Development Update IV: Fear and Loathing in The New Order news

Development Update IV: Fear and Loathing in The New Order

Welcome to the most important Development Update for The New Order yet! Today we are announcing two things that are sure to change the face of modding for all of history. One will be exceptionally major, a true hallmark for all to aspire to and something that we could only have dreamed of doing for a long, long time. The other is fairly minor. Completely skippable really, but we didn’t want to announce only one thing in this update.

Regardless, let’s start with the big one!

No Regrets

I am proud to formally announce something we’ve been working on for months! Doki Doki Development Club is a true hallmark in the modding community. A beautifully crafted tale of love and regret, so so much regret, that is sure to capture both your heart and soul for many hours or probably less of truly riveting gameplay, DDDC is the epitome of modding and everything we could ever have dreamed of making.

Romance either myself, Kracc, Virtual, Exo, [CENSORED] or Chai, your favorite TNO developers, as you take the place as a new student to the prestigious Coop School for the Special Disabled. Take part in the school’s annual gaming competition as the team enters crunch time to reach their goals over your week of participation. Make new friends, find true love, things you’re sure to never do in the real world!

And in case any of you are in the know, yes, this is indeed the super secret Project: Finland Development. We chose a boring country nobody should ever care about for our secret cover. Finland has actually been removed from the map entirely, replaced by the Eastnorth North Sea.

Now for some Q and A!

Q: How many characters can you fu- romance?
A: Five, myself, Exo, Chai, Virtual and Kracc. A sixth was taken out behind the visual novel and shot.

Q: How many endings are there?
A: Multiple for every character, and ones for those who pursue other routes!

Q: Why did you make this?
A: o̕͝n̵̨ ̴̡͢͠͡t̸̕h̸̷̷̕ę́͜ ̴̛̀r̴͏o͠͞a̧̨͜͞d̸̵̸̛ ̷͜͡͏t̶͟͞o̴̕̕ ̡͜҉b̨̕à̸́͞a̢̢̛͘͘l̸̢̕͜͝-́͢h̴̢͠a̢͏͘͢z̸̨͝͠͡ò̷͝r̸̶̵ ̀͝҉̵͜t̶̶h͘e̴͞͝͡r̵̢̀̀͡e͟͠ ͞͡w̵͟͝a҉ś̨͘͠ ͏̧҉̕҉a҉̶͟ ͏̸̨͝s̷̛i҉̴͜͠g̵̡̕͏̨h̨҉́t̷̨͝͏ ̷̧͘̕͢b̀́͠͡ȩ́͡f̷̢́͟o҉̧͘͢͞r҉͞é͏ ̷͞o͟u̸̡̢͏r͢͡ ̡̢̕͞e̷̷͘͟͟y̨e̕̕͟͢s̢͢.̵̢͢͟ ͏͢w̵͘͟͞ǫ̸̴̛͢e͏̛ ҉̶͞b̴̡́͠e̵̵̡͞t͏͘͘͟͠į͟͠d̵̶̨͜e͠͏!̶̵̢͘ ̴̵̛t̡͠͞͡h͘͠͡e̸҉͢ ̷̕͢͝b̨͢ơ̴̕͟d̨̢́͜i̷̢̧҉ȩ́͟s͞͏͡ ͘͜o̴͘f̸͏̡͘ ҉̢̕͟y͡e̴͡͏ ̴͢͞f҉̛͝a҉̛͘͠͏i̛͜t̕҉̡̛͡h̛̕͝f̵͡ù̸͟l̵̛͜͡ ̵̢͝͝ś̨͘t̴̷͡͠à͢͞ḉ̶̛͡ķ̢͜ę̷̵̴d̀ ̵͡҉̶̵u͜҉̷͠p̢͟͢͏ ̷́͢͡t̷̡̕ǫ̢ ̶̀̕g̕͞o̶͜͟ḑ̀́͘͠s̴̴̨̧̛ ̵̡͟c҉̴͢҉ŗ̡y̧̕͜i̛͠n̸͠͏̶̢g̶̸͟͏̡ ̛͟v̡̧i͏̧̨̛s҉͞a̶̡҉͜͝g̀͘͢e̛͡!̸̡̡͜ ̧̕͡t̸͡h̴̷͢͟͝e̢͢ ̴̷̛҉ś̨̢̕͜į̧̢͘͝n̨̢͢͜ņ̧́͜͠ę̵̶̶ŕ͘s͜͡ ̡͞͝h̨͞a̧͞҉ḑ̶̨͡ ̢͘͡b̷̀ȩ̀͟͠e̴̵ǹ̨̡̡̕ ̛͜͏͏p͞ú̵̕͝n̢̨̧͡i̷͘͢ś̴̶͟͜h̵̡͡ȩ̸̢͢d͏̷̀͏,͢͡͠ ̸̷̨b̛́̕u͞ţ̕͜ ̧̧́t̶̸̛̀̕h̴̕͡ę̸̢̀͡ ̷̨͢f̸̢̛͜a͡͝ì̡t͏̶̀h̶͜f̷́͠͡u̕͝͝l̵̕͜ ̧͢ơ͞f̵͝͞ ̨͏i̵̡̕ş҉ŗ̵́a҉̷̷͞é̵̶̢l̸̛͘͜ ̵̷͘͡͝ẃ̵̵̨҉e͠p̀́͘͏̧t̕͡,̧̛́ ̵̡̛f̢̡̨̕o͏̵҉r̷̴̷̨͠ ̷̵̨̛̀t͏҉̵͜h̨̢̀̀͡ę͘͝y̸͘͘͜͞ ̸̶̷̀͘k̀̕ń͏͠҉e͢͏̸͟w̶͞ ̶̨t̛͝҉̨ḩ̷͠a̴̢ţ̶ ͞҉̢̀͘a̸̕͜͞l͢͜͝l̸̀ ͝҉o̶͜f̢̕̕͜ ̡͢h̶̵i̶̢͠s̶̀͟ ̡͡c̷͞ḩ̸͘i̴͡͡l̷̶d͜͠͞r̸̡̀͘e̶̢͟͢n͟҉ ̡̨h̶̴́͟a̡d͜͝ ̶̶̀b̢̛͡l̵͠ò̸͢o̡̧͜d̕ ̶̷s̀͏̧͢͡p҉̨̨͢͏i͝l҉l̵͜͢e̡͝ḑ҉̵͟҉ ̨͝͏e̢̨҉̶q̶̴̀͢u̷̶͏̧͟a͏͡͞͝ĺ̶̷̕͠ĺ͡y̴͢!̸̛͟͢͞ ͜͏̧͜b́͠l͏͞a҉̨̀͘c̡͘͜k͘͘͝ ͘͜r̷̵i̧͠҉͢v̶̷̀͡͏e̶͠҉ŕ̴͟͡ś͝ ̢̀͠͞o͘f̵̵ ̶̧͡͡͞f̨́͡͠á̢͞i̢̕͡t̡̧h̸̶͘͘͢f̡̨̛u̶̢l̸̡͢͟͟ ́͞b͏҉ĺ̴̀͘͘o͏̴͢͝ó̴ḑ͞͡͞ ͡͞d̸̢̛ŕ͘͢͟͠o̵̕͢͠ẁ̡͠n̶̷͘҉ę̢̧͢d̶̷͘͠ ̶̸̡t̕͠ḩ̷̴͜͞o҉̶̢͠s͏͟é̷͘͜͜ ̡͝͠w̨͢͠h͠͏̶̧̀ơ̶̸͝ ̨c̶̷̨͝r͠͏̸̴i͘͠é͟͠d́͡ ͟a͜͢͠͏͘n̡͜͞d̨͜͡͏ ̡̡̕͏̡t̶̡҉h̀͞è͟ ̴̧̛̀͞ś͞e̴̶͜͏̵a͘͡ ̡s͢҉͏w͜͜e̡͠͡p̀t̕ ͟͜҉ų͞p̧҉̷̡̨ ͝͝t͘͏͏h͞e̸͟ ̴̀͟͠͝h̛҉̷̨́ǫ͡҉̕l̛͞ỳ̷͟͢ ̢̡̨ć̶i̷̸̷͞t̴̷̨̧͡i҉̨́e̴͟͟s̢̢̛͘͠ ̢̛̀͠͝u̢͠͡n͢͞t҉̵͏͠i͟͠l̷̡̧͝͞ ̨͞d̸̨͟͜a̴҉r̷̨̢͞k̸̕n̴̷e͜͜͏s̨̛̕͠s̕͏ ̡̨́͘r̴̶̡e̷̢͞͝m̷̧͘͜͞a̶̛̛͝i̧͢ń̢̡̡̨e̷̕͜͠d̵̨̨̡͢͠
̡͠͏͢͡ļ̵̢̀ǫ̧̀͠o͡͏̷͟͝k͏̴̵̛͟ ̷̀i҉҉̸̴̕n̶̸ ̀͞͡҉d̢̢̀͜͞ȩ͏ś̵͡ṕ̢́͡a̢̧͠͠į̴̷̨͜r̨͏̵͠!̵̨͝ ̨̡̢l͞͏o̵̷͘o̶̕͝k̡͜͝͝͞ ͝i̸̕ń̸̷͞͝ ̵̷͞f̸̵҉̸e̴̛á̸̸́́ŕ̵͟͞!̵̨̛́͞ ́̕͏ǵ҉̸̴͢o͟͜͟͝ḑ͘s̷̡͝ ̶̷̀j̵͢҉u͏̷̧̀͟ş̷͜t҉͜͟͞͡į̴̸̵̢c̶̶e͟͠͏̨ ̀͜͠i̷͠͏͢s̛̀͠ ͜҉̸̧c̨̧͞r̨̀̀͞͠ù̷͜͜͝è̡̨͜l̢͡͞,̡̧͡ ҉͡ń̴̨́͞ó̧͜͟͢t̴̴́͠͠ ̶̕͜j̶͏̸́ų́͟͢͡s̶̡̨̨̀ţ͘!̸̀͘͝ ̕͘͝b̵̶̧͜͡u̢͞͞t̵͏ ̶̡͘͘͞t̴̢̀͟͞h̵̡̡͢͏e̵̢͞ ̸̀͘͠͝f̛͜͝a̸̛͜i̛̕t̸h̡̨f̸̴u̵̶l͝͠ ̧̡̀͏s̴̴͘͢l҉̢̀u̡͠͏̢m̷͏b͟͠è̡͜҉͠r̨̀̀é̴̸͢d̨͟͠ ̢̢͘͜͝ì͘n͢͝͡ ͜҉͘͜d̛͡o̶̧̨͝ú̴͟͢͠b̨̛̕͏t̛̀,͏̧ ̴̴̴̡҉ẃ̢͞͝͠a͟͟͞i̷̵̧̡t̷í̷̧n̴̕͢͝҉g͜͝͏ ̴̢̕f̷̴̧̡̛ơ̶̸̕͠ŕ͝ ̶̧͢͟t̀͘͘͝h҉̸̢e͢͜ ͏̨͘͠l͏̴̨͢i̸̛͢g̷͡͝҉h̸̕͟͝͞t̨͡ ̸̸t͢o̧̡ ̶̵̕͠c͏̕͡o̕҉͢n̶̴͘͡s҉̵̧̨ù̷̵͡m̛͜é̵̴̡ ̶̴̡͝͡ţ̨̛͡h̨̢e̸͟ ̡̛͞ẁ̀͟͞o̕͘͠r̸͏̴͘͝l̸̕͜͡͡d̶̀ ҉̵ą̢̧͟͞n̸̡͞͝͠d̶̕͜͞ ̛̕͞͠͡p̢̀͞úr̀҉̀̕͟ǵ̵̛͢é̷̛͞ ̛͜͡͏i͏͝t͘͘͟͟ ̛͝à͝ń̕͢e͏̛̀w͏̴̛͜͞.͟͡ ̡͘t̷͜͟͟h̴̸̶̡͠ę̵̡̕͝ ̶̀͜͜͡d̢̕á̶̧͘r̴̛͜k҉̸̵ņ̛́͘͝e̶s̴̀͢͠s̵̵̕͠ ̸͢b̵́u̷̕ŗ҉̡҉n͏̧͝é͡d҉͘̕̕,͘͟҉ ̷̢̡̕͝à̸ń̸͝d̵̡́ ͏͡s͏̴l̶̵̴̢҉o̧̨w̧͢l̵̀̕͝y̸͘̕ ̨̡͝c͜҉͟o̡n̴̵̛̛͢s̷҉̴͟͏u̧̕m̵͘e҉͏d͏͏.͠͏ ̢̀͞͞o̵̧̧̨ņ̴͠͞͞ļ̸̷͟͠y͘͜ ̶́́͢͝d̸̢̢̡͟a͏̵̸͜r̸̢͝k̶͟͏̛͠n̵̢͞͝͠è̛͏̶̵ş̵̴̀͞s̸̸̴̨͘ ̴́͢͢r̛҉e̶͘͞m̶̷̶͢a҉̸̀͢į̸͠ņ͏s͢͢͏ ̸̡͝i̷͝҉̕n̸̶ ̶̶̕͠t̕h̛͘e̡͘ ̷̢͜͞͡r̢͜͏e̶͟͢͟a̷͏͡l̴̨͏̨m̡̧̛̕͞ ̴̶̴͘ò̀̀̀f͏̵̧ ̕҉̕͏t͡h̢͢͞ę ̴̶̨̡͡c̛҉͠h̴̷̡́͡o̵̡̡̕͡s͜҉ȩ͏̸͟n̸̨͘͠ ͢a͏̡̡n͏̶̴͘͠d͡͏̶͠͝ ͘҉̵̨ą̶̀l̵̷̸̸l̢̢͟͞ ̡͜͢n̷͏o̸̶҉ẃ̛͢ ̶̀̕͜͡f̵͢͞éą̷͜r̡̀͘͟͞ ̸͜͡t҉͡h̕҉e̷̛̕ ̷̢̨̡̕p̷̀͟ą̴̶̨͘t̸̡̧͝h̵̡̨̢͝ ̧͟͠t̵͜͟ó̢͞҉̕ ͟͡͠͞h̷̛҉͢͞i̡̕͜s҉̵̡̀ ̵͏҉͜k̕͟͟͞í͠n͏҉͡ģ̸͞ḑ̛͠ơ̡͝͏m̸

Q: Can I make my character?
A: You can choose your own name and gender!

Q: How much gameplay is there?
A: Hopefully more than a little.

Q: Is this why you’ve been silent?
A: We were mostly silent because we were working on the next announcement since before WTT, as it pertains to focus trees, we needed to hold the Germany diary until we were sure exactly how we would go forward from then on, as we didn’t want to show more things to the community that might not exist.

Q: Who is voicing it?
A: Mr. Morgan Freeman was kind enough to donate his voice for our work, an old friend of my family. I felt his voice was the only one that would really fit this production and he was kind enough to agree to participate for free. Some additional work was also given by Will Stauff of Fiverr.com

All art was done by ButteryIcarus, our team’s resident artist.

Q: Please tell me this is a joke.
A: No. Also that’s not a question.

Q: You’re not a question.
A: Yes.

Q: Did you get this idea from Kais-
A: WE STARTED DEV FIRST I TELL YOU.

A Minor Announcement

Our final announcement of the day is that focus trees, as we know them, are being removed from The New Order.

The problem with creating focus trees is TNO is fucking looong. It was originally 30 years long, and even after we cut it to 20, it is still far longer than HOI4 is meant to support. This meant trees had to be huge, Germany tree would have had to be the average, and even that one was not really enjoyable for 20 years entirely.

The other problem is trees are far too rigid. All four contenders for Germany would justify entirely different trees for each major, simply having four branches on the diplomacy tree isn’t enough. And then there’s questions like, what if Russia reforms? What if Russia doesn’t? What if Germany collapses? What if the RKs win in South Africa? What if someone leaves a major alliance but the other diplomacy trees involve keeping them in or out?

There’s only so many branches you can add to everyone’s trees until things get completely unmanageable. So we’ve devised a new system.

We didn’t want to entirely nix focus trees as our interesting trees is the main allure for many and we have made so many beautiful focus icons that I’d be really sad to see them go!

So we had to decide on what to do, and the team agreed to try something we’ve been calling ‘Crisis Focuses’ or ‘Dynamic Trees’.

Crisis trees are a lot like standard focus tree branches. They tend to be shorter, though they can be longer, and mostly pertain to one issue or dilemma affecting a nation. A good example for what we could do a tree for would be the US draft crisis from iotl.

In fact, this was the example I used when we first started discussing Crisis Trees.

When the draft crisis begins, an event can announce it, dynamically adding the tree to your focus screen. What you do in it will have long reaching effects and when it is finished, the tree disappears. Later, if you reinforced the draft, new trees can prop up about mass riots and desertion in the Army, while if you ended it, a manpower shortage tree might appear dealing with that issue.

And of course this can be done for other things in this scenario. If the US wins the Vietnam war, it could have a series of unique trees for that, and all future ones will be changed. If the US loses, same thing.

We can also have periods without a tree. Germany might not have anything happening between two large events, but in the old system we’d have to have both linked and ready to go at some point. This made it difficult not only to plan for events, but to keep things organized and sensible in the trees.

The final benefit is we get to hide some things from you now. You won’t always know exactly how your nation will pan out, how things will go or what will happen in the future. This makes for a much more interesting game where you can always be wondering what is around the corner for you and your nation! Linked with a host of new decisions and events, trees can pop up in a variety of situations for many different scenarios.

One example is the Kaukasia ‘Occultic Adventures’ tree, which only appears when Josias deigns to go on them, and never will if the player chooses not to.

I.imgur.com

And here is a short gif showing this in use with Australia concerning its participation in the OFN. Everything shown is WIP of course, but feel free to look at the beginnings of our new interface, designed by myself . The one in the gif is a bit older, you can see the most current version in the Kaukasia screenshot above.

Conclusion:

That will be all for today's update. Regular diaries will resume shortly, with our finishing of the Germany diary under the new system. Thank you for your patience, and feel free to ask your many, many questions below! We will try and answer all of them.

Thanks for reading! And here's the other places you can find us shilling at: Discord, Reddit, ModDB, the Paradox Forums, and Alternatehistory.com.