Going 3d meant we could do another type of architecture where we could support more screen resolutions, and develop our maps in a quicker way. Johan: No, it was a rather easy decision that I wish we had taken it earlier. RPS: Was the shift to 3D a difficult decision? Our researcher had to spend months designing the map and naming it though, so she may not have been entirely happy with that decision. So far our testing has proven us right, and the game is much improved for that situation. Johan: It was all because our marketing department's love of big numbers! No seriously, we thought a big increase in the number of provinces would increase the playability when it comes to the manoeuvre part of warfare. Was that done purely to intimidate uninitiated reviewers and annoy your Chief Province Namer, or were there other reasons? RPS: You've quadrupled the number of provinces. The luxury of writing a sequel basically from scratch means that you can break down every feature in detail and even change their dependencies without major impacts on development. We liked the scope of Hoi2, and feel that it was a really fine game for its time. What we did was take our new Clausewitz engine, and then write a Hearts of Iron game on it, while taking into account all experiences we've had in making strategy games so far. Johan: That is rather close to the truth.
RPS: Would it be fair to describe HoI3 as a re-engineered HoI2? Reading the dev diaries I get the feeling you were basically happy with the scope and feel of HoI2, but felt that most aspects of it had room for improvement. I don't think someone can do a good job being a pure designer on a game, as you never really understand the impact of your design until you actually develop them.
Hearts of iron 3 mods full#
This means that the design tasks are not filling a full day, and since I know thing or two about programming, I tend to help out there as well. Johan: I'm currently in charge of the design process at Paradox, but we're a small outfit with an inhouse team of about eight to ten people working directly on the project. RPS: Is coding still important to you or could you drift quite happily into a purely design role? I also spent a lot of time playing games like Pirates, Bards Tale III, Storm Across Europe and other similar classics. I also spent those early teenage years making my own games on my c64, trying to hide that fact at school where I was trying to be oh so cool. We started with games like Diplomacy and Axis & Allies, but then spent an insane amount of time playing Advanced Civilization. Johan: I played lots and lots of Avalon Hill game as a teenager with my friends. What were your formative gaming influences? RPS: Most of the big names in strategy game design seem to have been weaned on Avalon Hill boardgames. Then I just kept reading and reading whenever I could, through all the libraries. History was the only subject in school that was close to storytelling, so it started there. Johan: I loved reading books and looking at maps as a child. RPS: Where did the interest in history come from? Before the game was released, I was in charge of the project and have since then been doing this type of games. Since I owned the boardgame, it was an easy decision and I sent my CV there, and was hired within a week. One day I saw an advert for programmers in my old hometown to work on a game called Europa Universalis. However, as I always loved playing strategy games, I had this vision of one day making one myself. Johan: I was rather happy at Funcom, as I grew there from a rookie programmer to a lead programmer, while working on some really interesting games.
Hearts of iron 3 mods Pc#
RPS: In the late nineties you went from making fluffy console games for Funcom to incredibly deep historical PC strategy for Paradox. If you've already done that, or don't have the patience/dunkable biscuitry to take on such a task, try the following Q&A in which Lead Designer and Man of History Johan Andersson fields questions on subjects as diverse as HoI3, gulags, and HoI3. The best way to learn about Paradox's rapidly approaching grand-strategy leviathan Hearts of Iron 3 ? Sit down with a gallon mug of tea and a family-size packet of custard creams and plough through the fascinating 30-part developer diary.