Learn from Darkest Hour

[NapoleonComple]

I just appreciated DH's faster pace. There was less micro and the game advanced at a tolerable speed. HOI3 looked nice on paper, but it put me to sleep sorting out all my damn HQs and divisions, and then I had to wait for the clock to crawl forward even on speed 4. I could play from 1936 onwards in DH. I just didn't have the time for HOI3. And I like to set things up rather than get thrown into the deep end in 1938 with WW2 looming over my shoulder from the start.

 

[Count Drew]

HOI 3 had impressive graphics on the map. I loaded it up again and played through several hours just to get the feeling again after reading everyone's posts. It did seem as though I had to wait awhile to get from point A to B ... it is a far more deep wargame ... perhaps the only flaw and a worry about player input we ask for too much of this/that..trifling Developers to give in to us instead of letting them freedom to make things playable ... (MOO2 is being released if anyone knows what that is Masters of Orion, they seem to be following the old recipe as MOO3 was a total disaster and is complained about till this day..Sometimes Devs are just right and we the people wrong and that's what Modding is for if we want to change things) but in other things like the new Sim City what a disaster. People hated it... I refuse to buy it, HOI3 was what we wanted I think but I will stop here and I pray that my sentiment is heard here. Thank you all for adding and educating me again. I hope we all play MP together and I will totally enjoy if this game becomes a Smashing Success which it should as there is so much patience going into it.

I just appreciated DH's faster pace. There was less micro and the game advanced at a tolerable speed. HOI3 looked nice on paper, but it put me to sleep sorting out all my damn HQs and divisions, and then I had to wait for the clock to crawl forward even on speed 4. I could play from 1936 onwards in DH. I just didn't have the time for HOI3. And I like to set things up rather than get thrown into the deep end in 1938 with WW2 looming over my shoulder from the start.

 

[Oriflamme]

I have to admit, I never played HoI2 or HoI3. Only Darkest Hour. Weird, right?

What I like about Darkest Hour (note, this could apply to other HoI games, I'm not sure since I haven't played them):
-The map's attention to detail is incredible.
-The countries that can form are pretty cool, and gives a neat alternate history dimension.
-The amount of detail you can put into optimizing your army and navy is really cool.
-It's one of the few games that has a WWI scenario.
-Wars play out realistically, with realistic outcomes.
-The game is complex, but not so complex that I get overwhelmed and quit (at least not all the time).

What I don't like about Darkest Hour (ditto):
-Countries are incompetent when it comes to naval invasions. The Pacific War will go on forever, Britain will invade parts of Europe with 1-3 divisions that soon get annihilated, and the United States will park dozens of divisions in Iceland, Britain or Tunisia for the duration of the game.
-The interface is so screwy it makes it hard to play the game sometimes.
-The tech teams just seemed to add another level of complexity and confusion to me. Seeing them represented as historical companies is pretty cool, but trying to decide what to research and what tech teams to do the researching just becomes a chore.
-Some stupid things happen in every game, like the Soviets invading Norway from the north (or the Germans failing to defend it?)
-The AI can be pretty damn idiotic sometimes. Just last night, I saw the Finns surrounding Murmansk and outnumbering the besieged Soviets at least 5-to-1. Meanwhile, Britain invaded German-occupied Norway, bypassed the Finns and came close to occupying the entire southern half of Finland.
-The AI doesn't seem to put any priority in cities with Victory points. The Germans will march for thousands of miles across Siberia without taking Murmansk or Baku.

In short, Darkest Hour is a really fun game and I enjoy playing it. It's just that the game is an old spin-off of an even older game. I'm a little afraid of the things HOI4 will get wrong (whatever they might be), but the game looks really good in my opinion, and I get the feeling I'll be able to play the game longer before getting frustrated.

 

[Vukodav]

DH is indeed a more complete game. I liked claim province system a great thing - it lacked in HOI3. You could take only a few provinces as it happened in real life. Also, flavor things like a list of everything that is inside a division, down to a man. Provinces were better drawn - a bit harder for encirclement but can be done. And it was balanced nicely. Good and in depth spy system, historical techs (better than variants of HOI3), AI is better in diplomacy (in HOI3 offer peace and many other diplomatic options were pointless as you could do none of them).

And that is just a tip of an iceberg.

For moders it is a dream come true! DH offers a lot of modifiers that HOI3 does not have - from off map resources, production bonuses for buildings, boost for units (specific or general) and many more. You could mod in almost anything - HOI3 is not that flexible.

And that manifested itself into the best mods (by my opinion, you do not have to agree) in the entire franchise. The crown jewel being Kaiserreich. There is no mod out there with more content. Maybe Black ICE for HOI3 but it is so crampped that it so unstable and mostly pointless. Like Faberge egg on a toothpick - beautiful but there is a good chance that it will break apart. But Kaiserreich... not only is it alternative history for the whole world, it is balanced and fun to play with almost any country. Maybe not Nepal or Albania but almost all other are filled with events and decisions.

When everything is taken into consideration, original game, stability, balance, moding potential, moding community - Darkest Hour easy takes the title for the best HoI, if not best PDX game to date. Again, by my opinion only. The only thing where HoI3 is maybe better (this depends on ones preferences) is bigger map and option to automatize your forces.

 

[OBRkenobi]

I play and like both games equally.
Sue me.