Developer Diary | The Chinese Soviet Republic: Formerly Known as Communist China

Dàjiā hǎo (Hi everybody!) and welcome to Communist China’s the Chinese Soviet Republic’s proper Dev Diary, where we, I , PDX_Danne, and PDX_berthier will guide you through the changes that are coming to China with No Compromise, No Surrender.

Please remember that all of this is subject to change as it’s still in development!

The situation for the communists in China was dire at the start of 1936. The Long March saw the Red Army reduced from 100 000 to less than 10 000 before arriving in Shaanbei. The new headquarters is a remote, underdeveloped, and arid place - but not all hope is lost! The new base area is easily defensible, and the Communists are poised to rebuild and start the struggle anew if they work hard and smart. Except a new enemy is on the horizon… And former enemies may yet become uneasy allies. On the political side, Zhang Wentian has become the new General Secretary of the Communist Party, after Bo Gu’s strategy led to the near destruction of the Communists at the hands of the KMT. Although Mao Zedong is the de facto leader of the Party, rivals are poised to strike. Looking at Communist China’s National Spirits doesn’t really give any reason for optimism either; being forced to embark on the Long March and hunted by the Nationalists really did a number on the Communists: All of this lines up with one of our major design goals for the content; to give the player the feeling of playing the ultimate underdog - down but not yet out. The Communists start in a weak position, with barely any military, industry, or tech. And somehow they still managed to win the Civil War and become a superpower. We wanted to hone in on this feeling of barely having anything to become equal to the other major powers - but before we get to that, let’s take a look at some map changes! Who doesn’t love maps around these parts, am I right?

Map Changes

One of the major points of feedback we’ve received was a desire to have a more accurate map of China. Though there will always be compromises that need to be made for gameplay reasons, we’ve been sure to address most of the major feedback, as well as updating various names for regions and warlords, etc. Old / New Additionally, we’ve made terrain changes to be more accurate, such as mountains in correct positions. Tied to this, the Chinese Soviet Republic now controls territory more accurate to the actual situation in 1936. Old start position and new The eagle-eyed observers of you who also read the Dev Corner covering China, will spot that the Communists now start with two states, but don’t get fooled into thinking both are equally good for you. The truth is that the CCP never had full control over these regions, as there remained Kuomintang-loyal troops in the area throughout WW2 and during the ensuing Civil War. We’ve represented this with a state modifier called The Yulin Garrison (which you can remove through a decision or focus effects): Having familiarized ourselves with the new starting position, it’s time to dive into what we’re all here for; the new Focus Tree!

Industry

The industrial branch The industrial situation in Communist controlled Northern China is…. not great. Did I mention we want you to feel like you are building from