We’ll showcase some of the icons and portraits for this DLC we like the most, the new doctrines feature art and of course, 3D art, as well as showcase the upcoming Achievements for you to wonder about.
We’ll also show you the loading screens, yes, plural! We made two this time!
Focus Icons
And here we dive into some of our favourite Focuses of NCNS! Anyone in particular catching your interest?
Japan
China
PRC
Philippines
Portraits
And onward to our best choices in portraits! Which ones are your favourites?
Japan
China
PRC
Philippines
Some updated older portraits by popular demand:
Manuel Quezon, Before and After:
There were two portraits in the game made with references from post-war, after they had been in captivity for several years (commanders of the British forces in Malaya, and American forces in the Philippines, both of whom surrendered their armies to Japan). We felt that the old portraits were an unfair representation of their person, so we wanted to give them new portraits reminiscent of their pre-captivity. Below you can see how they used to look, and how they look now!
Arthur Percival, Before and After:
Look at him glow
Jonathan Wainwright, Before and After:
Just because he looks very nice in this glow-up!
Loading Screens
We wanted to fit two versions of the loading screen this time around! And we want to make sure that you’ll not miss any of them, so here they are in all their glory.
Art done by our very own Max_Art
Use Responsibly
Japanese themed
The Japanese loading screen shows a pilot climbing out of his crashed Zero plane, looking out at the air battle at the foothills of Mt. Fuji. Not depicting any particular battle, but rather a fun way to use some of our airplane models as a base for a dynamic composition!
Chinese themed
The Chinese loading screen depicts the Battle of Sihang Warehouse, where heavily outnumbered and battered Chinese troops held a key position for 6 days against Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War on October 26 1937.
3D Art
Awesome stuff as per usual CreamGene!
Hello everyone! Slurpen_Paradox here to bring you a closer look at the new 3D assets!
Let’s have a look at what we are bringing to the table in terms of new 3D models this time around.
Let’s warm up with a closer look at some of the new infantry models featured in these pre-rendered images:
In addition to all of these models, everyone will also have access to all the models that were introduced in Waking the Tiger!
Now it’s time for one of my favorite segments, the landmarks!
This time we have added the biggest landmark yet, and I’m not so sure we will be able to top this one to be honest. I am, of course, talking about the famous Great Wall of China!
The wall is not just for show, it does have a small but noticeable entrenchment bonus for any unit that is standing on a province that is covered by the wall. It may be old, but it still provides some decent cover!
We have made sure that the wall follows the edges of the provinces with a bit of distance to the actual border to make it clear which side gets the entrenchment bonus. We have also made some adjustments to the way that the buildings are rendered so that the wall won’t cover up important front lines that may be drawn along the various provinces.
The Great Wall of China is not the only cool landmark that we have added. There are other historical landmarks that are interesting in various ways. Some of the Japanese landmarks can only be unlocked by going down a certain path in the focus tree.
Let’s have a closer look at all of these landmarks together!
There are of course a bunch of new planes added as well! It’s a nice mix between familiar planes sporting some unique paint schemes and brand new ones! To give you an idea of what to expect I have gathered my favorites below.
In terms of land based vehicles, you have some borrowed equipment that still looks quite unique.
My favorite is the M10 GMC with extra armor on the turret and a 105mm Type 91 field gun!
Some of the nations that already had existing 3D assets have also received some higher fidelity textures and minor touch-ups here and there!
There are also some new buildings for the Naval Headquarters and the Naval Supply Hub as well as a unique model for the submarine carrier, support ship and repair ship.
I think I will end it there so that we can all have a look at the next segment..
..the doctrines!!
The Doctrines Feature
Hello everyone! marblemadness over here to talk about one of the UI features we’ve been working on in the HoI4 team, the doctrines. With this DLC we decided to retouch the land, naval and air doctrines that have remained untouched since virtually the release of the game almost a decade ago. Jaboth already covered updates to the game mechanics of the updated doctrines in a previous dev diary (link here) so I will take this opportunity to show an update of the graphics.
The Current Look
The New Look
The challenge with creating the updated look has been to keep true to what is at the core of HoI4 while still making something that feels refreshingly new. Some ways this has been done is by keeping the rectangular frame that is the standard appearance of HoI4 windows, as well as adding riveted decorations for that mechanical, practical feel. Apart from this, the team had a strong desire to keep the backgrounds from the previous doctrines, which were reworked to fit a vertical format instead of the previous horizontal one (while also making sure they look as cool as possible and don’t get obstructed too much by the new button layout).
Horizontally faced, neutrally colored backgrounds….
…land doctrine window with vertically facing, green-tinted backgrounds
We also wanted to make sure that it feels good to unlock the milestone once everything in the track has been completed successfully, so we came up with the idea of having milestone indications pop up once everything is done.
A photoshopped side-by-side comparison to show how uncompleted version (left) versus how a fully completed version (right) would look like
Every track has its own little milestone to unlock, so I hope you look forward to unlocking them all in your playthroughs.
Without any further ado, I’ll end my part here to let you take a look at the achievements that CreamGene has whipped up in this expansion.
Achievements
CreameGene back again to show off, yes, here we are, finally… we reach the very anticipated Achievement.
How many do you deem respectable? Easy vs Hard? Get out there and try to get them all!
Disclaimer: Names and Descriptions of how to get the achievements may have been changed on release.
Genghis Khan't
As China, conquer all Mongolian cores
The Neverending Story
As a Warlord, proclaim a new Chinese Empire.
It’s all coming together
Unify China by either subjecting or annexing all warlords.
The Coast is Clear
As China, never lose a coastal state before 1945.9.2.
A Fullmetal Brotherhood
As Fascist China, control 300 Steel, Tungsten and Chromium.
Battle Royale
As PRC, go down the Diarchy path and defeat China and Japan.
The Winner takes it all
As PRC own and control all Chinese core states.
Master Infiltrator
As PRC, don't expand and take any states, AND infiltrate at least 5 Chinese states and have them flip to your control when attacking China.
Paradisus Paradoxum
As Japan, proclaim the creation of a Pure Buddhist Land.
An Equivalent Exchange
As Democratic Japan, complete the focus “Foreign Exchange Allocation Policy” and capitulate Fascist Germany.
The Sun Will Never Set
As Japan, proclaim the Eternal Empire and control all of your core states.
Doctrine of Choice
Fully master all sub doctrines in a grand doctrine.
Manifesting a Better Tomorrow
Reach 100% faction manifest fulfilment.
The Juannines
As the Philippines, have cores and control all of Spain.
Declare Military Emergency
Have a Military Emergency declared in the Philippines.
Cobalt Sea
As the Philippines, launch nuclear missiles from a nuclear submarine.
I Have Avenged You, Father!
As Zhang Xueliang, reclaim Mukden and revive the Beiyang government.
And with that, we want to thank you for reading this Dev Diary. We hope you’ll have a good time playing and conquering whatever you set out to do, and feel challenged doing so!
