HOI4 as a beginner - the UI is HORRIBLE

[safe-keeper]

Don't get me wrong, HoI4 has lots of QoL potential, especially in some areas, and I've written some posts with suggestions myself, I just can't really say it's worse than HoI2 or 3. It's pretty different from them, which probably throws some people, but overall, it does a better job at telling you what you're supposed to do. I remember HoI3 having lots of terms it didn't bother trying to explain, and tooltips that were so lengthy they ran off the screen.

Then again, all PDX games require you to spend some time playing them, and/or reading tutorials or watching YouTube videos, before you understand what's going on.

 

[billcorr]

This thread is valuable in that it provides a first-time customer's initial reaction.

The HoI4 design team would likely glean important feedback from 100 to 500 similar "first reaction" reports.

I personally hope to see at least 99 more "first time customer reports".

Making the game more appealing to first-time gamers may increase sales...and make the game better.

 

[tract]

In case you want an extra noob report, I'll chime in. I'm hardly a noob any more though.

The first times I played HoI4, I had a lot of trouble with the focus tree. I could not tell which focuses were available, I could not tell which focuses I had done, I could not tell which focus I was doing, and I could not tell which focuses were greyed out (unavailable.) It was all because the colours were unintuitive.

The colour scheme for the focus trees ought to be revisited. The current scheme is:
- Available: silver
- Current focus: sparkly something
- Finished focus: yellowish brown
- Unavailable: dark brown

Silver in particular is a terrible choice for an "available" focus, because silver/grey is the general "unavailable" colour both in Windows and in the game's own tech tree!

Tech tree colours:
- Available: yellowish brown
- Current: animated
- Finished: green
- Unavailable: silver

Do you see a conflict there? I do.

 

[safe-keeper]

You've got a point there. Silver, or grey, usually means something is unavailable in user interfaces, as you say. You get used to it in HoI4, but I agree it's counter-intuitive.
Never occured to me that the game itself contradicts itself, either (focuses vs techs in the tech tree).

 

[Fanstar1]

In case you want an extra noob report, I'll chime in. I'm hardly a noob any more though.

The first times I played HoI4, I had a lot of trouble with the focus tree. I could not tell which focuses were available, I could not tell which focuses I had done, I could not tell which focus I was doing, and I could not tell which focuses were greyed out (unavailable.) It was all because the colours were unintuitive.

The colour scheme for the focus trees ought to be revisited. The current scheme is:
- Available: silver
- Current focus: sparkly something
- Finished focus: yellowish brown
- Unavailable: dark brown

Silver in particular is a terrible choice for an "available" focus, because silver/grey is the general "unavailable" colour both in Windows and in the game's own tech tree!

Tech tree colours:
- Available: yellowish brown
- Current: animated
- Finished: green
- Unavailable: silver

Do you see a conflict there? I do.

Yeah that is contradictory alright, though I hadn't noticed it myself until you pointed it out.

 

[billcorr]

You will get used to it.

The reason I clicked "respectfully disagree" is that (according to Steam) after 6,596 hours of playing ("playing") HoI4, I am not used to Paradox's HoI4 user interface.

For example, when splitting air, land, and sea units, I don't know if the hotkey is

"s"

or

"d"

 

[CrasherZZ]

In case you want an extra noob report, I'll chime in. I'm hardly a noob any more though.

The first times I played HoI4, I had a lot of trouble with the focus tree. I could not tell which focuses were available, I could not tell which focuses I had done, I could not tell which focus I was doing, and I could not tell which focuses were greyed out (unavailable.) It was all because the colours were unintuitive.

The colour scheme for the focus trees ought to be revisited. The current scheme is:
- Available: silver
- Current focus: sparkly something
- Finished focus: yellowish brown
- Unavailable: dark brown

Silver in particular is a terrible choice for an "available" focus, because silver/grey is the general "unavailable" colour both in Windows and in the game's own tech tree!

Tech tree colours:
- Available: yellowish brown
- Current: animated
- Finished: green
- Unavailable: silver

Do you see a conflict there? I do.

Yes, I noticed the same thing the other day. I usually have to click on anything in the focus tree to make sure if it's available or not. Guess I'm not "used to it" yet.

 

[goodcigar]

The naval UI and naval controls is so bad. I did not understand for whole year. It really messy. I remember people complain about HOI4 UI 4 year ago too. It always been very inconsistent and mediocre.