HOI IV Dev Corner | Energy

Generals!

Something different, not planned for any expansion, but perhaps a future war effort. We added coal to the game as part of the free update released with No Compromise, No Surrender . However, coal did not end up where we really wanted it, and we ended up nerfing its effects to the point where it didn't really matter anymore. Part of the feedback we received was that using coal to represent energy did not actually introduce energy production itself: dams and experimental power plants (such as Nuclear Reactors in Götterdämmerung) merely lowered power usage within a state rather than generating electricity. We are now introducing energy as a true local resource, with coal serving to empower and boost local power production. This also resolves the punishing effect the previous system had on minor nations without coal, ensuring all nations can build up their energy network and change the course of history. How energy gets made A Power Plant is now a state building which produces electricity based on the terrain in a state. This building doesn’t represent a single concentrated effort to generate electricity, but rather multiple smaller efforts to generate local energy. This way even if you don’t have coal available, you can still expand your energy network.

Your regular industry generates power as well. This is typically sufficient when building basic equipment, it solves one of the biggest problems we had with minors being punished extra heavily. Dams now generate a static amount of energy, while still providing their previous state wide bonuses. Research allows you to boost their performance somewhat, but largely they don’t get better during the game.

Coal is still very much in the game, a Power Plant is able to burn up to a certain amount of coal to generate additional energy. This is especially required when producing costly equipment. An important consideration is that Coal will only be marked as a deficit if you actually require it to fulfill your energy needs.

We’ve also updated content to consider power plants as a building. How energy gets used Every production line draws power based on what it is producing, mostly based on the resources being used. Aluminum costs a lot more power compared to steel, etc. This makes it so that basic Infantry Equipment costs very little, while mass producing airframe’s will be quite power hungry.

This UI is still work in progress Buildings can cost energy as well, the Synthetic Refinery now draws a constant 5 energy as an example.

Summary Similar to how it is now, you fulfill a ratio, and not meeting that ratio comes with some downsides. Generally these are not that punishing, and there is no need to feel that you constantly need to fulfill energy demands.

An example of AI’s Italy’s energy production & usage in May 1936. Around half of its energy use is spent on building ships, the other half is spent on army equipment, with a fairly even spread of basic equipment and airplanes. Overall what do you think of this idea? Let us know!