Features
From my point of view, the features took some time to nail down and feel right, and I think it's very important to invest time and effort in that. Here I’ll showcase some of the steps and directions that the Special Projects and Raids went through. I believe that you have already gotten some nice run-throughs from earlier DDs so if you want to refresh your memory, please head to the earlier DDs where our fantastic Content Designers explain the ‘hows and whys’ since I’ll mainly showcase the art journey for them.Special Projects
Let me tell you that I already had the vision here and I’m so happy that it came through! Since we wanted to introduce scientists and all the things they can do I wanted to make it look and feel like stationary! Paper and folders, ink and coffee stains to really tie this together. I started to change the font as well to match better and I’m so happy that it could stay in.










Raids
This was interesting because we really wanted to make this one feel right, and also stand out as its own thing. You primarily play from the map but the icons shouldn’t look like any generic icons but still not steal too much attention, yet be visible enough for you to interact with. Also, the window should feel linked to this as well. There was a bunch of trial and error and a lot of playtesting involved but in the end, I think we managed to get some really nice-looking art for you to go along with a cool feature!













Focuses
You know the drill! Here are some of our favourite Focus icons for this DLC.



Portraits
And of course some of our favourite Portraits as well!




Loading Screen
Another DLC, another loading screen! Directions for the loading screen this time around were: Alt-history with the feeling of a rally, personal and a nod towards the cathedral of light! I can’t say that buildings have been my strongest suit to put on but I believe it turned out pretty alright in the end! I hope you guys enjoy this too! [strike]and not a boat in sight[/strike]
Horse Coat Colour Project
Maybe you already know this but I’m passionate about a four-legged creature called ‘horse’. During one of our internal development times, meaning not planned development time for this DLC, I felt something needed to be done with this poor outdated little guy. Everyone else gets a shiny new update… like, all the time! Why not the horse too!? I made it my project during two PDTs (personal development time as it's called) to breathe new life into the companion that brings the soldiers to the battlefield. Opening the 3D texture for the horse made me realize my limitations. The legs are mirrored, so that limited me making individual markings and gave me less customisation than I really wanted. Oh, cruel world. [strike]Maybe updating the 3D model can be something for me in the future?[/strike] Anywho, I got to work pretty quickly and started to map out different shades and colours and took requests from the team if they had a favourite colour I should add as well. When spawning the new looks for the horses into the game I also realized how careful I had to be with the shades but also how little or too much could show up on the model in the game because of the zoom limitations. There were a bunch of tweaking involved before I got the hang of it. And when I did… no one could stop me. This is how the UV map looks for the horse in HOI4 and me doing some shenanigans to create a new colour.


- Liver chestnut: Dark red body, main and tail
- Flaxen chestnut: Any shade of chestnut but with a significantly lighter mane and tail
- Dark bay: Can look almost black
- Blood bay: Bright red coat with black points
- Seal brown: Can look almost black but the soft parts, such as the muzzle, around eyes, inner ears, and underbelly will be a light tan colour.
- Steel grey: Looks steel grey in tone but with age turns white. More usual on a black horse than a bay.
- Dapple grey: Looks like the body has rings of grey hair mimicking dappled sunlight if you will. Will eventually fade to white or fleabitten grey with age.
- Fleabitten grey: Fully white coat with either brown or dark grey dots throughout the body.



















3D Models
And of course, the Art and Achievements Dev Diary would not nor could not be completed without showcasing some of our favourite 3D models as well! I’ll hand over to slurpen for this ofc since he’s the one in charge of our pretty 3D models. Thank you CreamGene Wow, you really love horses! I suppose those 3D horses are a good segway for me to show off a bunch of the new 3D models related to this DLC! There’s a bunch of stuff to see so let’s not waste time and get right to it! Let’s take a closer look at some of the soldiers that will be seen on the frontlines this time around:


Air-Based Projects
Somewhat steadily hovering over the battlefield are the helicopters. A groundbreaking new way of flying through the air! Are helicopters here to stay? Whatever the case, they may be of some use to you.




Land-Based Projects
On land, we will have to start with the crazy but wonderful land cruisers. They are hard to miss after all:






Sea Based Projects
The ocean is vast so there is a lot of space for some crazy experiments. If you truly want to show off the power of our navy these ships will make a statement. Whether it’s a ship made of ice (kind of), a supercarrier or a modern super battleship equipped with radar equipment you are sure to make a name for yourself.







Achievements
And here we finally have them. What you have been waiting for. The awaited shiny new achievements for you to conquer from Götterdämmerung! Disclaimer: Names and Descriptions of how to get the achievements can have been changed on release. Antischluss As Austria, control all German starting states



















