Will HOI4 be playable at release day?

[TheTimeForWar]

Many years ago, I played HOI2 (Doomsday and Armageddon). Loved the game, best thing I've ever played. When HOI3 came out I was really excited, bought it and then found it was totally unplayable, full of bugs, nothing worked properly etc. Really disappointed, I uninstalled the game and just never went back to it. Not sure what its current state is now, but I remember being really sad when I first tried playing.

Will HOI4 be any better do you think? Do you think it'll be playable on release or full of bugs like HOI3?

Also BTW did they ever improve HOI3 to the point where there weren't so many bugs and things started working as they should? I never got into the game after the disappointment of the release, but might give it another try if it's got better.

 

[Oliver Twopence]

Yes to both questions.

 

[Bridger15]

HOI4 was delayed by 1.5 years, so it will absolutely be playable at release. The main concern I have is the AI being weak, but that is the case with almost every single strategy game ever, and paradox always improves their AI pretty substantially over the course of the first few patches.

 

[VoodooEconomist]

I think Paradox launches have improved over time. While one can argue endlessly about features that might improve Stellaris, it has been the cleanest launch to date, and the number of truly terrible bugs was minimal. So I'm pretty confident HOI4 will be playable - it'll also be quickly fixed where it isn't.

 

[Taciturn Scot]

I was a big fan of HOI 2 and its Armaggeddon expansion too. In fact, it was SO good that I missed out on all the fun when HOI3 was released.

I think the HOI3 release experience caused Paradox to toughen up and ensure that future releases were stable on release. EU4 was very playable on release for example as is Stellaris. (Although there are complaints that it is not 'finished' Expect to see those same arguments here as well).

I've watched a few hours of WWW videos and the game certainly looks playable. Unless what they're showing is a total fabrication, then you can see what you're going to get in about 10 days time.

 

[Mac Lazer]

Yes, I have full confidence in this. After all, if they wanted another HoI3, it would have been released a year and a half ago.

 

[Dr. Frog]

-HoI3, especially with the first two expansions, turned out alright; there were no glaring issues (of course people will argue that, but it was completely playable, though boring as anything but a major/involved power, and clunky as all get out; looks like they learned from HoI3 problems, though).
-Having watched all of the WWWs and read almost all of the Developer Diaries, HoI4 looks like it will be a complete and fun game upon launch. I'm sure they'll add some more stuff later, quite possibly including major changes, but Day 1 game looks like it could be the best Paradox game upon release by far (they delayed the game for so long, I'd hope they've tested a lot!).

 

[kviiri]

My guess? It's very much playable. We've seen Dan play it for ages, largely without a hitch.

It'll still have bugs at release, it's like a law of nature. Daniel has played 2000 or so hours of the game, maybe 2500. So if fifty thousand people buy the game on day 1 and play for five hours, they'll already have 250,000 hours clocked in total. And those fifty-thousand people include a variety of operating systems and hardware configurations the QA didn't have handy.... Something's bound to turn up.

 

[BillyThePoo]

To me it seems pretty playable

 

[Daddl]

It will surely be fine enough to get you above a hundred hours within a couple of days (if you can spare the time). Then some bugs become obvious and you hold off with playing until the first patch hits. Gladly, that leaves only a few days of not playing it. Time you can invest in Stellaris, EU4 or CK2.

There will be bugs as always, but very few game-breaking ones. They really improved on that a lot.

We won't have a HoI3 disaster, and to answer your question, that is perfectly fine if you own the 3 expansions. If not, well, not so much, but thats a good example why Paradox current model of more DLCs with free updates is better than just 2 or 3 expansions you really need to enjoy the game at all.

 

[General WVPM]

They seemed to find plenty of bugs during the WWWs, so the main bugs will be removed before launch.
Smaller conditional bugs will be present and if you have the minimum specs pc, the game will most likely perform bad.
AI will be beatable using gamey tactics and may sometimes bug out.
Not all nations will have their own flavor/historical stuff.

All of the things above are perfectly normal for a game which will be updated and expanded in the future.

 

[blue_yonder]

... above a hundred hours within a couple of days...

err.. which Stellaris planet do you live on?

 

[Aries666]

Playable yes but if you are only as good as your last game then we can expect a bug ridden imbalanced mess like Stellaris.

 

[Telsor]

Stellaris had 3 hotfix patches in 9 days, and from the notes on them, some of the issues solved were fairly serious (a number of CTDs), and there have been a number of comments/threads about balance issues and items that are 'missing'.

How common these issues were probably determines how playable the game was, and it's not easy to judge that, but I do think they're a lot better now than they were when HOI3 was released.

Personally, having been similarly burnt to the OP, and not wanting to start a game and not be able to see it through, I'll probably hold off for a couple of weeks (better than the couple of months I would have held off with paradox products a few years ago, but still not really trusting them). This will also give me time to check various threads to give me a better idea of how it's going.

Worst case, if there are serious balance issues, I might wait for a major patch (1.1, perhaps even 1.2 and/or a decent mod release) which could turn the 'D-day' release into 'Guns of August' (if not later).

 

[Ibn_Solmyr]

Many years ago, I played HOI2 (Doomsday and Armageddon). Loved the game, best thing I've ever played. When HOI3 came out I was really excited, bought it and then found it was totally unplayable, full of bugs, nothing worked properly etc. Really disappointed, I uninstalled the game and just never went back to it. Not sure what its current state is now, but I remember being really sad when I first tried playing.

Will HOI4 be any better do you think? Do you think it'll be playable on release or full of bugs like HOI3?

Also BTW did they ever improve HOI3 to the point where there weren't so many bugs and things started working as they should? I never got into the game after the disappointment of the release, but might give it another try if it's got better.

I understand you, my feel is quite the same, but I'm pretty sure they did the job this time, HoI4 would be very good overall.

About HoI3, the answer is balanced imo : some things had been improved (still too much archaïc in many aspects tho) and to me the goal wasn't reached even in the late versions of the game, with the major expansion packs, when I still see the German AI being able to send almost all its motorised/mechanised forces in Norway, be very quickly short of supplies/fuel and stay in that country with those forces for a infinite time....

 

[JerkyJerry]

Comparing Stellaris to HOI4 is just silly. Stellaris is a new release and HOI has been in the Paradox inventory for years.

If you have any doubts then just wait until the game is released and come here to the forum to find out for yourself? No one can see into the future so all we can provide is guesses, and maybes and I hope so's.

 

[helgur]

Will HOI4 be any better do you think? Do you think it'll be playable on release

Giving a definitive answer to this question will be subjective, as people have different tolerance levels when it comes to polish/lack of polish and what constitutes a polished game even. Some people will find tons of value and fun in the game despite some bugs that break minor mechanics here and there, while others might find a day 1 release intolerable because some aspects doesn't work properly. I'm definitively in the first camp, and while I found a lot of little annoyances with Stellaris here and there, I've also logged a lot of enjoyable hours in it, and will continue to do so even more as Paradox patch and improve the game.

It's safe to assume that not everything will work properly from day 1, so keep that in mind. Simultaneously it's also safe to say that Paradox have come a long way since the initial release of HoI III, and that HoI IV will be in no way as unpolished as it's previous release was. But if you want to be 100% sure, the most safest route to go is offcourse hold off the purchase, and wait until reviews and first hand experiences from other gamers are known.

 

[Nicolas I]

Will HOI4 be playable at release day?

What a friendly first post. I wonder why you come here if you only have negative things to say about Paradox and doubt HOI4 will be playable ?

 

[tsk92]

Funnily enough, we won't know until its released!

*gasp

 

[Loke]

Well going from HoI 2 to HoI 3 - HoI 3 is a much tougher game to learn, a steep learning curve, not for everyone.HoI3 is playing in a more advanced league than its predecessor and maybe even more advanced than its successor.