Welcome Comrades! Having previously presented the clandestine missions of the USA, we pull back the anti-capitalist iron curtain guarding the secret programs of the Soviets!


Every facility has a weak point, and who better to penetrate it than the most handsome of secret agents. The feeble-minded secretaries of the decadent European bourgeoisie are unable to resist a well-trained seducer. If we find ourselves behind in the technological race, for the price of true love, the Revolution will gain one free nuclear technology.



Westerners worship profit above all else, and so are prime targets for this form of corruption. An inebriated mole can thus be recruited at a certain naval facility to leak details of important enemy plans, revealing their submarine placements around the world.

The American government is constantly touting its close relationship with its slathering barons of industry, shoveling money into their greedy mouths while trusting them to aid in their schemes. Too bad that they haven't spent any of their larder on security. Gain entrance, and learn valuable data on the military fighters in development, allowing the noble Soviet to gain a free fighter for each American fighter command deployed worldwide.

Much has been made of the interconnection of the USA and its disparate and disorganized allies. Where they see strength, the KGB sees opportunity. One by one they shall fall into disorder, and all to the glory and strength of the Soviet forces. Their networks cracked asunder, revealing how to temporarily defeat various enemy intelligence missions for several turns.

Divide and conquer, a maxim Washington should well remember. It proclaims to believe in the liberty of all men with one hand, but with the other exploits their labor and bends them toward slavery without mercy. As Russia stands to liberate all the workers of the world, it can entice the downtrodden to denounce the contradiction of capitalism and its so-called democracy. In doing so, the USA's People interest will crumble to a point just short of total anarchy.


Never forget that it is essential to defeating whatever the enemy throws at you. Implementing a program to effectively block western counter-espionage efforts will ensure Soviet operational dominance for several turns, and surely make the Americans think twice before attempting to make light of the KGB.



The world knows that American values are a sham. Underneath every rock, there is the slimy and wriggling reality of western capitalism. What harm is there in enhancing and promoting what is transparently true? With international opinion turning against them, block the next enemy policy and set the Soviet peoples' interest to 5.

It is not merely the politics and ethics of the Soviet that is superior. The people themselves are stronger, faster, and full of untapped potential far above that of those confined by the conventions of the bourgeois sciences. Russian brilliance and daring can unlock this potential through Psychotronic advancements, paving the way for a new Soviet man to take to the fore – and even potentially learn to stop an enemy invasion in its tracks.



A network of shell companies created in the West would bring back to us some innovations that the Capitalists now hoard for themselves. These valuable discoveries by right belong to the workers, and so the Soviet Union shall seize them on their behalf. This, in turn, would potentially grant the Revolution many victory points, depending on the level of American reaction.

With these missions, the USSR will be able to deftly handle anything that the USA can throw at them. However, even if the tide of history seems to side with the Revolution, one must not slacken their efforts – take these tools and use them with skill and prove Soviet superiority. Only then will you triumph!

-Agents Greatexperiment and Thinking Waffle


********************************************************

I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:

1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
   
2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
   
3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek

Sharpen your Curare tipped umbrellas, set your camera watches on standby, and sit back with another secret update from the Hearts of Iron: Road to 56 team. Having worked hard, we’re happy to bring you all the details about the United States' dastardly and dubious intelligence missions!

We wanted to create intense and highly rewarding clandestine operations for the player to perform, spanning every era of the Cold War. As with all the content in EYES ONLY they are unique, powerful, and delightfully challenging to perform.



Operation: Gold
From the very start of the game in 1946, the United States can infiltrate the Soviet borders and run tunnels underneath the feet of unsuspecting enemy soldiers. If successful, you will gain a 20% chance to infiltrate each enemy unit in the theater!

Operation: Luna
Should you find yourself behind the Soviets in Victory Points, this mission will allow the US to capture and study a Soviet Lunik probe. If your agents pull off this daring feat, you will be rewarded with a new Space Race technology.

Operation: Coldfeet
The USSR is plotting something in the far north. Launch a clandestine operation to investigate an abandoned base before it is consumed by the ice! Gather valuable intelligence and force up to two USSR submarine fleets back to port from the Arctic.

Operation: Ivy Bells
Tapping into underseas communication cables is no small feat, but with a little luck you will learn the secrets of Soviet allies. Turning their power against their nuclear-crazed overlords, you will reduce the USSR's arsenal by 0.5 for each deployed leader’s power.

Operation: Azorian
Recently the Soviets lost contact with one of their experimental vessels, which they believe it to be safely buried at the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps the most daring mission of all, you can attempt to retrieve the enemy vessel. If successful, for one turn, you are guaranteed to break their encryption and lift the fog of war for enemy submarine fleets.



These are broad-scale initiatives meant to enhance the United States' power on native soil. While they might sometimes be ethically questionable, they can result in tremendous advantages and even lead to additional decisions and discoveries!

Program: Shamrock & Minaret
The US government can decide to engage in the mass intercept of domestic communications. This allows for the temporary halting of any Soviet counter-intelligence operations for several turns, and perhaps even opening up for the possibility to recruit certain feline spies.



Program: Mockingbird
A free press is core to the values of the United States, but sometimes the media needs a little nudge in the right direction. Performing this program sets the People's interest to 5 and blocks the next enemy policy. Crossing this threshold ethically, you will get the option to launch a false-flag operation on domestic soil later. If we are taking risks, we might as well go all the way!

Program: Stargate
The Soviets have been rumored to be working on the creation of super-human abilities using paranormal phenomena and body-altering substances. Naturally, the US must not be left behind! If successful, it stops an enemy invasion in its tracks and may lead to an entire research program where the United States can engage in a clandestine effort to fully expand the limits of human potential.

Program: In-Q-Tel
The relationship between corporations and the Elites in America has always been a cozy one. Manage the spy game better than the Soviets, and those bonds can be made even stronger, potentially granting a significant Victory Point bonus.

We hope that you'll enjoy the tools contained within EYES ONLY and all the challenging options and strategies they provide. Remember to use them at the right time and the Soviets won’t stand a chance. Date for release of the DLC will be announced soon for Q2 2020.

-Agents Greatexperiment and Thinking Waffle

********************************************************

I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:

1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
   
2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
   
3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek

What a year this has been, and what better this season than to chill with some Cold War strategy? In the spirit of the season, we send you our sincerest appreciation for the support you have given us. Make sure to stop by our Twitter , Facebook or Reddit pages to give a warm greeting to our hard-working team. Enjoy your festive holidays with your dearest friends and family!

Thank you all and Mighty Cheers!
The Tinker Toy elves at Strategy Mill

*********************************************************


I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in January 2020!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:
1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek

It was a total surprise, as they never thought we would go that far and only realized that they were caught as the tanks began firing. We fought from daybreak that morning when we could hardly see, until late that evening. As it started getting dark, we knew we needed to get out of there.

From the plan, into action! Leading the US or the Soviet Union military through the Cold War means that conventional combat orders are given usually on the army, air force or fleet level. First and foremost a quick refreshment of what combat orders are in your terminal.

Combat orders are given to military units and either involve maneuvering (moving or attacking) a unit or making use of a unit's Activated Abilities.
The following are always considered to be combat actions:

• Direct attack or any combat with a military unit
  
• Disembarking (Surface Fleet ability) an Army Command in a non-friendly region
  
• Disembarking into an empty hostile region (controlled or dominated by the opponent) will deplete all actions of the land unit and the Surface Vessel and set the region onto a war zone footing.
  
• Disembarking into a region occupied by the opponent will immediately fail, with the Surface Vessel entering combat and the opponent's Army Command unit reorganizing.
  
• Disembarking into a hostile region occupied by an opponent's engaged unit will immediately succeed (positioning the enemy in withdrawal) and will deplete all actions of the land unit and the Surface Vessel and set the region onto a war footing.
  
• Issuing Carrier Operations (Carrier Fleet ability)
  
• Any action by a military unit that shifts Influence towards your faction

Sometimes the tide can turn and that is when you need to urgently bring in reinforcements into a theater. Naturally, you can always deploy more military units ending your turn but newly deployed units take a turn to get Combat Ready. Fear not! There are other ways to keep the initiative.

If you need to shift the theater of a non-air military unit, placing it in a region adjacent to your desired theater allows for it to maneuver across theater borders when Combat Ready. Simply select a colored arrow in your destined theater and press the icon of the unit type you would like to maneuver.



Example: The USSR can maneuver Combat Ready non-air units from regions bordering Yugoslavia in the Eastern Europe theater.

Select the target Yugoslavian region to execute the order and the unit will immediately carry out the order without you having to redeploy it or return it to the Command Reserve. If you instead hold your mouse cursor over the target region and Press + Hold for 2 seconds, the terminal will try and calculate the chance for success.



Should you have gotten your unit defeated in a non-controlled region you can try to make an escape. Displayed within a hollow icon, Fleets and Commands that have not been destroyed but have been set for withdrawal may withdraw from combat into a friendly region ending your turn and be set as Engaged.

If you lack the turns or desire to ignore withdrawing, the unit set for withdrawal is removed from the map and safely retires instead to the Command Reserve.



Example: The US Carrier Fleet's position in Italy is untenable due to the arrival of a Soviet Submarine Fleet into the region. Without a Surface Fleet to defend the position against the subs, the Carrier Fleet is set to withdraw and will be retired by the Military unless given a withdrawal order by you.

This is not the worst thing that can happen but should things look really terrible then there is now one last desperate option at your disposal.

Achieved by purposefully deploying a unit from Command Reserve directly into a region with a visible enemy unit(s). With regular combat rules applying, this action will end your turn and result in a combat defeat by your hastily deployed assaulting unit. The benefit though is that it will Engage one enemy unit for four (4) turns. That will keep them busy and buy you time to organize defensive deployment or perhaps even a counterattack.



Example: With Communism spreading into Western Europe and Italy controlled by the Soviet sphere, the US has deployed a Carrier Fleet in the region that we must suppress, otherwise it will simply destroy any friendly sea units deployed in Yugoslavia, as they require one turn to become Combat Ready. Sending a Surprise Assault with a Submarine Fleet will instead engage the enemy Carrier Fleet for 4 turns buying enough time to allow a defensive deployment to take place in Yugoslavia with a second Submarine Fleet.

Best Regards,
Gellert Keresztes

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:
1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek


AI

• Fixed an issue where the AI would be too aggressive and would potentially bankrupt itself in search for a quick victory with Policies

GAME

• Updated combat rules
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause Save Games not to function properly
  
• Update to theaters and repositioning for better clarity
  
• Fixed some Maneuver arrows that were rotated incorrectly
  
• Updated Influence map values in the hierarchy that could cause some to be improperly displayed
  
• The timer will be updated and starting the next patch will show minutes and second

INTELLIGENCE

• NEW Created and implemented design for US/Soviet risky missions for DLC Eyes Only
  
• Removed a possible People cost for False Flag
  
• Improved the notification text for US/Soviet intel missions

DECISIONS

• NEW Created and implemenented a set of decisions for US intelligence
  
• Updated a text in to clarify McCarthy's relationship with Anslinger

MAP

• Updated all theater maps including the Arctic to better match the design going forward

OTHER

• DLC button no longer available in Options Menu
  
• Updated icons in Options Menu

A well-placed spy can change the destiny of a nation. Striking from the shadows, attempting critical missions whose very existence is known to only a select few, and the cloak-and-dagger diplomacy emblematic of the Cold War. Have you ever wanted to run tunnels underneath the Iron Curtain? How about training spies to seduce and infiltrate sensitive enemy facilities? Maybe some domestic programs to surveil your own people and to run experiments that seek to reach the edges of human ability? The risks are great, and the rewards are even greater. After all - when the fate of the world is on the line, what was once inconceivable can suddenly become a reality.



Terminal Conflict: Eyes Only, is a new DLC under development as a result of an internal partnership with the renown Leif 'Greatexperiment' Miller and the distinguished William 'Thinking Waffle' Bois d'Enghien. This award-winning team with over half a million subscribers behind their Hearts of Iron IV: Road to 56 project are bringing five categories of content:

Unique High-Risk Missions USA & USSR
Throughout the game, certain unique opportunities will arise for dangerous espionage missions. These have powerful and unique effects in the game, such as being able to take enemy submarines out of service and catching up in the nuclear arms race. You only have one shot to pull these off and the consequences for failure can be devastating, so plan carefully!

Unique Domestic Programs USA & USSR
Within your own territory, it will now be possible to fund wide-reaching programs, many of which are of an ethically dubious nature. This includes being able to intercept the communications of your own populace and even look into the creation of super soldiers and supposed extra-sensory abilities. If you don't mind the possibility of your citizens finding out of course.

New International Crises
Failure in the above missions and programs can lead to a major crisis that plays out on the world stage. When you are called to the United Nations to answer for your actions know that you are engaging in a dangerous game that can lead to vindication or condemnation in the eyes of the international community.

In addition, this extra content does not unbalance Multiplayer games. When connecting to a player that hosts with a higher tier DLC, the game for both you and your opponent will always play the highest DLCs available.

Details on all the missions will come in future development diaries, but for now, we are happy to present one: Operation Luna. In the early 1960s, the Soviets were still ahead in the Space Race and had decided to take a victory lap of sorts by brashly showing off their Lunik probes at various western museums.



The United States saw an opportunity in this display of Soviet technology, and so embarked on an operation that was equal parts brilliance and desperation. They wished to "borrow" the probe, study its workings, and then return the device without the Russians ever realizing.

In reality, the USA managed this feat not once, but twice. You now have a chance to attempt the same in Terminal Conflict, but success is far from assured. If you do pull off the mission your side will use the knowledge gained to advance a step in the space race and show the Soviets the price of their arrogance.



Stranger than Fiction
While many are aware of the Space Race and Missile Gap, few know that both sides were deeply worried that the enemy could also develop an unexpected advantage in yet another area: Parapsychology. Strange and frightening powers of the mind, body, and other superhuman abilities.

Sanity and calm were no match for the omnipresent paranoia of the Cold War, and so both sides invested heavily in researching these phenomena simply to prevent the other from gaining any possible advantage. No matter how unlikely or slim.



In the game we have represented these with the domestic programs: Stargate and Radioson for the Americans and Soviets respectively. Successfully completing them grants a powerful one-time ability to stop a potential invasion in its tracks. Even more, a decision chain will let you explore various aspects of the program and achieve further dubious rewards.



Do you dare explore the limits of human potential?

Nothing is more central to the Cold War experience than intelligence. With "Eyes Only" players will have access to the tools to defeat their opponent in new and exciting ways worthy of the most hardened spy novel. Move carefully in the shadows, and the final blow that you strike may be one that the enemy never even sees.

-Agents Greatexperiment and Thinking Waffle

Watching the CRT screen flickering with a long list of log messages, we were desperately trying to make sense of them. Codes, coordinates, trajectories, names of distant places, some of them we have never heard of before. Computer terminals are a blessing, of course, but watching all that information flowing on the screen, we had a chilling sensation of helplessness and paranoia. It didn't strike us until the East Coast of the United States appeared on the screen. Then we understood the machine had begun to think by itself. And decided we would be a target.

The Cold War zeitgeist is strongly connected with the computer culture and the first tries at artificial intelligence. We are convinced that no strategy game about the Cold War would be complete without an efficient AI, one that can, not only correctly interpret what is happening on the global scale, but also be able to build strategies, and act upon it. Perhaps even in ways that may possibly offset even the most advanced human player.

AIs are always destined to and are being built with a twin soul. On one hand a friend, someone that sticks with you loyally helping you in your cutthroat two duels for power and influence. On the other, a mighty powerful adversary challenging you in single-player combat holding the fate of humankind itself. Human self-admiration and fallibility has its limitations the computers do not share. Terminal Conflict's MIRVIN was but one of the first.

Work on the AI has been going on relentlessly from the start of development, but lately, we have had an important breakthrough. The first iterations of the AI were aiming at maximizing results in the short term: analyzing the present situation and make a decision that would make sense in the snapshot which the game was at that moment in time. It was working excluding the worst options immediately and picking from what was left.

Now it works in a completely different way.

If we had to summarize it in one word we’d say ‘planning’. That’s what the AI is doing now, creating alternatives that span into the future instead of just the present. Timelines, scenarios, the AI is now picking from the most fruitful alternatives for the future. This is a challenging task as the calculations involved are numerous, to put it lightly and so we've been working hard with optimization.

Fun fact: the first iteration of this new AI took more than six seconds to complete each calculation before making a move. Now, after a lot of coding work by Lennart Berg, optimizing with Davide Benedetti, QA from Alfred 'Zeress' Frendo-Cumbo, William "Thiking_waffle" Bois d'Enghien and your feedback on forums and Discord, that number has been reduced to 0.15 to 0.20 seconds. In a nutshell, the AI is way smarter, and a lot faster.

Let’s look at an example of how MIRVIN the AI makes use of all the resources it has in its possession:

We are in Timeline 1961-1965 and the AI chooses 'Anti Imperial Alliance' in South America as focus, a challenge to take control of Argentina.



The AI disarms and I, feeling confident, opt for Arms Race in the hopes of landing a punch with my imperialist fist!

MIRVIN places the influence gathered from its one-sided Disarmament which brings Argentina in balance. During my turn, I choose to act, so I deploy an Army Command to Chile and march it right into Argentina. So long AI ambition!

Until I get this…



MIRVIN strikes back, recruits Peron, who contests and eliminates my US Army Command on the field and proceeds then to spend his power to get Argentina back on USSR’s side. And there is now no time for me to get more troops there, Argentina is about to go full-on socialist.



Another update we want to mention in this development diary is the improvement of Ai's use of Policies as well as updates to the system itself.

Being able to create plans, the AI is improving its strategic use of Policies. The system itself has received updates as we wanted to give you less restricted access to the policies while reducing unnecessary clogging in the interface. Dotted lines for buttons also mark selections containing further choices. Policies are now also freely accessible and we removed the restriction on the amount you can hold to allow even better strategic use.



We hope you will enjoy the updates and continue to keep us posted!

Best Regards,
Davide Pessach

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Cooperation to be announced with a famous modding team!

AI

• AI will now simulate ahead and behave even more strategically
  
• AI will now be a lot more vigilant in creating plans
  
• Policies are better planned and used
  
• AI now handles Intelligence and understands cooldowns
  
• Further optimization of the AI calculations

GAME

• Fixed an issue where the profile selected might give an error message
  
• Fighters should be engaged when attacking surface fleets
  
• Updated combat preview logic to match actual combat rules
  
• Updated notification for Non-focus theater war declaration
  
• Combat preview prioritizes units that can defend
  
• Combat preview notification should correctly target defending units first

INTELLIGENCE

• NEW You can now see how your Intelligence success chance is calculated. Select an intel operation and PRESS + HOLD for 2 seconds in a region with an intelligence success marker
  
• Updated names for US intel Operations
  
• Fixed an issue where the recon notification was incorrect
  
• Fixed an issue where Espionage and Infiltrate intel mission had the wrong sprite in the log
  
• Perform narrative check after performing intel mission attempt

DECISIONS

• Updated cooldown and PerTimeline policies descriptions
  
• Updated an issue where Mao's name would not be lit in Red Dragon Rising
  
• Updated an issue where Peng needs to have his flag set

WARGAMES

• SCN 7 GRAND CAMPAIGN now properly awards GOVERNMENT interests
  
• Fixed an issue in SCN 7 GRAND CAMPAIGN that would make it impossible to complete the scenario
  
• Fixed an issue in SCN 8 The China Card that was preventing the scenario from being played fully

EDITOR

• Intel deployment rules centralized
  
• Intelligence rules can now be set individually for each mission and bonuses can be defined separately for each faction

OTHER

• Committed sound effects for focuses
  
• VSync on all quality levels
  
• Fixed wrong color in the options menu button
  
• Updated the Options menu
  
• Updated Sprites for Intel Operations USA

"Are you or have you been a member of the communist party? Yes or no, answer my question!"

I used this sentence to test the effect of aggressive rhetoric on a comrade in high school... Be assured that it works surprisingly well.

Of course, I conducted this small experiment due to Joseph McCarthy, the main figure of the second Red Scare. As you have understood by now, and because Halloween is approaching, we will talk about the worst fear of America: Communism!

The Red Scare is composed of two separate elements in the game, each unlocked by their own focus.

If the focus 'Passive Containment' is selected, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) starts its investigations and tries to unmasks communist agents in the US. At that point, you can orient the committee towards the Army or the Department of State. If the Army is chosen, it will lead to an investigation into the so-called 'Dixie Mission', a group sent to contact Chinese communists during the Second World War. This can evolve in various ways, depending on the targets of the anger of HUAC but rest assured your domestic Military interest will have to pay a price for their treachery. Leading to conflicts between Joseph McCarthy and various other historical characters, if the strategic military capabilities are impacted by the investigations, General Curtis Lemay will not be far behind. Will you be reminded of your need to protect his nuclear reactions force so that the simulation of the next world war has a favorable US outcome?



Another path will see McCarthy collide with none other than George Marshall himself as he tries to maintain the Chinese united front and prevented the Kuomintang from attacking Mao's communists. For someone, such as Senator McCarthy, it could mean only one thing: Marshall had to be a communist sympathizer at the very least.



At the end of the day, if McCarthy has not been stopped by scrupulous investigative journalism, he will enter a final conflict with the director of the CIA, Allen Dulles. Accusations over the possible mismanagement of classified documents by the organization cannot go unanswered. Historically, it involved a printing press which supplied the CIA and could become a nest of "Reds" ready to read secret documents before they even reached the desks of the agency. I will just let you know that the suspicious documents hunted by McCarthy were actually of little value and it would have been sensible only if they had been filled anyway. By definition, they were not in the possession of the CIA at that point and caused a terrible loss of credibility for McCarthy who was later condemned by the Senate.



The second part of the Red Scare you will find in your terminal is centered around the tumultuous reaction of the film industry. To start this decision chain, the Hollywood Investigation focus must be selected. It begins just after the famous event of the 'Hollywood 10' during which 10 famous personalities of the film industry refused to say if they were communist or not. Some went into exile and others ended up in prison for their refusal. Yet, this caused a stir and a debate was born. In the balance lies the future of American cinema. It became patriotic and grand, as seen in Invasion USA or Rocky IV.



After the Hollywood 10, investigations of other celebrities would follow. This included household names like Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles (I also jumped on the opportunity to quote a real FBI report when making the chain for Welles). Keeping them out of HUAC's grasp will allow them to make more films and masterpieces. Or would this only serve to put communist ideas into the mind of Americans? Would you protect them? Or would you prefer to promote 'The Big Truth'? A movie narrated by a young rising (and definitively not red) star, Ronald Reagan.



Enjoy this new update.
Best Regards,
William "Thiking_waffle" Bois d'Enghien

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) Cooperation to be announced with a famous modding team!

AI

• AI will now simulate ahead and behave much more strategically
  
• AI will now be a lot more vigilant in creating plans
  
• Policies are better planned and used
  
• AI can now handle Counter Intelligence
  
• Optimized the AI and upgraded performance
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI would sometimes incorrectly fire the same policy multiple times

GAME

• NEW Command Reserves now has a permanent Logistics button for you to utilize for planning
  
• NEW Added new Intelligence Mission: COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE: Chance to uncover enemy operatives within ANY friendly LAND, AIR or NON-SUBMARINE FLEET in region.
  
• Fixed an issue that was palcing the capitals in an incorrect starting region
  
• Fixed an issue where combat preview would be shown incorrectly
  
• Updated Notifications for all unit Abilities
  
• Optimized the game for both single and multiplayer reducing load times
  
• Fixed an issue where a relevant focus region highlighting would incorrectly persist to the next timeline
  
• Freshly deployed units will display a text marker to show that they are at risk of attack
  
• Update Region UI issues fixed
  
• Fixed an issue where World Overview could cause the wrong faction coloring for deploying Influence
  
• Fixed an issue where logistics would sometimes get stuck with its button selected
  
• Fixed an error given sometimes when trying to return a unit to Command Reserve during influence placement

POLICIES

• NEW! Updated the Policy handling system to be even more flexible adding the ability to switch between rows
  
• Updated several policy sounds

DECISIONS

• NEW Added Red Scare decisions for USA

WARGAMES

• Wargames adapted to the new game system
  
• Added ability to hide Logistics button
  
• Fixed a null exception given in certain scripted scenarios
  
• Fixed an issue where Infiltration description tooltip was not being displayed properly
  
• MIRVIN highlighting now takes into account object pivot

INTELLIGENCE

• NEW Intelligence missions no longer require 1 ELITES to conduct, instead they will only deduct ELITES if the mission fails
  
• NEW Opponent influence modifier now applies to all missions
  
• Flase Flag mission will no longer end your turn
  
• Infiltration mission no longer provides MILITARY when successful in a region without enemy units
  
• Rebalanced many base intel missions
  
• Intel mission selection shows potential cost in the notification instead
  
• Intel base chance of success is now relative to non Aligned regions and 0 influence
  
• IntelAssassinatieMinimumChance variable has been removed

EDITOR

• Fixed an issue where flags where not displayed as inteded in the flag editor
  
• Added more effects including NEW Intelligence triggers
  
• Value 0 effects will now be set and shown instead of nu value lines for easy overview
  
• More efficient usage of mathXparser library by not invalidating an expression at every argument change - most notable with policies with lots of arguments such as American Culturalization
  
• Added several new game variables

OTHER

• Updated Notitication and description text for Army, Fighter and Bomber Command as well as Submarine Fleet
  
• Clarified wording for Launch Authorization Menu
  
• When a path is lacking between logistics capital and a selected region, using inform, it will now notify you that a logistical path needs to be established
  
• Added a missing icon for first strike backlash tooltip
  
• Fixed an issue where Command Reserve text would incorrectly overflow at Disarmament
  
• Updated the naming regime for Infiltrate and Assassinate
  
• Fixed several typos

You stare at the endless host of convoys and escort ships sailing into the horizon while loved ones say their goodbye from the pier. These are your tools of destruction – reinforcements, bringing conflict directly in the enemy’s home. Having plotted your way through nations near and far, the price of victory is a strategic investment in time: a price that will hopefully pay off in the long run. Just imagine, how terrific it will feel to finally put your adversary off-balance. When they see your forces appear in faraway regions, the element of surprise will be complete and devastating. Welcome to the wonderful world of logistics, colleagues!

As you maneuver your way through geopolitical challenges in your terminal, you will find yourself weighing matters of logistics. Like any worthwhile Commander in Chief, moving Army Commands, Air units, and Fleets is no instantaneous feat, making deployment a hotspot for strategic issues and opportunities.

To begin with, let's consider your options for a good logistical overview for A Steel Authority focus.


As you look to protect India from capitalist aggression, having access to possibly recruit the historical leader Nehru will be an excellent move, but it would be wise to gather some friendly military forces in the theater and worth investigating further...

The universal tool for gathering information about any element in the terminal is Pressing and Holding for 2 seconds. Do so over any region and you will see information about its regional status. The shortest route for any glorious Soviet forces would, naturally, be through Afghanistan.


Hold your breath though, as despite being a good possible route for the USSR, you cannot deploy there yet, as the region is non-aligned and Soviet influence there is zero. Looking elsewhere in the theater, Western India is the second closest to the Soviet border and possesses a friendly presence.


This is our opportunity, and the tooltip tells us that we can both deploy and withdraw to or from there. A very good potential, should we somehow end up facing enemy unit of any kind.

The question is, how much longer of a route would this be for our Soviet units compared to Afghanistan? No worries! Being part of the KGB's day-to-day operation, the INFORM mission does not require any additional costs to help you estimate deployment costs. Select your Intelligence (marked KGB or CIA) service and push the INFORM button. Follow the on-screen instructions by selecting a region.

Example: Select the Central Asian Zone, in the Eastern European Theater to gather information about the logistical situation as this region borders the South Asian Theater. The information will be granted in the message log (bottom row).


The route taken for deployment will go through your capital and through the Urals and can travel on land or at sea. Just as in real life, deployments take time, or in-game terms at least 1 turn. The farther you are from your capital (your logistical HQ) and the more complicated the route, the more turns required. The different levels of influence and their effects for a region are as follows:


(NOTE: If you are interested in knowing the exact decimal costs involved in every passage along the logistics path you can toggle that information in the Options menu.) So far so good...Now let's return to South Asia to explore on the other side of the theater border.

Switching back to South Asia and using the INFORM mission, we quickly gather information on Western India. Notice that deploying a Land or Air units in Western India would only cost 2 turns while the deployment of a Sea unit would cost 6 turns.


We know from before that there is a land route to Central Asia and we can assume that logistics can flow through all the way here to Western India. By selecting the minimap button in the top right, you access the world logistics overview.


Plotting logistics, you can see that deploying land/air units in Western India will be a much simpler affair than deploying any fleets and how precarious your position can be at sea in this theater. Strategically, it means you need to invest in increasing influence through non-military means, like False Flag operation or by making use of Leaders. Perhaps it would also be wise to quickly take control of strategic sea regions like Sri Lanka and thinking twice for the long run about protecting the logistics path from being cut off. The Middle East, in particular, will also now be important with straits like the Suez Canal in Egypt or the Turkish Straits, controlling access to and from the Black Sea.

Much like plotting your logistic lines, by selecting a region with enemy influence using INFORM, your intelligence service will make a probable cost calculation for their logistics. This will allow you to identify possible chokepoints to exploit if you are on the offensive. Example: In Pakistan, that neighbors Western India, the US has a cheaper deployment cost for sea units but twice the cost for land and air units compared to Western India.


Of course, US control in China can lower their deployment costs and also noteworthy, the USA has a good step off position should they secure the strategic strait (Strait of Malacca). US Carrier Fleet, Fighter or possibly also Bomber Command deployments could open up new possibilities as deployment there is considerably cheaper for the enemy.


A Soviet focus on the Pacific theater, and on removing influence along enemy logistical paths in the Philippines, or perhaps even Indonesia, would be favorable for the USSR cause. There is a lot at play in logistics as the costs of going through a region changes dramatically depending on influence. Priorities can and will change but remember to stay one step ahead and you will be victorious.

Mighty Cheers,
Davide "DVD" Benedetti and Gellert "GFK" Keresztes

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.

III) RED SCARE: Joseph McCarthy starts his investigations. What will he find and how will that shape the future of the United States?

AI

• AI now makes even better and more realistic choices with an added a level of randomization for AI actions which it values to be equally impactful making it more unpredictable and a lot harder to game

GAME

• NEW Major update with the rollout of the LOGISTICS system
  
• NEW Updated ruleset for logistics, deployment and military withdrawal
  
• NEW Logistics cost now correctly considers landlocked capitals and sea units marker is no longer printed if the capital is landlocked as a consequence of logistics not having a cost
  
• NEW Added dashed lines instead of dotted lines for out-of-theater-connector of logistics
  
• NEW Pressing the BACK button when accessing the intelligence HQ folder should clear current inform region selection
  
• NEW Added Go To button for Logistics World Overview for quick navigation to the region in Theater Com
  
• Increased Ocean Regions logistics costs from 0.25 Turns to 0.45 Turns
  
• Fixed "last movement circle" not being cleaned up on games end.
  
• Fixed an issue where orders were shown in reverse order in the Message Log for Air units
  
• Updated setup of Region Notifications
  
• Updated the text for Ocean and Arctic regions
  
• Updated the text for Non-aligned regions
  
• Updated wording to match the new setup for Surface Fleet CONVOY ability
  
• Minor fix for command reserves when pressing theater button
  
• Fixed coloring issues for world overview text
  
• Updated and added world overview unit names
  
• Inform cost marker is no longer shown in the starting region (capital) if a non-capital region is selected
  
• Theater borders are correctly disabled in nuclear map mode
  
• Fixed an issue where region 54 was incorrectly sorted in Western Europe instead of Eastern Europe

DECISIONS

• Added Finance mismanagement decisions to Balance of Power SCN 10

LEADERS

• Leaders will now lose 2 power instead of 4 when contesting enemy units in the region they are recruited in
  
• Fixed an issue where Leaders would incorrectly contest Bomber Commands first instead of Army Commands

OTHER

• Precise deployment toggle in Options now affects intelligence Inform too
  
• Added new imagery for the design of the logistics system
  
• Theater Com off-map lines now centered on unit names in the world overview
  
• Fixed a compiler error
  
• Filtered remaining CHARAC sounds
  
• Fixed various typos

Find yourself masterfully juggling different, and most likely opposing, interests; welcome to the world of domestic politics on a global geopolitical scale. Strategically deep, the Cold War represents the best of what can be achieved in this cloak and dagger world and one we seek to capture in Terminal Conflict.

Enter the domestic Interests, five different gauges representing five keys societal groups within your nation. The rules are straightforward, yet challenging: keep them all far from having their interest depleted or maxed out. Should that fail, each time an interest gets to max level or is depleted, you continue to spiral further into a crisis; potentially reaching your ultimate defeat, or your ultimate salvation, nothing less!



The first time you heard anything was a cold October day, and you set yourself on the road back from your datcha. As the General Secretary of the mighty Soviet Union, you have steered the country smoothly into a transformation since you took power but for one issue. Having depleted all the domestic Finance influence, you have a feeling that the USSR is on the edge. Mid-week reports never carry good news.



Barely back in Moscow, the Politburo urgently sends word. We can rely on some of the other interests for support, but tapping into another one, we must avoid cornering ourselves into a full-fledged breakdown. The first option is out, as we don't want to save us from the ashes of Finance to jump into the fire of the People, so the Elites will have to make some sacrifices.



By the second time you deplete Finance's influence, the discontent rises, the difficulty does too. Ultimately demanding bigger and bigger sacrifices, how much more are you willing to risk? It depends on what the revolution is worth to you!



As the final showdown looks now imminent…



By now, it is time to choose allegiance comrade! Considering what you need the most, internally and outside the borders of the mighty USSR. As the final showdown looms there is a 50% chance of you losing the game with each choice. After all the Cold War goes on while you fight domestic discontentment and with you out of power surely the others don't stand a chance...



Yet, with your guiding hand, hopefully, everything will turn out alright...



Mighty Cheers,
Leif 'Greatexperiment' Miler and Alfred 'Zeress' Frendo-Cumbo

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is soon going into print! Halls are busy in Washington and Moscow!

II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in full production.

III) RED SCARE: Joseph McCarthy starts his investigations. What will he find and how will that shape the future of the United States?

AI

• Fixed an issue where the AI would sometimes activate a leader action when none needed to
  
• Fixed an exception given when the AI incorrectly used a Leader for attack
  
• Fixed an issue being caused when AI leader was defeated
  
• The AI will be more strategic when assessing invasions in non-focus theaters
  
• AI now can hire a leader if he is needed even if that puts its interest dangerously low
  
• Leader presence is factored in into turn calculation

GAME

• Fixed an issue where CARRIER FLEETS did not correctly display their Air Superiority ability
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing a soft lock for the China Card
  
• Added Warzone declaration sound effect to Percentage Agreement for setting the warzone in Greece
  
• Restored animation to play properly when Army Commands battle Leaders
  
• Fixed an issue where Disembark was not working as designed
  
• Leaders will now properly wage defensive combat against Disembarking Army Commands
  
• Fixed an issue where Army Commands in Combat would sometimes end up being displayed incorrectly
  
• Updated wording of Disarm tooltip
  
• Fixed an issue where no Warning sound would be played despite the Warning showing for Interests Mismanagement
  
• Updated wording of Interests Mismanagement
  
• Fixed the coloring of Interests Mismanagement

FOCUS

• Hollywood Investigation 3 can no longer be selected in timeline 1

DECISIONS

• Added base decisions for Chiang Kai-shek to SCN 10
  
• Updated The Red Dragon Rising 200905 to display for ALL, instead of just the USSR to allow an explanation to the US as to what is happening in China
  
• Corrected triggers for a Luxurious Exile for Idi Amin
  
• Updated North American People Interests decision chain and victory conditions fixing some text and typos
  
• USA People Crisis activated and added to SCN 10
  
• Updated Egg Fried Rice Triggers
  
• The Red Dragon Rising/Red Dragon Dance focuses do not appear if there is PEACE in all of Mainland China
  
• Shortened the description for 'Bulwark against the Bourgeoise'
  
• Fixed 'Constant Vigilance' having the wrong trigger
  
• Interest Mismanagement decisions set to PerTurn
  
• Fixed triggers for Of Rubles and Revolt and Eastern Europe Finance Interests starter decisions
  
• Fixed order of GameOver flag sets to be at the end, rather than at the start
  
• Eastern Europe Elites interests rebalance and corrected triggers

OTHER

• Corrected several typos

In the West, not much is popularly known of the struggle that brought Communism to power in China. Some would say, it is a matter of general disinterest, while others point to the decades of deliberate obfuscation being Beijing government policy. Today, this part of this history comes alive at your fingertips as we aim to shed some light on the tale of the Chinese Civil War. With its many battles and heroes, it is among the most consequential and dramatic of our modern era.



One of those colorful characters that participated in this struggle, is a man called Zhu De. A person of some military skill, well educated and a regional Warlord, he was initially inclined toward the Nationalists rather than the Communists. Yet, Zhu De eventually embraced Communism under the sponsorship of Zhou Enlai - abandoning his previous ambitions in favor of a life dedicated to self-sacrifice. It is this change of heart that eventually led him down the path towards founding and becoming the Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army and the architect of its victory over the Nationalist Kuomintang.



If you select Zhu De, he will serve as a voice illustrating the military symphony of the Chinese Civil War. His strategy heavily emphasized proper logistics, long-term results, and above all - loyalty. It was his tactics of grand feints, deferred results, and asymmetric engagements that historically tipped the scales in towards the Red camp. Depending on the distribution of influence and force across the map, the general presents you with numerous challenges and opportunities for furthering the interests of the Soviets and putting your own mark on history.



It all starts with the arrival of Zhu De, a chain of narrative and decisions that perfect exemplify what we are aiming to achieve in Terminal Conflict: a detailed Cold War simulation with historically plausible outcomes with a large amount of variation. Below you can see how the Zhu De chain of events is designed.



When Zhu De is selected as an active character the game instantly checks for the historical conditions that can trigger decisions related to him. Most of them are connected to the control of certain regions, and most of them trigger a decision that has a larger scale narrative and gameplay consequence. Let's play one example of how this could unfold.

Being in a proxy war, with Zhu De sent by Mao as your liaison officer to the Chinese Liberation Army, you will have to makes some thoughtful choices when the conditions are as favorable as you can make them.



Being a warlord, Zhu De can attract quite the company. Speaking in his favor is one thing but it is ultimately you that decides.



After a long series of battles, an opportunity to savor victory may present itself. While it may seem a mere philosophical matter, the effects are quite real.



Your strategic play on the short term and the long term will matter as there may also come a time when the mainland is all but secure - save for an island bastion of the Nationalists. Leaving Taiwan for last maybe a low-risk strategy but potentially with the long term effect of keeping the enemy out of reach. Consolidate your position or perhaps the moment has come to remove the enemy once and for all?



Now, is your opportunity to follow Zhu De's path and see if the life and works of a legend can be improved upon. The triumph of the Chinese Communist and that of the Soviet Union is yours to forge.



Mighty Cheers,
Leif 'Greatexperiment' Miler and Alfred 'Zeress' Frendo-Cumbo

*********************************************************

Upcoming Development
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is soon going into print! Halls are busy in Washington and Moscow!

II) People's interests decision chain is in the works for the USA faction and is in full production.

III) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power?

AI

• AI has now gotten a new ability and will correctly score all used effects
  
• Fixed an issue where the leaders would not be correctly recruited
  
• AI now properly checks if a particular region can be targeted by Leader abilities
  
• AI leader recruitment now values focus needs
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI wrongly looks at focus prioritizations targets
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI did not use correctly 0 cost Leader abilities
  
• Tweaked Juche ability for AI use
  
• Added a new balancing where we slightly increased the favor for interest and increased leader power score
  
• Various other smaller AI tweaks

GAME

• Fixed an issue where the Sea Unit Movement in non-focus theaters is now correctly allowed if you already have a friendly sea unit in your enemy-controlled region
  
• Fixed a memory leak issue caused by texture allocation
  
• Failed maneuver attacks into focus theaters no longer incorrectly charge
  
• People interest
  
• Unable to DISEMBARK into non-focus theaters where the opponent has a presence in the target region
  
• Fixed Tito's Ability Samoupravljanje wrongly having an EndTurn value of 2, instead of 1 and Samoupravljanje now correctly grants 1 influence instead of 2
  
• Fixed an issue where you were awarded twice the amount of decisions in case of one-sided disarmament

FOCUS

• NEW RED DRAGON RISING: Enabled the ability to select and play the Chinese Civil War where the USSR can use Peng Dehuai or Zhu De
  
• Selection of 'Hollywood Investigation' now activates 'Red Scare' & 'Joseph McCarthy' policies and now requires selection of both Red Scare & McCarthy for completion
  
• Completion or Failure of 'Hollywood Investigation' now activates 'Olympus Rising'
  
• Politics of Poverty now requires that the Marshall Plan NOT be enacted

POLICIES

• NEW MERCHANTS OF LIBERTY (USA Sub-Saharan Africa): Spend 3 MILITARY to place 1 INFLUENCE for each of your opponent's MILITARY interests.
  
• NEW RED DAWN RISING (USSR North America): Set MILITARY to 3 to add 1 USSR ARMY COMMAND to COMMAND RESERVES.
  
• Charles 'Lucky' Luciano renamed to C. 'Lucky' Luciano to better fit condition and effect notification boundaries
  
• 'Olympus has Risen' now fires as soon as the flag CIAActive has been set to 1
  
• Fixed an issue where characters would disappear after a selection

DECISIONS

• The Promised Land: Fixed second options to better reflect the bonuses and the text AND adjusted its effect order to meet standards
  
• America's Playground: now triggered by Enforce Monroe Doctrine as well as America's Playground Focus
  
• Havana Conference: now triggered by Enforce Monroe Doctrine, America's Playground Focus, LITEMPO, Spy Network, and Havana Crime Conference Focuses
  
• Disabled Charles 'Lucky' Luciano from the start, instead he is activated by Havana Conference
  
• Money Trail: Fixed an issue in the that was causing an error when Option 1 or Option 2 was selected and Option 1 can no longer be selected if the CIA has already been created
  
• 'Olympus has Risen' no longer activates 'Joseph McCarthy' Policy
  
• Fixed an issue where you were able to remove the SUPPORT ability twice from David Ben-Gurion
  
• Fixed an issue where some triggers were incorrectly set up in the Chinese Civil War and where one of the change interests was causing an error
  
• Updated the independence decision for Ürümqi
  
• Updated text wording for The Long Telegram
  
• Fixed Idi Amin making a comeback tour with the USA despite being official with the USSR
  
• Major overhaul of the Weapons Program's decision effects and Research Breakthrough renamed to Future Generation Progress as well as Scientific Advancement & Triumph of Soviet Industry now require at least 10% progress to trigger
  
• Updated Weapons Program with randomized values setup and so that they become a lot more dynamic and balanced its bonuses further
  
• Weapons Program advancement decision framework added
  
• Random chance of progress assigned to all options in production-related decisions, and Opt. 1 in experimental X for WeaponsProgram
  
• Updated Weapons Program definition of Enemy Blueprints
  
• Weapons Program sabotage cost set to -1 Elites, sabotage amount to 5%
  
• Egg Fried Rice: Updated triggers to better match the correct conditions for Mao's son decision

EDITOR

• Standardized the use of editor terms for ease of usage, like De/Select, etc
  
• Matched terminology as it is used outside the editor, like war -> war zone
  
• Clarified the special field to be more succinct

OTHER

• Fixed an issue where theaters rendering in focus management could potentially cause game instability or crash
  
• Various memory optimization for the game
  
• Fixed some typos and minor issues with the text
  
• Pruned old flags and imagery