PDOX Games VIII: Communism Will Win

[Washington Resistance Army]

So...

You managed to recruit 10,000 Japanese people to fight for you from their army? Is that how that works?

He triggered a number overflow bug.

TLDR computers store negative numbers and positive numbers both in the same way. To them it's just a positive number in binary. As in, if the PC had a 3 digit number option you could use the same field to store numbers [0-999] or [-499,500]. And if you saved one of each type and picked say -499 and 0 and you took a microscope and looked at the physical imprint of both on your hard drive you'd see that they are exactly the same. No difference. The only thing that changes is that the PC knows to read 0 or -499 based on an additional flag added separately.

Additionally, a quirk of this notation means that if you took the number 500 (unsigned) and added 1 you'd get 501 because the unsigned numbers go up to 999. But if you took 999 and added 1 you'd get 0. It loops back. With signed numbers that means adding 1 to the highest possible number (500 in our example) actually flips back and makes it -499.

You don't see this happen often in video games because a) PC numbers go up to +/-2'147'483'647 and b) programmers are generally smart enough to handle stupid overflows like that. But apparently HOI4 is optimized badly enough that #a can happen because #b failed to.

See I thought it might have been this because I've done that a few times in HoI4 with things like equipment production but I only took 20K casualties which seems like such an odd number for it to break at.

Also I'd like to tell you all that if you aren't using 40 width divisions you're not living life probably. They're amazing.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I reject your logical and reasonable technobabble and reiterate that it was a dimensional portal between two chinas

[The Vekta-Helghast Empire]

Anyone here into the HoI4 multiplayer scene? I didn't realise how low-skill level I was until I started playing in TommyKay's community games, or in people from his discord's lobbies. It's taken me a while to even begin competing with some of those guys, it's unreal.

[The Imperial Reach]

A German Shi'ite adventurer actually conquered Bavaria.

I like him.

Once, I saw an African adventurer take control of Bavaria. He became the head of the Rain Warriors. He is doing rather well for himself!

That's even worse, tbh. How exactly do heathens, pagans, and heretics manage to take control of a realm of a hostile religion which also happens to be completely surrounded by said hostile religion without being holy war'd into oblivion?

Bavaria isn't exactly a strong kingdom.

[Purpelia]

He triggered a number overflow bug.

TLDR computers store negative numbers and positive numbers both in the same way. To them it's just a positive number in binary. As in, if the PC had a 3 digit number option you could use the same field to store numbers [0-999] or [-499,500]. And if you saved one of each type and picked say -499 and 0 and you took a microscope and looked at the physical imprint of both on your hard drive you'd see that they are exactly the same. No difference. The only thing that changes is that the PC knows to read 0 or -499 based on an additional flag added separately.

Additionally, a quirk of this notation means that if you took the number 500 (unsigned) and added 1 you'd get 501 because the unsigned numbers go up to 999. But if you took 999 and added 1 you'd get 0. It loops back. With signed numbers that means adding 1 to the highest possible number (500 in our example) actually flips back and makes it -499.

You don't see this happen often in video games because a) PC numbers go up to +/-2'147'483'647 and b) programmers are generally smart enough to handle stupid overflows like that. But apparently HOI4 is optimized badly enough that #a can happen because #b failed to.

See I thought it might have been this because I've done that a few times in HoI4 with things like equipment production but I only took 20K casualties which seems like such an odd number for it to break at.

Also I'd like to tell you all that if you aren't using 40 width divisions you're not living life probably. They're amazing.

Yea. The thing that baffles me is that it's just at 10k. Like that stuff shouldn't be happening before you hit 2 billion. So something with their code is seriously paradoxical.

[Abserdia]

Once, I saw an African adventurer take control of Bavaria. He became the head of the Rain Warriors. He is doing rather well for himself!

That's even worse, tbh. How exactly do heathens, pagans, and heretics manage to take control of a realm of a hostile religion which also happens to be completely surrounded by said hostile religion without being holy war'd into oblivion?

Bavaria isn't exactly a strong kingdom.

Well, Germany immediately got Crusaded, so now our adventurer friend is limited to a few provinces in Bavaria.

[Phoenicaea]

two things here, in brief. first, about ckii, i ve not purchased it, because i prefer the state epic over the family tree saga, and then: it doesn t add city-states, italian city states.

it was different from feudal regime, and were most developed at their age. then, the second thingis i would see well a victoria iii, with different economics since vic ii struggle at resume.

[The Imperial Reach]

two things here, in brief. first, about ckii, i ve not purchased it, because i prefer the state epic over the family tree saga, and then: it doesn t add city-states, italian city states.

it was different from feudal regime, and were most developed at their age. then, the second thingis i would see well a victoria iii, with different economics since vic ii struggle at resume.

Not true. The Italian city-states are represented in the later start dates, though playing as one would be a challenge considering how weak they are.

[Purpelia]

two things here, in brief. first, about ckii, i ve not purchased it, because i prefer the state epic over the family tree saga,

In that case you were right to do as you did. CK2 is definitively a family tree saga kind of game. It's basically a roleplay game that happens to span over many generations and tangentially involve running a medieval nation. So if that's not your cup of tea you were right not to get it.

I imagine you might enjoy EU4 though.

and then: it doesn t add city-states, italian city states.

I'd love to see a game set in Renaissance Italy. Any game. Don't matter the context. Give me that sweet sweet backstabbery.

[Renoa]

I reject your logical and reasonable technobabble and reiterate that it was a dimensional portal between two chinas

I prefer something more along the lines of this.

[The Imperial Reach]

I'd love to see a game set in Renaissance Italy. Any game. Don't matter the context. Give me that sweet sweet backstabbery.

Never heard of Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, I see.

[Dawetid]

two things here, in brief. first, about ckii, i ve not purchased it, because i prefer the state epic over the family tree saga, and then: it doesn t add city-states, italian city states.

it was different from feudal regime, and were most developed at their age. then, the second thingis i would see well a victoria iii, with different economics since vic ii struggle at resume.

I heard Stellaris does economy quite well, and probably IR when it comes out.

[Serrus]

You ever dab on Japan so hard that you take negative casualties?

What mod is that?

[The Huskar Social Union]

You ever dab on Japan so hard that you take negative casualties?

What mod is that?

Cold War.

Tis on steam

wait no wrong screenshot, im not sure what one that is

[Purpelia]

I'd love to see a game set in Renaissance Italy. Any game. Don't matter the context. Give me that sweet sweet backstabbery.

Never heard of Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, I see.

They don't really let you be a mover and shaker in the sort of politics I am talking about. Like I want to play as an aristocrat scheming to get my family and self more wealth and power in the dynamic byzantine politics of Renaissance Italy.

[Serrus]

What mod is that?

Cold War.

Tis on steam

wait no wrong screenshot, im not sure what one that is

I was like "you seem to have misread a digit there, mate."

[Washington Resistance Army]

What mod is that?

Cold War.

Tis on steam

wait no wrong screenshot, im not sure what one that is

Warlord Era, tis a small mod that lets you play during 1920's China which is a time period I very much like.

[Ostroeuropa]

Victoria 2, being Germany is OP.

1. The UK will ally Prussia from day 1. Acquiring this alliance and keeping it is a good idea.

2. You can burn off 5 infamy while forming the north german federation by releasing Danzig before taking the decision which will re-annex it. 10 Infamy if you took Schweislig directly instead of releasing them (though this runs the risk of being unprofitable, as it might cost 11 infamy to seize.). You can use this to annex Tunisia and take a risk on annexing Algeria too for a foothold in north africa and the Mediterranean for a discount.

3. You can occupy Austria, destroy their armies, siege them down, and then add the wargoal "Add to sphere" when they lose great power status, which means forming Germany will annex all of austria-hungary too.

4. You can burn off the whole 25 infamy while forming Germany by releasing german minors before taking the decision to form Germany which will re-annex them.

5. By the time you annex Austria you can have full guardsmen armies by recruiting North and South German guards for your infantry, and use the Slavs and Hungarians to form your Hussar cavalry support, the Italians for artillery, and the Danes for engineers. (Any combo will work, point is to maximize Guardsmen, who can only be primary culture or accepted culture.). Using the minorities for specific things means if they rebel they're out of luck and can be easily destroyed. (A full engineer army will get wrecked, same for full artillery or full cavalry.).

EDIT:
I guess that's it. Time to sit back and colonize Africa, beat up the Dutch every couple of years to snag Indonesia, and wait for a Crisis to happen. Maybe i'll conquer a bit of China too, but otherwise, it's done.

[The Imperial Reach]

Do you ever have one of those games where it just feels like the AI is trying to kill you because it just wants to watch you suffer?

I started a game as Venice earlier and tried to bring my noble house to glory, yet the first province I built my first trade post in ends up getting hit with both pagan invaders and later by two diseases at once before I've even gotten 2 years in; which cut my income down substantially as a result. Then both diseases hit Venice, so I have to shut myself to survive and causing my Diplomacy to suffer for it. While this happens, the Emir of Cyrenaica thinks he's funny to decide and raid Venice and because I could only muster a measly 500-600 men against his 1300-1400 and with no affordable mercenaries to hire I couldn't do anything about it. Once he finally pisses off, the diseases leave only for yet another disease to show up a few months later and almost killing my character because he got sick since I couldn't close the gates so soon since I had just re-opened them. Then the God damn Sheikh of Bumfucknowhere, Algeria decides he's funny too and decides to raid me just as I was recovering from the last joker. Once again, I could do nothing as he outnumbered me substantially. Once he's done being a dick, I finally have some breathing room only to have my character die of stress and losing the republic in the process - right as I was only a hair away from ensuring my best son would be elected the next Doge.

Honestly when you have to endure that kind of AI abuse the only real option is to just ragequit.

[Ostroeuropa]

Do you ever have one of those games where it just feels like the AI is trying to kill you because it just wants to watch you suffer?

I started a game as Venice earlier and tried to bring my noble house to glory, yet the first province I built my first trade post in ends up getting hit with both pagan invaders and later by two diseases at once before I've even gotten 2 years in; which cut my income down substantially as a result. Then both diseases hit Venice, so I have to shut myself to survive and causing my Diplomacy to suffer for it. While this happens, the Emir of Cyrenaica thinks he's funny to decide and raid Venice and because I could only muster a measly 500-600 men against his 1300-1400 and with no affordable mercenaries to hire I couldn't do anything about it. Once he finally pisses off, the diseases leave only for yet another disease to show up a few months later and almost killing my character because he got sick since I couldn't close the gates so soon since I had just re-opened them. Then the God damn Sheikh of Bumfucknowhere, Algeria decides he's funny too and decides to raid me just as I was recovering from the last joker. Once again, I could do nothing as he outnumbered me substantially. Once he's done being a dick, I finally have some breathing room only to have my character die of stress and losing the republic in the process - right as I was only a hair away from ensuring my best son would be elected the next Doge.

Honestly when you have to endure that kind of AI abuse the only real option is to just ragequit.

It's realistic and it's also coded into the mechanics. The weaker you are, the more the AI will consider targeting you because you're easy pickings. Getting a bad roll early game can lead to a cascading effect just as much as a good roll can.

[The Imperial Reach]

Do you ever have one of those games where it just feels like the AI is trying to kill you because it just wants to watch you suffer?

I started a game as Venice earlier and tried to bring my noble house to glory, yet the first province I built my first trade post in ends up getting hit with both pagan invaders and later by two diseases at once before I've even gotten 2 years in; which cut my income down substantially as a result. Then both diseases hit Venice, so I have to shut myself to survive and causing my Diplomacy to suffer for it. While this happens, the Emir of Cyrenaica thinks he's funny to decide and raid Venice and because I could only muster a measly 500-600 men against his 1300-1400 and with no affordable mercenaries to hire I couldn't do anything about it. Once he finally pisses off, the diseases leave only for yet another disease to show up a few months later and almost killing my character because he got sick since I couldn't close the gates so soon since I had just re-opened them. Then the God damn Sheikh of Bumfucknowhere, Algeria decides he's funny too and decides to raid me just as I was recovering from the last joker. Once again, I could do nothing as he outnumbered me substantially. Once he's done being a dick, I finally have some breathing room only to have my character die of stress and losing the republic in the process - right as I was only a hair away from ensuring my best son would be elected the next Doge.

Honestly when you have to endure that kind of AI abuse the only real option is to just ragequit.

It's realistic and it's also coded into the mechanics. The weaker you are, the more the AI will consider targeting you because you're easy pickings. Getting a bad roll early game can lead to a cascading effect just as much as a good roll can.

Scumbag AI.

To be honest, I don't normally have this problem when I play weaker states. Usually my games start off slow and boring. Though this would explain why weak states always seem riddled with some sort of national dilemma; I always wondered why their luck was so poor. Turns out the AI is the school bully.

[Valrifell]

So ends another "hey let's form Rome" game. This technically isn't the final map but that and the culture/religion maps are so awful I spare you all the heart attack. Rather annoyed that I lost the Empire at the last second due to my character suddenly contracting syphilis and having failed treatment, but hey, at least I managed to get my cousin on the throne and the German Monothelite branch of my dynasty also controls Scandinavia.

Did I mention how awful the religious/cultural maps looked?

[Valrifell]

Once, I saw an African adventurer take control of Bavaria. He became the head of the Rain Warriors. He is doing rather well for himself!

That's even worse, tbh. How exactly do heathens, pagans, and heretics manage to take control of a realm of a hostile religion which also happens to be completely surrounded by said hostile religion without being holy war'd into oblivion?

Bavaria isn't exactly a strong kingdom.

The default strength of revolts is too low, imo. Upping it solves a lot of issues and makes the game far more interesting, playing with it up is one of the few times I get to see the AI kick the Umayyads out of Europe without my interference.

[Bralia]

Never heard of Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, I see.

They don't really let you be a mover and shaker in the sort of politics I am talking about. Like I want to play as an aristocrat scheming to get my family and self more wealth and power in the dynamic byzantine politics of Renaissance Italy.

Taking on the Borgia Pope and his allies isn't enough for you?

[Ithalian Empire]

They don't really let you be a mover and shaker in the sort of politics I am talking about. Like I want to play as an aristocrat scheming to get my family and self more wealth and power in the dynamic byzantine politics of Renaissance Italy.

Taking on the Borgia Pope and his allies isn't enough for you?

I want first person Crusader Kings.