Hearts of Iron III
Encyclopedia
Hearts of Iron III is a grand strategy wargame
developed and published by Paradox Interactive
that is the sequel to the previous Hearts of Iron
games. It was announced on August 20, 2008 and was released on August 7, 2009.
A Mac OS X version was announced by Virtual Programming on December 7, 2009. The game was available for purchase the same day.
. A variety of decisions regarding the armed forces
, production, research, diplomacy, politics and espionage is the focus of the game.
The game centres around three factions: the Axis (Germany and its allies), the Allies (Britain and the Commonwealth, as well as France), and the Comintern (the Soviet Union and its allies). All other nations can slowly align with one of the factions. Nations are more likely to side with those with similar ideology.
Resources found in the game include: energy, metal, rare materials, and oil. The first three are required for industrial production, while oil is converted to fuel for vehicles, planes and ships.
The scope of military organisation ranges from brigades to entire theatres of operation.
in Leipzig showed new features such as 3D graphics.
Paradox released a series of developer diaries and video showcases.
Although happy with the scope of Hearts of Iron II
, lead designer Johan Andersson
wanted to improve upon every aspect of the game, starting again with a new engine. The game's artificial intelligence
(AI) was designed to be able to achieve strategic objectives and control forces delegated to it, including whole theatres
of operation. The AI can also remember and compare strategic possibilities as circumstances change. Changing to 3D graphics helped improve other areas, as Andersson explained:
Paradox had a vision for the style of the map, given that the player would spend the majority of their time looking at it: "...to create a map that feels like a WW2 map, like it could be a map which...a commander in the War would be looking at himself." The content of the map was also altered; the number of provinces increased to more than 15,000 over Hearts of Iron II's 2,600. Customizable division
s, a first for the series, are available, each one containing two to five brigade
s, with each brigade increasing the division's combat power and cost.
Gamepro
wrote "perhaps the worst problem is the interface itself, or more specifically, the amount of feedback it affords the player. In contrast to the old system, there is no instant way to assess how many divisions you have in each province, nor important values like their units' organization or combat values."
On the other hand, the game has been praised as being "tailored for experienced strat heads and wargamers with a lot of patience, but the game is more accessible than either of its predecessors and a great jumping-on point for new players who want to make the leap into a grand strategy epic."
The Mac OS X version of the Semper Fi expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on July 23, 2010.
A second expansion named Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland was announced on 27 January 2011 and released on June 28th 2011.
The Mac OS X version of the Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on September 28, 2011.
Grand strategy wargame
A grand strategy wargame is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire nation state or empire's resources.-Scope of games:...
developed and published by Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive
-External links:*...
that is the sequel to the previous Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron is a grand strategy computer game developed by Paradox Interactive and published by Strategy First, set in the years 1936-1948. In the game you can control any one nation as World War II unfolds. It was released for Windows-compatible PCs in 2002. A Macintosh version was also...
games. It was announced on August 20, 2008 and was released on August 7, 2009.
A Mac OS X version was announced by Virtual Programming on December 7, 2009. The game was available for purchase the same day.
Gameplay
Hearts of Iron 3 allows the player to take control of almost any nation that existed or even plausibly could have existed during the period of 1936–1948, guiding it through World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A variety of decisions regarding the armed forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
, production, research, diplomacy, politics and espionage is the focus of the game.
The game centres around three factions: the Axis (Germany and its allies), the Allies (Britain and the Commonwealth, as well as France), and the Comintern (the Soviet Union and its allies). All other nations can slowly align with one of the factions. Nations are more likely to side with those with similar ideology.
Resources found in the game include: energy, metal, rare materials, and oil. The first three are required for industrial production, while oil is converted to fuel for vehicles, planes and ships.
The scope of military organisation ranges from brigades to entire theatres of operation.
Development
The first trailer from the Games ConventionGames Convention
The Games Convention, sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention and abbreviated as GC, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment...
in Leipzig showed new features such as 3D graphics.
Paradox released a series of developer diaries and video showcases.
Although happy with the scope of Hearts of Iron II
Hearts of Iron II
Hearts of Iron II is a grand strategy computer war game for the PC based upon its predecessor, Hearts of Iron. It takes place in the period from 1 January 1936 through 30 December 1947 , and allows the player to assume control of any one of over 175 nations of the time and guide its development...
, lead designer Johan Andersson
Johan Andersson (game programmer)
Johan Andersson is the lead game programmer for Paradox Interactive, the Swedish-based game company which created Europa Universalis series, Victoria series, Crusader Kings, and the Hearts of Iron series...
wanted to improve upon every aspect of the game, starting again with a new engine. The game's artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
(AI) was designed to be able to achieve strategic objectives and control forces delegated to it, including whole theatres
Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....
of operation. The AI can also remember and compare strategic possibilities as circumstances change. Changing to 3D graphics helped improve other areas, as Andersson explained:
"Going 3D meant we could do another type of architecture where we could support more screen resolutions, and develop our maps in a quicker way. The biggest advantage from going 3D though was the ability to offload more to the GPUGraphics processing unitA graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
. With the machine advances during the last decade this gives us the biggest benefits in development when it comes to gameplay and AI."
Paradox had a vision for the style of the map, given that the player would spend the majority of their time looking at it: "...to create a map that feels like a WW2 map, like it could be a map which...a commander in the War would be looking at himself." The content of the map was also altered; the number of provinces increased to more than 15,000 over Hearts of Iron II's 2,600. Customizable division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
s, a first for the series, are available, each one containing two to five brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s, with each brigade increasing the division's combat power and cost.
Reception
Hearts of Iron 3 initially received a mixed reception because the game shipped with a large number of bugs in the initial release. After several patches eliminated many bugs, reception improved and the game got generally positive reviews. In 2009 December it had a combined average of a 77 on Metacritic" and a 79% on Gamerankings."Gamepro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
wrote "perhaps the worst problem is the interface itself, or more specifically, the amount of feedback it affords the player. In contrast to the old system, there is no instant way to assess how many divisions you have in each province, nor important values like their units' organization or combat values."
On the other hand, the game has been praised as being "tailored for experienced strat heads and wargamers with a lot of patience, but the game is more accessible than either of its predecessors and a great jumping-on point for new players who want to make the leap into a grand strategy epic."
Expansions
On 6 June 2010, an expansion called Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi was released. It is only available as a download.The Mac OS X version of the Semper Fi expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on July 23, 2010.
A second expansion named Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland was announced on 27 January 2011 and released on June 28th 2011.
The Mac OS X version of the Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on September 28, 2011.