Message Settings and Stastistics

[Von Pauli]

Hi,

I just received an answer from the tecnical assistance that states that in HOI4 there is no option to change the setting of popups, messages and similar Ítems. No automatic pause management also...
Well, I have the feeling to play "blind"... to have lost the control of the game...

Is there any new about any intention of the Developers to fix this?

Does not hurt anyone to have the possibility to get info and I´m sure that many players would enjoy the game much more.
In my case, if this issue is not changed, this would be my last purchase in Paradox... too chaotic to play

Thanks for an answer!

 

[JerkyJerry]

It is not really that much of a concern, for me anyway.
First it is not like a country can sneak attack you. They have to justify, and there is a message that pops on your screen so you know what is going on months in advance. There is a warning. You know an attack could be coming. (You can do things to avoid being attacked)
If you declare war then one has to anticipate; your enemy's allies attacking/aiding, the country you DoW'd counter attacking, paradropping, amphibious landing etc.
In either case you know you are at war it is not a surprise.
Just like in real life you have to check your flanks
Just like in real life getting cut off from supply is difficult
Just like in real life communications (in this example) zooming out, checking one's borders, pausing and looking around every once in awhile is important. Just as communications were important to commanders in real life, so should pausing the game and performing a border check every so often.

Is it on the list of things for the devs to do?
Are there more important things for the devs to concentrate on before this?

Having said all that I'll trust the team at Paradox know of the issue, have decided whether or not to address the issue and if they are going to address it they know the best date/time/patch to make any adjustments/changes.

Would it be nice to have? Sure. Is it anywhere near game breaking? Not even close. For me anyway.

 

[Von Pauli]

Jerry, I see that you also have no idea about the asked Item.
Does anyone know if in a future patch the messages settings are going to be editable like in the past versions?
Thanks!

 

[Merrivale]

The short answer is: we don't know.

The longer version is that Paradox is aware that there needs to be more information made available to the player but they are pretty much dead set against re instituting the popup system from older PDS games and will work on something else. We have no idea what that will be. We do know that whatever it is will have to work without pausing the game, because of multiplayer (where you can't pause) and because the in-house style of Paradox devs is to play without pausing.

And honestly, it's because there are sadly too few of us who care deeply about this issue. Probably more than Paradox thinks, but not enough to cause the sort of consistent and deep complaining you need to force Paradox to change something they personally don't have a problem with.

Because there are so many AI issues, as well as some other large bugs, whatever is coming seems like it will be not in the next patch (coming out in a few weeks) but probably in the patch after that (several months away).

Also Jerry, in real life your commanders tell you when they are being attacked. Or when they are just sitting somewhere with no orders. Or when your coast is being invaded. Or when all of your planes are being shot down. Or when all of your convoys are being sunk. They don't shrug and say, "you should have been frantically checking every front line all the time to make sure you didn't miss anything."

 

[Von Pauli]

Thanks a lot for your very useful answer, Merrivale!
Bad news, I fear.

One year building a ship and not getting any warning when it gets into combat? That is not fun... thats chaos
No statistics with casualties after a battle? Thats more a shot´em up, not a strategic-game
Without control of the battle events, this game makes a step into a more Command&Conquer-like style... but without cool graphics...
What a pity, I enjoied so much playing HOI3!!!

@Paradox; Many players like micro-management, to track their armies; see how they perform, know when they arrive, when they fight, how they fight, who they kill... not everyone of your clients is a multiplayer. I like to play alone, against the AI... I do not understand why you have cuttet this essencial tool...only to allow "chaotic" playing in a multiplayer? Well implement the message settings tool and allow changes in it only in single player... both types of playes would enjoy, and Paradox would not loose clients...

 

[Axe99]

I feel your pain Von Pauli . As Merrivale says, the good news is that the devs have acknowledged that the UI doesn't provide enough information relative to what's actually happening in the game. We know it won't be the old style pop-ups, but a number of us aren't convinced a rather dogmatic aversion to pop-ups won't mean we end up with a lesser UI in terms of information management. At the moment, it's definitely the case that many of the great features in the game are barely (and I expect for many players who don't make the effort, not at all) interacted with because so little is told to the player.

I do think the devs will make a decent effort to improve the situation, at least. They're genuinely passionate about the game, and the idea of accessibility has been talked up a lot in recent years, so making the UI more accessible will hopefully happen sooner or later.

Just like in real life you have to check your flanks
Just like in real life getting cut off from supply is difficult
Just like in real life communications (in this example) zooming out, checking one's borders, pausing and looking around every once in awhile is important. Just as communications were important to commanders in real life, so should pausing the game and performing a border check every so often.

Historically at the level of HoI, the commanders on the flanks tended to send signals up the line, and there's no way known Hitler was expected to have been on the front lines watching the Soviets encircle the sixth army - he was told it was happening. The limited information provided by the game is not historically plausible or realistic in any sense. The UI is also one of the least flexible in any strategy game I've ever played. Instead of providing a range of options to suit a range of different playstyles the UI, in effect, forces people to play the game in a certain way, or suffer through ridiculous amounts of fairly tedious scrolling to compensate for the limited information management.

 

[hwoosh]

I'll just take this opportunity to tag @podcat and let him know that I, personally, find Paradox grand strategy games absolutely miserable to play without adjustable message settings. I put down Stellaris for this reason; I have not bought HoI4 for this reason; I can't see myself buying any future PDS title that doesn't have message settings. And from previous threads on this topic, I know there are others who feel the same.

Podcat, this feature was not holding your previous games back; it was and is a basic usability feature for those of us who like to play thoughtfully and methodically, and the lack of it—even if you're using a faster playstyle—only increases the micromanagement hell. I beg you to do everything in your power to reverse this nonsensical decision.

 

[AlanC9]

I do find myself wondering how Paradox came to these conclusions. Surely anybody who had trouble handling HoI3's message settings couldn't have handled the rest of the game either.

 

[GeneralZaphod]

There is a nice long good post on this already with lots of opinions, mostly agreeing with you (so do I):
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...what-is-going-on-youre-doing-it-wrong.963308/
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...what-is-going-on-youre-doing-it-wrong.963308/

 

[Sleight of Hand]

I'll just take this opportunity to tag @podcat and let him know that I, personally, find Paradox grand strategy games absolutely miserable to play without adjustable message settings. I put down Stellaris for this reason; I have not bought HoI4 for this reason; I can't see myself buying any future PDS title that doesn't have message settings. And from previous threads on this topic, I know there are others who feel the same.

Podcat, this feature was not holding your previous games back; it was and is a basic usability feature for those of us who like to play thoughtfully and methodically, and the lack of it—even if you're using a faster playstyle—only increases the micromanagement hell. I beg you to do everything in your power to reverse this nonsensical decision.

I do find myself wondering how Paradox came to these conclusions. Surely anybody who had trouble handling HoI3's message settings couldn't have handled the rest of the game either.

@podcat

Hark the words of the wise.

 

[Olaus Petrus]

At this point I have pretty much stopped playing HoI4 and returned to playing Paradox games which have message settings. Losing several times war in two fronts, because I didn't get pop ups and autopause, while I was micromanaging third front was just too much for me.

I'm not touching to HoI4 till they do something to the UI. Too bad that I even bought expansions in advance, because currently I'm just disappointed to the whole game.

 

[Von Pauli]

Yes, I agree and will probably do the same... stop playing until the information flow is fixed...
Would be great if the Developers could give us an indication whe and if the flow of the information is going to be fixed... I prefer to wait a few months and then to play properly...

 

[Shakar]

I'll just take this opportunity to tag @podcat and let him know that I, personally, find Paradox grand strategy games absolutely miserable to play without adjustable message settings. I put down Stellaris for this reason; I have not bought HoI4 for this reason; I can't see myself buying any future PDS title that doesn't have message settings. And from previous threads on this topic, I know there are others who feel the same.

Podcat, this feature was not holding your previous games back; it was and is a basic usability feature for those of us who like to play thoughtfully and methodically, and the lack of it—even if you're using a faster playstyle—only increases the micromanagement hell. I beg you to do everything in your power to reverse this nonsensical decision.

Amen.

 

[herr anfsim]

I too find the decision not to provide the information all previous HOI games did a rather strange one, though I wonder if it might have something to do with forcing the player to leave the combat to the AI.

 

[FrancescoT]

Necromancy is not allowed. A more than a month old thread should rest in peace.

Closed.