Wishlist for HOI3

[unmerged(31085)]

What are your wishlist for HOI 3?

1. No more CTD.
2. No more lagging.
3. More terrain features on the maps with layout of cities.
4. New sprites for every level upgrades.
5. Dynamic night and day events.
6. Dramatic night bombings with anti-aircraft flaks and searchlights as sprites.
7. Trenches
8. Icons for capital cities like that of Victoria.
9. Improvement of weather AI.
10. Improvement on computer AI.
11. Overhaul on game engine for faster gameplay.
12. Breakdown of smaller states for MODDING compatibility.

These are some of my thoughts...what are yours?

 

[Miltiades]

When liberating/releasing nations you can chose what provinces they get and what provinces you keep.

 

[JASGripen]

And to further the need of modular division's, the brigade system is not very good. The idea that divisions and brigades are different entities is rellaly escaping, and should be so for most people in the know.

The brigade thread is telling, se for example post 8 which is really hilarious (even if it wasn't meant so; but the conlusion is rather valid and makes one smile):
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226256


With modular division's one can't decide to skip AT research (in a WWII game g'damit!). You need that tech in order to create well balanced division's. Well balanced divisions get extra bonus (1+1=3 so to speak). CORE has taken a step in this direction, but it is a mere hotfix to the real issue with brigades.

 

[unmerged(41649)]

For HOI3 they really should move everything to a more fluid analog system of combat.

First off, divisions should take a week or two to deploy after you make them. It is stupid that a Russian division can be saved in the pool and then instantly deployed to either the East or the West when they are needed. And similarly, ships should be built at a specific shipyard. If that port is taken then the ship is lost unless it is more than 80% finished.

Second, naval fleets should be modeled as specific points in the ocean. They have a radius around them for detection and combat. They can be given the same kind of missions but they can move anywhere rather than just being in the huge sea provinces they have now. Patrol zones should be defined by lat/long and coastlines.

Air wings should either be fixed to be more accurate or generalized more. Right now you have to get all of your air wings to go together on specific missions which you can't define. Instead you should give them a general mission, like cover this area against bombers, and it will deploy the right number of planes to intercept any threat. Also, recon planes should be represented by an automatic increase of intel in a certain area.

AA, factories, and any other types of buildings should be specific points on the map. Cities should also effectively be points.

Population density should be a gradient over all of your territory with the exception of cities which can hold a finite population. So a big empty area might be green for example, meaning less than 1 person/sq km. Total population can then be the sum of the gradient over all of your territory plus the population in cities. All of the populations can change dynamically as cities are attacked and the front lines move you get a "wave" of high density migration.

Available population for the military should be more stable throughout the game. You can't really "breed" soldiers in the timespan we are looking at, you can only free up more men or recruit from different pools, like annexed territory. Similarly, there should be different classes of recruits. A/B/C.

Fortification should be built onto the map as a line, either along a river, or a curved spline along points that you select. That way you actually have a wall.

Now the reason all this works is because provinces should be gotten rid of entirely. I mean maybe they can stay around for visual or naming sake, but for gameplay, everything should be fluid. Army groups should be stretched along a front line. Alternatively they can be stretched behind the front line as a reserve line created the same way as fortification lines. Or they can be mobilized for rapid movement as a single point. To attack, you need these mobilized divisions set up along your front. You then pick the army group you want to attack and give it a desired destination. Its progress will depend on its relative strength vs the defending line. The divisions that are stretched out and aren't mobilized simply flow with the line and assist against any counter-attacks.

It might take a bit of tweaking to make it work right, but that's the whole idea right there.

 

[unmerged(57263)]

For HOI3 they really should move everything to a more fluid analog system of combat.

First off, divisions should take a week or two to deploy after you make them. It is stupid that a Russian division can be saved in the pool and then instantly deployed to either the East or the West when they are needed. And similarly, ships should be built at a specific shipyard. If that port is taken then the ship is lost unless it is more than 80% finished.

Second, naval fleets should be modeled as specific points in the ocean. They have a radius around them for detection and combat. They can be given the same kind of missions but they can move anywhere rather than just being in the huge sea provinces they have now. Patrol zones should be defined by lat/long and coastlines.

Air wings should either be fixed to be more accurate or generalized more. Right now you have to get all of your air wings to go together on specific missions which you can't define. Instead you should give them a general mission, like cover this area against bombers, and it will deploy the right number of planes to intercept any threat. Also, recon planes should be represented by an automatic increase of intel in a certain area.

AA, factories, and any other types of buildings should be specific points on the map. Cities should also effectively be points.

Population density should be a gradient over all of your territory with the exception of cities which can hold a finite population. So a big empty area might be green for example, meaning less than 1 person/sq km. Total population can then be the sum of the gradient over all of your territory plus the population in cities. All of the populations can change dynamically as cities are attacked and the front lines move you get a "wave" of high density migration.

Available population for the military should be more stable throughout the game. You can't really "breed" soldiers in the timespan we are looking at, you can only free up more men or recruit from different pools, like annexed territory. Similarly, there should be different classes of recruits. A/B/C.

Fortification should be built onto the map as a line, either along a river, or a curved spline along points that you select. That way you actually have a wall.

Now the reason all this works is because provinces should be gotten rid of entirely. I mean maybe they can stay around for visual or naming sake, but for gameplay, everything should be fluid. Army groups should be stretched along a front line. Alternatively they can be stretched behind the front line as a reserve line created the same way as fortification lines. Or they can be mobilized for rapid movement as a single point. To attack, you need these mobilized divisions set up along your front. You then pick the army group you want to attack and give it a desired destination. Its progress will depend on its relative strength vs the defending line. The divisions that are stretched out and aren't mobilized simply flow with the line and assist against any counter-attacks.

It might take a bit of tweaking to make it work right, but that's the whole idea right there.

There are some interesting points you mentioned.

Fortifications should have a direction (I hope this is the correct word for what I mean). E.g maginot line should give Germany no advantages if they take it.

Soldiers should be recruted in a province, then it would be accurate to appear at the end of production (with 0 % organisation - same for ships)

Sea fights could be made more realistic with smaller sea regions. It would be not much work to programm it. You have only to find some new names for the regions.

 

[unmerged(57263)]

There should also be a better use for radar stations. I never built them in hoi2 because I didn´t see the advantage.

 

[unmerged(63122)]

1. I'd like a battle plan option. So say you are Germany and you are allied with Romiana, Italy, and Hungary. You go to the negotiation screen and select battle plan. There you get a map of the world and you draw red or blue lines, you the attach a country to that line. Red lines are attack, meaning the troops keep pushing forward, and Blue means defend. Then once a war begins you click the Battle Plan button and you choose which plan you want to use. The Ally can either accept or deny this plan, so you can still have some changes.

I think this could work well in using your allies, or even puppets effectivly and not having them just move around.

2. When ever a country gives up or is annexed there should be a way to share the spoils of the war. As Romiania I fight tooth and nail for Russia with Germany and all I et is this tiny sliver of land to my North.

3. Raillines that are directional. So if as Germany invading Russia you may want to conquer the rail lines before Stalingrad, there by stopping more quick troop transports for the Russians and also getting your supplies and reinforcements into the areas quicker.

4. Oil refineries. So you can target them and stop the oil coming in.

5. Events for a Republican Spain victory.

6. Partisans with a political alinment, so if you fund Tito you get communist Yugoslovia.

 

[unmerged(41649)]

referring to my post above, the way I explained it would also give more realistic offensives rather than the way it is now where an army can switch from being dug in on the line to attacking within an hour of getting their orders. Mobilizing an army group should take between a day to six days depending on the size of the force. Switching back to the defensive should be significantly faster. Mobilized units should also consume more supplies.

 

[coreymas]

Believe it or not, I think that'd be doable, to an extent. You make 'template' divisions (similar to the German '41 series infanterie division or '44 panzer division that they actually used). You are given X number of "slots" that are equivalent to battalion or company level formations, they plug in units as you see fit.

So you start out with a blank division. You've got 15 empty battalion-sized slots. Your research has provided you with a selection of units to plug in - light tank battalions, artillery battalions (truck and horse towed, heavy and light), infantry battalions, a machinegun battalion, light/medium/heavy flak battalions, recon battalions (light, horse, motorized, armored car), and maybe a couple support battalions (motor transport, medical, communications, supply).

Each battalion has an IC value and modifiers, like the current brigades. The difference is, that each is tiny, but contributes to the total IC value and stats of the division. A division with six infantry and one artillery battalions will be a lot cheaper and faster to make than a division with nine infantry, three artillery, one recon, one machinegun and one flak battalion. And, of course, a division with 15 tank battalions will be hugely expensive, have low levels of org and supply and take a long time to make.

To build a division you go to your production screen and pick from a list of pre-made division templates or make your own. When you save a custom template, you name it and it shows up in your list of available units to produce.

Not only is this doable but already exists in a game called the The Operational Art of War

Suggest you check that out. Has a wonderful scenario desinger etc.

Corey

 

[hellfish6]

Not only is this doable but already exists in a game called the The Operational Art of War

Suggest you check that out. Has a wonderful scenario desinger etc.

Corey

I have that game (and have since '96 or so, in almost all of its forms). I'm talking about for HoI3.

 

[unmerged(62751)]

HOI3 would be unlikely because two games exist in this time period. Some of these ideas would could be in a patch. For them to make HOI3, they would either need to make it 3d and have radical gameplay changes, or, they would make it more ahistorical, with more alternate history. The best thing they could do is create a new engine to involve things like Urban combat, guerrilla warfare, etc.

 

[JASGripen]

That is pretty much settled, as PI most likely will use the 3d EU3 engine.

I for my part would be very pleased with modular divisions and a chain of command system. That would be all that is needed to please me.

 

[unmerged(51967)]

I'd like to see a system where you can create a shadow country if you've taken most of their vp and there's just isolated ones across the world.
Something like if sealion succeeded there's a fascist britain while the royalty is still in exile.
On top of that, you'd pick which areas they do get and which they don't, obviously having like a percentage of whether they'd accept or not. Not even the direst of puppets would accept control of just one city out of 50.

And yeah, a reworking of the way provinces/units/battles work, it's rigid enough for this style of warfare but it's still beyond. I mean you have to give germany 2x more the units to succeed in the fall of france when the allies had more infantry and tanks than germany (although like half the planes).

Technologies to reduce consumer goods. Not so much for any reason other than to make the AI focus or not on gearing to a total war economy. Germany was nowhere near but the commonwealth nations were cannibalising their possessions to repair shoes/clothes .
Yeah someone said tech teams gain skill over time if they're used a lot and are one of the first to get it.

 

[KuzuX]

Advisors.I want to have advisors and ask them for advise.I also be appreciated if we can get reports from our generals and ministers.It'd be more realistic.ç

 

[unmerged(63122)]

1. The inability to research nuclear tech, I am thinking the physical science not the theories, without creating a research facility. So now you have an interest in defending the province, and if it is bombed you lose the ability to continue research until you create another facility.

2. Stationary nukes. So say in the dire circumstance that you can't fight off the Russians, or Germans swarming over the country you can place a Nuke in a province and have the option to detonate it when an enemy takes control.

3. I'd like some techs be devoted to amphibious landings. So later on maybe you get transports that give a bonus to beach battles.

4. When you take over a country a small amount of research is added to your projects. So if as Russia you wipe out Germany you should get a boost to rocketry research.

5. When you take over a country a conversion time of a month or even three before you can take advantage of its IC. In RL the equipment was set to different standards, measurements. So when Germany takes over France it takes time to retool French factories to pump out German caliber ammo, or sat America goes Facist and invades Canada then the metric system needs to be replaced by good ol' inches and feet.

6. Certain technology being learned without research, like defense against Blitzkrieg, or acquiring streetfighting skills.

7. Speaking of street fighting, why not SMG brigades?

8. Smaller carriers, they can't hold any aircraft, but they can use aircraft brigades for defense.

 

[Hawk_345]

Post Korea, warfare changed pretty significantly. It'd almost have to be a totally seperate game because most of the fighting wasn't large scale WWII type units, but rather mostly brigade-sized fights and insurgency/counter-insurgency warfare which a provincial "revolt risk" doesn't quite do justice to. For example, HoI as it stands could probably handle an Arab-Israeli War pretty well, likewise a NATO/Pact conflict in Europe or most of the Indo-Pakistani wars. It wouldn't be able to simulate, with any fidelity, the bush wars in Africa, Vietnam, Central America, etc.

They'd have to make an engine that emphasized brigade, vice division, sized units. You'd also have to rework the game to have smaller provinces (if you're going to retain that system at all). You'd have to model satellites, long-ranged naval combat, tactical missiles, tactical nuclear weapons (that don't destroy an entire province) etc. For example, it would be very difficult in the current game to model soviet anti-ship tactics with their long ranged cruise missiles. You'd also have to make a provision for mid-air refueling (I don't think simply extending the range of units would suffice), update amphibious warfare (meaning model specialized amphibious naval vessels), greatly enhance the usefulness of aircraft carriers, model littoral and deep water naval combat, etc...

The list goes on and on. I'd rather have two games (maybe with a convertor) that models two seperate time periods very well instead of one game that does two seperate time periods with mediocre results.

Ok, well i guess you are right in that sense, Korea and Vietnam were similar in the small platoon/brigade type of combat, but it still could be possible, but maybe HOI3 could ahve 2 diferent parts of the game, the original type of ww2 comabt and another part that focuses on wars like Korea, Vietnam and maybe even Modern day in Iraq and what not.

 

[unmerged(54933)]

1. Completly revork AI. It is maximaly stupid when enemy or allies out of your control flys with strenght 10 and org 0 planes. Or watching 60 US divs sitting on god-forgotten island in the pacific. Or sinking unprotected transport ships. Also thing that AI sees ever is stupid. AI could have another bonuses to challange players.
2. Improve naval combat. In the world the sea covers 60% of globe and is who rules see, could rule the world.
3. Change of a research system.
To research more techs, not only 2/3 of all available in global a half of all.
4. Change Divisional system into batallion system (more complicated, but more variable - who dont want it could have a switch to automatic template formation building).
5. Supply lines. May be done by implementing a rail system. Supplies moves from one point to another, they are not dropping from the sky and ESE do not means what amount of them will be find
6. Remake of Strategic materials. It could be a more difficult to get a rare materials for germans and oil for Japan. Also a huge stocpiling when plaing from 36 is stupid idea.

 

[krieger11b]

How about the quality of the unit you build is according to the level of the tech team that researched it, or the one you got a blueprint from? It's an easy way to solve the whole issue of countries like Italy being able to make tanks of the same quality as Germany, or New Zealand building a CV equivalent to the one of the US Navy.

 

[perragradeen]

Problems with micro management

I have found some problems with micro management, they and some solution suggestions are available on this site:

In Swedish:
http://tjoho.vry.sgsnet.se:8000/1/HOI2/Problem - webbver/Problem-svensk.htm

In a machine translation to English:
http://tjoho.vry.sgsnet.se:8000/1/HOI2/Problem - webbver/Problem-machinetranslated from swedish.htm

This is very hard to translate, so if anyone is good in translating Swedish to English, they can send me an e-mail on:
perragradeen (at) hotmail.com

In English (coming?)

http://tjoho.vry.sgsnet.se:8000/1/HOI2/Problem - webbver/Problem-english.htm

 

[Raze]

Here's an idea, but it is a very simple one...

I have seen the screen shots of EU3 and they look very pleasing visually. But I hope that HOI3 will not be oriented the same way. I prefer the 2D map, though I'm sure that I'm in the minority. What would be cool is if you could move the map around a sphere shaped map but still look 2D. Again, I'm sure that I'm in the minority.

 

[TheCrimsonMajor]

I would like avisually pleasing, but simple map, but based on a globe. Sort of a 2d 3d..... Like holding a living globe in your hand, but not being able to zoom in much.