Hearts of Iron III - opinions

[Basileos Leandros I]

I just purchased HoI3 the other day because of the Steam Holiday Sale along with four DLC packs to liven up the main game. Before I start, here comes my question:

How stable is HoI3 right now?

I bought it two years after release and I'm a fan of TBS/RTS games, and especially complicated games with micromanagement. I know I will enjoy it, I just want to know if time will be well spent if the game is stable.

[HissingNewt]

If you have everything up to For the Motherland it's pretty stable from my experience. I don't know about the earlier versions.

[TheBromgrev]

If you have everything up to For the Motherland it's pretty stable from my experience. I don't know about the earlier versions.

Pretty much sums it up. The first release was a heaping pile of ____ and would crash every 5 minutes until patch 1.4 came out. The game has only improved since then and FtM is a massive improvement since it's compatible with mulit-core processors. I've never had it crash after the latest expansion came out unless I'm doing some modding, whereas upon initial release it would crash if I zoomed in too much or played for more than 15 minutes.

[a tw player]

Thankfully I wasn't aware the game, or series, existed until I discovered and bought the game at v1.4. I don't think I've ever experienced a crash on FTM to be honest...

NB - It's one of the best games I've ever played

[Basileos Leandros I]

So without the expansion packs, how is it?

I guess I'll have to purchase the expansion packs too.

[CDMan477]

^The expansions are a must from a game play standpoint, but that can be said about every game Paradox releases to be honest. I personally did not experience many crashes unlike some others apparently, did with the early unpatched game. The only crashes I've ever really experienced involved mods to be honest. Pretty rare otherwise.

[a tw player]

Personally I see getting Semper Fi as an absolute must if you want to enjoy the game, while For the Motherland does improve gameplay substantially though not a dramatic increase as seen from the base game to Semper Fi. I'd still recommend getting FTM however

[SLN445]

Might get it today as its cheap as hell (got the original but its not a steam version), what new things do the expansions add?

Edit: Cost of pack 7.49, amount on card 7.48

.....FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

ended up having to buy the sprites and main game seperatly as i had another card with $3 on it

[HissingNewt]

I don't even know what Semper Fi adds, but FTM adds partisan units, a new map, the undeclared war in the Atlantic, better control of theaters, scenarios like Fall Blau, and strategic resources.

[SLN445]

My game failed to show units and caused my computer to practicaly crash after exiting ....

[Basileos Leandros I]

I don't even know what Semper Fi adds, but FTM adds partisan units, a new map, the undeclared war in the Atlantic, better control of theaters, scenarios like Fall Blau, and strategic resources.

So it adds quite a big deal, strategic resources, a new map and partisan units IMHO look decisive.

I'll purchase the rest and give my opinions on the game once I start playing. Definitely looking forward to experience the HoI series.

[TheBromgrev]

The game has a steep learning curve, but is quite rewarding once you figure it out. If you have any questions feel free to ask in this forum or the official HOI3 one, though you might get answers faster if you post in Paradox's forum. There's a wiki too you can check out, though it assumes you know the basics. Here's a link to the wiki: http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Main_Page

[a tw player]

So it adds quite a big deal, strategic resources, a new map and partisan units IMHO look decisive.

I'll purchase the rest and give my opinions on the game once I start playing. Definitely looking forward to experience the HoI series.

Good luck, it really is fantastic when you figure it out

(A major feature of FTM is multi-core support by the way, so the game runs much faster than SF)