Attention, Generals!
We are rolling out another Open Beta update as we approach our Anniversary Patch. This release focuses on fine-tuning game balance, squashing bugs, and introducing further refinements to our naval AI.
We recently analyzed the feedback from our community survey and social media discussions to get a better sense of your priorities. The consensus is clear: many of you feel that Ironman mode shouldn’t be a prerequisite for achievements, while modded gameplay should likely remain achievement-restricted. While we have heard your requests to allow specific mods to coexist with achievements, that approach is unfortunately not feasible for us at this time. We are also exploring the potential for multiplayer achievements. While a final decision hasn’t been reached, we are leaning toward a bespoke system where requirements vary—some achievements will necessitate Ironman, while others will not.
This update is intended to be the final addition to the open beta before the full launch alongside our anniversary on June 6th. That said, we may still implement minor balance adjustments based on your ongoing feedback.
I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this open beta. Your insights have been invaluable and have guided our development efforts significantly. We hope these latest changes have placed our naval AI in a much stronger position, and we remain dedicated to refining the experience for everyone. Thank you! 🙏
— Niels & Batya
How to Access the Open Beta
The current beta client is Case Green v1.18.2.0.9c2d (fbec). To install it, follow these steps:
- Right-click the game in your Steam Library.
- Select Properties from the menu.
- Navigate to Betas.
- Choose the open_beta branch from the dropdown menu.
If you are already enrolled, your client will update automatically.
To report any issues encountered during this beta phase, please visit our bug report forum. Please be sure to include your current version number to help our team streamline the triage process.
Open Beta Update VI Highlights
Balance
- Nationalist China: Significantly accelerated the Focus Tree; reduced completion time from 70 to 35 days for 22 focuses across Industry, Army, Air, Navy, and Politics.
- Nationalist China: The “Construct the Banqiao Dam” focus has been moved earlier in the tree; prerequisites for “The National Sun Yat-sen University” have been adjusted accordingly.
- Submarines: Adjusted escape logic; submarines now escape at 35% daily progress while hidden (down from 50%).
Gameplay
- Lend-Lease: Enhanced UI logic; it will now default to the maximum volume a recipient can support with their current convoy capacity.
- Nine-Power Treaty: Triggered an event for all signatories when China is attacked.
- Logistics: Convoy limits are now ignored when fulfilling Lend-Lease requests.
AI Improvements
- Refined USA naval templates and strategic decision-making.
- Updated ship templates for the UK and generic nations.
- AI now reserves a greater number of dockyards for maintenance.
- The AI will prioritize repairs until vessels are no longer critically damaged (based on community feedback).
- UK forces are now more likely to expand North African port capacity to support offensives toward Tobruk.
Bug Fixes
- Resolved a crash occurring when setting SAM missions in naval regions.
- Fixed a Mac-specific crash during peace conferences.
- Addressed an issue where emergency convoy demands could scale infinitely.
- Optimized GPU buffer creation by utilizing DISCARD on the first frame map.
- Fixed a bug causing ships to lose strength upon reloading a save if that strength was gained via doctrines.
- Fixed an issue where aircraft destroyed by sources other than air-to-air combat (e.g., static AA or ground raids) failed to contribute to war participation.
- Raj: Fixed “Mixed Economy” to apply resource bonuses to starting states only, and added coal.
- Raj: Updated “The Riches of the Raj” to correctly recognize synthetic refineries.
- Raj: Corrected “Acquire New Resources” to assign resources to the appropriate state.
- Fixed a late-game crash involving scientists.
- Corrected a display error in the naval supply tooltip that inflated the number of required convoys.
Don’t forget: To see the full range of the Australia content, join Mordred and Punchrullar for their live stream today at 15:00 CEST!