Hearts of Iron IV News

Hello, and welcome back to the last Developer Diary for Arms Against Tyranny!
I’m CreamGene, HOI4’s 2D artist and since I am here, you guessed it, it's time to talk about art!

I once again get an opportunity to talk about what happens on the Art Front during a HOI4 production and I’m excited to share with you some of the things that have been in the works. Both challenging tasks as well as funny ones, of course.

I know I usually showcase the how-to when I do loading screens when I get these opportunities, but I think you can find the two latest descriptions from earlier Dev Diarys to be adequate if you need to know the “how-to-think”. But I’ll show some small step-by-step just because I can.

Loading screen
It started with our Game Designer Bradley, or as you know him as well, Corax, who already had a vision for what he wanted. He wanted two different ones. One of the Finnish Winter War, with Finnish soldiers watching Soviet troops, make their way through the frozen marshlands. And one with the sinking of the Blücher. And I got to choose which one to do.

Of course, I chose explosions because I hate myself that's pretty cool. I drew explosions before, but never like this so I thought it could be a nice challenge… if I could pull it off.

I was provided with reference images of the ship and the place as well as a video clip of the event from the movie The King's Choice. Even if it’s a reenacting of the sinking of Blücher it still is a pretty cool scene to draw inspiration from.
So let's speedrun this demonstration!


3D elements put together! Renders made by our 3D artist @Slurpen_Paradox (because if I can avoid hard surfaces, I will).


Here, the paint-over progress has started. …… trust the process.


After a loop of feedback and paint-overs, it finally starts to look like something more interesting than just a dark blob where it started. Just some more tweaking and adding texture as well as some action and it’ll be done.


And here we are! I hope you’ll enjoy the new loading screen for Arms Against Tyranny!

Here is also the winter-themed one (tho I can’t take credit for it) made for AAT.

[Art made by @the_real_timor]


[h3]The Joint Focus Tree[/h3]
We also wanted to do something new for a Joint Focus Tree when the discussion of a joint Nordics was a must. So now the idea phase starts. How different should it look? How much of different shapes will still make you think “Focus Tree”? Will it look good together as a tree? How do we best portray the different ideologies for each outcome?

So now some thumbnailing of ideas happens as well as the thought “Is just the naming bar enough to change?” The answer is ‘no’. Of course, we wanted to go full out when we had this new idea.


So when we realize that we want to make the actual focus icons mirror the ideologies we have a new question “What would a joint focus tree even look like? What would have to change to make it stand out?”
So I started to make up the shape language for what each ideology would feel like.
It ended with a bunch of experiments that you saw @carloPDX showcase in the Joint Focus icon Dev Diary

Yeah… I didn't feel anything out of these.


We landed on these types of shapes in the end!
The communist one is in line with sharp angles, red and gold, and feeling very industry.
The democratic one with its very simplistic design and a retake on the metallic swan.
And the monarchist one, in Sweden at least, we call the moose the “King of the Forest” so we thought it would be fitting to have a King represent all the Nordics with pompous decoration and gold details.


A small selection of the communist branch icons;


A small selection of the democratic branch icons;


A small selection of the monarchist branch icons;



[h3]Portraits[/h3]
And now I think it's important to show off some of the fancy portraits that have been added for the Nordics!

The amount of art that needs to be done for each DLC varies but something that stays true, and heavy is Portraits and Focuses. These are easy to outsource in bulk and to offload the strain of getting all the art done for each DLC on time, we send these types of art tasks to an outsourcing studio.
We occasionally have to pick up these types of tasks as well in-house but that’s usually when Content Designers realize they need a leader for a last-minute polish task and a path they forgot would do with an actual portrait of the historic person instead of a generic one. Safe to say, it's impossible to plan for every leader there will be for their specific country. I know I wouldn't be able to think of everything beforehand, and that's why I can’t stress enough that to get a successful art-filled launch, communication is key.

So, here is a small selection of historical figures we would like to showcase beforehand!


[h3]Focus icons[/h3]
With the same principle as the portraits for HOI, these are easier to outsource in bulk, and therefore the majority of them, tho far from all, are done through outsourcing.
We usually try to make as much as we can in-house for these but we need to prioritize our workload to fit our schedule the best we can.
We always estimate all our tasks beforehand so whatever we know we can’t manage in-house will be shipped to outsourcing.

And once again, a small selection of some of the nicest looking Focuses for AAT.


[h3]3D art[/h3]
Even if I am not in charge of the 3D art (in fact that's entirely @Slurpen_Paradox’s domain) I will of course show off some of the models that have been made for this DLC

First of all, let’s enjoy some high-definition renders showing some of the models up close: These guys have dressed up for today's fashion show!

A mix of old and “new” (maybe new is too strong of a word here).

You need to be ready to fight against air and land attacks.

Okay, maybe that’s enough land vehicles for one Dev Diary.

In other news, here are some planes!

..more planes!

Ready to fight against tyranny!

Here are some in-game screenshots showing some of the models in action (using some fun camera angles of course!):

They see me rollin’!

Danish militia models in fighting stance!

These guys are deadly in snowy conditions!

Norway has some ships to defend its coast!

Things are heating up!



Thank you @Slurpen for the 3D renders!

Let's be real, you’ve been waiting, you’ve been scrolling, you’ve been sighing through this DD. Go ahead. Don't be shy. Scroll down some more.

Finally! I would like to present the achievements of Arms Against Tyranny!

[h3]Achievements[/h3]

Sápmi, United by the fire As Sami, own and control every Sami core.

Norway Jose As Norway, own and control every Mexican core.

Pinot Noirway As Norway, own and control the state of Burgogne.

Cheese your fighter As Norway, with Peder Jarlsberg as coutnry leader, own Telemark, Glouchestershire, Normandy, Lombardia and Holland.

Med Plutonium 2… As Denmark, nuke Sweden.

Everything is Awesome As Denmark, get Maximum Welfare Spending after January 1st 1941 without being puppeted or capitulating

The Danelaw As Denmark, conquer England.

Vinland As Iceland, conquer Newfoundland.

Brexit As communist Iceland, make Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland rise up against the United Kingdom.

Two Arms Against Tyranny As Finland, capitulate the Soviet Union while having a 2 country faction with another Nordic.

Uralic Brothers United! As Finland, have Hungary, Estonia, Sapmi, Karelia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Komi, Ostyak-Vogulia, Yamalia, and Nenetsia as subjects.

Lone Wolf As Finland, form Greater Finland and own every core and claim without having ever joined a faction.

No One Crosses the Finnish Line As Finland, survive until 1944 without losing control of a single core ever.

Danzig Queen As Sweden, own Danzig.

Caramelldansen As Sweden, puppet Japan.

The return of the King As the exiled King of Gotland, retake mainland Sweden.

Satisfactory Have at least one MIO per category at level 10+.

Cod Wars As Iceland, capitulate the UK.

The Magic School Bus With the Per Albin Bus, drive to Cape Town


We all hope that you’ll enjoy the up-and-coming DLC, Arms against Tyranny, and along the way have fun and feel challenged with the new content and achievements we have added, as well as enjoy the latest models and art!

CreamGene

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2183930/Expansion__Hearts_of_Iron_IV_Arms_Against_Tyranny/

Generals!

We've released another Arms Against Tyranny tutorial! Get ahead of your enemies and discover the ins and outs of MIOs with this quick primer from Dijondillan

Watch it here
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Generals!

With the release of Arms Against Tyranny, there will be plenty of saved games and mods that will be broken as we move into the Stella Polaris patch, so if you haven't already make sure to finish up those games or backdate your versions!

However, we have been hard at work with the Modding community to make sure some of your favourite mods are up to date alongside the release of AAT! So here is your comprehensive list of mods that will be updated on the same day as the new patch;

[h3]WATCH THE REVEAL HERE[/h3]

[h3]Road to 56[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=820260968


[h3]Kaiserreich[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1521695605


[h3]Equestria At War[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1826643372


[h3]Millenium Dawn[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2777392649


[h3]The New Order: Last Days of Europe[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2438003901

[h3]Cold War Iron Curtain[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1458561226&searchtext=

[h3]Kaisserredux: A Kaiserreich Expansion[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2076426030&searchtext=

[h3]Old World Blues[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2265420196&searchtext=

[h3]BlackICE Historical Immersion Mod[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137372539&searchtext=

[h3]Expert AI[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=741805475&searchtext=

[h3]Pax Britannica: An Imperial Timeline[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2792132018&searchtext=

[h3]Lord of the Rings Mod[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1314446921&searchtext=

[h3]End of a New Beginning[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2856963714

[h3]World Ablaze[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2149567872

Hello there it's me C0RAX. It's time for another feature dev diary and this week we are going to look at the International market.

So previously we showed this feature off in the international market dev corner and some things since then have changed. We’ve on top of this loaded the feature with brand new functionality to improve the flow and usability as well as refine the information we provide you throughout the feature. So remind ourselves let's go over what intents and goals we started with in that original dev corner.

Feature Intent & goals

Introducing a place for nations to buy and sell equipment benefiting both nations with a reward. Creating a new way for countries to contribute specialist equipment to other nations
Be able to source equipment from other nations as needed
For majors to set the global standard for common place equipment leveraging their superior economic might.

The international market acts as a one stop shop for all your equipment needs from other countries. It's an international store front, with multiple sellers being able to sell the same thing from the same store front. This means that provided you have the appropriate market access, you can go into the international market and buy tanks from the USA and planes from germany in one interface (but not 1 purchase).

The feature

So first of all, how do we get to the international market? Well, it's pretty easy. We have replaced the diplomacy button with the international market. This will take you to the home screen of the international market


You Can still access the diplomacy menu from this button at the bottom of the international market.


Now let's go buy something. The first thing we need to do is to get market access to another country. This will allow us to see what they are selling on the market. By default we have access to all of our subjects and they have access to our market.


The market access is by default automatically sent and accepted so any AI that will accept will be added to your market and you will get access to them as well meaning that you don't need to worry about missing out of a market you could have access too. You can also toggle auto accept purchase requests which will always accept other countries asking to buy your equipment on the market.


To manually get market access we simply go to the diplomacy screen for a given country and use the diplomatic action “negotiate market access”.


So now we have our market access set up and it's time to buy something. First we need to go into the buying mode of the international market. We do this by clicking the buy equipment button.


Now we can see the USA is selling some trains and convoys on the market right now so let's buy some. To start a purchase draft all we have to do is click on a piece of equipment we want to buy.


Here we can set up our contract to purchase some equipment. From here you choose how many pieces of equipment you wish to buy of each type. Each equipment entry will show how much the equipment of that type will cost in economic capacity(EC) (this is the output of civilian factories). There is also a handy purchase button if that is what you wish and you can use keybinds to change the steps of the plus and minus buttons just like in other parts of the game.


At the bottom of the draft we have the draft totals, here we can see the total EC cost, total convoys needed and then finally we have our payment settings. We can choose to assign up to 15 factories to pay for the equipment. These factories will work towards paying off the total EC cost of the equipment you selected. The more you pay every 30 days, the more equipment will be delivered per delivery. So here we can see that with 5 factories paying for our equipment we will receive all of our equipment in 4 deliveries:120 days.


Now we have sent off our draft to the USA and we just have to wait for them to respond and accept.


And here we have our accepted and now ongoing contract, we can see all of the important information on our contracts from here. Active contracts are shown in the default international market screen.

We can see our factories are assigned and paying off the contract and all 4 convoys are available. If anything is causing deliveries to fall behind the expected amount be that lack of factories, convoys or even if your convoys are being intercepted and the equipment lost to the depth of the ocean, the contract efficiency will reflect this.


As your contracts progress you can see the bars fill up and the deliveries tick down.

Now let's sell something on the market.


To sell we click the “sell equipment” button right now we can see we are not selling anything so now let's add something to our market. We do this by clicking on the ‘add equipment to market’ button.


Here we will get all of the surplus equipment we have in the right hand window and everything we are adding to the market on the left. From here we have the same controls for equipment numbers as with buying. You can select all, or choose any number in-between.


Additionally from the screen we can set the price levels of equipment, this can be done for the whole set or individually for each equipment. You can set the price to be 25% higher or lower than the normal price, this is done in order to not overcomplicate the economic gameplay here. Fully Variable prices would be very complex to understand as a player and be at odds with the economic detail of the rest of the game. This inconsistency would make the pricing very troublesome to understand, keep stable and to keep free from exploits. Generally this would detract from the core gameplay of HoI in a negative way, taking time and concentration away from the warfighting for something less useful. The final total EC value is shown at the bottom of the window if you want to see the effects of your pricing choices.


Now we can see all of our equipment has been added to our market for sale.


We have now received our first purchase requests and you can see our equipment has been taken from our market listing as it is reserved while the requests are pending. Let take a look at one of these requests


Here we can see Sweden is looking to buy the 35 light tanks we put up on the market. In the request we can see all of the necessary contract details to make an informed decision. Of course if we had auto accepted purchase requests this would have already been automatically accepted and the contract would be ongoing already.


And now we can see our purchase of american equipment and our sales of equipment to portugal and sweden all in one menu allowing you to easily keep contract of you ongoing contracts and if there are any issues with deliveries. We can also filter this list to just buying or selling if you have lots of contracts all at the same time, and we cancel contracts from here if you need to do so.

Going back to the buy menu lets take a look at some of the sorting and filtering options that help in the later game when there is significantly more equipment on the market. First lets look at the sorting options.

First we can sort by the amount on the market.


And we can sort by the EC cost


Now onto filters; we can sort by country and by equipment type


Finally we get to subsidies. Subsidies are a way of getting a better deal with purchasing contracts, you can get them from national focus and decisions or any other bit of content. An example of this can be found in the danish focus tree where you can get subsidies for buying aircraft if you choose to seek external sources. As mentioned subsidies target specific equipment types such as fighters and can be limited to contracts with specific countries as well. They work by having an EC value and when applied to a contract they will match the EC generated by your factories until the EC value of the subsidy is drained. So if 1 civ produces 5 EC/day then the subsidy will also provide 5 EC per day for each civ allocated to the contract.


With the general flow we will look at the detailed mechanics of how payment works. We are paid for contracts in EC generated by factories assigned by the buyer. Instead of receiving those factories directly to use, you are given the EC output of those factories to boost your own civilian factories. We opted for this solution in order to improve the granularity of bilateral trade, as well as to give the seller a new kind of incentive to take part in trade.


Here we can see our EC income from all of our current contracts, any collected EC is stored in our EC surplus here in the market window.


Here we can see the EC surplus being applied to your construction queue to boost it above the normal maximum rate. The amount you can boost a construction is based on your trade law. Here we are on export focus which gives us a 10% boost on top of the base 25%. This can also be affected by other construction boosts. The important thing to understand is you do not receive temporary foreign factories, you receive their EC output which boosts your own civilian constructions.

As an addendum to the addition of the international market we have adjusted lend lease in order to better fit to the new world market. So let's talk about the changes there. Firstly, subjects can no longer always use lend lease and are subject to the same limits as other countries. Now subject levels have modifiers to the required world tension in order to use lend lease.


In addition to this ideology and laws impact the tension requirements for lend lease, fascists and communists will find it harder to give equipment for free to there allies compared to before as will countries who operate on tighter trade laws


Countries on closed economy and special cases such as the USA can also block access to certain markets or totally block all market access so be careful before taking foci like the neutrality act.


That's all for this week, as always please do ask if you have any questions about the feature and I’ll do my best to answer you. Next week we will be looking at the final art DD, you will get to see more 3D models, 2D art (including the new loading screen art) and the coveted achievements coming with Arms against tyranny, I hope to see you there. C0RAX Out.

Generals!

The fourth and final Feature Breakdown video for Arms Against Tyranny is out NOW over on our YouTube channel!
This one spotlights the new Military Industrial Organizations feature, as well as the upcoming changes to Support Companies!

Make sure to check out the video!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]