Experimental Facilities and Specializations
Okay, so how does one start one of these Special Projects? Well, the first thing you will need is an Experimental Facility. This is a new type of building that you can only have one of in a state (of any kind). There are four types of Facilities, and all Special Projects are grouped into one of four specializations that match the types of Facilities. The four Experimental Facilities are:- Advanced Physics Facility (mainly nuclear related projects)
- Naval Engineering Facility (Naval, both Surface and Submarine projects)
- Aerodynamics and Avionics Facility (Air and Rocket projects)
- Land Warfare Facility (mainly Tank and Artillery related projects)



Unlocking and Breakthroughs
So you need an Experimental Facility to start a Special Project. However, you can’t start a project just because you have built a facility. In order to start a project you must first have at least one Scientific Breakthrough in the current field/specialization. Breakthroughs are earned in two ways. The fastest and most efficient is by researching related technologies. This will generate progress towards a breakthrough in the field. For example, researching regular aircraft technologies will generate progress towards a breakthrough in the Aerodynamics and Avionics specialization. Once you have gotten a Breakthrough, you can use it to start a Special Project from among those that you have available. So basically, regular technology research will give you the chance to start specific Special Projects. If you focus your research on Air technologies, you will more quickly generate Breakthroughs in Aerodynamics and Avionics. Some projects are more advanced and require you to have more than one breakthrough in order to start working on them. The other, and slightly slower way (at least with a less experienced scientist) to generate Breakthroughs is to have a scientist attached to an Experimental Facility with no active project in it. The Scientist will then do Basic Research in the field, and this will generate progress towards the next breakthrough.
Prototyping
Projects take a long time to complete, and they are done in a number of prototype iterations. At the end of each iteration, progress is generated to the project. Sometimes other things can happen as well. Work with the project can for example give a research bonus in a related technology, or army xp, or similar things, depending on the outcome of the iteration phase. If you are unlucky, some powerful-yet-dangerous projects could make the facility suffer damage due to an onsite explosion…


Completing a Special Project
When project completion reaches 100%, the project finishes, and you get whatever it is you get :) from completing it. This could be a new piece of equipment that you can produce, a new building you can build, or something else. Usually you also get something more tangible as well. Couple of examples: The Nuclear Reactor Special Project will not only unlock the Nuclear Reactor Building type for you, but you will also get a Reactor for free in the same state as the Experimental Facility - assuming there is space for it that is. The Super-Heavy Railway Gun Project will not only unlock the Super-Heavy Railway Gun equipment to be produced, but it will also spawn one on completion. Some projects also unlock new technologies in the basic tech tree that are not available, or even visible if you haven’t completed the Special Project in question. For example, when you complete the V1 Project you get access to tech that you can research to improve your rockets, but also to rocket powered bombs, that can improve your strategic bombers. Some projects, like the Bouncing Bomb Project only unlocks a new module for your airplanes. But that module in itself unlocks special Dam Busting Air Raids that allow you to try to destroy enemy dams, disrupting their industry and strategic movement in the affected state. Oh, and yes, dams are a thing. I’ll talk more about dams in a future Dev Diary…Capturing Experimental Facilities
If you manage to capture an enemy Facility with an ongoing project, you will not only get to keep that Facility, but also earn some progress in that project - if you have it unlocked and it is not already completed. Additionally you will gain some breakthrough progress in the field related to the specialization.Scientists
An Experimental Facility needs a scientist leading the work. All major powers and some minor countries start with historical scientists and all countries can recruit more if needed. Scientists have a skill level related to the field in which they work - some may have more than one. The skill level affects how long prototype iterations take, and thus how long the projects take to complete. Skill level also affects the previously mentioned Basic Research. When involved in Basic Research, the scientist will generate progress towards a new breakthrough as described above, and the amount generated depends on the skill level of the scientist. Additionally, by doing Basic Research, the scientist will speed up regular research in related technologies. Aside from skill levels they can come with traits, for example making them better at a subset of projects, or giving them other bonuses/penalties. Worth mentioning that scientist is a new character role, and as such all the old Nuclear/Rocket Theorists, along with a few other relevant scientists/engineers previously represented as advisors, have now become scientists instead.

The Projects Themselves
The expansion comes with a decent number of Special Projects. There are, of course, projects allowing you to do your own Manhattan Project, and to take it even further… There are various Rocket Projects, you can develop the V1 Flying Bomb or the V2 Ballistic Missiles as was done historically. We have included some (slightly) fantastic Special Projects that were perceived/started during the era, like Project Habakkuk (the British Ice Carrier Project), or the Ratte Project (The German Mega Tank) as well, but we’ve tried to stay on the feasible side of things, so some of these might not be very efficient on their early stages, but might become more powerful and viable if you research further technologies unlocked by their Special Projects. In general, most projects will unlock a piece of equipment (Super-Heavy Howitzers, Parasites-Mothership Aircraft), a unit (Land Cruiser, Early Helicopter, Habakkuk), a module (Flamethrower Tank, Earthshaker Bomb, Anechoic Tiles) or a building (Nuclear Reactor, V3). Some projects can also boost existing equipment and projects that unlock very big things might also create a unit or a production line with progress in it. A few projects have more unique effects, such as the Naval Project, Underway Replenishment, which unlocks a new feature that Naval Task Forces can use. Here are some examples of projects:





Changes to Old Content
There has been some rework to the tech tree: We have added some new technologies, most of them invisible at game start and unlocked by Special Projects. Some previously-existing technologies are now hidden at game start and unlocked via Special Projects. Besides the aforementioned V2 and the Manhattan Projects (rockets and nukes), other equipment has been moved into the Special Project feature, For example: Flamethrower tanks are no longer unlocked by Engineers II technology, but they have their own early Special Project, with an additional technology mid-game that will boost the flamethrower. Cruiser and Midget Submarines, previously equipment only available to very specific countries, will now have their own Special Projects making them accessible to any country. With the addition of the Super-Heavy Railway Gun Special Project, we can now differentiate between “normal” Railway Guns, and insane much bigger ones, like Schwerer Gustav and Dora. This means that Germany gets a new model and icon for the regular Railway Gun researchable in the tech tree, and Dora becomes the Super-Heavy Railway Gun unlocked by a project.

A Word About Rockets
In the old systems, there was one type of rocket. Now there are several. The V1s are classed as Flying Bombs. These work similarly to before, but the rocket bases themselves have changed somewhat. The V2s however, are now classed as ballistic missiles. Ballistic missiles use another type of air mission, and are not affected by anti air. No one during the WW2 era had the capability to knock these rockets out, so that is something for later.
