Darkest Hour and HoI III

[Australiana]

'Hearts of Iron 3' came with huge expectations, but was a massive disappointment. 'Darkest Hour' grabs 'HOI3' by the scruff of the neck, spanks it butt and sends it to bed.

(Not sure if this is relevant or necessary, but I needed to get it off my chest )

 

[Limith]

hey guys! i just finished installing DH (I bought it yesterday but hadn't had any time to play yet) and I'm looking forward to it - especially the 1914 scenario I was wondering, does anyone remember that game Guns of August? It was for DOS I believe or win32 i can't remember exactly but it was loads of fun... I agree with you guys who mentioned the gfx differences b/w HoI 1 and HoI 3 - i think less is more when it comes down to some things... I for one could care less what little sprites are moving around on the map, i use counters anyway lol... Anyway though, I didn't mean to start a debate I apologize I was really just wondering what were some of the main differences so I could get through the early games a little bit easier lol.

as far as the HoI III patch - i believe the post was deleted on the twcenter forums and since no one here has heard about it - obviously the devs would know if HoI III was going to extend further back into the 20th century but i can't seem to find the subject either with google search or bing search tools... either way, i am happy to have purchased DH as it was a real steal for less than 6 bucks... i would have paid 26 but nonetheless, i'm off to play talk to you lads later i'm off to attempt to prevent the rise of the NS party in Germany and crush the 3rd Republic in France all at the same time! Yeaah!

sincerely,
GFM

I suggest you download and install the Arms, Armistice, and Revolutions mod if you play 1914.

 

[elbasto]

'Hearts of Iron 3' came with huge expectations, but was a massive disappointment. 'Darkest Hour' grabs 'HOI3' by the scruff of the neck, spanks it butt and sends it to bed.

(Not sure if this is relevant or necessary, but I needed to get it off my chest )

AoD does the same. Judging by comments it seems that AOD and DH could gangbang HoI III.

I suggest you download and install the Arms, Armistice, and Revolutions mod if you play 1914.

Does it work if you win as the Central Powers or only as the allies?

Imagine a mod were 1914 is either linked, depending of the results of the war, to the grand campaign or to Kaiserreich mod!

 

[adiuvat]

AoD does the same. Judging by comments it seems that AOD and DH could gangbang HoI III.

Yeah, pretty much. DH has rekindled my interest in the series. I like AoD but sadly it just had too many warts and religious stuff (the combat rebalance was just unacceptable and not moddable enough).

If I had to wish for anything, it would be a rework of the graphics engine. Normally I'm all about gameplay, but not being able to adjust the fonts really, really sucks. I play the game with an eyepatch to avoid strain. Girlfriend thinks it's funny. Arr..

 

[Fernando Torres]

Graphic overhaul is on its way.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.356527667716037.73846.143379419030864&type=3

 

[korodikrisz]

For DH?

 

[adiuvat]

Graphic overhaul is on its way.

For real? Specifically, will I be able to make the fonts bigger? I have a 24" widescreen monitor.. it would be real nice to be able to run in 19x12, but that is just not an option with the hardcoded font sizes.

If you guys are going down that road, I might be willing to volunteer some programming time on the mod. This engine is worth saving, it's just plainly the best WWII strategy sim ever built. I always figured it was doomed merely because of age and hardcodedness.

 

[Lucifer]

For DH?

Yes

 

[Fernando Torres]

There is no change planned for fonts so far. But feel free to make some suggestions.

 

[adiuvat]

There is no change planned for fonts so far. But feel free to make some suggestions.

I just did? And, I did so in the suggestions thread a while back..

 

[Generalfeldmarschall]

All I can say is - extraordinarily impressive! I loved it! I haven't downloaded any mods yet, but i think i am going to take the advice and download the AAR mod since i prefer the early 20th century i would like to make some changes but i am not experienced at modding anything with the HoI 2 engine and have just started modding with the HoI 3 engine - i'm learning fast but i don't feel like i'm doing it well enough...

quick question - is there a thread that is kind of an 'idiots guide' to modding? i am sure there is, and also - as far as techs go, can any be added to the 1914 scenario so we can introduce some inventions of the 20s if the war drags on until say 1921? thanks for the answers!

GFM

 

[elbasto]

All I can say is - extraordinarily impressive! I loved it! I haven't downloaded any mods yet, but i think i am going to take the advice and download the AAR mod since i prefer the early 20th century

I haven't tried AAR yet but take into consideration that it currently supports WWI's historical outcome only.

 

[Limith]

I love how in the HoI3 forums, they say not to expect new features with patches, while in the DH forums, we all expect and get new features with each patch.

 

[Generalfeldmarschall]

hmm so AAR only supports the allied victory? well i mean that is not horrible or anything... i was wondering, i had a proposal for a new mod dealing with the first quarter of the 20th century... i had thought about it, and i cannot think of a SINGLE Strat game that covers this time period with the exception of vicky... certain titles like Diplomacy came close (i believe that focused from 1890-1910 or 1912) but i really want to focus on the last part of the imperial age, ya know? from 1900-1929 following the formation of the United States overseas "empire" after the Spanish-American War came to an end in 1899 until the stock market crash of '29... we could focus on the Russo-Japanese War, Boer War, Balkan Wars - and of course The Great War...

However, we would have the choice of building our Empire up from 1900 and maybe avoid a war in 1913 or 1914 all together... here is the thread and i have a link to it in my signature as well... would anyone be interested in it?

GFM

 

[Kung Zog]

hmm so AAR only supports the allied victory? well i mean that is not horrible or anything...

At the moment. It's quite a massive work that takes time.

 

[Kannon]

However, we would have the choice of building our Empire up from 1900 and maybe avoid a war in 1913 or 1914 all together... here is the thread and i have a link to it in my signature as well... would anyone be interested in it?

Ambitious and interesting, but why HoI3 and not DH?
You already have the basic setup for your mod in 1914 scenario, there are Russo-Japanese war and Russian Civil war battle-scenarios in works, AAR is slowly covering 1920-1933 and with KR being introduced at some point it will also cover alt. history for that period.
If there is any game that seems fit for your mod, it's DH.
For HOI3 you will be basically starting from the scratch.

 

[Generalfeldmarschall]

Ambitious and interesting, but why HoI3 and not DH?
You already have the basic setup for your mod in 1914 scenario, there are Russo-Japanese war and Russian Civil war battle-scenarios in works, AAR is slowly covering 1920-1933 and with KR being introduced at some point it will also cover alt. history for that period.
If there is any game that seems fit for your mod, it's DH.
For HOI3 you will be basically starting from the scratch.

I agree with you, mate! I mean DH is actually a fantastic platform, but what I was hoping was to take advantage of the newer engine with HoI III even though I think the HoI II engine is fabulous... I thought maybe for longevity sake it might be better? Like I posted on there, I'm not in any way trying to make any money off of the idea of course as I mean it isn't ground-breaking or anything and I am also new to modding PI titles, so I will need a lot of help...

However, DH is very much fun and I think the 1914 scenario is great, however I feel like I enjoy sometimes the HoI III combat a bit more? I am not sure why exactly, it is a bit hard to explain yet I much prefer DH diplomacy and AI - and the Tech Tree.... I thought maybe since some of the great modders like Chromos and some lads on the German forum are making a WWI mod for HoI III and I know they had run into some trouble basically after the patches and had some issues with their teams and I was trying to bring all of us together to work together for a common goal... I mean Darkest Hour nearly meets all needs already for the Great War, but as I had stated it doesn't go so far back as 1900 - that is the only real downside in my eyes... If perhaps there were some more techs and the game went back just until 1908 or 1910 the possibilities would be endless... I love the idea of building up your nation to fight and using superior technology and tactics, and DH does that better than just about any other sim I have ever seen when it comes to all scenarios except - in my very humble opinion, I have only played the 1914 scenario twice so I might be sorely mistaken, I don't feel as though very much emphasis is put on the early 20th century (the first quarter)...

I just thought maybe we could take advantage of the new engine and allow for a bit more longevity I guess - but in all honesty, although the engine is getting old, the HoI II Engine has held up through just about everything and is VERY solid - also less confusing when it comes to provinces and such.... I am sort of battling it out in my head but thanks for the comment mate

GFM

 

[Lucifer]

IIRC, the tech setting in DH goes back as far as 1870. If you create a new scenario, you will have to decide the starting date. And, not so surprisingly, I think that DH/HOI2 engine will have a longer longevity than HOI3's, at least for the HOI serie.

 

[Kannon]

IIRC, the tech setting in DH goes back as far as 1870.

There are 1870-1887-1907 technologies for infantry and few other branches, but most are pretty lacking. One would still have to come up with a lot of tech to make 1900-1914 viable.
I think space for might become an issue too.

 

[kunadam]

The usual HoI2 and spinoffs vs. HoI3 thread. Well, HoI3 is more advanced engine. The graphic itself is awful with drab colors, but dynamic font size is a good thing.
I'm also one who hates the many provinces. Someone earlier noted that mid sized countries can be conquered in weeks, and it takes longer in HoI3. In HoI3 the way to go is sneak units to VP provinces and annex. This cannot be done with majors, but minor/middle countries like YUG, ROM, HUN, CZE, etc. do not have enough units do defend their borders, and one can annex these countries without killing any of their divisions.
Also provinces were generated with some random generator and they look bad. The hand crafted map of DH is just way better!

On starting dates
The HoI games are hardly fit to simulate the non-combat elements of WWII, let alone WWI. WWI is much better represented in Vicky. Less fancy combat engine, but pops, ideologies, nationalities. Colonization. More complex diplomacy (i.e. not all-or-nothing type of wars). Vicky is way better for that period. I sometimes have the feel it would be better for WWII too. But for the combat engine, which is rather simplistic in Vicky, and I know many people plays HoI as a purely strategic wargame and not as a country simulator.