I’m CreamGene and I hope you have had a good time reading previous Diaries and are as excited as we are for the release.
Since I’m here, I would like to share with you some of the art we on HOI have loved to see the most as well as show off some behind-the-scenes… or WIPs of how some of the features took shape and came to be… as well as a passion project from me that I’m very excited to finally unleash!
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.
Mock-ups of how the windows could look
Fixing the Scientists and the List to hire scientists WIP!
Window coming together (WIP)
The project windows starting to look alright. Still, some tweaking left to do.
Adding colour-coded ribbons in the research tech tree to better tie the techs together.
Current In-Game look for Special Projects
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!
The launch window.
From concept (and this is just the most recent concept, there would be too much to share if I showed the whole iteration process) to in-game.
The outcome window.
Again, from concept and prototype to how it looks in-game.
The on-map icons, from concept (again, so many iterations) to how they look in-game!
And some fancy iconography that shows how the landmarks look in the province view.
Current In-Game look for Raids
Focuses
You know the drill! Here are some of our favourite Focus icons for this DLC.
German Focus Icons
Austrian Focus Icons
Hungarian Focus Icons
Belgium/Congo Focus Icons
Portraits
And of course some of our favourite Portraits as well!
German Portraits
Austrian Portraits
Hungarian Portraits
Belgium/Congo Portraits
Scientists Portraits
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.
Painting new coats on the diffuse map (diffuse = colour).
And here is an image of the same UV-map but on the 3D model where the pink part has been highlighted so that I know which parts are mirrored on the model’s diffuse sheet. Of course, I had excellent help from our 3D guy slurpen whenever I needed it.
Nice looking 3D model
Skip this next part if you’re bored with sciency-genetics stuff cause I can yapp!
Welcome to CreamGene's Ted talk! Sit down, relax and enjoy a fun lil dive into some very basic horse genetics.
A horse has two basic pigments; Red and Black which create two colours, namely: Chestnut (red), which is a fully (and when I say fully, I mean body, mane and tail) red-brown tinted horse and Black (black) which is a fully black horse.
All other coat colours you see are created by additional genes and become a modifier of the two! I know how much you guys like modifiers.
So all the brown horses you see are actually called Bay and have a modification that creates something called ‘point colouration’. ‘Points’ in equine terms is a name for the mane, tail, lower legs and ear trims.
I would say in HOI terms the point colouration is a modifier that suppresses the black colour to all but the extremities of the horse.
Bay, together with Chestnut and Black is called a ‘Base Coat’ and it's from these three colours that we can get a vast range and variety of coat colours for the horse.
For Example:
Chestnut colour variations and what they are named:
- Liver chestnut: Dark red body, main and tail
- Flaxen chestnut: Any shade of chestnut but with a significantly lighter mane and tail
Bay colour variations and what they are named:
- 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.
And as a bonus, I also want to add a lil snippet of some genes and modifiers that I’ll be showcasing just down below!
White? Horses are never white in terms of colour, but grey. Grey is a colour modifier that turns the original coat white with age! A pure white horse from birth is called “a dominant white” and is another form of mutation where the hairs are white and the skin is pink with dark eyes.
Grey variations and what they are named:
- 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.
Leopard gene: A white horse with either black or brown spots, resembling a Dalmatian or a leopard. Here I mimic the breed Knabstrupper which is a native breed to Denmark.
Silver gene: Affects the black base coat to a chocolaty brown, points will get a silvery shade and the mane and tail will usually range between a flaxen colour or a silvery grey.
And from here we dive into the modifiers that change, tweak and add patterns to the horse's coat. There are a myriad of different colours and a bunch of different ways that a horse acquires them genetically and me explaining these occurrences would probably explode the character limit of what we can post on a DD. So I’ll of course refrain from doing just that and just showcase the colours I’ve made so far that you can now find roaming the maps of HOI4.
However, If you are in fact curious, I highly recommend doing your own research.
Welcome back from the lil Sciency bit if you skipped it!
So with the power of Zoom, I’ll present to you the different colours that you can now randomly find on your frontlines:
Chestnut, Flaxen chestnut, Liver chestnut and Flaxen liver chestnut
Seal brown, Blood bay and four basic-looking Bays
Just two cute-looking black horses with different markings
Dapple grey, Steel grey and Fleabitten grey
Bay base and Black base… and my bad, I forgot the in-game look for the black leopard.
One cute Silver Bay horse!
Maybe you have a new favourite horse colour now or maybe even a little bit of interest in the vast variation of our four-legged friend on the battlefield. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed scrolling through my little passion project and I do hope that they will make you look twice on the map when you play!
[strike]Horse Designer when?[/strike]
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:
Something new to Hearts of Iron is the landmark buildings that can be seen around the map.
They are fun to look at but even more fun to destroy. They will eventually get rebuilt but that may take some time.
Let’s move on to some models related to the special projects. Various unique models can be seen on land, in the air and out at sea. Let’s start in the air and work our way down!
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.
Helicopters
Next up, we have the motherships with their adorable little planes that are there to protect them when things get tough! A big plane paired with a small plane should give you the best of both worlds right?
Motherships with their cute babies.
One way to ensure air superiority is to be the fastest kid on the block. With the development of the jet engine, you can travel faster than the speed of sound. If you can manage to harness this power you might just be able to turn the tide of the war in your favour!
Supersonic Jets
If nothing else works there are always nukes. Missiles and nukes can be developed and launched towards your enemies. The question is, who will strike first?
Missiles
Land-Based Projects
On land, we will have to start with the crazy but wonderful land cruisers.
They are hard to miss after all:
Land cruisers
You will need some big guns to take on those beasts. Here are some super-heavy howitzers that can even the odds:
Super-Heavy Howitzer
Super-Heavy Self-Propelled Howitzers
Things are heating up! Speaking of heat, next, we have the flamethrower tanks coming in hot:
Flamethrower Tanks
Land vehicles can be used for more than just destruction. They can also help clear a path or help out with retrieval missions. These vehicles are categorized as engineering vehicles. Have a look:
Recovery vehicles
Mine-Clearance vehicles
Crossing Support vehicles
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.
Special Project Ships
If you prefer the sneaky approach to naval warfare, don’t worry! We have got you covered:
Submarines
Before we go completely off the rails with the in-game screenshots and achievement icons we can’t forget the super heavy railway guns:
Super-Heavy Railway Guns
To top it off let me show you some of the models in action:
Believe it or not, there is still more to see but I think we will wrap things up here. A lot of work has gone into making these special projects a reality so I hope you will have fun researching and utilising them in the game!
Until next time, Slurpen out!
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
No Friends, Only Family
As Austria or Hungary led by a Habsburg Monarch, Control the Swiss Plateau and have at least three other countries be led by a member of the Habsburg family
Edelweiss Seedelweiss
As Austria have a coastline, at least 10 Battleships and have Georg von Trapp as an Admiral
Otto-man
As Austria or Hungary, led by Otto von Habsburg, control the starting states of Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey as well as the states in Polish Galicia, Slovenia and Croatia.
Spaak of Genius
As Belgium, with Paul-Henri Spaak as country leader, research at least 10 different Special Projects
Brentry
As Austria, Belgium or the Netherlands be the leader of the EU and have the United Kingdom join your faction
The 501st Legion
As Belgium, have the National Spirit “Rexist Legion” and be in control of all of your starting neighbours’ Capitals.
Congolese Belgium
As Congo break free from the shackles of your old overlord and take control of all of their starting states
The Lenin Boys are Back in Town
As Communist Hungary bring back the Lenin-fiúk and take control over Leningrad
A Great Hunger
As Hungary proclaim Greater Hungary and control all of your historical states
Weltpolitik
As Germany take control of all of your former colonies
Naval Arms Race
As Germany led by an Admiral capitulate the United Kingdom
Woman in a High Castle
As Germany with a female leader either annex the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii or have an American puppet that owns all the American starting states, including Alaska and Hawaii
American Prometheus
As the USA have Robert Oppenheimer complete the Manhattan Project
Tsar Bomba
As Tsarist Russia complete the Special Project for Thermonuclear bombs
Super Heavy Metal
Complete the Special Projects for Intercontinental Bombers, Land Cruisers, and Super Heavy Battleships
Backfire
As the United Kingdom complete the Special Project for Medium Range Ballistic Missiles, have a rocket site, and be at war with Germany
Dam It!
Successfully execute a Dam Busting Raid
Bullseye
Successfully launch a raid on a Landmark
The True Successor
As Luxembourg led by Charles Marx control both Brussels and Trier
And with this Dev Diary on Art and Achievements, we on HOI4 wish you a happy conquest and many, many hours of challenges and fun gameplay!
Make sure to check out the Expansion Pass Here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3152810/Hearts_of_Iron_IV_Expansion_Pass_1
If you haven't heard just yet, we announced earlier today that we've launched a small Amazon Merchandise shop with the release of Götterdämmerung. You can grab a Hoodie or T-shirt to better equip yourself for your World Domination endeavours, or simply to sport something stylish.
(Some restrictions apply, check Amazon for shipping eligibility and costs)
Grab yours via the link below or by clicking the image!
