I must admit I am quite disappointed with 1.3

[peterhoi3]

I must admit I am quite disappointed with 1.3, with how the beta test has taken place and with the final result. It is certainly true that 1.3 is a great improvement over 1.2, but because 1.2 was really full of problems. To begin with, certain bugs related to surrender have not been repaired, even though they had been reported in detail. The first game I have played with 1.3 has been quite depressing. First the USSR surrenders to Germany, however it survives with some territories in the north of Africa and with several units which conquer units for Sinkiang in the Causasus. Then I continue playing just to discover that Gibraltar strait is not closed when you control the province, as it is supposed to be, and furthermore, that I have two US enemy submarines stationed in my port. I have stopped playing, it is too much of a burden all these bugs. Two important bugs in just a few hours of playing. Releasing seven release candidates in just ten days or less is not the way to go. Paradox has a large group of fans eager to help discover every possible bug but it just can´t be done that way. Make 7 release candidates in 7 weeks and with the help of the community you will have the game polished and brilliant.

To the forum members: please do not write any rants or negative comments as an answer to this. Hearts of Iron3 is an astounding game that makes any other WWII game out there to look ridiculous. It is in fact the only computer game I play at all. I would simply like the developpers to put more work on it and commit to repair all these issues soon. Also, please do not answer to this post requesting all types of new features in the game. The only thing I would like is to see the game working with its present features, without bugs.

I dare to suggest the developpers to create a closed thread in the bugs forum where they add all the known bugs so that we have an easy reference and do not repeat the bugs threads. And also, please tell us that you are working on them and that there will be a 1.4 patch soon.

 

[Inbrainsane]

The problems HOI3 can be seperated into four areas:

1. Minor bugs, plenty of them.

2. Balance, does not exist.

3. Permormance and stability, yes, even after 1.3.

4. User interface, improved, but still....


I think the featureritis is the main reason why this game looks so poor. There a dozens of features and they all consumed some development time and bring no real benefit to the game. One reason, why I am really worried: "Rome" is still in a pretty bad shape. I hope paradox is determined to bring HOI3 to a better shape.

 

[unmerged(49261)]

I was wondering how long it would take before we witnessed a thread like this, although I didn't expect one this thoughtful and mature.

There are some people, it seems, who will never be satisfied with Hearts of Iron III. If Johan published a 1.4, 1.5, or 1.6 patch, we'd still hear complaints. The game will never be perfect and will never satisfy some people's gaming standards.

It's only a matter of time before someone slaps 1.3 with the 'broken' label. Wait for it.

 

[Onedreamer]

To the forum members: please do not write any rants or negative comments as an answer to this. Hearts of Iron3 is an astounding game that makes any other WWII game out there to look ridiculous. It is in fact the only computer game I play at all.

I will tell you of a real story. Honestly. I play Paradox games from years, and none has ever been as bugged or problematic at release as HoI3 was, unlike the die hards like to say. But I digress. The story is that I never liked HoI2, not because of issues, I just didn't like it much.
After reading the AARs I was excited by HoI3 so I bought it immediatly... well, turns out that after playing a month of HoI3, I am now a great fun of HoI2. I can't stop playing it.

 

[unmerged(35723)]

I am expecting this thread to be censored soon.

 

[Nemsys]

Censored? Why? It is legitimate criticism. As long as it is done in a constructive and civil way, pointing out which problems the game still has and why we can't enjoy it, I don't see why it should be censored. I am sure that Paradox really did their best to provide us with a good quality product. In some areas, it really shines. But that is not a reason to ignore other evident flaws.

 

[userstupid]

My main problem is the simple fact that doing anything is a pain the ass.

I can't just as hoi2 and clump up all units in one provice.. combine them and then distribute them easily.

I HAVE to let the ai more or less control everything and i find it hard to just control it myself.

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

I am expecting this thread to be censored soon.

As long as people can make constructive and mature posts about their feelings concering patch 1.3, like the OP, there is no need for censoring.

Posts like yours on the other hand, don't contribute anything to this discussion and are just considered trolling. Especially since you don't even seem to own the game in question.

 

[Johan]

It's only a matter of time before someone slaps 1.3 with the 'broken' label. Wait for it.

So true.

Different people like different games.. We asked people to vote what they thought about the 1.3 patch and less than 10% did not like it.

Of course there are things that could be made better...

 

[Bullfrog]

HoI3 has a lot of potential, it just needs a good bit of developer time to get there. If anyone remembers, HoI and HoI2 had a lot of user-friendliness issues as well, especially HoI (the original). It took Doomsday to really get HoI2 right...and even then the AI was still lacking. No D-Day was carried out by the AI for instance, every major AI move was painstakingly scripted, etc.
HoI3 is like a clean slate whose base model is far better, but the bells and whistles are a long way off. It will take several years for the obligatory expansions to make this game truly worth playing....just look at EU3.

 

[mbabbs]

Do you have any thoughts on another patch that you could share with us Johan ?

 

[unmerged(83998)]

So true.

Different people like different games.. We asked people to vote what they thought about the 1.3 patch and less than 10% did not like it.

Of course there are things that could be made better...

Ok keep burying your head in the sand. You did not include the option "it's an improvement but so much more remains to be done" or something similar. It's nothing but a flawed poll where you can answer I love it or I hate it basically. You should not take that as a good indicator of customer satisfaction.

For the moment, it's not so much a question of things being broken, its a question of major features functioning poorly at a best. Look what you did with the supply system. Now it is possible for germany to do a complete barbarossa (until bitter peace) with little to none supply problems. On the other hand, the japanese ai still cannot supply its troops correctly in china. So while you did improve the supply system, it's still not even close to what it is supposed to achieve (as based on dev diaries & promises about the game).

Sorry to put it bluntly, but you work is sloppy. That does not take away your ideas and creativity, which are both great. But as a coder (or your team as a whole should I say), you really could benefit from a qualified quality control department.

Now, contrary to the OP, I have the feeling I now play a "reasonably finished" paradox product, which means I'm not playing an alpha version anymore. Don't let that fool you, you still should be pretty ashamed for releasing HoI3 in its 1.1 state, and you still have a lot of work to do before the game matches what was promised in the developer diaries. I won't mention all the bugs and features which are still there or missing, it has been done many times.

 

[Simon1397]

I've tried playing the same game from the very first demo release; France 1936 N/N, player control on v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 and v1.3.

The same problems arise with

Set-up/Management: to etablish a OoB I'm happy with (not historical) takes too long; merging brigades requires them all to be in same place but only four of them so too much time is spent SR your forces to get the mobile, infantry and specialist forces all in the right place. It may not be pretty but the HoI2 system where you can merge any number of divisions (brigades) in one place and then separate them out made set up much easier and less frustrating.

Speed: I've played perhaps 12 hours (maybe more) and got from Jan 36 to Sept 39; I would normally do that in less than 2 (this involves lots of setting up) in HoI2; additionally it not just the speed it's the hanging/freezing that's very frustrating when you are trying to order units/manage deployment.

I don't beleieve there has been any improvement in game speed from 1.2 to 1.3

Balance: I think this is yet to be resolved, I remember a post from Johan expressing the opinion that balance would end up as a mod improvement - not sure how this is going to work out.

The game is more stable, no CTD yet.

The diplomacy and trade system is working much better, i.e. NatSpain has not joined the Axis in 1938 (which facilitated my early withdrawl from the v1.1 game)

Regretably, I'm no longer excited by this game, in spite of all it's possibilities so it's on hold until the major issues above are resolved.

 

[SwordOfJustice]

I'd like to support Johan in his engagement to the fan community.

As to the 1.3 patch, I can accept some areas where improvements are needed as long as the main game functionality is fixed and the game plays in a stable way.

There are still improvements needed in AI. Overall, I've found the new patch to improve the game greatly from where it was before.

I think it's clear that many purchasers of the game desired a better release.

Cheers,
Sword

 

[nwinther]

Peronally, I'm quite happy with 1.03. My main problems are smaller non-gamebreakers, like theatres (at least for Germany) being too static (two seems to be the max). Other things include interface not updating properly and one main issue with the combat AI.

I had a long fight with France with very static fronts, and I had to personally interfere in order to get the battle going. Throwing in two panzer divisions and an infantry division finally broke the French left wing, and soon, the AI was able to roll up the entire front. Problem was, that the AI, despite having masses of units (two panzer korps / six divisions) to play around with, they just sat there.

Other than that, the game seems to have reached a very playable stage. A 1.4 would be nice, but I'm finally beginning to enjoy HoI3 fully.

 

[HMS Enterprize]

Given the 1.3 patch is what, not even a week old yet, it seems a tad premature to note votes that only rate 10% dissatisfaction with the product as a reliable indicator of quality.

I have not bought the game yet, but I actively monitor this forum to try and guage the quality of the product. And from what Ive seen so far there does seem to be a lot of dissatisfaction with the game as is. And Im not talking about pedantic complaints over inconsequential bugs either.

I most likely will buy but it does not appear that the game is up to speed just yet. As mentioned, I will be monitorng closely for future developments.

 

[VetMax]

So true.

Different people like different games.. We asked people to vote what they thought about the 1.3 patch and less than 10% did not like it.

Of course there are things that could be made better...

I voted for "Great Improvement" but i didn't mean that i think that the game is ok now. As someone said on this forum this game is not about Lord of the Rings. But it is as far from Lord of the Rings as from WW2. If someone satisfied with this then i am surprised. May be some stupid schoolboys who do not know where Australia is.
1.2 was a nightmare while 1.3 is a light in the end of tunnel. How could we vote for "i don't like it"?
1.3 is a "great improvement".

 

[Nemsys]

The "bells and whistles" can wait. Plenty of modders are already at work to improve the graphics and the map, to add new scenarios, flavour events and so on...

The matter is, HOI3 is a wonderful base on which to build, eventually, a perfect game, through mods and expansions. No one questions that. Minor bugs, typos and inconsistencies are also something that can be addressed by modders. But I believe that some feel that correcting the frequent failures of the diplomatic, economic and production AI, the supply issues, the fact that controlling a strait is useless as ships pass anyway, or the unlimited naval range allowing comical assaults by minor countries on enemies on the other side of the world, is not "bells and whistles" to be addressed by a modder whenever he can find the time. This is not meant as an attack on HOI3 or on Paradox; the game is good and often fun. But it has flaws, and people pointing those flaws are not just "flaming" or "whining", and should be treated accordingly.

 

[RELee]

To PI, yes there are still some outstanding issues with the game but they are small and not game-breaking, IMO. Any major issues that I had with the game were driver/OS configuration issues that I was able, through patient trial and error means, to get resolved. I hope that you can re-address some of the AI issues at some point, but I understand that you have other projects in the works with limited staff. I can play HOI3 as it currently stands, I believe. I've not experienced any major crash or game-breaking bug that I can't play around to this point. The interface can get a bit clumsy at times, but I cut my teeth on Victoria, so I can maneuver around interface issues just fine.

Please, hang in there and know that there are those of us who still support you wholeheartedly, warts and all.

**I think you should reconsider my idea about PI-approved PC hardware. Then, only those who buy your hardware should be given premier support. If you do this, however, remember who came up with the idea.**

 

[VetMax]

I support you fullheartedly! Make 1.3 hotfix and 1.4 as soon as possible plz!