A new version of the mod is now available from the downloads section. The focus of this version was balance in the Chinese theater, with modifier adjustments and a new decision to break the Yellow River dikes. We've been able to get to 1946 without crashes in our hands-off tests, so the mod is now in an unfinished beta state. Full changelog is in the download.
Also, a new version of the Misc. Graphics pack is available from the Add-Ons section. The other two graphics packs will still work with the new mod version.
The major focus of this release was to beef up the Republic of China a bit so it lasts longer against Japan. Several things were done to make the balance play out better, one of them being the addition of Guangxi/Guangdong's historical OOB, which was left out in the FTM version for balance reasons. The addition of a decision to break the Huang He dikes and create a massive flood will reduce infra to 0 along the river's new course. The infra will go back to 2 in 1939. This decision will block Japan's progress south toward Wuhan and Nanjing and possibly trap Japanese and Chinese soldiers if they get caught on the other side of the flood zone.
Also included are a very large number of research AI improvements based on feedback from players on how they deal with research. Expect the AI to improve its theories in order to increase its research rates and to research more meaningful techs.
If you have 4GB of RAM or more, have a 64-bit OS, and are getting CTDs, then you need to download Podcat's LAA .exe from the official Paradox Tech Support Forum or apply a 4GB patch! The game as-is can only use 2 GB of RAM, so the CTDs you're seeing come from the game running out of memory!
The mod is now in a beta state and we expect there to be some bugs, but no crashes. If you follow the install instructions to the letter then it will start up without any problems; I'm testing with the exact same download you guys will get and I follow the instructions I wrote down in the download section and can start up the mod with no problems, so if you're getting startup issues then go double-check the install instructions. Once the game starts though, there may be buggy AI behavior due to TFH changes to the AI system from the FTM expansion. If you get a crash or see the AI fall asleep or build/research something silly then please comment here, in the ModDB forum for the HPP (check out the forum link to the upper-right, next to images), or the mod's main forum (official page in the mod's profile to the right) telling us what happened. The more detail you can provide the faster we can fix the bug or crash.
For AI-related bugs, it would help tremendously if after you quit the game you would go to the folder Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron III\HPP\logs, open the file system.log in notepad or some other editor, and check the bottom of the file for errors. This file is deleted every time you start the game, so please look at it and report any errors at the bottom before you start the game up again if you saw the AI fall asleep. If you do see any errors please report them, because the errors will point us to the files we need to fix.
Also, please keep in mind that generating the map cache can take a long time and hog up a bunch of memory. If you have an older computer, you may want to go to Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron III\map and copy your vanilla cache folder to Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron III\HPP\map (make this folder if it doesn't exist). This will bypass the map cache generation. You'll lose out on the visual region changes (the thick black borders on the map), but nothing else.
Known issues:
*Game will crash if you try to view strategic resources in the statistics screen.
*unit-limiting strategic resources not implemented
*leader tactics not affected by doctrines
*leaders don't gain traits
*lend-lease, licensed builds, and the new spy system aren't fully implemented yet. SSmith can correct me if I'm wrong
*When the UK surrenders, not all nations will stop being at war. The outcome is fairly random, which makes it hard to figure out why some countries that get kicked out of the Allies end their war with the Axis and some don't, and the nations that get kicked out vary even if you save and reload. We're looking into a solution.
NOT bugs:
*Anything you also see in the base game is obviously a base game problem. I'm talking about stuff like the music stops playing, the interface disappears, supply system is stupid, allied nations do nothing, etc. Things like missing cores, AI not researching infantry techs, and events not working are mod-related bugs. Basically, if you see an issue related to the interface not looking right, music/sounds not playing correctly, or what the AI does on the map, it has nothing to do with the mod since those areas are hard-coded.
*If pictures are missing or wrong, then you didn't install the graphics pack from the addons section.
*If the mod doesn't start up, then you didn't follow the install instruction
*France has been coded to declare war on Germany once Germany's threat gets too high. This can happen as early as 1938 if Germany is too aggressive or allows spies to raise its threat.
