allowing players the choice of which counter to use.

I don't like counter in HOI4, i loved them HOI3, but calling their attitude "petty" is quite harsh. As stated it is THEIR work, they bloody do whatever the h*** they want with it and no-one can and should say anything but "thank you for making it public" to them.

So Thank you, August Storm team, for putting your good work out to the public.
I don't like counters in HOI4 so I have 4 options :
- not play this mod
- play it swallowing the counters and be thankful for it
- Build or use a submod with sprites
- SUGGEST to them that it would be cool to have the option to enable sprites

The one option I should not have is COMPLAIN about it

 

[Xendance]

I don't like counter in HOI4, i loved them HOI3, but calling their attitude "petty" is quite harsh. As stated it is THEIR work, they bloody do whatever the h*** they want with it and no-one can and should say anything but "thank you for making it public" to them.

So Thank you, August Storm team, for putting your good work out to the public.
I don't like counters in HOI4 so I have 4 options :
- not play this mod
- play it swallowing the counters and be thankful for it
- Build or use a submod with sprites
- SUGGEST to them that it would be cool to have the option to enable sprites

The one option I should not have is COMPLAIN about it

Agreed. It's one thing to say it once, but constantly berating a mod team because of their choice is rather stupid. If NATO counters bother people so much, they could make their own sub-mod for the mod. I'm sure the august storm devs wouldn't mind as long as you make it clear it's a sub-mod.

 

[Fulmen]

View attachment 203821

Yes you can. Its in the VIDEO section of OPTIONS...3D models on/off.

Ah. Did this option come with the post-release patch? I haven't really looked at the options since release day, so I forgot about this one. My bad.

I also use a mod which keeps in check the game's tendency to group the counters, because that is really annoying and removes most of these visual cues.

Could you post or PM me a link to that mod?

 

[Zoob]

I'm unlikely to play this mod and I'm certainly not going to make a sub-mod to fix it.

There's no way of modding pettiness out of people unfortunately.

But indeed. Thank you August storm team for making this timeline extension mod available to the community.