Paradox Interactive

[GarfunkeL]

For those who are interested in HoI3, a beta AAR

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/sho ... p?t=412229

The AI seems much improved from HoI2 as far as I can tell.

The AI is good at holding a front. The real proof of how good it is will be seen when we can see how the naval part works and naval invasions work. and how well the AI holds several fronts and distribute their troops.

In that beta he played the AI will concentrate 100% of their forces to one front. The AI will also not produce any new divisions.

The press preview beta version didn't have naval or strategic AI implemented. That's the reason he managed to drive to Moscow when playing as Finland - no strategic AI to hijack troops from Romanian front and to put them to the Leningrad front.

But the theater AI seems decent - it tries to encircle your troops AND it is able to spot you doing the same, trying to rescue its troops.

It's how Paradox AI have always been constructed - in several layers instead of one big script. At least they built the AI from scratch this time instead of recycling old scripts. And PI hired the guy who single handed wrote all the improved AI scripts for DD and Armageddon, which improved the AI quite a bit from vanilla - anyway, as soon as Armageddon was finished, they hired him on the spot to start working on AI for HoI3.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Now I get to fight my true foes. This at least gives me a excuse to that core province from Navarra and African colonies from Spain and Portugal. I just landed some troops in England and found them strange devoid of troops. Strangely, there are a lot of portuguese troops in Scotland, and Wales is doing farly well.

I hope I get to liberate some vassals in England after the war. Its always good to make that region more confusing.

Yeah, the AI in older PI games sometimes makes really weird troop movements but usually you can live with it. You should try to kick all invaders from the mainland France and narrow your vulnerable borders as much as possible. Keeping a Cavalry army (doesn't even have to be very large) around and using it to smash rebellions and landings is very useful.

Also, don't forget religious conversions, helps with province stability. Of course, if the missionaries fail, its instant rebellion

Gah, now I wanna play EU2... I wonder where the CD and the nifty map are..

 

[CarnivalBizarre]

Damn, going to the Hoi3 forum every day now waiting for the release, it's like a torture with a hopefully sweet ending...

 

[Cassidy]

One of the biggest flaws of the AI in HoI 2 is its apparent incapability to properly use the "Synchronize arrival" function. If this changes in HoI 3 the difficulty level may increase significantly just because of that, specially when playing nations that are bound to be invaded/attacked like Republican Spain, Poland and Nat China.

 

[kris]

One of the biggest flaws of the AI in HoI 2 is its apparent incapability to properly use the "Synchronize arrival" function. If this changes in HoI 3 the difficulty level may increase significantly just because of that, specially when playing nations that are bound to be invaded/attacked like Republican Spain, Poland and Nat China.

This is a much smaller problem to begin with with the longer battles.

 

[SCO]

The HoI 2 LP is giving me a hard-on.

When does HoI 3 come out?

 

[drunkpriest]

Demo and game come out tomorrow.
Heres the manual- http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/sho ... p?t=415533
Demo is tomorrow morning, and amazon and other sites are shipping out tomorrow, at least in the USA.

 

[poocolator]

TomorrowÉ SeriouslyÉ!
Now I gotta wait for a savegame converter, because I sooo want to continue my mega-campaigns. Good stuff.

EDIT:
friggin Canadian-French keyboard.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Read the manual.

Whoa. So many changes from old. If the manual isn't filled with hyperbole and lies, I can put TOAW to rest. Probably PACWAR as well.

Oh well. But at least we can be sure that we'll get a patch on the 7th.

 

[poocolator]

Whoa. So many changes from old. If the manual isn't filled with hyperbole and lies, I can put TOAW to rest. Probably PACWAR as well.

TOAW? Seriously? Is HOI3 more like TOAW than HOI2 was? I find that TOAW provides something HOI2 doesn't, so I play both.

maps

Looks like you're doing well for yourself, nice. Are you at war with anyone right now? Is Brazil your colony?

 

[Krokar]

HoI3 demo is out.

http://www.fz.se/filer/?id=9086

http://www.gamingtrend.com/video/HeartsofIron3_Demo.exe

The playable demo gives players a taste of what they can expect from the complete game upon its release. Containing the Tutorial plus Single Player Campaign of 1939, the Hearts of Iron III demo allows you to play as either Germany, France, Poland or the United Kingdom for the first four months of World War II.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Whoa. So many changes from old. If the manual isn't filled with hyperbole and lies, I can put TOAW to rest. Probably PACWAR as well.

TOAW? Seriously? Is HOI3 more like TOAW than HOI2 was? I find that TOAW provides something HOI2 doesn't, so I play both.

Yup. Thanks to more provinces and the new realistic command structure, waging war is now much closer to TOAW-style than old HoI-style.

Hah and no big surprise that retards are already bitching at Pdox forums that the game is too slow and too complicated.

 

[poocolator]

Hah and no big surprise that retards are already bitching at Pdox forums that the game is too slow and too complicated.

This.... is a good thing :D
I'm going to get me a copy yeeeeehaaw

 

[entertainer]

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/sho ... p?t=415937

 

[MetalCraze]

That's why we love jews, isn't it

 

[Krokar]

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415937

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

The tutorial makes fun of Hitler. If I had pre-ordered this I'd be cancelling it because it's humour reminds me of Space Rangers 2 or King's Bounty.

 

[Spectacle]

After playing the demo for a bit, it seems like the game will be good fun, but it has lots of minor issues and glitches. I guess it will follow the typical Paradox pattern: not fully playable until the second patch, and doesn't realise it's full potential until the expansion.

The new command hierarchy system seems like it will take some getting used too, but should be ok, especially once you get to organize your order of battle peacefully before the war. The organization you get in 1939 is a mess, and there's no time to reorganize since the war is on.

 

[poocolator]

The war...
... she is ON!

 

[Destroid]

No one can defeat the size of Tito's head.

 

[poocolator]

Colonies are the lifeblood for you because they'll enable trade centres at places like New York and the such. They'll boost your income immensely, but I can't offer advice because I've never done well in colonizing

If by BB you mean Bad-Boy rating, then I think the only way you can lower it is over time by not fighting, taking land, sending insults, or hogging trade centres (out of the ordinary). There's no other way that I can remember :/ BB is a bitch and it haunts you like a bad uncle.

You could try to ingratiate yourself with some neutral powers so that the others would think twice before attacking you. War always involves three sides: yours, theirs, and the crowd. The more states on your side or the enemy's, and not as part of the crowd, the fewer surprises.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yeah, BB is bad but you can try to anticipate it; ie, don't annex a big country until your armies have rebuilt. Even whole Europe/Middle-East spanning BB wars are survivable. Of course, the BB you rack up by annexing the first round means that you'll soon face second round but that is the life of would-be World Conqueror!

You need plenty of explorers to help the colonizing effort and it's expensive as shit. Explorers also tend to die and colonies tend to fail, so never leave your hopes on just one or two of either.

And at some point, if you keep growing, the diplomatic system pretty much breaks down because of the BB - it's a flawed concept that was introduced to stop players from too easy WC's.

 

[kghy]

Of course, the BB you rack up by annexing the first round means that you'll soon face second round but that is the life of would-be World Conqueror!

BB problems are mostly avoidable as long as you don't do stupid stuff like war annex a one province country that has your state religion (something like 7 BB points if I remember correctly). Instead, you should go about it in a more sensible way: first vassalize the defeated country, then wait ten years, and finally diplo annex (only 1 BB point).

 

[CarnivalBizarre]

Must say Hoi3 is looking really sweet. Is runs to slow by far but is really sweet. The AI control system works far better than hoped and when you are fighting a two front war you can rely on the AI to handle one of them. To early for verdicts though...