Players wishing to have a more historical-based campaign can choose to do so by ticking the Historical AI Focuses option on the country selection screen (map) just before the start of a new game. The individual options can range from political, diplomatic and warfare-related focuses to more economic and research-related focuses.ĭue to the semi-random nature of the AI it ensures that no two games will play out in precisely the same way. These paths may be based on actual historical situations or on alternative historical possibilities. Each country has a focus tree, representing a number of progression paths (branches) available to that nation. The focus trees allow the players (and the AI) to direct the development of their nation. National focus trees serve as a replacement for the mixture of decisions and triggered events which directed countries in previous iterations of Hearts of Iron. The game map, showing only countries with non-generic focus trees.