No Compromise, No Surrender: 1.17.4 Open Beta

Greetings, everyone,

I am Batya, a game designer who recently transitioned to the Hearts of Iron IV development team. While I am a fresh face on this specific title, I’ve been part of the Paradox family for some time, previously contributing to another internal project.

As we approach the official launch of the 1.17.4 update, we believe it is the perfect time to open a beta branch. This patch addresses a substantial number of community concerns and internal bugs, and we value your hands-on feedback to ensure everything is polished before the full release.

Our internal testing has already shown marked progress in general stability, AI logic, and multiplayer connectivity. However, identifying any remaining “pain points” is crucial, and your participation helps us refine the experience further.

The current Open Beta build is Musketeer v1.17.4.0.f1d3 (fe52).

To access the Open Beta, please follow these steps:

• Right-click Hearts of Iron IV in your Steam Library.
• Navigate to Properties…
• Select the Betas tab.
• Choose the specific beta version mentioned above from the dropdown menu.

To ensure testing accuracy, please deactivate all mods. If you encounter any issues, please submit a formal report in the Bug Reports section of our forums.

Note: We have identified a potential compatibility issue with Linux systems, so the beta may be unstable on that platform.

— Batya

Balance

• The Japanese “Finish the Fight” focus duration has been reduced to 35 days and no longer triggers an obsolete decision.
• Refined Finnish AI logic to prioritize more synergistic and effective sub-doctrines.
• Introduced a unique national spirit for the Guangdong and Guangxi cliques to encourage early involvement in the Liangguang Incident.
• Implemented a “Military Looting” national spirit and focus for Chinese Warlord States, providing a combat edge at the cost of industrial output.
• The Qing Empire can now utilize warlord integration decisions to accelerate the reduction of puppet autonomy.
• “Greater Iraq” integration decisions now take 14 days (down from 30) and target controlled states rather than just owned ones.
• Extended the duration of the Falangist Spanish “Eliminate the Carlists” bonus from 60 to 90 days.
• Finland now begins the game with its fifth submarine, the Saukko.
• Rebalanced the modifiers associated with the “Putschminister” trait.
• Relocated various starting resources in Brazil and introduced a small rubber yield in Acre.
• Added a dockyard to Istanbul to represent the historical Taşkızak Naval Shipyard.
• Turkey: Relocated Kamil Tolon to the political advisor slot.
• Turkey: Introduced two new starting ideas regarding the First Five Year Plan and illiteracy. Added early-game focuses for Sümerbank industrialization and education reform. Reduced the time for “Ratify the Six Arrows” to 35 days.
• Japan: Extended the duration for Naval Demand missions from 365 to 545 days.
• The shared Communist Baltic focus “A Revolutionary Cabinet” now completes in 35 days.
• Nerfed the organization gain rate in large unit tactics from 0.2 to 0.1.
• Latvian Ugonkrusts units are now classified as militias; the “Fascist Paramilitaries” spirit now boosts militia offensive and defensive capabilities.
• Historical Afghanistan can now solicit investments from both the Axis and Allies, provided they first expel members of the opposing faction.
• Increased the energy capacity cap for factories from 6 to 6.6.
• Aussa: The “Every Man a Warrior” focus now correctly unlocks militia units.
• Portugal: Enhanced the democratic support provided by the “British Influence” spirit.
• The Romanian “Iron Guard” spirit now provides a +5% recruitable population factor.
• The Portuguese “Portuguese Legion” focus now includes a research bonus for Military Police and a 5% core defense boost.
• The Soviet Union now begins with a -50% land mastery gain malus, removable via “Lessons of War.” This penalty is exacerbated by purges but mitigated by specific focuses.
• Adjusted 1936 static AA in England to align with historical records.

Multiplayer

• Drastically optimized the frequency of network commands. This should result in a smoother experience for players with lower-bandwidth connections.

Gameplay

• New Feature: Added the ability to customize which backgrounds appear on the main menu.
• Greece: The “An Orthodox State” focus is now compatible with the absolutist royalist path, offering revised bonuses.
• Congo: Approaching the Barotse Litunga before the liberation war now makes Yeta III available as a field marshal.
• Added an option in the Afghan historical path to replace the Prime Minister with an alternative Royal Successor.
• The state of Hebei-Chahar is now included in the Greater Mongolian formable nation requirements.
• Added a new air branch focus for Nationalist China to establish AFAMF factories, yielding military factories and light airframe bonuses.
• General He Yingqin is now unlocked for Nationalist China upon completing the “Crackdown on Corruption” focus.
• China can now rename several cities in Manchuria following their liberation.
• Introduced a dedicated bicycle division namelist for Japan.
• Reforming the Chinese Empire as the Kumul Khanate or Ma Cliques now grants unique flavor versions of the cosmetic tag.
• Expanded Sinkiang’s unique sub-branch with a new focus.
• Added an internal politics sub-branch for Khotan Ma.
• Introduced two additional focuses to the Qinghai Ma sub-branch, including an option to rebuild the Ninghai Army.
• Added an event for Nationalist China to imprison Zhang Xueliang.
• Implemented a unique sub-branch for the Yunnan Clique.
• Monarchist Portugal can now inherit several Brazilian characters during the reunification of the kingdoms.
• Player-controlled Mengkukuo can now use a decision to request that Japan launch the Suiyuan Campaign.
• Manchukuo can now request the annexation of other Japanese puppets in China via decisions when pursuing the Chinese Leadership path.
• Added options for Brazil to colonize and develop the Rondônia region.
• New Brazilian industrial focus: “Companhia Vale do Rio Doce,” which increases resource yields in Minas Gerais.
• Added secularization options for a Westernizing Iran and enhanced the distinctions between democratic leaders.
• The “Unified Kurdistan” focus now grants additional core states upon completion.
• Fascist Turkey can now appoint Nihal Atsız as leader following “Turanist Ambition.”
• Added Etibank as a new industrial concern for Turkey.
• Overhauled the Iraqi military branch for better flavor, including river navy bonuses.
• Iraqi focuses regarding Syria now require direct annexation instead of puppeting.
• Refined Iraq’s Kurdistan branch, allowing for Peshmerga militia training and a border war for Eastern Syria.
• Added four new political advisors, two military advisors, and a new industrial concern for Iraq.
• New Iraqi industrial focuses for the expansion of Cotton and Cement industries.
• Afghanistan: Added Abdul Hadi Dawi as an advisor for the Amanullah Khan path.
• Restored access to appropriate political advisors for Vichy France.
• Vichy France no longer has access to generals associated with the Free French forces.
• Added a new Air Chief and two High Command members to Vichy France.
• Expanded Iraq’s tree with focuses dealing with Sunni Dominance and Shia Unrest.
• New Democratic Afghan focus: “Ally the Young Afghans,” providing advisors and democratic support.
• Added two new “capstone” focuses for Iran.
• Introduced modernization decisions for Saudi Arabia and Oman.
• Added a shared national spirit and joint focus tree for the Ma Cliques.
• Italy: If King Vittorio Emanuele passes away while active as a national spirit, he is replaced by Umberto II.
• Ships undergoing repairs can now utilize local supply if the home base is insufficient, though they only consume surplus resources.

User Interface (UI)

• Energy consumption modifiers are now visible in the energy resource tooltip.
• Enhanced the Spymaster tooltip with more detailed operative slot information.
• The Balance of Power tooltip now displays an “effective change” clause.
• Improved “Repair Now” tooltips and added disabled states for task forces and ships when applicable.
• Japan: Added detailed explanations for Imperial Influence levels in the focus tree interface.
• Fixed a UI bug where convoy protection tooltips would redundantly repeat information for every task force.
• Model Selector buttons now correctly function as toggles.
• Stockpile data is now properly sorted for better readability.
• Afghanistan/Iraq: Decisions for the Free Arabian and Turkestan Legions now correctly display equipment costs.
• Added focus branch navigation buttons for India and Iran.
• Updated the “White Squadron” icon for Romania to be more thematic.

AI Improvements

• Fixed an issue where Japan would retain specific national spirits after being puppeted.
• The US AI is now more inclined to puppet Japan rather than simply forcing a government change.
• Added truces between China and Japanese-aligned tags (HBC/KUM) after peace deals to prevent immediate re-aggression.
• Fixed a bug allowing ships to train while outside their home base range.
• Optimized Naval AI movement; task forces will now station themselves closer to active regions.
• Improved AI prioritization of naval invasion defense.
• AI will now only prioritize coal efficiency research when facing energy shortages.
• Refined Strike Force engagement logic when reacting to spotted hostiles.
• Enhanced German Air Force management during the Phoney War and Operation Barbarossa.
• Improved AI logic for requesting Air Base access, making them more protective of their airfields across ideological lines.

Modding

• Resolved crashes involving is_demilitarized_zone and is_border_conflict within any_state triggers.
• Implemented the energy_ratio trigger (0 to 1) for country-scope energy fulfillment checks.
• Added only_imported parameter for the has_resources_in_country trigger.

Bugfixes

• Corrected a rendering issue that caused the map to appear over-bright.
• Fixed a bug where event-based random rolls would always result in the maximum possible value.
• Fixed a nomenclature error in infiltration tactics.
• Research speed tooltips now update instantly when switching between countries.
• Resolved a “Crash to Desktop” (CTD) involving units transferred between multiple exiled countries.
• Corrected the “High Capacity Electrical Grid” tooltip to reflect the proper per-infrastructure bonus.
• Faction colors now dynamically update to match the leader’s color unless a specific override exists.
• Fixed “Goes To” tooltips displaying incorrect destinations.
• The Polish AI will no longer pursue Monarchist decisions if the requisite conditions are not met.
• Fixed several broken localization strings in the Italian and Moldovan trees.
• Corrected the province check for the “Fortify Okinawa” goal.
• Nationalist China’s “The Seas of Tomorrow” now correctly grants a Naval Facility regardless of Hainan’s status.
• Fixed Ye Jianying’s portrait visibility when La Résistance is disabled.
• Resolved an issue where the United Front would dismantle prematurely after defeating Japan.
• Fixed several formable nation issues for Central America, Gran Colombia, and Greater Lithuania.
• Corrected “the the” typos and other grammatical errors across various localizations.
• Standardized the spelling of “Poznań” throughout the game.
• Fixed “Magnatron” typos, renaming it correctly to “Magnetron.”
• Resolved an issue where trucks would vanish from the supply system without being returned to the stockpile.
• Restored the portrait for Gunther “Adlerauge” Rall.
• Fixed an issue where female characters in Arabic nations were assigned masculine surnames.

Source