Hearts of Iron IV - Development Diary 2 - The Tools of War

[Porkman]

It looks good, but I'm very disappointed that the traded equipment won't keep the flavor names.

If I'm flying the Chinese or the Finnish airforce, I like that it's made from bits and pieces that were picked up here and there.

I want my Chinese armored division to have 70 T-26's, 4 BT-5's, and 20 CV-33 tanks, not whatever random flavor name you'd give to generic tanks.

Also, I am very disappointed about not having trucks represented in the game and the existence of generic "infantry equipment." I was really looking forward to doing what the Chinese did in real life and buying lots of machine guns from the various European minors.

I would be happier if infantry had "machine guns" and "personal AT weapons" as researchable and equippable components. Before someone yells that this is too granular, remember that a Panzer division has 300+ tanks and normal infantry division has 500 machine guns. It's not that different. Make the infantry weapons much cheaper to produce and make it so that they disappear in line with actual personnel losses and it would work really well.

That said, I still really like the system.

 

[ashbery76]

Paradox games looking closer to a Civ tech tree every game.

 

[duhsveti]

It looks good, but I'm very disappointed that the traded equipment won't keep the flavor names.

If I'm flying the Chinese or the Finnish airforce, I like that it's made from bits and pieces that were picked up here and there.

I want my Chinese armored division to have 70 T-26's, 4 BT-5's, and 20 CV-33 tanks, not whatever random flavor name you'd give to generic tanks.

Also, I am very disappointed about not having trucks represented in the game and the existence of generic "infantry equipment." I was really looking forward to doing what the Chinese did in real life and buying lots of machine guns from the various European minors.

I would be happier if infantry had "machine guns" and "personal AT weapons" as researchable and equippable components. Before someone yells that this is too granular, remember that a Panzer division has 300+ tanks and normal infantry division has 500 machine guns. It's not that different. Make the infantry weapons much cheaper to produce and make it so that they disappear in line with actual personnel losses and it would work really well.

That said, I still really like the system.

I agree on the equipment name parts. Unless it's "realistic" flavour names (for example germans used their own names for captured soviet equipment) i think the equipment should keep its original name. Is that possible, or is there an engine limitation for that?

 

[Falcon81]

loving it!

 

[DoomBunny]

Release version will have more lens flare.

Better, or worse?

 

[Darkath]

Paradox games looking closer to a Civ tech tree every game.

Since when Civ has 45 techs just for tanks ?

 

[BlaqkSkai]

So Podcat, are tanks just generic? Will Shermans bought from the US transform into Churchills (or whatever) on arrival in the UK?

I have a hard time thinking that this would actually happen. In the DD Podcast says, "There will also be ways to create more custom equipment variants with abilities unlocked by experience over the course of the war." This customization is in addition to the 4 variants of each tank. So if Italy decides to buy tanks from Germany because Germany has the best tanks in the world, it would be ridiculous if what they actually get is an average tank without the extra German customizations. I don't see why PDS would create a system like that. I think Italy would get the custom German tanks rather than a generic tank, including stats and name.

Because a battalion is the smallest unit, I would expect that you either would need to keep some purchased tanks in reserve or you would have to combine weakened battalions. I don't think Italy would be able to combine their German battalions with their Italian battalions though (I'm sure they can fight together in the same division though).

Edit: Changed who I quoted, realized the person I quoted wasn't talking about the same issue as me.

 

[Ericafaq]

Looks like world of tanks tank proress line

 

[Darkath]

I have a hard time thinking that this would actually happen. In the DD Podcast says, "There will also be ways to create more custom equipment variants with abilities unlocked by experience over the course of the war." This customization is in addition to the 4 variants of each tank. So if Italy decides to buy tanks from Germany because Germany has the best tanks in the world, it would be ridiculous if what they actually get is an average tank without the extra German customizations. I don't see why PDS would create a system like that. I think Italy would get the custom German tanks rather than a generic tank, including stats and name.

Because a battalion is the smallest unit, I would expect that you either would need to keep some purchased tanks in reserve or you would have to combine weakened battalions. I don't think Italy would be able to combine their German battalions with their Italian battalions though (I'm sure they can fight together in the same division though).

From a strategic point of view, it would make little sense for Italy to invest in expensive tank production complexes when they can just buy old/used german tanks. And that way focus on infantry and navy.

 

[Oliver Twopence]

Trucks/Horses won't be tracked though, they are assumed to be part of the basic equipment of a division.

Nonsense.

Horses are death on legs and deserve to be recognized as such. I intend to give every able bodied German a horse and a sabre and order a glorious charge on the Maginot Line.

Spoiler

 

[BlaqkSkai]

From a strategic point of view, it would make little sense for Italy to invest in expensive tank production complexes when they can just buy old/used german tanks. And that way focus on infantry and navy.

Not entirely sure what point you're trying to make. I was trying to pose an argument to some of the posts thinking that buying tanks from another nation means you don't get the tank that you bought and instead get the type of tanks you can make yourself. If the information you mention is accurate then that just means I used good example nations by accident.

 

[adski42]

Has it actually been confirmed that when equipment is bought/used by other countries that it changes name? I didn't get that from the DD so is this just speculation? With the extra effort PDS are putting into the flavour side of the game it seems counter intuative that the equipment wouldn't retain names dependent on user.

On a slightly different issue, I'd be interested to learn how expeditionary forces are going to be dealt with when it comes to equipment. For example, can the host country equip an expeditionary force? That'd be good.

 

[Oliver Twopence]

Has it actually been confirmed that when equipment is bought/used by other countries that it changes name? I didn't get that from the DD so is this just speculation? With the extra effort PDS are putting into the flavour side of the game it seems counter intuative that the equipment wouldn't retain names dependent on user.

I certainly hope it doesn't. If I buy a Tiger I want it to show.

 

[seattle]

I'm so happy that HoI IV is being streamlined to this degree. Finally a HoI game that feels as polished as Vicky2 HoD!

Some questions:
1. Will every major have the exact same tank models (same stats, same class, same year) just with a different name? Please tell me this isn't true. Japan shouldn't have the same quality of tanks as Germany and the Soviets for instance. Plus, not every nation had plans for Maus-style tanks.

2. I assume that "historical date" and the "research ahead of time"-modifier will be completely moddable. Correct?

 

[Charles Reeps]

It has only been assumed that equipment will change names. Since it doesn't in HOI3 I'm not sure why it should in 4.

 

[Darkath]

Not entirely sure what point you're trying to make. I was trying to pose an argument to some of the posts thinking that buying tanks from another nation means you don't get the tank that you bought and instead get the type of tanks you can make yourself. If the information you mention is accurate then that just means I used good example nations by accident.

Not sure what point i was trying to make either
What i mean is that for most minors, having dedicated tank production facilities (and research teams) make little sense, so in a case where a country have no particular tank production going on, having foreign tanks reverting to default tanks when you buy them would make even less sense

 

[BlaqkSkai]

1. Will every major have the exact same tank models (same stats, same class, same year) just with a different name? Please tell me this isn't true. Japan shouldn't have the same quality of tanks as Germany and the Soviets for instance. Plus, not every nation had plans for Maus-style tanks.

I believe this relates to your question:

yeah, its flavor names for different levels of armor. If the player wants differences they need to be spending experience acquired in the war on variant development.

I believe this means that the tech trees are the same, but you have customizations outside of the tech trees to reflect different qualities. Not sure if there are unique customizations though depending on nation.

 

[208]

One thing I found bothersome in HoI3 is the way tech research always operated in 2-year cycles. If you weren't deliberately trying to buck the system and stuck to researching "in-time" techs, you'd spend 4 months researching a new medium tank (4 techs) and then completely ignore medium tank research for another two years. The screenshot given here makes me think that HoI4 will be similar.

 

[Guraan]

Needs waaaay more tech teams.

Dunno what you mean, this is the tech tree view where you can see what to research, not how to research O;P

1. Will every major have the exact same tank models (same stats, same class, same year) just with a different name? Please tell me this isn't true. Japan shouldn't have the same quality of tanks as Germany and the Soviets for instance.

You have to differ between tech and equipment now.

2. I assume that "historical date" and the "research ahead of time"-modifier will be completely moddable. Correct?

Yes you are

 

[Charles Reeps]

I'm so happy that HoI IV is being streamlined to this degree. Finally a HoI game that feels as polished as Vicky2 HoD!

Some questions:
1. Will every major have the exact same tank models (same stats, same class, same year) just with a different name? Please tell me this isn't true. Japan shouldn't have the same quality of tanks as Germany and the Soviets for instance. Plus, not every nation had plans for Maus-style tanks.

2. I assume that "historical date" and the "research ahead of time"-modifier will be completely moddable. Correct?

Why shouldn't Japan be able to have the same quality tanks as Germany/Russia if it does the appropriate research? As for the Maus, no, not every nation had plans for them, but what if for some foolish reason they wanted to go for this assinine waste of resources?