Victoria or Hearts of Iron 2

[danfda]

So, since I cannot post in the Arena *harumph*, I have a question for anyone who knows what I am talking about. I just read the Arena topics on Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun and Hearts of Iron 2, and would like to know which, if any, I should purchase. HoI2 sounds awesome, and Vicky also sounds good, but are they worth the money? And if so, which? Both? These sound great, but having never before even heard of them before, I just need a confirmation on to-purchase-or-not-to-purchase.

Mods, maybe one of you could move this into the respective Arena topics? Thanks!

[danfda]

...Anyone?

[L'Impresario]

You can find the respective threads in the Arena, there's lot of details to get a feel for each game

Anyway, here's a quick comparison:

Vicky:
-Focus on political/economical part
-Stats and data, lots of em (for example you get so many population groups and sub/cross-groups that affect your decisions, it's not even funny heh)
-Excellent representation of state-run economies
-Interesting timeframe that covers about a century
-Steep learning curve, need to do a lot of online studying
-Lots of historical events
-Expansion is coming out in late August

HOI2:
-Beef of the game-> military part
-Less than 10 years of play without the DD expansion (although time is incremented in hours, unlike Vicky)
-More room for military unit micromanagement and strategies, many unit types
-Interesting Research/Doctrine system
-Simplified economics (actually it's only about making trade deals and securing resources- in Vicky to do so you need to take into account more factors)
-Easier than Vicky, better tutorial and manual, nice (and numerous) short scenarios that can help beginners


In the end it's a matter of taste, and if you re willing to invest some time into the game, then you can't go wrong with either choice. Paradox is also churning out patches and fixes for titles that are over 4 years old.

[danfda]

Thanks, L'.

Yes, I have read the Arena threads--that was what piqued my interest. I just wanted some straight-up opinions on which people think is "better" (loosely used), since I have a little money now and will have none come September. School is expensive! And I'm only taking three credits... :D

[Csargo]

Which part of games do you like the Military tactical part or the Diplomatic/economic part better?

[danfda]

Probably the strategic angle is what I prefer--in MTW I often just auto resolve the battles so I can get back to the camp map...

*runs and hides in the corner*

[DukeofSerbia]

Europa Universalis 2 is better from both.

[ShadesWolf]

If you like stat then go for vicky.

But make sure you have the time and are ready to have to give a lot of resources to the game.

vicky is a very complicated game, and has a very large learning curve.

[danfda]

Heh... I ordered HoI2 from Amazon, since Vicky is apparently hard to find. I am looking for that one as well. Also, I am too poor at the moment to buy both games.

Paying for college sucks.

[ShadesWolf]

Heh... I ordered HoI2 from Amazon, since Vicky is apparently hard to find. I am looking for that one as well. Also, I am too poor at the moment to buy both games.

Paying for college sucks.

I hope you ordered Doomsday and not just Hoi2 ?

[Templar Knight]

Yea, better to get Doomesday and not just HOI2, as Doomesday is a stand alone expansion

[danfda]

Heh, I ordered both. Didn't realize Doomsday was stand-alone. Oops.

I've installed HoI2, and played some, but it's so different from the TW series--well, kind of. I am in the process of reading the quite-lengthy manual, and it sounds great. But in the campaign I've begun, I can't do anything. Not enough IC, you see. So how do you upgrade your economy if you don't have enough IC to build anything to give you more IC? Or am I being unfair, since the time goes by so much more slowly than in TW (hours as opposed to years)?

And what is a good starting faction to play as? I don't really want to start as a huge nation, say Japan or US, since I want to proceed a little more slowly and just get the feel of things...

Thanks for the advice gents!

[ShadesWolf]

So what nation did you start with ?

[danfda]

I tried Turkey. I figured that they'd not be too small, and are in a good trade position...

Whoops, that must be the TW talking...

At any rate, I can't build hardly anything. Not even one factory, let alone two. It'll take me about two or so years to build one, in one province. Not so bad in TW terms, but in a game thats over in eleven years, way to long. It even takes me about half a year to train one unit of light infantry (instead of the ninety days it's supposed to).

So am I just plain missing something?

[Strike For The South]

I just orderd Vicky I plan to ramrod Mexico As THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

[danfda]

I just orderd Vicky I plan to ramrod Mexico As THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

You don't happen to have a rusted out 4x4 pickup with mudder tires and mud flaps with pictures of Yosemite Sam on them, do ya?


Where did you order it from?

[Strike For The South]

Amazon

[Csargo]

I'de probably suggest playing as a SA country it may take a bit to build things but you can really learn the basics of the game and if you go to the chatroom Disco or Kenshin or I will help you out with things you don't understand.

[ShadesWolf]

I tried Turkey. I figured that they'd not be too small, and are in a good trade position...

Whoops, that must be the TW talking...

At any rate, I can't build hardly anything. Not even one factory, let alone two. It'll take me about two or so years to build one, in one province. Not so bad in TW terms, but in a game thats over in eleven years, way to long. It even takes me about half a year to train one unit of light infantry (instead of the ninety days it's supposed to).

So am I just plain missing something?

One of the tabs allows you to move sliders about. These sliders dictate who much of your resouces you place into each pop.

ie Consumer Goods, Production, Supplies,Reinforcements, Upgrades.
If your Production Need is higher than the actual then it will take longer to build units. Usually at the beginning of the game you can move these sliders around without causing to many problems.

This info starts on page 29 of the Hoi manual.

Might be worth having a good read

[danfda]

Yes. Unless I drop all of the others to basically zero, production wouldn't get "out of the red" and go 100%. Reinforcements and upgrades were already at zero.

So I took Csar's advice and started a campaign with Colombia. I can build things now! :D Granted only two things at a time and they have crappy manpower, but its much better than as the Turks. I am a tad impatient and I want to invade Peru...

That manual is crazy! I've never seen one so thick, verbose, and with as few graphics as HoI2's. Course, this game appears to be targeted at gamers other than the 8-16 year old, ADD-afflicted demographic...

[Csargo]

Yes. Unless I drop all of the others to basically zero, production wouldn't get "out of the red" and go 100%. Reinforcements and upgrades were already at zero.

So I took Csar's advice and started a campaign with Colombia. I can build things now! :D Granted only two things at a time and they have crappy manpower, but its much better than as the Turks. I am a tad impatient and I want to invade Peru...

That manual is crazy! I've never seen one so thick, verbose, and with as few graphics as HoI2's. Course, this game appears to be targeted at gamers other than the 8-16 year old, ADD-afflicted demographic...

Yep well thats good the smaller countries help you out with learning the whole system of the game so that you can then play with some of the larger countries later on. I played as Argentina and conquered all of SA and it was a pretty fun game. But watch out who you declare war on or should I say don't let your belligerance get too high because if it does and your playing a CA or SA country the United States will declare war and believe me you can't win that war. Well if have any questions I'de be happy to answer them for you.