Please, I better not be the only one

[jasonxfri13th]

Is it just me, or is the interface overly complicated?

I have played many many many hours of HOI2, too many to count. Yet, this new interface is like a tiny present stuck in 10 cardboard boxes. I want to view simple information, and it is so hard to find or turned way too complicated.

Divisions have been turned complicated big time. I like the new 4 brigades for a division, and all of that. It is just that it is harder to view simple things like strength and organization and all of that. I just want to see numbers on the provinces like 10 divisions. When I select a group it is way to complicated. I used to select a group of units, then shift+click the units I didn't want to attack with. I tried that and it didn't work, so I had to select each unit I wanted to attack with one by one. Then it gets so overly complicated that I just select random groups of units and attack. I can't click on a foreign province and see general stats for a country. I also think there are too many provinces. I fear this interface will take way to long to get used too.

I am not saying the game is bad, I love all of the new features. They are more than I wanted. They are amazing. It just makes me sad that they are all hidden by this bad interface.

 

[RegularK]

I agree, but I think the tab interfaces are rather straight forward. Just the units are confusing.

 

[Darknesskilla]

I think the ordering of units has been made incredibly clunky and counter-intuitive by the command structure feature. It's just confusing and frustrating.

I hate to admit it, but I might not like Hearts of Iron III

 

[kokskarl]

Divisions have been turned complicated big time. I like the new 4 brigades for a division, and all of that. It is just that it is harder to view simple things like strength and organization and all of that. .

i'm having troubles adjusting to the new UI aswell but i think it's to early to judge. i was so accustomed to the hoi2 UI that maybe i just don't realize the greatness of the new UI yet

 

[Mataresian]

yes is looks more complicated, I found it scary myself 2. But I think its just a thing to get used to as you can automate alot of things, like upgrading isn't as awfull as the way it was, so in other words alot of things are added but I think you need to discover the ways to use them more easier. I'm gonna wait for the release of HoI3 itself and try a game from the beginning, cause this also looks a lil bit to complicated that would ruin my fun. Though building up from scratch would probably change this.

And mods wil probably released anyways.

 

[jasonxfri13th]

Okay, good.
I was scared that I had some inability to play HOI3.
I will play the demo again and again, until I understand the whole new interface and selecting units and such. I shall not lose my first HOI3 game like in HOI2.

 

[zarinth]

Okay, good.
I was scared that I had some inability to play HOI3.
I will play the demo again and again, until I understand the whole new interface and selecting units and such. I shall not lose my first HOI3 game like in HOI2.

amen

 

[cougar46]

Yeah I think a lot of the problems are just getting used to the new interface which seems a lot deeper and more complex then most other Paradox titles. It does seem a little messy and inefficient but I'll give it a few more games and see if that changes my thinking about it. I have learned something new every time I restart a game.

 

[PanzerMan7]

once u play the 1936 GC and can organise ur armies properly, youll learn easier. theres also supposed to be 4 scenarios where u control a small part of teh nation. i need someone to confirm this.

 

[unmerged(20913)]

from what i can see its overly complicated. things are harder to do than in hoi 2.

 

[Dragoneer]

I agree, but I think the tab interfaces are rather straight forward. Just the units are confusing.

agreed, units are more confusing than they need to be

 

[blue emu]

Personally, I found the unit interface straitforward and intuitive. *shrug*

What's the problem with de-selecting certain units out of a stack? To me, the little X's are simpler than shift-clicking.

 

[Chief Savage Ma]

I think I will get more experience when I build the whole heirarchy for a nation by myself.

 

[unmerged(53301)]

I think I will get more experience when I build the whole heirarchy for a nation by myself.

I feel the same way. It's really hard to figure out whats going on when you're just thrown into the '39 scenario with no idea about the OOB.

 

[Darkrenown]

Divisions have been turned complicated big time. I like the new 4 brigades for a division, and all of that. It is just that it is harder to view simple things like strength and organization and all of that. I just want to see numbers on the provinces like 10 divisions. When I select a group it is way to complicated. I used to select a group of units, then shift+click the units I didn't want to attack with. I tried that and it didn't work, so I had to select each unit I wanted to attack with one by one. Then it gets so overly complicated that I just select random groups of units and attack. I can't click on a foreign province and see general stats for a country. I also think there are too many provinces. I fear this interface will take way to long to get used too.

It's still easy to see str and org. There's still a total str and org bar on the unit box like in HoI2, but you can also dig down a little more and view the brigade's stats too. You don't have to though.

You can see your strength in a province by mousing over it and looking at the tooltip, there's a brigade symbol and a bar for each brigade in the province, so you can see at a glance you have, say, 12 infanftry brgades and 8 armour etc. You might wonder at first why not list the number of divisions? But if you think about it, a HoI3 division could have as few as 5000 men or up to 15,000, so it makes a lot more sense to show brigade totals there.

A good way to select a bunch of units is to first click a divison, then hit the corps or army button above its name, then hit "select all" which selects all that HQ's subordinate. Bam, you've got a bunch of units selects in only 3 clicks.

You can get quick intel on other nations too, assuming you have sent some spies their way. Just go onto your intel screen, select the nation and click on the land/navy/air tabs to see your best guess of how many units they have etc.

There is a LOT of information at hand in this AI, but you'll soon get used to where it all is and should find it easy to navigate.

 

[Davisx3m]

It all looks so 90's

 

[Ghery]

Me too. First I visited all tabs, did some tuning here and there. 'Ha, it's a bit odd, but not bad after all!' Then I hit resume... I had to give up on the french front to be able to do ANYTHING else which made sense. I had no clue what to do... can't wait to have the '36 GC with Hungary. I expect a lot less mess there.

 

[unmerged(38835)]

Playing around with the new chain of command, i decided to my first game with Romania instead of Soviet Union.

If i attack with a corps, say 3 Inf-Divs + HQ...is that bad for the HQ, should i only attack with the divs individually?
Will the HQ fight in the frontline and get destroyed or something ?

 

[Atomcreator]

mmm. there was a thread praising paradox doing the rounds yesterday - I told you all to wait and try first....

About to try the demo myself now..

 

[Stargazer86]

I really wish they would've given us a smaller country to play as. Jumping straight into one of the major players is just getting me confused with the new HQ system.

Theater -> Army Group -> Army -> Corp.

I understand this. A Theater can have 5 Army Groups assigned to it. An Army group can have 5 Armies assigned to it, ect. Okay. Straightforward.

What I don't understand is why there would be 2 random divisions assigned to a Theater HQ as well. The forces in this demo are so poorly organized! Since they're under Theater control, they won't DO anything unless I directly order them to since I only give AI control to Corps and Armies. Why is the airforce assigned only to the Theater HQ? The same principle applies! I have to control them manually! If I'm directly controlling Armies, what the heck should I do with Army Group or Theater HQ units!? Do I just drag them along behind to keep them in range!!? Argh...

Reorganizing a country's army to my liking when starting a game is going to take forever. =/