Hey there everyone!

First and foremost, a quick AI update:

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That has been a quick AI update. To fully explain, I have just learned that the way the AI handles laws in Hearts of Iron 4 is hardcoded with respect to their categories. Meaning that if I add a new economic law, the AI could pick it. If I add a new category of law, say manpower or women's’ rights, the AI will have no idea how to pick it on its own.

Man, it sure is a good thing I never did that. Right guys? Right?

...

My workaround with events has been able to get Manpower running smoothly enough, but the complexity we want to give cabinets has fully put them on hold. They simply have too many moving parts for me to be able to implement them cleanly. While upsetting, that doesn’t mean Cabinets will never be realized, I just have to wait for the hardcoding to be patched out.

While that takes however many centuries it will, that means it is time to shift focus. We decided the best way to do this is to introduce a series of simpler laws for the player to enact. Their effects however will be far from simple.

Introducing Governments and Elections!

We first began to talk about Governments amidst ideological discussion. Communism in Spain was different than communism in the Soviet Union, as the facets of democracy in the USA rang differently than those in the UK.

The Ideologies still matter, of course; they represent the fundamental beliefs of the nations and governments in question. However, we’re treating them less like a demographic readout, and more like a representation of what ideas are acceptable in the public sphere; the Overton Window, if you will.

Put simply, governments are an idea that’ll rest on Government menu which will replace the simple Fascist/Communist/Democratic split for determining what Laws you can enact and what abilities you have for diplomacy, trade, and so forth. It allows more fidelity than the simple three category system, while retaining the fundamental idea of a world coming to conflict over the three big Ideologies.

Each Ideology has three Government types available, though this is also a grab-bag of neutral options. These Government Types split the difference between Ideological groups; Social Democracy is democracy with a bit of Red, and Leftist Junta is a Communist country with Fascist leanings. Germany and Japan both start out as semi-democratic Executive Dictatorships, but they might transition to the more extreme Absolute Dictatorship as the war goes on.

Enacting these Governments will not be easy; it is a substantial shift in your Government structure. Fascists and Communists can simply change governments within the same Ideology by paying an exorbitant Political Power fee. Changing between Ideologies will almost always involve a Civil War; totalitarian governments aren’t a big fan of giving up power.

To avoid that PP cost, there is always the option of Elections. Elections are going to be more involved than a single event; they’ll be a longer affair with multiple choices, a la Victoria II. Election Law is the focus of the average Democracy, but Fascist and Communist states can still try to hold their own forms of elections, even if there is only one name on the ballot.

More on those later though! Until next time!

Beau and Derek