Welcome to the first development diary for 'Indochina at War: 1945-1979'. In this diary I will cover one of the most important things in this mod. Namely, the primary concept of the gameplay, which is brand new for HoI4 game.
As it was stated earlier, 'Indochina at War: 1945-1979' is a minor bookmark mod, which was inspired by old-school HoI2 scenarios and the mod called 'Warlord Era'. The main idea of the new concept is to set the primary focus not on the whole world, but on the specific region. In this case, it is the region of Southeast Asia. The main advantage of this method is the ability to pay more attention to a smaller number of nations, which makes the game less abstract and more historically accurate. In addition to that, it greatly improves the performance of the game.
About historical accuracy: we all know that minor nations in HoI4 are able to produce advanced equipment (like tanks, ships or planes). However, this has never been realistic. That is why in 'Indochina at War' this unfortunate mistake was removed. Now, minor nations will have a choice: they can either ask for foreign aid or purchase the equipment from major nations (international relations will play a major role here). The other available variant is to purchase the production license and produce the required equipment. However, in this case, tanks, ships or planes may be produced ONLY if the nation has a big industrial potential. At the same time, small arms may be produced even in a small country (still, it will be a lot cheaper to purchase them than to produce).
About equipment: 'Indochina at War' presents a new understanding of the equipment system. As we know, in HoI4 equipment (especially the infantry one) was more abstract. This time, rifles, SMGs, MG, carbines, grenades, etc. will be produced separately. Of course, infantry equipment was not the only one to be redone.
About units and OOBs: Changes in equipment system led to changes in unit and division systems. Now each unit will utilize the extended list of equipment. For example, infantry will need rifles, handguns (for officers), AP and AT grenades (or other similar equipment), uniforms and protection devices (helmets and vests). In my opinion, this feature makes the gameplay more interesting and turns the player into a real commander on the battlefield who needs to be sure that divisions get everything they need. In addition to that most division templates will be redone in accordance with historical data.
About industry and economy: 'Indochina at War: 1945-1979' will present a new look on the economic system. The addition of scripted GUI and storeable resources ('Man the Guns' DLC) makes possible to introduce the system, which will be closer to the one we see in 'East vs. West' or 'Victoria II' than in vanilla HoI4 game.
About political system: The gameplay in 'Indochina at War' is designed to make the player feel entertained even during peacetime. It means that a lot of changes has to be made to the political side of the game. It includes covert actions, espionage, international conferences and many other features.
This was the first development diary for 'Indochina at War: 1945-1979'. I hope that you liked the overall concept of the mod. I also hope that everyone who wishes that this mod will see the light, will assist me in this hard and time-consuming work.
