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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Enjoy posted:

The logistics side is definitely my favourite part of HoI4. Researching tech, designing the equipment, putting it into production lines, designing the formation the equipment will be fielded by, then training the divisions and sending reinforcements to them in the field... the whole thing is interconnected, it's amazing. Have any other games tried to do something similar? 4x games like Master of Orion or Stellaris basically ignore equipment as a tangible resource you have to produce and stockpile

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1154840/Shadow_Empire/

Shadow Empire (and Advanced Tactics Gold before it)

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Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

gradenko_2000 posted:

I think it was Len Hafer from Three Moves Ahead that said that one of Imperator's issues was that there was just no way you could get people interested in most of the factions in the game except as targets to be conquered.

In that context, Hearts of Iron is perhaps the most directly relatable game, coupled with the most directly understandable goal - world conquest, or close to it.

That the Focus system also provides an easily understood narrative as well as gameplay progression is also a big plus.

Yeah, I think it's this. The closer a game has to factions that you can relate to, the more interested people will be in playing it. Hearts of Iron is the closest to modern day and has a lot of countries that still exist in the modern day or the ability to form them, while following historical narratives you've read and watched about extensively. And in Crusader Kings, the relatability factor comes from the ability to roleplay. With Imperator, people watch movies, shows, and documentaries about Ancient Rome, the Greeks, Carthage, and Persia, but most other factions are completely unknown to the average person. And if the game isn't going to give these unknown factions any character either, then you have little reason to care about them. This isn't the only factor that matters (otherwise EU4 wouldn't be more popular than Vicky 3), but it seems like a pretty big one.

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
I think the only names on Imperator map that are still there on the map are Egypt and Armenia. Unlike, say, EU4, where most modern countries are one step from being formed by somebody if not already there.

The density and detail of Imperator doesn't really work for most people. Total War games approach of making just a few playable factions with every one having some charged identity works better for a setting like this. I like how Fields of Glory Empires handles this: it is a much more abstracted than I:R and most of the map is filled with passive "independents", including even parts of Greece (Olympia is a free real estate), which sounds primitive but this also means that every single country present on the map has a unique description, traits, something.

Frionnel
May 7, 2010

Friends are what make testing worth it.
Imperator's start date is a weakness too, i feel, because Egypt, the Seleucids, the Antigonids and Mauryas already feel like end game empires. Being around them is daunting. These games work better when you start small or middle sized and work your way up.

Koramei
Nov 11, 2011

I have three regrets
The first is to be born in Joseon.
I'll agree relatability is a major plus for games, but I think you can get people interested in unknown factions if you do it right. Total War tends to nail it, and Imperator utterly failed.

Hellioning
Jun 27, 2008

HoI is popular because it's the most focused game in a time period people know and are fond of.

Gort
Aug 18, 2003

Good day what ho cup of tea
I like it in a kind of "What if *Allied country* prepped for WW2 like this" way, but HoI 4's AI is pretty terrible.

Mandoric
Mar 15, 2003
HoI4's unquestionably a beer-and-pretzels (and specifically beer-and-pretzels, not vodka-and-chechil or sake-and-arare) sim at best, but to some degree I find that more forgivable, or at least more explicable, with something set in recent history--there is a very clear modern western doctrine, say, so its thought processes being the baseline for a game from a western studio even if they're not necessarily supported or if they don't match how even the west actually fought the war makes sense in a way that isn't nearly as clear as time winds back.

It also makes for a very satisfying gameplay loop, which I think explains a good amount of the popularity. Take personal command of the things that go vroom and produce measurable swings in the overall war over the course of a few dozen ticks, regroup and repeat, rather than waiting on advancement counters or siege rolls.

StashAugustine
Mar 24, 2013

Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

gradenko_2000 posted:

I think it was Len Hafer from Three Moves Ahead that said that one of Imperator's issues was that there was just no way you could get people interested in most of the factions in the game except as targets to be conquered.

Lmao if you play any classical game as Rome

Cynic Jester
Apr 11, 2009

Let's put a simile on that face
A dazzling simile
Twinkling like the night sky
HoI4 is the best Fallout game since New Vegas. Kaiserreich is cool too. I think I'm approaching 4 digit hours played and I'm at 0 achievements thanks to only playing modded.

RabidWeasel
Aug 4, 2007

Cultures thrive on their myths and legends...and snuggles!

Frionnel posted:

Imperator's start date is a weakness too, i feel, because Egypt, the Seleucids, the Antigonids and Mauryas already feel like end game empires. Being around them is daunting. These games work better when you start small or middle sized and work your way up.

Yeah, as fun as "the Diadochi wars might go differently every game!" might seem from a design perspective, having a map with a few gigantic empires and everything else is barely a city state isn't great for giving a lot of interesting options. In retrospect the EU: Rome start date was probably a better choice.

Dallan Invictus
Oct 11, 2007

The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes, look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
This is true but on the bright side there's (to my fuzzy recollections of both games) a daunting amount more space in to exist as a smallish state coming to grips with the mechanics in Imperator vs EU Rome since the map is so much bigger

unfortunately most of it never gets played because all the places anyone knows/who aren't tribals are in the thick of the superpower mess, so you get the choice of "play Rome", "play an endgame threat when you barely know the game", "get crushed by said endgame threat", or "play someone small enough and safe enough to learn with but with no theme or flavour or pre-existing historical knowledge on your part to connect to"

in retrospect it's a marvel the game is as popular as it is

that said I still want to try it again and helpfully it isn't currently a moving target like, say, CK3

Dallan Invictus fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Apr 21, 2024

Stairmaster
Jun 8, 2012

ilitarist posted:



Years ago Paradox were willing to rework a lot of HoI4 after they showed alpha version to people, even back then they knew they can't make any mistakes with their biggest games.

wasn't that before they were publicly traded

soviet elsa
Feb 22, 2024
lover of cats and snow

ilitarist posted:

I think the only names on Imperator map that are still there on the map are Egypt and Armenia. Unlike, say, EU4, where most modern countries are one step from being formed by somebody if not already there.

The density and detail of Imperator doesn't really work for most people. Total War games approach of making just a few playable factions with every one having some charged identity works better for a setting like this. I like how Fields of Glory Empires handles this: it is a much more abstracted than I:R and most of the map is filled with passive "independents", including even parts of Greece (Olympia is a free real estate), which sounds primitive but this also means that every single country present on the map has a unique description, traits, something.

Macedonia erasure.

I agree with other posters for real. Imperator should have taken a clue from Total War and started with Pyrrhus in Italy as the Byz challenge to Rome’s Ottomans.

soviet elsa fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Apr 22, 2024

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012

People get mad at parts of the map being empty but the only people playing Tannu Tuva or Ryukyu are doing it for the memes.

JonBolds
Feb 6, 2015


ilitarist posted:

Years ago Paradox were willing to rework a lot of HoI4 after they showed alpha version to people, even back then they knew they can't make any mistakes with their biggest games.

I was at this preview event and this is pretty much how it went. They put us in a very small scenario (invade poland) and it was some great visuals and promising concepts but the systems clearly weren't working as intended with Dan Lind and another developer, who I regret I cannot remember the name of, being quite enthusiastic about the parts that worked and doing small frowns about the bits that didn't. Lo and behold a few months later at E3 they publicly delay it to mid-2016.

Ironically I almost immediately afterward had hands-on with a really impressive near-final build of Cities Skylines.

Stairmaster posted:

wasn't that before they were publicly traded

Yes

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist

JonBolds posted:

I was at this preview event and this is pretty much how it went.

Oh hey, it's you. I remember this story from Three Moves Ahead episode, I think.


soviet elsa posted:

Macedonia erasure.

I agree with other posters for real. Imperator should have taken a clue from Total War and started with Pyrrhus in Italy as the Byz challenge to Rome’s Ottomans.

It really is a problem even for TW where the lost of playable factions is limited and each one gets special treatment with VA, art and gameplay. People don't want to play as Pontus. Lately they switched to character-focused factions but it limits the scope a lot and I'm not sure how well it works outside of adaptations of character-focused novels like Three Kingdoms and Troy.

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

Stairmaster posted:

wasn't that before they were publicly traded

The majority shareholders of Paradox post-IPO are the same people as before the IPO.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Imperator Rome is on sale until May 9th in celebration of a new patch being released, for those of you who want to start Maximusmaxxing

Toalpaz
Mar 20, 2012

Peace through overwhelming determination
Folks, I am trying to get into Hearts of Iron 3. I chose it because it's a little more military grand strategy than most solitaire economy/military simulation games and unfortunately I've been watching a lot of history documentaries.

The game is kind of poorly documented, has several DLCs and mods, and because it is over ten years old I'm having trouble finding ancient forums posts and videos that succinctly summarize key concepts like production gearing (practicals), supply, and the cost benefit of certain tools (diplomatic influence vs spy political party support).

Is the only way to kind of get a sign post of how I'm doing actually spending 600 hours in the game?

I just want to know if my run is hosed because transport ships take 2/3rds of a year to build and I am in 1937 already and need to reinforce Prussia to invade Poland.

I only have the base game. :shobon: I'll buy the mods when they go on sale and wanted to do a vanilla run before trying black ice, which is supposed to smooth over some delicious bullshit I want to experience.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


Why 3 and not 4? There's not really going to be a lot of resources for 3 around these days

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

The most obvious suggestion is to just play Hearts of Iron 4. It's a far better game in almost every possible way and is much better documented and tutorialized as well.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Even if there are probably some that would argue as to the quality between HoI3 and HoI4, I don't think there'd be much argument that HoI3 is, like, the worst game to try and get into. You'd go through many, many headaches to get anywhere, and very few people can actually help.

Toalpaz
Mar 20, 2012

Peace through overwhelming determination
I don't like the front line bar, I wanna build chits and right click them to the front line.

Otherwise I'd play Vicky 3!

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

Toalpaz posted:

I don't like the front line bar, I wanna build chits and right click them to the front line.

Otherwise I'd play Vicky 3!

if that’s what you’re looking for instead of an absolutely insane number of provinces and OOB system you should probably pick up darkest hour instead

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Toalpaz posted:

I don't like the front line bar, I wanna build chits and right click them to the front line.

Otherwise I'd play Vicky 3!

I have bad news for you regarding HoI3's Theater system.

Archduke Frantz Fanon
Sep 7, 2004

Just play aresenal of democracy which is about to get a big update

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
In the absence of a much longer post since I am on my phone you really want to play Arsenal of Democracy if pushing counters around is your jam and if you insist on HOI3 you really want all of the DLC because the base game is very bad/busted.

Toalpaz
Mar 20, 2012

Peace through overwhelming determination
I don't think you all understand, no one has tricked me into playing HoI3 and I will do so whether I recieved assistance or not.

I was just vibe checking the room to see if there were old people who remembered it and loved it and were knowledgeable.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Okay if you're an unironic HOI3 holdout I am going to effortpost about it in the morning.

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

Toalpaz posted:

people who remembered it and loved it

i have found the error in your logic

Gort
Aug 18, 2003

Good day what ho cup of tea
lol hoi3 was awful

Zeron
Oct 23, 2010
My favorite part of HoI3 was that you could automate basically everything in the game. Good times.

JosefStalinator
Oct 9, 2007

Come Tbilisi if you want to live.




Grimey Drawer
Hoi 3 was bad and most people played modded hoi2 til 4 came out.

Radia
Jul 14, 2021

And someday, together.. We'll shine.
my evil secret is i think hoi4 is also bad :twisted:

Dr Kool-AIDS
Mar 26, 2004

I think the whacky alt-history mission trees are both the best and worst part of HOI4, and it's all thanks to or the fault of All the Russias/Kaiserreich.

ThatBasqueGuy
Feb 14, 2013

someone introduce jojo to lazyb


We found the one hoi3 holdout

A Buttery Pastry
Sep 4, 2011

Delicious and Informative!
:3:

ThatBasqueGuy posted:

We found the one hoi3 holdout
A werwolf if you will.

AAAAA! Real Muenster
Jul 12, 2008

My QB is also named Bort

Toalpaz posted:

I was just vibe checking the room to see if there were old people who remembered it and loved it and were knowledgeable.
I played it and didnt hate it because it was the first videogame I played that scratched the itch of the old war hex games I played. However that was 15+ years ago and I dont remember poo poo. Especially because I have since played a bunch of HoI4, which clouds the HoI3 memories.


Radia posted:

my evil secret is i think hoi4 is also bad :twisted:
Its not evil if you're right. I dont even keep it a secret, I really dislike the direction the game has gone ever since the DLC with the Netherlands focus tree. The focus trees in that DLC were good to great and not wildly overly complicated (except for Mexicos being a bit spicy, but I was ok with that because they a sideshow in the war so it effectively added content where otherwise there was nothing to do). However the boat designer was way too over the top for that kind of game. Its a great boat designer, but I never actually used it for anything worthwhile because the war ends fast enough and one individual boats performance has such a remarkably small impact on large naval battles that it just did not feel worth it (that and NAVs cure boats). The boat designer was so good it made me want to learn to mod so I could make a good naval combat game.

After that DLC the focus trees went off the deep end. And I'm not saying "oh its dumb Turkey can form Turania" or "Bulgaria can subjugate then annex all of the Balkans way too easily" but more of a "I cant do basic poo poo without needing to spend what feels like hours studying the focus tree to understand how to do something even remotely historical". Trying to play as the USSR post-focus tree revamp felt like an exercise in agony.
edit: or coherently, because if you want to switch to Communist as France you have to jump through hoops that require tons of reading ahead through the focuses and having foreknoweldge of events that can happen by taking certain focuses.

Then all the new designers started coming out. We dont need a tank designer! Or a designer designer!

AAAAA! Real Muenster fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Apr 25, 2024

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Gort
Aug 18, 2003

Good day what ho cup of tea
Yeah, I do wish the historical order of focuses was displayed on the national focus screen. The game knows what it is, since it's what the AI uses in historical mode. Being forced into the historical order could even be a way of raising the difficulty (especially if you're France, oh my god)

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