Paradox Grand Strategy: Tim Cook? How many divisions has he got?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Paradox Grand Strategy: Tim Cook? How many divisions has he got?

«‹›3 »

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

So, I've been watching the WWW videos and it got me wanting to try up HoI again. I heard the 3rd isn't superb though, so should I just go for the second one instead? Tips and hints on what I should look for to have fun and learn without to much problem how to play?

/edit/
Does this write up sounds right? Seems I would enjoy HoI 3 more what with not having to micro manage every single details.

quote:

Lots of people will tell you that micromanagement is an issue in HoI 3, but the issue seems to be that the game wasn't meant to be played with you controlling each division individually.
The purpose of be Order of Battle was to streamline combat by connecting your divisions to various HQs, and then those HQs to HQs, and then those HQs to higher up HQ's, and so forth until you have an OOB with divisions under corps under armies under army groups under Theatre HQs. This sounds like it would just big you down by needlessly creating a ton of units that need to be positioned carefully, but the real purpose was for you to just turn the AI on at whatever HQ level, and let it handle unit placement, composition and everything else on its own.

For example, if you turned in the AI at theatre level, you can just set strategic objectives for it by making sure the HQ is selected, the AI has been switched on, and then right clicking on a province. That HQ will then automatically order all its units to attack towards that province. Setting multiple provinces as strategic objectives will widen up your front and make sure you don't have too many units in a small area. You can also set what kind of stance the unit has. You have defensive, prepare (for an offensive), attacking, and blitzing, each with its risks and merits. It will also allow you to set stance for naval and air units under its control.

The biggest issue people on this sub seem to have is setting strategic objectives for the AI. While the AI will attack freely on its own, setting several strategic objectives will ensure that your offensives are decisive rather than dragged out and exhausting with little real impact. As you go down the OOB and turn on the AI at more and more specific points, you'll be making the game more difficult because you'll have to micromanage individual army groups, armies, or corps, rather than just letting the theatre HQ handle it all.

The most hardcore mode, if you will, would be just forgetting the AI and controlling each division individually. I wouldn't recommend this unless you like spending upwards of 15 minutes just planning the attack of the Low Countries. Forget about controlling Barbarossa all by yourself. That would take hours for each few weeks of the offensive. One useful feature you should be aware of is that theatres will automatically request units from you as they feel they need. If you don't have enough infantry defending your borders or enough aircraft to defend industry, you will see the separate theatres requesting units from you on the production screen.

This makes the game easy mode. Just keep hitting the "build" button next to the requested units, and turn automatic deployment on. Cake. This is actually a good representation of what it would be like to lead a nation. Just tell your generals "these are the areas we need to capture," and they'll make up their plans for it, and carry it out on their own. This allows you to focus on production efficiency, research, politics, intelligence, and the other facets of the game without being overwhelmed. All you have to do is keep supplying fresh units and objectives, and indicate to the AI when they should be attacking or holding their ground.
As for DH, it's much more of a hands on approach to war, from what I can tell. You must control each army individually, but the provinces are larger and fewer in number. Directing offensives, however, seems to be pretty easy, and combat in general seems much more simplistic, a bit like HoI IV is looking to be. I can't tell you much beyond that because I don't own it myself, but there are some obvious differences. The main issue I have with it is the UI and the map. Not the best looking and a little clunky, but I'm sure there are plenty of mods that will help that out.

As for which one you should purchase, well, just weigh what I've stated above and choose the one that sounds more appealing to you. With the Summer sale coming up soon, I would say you could probably pick both of them up along with the entirety of HoI III's DLC (of which you'll at the least want Semper Fi, For the Motherland, and Their Finest Hour, for playability reasons as well as content) for less than $40. They both are great games, so if you get the opportunity to play both, go for it. In any case, good luck on whichever battlefield you choose!
*EDIT: sorry for the wall of text.

Popoto fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Jan 30, 2016

# ¿ Jan 30, 2016 16:43

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 19:53

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

So, tried my copy of HoI3 and eeeeeeeh F that. I'll be waiting for the fourth game for casuals and stick with Europa and CK meanwhile.

What's the current estimates for the release? I've been reading between March and June?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2016 17:03

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

zedprime posted:

Surprise release goes against the Paradoxest trick in the marketing book, which is letting streamers play it for the week lead up to release.

Yup. If you want to generate word of mouth, one of the best way is to have people going around telling everyone how mad they are that they can't play "X upcoming super good game" that everyone on youtube seems to be playing.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2016 14:12

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Slaughterhouse-Ive posted:

So he's re-writing the Victoria 2 economy? Yeah, meltdowns are fully allowed there.

Personnally, I cannot wait for the Victoria 3 thread so we can argue political factions.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2016 15:22

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Mister Adequate posted:

Good Lord, the speed improvements with The Reaper's Due are insane, how has this wizardly been performed

It's also made multiplayer soooo much more stable. Me and friends used to de sync every 15 mins. Since then it's about once per two hours.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2016 05:36

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

It could be : Victoria 3: Victoria's secret, and then continue to 4 in an amazing feat of quick development.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2016 23:44

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:

On top of that, it is the worst combat system I have ever seen in a 4x, with the auto-engaging anything within some arbitrary range, at which point your ships start moving really slow and get in formation and refuse to take any orders what-so-ever, and often waste time shooting mining structures or other nonsense instead of fighting.

Endless Space was way worse IMHO

# ¿ Jun 30, 2017 14:24

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Fintilgin posted:

* cranks mouse wheel to zoom in until units are visible *
* now lacks all strategic perspective and situational awareness *

This right here is my main gripe with Vicky2

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 23:32

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

The Cheshire Cat posted:

I think this is why the "bad AI" is less noticeable in a game like CK2 than it is in something like HoI4. In CK2 the fiction of the game is that each individual character is an independent agent with their own agenda, which the AI is generally good at doing. Sometimes they make boneheaded decisions but they're boneheaded in a way that makes sense as something the character would choose to do, because they're imperfect at best and inbred morons the rest of the time.

*shiftily glance at Total War Warhammer�s AI that skirts the border of your movement circle to an inch and never attacks the player unless it can crush it in a 2:1 ratio*

# ¿ Nov 23, 2017 15:46

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

The newspaper articles should have been clickbait.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2017 18:43

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

ArchangeI posted:

He will step down in August, leaving every game designer in the company entirely unable to function until someone tells them how to make a game. It is a sad fact that Fred did all the design for all of the games himself, the rest of us are just for show.

You're all gonna get sacked and replaced by martian robots.

^^^^^
lol at people declaring HOI4 and Stellaris as "Bad Games�" in TYOOL 2018.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2018 20:35

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Enjoy posted:

George RR Martin's sci-fi stuff often has genetically engineered plagues deployed by warring galactic superpowers as the backstory for things going on

massive venerial diseases

/oh poo poo new page... uh, space is fun and german tanks are superior

# ¿ Feb 14, 2018 21:34

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Walton Simons posted:

I'm getting real tempted to give Cities: Skylines another go. I didn't really feel challenged by it but I could got on board with just making a landscape look pretty with mods.

Time to pimp out my ol' Cities Skyline Mars map anew I think.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=413390689

Haven't updated in three years so I have no idea if it is still compatible.

j

Have fun! Maybe.

/edit
Map is based on Utopia Planitia's HiRise Topographical data.
/edit2
If there IS a problem, just tell me and I'll see what I can do about it. I wouldn't mind updating it to be current if anything is problematic.

Popoto fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Mar 21, 2018

# ¿ Mar 21, 2018 20:04

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Autonomous Monster posted:

I'm looking at the schedule for the Reboot Develop game dev conference right now and Fredrik Wester is going to be giving a talk on "Marrying Business Models with Game Design" in half an hour. Which sounds like it's going to be directly addressing the DLC problem.

They're streaming the talks on on twitch.

E: but not this talk specifically so gently caress me I guess

If anyone listens to it and would be willing to post the bullet points of what they said, I would be grateful.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2018 19:54

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

algebra testes posted:

Latest hint is game is "easy to spell"

Victoria is easy to spell! It is just as it�s pronounced. Rome on the other hand? Who knows. Is it Rom? Rum? Rome? Rhome? Wome? :iiam:

# ¿ May 14, 2018 17:44

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Veni Vidi Victoria

# ¿ May 18, 2018 02:08

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

StarMinstrel posted:

Veni Vidi Victoria

Also short handed as V3

# ¿ May 18, 2018 02:09

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Anyone know some nice, short, concise videos that show a bit the gameplay of Europa Universalis 4 and CK2? I have a friend that's intrigued by this that I wouldn't mind bringing over from Civilization. I know of some typical let's player but there stuff is not what I would say entry level that wouldn't turn off a new player.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2018 03:24

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Koramei posted:

https://youtu.be/XSlGdnbIUw8

# ¿ Jun 30, 2018 05:49

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Cease to Hope posted:

i wonder if the idea is to just make imperator more of a traditional pass/fail game than most of the PDS games. it's arguably a weakness of EU4 and HOI4 that you are irreparably hosed long before you actually see a game over. i doubt many people ever see an actual game over screen on EU4, rather than just savescumming or just ditching the save first.

My favorite part about HOI4 is that I can actually finish games.

/edit Vicky2 also!

# ¿ Oct 2, 2018 05:24

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

I hope they start doing dev clashes soon. Their EU4 series are my favorite multiplayer series and Imperator looks like it could be fun to watch a dev clash of too.

I love them simply because finding footage of these games with 20 players is extremely rare. It's a unique game experience to witness.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2019 12:48

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Drone posted:

It's not like anyone was chomping at the bit for the console release to come, and I think it came as a surprise to most people.

The shareholders most definitely were. If you think Paradox won�t become poo poo in the next five to ten years from having gone public.... I have news for you.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2019 16:55

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Nothingtoseehere posted:

This, it makes me realize how important the structured starts of EU4/CK2 are for replayability - Stellaris is too samey unless you invest your own meaning into having robots vs slaves vs peaceful happy citizens or whatever. Lots of flavour choices, fundamentally the same gameplay

It helped my games a ton when I had created a few races that I forced spawned. Basically every game I would make a different race, with a different mythos, and play a game with them. If I liked their character they got added to the list. Nowadays with upward of 10 created/played races everything seem so much more lively and with actual characters when I meet/interact with them. It's all in my head of course, but that little exercise changed my appreciation of the game. It was my biggest pet peeve before: the races and their behavior just blended together and I didn't give a poo poo about them.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2019 02:24

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

just listened to the Imperator Rome soundtrack. I'm finding it really underwhelming and bland

EU4, VICKYII, EU:ROME, CK2, HOI4, STELLARIS all have good to amazing soundtracks. But this one just seems to fall flat. It also really doesn't feel like it fits the period, but maybe that's an intentional decision so I can't fault that without knowing more. I loved EU:Rome so I'll probably definitely still play it as it looks like an up to date remake of it with some changes here and there.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2019 04:54

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Poil posted:

I disagree about the music in Stellaris being good. It's not that it's bad it's just that it feels kinda bland and generic to me. Like background "meh". For example March of Profits is amusing but the only things that even stand out are the bits that are totally not Imperial March.

I'm just a sucker for anything synth :unsmith:

# ¿ Apr 22, 2019 16:59

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Baronjutter posted:

Original Moo had a perfectly fine espionage system.

I love how many solved issues MOO had on release in 1993 that every subsequent 4X space game has failed to learn from and struggled with because everyone apes the flashier but flawed moo2.

It was my dream that by "getting rid of the tiles system" they meant a slider system of production like MOO but alas

# ¿ Apr 22, 2019 19:11

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Crazycryodude posted:

Developers churn out more of the same because the hogs have proven they'll buy it, taking creative risks might threaten shareholder value hth

The day that Paradox decided to go on the share market was actually a sad day. We all know how that ends up 10 years down the line.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2019 23:52

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

im playing it too but it's a joke you see? hahah, i play it ironically

# ¿ Jun 21, 2019 02:46

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Victoria, Victorii

# ¿ Jul 12, 2019 20:02

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

ParadoxCon is coming up in a few weeks! Pumped here for the Victoria III announcement.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2019 19:10

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Crazycryodude posted:

CK3 would be intensely stupid to announce rn unless they had some kind of completely revolutionary idea (and actually delivered on it). This doesn't mean it's not CK3 tho, because while all the devs we know and love aren't usually intensely stupid, management and particularly shareholders ARE

We probably have about five years top of ok games still coming out of Paradox until the publicly shared aspect of it destroys it from the inside.

Ck3 would be immensely stupid considering ck2 is basically perfect as is. The only thing left to change is insignificant details.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2019 05:27

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

My favorite thing about Vicky is how you can play tall and become number one.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2019 20:50

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Unfortunate that�s it�s on the Epic store. But it�s fine I have so many games to play, I can wait a year! Hopefully the shareholders understand.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2019 15:42

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Beamed posted:

Are you allergic to other storefronts after GamersGate was spun off from Paradox?

Every time the words epic appears on screen somewhere, I get uncontrollable rashes on top of epileptic attacks. Just writing the word now has burned my fingerprints off. poo poo.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2019 18:58

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

SlothfulCobra posted:

Personally, I prefer GoG, since it's got a real nice commitment to customer service and making sure that the games you buy actually work.

Largely I'm against one big company acting as a funnel through which the bulk of computer games have to go through, and I liked Valve better when they were a developer instead of just a publisher.

GOG's great, if only for starting the idea that it's worthwhile to make old games workable on new OSes, and is literally why we have old ones also available on Steam. GoG, Steam, Humble are all decent marketplaces right now. Epic is hot steaming garbage even if you just look at store functionality. Add to that the skeevy practices of trying to simply buy exclusivity for every PC games they can get their hands on and... lol. //edit oh yeah and the sales they force on devs, another good laugh // (take note: Origin and Uplay are also bad� for these exact same reasons)

-----------------------------

I'm actually really looking forward to Paradox's new game. Victoria would be amazing, but something new and untried is also 100% welcome. I liked Stellaris more than Endless space 1/2, and would be intrigued by a Paradox response to Endless Legends.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2019 22:07

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

laffo

# ¿ Oct 15, 2019 17:20

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Holy poo poo is that the new game announcement? drat lol. Is Paradox trying to pull an Activision-Blizzard here? Hahahahahahhahahahaha gently caress me

-edit- I have no idea when is the stupid ParadoxCon and I can't be arsed to look it up. Someone with a brain please let me know when we have actual news of their -New Franchise product- thing

# ¿ Oct 15, 2019 19:37

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Wait Jake as in DDRJake?

/edit/
Jakes goes on to make mad streaming cash. Johan, Wiz, Groogy and other gently caress off and join him and his pile of cash and make the perfect Victoria IV game, simply titled VIV. A perfect future. A perfect game. The universe ends having reached singularity.

Popoto fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Oct 15, 2019

# ¿ Oct 15, 2019 19:56

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

If it is the artist. Some get explicitly asked to rip off stuff. I've seen big companies that have entire floors operating on pirated copies of 3D Studio Max/Photoshop/what have you. The companies that give a gently caress are very few and far between.

Unionise the industry. Death to the pig lords. Strike for better work conditions. Strike for a company that puts its workers before its shareholders.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2019 02:31

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 19:53

Popoto: Oct 21, 2012; miaow

Oh definitely.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2019 02:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Paradox Grand Strategy: Tim Cook? How many divisions has he got?

«‹›3 »