I shelved this game for awhile after getting it with the preorder last year, is it worth coming back to?
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This is something I'd also be interested in hearing. I own the original game, but was very, very quickly turned off of it at release, and haven't come back to it. However, I've recently been playing a lot of V2, really enjoyed it, and have been wondering if HoI3 was worth giving a second chance.
However, I don't own either of the expansions, and, honestly, am very, very leery about shelling out $40 (for a second time...) on a game that I'm not at all sure I'll enjoy. So as an addendum to the above question, I'm also wondering if anyone happens to know if vanilla HoI3, without the patches, is playable.
However, I don't own either of the expansions, and, honestly, am very, very leery about shelling out $40 (for a second time...) on a game that I'm not at all sure I'll enjoy. So as an addendum to the above question, I'm also wondering if anyone happens to know if vanilla HoI3, without the patches, is playable.
Well why did you shelve it? If you got turned off to it because it was so buggy and running like total crap on release then come back cause this game runs very well now even just vanilla is good and there are lots of mods to try out for vanilla too. If you got turned off cause you couldn't get over the gigantic learning curve to learn this game, then you probably will feel even worse when you buy the expo's and realize its just even more stuff to learn that you had no patience for the first time around. My suggestion is install vanilla, update it to 1.4, play it, learn it. If you really enjoy it then buy the expansions.
If you own just HoI3 I'd get at least Semper Fi before getting back into it. Though FTM makes things even better or so I heard, there are still kinks to work out but supply issues one would find Pre-SF/FTM are not as eye catching.
Hey, all,
So I just jumped into a 1.4 game as Saudi Arabia. As of mid 1939, I've seen two things that have bothered me:
1. The Allies sided with Nationalist China in 1937 or 1938. This is great. However, in response, the Japanese decided to send a Grand Army to retaliate on French soil. The took Normandy and hung out there until war broke out between France and Germany, and the two sides met right at Paris. This just seems idiotic; the Japanese entirely ignored French Indochina, Dutch Indonesia, British Malaysia, Australia, hell, even India, in order to send an army on to quite literally the opposite side of the world. Was this just a freak occurance, or does this sort of thing happen often? Also, incidentally, I saw that New Zealand was listed as the alliance leader for Japan's war. Huh?
2. When Germany started the war with the Allies, it, for whatever reason, decided the make it a limited war and didn't call any of the Axis powers. Maybe there was a girl that it was trying to impress by taking on a third of the world by itself. Regardless, Italy, Portugal, Hungary and I are all now forced to sit back and watch whatever happens to Germany happening without being able to volunteer to join the war. Am I missing something?
So I just jumped into a 1.4 game as Saudi Arabia. As of mid 1939, I've seen two things that have bothered me:
1. The Allies sided with Nationalist China in 1937 or 1938. This is great. However, in response, the Japanese decided to send a Grand Army to retaliate on French soil. The took Normandy and hung out there until war broke out between France and Germany, and the two sides met right at Paris. This just seems idiotic; the Japanese entirely ignored French Indochina, Dutch Indonesia, British Malaysia, Australia, hell, even India, in order to send an army on to quite literally the opposite side of the world. Was this just a freak occurance, or does this sort of thing happen often? Also, incidentally, I saw that New Zealand was listed as the alliance leader for Japan's war. Huh?
2. When Germany started the war with the Allies, it, for whatever reason, decided the make it a limited war and didn't call any of the Axis powers. Maybe there was a girl that it was trying to impress by taking on a third of the world by itself. Regardless, Italy, Portugal, Hungary and I are all now forced to sit back and watch whatever happens to Germany happening without being able to volunteer to join the war. Am I missing something?
For your second reason, it is only a limited war because in real life Italy for instance was not at war with the allies until invading France when victory there was already assured. Germany was the only member of the Axis at war for the first couple months.
As for the first reason, well, it worked, didn't it? The A.I. using gamey tactics itself. But I haven't seen that happen myself ever, at least since Semper Fi came out, but I'm sure it still does.
I would say so, started playing again last week. After a week of playing, I think I'm getting the hang of it now.
Will even get the expansions when I have spare cash.
Will even get the expansions when I have spare cash.
Like you I had bought the game on preorder and after a few frustrating weeks of trying to get the hang of it, I stopped because it just wasn't any fun. I am a veteran of HOI and HOI2 Doomsday and I was very disapointed with the state HOI3 was in when it came out. I shelved it until recently (I waited for patches and expansion packs). I got Semper Fi and For the Motherland for a good price and it was money well spent. I honestly feel that HOI3 now lives up to my lofty expectations. It is definitely the best WW2 game I have had the pleasure to play (even better than Doomsday). My recommendation to you: get the expansion packs, they are worth it. I haven't tried any mods yet but I will see to that shortly.
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I was about to start a thread asking this very question. Is it "fixed"? Or is it still all mucked up? My main concerns were the screwy supply issues and the inability to directly control the war. I don't want to watch the ai play, I want to play.
Let me preface my answers with, it goes differently almost every time you play....
1. As I remember 1.4, nat china would be at war well before they get invited by the UK, they accept and join but the war does not transfer to the allies, it stays limited. What amazes me is that japan spared troops to help finish off france. Either way, kudos for a unique game, thats what makes me play over and over, the quirky differences.
2. The axis always do limited wars till barbarosa. Its a game balance issue and historically accurate. Italy joined last minute when it was pretty much over. You do NOT want a Japanese/china war giving axis powers Full economic mobilisation and Service by requirement in 37
As for missing something, are you lowering your neutrality with spies, and are you raising the UK/French threats with spies in their country? In 1.4 you still have that ability, they take it out in FTM. Also ministers can lower neutrality too. You can also go in and edit your neutrality to 0 so you can declare war on whomever you want. Only the allies faction had it where a war would pull the entire team in. Dunno if its possible in 1.4 but you can also proclaim guarantees on nations like germany and italy and ethiopia that will draw you into the war too...thats how the war starts, with poland being guaranteed by the allies.
Supply system in 1.4 is still garbage. In Semperfi its pretty much got most of the really bad stuff fixed, then in FTM they fix the bugs in asia and rework the map slightly for supply issues, its still the same magically unpredicatable system though. In all honesty I bet most of the supply complaints are of people not realizing that the grounds muddy, their Revoltrisk is high, or theres really nasty winter/weather goin on in the region. Or they think 1 port can support 5 corps of soldiers. As for the AI thing, that statement confuses me. I have no idea what you are talking about, are you referring to another game or something? The AI in this game can be used to control any feature/aspect of the game but is always choosable by the player. Infact when you go to start a campaign the right side of the map shows a bunch of options to change from AI to player. You can also turn on and off HQ AI's too. I see the HQ AI as a very helpful ally especially in really large theatres of operations.
Supply WAD, I've never had issues of supply not working as it should, ie there are strategic/geographic etc considerations that put limits on it. (unless you play in arcade mode that is)
In regards to controlling war; if you mean, can you directly control other countries than your own? No. You can request the help of your allies in a province but that's as far as it goes.
I see that you don't have Semper Fi nor For the Motherland (or at the least, you haven't registered them) so you might still consider HOI3 as not 'fixed'. I have not played a single game between HOI3 vanilla and FtM 3.05, so I can't tell you about versions in between. But what I can tell you is that playing with FtM 3.05 is nothing at all like playing HOI3 vanilla.
The game IS 'fixed'. The effort that went in to organize supply, for instance, is nothing short of stupendous. The improvements are felt on every level of the game. I am not saying that the game is perfect as it is now, but it is certainly very enjoyable.
At first, I also felt that the game was playing by itself and that I was mostly a spectator. Especially because I had a difficult time working with the theaters of war. But with FtM, the Order of Battle has made working with the theaters of war a piece of cake. You can take hold of every aspect of the game if you want to and you will really get the feeling that YOU are playing and making all the decisions. What you delegate to the AI is really up to you.
Thanks for the quick, multiple replies guys. My "problem" with the supply system can be summed up with one example: Playing the USA, I was moving troops just outside of Denver Colorado and they kept running out of supply. WTF? That really irritated me. How do a couple brigades run out of supply within spitting distance of a major city like that?
Regarding the ai control issue, keep in mind that I dropped this game after the first patch came out and it was still "unplayable", IIRC you could not define your own theaters. Additionally, every time I gave my troops orders, they ended up doing something else totally ruining my plans. I have been playing AoD and most recently DH ever since. HOI3 showed great promise, but it seemed to me that they spent too much effort on graphics and not enough on "playability". Thus I wonder, is the base game playable? or do you have to spend even more money to make it so?
Regarding the ai control issue, keep in mind that I dropped this game after the first patch came out and it was still "unplayable", IIRC you could not define your own theaters. Additionally, every time I gave my troops orders, they ended up doing something else totally ruining my plans. I have been playing AoD and most recently DH ever since. HOI3 showed great promise, but it seemed to me that they spent too much effort on graphics and not enough on "playability". Thus I wonder, is the base game playable? or do you have to spend even more money to make it so?
In one of my current games I had a Carrier fleet in liverpool, I think it was, they had been sitting there for about 3 months during peacetime without getting enough fuel or supplies
so I pulled the planes off the ships and put them on the airbase in the same provence. All of a sudden the program realised that supplies were needed and started sending them. I put the planes back on the ships and the supplies and fuel went straight back into the red.
So yes the supply system is still the worst thing about this game but its not as bad as it was.
so I pulled the planes off the ships and put them on the airbase in the same provence. All of a sudden the program realised that supplies were needed and started sending them. I put the planes back on the ships and the supplies and fuel went straight back into the red.
So yes the supply system is still the worst thing about this game but its not as bad as it was.
I tend to play each major version intensely for a few months, and each time has been better than the one before. It will never be perfect, but FTM 3.05 is the best HOI experience I've had to date.
Pretty good examples of complaints that are not fair about the supply system. You two would benefit from arcade mode. I would not see those problems with my knowledge of how the supply system works.
I'm assuming your military (or that theatre, etc) was AI controlled then? I personally have never used the AI, but if thats whats going on I don't see the issue. The AI controlled troops aren't taking orders from you but rather their superior. You have to direct that superior and he will accomplish those goals his own way.
At least, thats my take on it