GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURwhenever possible. Thisprovince improvement willdrastically reduce yourresearch times of furtherrocketry advances. The sameis also true of nuclearresearch projects, which willprogress very slowly unlessyou have built a nuclearreactor in at least one of yourprovinces.As mentioned earlier, aresearch project will takemuch less time if you beginwith a set of blueprints for theproject. You may be able tonegotiate a one-time trade ifyou make an attractiveenough offer during yournegotiations. Your spies canalso be ordered to infiltrate anenemy and attempt to steal aset of blueprints to a technologythat you don’t yetpossess.Once you have decided on aproject that your team is ableto research, click the StartProject button to assign theteam to this project. The mainarea of the screen will thenchange to display the projectdetails with an indication of theoverall progress being madeon the project. Money will bewithdrawn each day from yournational cash reserves tofinance the project and as timepasses, you will be able to seethe team gradually researchingeach of the componentadvances. You will also see anindicator showing the overallprogress being made on theproject. If you lack sufficientfunds to continue financing theteam’s work on the project,research progress will slowdramatically, the team’s skilllevel will temporarily be set tozero, and a large red dollarsign will be displayed as awarning. This penalty will beremoved once the team’sfinancing has been restored.After all of the componentshave been researched, theproject will be complete andyou will be notified that theteam has finished its task.Whatever effects the technologyprovides will beimmediately available, thoughin many cases this will requiresome degree ofimplementation.Cancelling and Reassigninga ProjectOnly one team may beassigned to a project at anyone time. Should you sochoose, you may cancel theproject at any time and thenassign it to a different team, orabandon it and start work onsomething else instead, byclicking the Cancel Projectbutton on the project detailsscreen. You will lose all of yourprogress towards this projectincluding any components thathave been completed and allcash invested, so this shouldonly be done under direcircumstances.Implementing NewTechnologyThe effects and implementationof a new technology willvary depending on the type ofproject and are far toonumerous to list here. Someeffects are instantaneous andrequire no direct action or ICallocation since they will beimplemented immediately andautomatically, while otherprojects may have little to noimmediate effects and actmore as stepping-stonesalong the road to a major newtechnological breakthrough.Many military advances will beimprovements to existingtechnology and any units youhave in the field will need tobe upgraded to take advantageof the new benefits.There are many unit types andprovince improvements thatwill not be available until youhave researched the prerequisitetechnologies. Thisincludes specialised infantryunits (mountaineers, marines,paratroopers, etc.), radarsites, nuclear weapons, andmany of the heavier, larger ormore advanced tank, aircraftand ship designs.Upgrades to existing units areaccomplished by allocating ICto the Upgrades slider in theProduction folder. Navaladvances that result in a newmodel type cannot beupgraded, and in suchinstances you will have tomanufacture a new vessel toimplement the advance.Technology SummaryClicking the Overview buttonat the extreme upper right ofthe category buttons willdisplay a summary of theeffects of all the technologiesyou currently possess. This iswhere you can gain a rapidoverview of the mostadvanced unit types that areavailable, the benefits enjoyedby your nation’s industry, aswell as all of the mission typesthat you are able to order andhow effectively your forces willbe able to carry them out.Remember that some unitsand mission types will notbecome available until youhave researched thenecessary technologies and/ordoctrines. If you see a missionlisted as “no” or a unit typewithout a model listing, thenyou lack one of theprerequisite technologies.47