dates and economic cicle

well after a rebalace of conconcepts the best adaptative time period of time for actual game mechanics HOI IV could go frmo 1905/10 to 1960/65, 50 to 60 years.

In this specific phase of time mybe a no so organic economic cycle sould be employed becose you haves a stability time, a reconstruction and recovery from war, a grow up after the ww1, a crisis (great depresion) a recovery and a reconstruction between ww2 and doomsday.

Mybe make this organic should be a bit complex for few cicles.

After analizing the way economy was handle you could see phases of gold standart, war economy phases, non convertible gold standart, dollarization.

Alternative could use silver standart or direct dollarization.

The crisis should work over national ideas by a chain of desicions or events/desision.

The economy of HOI IV in developers mind

Well before get into a "psudo engine" of economy for HOI IV, we should talk about how is modeled.

Developers want a game without money, without money stockpiles after the bad experies of the series of game where ai don't use this in a proper way.

So the game runs with the idea of interchanges in a base IC. Buying resources operation trades 8 units of resources for 1 IC from a civilian factoriy. To build, you use an civilian factory as the state uses the taxes money for construction, same with trades. Don't forget, the buying resources represent the "state" usage of resources in war industries.

So if i have 20 Civilian factories and 10 Military factories we have 20 IC because military factory is not considered a IC producer. Now we import 6 IC and export 3 IC, this is additive, we will have 17 IC to buy or construct. But the game have an additional restriction to this: consumer goods.

Consumer goods could be seen as many ways: could be the many spent in inner economy or the money that state could took from economy.
In first perspective 30% consumer goods means that 30% of economy money is demanded by people. In the taxed conception, you can receive 70% of economy flow.

The taxed conception is the most useful.

Military factories doesn't spend IC to work because its implicate in the price of resources. Their are not the resources in deed (take account this work for Communist and capitalist) so in the most open view someone extract it and you can use the money from taxes to buy it.

The most interesting model could be made from actual tools is the command over consumer goods-resources to the market modifiers (also extraction modifiers) to balance the engine with previous consideration.

This no impact over the people import/export, that should be modeled with some kind of simplicity.

Something i didn't mentioned: consumer goods were based in a percentage from CF+MF but affect directly over IC then only reduce the amount of CF available for actions.

There is a problem with special building used into BICE mod. They couldn't influence total IC nor consumer goods.
If they are used in a very low numbers could be a way to avoid the effect over calculation. Restrict to a limit of 5 for getting bonus in economy (i could say that they have bonus by specific way for specific country, don't forget, this were not the factories that build, having tanks factories gives production bonus, no add production lines).

So pseudo engine could cover imp/exp balance, the resources needed from outside the country to work and economic phases. Also some elemts from BICE that could be used are the laws for economic, but i think the dayly action should be simplified so this should take part in the changes.

Using an idea as flag and efects of the economic phase is the best idea actualy.

Also communist economy should maybe use another calculation. A especific law that define economy more over if commies are in the head of state is interesting too

What to do after the Tiger

Hi, after the incredible dlc Waking the Tiger, we have one of the most important tool in modding of all the time: Daily action and variables.

Daily action is a "passive trigger" that run a scrip once a day. So, wheres the magic? Ho, this is the CLOCK of every "pseudo-engine", let you build a dynamic stat based in a function script (script that is in deed an operation to set, add or multiplicate a user variable or maybe a game variable).

This is a big weapon and a big deal because a action every day for every country get a big process usage, so this must be very efficient. But if we use a clock variable to trigger a update event, this improve very much the performance.

So, as we see in BICE, HOI IV don't support to much work and if we want a century game we need to reduce some things and make the systems more sysntetics.

Special modification as BICE over alliances with different faction is a performance problem but until developers include this capacities, as is, the game have much simplification that make it run well. The development team have the "get complex with the time" task clear. But this is a good stuff for game because encourage the "geopolitics" aspect. This is not Victoria, here developers have a reduced geopolitical model, that i hope sometime expand. Is a good idea for dlc...

The economy flow is a system never developed but that could be enable now as a synthetic and simplified way but good enough to show great depression contraction in industry.

So i will talk about a branch of stuff in the next list with my opinion based in the advanced mods, the needs, the experience modeling inter wars period and cold war for DH and needs of optimization and reduce to really needed features:

• Economy "pseudo engine"
• Doctrine complete system change to get dynamic response.
• Resources and development.
• Special buildings and specific industry bonus, industry and electronic tree rework.
• Do the peace, not the war and other "on the fly system" that shouldn't be completed now in a efficient way and maybe should need a optimization and a less complex objective.
• Land units types needs, specially INF.
• Equipment stuff, a middle point between vanilla and BICE.
• Air Units types needs and why a complex in this topic is good to compensate a little bit system simplification and also from fuel consummation and logistical topics.
• Factions, corrective system, alliances.
• Miscellaneous event chains to make some minor events.
• Intelligence linked that don't be related to spy system.
• Some trade minor suggestion

i will no explore at this moment some features that will change in man in the guns dlc:

• Fuel (i hope they will employ a good system)
• Naval warfare

The mony mod

Hi folks, some modders have been working in many differet kinds of non modeled elements in the game.

Money Mod is a new mod linked to generate mony and buy equipment. Really changes in game are no so relevant, but on the development capacity this mod is extraordinary





Gets a pop up menu to buy aqeuipment and algo get a stockpile, visible with dayly change by script. Im not sure if theres a chance to build a dayly moddifer ofr ideas and laws, any way is a good improvment even if the mod is no so usefull in playtrough at least for me.

This is a quiet good idea for a "economic engine stat" with efects into economy, mybe employing ideas based in this stat and some other triggered by event.

from the man in the guns

Hi, i was far long for a time.

Well Paradox have ear our treads and the next DLC will incluide fuel usage for all units.
Is an very important advantage for game, i hope this work fine, will rebalance a lot the game.

Now after a while waiting for the TIGER dlc, we have many interesting changes.
The border conflic as i saw for a short is not very flexible for mobile situation, but could  be improved.
The command system is great and the evolution of generals is great. Also desitions.

i was looing for fresh mod that complete the game playtrough and i found this group:
- Operation overhaul + AI expert 4.0 is a intereting ai+tech combo.
- Make peace no the war, to hava partial invasion peace, but i feel it try to be a total solution, something is far than script system clould handle.
- Additional Effects ver.English, the first real aprouch for doctine change.


i will speak a little of Additional Effects.

The idea about it is that doctrines were more flexibles, something there was never avaible in HOI series. A offensive, a defensive and a planning doctrine employed as a law. This is great, could be changes very well by desitions.
The problem are the tactics becose they must be employed by doctrine tech. So.... is not flexible still.
The lack of force tech is a problem too. Theres no way to avoid the tech tree even with changes, the way would be employ all tactics but that goes against the same idea of tactics.









Best compostion would be offensive doctrine, defensive doctrine, batlle plan doctrine, air docrine,
naval doctrine and naval interdiction doctrine (wich in particular hadle surface interdiction, sub prizerule interdiction, sub interriction, unrestricted sub interdiction and no interdiction operation with the idea of hurt something in commerce, opinion and warm up of other faction).

But i refuse the idea of lineal extra bonus for tech this mod have. I like this stufs even with similar system but on specific circunstances.

New resourses mods have been very well development, they emulate fuel (something will be remplace by a core system), copper (ammo, a good idea for tanks and artillery), grain/food (to get rations) but still the energy is still not employed a big lack, but i thin it will be take in count when fuel be a core system.

The Map

The map is the most important piece of information into game. Determines ditances, determines the type of terrain and with in the speeds of units and also the atrition (its not defined here but linked to type of terrain).

So whats the problems with map? Less than prevois HOI versions, but even its easy to modify, the problem is that many maps would be incompatible.

We must understand the elements of the maps:

• Provinces: Minimal unit. Define type of terrain. Usualy they are quiet small areas (except sea). Only can build naval base, defenses.

• States: the states defines de resourses, th building slots, the population. Is defined by a group of provinces. Also defines the slots for infraestructure, airbase, antiair, radar station and other modded buildings. Also sea areas work as states but this doesnot contain any resourse or building.
• Strategic areas, defines areas for aerial combat.

Well were's the stuff?

The mod compatibility. Some elements could be changed without break a mod. Changing land conections (island conection wich needs no ships transports) or sea-doors as strights like Gibraltad.

But adding a province will need the inclusion of this id in many files incluiding the states files incluiding it in one of them or creating a newone.

You can split a state into 2, this also means you must change events and other files.

Stategic zones are more complex becose are linked to supply lines system. We will not develop this point now becose its more related to game engine than the moddeable elements, but this areas are linked to states definitions.

So in this earyl aprouch we should say that a Great Campaing or century mod needs that all mods incluided in the pack not only were linked and using similar ideas/laws systems and politic table definition. They must have the same map.

The map also is linked to resourses and them resourse events, crucial for a century mod.

Actualy the most important mods "Great war", "road to 56", "Keiserrich", BICE and "Cold War: Iron Courtain". I exclude modern day becose it have extended complication, even with yugoslavia disolution it split in many parts into balcan region let some restriction for post 1993 mod.

Posible the cold war mod that needs more state division (North Korea and Vietnam requieres provice changes, Yugoslavia and Afrika minor States).

Great War needs colonies coast in India and China, Eupen provonce as a state and posible minor changes. You can see some of this in the image.

A key for dont lose performance is not split states into a big number, becose ai should admistrate building and other stufs related. Also more calculation are needed if more states are deployed.

Once built the states couldnt be changed on running game, so this is only declared on file dont on events.

So, what we have here? The requeriment of a common map for the mod wich compose a century map. The the fist step is the normalization of request from every mod timelapse.

We will talk some about this in nest post.

Resourses, the ruler behind the wars

In eraly XX century warfare, the resourses was the limiter in the ambision of many countries.

Lack of food in both side (UK, France and Germany) in ww1, naval interdicciion by submarine was much efective than ww2. So supply, resourses and equipment production is a key for vistory or just survive.


Lack of oil for motorization in ww2 was a restriction for many operation. The incapacity to reach bakú for oil fields was the last nail in the coffin, even if they reach the zone would be imposible build the transport chain to central Europe.

I recomend see this documantal for baku, oil and logistical problem of german-army
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdrqx_QEaAo

Actualy vanilla contain: Oil, alumium, iron (steel), tungsten, rubber and cromiun. Vanilla contain a very few equipment, Bice may contain to much but equipment is no the main idea in this post.

Actually a mod called: "Expanded Resources: RT56 Edition" a version for Road to 1956 explore the new resourses and equipment from them.
Here the modders added food, coal and wood. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1121913987

Also a mod called world resourses The Resource War thay the same path, but balanced the resourses in a map.
 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1209878005

Here they incorporate grain and copper, equipments: Rations, Gasoline, Light Munitions, Heavy Munitions, and Anti-Tank Munitions.

Therefore he included rations, fuel and ammo as equipment, used by attrition in units.
Replace oil for coal as "energy" in legacy hoi series.

With a correct re balance in attrition values and modifiers the model works very well.

But still needs a re balance of amount of resources because the amount of oil in the world is irrational.

The procedure is:

• add resources, 
• change requirements for existing equipment, 
• built new equipment, attach to units,
•  balance general terrain attrition, 
• balance reabilty for all equipment. 
• Balance all resource amount.

I recommend the implement resources: vanilla (Oil, aluminum, iron (steel), tungsten, rubber and cromiun.), grain/food, copper and coal (for ww1 and as energy for industries). After of some games with great war and looking his effort for resourses (ecxept oil) the wood could be noticed as a interestig resourses.

For equipment i recommend many more than this (i like bice vision, but no complex in some points):

fuel and/or gasoline & diesel, plane fuel if its possible generate a consume of equipment for planes and ships in further updates. Ammo, artillery ammo and anti-tank ammo. If they implement ship consume equipment the naval shells.

There should be a usage of coal or fuel in industry as a fix, maybe as an idea but no actually command or modifier for that, needs code.

This things could change all the game background.

Check the mods, are pritty good.
This need a map modification, so that's will be next post.