HOI4 - Development Diary - 5th of August 2016

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Not sure that would be all that helpful.
1. there needs to be a lot more feedback and special cases for a new terrain type and occupation rules etc
2. wouldnt really make AI stop sending stuff

havent totally ruled it out, but we are trying to improve ai first for sure

I have to disagree on it not being entirely helpful. I've been using No Man's Land from the Steam Workshop to see what could be a partial remedy. Its addition of impassable provinces create a much more decisive war since the AI cannot keep outflanking each other and getting into a swirling mess in central Africa. I didn't personally observe how many divisions were sent in since I've been writing an AAR on Reddit, but even if it still results in a black hole for divisions to get sucked into, they will at least have a more meaningful fight.

And as you know, major battles like El'Alamein happened because there was no room left to outflank. So there's a historical and practical case for impassable provinces.
 
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Not sure that would be all that helpful.
1. there needs to be a lot more feedback and special cases for a new terrain type and occupation rules etc
2. wouldnt really make AI stop sending stuff

havent totally ruled it out, but we are trying to improve ai first for sure
For what little it's worth, a crude setup like this:

upload_2016-8-5_14-54-55.png

works fairly well; it doesn't require any new occupation rules and such, because as far as the AI is concerned there's no land there to occupy (or even enter) And it effectively stops absurd scenarios like multiple divisions duking it out in middle of Sahara, despite virtually no infrastructure or supply which would allow them to even function there, let alone fight.

(it doesn't stop the AI from sending stuff to Africa, but it does stop it from sending stuff to places in Africa that should be effectively black holes for any troops and/or combat)

Not suggesting this should be done instead of improving the AI, ofc, but worth considering alongside that work, imo.
 
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Meh, multiplayer. Glad you're working on those AI issues though. If you can nail down those two mentioned problems it should go a long way towards improving the game.
 
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Not sure that would be all that helpful.
1. there needs to be a lot more feedback and special cases for a new terrain type and occupation rules etc
2. wouldnt really make AI stop sending stuff

havent totally ruled it out, but we are trying to improve ai first for sure

Making AI competent is one thing that will always be welcomed, but with AI changes only nothing prevents me from sending 100 divisions playing as Italy to take control of Africa.
It should be a logistical nightmare to take Africa (30,370,000 km2). Currently EU4 is more realistic than HOI4 in respect to logistics as at least attrition can make noticeable difference in EU4.
 
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Well, if you go on Football Manager forum and claim you have win the champions league with Oxford City you will get acclaimed, be called a genius and the game is so awesome... now go on the HoI4 forum and explain how you did world conquest with Switzerland. You will be called a lamer, using gamey tactics, the AI sucks and the game is totally flawed.
I am not sure AI in Football Manager is fantastic but I am sure HoI and FM players have very different expectations. ;)


I'm a hoi player and a FM player + many other games. I have a basic understanding of code and I'm frickin amazed how good the AI in FM is. How smart the players act on the field and all the considerations they do. And to win Champs lge With Oxford you build the team over several seasons making it better and better. It would be like you ran Switzerland from 1900 to 1950 putting all Resources into military for 50 years ;)

The AI in FM is the best AI I've ever encountered. It hurts my brain just thinking about the code they've developed for the AI
 
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That's it? A month and a week, and you tell us you are working on the AI and hotjoin...who couldve guessed? I thought you were doing something to make it harder for those that had "mastered the game already"?
 
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What if I told you these two things were related?

Beating the AI, right now, is a cake walk and you'd have to increase its ability 10x to cause any real problems for those that have mastered the game.

One thing that might be cool would be limiting the player to focus wars until 1939 in ironman mode. Or a troop upkeep feature/cost. On top of vaguely "improving the Ai".
 
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That's it? A month and a week, and you tell us you are working on the AI and hotjoin...who couldve guessed? I thought you were doing something to make it harder for those that had "mastered the game already"?
Did you miss the part where 90% of PDS went on holiday for the last month? They've been back for 5 days. Have some bloody patience.
 
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Ok, so I was waiting 3 weeks until PDS vacation ends, then I was teased from monday every day with really large DDs from other games and getting hyped what I will learn from friday's HoI 4 DD - and all I got is this?

DD which contains three paragraphs:
1. general speech
2. promises about AI
3. small feature for Mutliplayer

Sorry for that, but when I looked on yesterday's DDRJake Development Diary about Coptic religion and compare it with this one - I am strongly suspicious that someone did not do his job pretty well... :confused:
 
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Ok, so I was waiting 3 weeks until PDS vacation ends, then I was teased from monday every day with really large DDs from other games and getting hyped what I will learn from friday's HoI 4 DD - and all I got is this?

DD which contains three paragraphs:
1. general speech
2. promises about AI
3. small feature for Mutliplayer

Sorry for that, but when I looked on yesterday's DDRJake Development Diary about Coptic religion and compare it with this one - I am strongly suspicious that someone did not do his job pretty well... :confused:

This.
 
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Not sure that would be all that helpful.
1. there needs to be a lot more feedback and special cases for a new terrain type and occupation rules etc
2. wouldnt really make AI stop sending stuff

havent totally ruled it out, but we are trying to improve ai first for sure

It is not totally about the AI @podcat, the Sahara, Siberia, Prypet marshes, parts of South America and Sub-Saharan Africa were simply not possible to traverse with a full division of troops and for good reason. As much as I hate an ugly Map it makes better sense that if they must be captured I would propose that if all provinces with a higher level of infrastructure are captured around these areas they be granted to the owner if need be otherwise I will continue to use mod's that keeps not only the AI but my own armies from having to march through these horribly attricious lands.
 
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Hi everyone, it feels good to be back! With the team trickling back after well deserved vacation this week, rested and tanned (well the ones who didn't spend most of it playing games in the dark), we are getting back into gear for the 1.2 patch which we've named "Sunflower" (bonus points for whoever figures out the reference first).
Welcome back to you and the whole team. :)