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#21
Computer Gaming / Re: Armor Brigade II Announced...
Last post by Veitikka - March 27, 2024, 05:05:43 PM
The fourth Dev Diary of Armored Brigade II is out now. The topic is "Motorized Infantry and Waypoint Editor".

Read more here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1934300/view/4199117159724239995
#22
Computer Gaming / Re: FREE --> 3 DLCs for Hearts...
Last post by Ian C - March 27, 2024, 02:12:02 PM
Quote from: Tanaka on March 27, 2024, 11:50:49 AMJust wondering have you played SCWAW and how do you compare?

Strategic Command World At War? There's really no comparison. It's more like HOI4 combined with Gary Grigsby's War in the East/West with even more depth in certain areas.
Some people will hate it, as there is a lot of stuff crammed into every available space on the GUI, but one of the neat things is that it's got user-definable GUI elements.

It's not a mod you can speed-play through. I guess it's kind of a slow-burn deep strategy/historical experience. I find it mentally tiring in places, in a good way.
#23
Computer Gaming / Re: FREE --> 3 DLCs for Hearts...
Last post by Tanaka - March 27, 2024, 11:50:49 AM
Quote from: Ian C on March 26, 2024, 10:00:32 AMJust to hijack this thread for thoughts on a mod. Bear with me...

I recently started playing the Black Ice mod and it is by far the best and most realistic experience I've had with any WW2 global strategy game, ever. This is a mod made by a team that know history and wargames.

If you like HOI4 and you can handle the extra depth, I highly recommend it. In my recent play through as the UK I went through experiences that matched the Battle of Britain, Blitz, the U-Boat war and now I'm up to 1942 and the Russo-German war and Japanese war is in full swing.

To give some idea of the scope: The Luftwaffe was hammering the RAF over the UK from the fall of France up to 1941 and I was hanging on by a thread. My production of Fighters wasn't enough to fill the losses and literally every single tech gain and percentage of help proved decisive (as it does elsewhere in the game). When the U.S. Sold me Fighters I literally breathed a sigh of relief.
My industry was being bombed away. Black Ice has separate factories for air production, tank production, etc. and strategic bombing can individually target these.

The AI does a great job. There are U-Boat attacks all over the historical routes and they are difficult to defend against so far. Air, Land and Sea combat behaves very realistically, both in means and pace. 

Too many things to list here about how much fun and how dramatic this mod is. The way units are composed is accurate. Combat and supply feels realistic. I found myself really using espionage and cryptography, air power and other factors as combat in North Africa was at a stalemate until I realised I was just playing casually like I do with the base game. Once I started taking small factors into account, using air supply, breaking cyphers, air recon, etc, the battle shifted in my favour. These are things that don't really impact too much in the base game, but they really count here.


There are some drawbacks. The mod is really deep. Research, production and other areas are massively expanded. If you find these areas boring or a struggle in the base game, you won't like the mod. It also requires some knowledge of the history of the time, in order to make appropriate choices. It requires more attention and it is definitely exhausting in places, but, as a simulation of world war two, for me at least, this is the realism and drama of it. I would highly recommend that the game is run at a maximum of speed 2 while at war, maybe 3 in the quiet moments. It is easy to miss something really important. Once again, this game takes a lot of concentration and planning. You can't go in lightly.

I took my eyes off the Far East while fixating in North Africa and Japan took Ceylon. From there they threatened East Africa and Southern Arabia. Again, the AI is very surprisingly good. I was blaming ahistorical AI on this before I released I'd let them have Ceylon through negligence and neglecting my naval presence there. The island is strategically important because from it, the Japanese can project naval power into the Indian Ocean and Arabian areas and I completely missed it because I was used the base game's AI. I've cowed the German Kriegsmarine and there is little chance of them launching any invasion as the Germans are bogged down in Russia, so I'm sending the majority of the Home Fleet over to the Indian Theatre to stop any more Japanese advances.

I'm tempted to restart, as it's my first proper game with Black Ice, but I think I'll stick with it and accept my mistake and recover from it.

In summary, this is the best HOI 4 experience I've had so far, but it's deep, difficult, historically realistic and unforgiving.

LINKS TO MOD:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137372539
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=842834893

Wow great write up. I abandoned HOI4 a long time ago but you have now made me reconsider it. Just wondering have you played SCWAW and how do you compare?
#25
Computer Gaming / Re: Diablo 3
Last post by Sigwolf - March 26, 2024, 07:16:41 PM
#26
Computer Gaming / Re: FREE --> 3 DLCs for Hearts...
Last post by smittyohio - March 26, 2024, 06:51:43 PM
Which Black ICE mod are you using?   Doing a search on the workshop is returning a lot of mods with the same name in the title.
#27
Computer Gaming / Re: Diablo 3
Last post by Bardolph - March 26, 2024, 04:38:59 PM
#28
Computer Gaming / Re: Diablo 3
Last post by jamus34 - March 26, 2024, 01:26:32 PM
Quote from: Sigwolf on March 26, 2024, 09:00:33 AMThere's a Diablo IV on the horizon?  Please, tell us more about this breaking news!   :headscratch:

Spambot will do spammy things
#29
Computer Gaming / Re: FREE --> 3 DLCs for Hearts...
Last post by Ian C - March 26, 2024, 10:00:32 AM
Just to hijack this thread for thoughts on a mod. Bear with me...

I recently started playing the Black Ice mod and it is by far the best and most realistic experience I've had with any WW2 global strategy game, ever. This is a mod made by a team that know history and wargames.

If you like HOI4 and you can handle the extra depth, I highly recommend it. In my recent play through as the UK I went through experiences that matched the Battle of Britain, Blitz, the U-Boat war and now I'm up to 1942 and the Russo-German war and Japanese war is in full swing.

To give some idea of the scope: The Luftwaffe was hammering the RAF over the UK from the fall of France up to 1941 and I was hanging on by a thread. My production of Fighters wasn't enough to fill the losses and literally every single tech gain and percentage of help proved decisive (as it does elsewhere in the game). When the U.S. Sold me Fighters I literally breathed a sigh of relief.
My industry was being bombed away. Black Ice has separate factories for air production, tank production, etc. and strategic bombing can individually target these.

The AI does a great job. There are U-Boat attacks all over the historical routes and they are difficult to defend against so far. Air, Land and Sea combat behaves very realistically, both in means and pace. 

Too many things to list here about how much fun and how dramatic this mod is. The way units are composed is accurate. Combat and supply feels realistic. I found myself really using espionage and cryptography, air power and other factors as combat in North Africa was at a stalemate until I realised I was just playing casually like I do with the base game. Once I started taking small factors into account, using air supply, breaking cyphers, air recon, etc, the battle shifted in my favour. These are things that don't really impact too much in the base game, but they really count here.


There are some drawbacks. The mod is really deep. Research, production and other areas are massively expanded. If you find these areas boring or a struggle in the base game, you won't like the mod. It also requires some knowledge of the history of the time, in order to make appropriate choices. It requires more attention and it is definitely exhausting in places, but, as a simulation of world war two, for me at least, this is the realism and drama of it. I would highly recommend that the game is run at a maximum of speed 2 while at war, maybe 3 in the quiet moments. It is easy to miss something really important. Once again, this game takes a lot of concentration and planning. You can't go in lightly.

I took my eyes off the Far East while fixating in North Africa and Japan took Ceylon. From there they threatened East Africa and Southern Arabia. Again, the AI is very surprisingly good. I was blaming ahistorical AI on this before I released I'd let them have Ceylon through negligence and neglecting my naval presence there. The island is strategically important because from it, the Japanese can project naval power into the Indian Ocean and Arabian areas and I completely missed it because I was used the base game's AI. I've cowed the German Kriegsmarine and there is little chance of them launching any invasion as the Germans are bogged down in Russia, so I'm sending the majority of the Home Fleet over to the Indian Theatre to stop any more Japanese advances.

I'm tempted to restart, as it's my first proper game with Black Ice, but I think I'll stick with it and accept my mistake and recover from it.

In summary, this is the best HOI 4 experience I've had so far, but it's deep, difficult, historically realistic and unforgiving.

LINKS TO MOD:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137372539
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=842834893
#30
Computer Gaming / Re: Diablo 3
Last post by Sigwolf - March 26, 2024, 09:00:33 AM
Quote from: Taurinoss on March 26, 2024, 05:31:56 AMI was in a similar spot, reminiscing about the good ol' days of D2 but unsure if D3 was worth the plunge. And hey, I hear you on the clickity-clickity gameplay. It can feel a bit repetitive after a while, especially with so many other engaging titles available. Sometimes a bit of mindless demon-slaying is just what the doctor ordered, right? And with the sale going on, it's a pretty sweet deal. Plus, with Diablo IV on the horizon, it could be a good way to dip your toes back into the franchise and see if it still tickles your fancy.

Link to commercial website removed.
There's a Diablo IV on the horizon?  Please, tell us more about this breaking news!   :headscratch: