Hearts of Iron IV News

Paradox COVID-19 Response Fundraiser

In order to support the global response to COVID-19, Hearts of Iron is taking part in a fundraising sale on Steam, with deep discounts on Hearts of Iron IV alongside other Paradox titles. All proceeds from the promotion are being donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/394360/Hearts_of_Iron_IV/

As well as Hearts of Iron IV, there are also discounts on Surviving Mars, Cities Skylines, Age of Wonders Planetfall, BATTLETECH, Shadowrun, Tyranny, Pillars of Eternity, and Knights of Pen and Paper 2.

You can click through to see the full list of discounts with this link: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/paradoxinteractive/list/58320



The sale will last four days, from 19:00 CEST on March 31st, to 19:00 CEST on April 3rd.

In this week's 'World War Work From Home', our resident Hearts of Iron IV expert Da9L will be starting teaching the game to an absolute beginner.

We'll be covering all the basics, including national focuses, research choices, template and ship designs, and much more. We'll be running this tutorial for a few weeks to make sure we can fit all the important bits in.

If you're new to the game or can't wrap your head around a certain mechanic, then this might be the stream for you!

Tune in at 14:00 CEST on April 1st at: https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

Today's Development Diary by Podcat




Hi everyone! We are still in quarantine at home working on the patch, so time for another update!

Its a meaty chunk of balance fixes, bugfixes and mod support. Also there are some special highlights after I recommend to read up on as we are looking for feedback there. So, without further ado...

##################################
# Balance
##################################
- operations will now higher cost as you execute same operation on same targets (default is 15%. rescue operation is still 0%. Some exceptions are 25%)
- neutral countries no longer allowed to create collaborations
- compliance is now halved (instead of factored by 75%) when a state controller is changed
- destroying the counter-revolution now prevents France from descending into another civil war against the fascists from low stability again
- Danzig and Memel are no longer required for forming Poland-Lithuania
- Memel is no longer required for forming the United Baltic States
- Political violence can no longer return to France if France has capitulated
- unprepared offensive modifier in SCW now also affect CAS impacts
- Decrease Base manpower lost in resistance attack to 1.5% from 2.5%
- Along with Niceto Alcalá-Zamora as a leader, the Republicans will now, after the 1936 elections, receive a National Spirit reducing their political power income. Along with Zamora's trait and various tweaks and adjustments made to the political power gained through events and Republican focuses, this should make the flow of Garrison Control fighting before the SCW much more natural. Now, Nationalists get an initial advantage and a 'head start', but if the Republicans correctly focus on delaying the civil war initially, they will be rewarded and eventually be able to take more states back from the Nationalists than if they focus on taking states from the very start. Delaying the civil war should therefore be more enticing as a strategy.
- Increased tech stealing bonuses to 300% from 200%
- Increased tech stealing extra bonus outcomes to also give either 1 or 2 year ahead of time bonuses also
- Tech stealing can now unlock techs, uses weights on tech picking to prefer more up to date and equipment for a more rewarding bonus


##################################
# Stability & Performance
##################################
- Fixed CTD on Windows related to flag atlas texture update
- Fix performance issue when creating dynamic tags from targeted decisions.


##################################
# UI
##################################
- French Focuses bypassed by not having an inefficient economy now correctly display that fact
- fixed is_on_continent trigger tooltip being reversed
- Fix units when retreating towards a tile while in multiple combats has a wrong arrow visually
- Clear all province colors when switching to root out resistance map mode
- Unified achievements tooltips during game setup and in-game so that the in-game button shows the same details as game setup.
- Corrected achievement UI to be disabled when not logged in with necessary accounts, with explanation added to tooltip.
- fixed "Expand Influence in state" decisions increasing the influence over max and causing ui to show wrong decision icons
- Fixed Communal Autarky focus showing an effect tooltip twice.


##################################
# AI
##################################
- fixed ai not taking zero cost decisions if it has negative pp
- ai will be less reluctant to create collaborations if it already has some
- GER now will try to put more armor to low countries instead of france border
- Ai now able to send volunteer airwings again (optimization broke it in 1.8.1)


##################################
# Modding
##################################
- scripted effects with names that start with "d_" (example d_test_effect) now will be available as a console command) example usages are in zzz_debug_effects.txt
- added mtth database that allows mean_time_to_happen/ai_will_do structure as if they were variables
- added script profile scopes for ideas
- fixed country_resource_cost modifiers for real
- Fixed occurences of limit in an else effect not being reported as an error
- added dirty = var_name for scripted windows. if this variable name is set, the game will check if the value of that variable is changed before updating scripted windows to see if it needs to update the gui. by default guis are updated every hour/with every command. now if a change has been made that would affect the scripted gui, you can just change/increase a variable to force an update and improve performance
- Errors that cause the invalid map data error are now preffixed with MAP_ERROR
- release release_puppet release_autonomy effects no longer changes the controller if the state is controlled by a non-ally country.
- you can specify a list of effects under spawn_civil_war effect now, which will be executed under new civil war country
- added release_on_controlled release_puppet_on_controlled effects that also works if on your controlled states


##################################
# Database
##################################
- fixed a missing Czech airwing name
- Spanish focus "Demand French North Africa" now also gives Algerian Desert.
- Portugal will not be able to complete "Intervention in Spain" or "Nationalist Intervention" if it is in a faction with Spain.
- Free French coup in territory operations should now only be available against the country actually occupying that territory
- Spanish POUM will no longer share the same game rules as Anarchist Spain. They will be able to join factions, boost ideology and puppet nations.
- fixed a number of edge cases in the Munich conference logic (and probably introduced a number of new edge cases, happy hunting!)
- Tito should no longer be able to serve as chief of army if he is dead
- Added Niceto Niceto Alcalá-Zamora as the initial leader of Spain in 1936, along with an event to replace him with Manuel Azaña in April 1936.


##################################
# Bugfix
##################################
- Fix targeted legitimacy daily decision not giving 0.05 legitimacy
- fixed propaganda against warmonger decision not having lower cost against neighbors
- Fix Missing localization tag for synthetic refineries when hovering over state resources
- Fix steal naval blueprint removing civilian instead of a navy infiltration token
- invalid operations (target is now ally etc) are now cancelled even if they are prepared
- France should now only be able to invite a country once into the non-intervention committee
- fixed two incorrect tags in a French focus
- fixed an issue preventing Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck from being recruited
- Wilno will now become a core when forming the United Baltic States or Poland Lithuania
- Nationalist Spain will no longer be offered to move their capital to Madrid if their capital is already Madrid
- Carlist Spain should now have access to a naval advisor
- Solved issue with the end of SCW news event having multiple event options
- fixed missing text in the Italian focus Develop the Benghasi Oil Fields
- Mexico should no longer be able to send shipments to Spain if the war is over
- Tooltip for Alan Turing should now make more sense
- it is no longer possible to run an operation to capture cyphers if the target country is already fully decrypted
- fixed not properly creating collaborations in some cases involving states that are controlled but not owned
- Fixed an exploit that allows you to control another country that was being controlled Back in the previous Game
- fixed missing icon and description for a hidden tech
- fixed activate_targeted_decision & remove_targeted_decision not working properly for some cases of state targeted decisions
- Dynamic tag equipment and tech names fallback to original/base country tag
- Fixed scope so that Navarra, if owned by the Carlists, will become their capital during Fascist Crackdown and Carlist Uprising events.
- Fix saving and reloading remove research bonus already applied to a research.
- fixed a rare case where a recently freed collaboration government could peacefully annex the original country if both existed at the same time
- fixed a case where countries not joining peace conferences when there are multiple different wars the enemy is in
- fixed a rare case where Italy would not correctly join the Allies if France was already part of the Allies and Italy agreed to join the Stresa Front
- Fixed the Paradox account initialization to detect the active session passed to the game from the launcher.
- fixed Reichskommissariat Ukraine not properly puppeting Ukraina
- Fixed an issue with tech stealing operation where players with MTG could be stealing old useless techs

Some highlights we wanted to make sure to highlight and where we are interested in feedback:

Peace conferences
We are now more inclusive in peace conferences to try and stop issues where you might be left out and someone steals territory from you. This means that you can actually get peace conferences with enemies on each side cutting up a 3rd side before getting back to their war. Peace conferences have a lot of edge cases so try to be observant for anything we might have broken with this behaviour change.

Tech Stealing Operation
We wanted to make this more attractive so have been beefing it up. You can now get full unlocks and the system is more weighted towards late game techs (so you can try and nab that Tiger tank instead of a great war tank). Its still a random system (remember to pick the right operation targeting the branch of tech you want, they get unlocked by infiltration of that branch) but should be a lot more rewarding now so let us know how it feels now!

Collaboration puppets
We have made AI more reluctant to release a lot and fixed some performance issues here.

See you next week for more updates!

Tune in to https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive at 14:00 CET for this week's stream.

We'll be doing a spotlight of the Apres Moi Le Deluge mod, and answering any questions you have as always!

Today's Development Diary by Podcat



Hi everyone, as the coronavirus apocalypse grips sweden the HOI dev team have reverted to to our baser instincts... no longer chained to our desks our programmers roam the streets stealing gasoline and lines of code from weaker gangs of programmers. The content designers have started worshipping stacks of photocopies of Rommel's "Infantry Attacks", and QA are now hunting bugs using spiked clubs.

Ok, not quite ;) But the team, as well as all of paradox, is currently working from home to help limit COVID-19 spread, also as many have pointed out.. less meetings and less pants! its a win-win situation :)

Today, like last week we have another update on the Beta patch.
[h3]
Updates since last week[/h3]

##################################
# Features
##################################
- Operatives can be disbanded to free up operative slots and recruit different operatives

##################################
# Balance
##################################
- Increased minimum surrender limit to for a country to 20%
- Decrease Base manpower lost in resistance attack to 2.5% from 3%
- Increased compliance decay to give cap of 90% compliance to non democracies.
- Changed compliance loss on state changing hands to 25% from 10%
- Decreased fielded manpower requirement from German "Demand Sudetenland" to 725000 from 750000
- Improved Resistance Suppression when using "Brutal Oppression" from 65% to 75%
- Decreased compliance from collab regime operation to 20% from 30% on normal result and 50% to 40% on excelent result
- changing ideology now halves compliance
- Reduced the Compliance requirements for the Anarchist coring decisions to 50%, down from 60%.
- Increased the cost of Concessions to the Anarchists decision to 150 PP to bring it more in line with its intended purpose as an 'emergency' delay rather than a permanent one, and also made it require either of the Nationalist factions to exist. This means that once those are defeated, there is no stopping the Anarchist uprising anymore.
- operative gained from faction members now is reduced for counties that lacks industry

##################################
# Stability & Performance
##################################
- Prevent CTD when attempting to display the airwings of an airbase the player does not have access to
- Fixed abort to trigger on more cases where invalid map data is detected
- Fixed CTD on invalid naval terrain type for a strategic region
- Fixed CTD on invalid state definition
- Fixed CTD that could happen when re-ordering ship names
- Fixed CTD when displaying the tooltip of the join faction diplomatic action
- Fixed CTD when a autonomy_state has not been correctly loaded
- fixed unnamed gui objects possibly causing crashes and added an errorlog
- Blocked execution of white_peace before game start, along with error log explanation, instead of CTD.

##################################
# UI & Graphics
##################################
- Fix infinite production of ships not assigning names properly in the UI
- Ensured the Abdication Crisis timed mission will now appear at the top of its decision category, for convenience.
- Fixed the Boost Ideology window to work with more than 4 ideologies
- The list of aces to pick from is now sorted to have compatible and free aces at the top
- Releasing puppet no longer creates a new operative slot that disappears again after unpausing
- fixed some graphical issues with frontlines
- fixed operative nationality flags not properly positioned when there are more than 2
- Reduced excessive digits in percentages in various occupation tooltips
- improved operative slot tooltips to see where you are gaining your slots from
- During peace conference, collaboration events are delayed until after and non-news events are hidden

##################################
# AI
##################################
- allies no longer ask SOV for military access
- fixed ai not upgrading templates of existing units
- fixed some issues that resulted in ai preferring producing earlier ships
- ai ITA no longer releases Libya as a collaboration government
- ai will try not to pick closed economy laws if it has large allies

##################################
# Modding
##################################
- fixed accessing variables using other variables not working ( such as var_name:var_name2 )
- added seed = var support for scripted locs random list & random list effect
- laws/ministers can be now modded to use list view instead by adding use_list_view = yes to their idea group
- fixed country_resource_cost_ modifiers not applying correctly
- fixed state resource cost modifiers not showing in tooltip if there were no other resources
- country total resources can go below zero now
- The game no longer aborts due to map errors if launched in debug mode, to allow access to the Nudger
- The game now displays a pop up when reaching the main menu if it detected invalid map data when launched in debug mode
- added on_operative_recruited & on_operative_created on actions
- fixed invalid error logs with tag aliases
- added army_experience navy_experience air_experience country variables

##################################
# Database
##################################
- Renamed Elastic Defense focus to Rebuild the Lines of Torres Vedras for better flavor.
- Fixed "Catalonian Occupation Zone" to properly refer to a "Catalan Occupation Zone", instead.
- Fixed decision requirements in the Abdication Crisis timed mission.
- fixed a number of issues with the French Legitimist Monarchist branch
- Fixed flavor text in the Spanish Independence War news event
- fixed some issues with Japan's head of intelligence advisor
- dismantling the Maginot Line now removes the "Protected by the Maginot Line" national spirit. The Extending the Maginot Line Focus now requires this spirit.
- fixed an issue with Yugoslavian Fighter/Bomber competition event chain having unlocalized strings
- Added missing name for Concessions to the Anarchists decision.
- Fixed Soviet Union seizing Spanish gold reserves even if the gold was never relocated.
- The French "Economic Devolution" focus now displays the correct effects after it is taken

##################################
# Bugfix
##################################
- Renamed Franco's old portrait to prevent it from being used unintentionally by the game.
- Units now correctly divide units into fallback orders that originate in friendly territory and pass through neutral territory.
- fixed another illusive gentleman being available when the first one is taken
- army templates with >10 terrain adjusters will now create a scrollbar in template editor guis so all can be visible
- Random generated female aces now get properly gender flagged
- Made ideas database loading more resilient to script error
- fixed a case where you can steal ships
- fixed sometimes not getting used factories back when canceling an operation
- Made the distribution of states for the Carlist and Anarchist uprisings more reasonable, especially when finishing the SCW early and therefore owning a lot of states before rising up as the Anarchists.
- Requesting Foreign Manpower Garrison support no longer overflows.
- Fixed an issue where territory wasn't assigned properly in the Japan surrender to China
- fixed a rare edge case where Communist China could attempt to infiltrate itself
- Lina Odena is now properly considered female when being referred to in text. Also updated her name to have the proper diacritics.
- fixed usa fascist party popularity being set incorrectly after civil war
- annexed countries will be removed from wars now
- fixed access relations getting cancelled after a while
- fixed factory tooltips in country occupation view
- fixed collaboration government not having a proper name in some cases

If you want to see past changes and full changelog, check out the Beta Patch thread here as well as info on how to start playing on it. Its pretty stable.

Some highlights

Due to popular demand its now possible to fire spies and put someone else in their slot.



The operative will be put back in the pool and you need to wait for a timer to get the slot back to recruit someone else (or get a previously recruited agent back).

We noticed that the code we had put in to stop people from loading broken mod maps also stopped modders from using the ingame nudger tool to fix those issues. That has now been fixed in this update and it will let people access the nudger again as well as making the warnings clearer. We have also added more detailed logging to help people fix their problems. On top of a popup we also have this info when attempting to enter single player.