So, Hearts of Iron 3...

Judging by this AAR over at the Paradox Forums, they seem to have resolved a lot of the excessive micromanagement in some of their previous titles..

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/sho ... p?t=487081

I sort of liked Vicky 1, though they never quite got the economy right - the supply chains in some of the Great Powers were simply broken. However it made a great change from the usual "conquer the world" Paradox fare.

 

If you're playing HOI3 with Semper Fi I cannot recommend the Iron Cross Edition mod (Didays I.C.E.) enough. It adds a shitload of events, units, research, enables the eastern reichkommisariats (Ukranian SS FTW) and improves the AI to booth. Paradox should offer the guy responsible a job.

 

One of the things I always found with the Paradox titles, no matter how buggy they might be on release, is the strength of the community. If in doubt, wait for the patches, and then some sort of user mod that suits your style of play will loom over the horizon. You then get a really good strategy title for few ££. In the days of dumbed down shit, it's worth encouraging them to some degree or another financially.

But then, I bought nothing from Paradox since HOI2 + Doomsday, so I might be talking shit. But rather some shit than some of the "entertainment" we are served up with nowadays.

PS: The ICE mods for any of the HOI series have been great.

 

Exactly. I don't preorder very often, but when it comes to Paradox games I try my best to ensure I do. There aren't many vestiges of 'true' gaming nowadays, and I would prefer to keep the ones who try afloat any way possible. Granted, their games do usually come out in a non-playable state, but with persistence and consistent patching they inevitably become quite good. EU3 at the onset was not very good, but with expansions and the various user mods it is now an amazingly good game. I expect the same with HoI 3 in due time. Victoria 2 is already preordered simply because I want the game to be enough of a success that they release an expansion or two. Also, perhaps it will enhance the chances of a proper Crusader Kings sequel.

 

It's always so with the good games. Good games always attract modders that often beat original developers. Bugs are a bad thing, but they can be fixed.

 

This was my point with Paradox. Complex games, don't always 100% work. Who cares? At least yout tried? Good luck! If you fuck up, the modders wil do you proud. All the best!

 

Yes, exact same thing with Bethesda, brilliant games that are so mindnumbling good at their core that talented people can't help but to improve those raw gems.

 

So, how is HOI3 Without Semper Fi?

 

Pretty much the same as all the other Paradox games are without the expansion. A collection of possible good but badly implemented or even partly missing ideas.

 

Playable as majors, not so much as minors.

 

While this is historical and reasonable it forces the player to rely on the AI led major powers and this is not fun with the current state of AI...