Hoi4 Newspaper and Assistant (BETA)
Supports version 1.19
This is a BETA release.
If you are willing to be a guinea pig and help me test it, I am incredibly grateful, and GitHub issues are always welcome.
This is a dynamic HOI4 news system powered by Large Language Models (LLMs).
In-game events are detected in real-time, and the AI generates news reports in various newspaper styles, presented beautifully via a custom in-game newspaper GUI.
You are no longer just watching map colors change—every major battle, completed national focus, and scientific breakthrough will become front-page headlines.
• Völkischer Beobachter — Germany
• The Guardian — United Kingdom
• Pravda — USSR
• Ta Kung Pao — China
• AP Global Wire — Balanced & objective reporting
• Maid Briefing — Maid-style report
• Gaijin News
IMPORTANT: This mod requires an external tool to function.
Think you can just subscribe and play? Think again.
Steps:
Subscribe to this mod.
Extract the tool folder and double-click start.bat to run it. (If it crashes or throws an error, there is an issue with your Node.js environment).
Ensure HOI4 save file encryption is disabled. Open "DocumentsParadox InteractiveHearts of Iron IVsettings.txt" with a text editor and change "save_as_binary=yes" to "save_as_binary=no".
Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. Configure your API Key, save file path, mod path, and game path. Save the configuration and select your preferred newspaper style.
Click "Start Listening" in the Web Console.
Start the game and make a manual save. This establishes a "baseline" of the world state. Play the game, and when enough in-game time has passed (based on your set interval), save the game again. The app will parse the differences, send a request to the LLM, and you can continue playing.
Once the news is generated, a completion message will appear in the web console.
After the news is generated, open the in-game console (~) and type:
• reload loc
• reload gui (Whichever is applicable)
• Then click the Newspaper button in the Decisions tab to read!
The dictionary will be generated when opening start.bat for the second time after setting the path, allowing the LLM to understand the words and sentences.
In short: Save once to set a baseline -> Play -> Save again to compare differences & trigger AI generation -> Manually reload LOC/GUI in-game to view.
Update June 7, 2026: Added Russian support!
• Simplified Chinese
• English
• Russian
The news is generated in real-time by an LLM. We need a local Node.js app to call the LLM API and write the results back into the mod files.
No. A standalone node.exe is included in the package. Just double-click start.bat.
The three paths (HOI4 base game, save games, and this mod directory) are incorrect, or you haven’t clicked save.
Restart the watch after saving.
You can adjust the output to other languages by modifying the prompt, but it only supports text output under English or Simplified Chinese game settings. Please wait for more translations.
The mod is free, but you are responsible for any API token costs incurred by the LLM you choose to use.
I am currently researching new methods to improve the workflow.
If it’s too long, restrict the word count in your prompt settings. If it’s too short or gets cut off, increase the "Max Tokens" setting.
You can tweak the prompts yourself to reduce AI hallucinations. I am also continuously refining the default prompts to make them smarter.
Multiplayer: The generation happens locally, so only you will see the newspaper. Other players would need to run the tool themselves.
Ironman: NOT supported. (Ironman saves are strictly encrypted).
Theoretically, yes, but without dedicated adaptation, the output might be very chaotic. Currently, this mod’s prompts and logic are only optimized for Vanilla (1936 start).
Frequently reloading game files via the console carries some risk. Fortunately, this mod encourages you to save often anyway!
• GitHub Repository (Full Documentation)[github.com]
• Issue Tracker / Feedback[github.com]
This mod is an open-source project under the MIT License. It does not collect any personal data and contains no malware. Submods for custom newspaper templates and contributions to the project are highly welcome!
Below is the VirusTotal scan report proving the file is safe(2026/6/7):
