Extreme Optimization Mod

Extreme Optimization Mod

A performance mod that directly targets the root causes of late-game (1943+) lag — excessive unit entity counts, wasteful AI computation, and puppet-state sprawl. It reduces simulation load, CPU load, and GPU rendering load while keeping vanilla strategic balance as intact as possible.

Compatible with Operation Postern v1.19.2 / v1.19.3.

Key Features

1. Air/Navy/Convoy Compression (x8)

• Build cost, resource cost, and manpower for planes, ships (light/heavy cruisers, battleships, carriers, submarines), and convoys are scaled x8 together with their combat power and strength/organisation stats

• Each unit now represents "8 vanilla units bundled into 1" — IC-per-power stays the same, but the actual number of simulated entities drops sharply

• Air base capacity and the AI's target plane/ship count formulas are scaled by the same factor, so the compression actually reduces entity counts instead of just raising costs

2. Reduced AI Computation Frequency

• Front-line reassignment (AIFC), division template/equipment/doctrine re-evaluation, ship refits, naval goal updates, and raid target evaluation now run far less often

• Front-line reassignment pathfinding evaluates a smaller area per check

• Peace conference no longer re-evaluates subject/ally land shares every turn (heavy cost on large peace conferences)

• Diplomatic/trade request intervals are also relaxed

3. Throttled Military Buildup for Non-Belligerent Minors

• Minor countries not involved in any war get reduced air/navy production share and lower overall division targets

• Countries actually at war are automatically excluded and unaffected

4. Minimum Division Width Enforcement (15–18)

• AI division templates for every role (including garrison) are widened so the AI stops spamming 1–2 width "shovel" divisions

5. Improved Peace Conference AI

• Lowers the AI's desire to puppet/liberate and boosts its desire to annex, reducing the number of active country tags after wars

6. Reduced Graphics/GPU Load

• Disables bloom, water refraction, and fog-of-war visual effects

• Slows gradient border repaint and map icon grouping workload to reduce camera-pan stutter, and reduces per-frame raid icon updates

• Disables dynamic ground snow/mud texture painting (3D city model quality is already adjustable in the game's own video settings, so this mod leaves it alone)

• Air combat visual compression: each 3D plane animation instance now represents far more real aircraft (30/90 instead of 1/3), so crowded airzones (like late-game Europe) render dramatically fewer plane models — purely visual, no effect on unit stats or balance

7. Reduced Save File Size

• Shortens combat/garrison/naval accident log retention and cleans up obsolete division templates sooner

Notes

• A new campaign is recommended.

• AI behavior will feel different from vanilla — this is a deliberate trade-off in favor of late-game performance.

• Since it overwrites base-game files (air/navy equipment, ai_templates, ai_strategy, etc.), it may conflict with other balance mods touching the same files.

• Total conversion mods (TNO, Kaiserreich, Old World Blues, etc.) ship their own custom equipment under different filenames — the compression part of this mod won't reach their custom units. The AI-frequency and graphics changes still apply fine on top of them.

Multiplayer & Ironman

• This mod edits core engine AI defines, which changes the game's checksum — every player in a multiplayer lobby must have it installed.

• Not compatible with Ironman or Achievements.

• Recommended: keep this mod at the bottom of your playset so nothing else overrides its files.

Lite version

Want the AI/CPU/graphics optimizations without any unit cost or stat changes? See the Extreme Optimization Mod - Lite version. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3802103966