I started playing HOI4

Author: Best.Korea

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#1
Best.Korea
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So I got the game as I was recommended to get it, and of course it offers you to play as many sides. I admit, I was tempted to pick Japan, but I figured for a first play its best that I play as a main character, so I picked to play as Hitler.

Right after game starts, there are so many buttons and its a bit difficult to find whats what until you get used to it.

Right away, I started building military, air force, bombers, tanks, ships...

I am still not sure how resources in game work, but apparently, game lets you pick to build military factories or civilian factories on each territory, but I built mostly military factories.

I kinda dislike the fact that it takes such a long time to declare war, but I guess thats realistic as it takes time to convince the public and build up justifications for war.

For a first time playing, the game is very confusing as it bombards you with too many buttons to click on, and it takes a long time to click on each to see what each does.

But so far it seems simple: build strong military, declare war, and conquer.

I am not sure how beneficial it is to build bombers so early in the game, as I think I have more bomber planes productions lined up than I have for anything else.

However, I like the game so far as despite being complicated, it also has simple elements to it and I dont think I can fail if I just focus on military.
#2
RationalMadman
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I think someone recently told me that being stuck behind a screen with 'art of war' games and such isn't how to get real experience of battles but how to stay delusional that one is good at them.
#3
ILikePie5
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What does that stand for 
#4
JoeBob
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@ILikePie5
Hearts of Iron 4
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#5
Best.Korea
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@juniorrationalmadman
I think someone recently told me that being stuck behind a screen with 'art of war' games and such isn't how to get real experience of battles but how to stay delusional that one is good at them
Buddy, I never claimed this game is gonna make anyone an expert at battles, its just kinda fun to play. But if you want experience of battles, you have to read books written by people who were in hardest battles and won, or just use AI to give you quick main points of those books. For example, you can just keep asking AI "What are some other main points of that book?" until it lists you plenty of points, then you write them down.

55 days later

#6
baggins
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@Best.Korea
Resources are pretty much based on the land your country occupies and your industry level . If you click on a region it will tell you what recourses are there. You can trade resources with other countries if you  need some extra for your equipment and that uses civilian factories . 

Also if you play with Germany you can start a war right away. If you play with Italy you are already in war with Ethiopia when you begin the game, so everything depends on which country you start with, and your policies 
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#7
Best.Korea
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@baggins
For me, its a bit of a hard to play game. Battles take such a long time, even when I speed up the game. Its strange. I spend like 20 minutes staring at screen watching animated soldiers shooting at each other.
Construction also takes a really long time. I dont know, it feels like a game of waiting.
#8
baggins
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@Best.Korea
For me the war is usually the fastest part of the game since I start playing with smaller countries and it takes time to develop their industry and military but once thats done and you make the right moves you can conquer a country in a week which is a couple seconds in real time. But yes sometimes and maybe most times it can take a while! 

#9
ADreamOfLiberty
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@Best.Korea
For me, its a bit of a hard to play game. Battles take such a long time, even when I speed up the game. Its strange. I spend like 20 minutes staring at screen watching animated soldiers shooting at each other.
Construction also takes a really long time. I dont know, it feels like a game of waiting.
This makes me suspect you're lying about something as simple as playing a game.

There is always more to do in HOI4 than can ever be done, especially with the expansions. If by some miracle you find yourself with nothing to micromanage, no focus to select, no air nor naval deployments to optimize, you can just change the speed.
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#10
Best.Korea
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@ADreamOfLiberty
If by some miracle you find yourself with nothing to micromanage
I dont really micromanage. I would rather not spend an hour clicking on buttons when each only brings tiny benefit. Its not worth the effort. I just put things to construct, set national focus, and wait for things to be constructed, which for some reason takes forever, even when speed up to maximum. If the game's idea is for me to click on 1000 buttons during that, to micromanage, I might just not like the game. I played it for a couple of days until I got bored of it because it takes a long time to get anywhere.
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#11
Best.Korea
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@baggins
I didnt really quite get the game then, but I am more used to playing faster games where like, you get to fight immediatelly, and are more simple to learn. I dont like games that bombard me with 1000 buttons, as thats really too much.
#12
baggins
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@Best.Korea
If the game's idea is for me to click on 1000 buttons during that, to micromanage, I might just not like the game
Yes I guess it just comes to that and thats not your type of game. If you just wait for constructions and national focus its boring. You do have to do a lot of micro managing (even with the war) and like the other guy said theres a lot to do all the time but it can be overwhelming for some people. It takes time to learn all the things you need to do in the game and it can be even more confusing if you just start playing without knowing what to do. With this kind of games usually the more you learn about it the more interesting it becomes.  

Those are the “grand strategy” games. Its much different than the normal “strategies” like Age of Empires where you build a base and send troops against the other person’s base.. Those are quick and fun (and not so complex). HOI4 is staring one hour at a map and thinking. Most of the game happens in your head not on the screen. If you want to click on animations and not on buttons you wont like it.