14 DAY TRIAL // In a move that many fans were kind of expecting, the team at the Paradox Development Studio is announcing that it is delaying the launch of Hearts of Iron IV to the second quarter of the year in order to have more time to make sure that the grand strategy experience is solid in terms of quality when it is released.
The studio explains that this is the most complex title they have created so far and the various interlocking mechanics require the additional development period.
At the same time, Paradox is ready to give fans of Hearts of Iron IV more information on the internal political system, which will rely on a new resource called Political Power.
Gamers will accumulate it over time, but they can also seek to accomplish National Goals in order to earn more and get more control over the country they have chosen.
The official forum announcement explains that “Picking one will cost you political power, but you'll usually get it back plus more reward if you can show that you were able to accomplish it. It might be a specific historical goal (which is a great way of pointing the AI in the right direction btw) or something more lose, like a campaign of improving the nation’s roads.”
The Political Power gathered can be spent to populate a cabinet and each character that can be recruited comes with positive and negative effects for the country, with some mutually exclusive and others that can actively help players control their country better.
Research in Hearts of Iron IV will be built around companies
In a surprising move, Paradox is also using Political Power to enable gamers to select companies for research purposes, each of them also equipped with bonuses and with different effects on the gear they are working on.
Gamers can also use Laws to modify the way their country performs in the game.
For democratic countries in Hearts of Iron IV, elections will be important, but the popularity of a government is also based on how they react to crisis moments.
Paradox adds, “Democracies are not immune to the effects of communist and fascist movements that defined much of the politics of the era. If the popularity of either grows strong enough, the ruling democratic party may find it necessary to form coalition governments with these parties.”
There are also civil wars that can spring up when a nation moves towards either communism or fascism and the old democratic guard opposes such a transformation.
