Alright Boyz, Here we go....Europa Universalis 4!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Released today baby!

[Coffee Warlord]

Booyah!

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh. Their big email announcement about the game coming out ... misspelled Universalis.

[Peregrine]

I'm playing through the tutorial now - game looks great and I like how cleaned up the interface is from EU3.

[lungs]

Downloading. I loved EU3. I got Crusader Kings II for free. I've never played that.

[Peregrine]

I'm really liking some of the new options, like the production interface which lets you build troops/fleets or buildings in any province from one screen - saves a lot of clicking. The new trade system looks a bit tricky, will take some exploring.

[OldGiants]

Downloaded the demo and manual. Never really got into EUIII and not sure why other than not having the time to get experience playing so I got comfortable with it. Lots of Portugal and Venice as I remember.

I enjoy the board game HERE I STAND which is Europe in the Reformation. Can I play EU as Martin Luther, or the Schmakaldic League, as in that game? Or as the Dutch Protestants or French Heugonauts, a little later on?

Being Hesse or Saxony seems like the way EU has handled this, but I never really tried a Reformation option.

[Arles]

How does it compare to CK2?

[Izulde]

How does it compare to CK2?

I just never could get into the EU series or any of the other CK games because the country control bored me compared to the dynastic aspect of CK. EU:Rome I haven't checked on. Still have the disk around somewhere but the pre-order was a waste.

[Coffee Warlord]

Alright, first thing I need to beg Paradox on.

For the love of god, they need to either shrink ships on trade route patrol, or add a toggle to make them completely invisible. Or something to make it way less obnoxious.

[Peregrine]

Very happy with the game so far - Paradox did a nice job of providing you a lot of things to tweak and change as you play, which helps avoid some of the problems in previous versions, where if you ran out of money you didn't really have anything to do. I do wish they would have a way to reduce the obnoxiousness of the trade patrols as CW mentioned though.

[Coffee Warlord]

After several days of on and off play...

It goes without saying, but this is definitely a Paradox game. Meaning...a whole lot of gameplay bugs. It badly needs a lot of patching.

[JPhillips]

With CK2 and EU4 I'm finally able to wait until after the first or second patch before I buy.

[Coffee Warlord]

Surprised this thread has gotten so little play, to be honest.

Though my point still stands from above - the hotfixes have dealt with some of the performance issues I've been having, but I'm largely hoping for a very big patch.

[Dutch]

EUIV is off to a good start for me. It's the first of the series that I have really dug into and so far I'm having a blast. The colonization of the new world is exceptionally well done for my tastes.

[McLovin]

I started with Castile and am getting steamrolled by Aragon within the first hour.

[DaddyTorgo]

I spent like 20 minutes last night clicking "download demo" in steam and wondering why it wouldn't download, only to finally look at my games library and realize i had already DLed the demo.

hahah.

[Abe Sargent]

Lol to both

[Bisbo]

Absolutely loving this game.

Started off as Denmark, and was cruising along, about to form Scandanavia after bringing Norway and (almost) Sweden into my empire. Decided to take one more province from the weak Livonian Order to boost my trade power in the Baltic Sea. Checked to make sure their only ally (Hansa) was occupied fighting Poland before launching my 'surgical strike'. That's when all hell broke loose.

Hansa promptly negotiated a truce with Poland, and came after me - hadn't noticed before that its ground forces were two tech levels higher than mine. As my troops were being slaughtered, I begged for peace, but to no avail. Finally a couple of armies from Sweden joined the fray and bailed me out. But by then, rebel armies appeared in several Norwegian provinces, demanding independence. Sweden refused to help with this, and I had to take out numerous loans to raise lots of new troops to fight the rebellion.

Now I'm out of cash, deeply in debt, and trying desperately to hold on to my 'empire'. My new king sucks, and he's got a bastard son as his only heir.

Great fun!

[Alan T]

I have been playing my first EU4 game as England. Other than having to be pretty smart with how I handled France in the 100 year war, after winning that, it has been pretty much easy mode for me for the next few hundred years so far.

Which is good because it has given me the ability to try to figure out all of the new mechanics better. I'm still a bit lost as far as understanding trade.

[Mota]

I started as France in the earliest suggested save, and didn't realize that I was immediately at war against England (as I was being sieged). It was a very short game, I lost all my troops within a year because I didn't know what was going on. Next time I try the same save point and will do a better job defending myself immediately.

[Grover]

Hey guys, how do I form regimens into fully functioning armies? Is it possible to make two regimens of 1,000 infantry into one regimen of 2,000?

I'm working hard to fully understand the game, not as straight forward as Civ V like I'm used to!

[bhlloy]

Highlight them (drag and drop around them), there is a button in the top right that looks like this >< to merge them. And they have to be in the same province.

[Grover]

Ah ha! I had seen the button to split the armies in half, but I clearly missed this one.

[Peregrine]

I'm currently playing Japan - managed to bring all my vassals into my state to take over all of the main islands, and then with some exploration ideas I have assembled massive colonial holdings including Taiwan, the Phillipines, a bunch of islands south and east of there, Hawaii, and now my first colony on the North American west coast. Who knows how far I can go - at some point I will conquer those annoying Maya and Aztecs and take over their lands as well.

[Mota]

I was playing a dynasty as France (relatively new to the franchise so I wanted something easier). I was doing well, plowing over a few smaller countries and working my way through Burgundy. A coalition formed against me, and while I won the war, it did a lot of damage to my armies.

Then the game had enough of me, and both Spain / Portal / UK declared war on me, and then Burgundy with about 10 other countries also declared war. I had 30 units built and there were multiple armies with 30-50 units each running through my country taking over. Then the riots started, uprisings everywhere. And then after a few years of getting smacked down and not being able to raise a single unit without it getting targeted and killed within a turn, I was allowed peace. And by peace, I mean peacefully giving freedom to every country that I annexed, and coughing up every core that all these armies had against me. I was actually at a worse place than I started!

It was still fun though, but I"ll be completely honest that I went back to a slightly earlier save to see if I could have only 1 coalition declare war against me. It didn't work, so I just went back to my original save and kept playing. :)

[Peregrine]

I was playing a dynasty as France (relatively new to the franchise so I wanted something easier). I was doing well, plowing over a few smaller countries and working my way through Burgundy. A coalition formed against me, and while I won the war, it did a lot of damage to my armies.

Then the game had enough of me, and both Spain / Portal / UK declared war on me, and then Burgundy with about 10 other countries also declared war. I had 30 units built and there were multiple armies with 30-50 units each running through my country taking over. Then the riots started, uprisings everywhere. And then after a few years of getting smacked down and not being able to raise a single unit without it getting targeted and killed within a turn, I was allowed peace. And by peace, I mean peacefully giving freedom to every country that I annexed, and coughing up every core that all these armies had against me. I was actually at a worse place than I started!

It was still fun though, but I"ll be completely honest that I went back to a slightly earlier save to see if I could have only 1 coalition declare war against me. It didn't work, so I just went back to my original save and kept playing. :)

Yes the perils of aggressive expansion - it can definitely bring you down when those mega coalitions form.

[lungs]

I'm having fun with this game, probably my favorite Paradox game yet. I started as Denmark and eventually formed Scandinavia. I surround the Baltic sea completely minus one final Pommeranian province that I can't conquer because of their personal union with France. I've also taken chunks of Poland and Lithuania out.

The Ottomans made some massive gains into Europe until I put together a coalition to go down there and kick their ass. And then they tried to get me back in another war and I kicked their ass again.

I also have colonized most of the USA and Canada along with the Western half of Cuba, Colombia/Panama/Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Southern California/Baja.

[whomario]

This has definitely jumped to the top of my list in recent weeks, hoping for an appearance in the Steam Christmas Sale :)

[Dutch]

Started up a campaign with the Castilians after doing a full walkthrough with the Aztecs.

[Bisbo]

Lungs/Peregrine - how do you expand your colonial distance limit? I've pursued the trade and colonial expansion ideas, but for some reason I can't expand my colonization limit to more than 240 miles - so I can't even get to North America from Iceland. Help!

[Coffee Warlord]

Easiest way is to get port access from Portugal, colonize somewhere in the Caribbean, core it, and then move upward.

(Even easier if Portugal's already cored something there.)

[lungs]

Lungs/Peregrine - how do you expand your colonial distance limit? I've pursued the trade and colonial expansion ideas, but for some reason I can't expand my colonization limit to more than 240 miles - so I can't even get to North America from Iceland. Help!

Pretty sure diplomatic technology levels will give you an increase in colonial range because that's where you get naval upgrades too.

[Alan T]

Lungs/Peregrine - how do you expand your colonial distance limit? I've pursued the trade and colonial expansion ideas, but for some reason I can't expand my colonization limit to more than 240 miles - so I can't even get to North America from Iceland. Help!


Can't you get to the coast of greenland from iceland core after a few diplomatic upgrades?

[lungs]

Can't you get to the coast of greenland from iceland core after a few diplomatic upgrades?

That's how I did it.

[Alan T]

Going against virtually all of Europe in a coalition against you is fun for the first 20-80 years. After a while it just gets rough :)

[Peregrine]

Yes, you get improved colonization range from diplo tech as has been mentioned - if you look at all the icons on the right side of the tech screen and mouse over them, it will show you what levels of tech improve what - very helpful.

As Japan, I first started colonizing north to Kamchatka to try to get to Alaska, but didn't have the range, then I went south, took over the Phillippines, then into various islands like Timor, Papua, the Solomons, and from there once I discovered Hawaii I had the range for that, once you have Hawaii then you can hit the west coast of NA. By my current point in the game I have the whole west coast of NA, all of the Mayans who I diplo-annexed. several colonies around Panama, and slowly working my way around the bottom of South Ameriaca.

You know you have a crazy colonial spread when you have both Kamchatka and Tierra del Fuego.

[Grover]

This is going to sound ridiculous. But where do I load my Ironman saves? I notice they're not with the regular saves.

EDIT: Cloud Saves, found it. Yaaaay.

[Grover]

Another note: I am absolutely terrible in war management.

[lungs]

The thing that sucks about this game is that it infiltrates my dreams after a long night session before bed. And it's always bad stuff happening.

[Grover]

http://i.imgur.com/jkckVCM.png

I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I was amazed at how the peasant riots absolutely decimated what Lithuania were.

[Alan T]

Ok so far my ironman game of Frankfurt has been my most boring yet. Basically a several hundred year goal of making lots of money from trade while balancing friendships enough to never be gobbled up by the larger fish.

Just mainly a bunch of sitting around shuffling diplomats everywhere

[Grover]

Definitely getting the hang of the game, after my work with Muscovy, I've started a game on Normal as Mali and am doing quite well. Very close to earning colonists. Time to suck up the entire west coast of Africa, though I think Portugal has annexed what was once Morocco.

[Arles]

Just picked this up on the $19 Steam sale. As a CK2 vet, any advice to my first entry into the EU line?

[Coffee Warlord]

Castile is always a good one to start out as, as is France. Two relatively easy countries to get the hang of things.

Common Mistake #1 - Make sure you don't hire the level 2-3 advisors too early. They're hideously expensive, and almost no one can afford them out of the gate.

[JPhillips]

Castile is always a good one to start out as, as is France. Two relatively easy countries to get the hang of things.

Common Mistake #1 - Make sure you don't hire the level 2-3 advisors too early. They're hideously expensive, and almost no one can afford them out of the gate.

I hope they redo the advisors. The extra point or two in research points just isn't worth the extra cost. I only hire level twos if I need the inflation reduction that badly and I never hire level threes.

[Arles]

What's the main difference between CK2 and EU4? My assumption was that there was less religion and more fighting. Is that close? ;)

[Coffee Warlord]

There's a ton of fighting in both. And a ton of religion in EU4. (Hi Reformation!) The biggest difference in gameplay really goes into trade, naval & exploration considerations. There's not really a CK equivalent to that.

At its simplest...

EU4 - You're managing a country.
CK2 - You're managing a family.

[Abe Sargent]

Anybody played the new expansion yet? Downloading it now. Perhaps might start a dynasty....

[Coffee Warlord]

The new expansion really only offers...the random maps. I think the vast majority of the other new features are patched into the base game.

And the random maps BADLY need work.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, it's good especially for a US audience. Other than random CTD disease, I'm having a lot of fun with it. Making money off colonies is far more realistic, you can't just go after colonial ideas and make a ton every month from colonies. I'm only getting about 4-5 gold a month from having the entire eastern seaboard of the US and most of Canada because I'm keeping tariffs as low as possible.

EDIT - didn't know that was in the base game as well, I have all the expansions. But I do love the new changes either way

[cuervo72]

Any further opinions on the Conquest of Paradise expansion? 50% off on Steam. I'm going to get the Extreme Edition (-75%, 11.49) but am not sure on the expansion.

[Dutch]

It doesn't hurt to have it (unlike some of the CKII expansions) and adds to the expansion nations of Spain, Portugal, England, France, and the Netherlands as they encounter a more realistic (or at least more detailed) North America. I enjoyed EUIV either way though, ultimately.

[Blackadar]

I'm still waiting for the complete package. I'm not getting lured in by a $10 game only to be faced with $50 (!) of DLC only to get the complete game.

[cuervo72]

Thanks guys. For now I've bought the Extreme version and one of the cheap unit packs (eh, it was like 1.24) but will probably wait on the expansions. 50% isn't *that* tremendous, it'll probably be on sale again before I even play it. :) (Back into Civ, and want to get back to CKII as well).

[Umbrella]

I ended up buying both EU4 Extreme and Conquest of Paradise on the sale. I have studied a lot about native tribes in the southwest, so I am enjoying the DLC, playing as the Pimas. I migrated to Southern California and settled there. I've managed to take over the west coast from Baja California up to Alaska, but England is in Texas right now, so my first contact with the Europeans is near.

As a rookie to the game, I'm not sure if I'm in a good position or not for the Europeans.

Also, I wonder why the decision to make the Great Basin inaccessible? Many tribes lived there. I could understand making the Rockies uncrossable, but the rest seems strange to me.

[JPhillips]

A native tribe will never be in a good position for the Europeans.

[NobodyHere]

I recently got this and I'm enjoying the changes thus far.

Are any of the expansions must have?(I'll probably wait for a sale).

Any recommended mods?

[Grover]

Anybody ever had any issue with blue screening on EUIV? This has just started happening to me today. Very frustrating.

[Dutch]

No, but make sure your drivers are up to date.

[Grover]

http://i.imgur.com/4C3E38V.png

Fantastic.

[Buccaneer]

I just never could get into the EU series or any of the other CK games because the country control bored me compared to the dynastic aspect of CK. EU:Rome I haven't checked on. Still have the disk around somewhere but the pre-order was a waste.

I recall that you and I were of one mind on this. You would think that a long-time Civ player like me would get into EU but after playing the first one, I thought the gameplay model was too obfuscating. I don't know how that model has evolved through CK/EU4.

[Peregrine]

EU:Rome does have some dynastic elements, more so than any of the other EU games - in other words you have characters that have individual histories etc but its nowhere as detailed as CK2. Personally I still love the EU series but definitely a different type of game from CK.

In fact I wish they would add one element from EU:Rome to CK2 which was a history for each character, that showed which offices they held, if they won an important battle, etc. Probably too much to ask for at this point though.

[whomario]

just getting into this game and having what i think is a good start with Castille.

Now i just gained my first Colonist. Question: How the heck do i use him ? Can not find any menu where i can put him to work ??

The controls/interface are an eternal struggle for me in paradox games ...

[MrBug708]

Iirc you need to click on an uncolonized land and the option should show up there

[Dutch]

You need to be within your colonial range, it's best to practice in West Africa. For the new world, you may need assistance by gaining naval basing rights from Portugal early on since they seem to take the lead here.

[whomario]

cheers :) I actually have those rights, what are the benefits ? Do my ships get repaired when in their harbors ?

[Dutch]

I believe they do, but the main benefits are that it can extend your own colonial range. But you need to put them on a transport and move them from Spain to the uncolonized territory...preferably one that you have previously secured by force from the locals...which needs an explorer to discover prior to being able to land soldiers...

[whomario]

woot, having my first colony :) Is it wise to just let the colonist stay until the process is completed or sent him somewhere else after a certain time ?

Might have to concentrate on local issues soon ... Failed to attack Aragorn early enough, now they are allied with France who are kicking butt against Burgundy ...

[bhlloy]

If you have an army in the province, it's safe to let him leave although growth will be slower. If you don't have an army (that can safely handle the natives) then it's almost certainly a bad idea as it will make an uprising much more likely. Personally I like to just leave them unless I have another empire breathing down my neck in the same area.

[whomario]

Thanks for the tip, decided to leave them and am still doing splendid on that front. Managed to get the "Iberian Wedding" Event a whiles back, which seems to basically guarantee that i can form Spain in 30 odd years :) (plus, Naples was attached)
Also managed to form an Alliance with Spain who (along with the Ottomans in the East) have been kicking butt.

Short Question: When declaring war on some teeny tiny south american tribal people, how can i prevent my allies from the persobal union (Aragon and Naples) to bring ships all the way out there when i don´t really need em and would have them rather stay, just in case sth happens at the home front ? (when declaring war i can only toggle the regular allies)

[bhlloy]

You can not invite them to join the war (untick them when declaring) otherwise I think you are out of luck

I think there's a small opinion penalty to inviting an ally to a war and I wouldn't be surprised if it stacks with multiple instances - so it's good practice to not pull your allies into wars that you can handle (and save the goodwill for the ones you do) anyway

[whomario]

You can not invite them to join the war (untick them when declaring) otherwise I think you are out of luck

I think there's a small opinion penalty to inviting an ally to a war and I wouldn't be surprised if it stacks with multiple instances - so it's good practice to not pull your allies into wars that you can handle (and save the goodwill for the ones you do) anyway

the problem for me is that only my regular allies have boxes to tick/untick when declaring a war, but not my Partners in the Personal Union .

But hey, i just got the option to "form spain diplomatically" in the national decisions, so half the problem is solved :D (no idea why it was allowed when "integrating" was not allowed)

Now it seems a little silly that my colony is called "Castilian Brazil" ;)

Questions to ponder, i guess: What to do with Aragons Holdings of Palermo, Messina and Modena which have the wrong culture... As a slight negative, i have lost one of my merchants for some reason in the event.

This game is freaking time consuming. Thank goodness for the winter break from "life" i had scheduled anyway ;)

[bhlloy]

Yeah, it's a fun game. I still prefer CK2 because of the dynasty stuff but I've put a TON of time into EU recently.

As for the holdings that have the wrong culture, it's almost a no-brainer to convert them as soon as you are reasonably able assuming they not accepted. The hits to base tax and productivity are killer otherwise.

EDIT - to add that the only reason I wouldn't convert them as soon as possible was if I was falling behind in tech to do it (off the top of my head can't remember which one is used to convert culture). But I assume as Spain you should be doing well enough that it doesn't matter too much to you.

[whomario]

Hope the Art of War DLC goes on sale still, that sounds like a terrific improvement.

Yeah, it's a fun game. I still prefer CK2 because of the dynasty stuff but I've put a TON of time into EU recently.

As for the holdings that have the wrong culture, it's almost a no-brainer to convert them as soon as you are reasonably able assuming they not accepted. The hits to base tax and productivity are killer otherwise.

EDIT - to add that the only reason I wouldn't convert them as soon as possible was if I was falling behind in tech to do it (off the top of my head can't remember which one is used to convert culture). But I assume as Spain you should be doing well enough that it doesn't matter too much to you.

yeah, i had a few issues with tech and especially Ideas to that point (administrative was a killer with, seemingly, lots of events that required me to boost stability plus a crappy starting ruler who lived forever). I was more thinking about cutting them loose, since they or the area are not really of much interest to me. Not looking to cut into Italy, rather concentrating on africa and south america for now.

Which is why i am super glad that i have france as my ally. Plus, they went to war against Austria in the Hungarian War of Succession and thankfully did not call me to arms. And now it seems like they get their butt kicked by Austria, Hungary and seemingly everybody else (Venice, the remains of the Burgundians and a couple more). Suits me, rather have a weaker France next to me, no matter how highly they regard me now.

That war also shows me a whole new dimension to scale, no comparison to my conflicts with Morocco :D


EDIT: re, ideas: I have so far neglected military with my first 3 ideas (have Exploration, Expansion and Trade), let´s see if that ever bites me in the ass.

[whomario]

France is now getting pummeled to the point that i kinda wish they had more help. The way it is going, there will be no France left ! And now there are also 30+k peasants uprising. Vive la France ? Maybe not ... And to think that they started the war, this is an absolute blunder by them.

Preemptively went into royal marriage with Austria ;)

[Dutch]

Interesting, I'm happy though, France would seemingly randomly come down and beat the ever living crap out of me when I was playing Spain and focusing too heavily on the Americas.

[whomario]

Had a few events happening that made me think "well, ain´t that good luck for me" at the time: France rivaled me early on, but then concentrated on beating up Burgundy and other small nations within their territory. Then they had a dynasty change and that new dynasty then was willing to ally with me.

I did make a concious effort to keep good relations with them though and do everything in my power not to piss them off.

[lcjjdnh]

Thinking of picking up one of the Paradox games on Steam while I'm on vacation from work the next week. Recommendations (including for expansion packs)? Haven't really played any since the first EU games, and would prefer a game without a steep learning curve.

[Blackadar]

Thinking of picking up one of the Paradox games on Steam while I'm on vacation from work the next week. Recommendations (including for expansion packs)? Haven't really played any since the first EU games, and would prefer a game without a steep learning curve.

That kind of rules out every Paradox game out there.

[Dutch]

That kind of rules out every Paradox game out there.

Honestly though, March of Eagles is by far the easiest to master, it forces you to use one of the major nations (all minor countries just get pushed around and steamrolled during gameplay) and once you get how the game works using Prussia or France or Russia or the Ottomans, then you can slowly start to peel back the layers of the onion in games like CK2 and EUIV with less effort.

http://wizzywizzyweb.gmgcdn.com/media/products/march-eagles-french-unit-pack/screenshots/large-4-640x350.jpg

It's that game that got all the other ones to finally click. And it's truly more of a boardgame styled pace....you are done with a game in a few hours and it's replay ability is outstanding.

[whomario]

For what it´s worth: EUIV definitely put an emphasize on a more beginner friendly game. And i am certainly having a much easier time with EU IV than III and that is despite a looooong hiatus from 3 (so it is really not like i remembered much of the mechanics). There are some excellent tutorial videos out there (f.e.: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH-huzMEgGWBz8XAD77YTwMe6wx-Ql_Ao short, concise and ordered topically and not "lets play" rambling, which i recommend to avoid like the plague) as well, also a great wiki at Europa Universalis 4 Wiki (http://www.eu4wiki.com/Europa_Universalis_4_Wiki)
Heck, google has turned up a paradox-forum thread for just about every question i had.

Take an easy nation (like Castile f.e.) and turn on player bonus and/or AI to easy in the game options and you should really have little issue learning the game.

There IS a lot to learn, but unless you obsess over everything you should pick up most of the stuff as you go along.


My own game might just be turning difficult: France has fully recovered and has now renounced their alliance with me. The Royal Marriage still stands, but i still went ahead and allied England and Portugal (who had split from me and i planned to maybe even make a move on in the near future) just in case. Also finally spent some money in forts and other military stuff.

[lcjjdnh]

Thanks. Perhaps I'll check out March of Eagles--just $5 on Steam.

[whomario]

ok, trying to slowly increase the difficulty i now went with Burgundy and then formed the Netherlands and formed into a republic. Having a blast so far, even managed to sneak into the colonial game even though i took exploration only as my 3rd idea.

Now i think i might be in trouble, though. After doing a lot of diplomatic annexation (Liege, Frisia and the likes) and securing my borders for a long time with alliances to Castille and Aragon (along with smaller ones here and there) and even being allied to Great Britain for a few years until they launched a suicidal "War of the Protestant League" (which i declined in my continued effort to be like Switzerland: Neutral) and largely managing to stay out of wars. I have just received the following message: Austria is allied with France. Upon checking i realize that Austria is also allied to Castille.

Yeah, well, crap ... Time to read up on defensive War strategies ... Hope to at least be spared an attack until i get my next ideaslot in about 5 years, which now definitely will be a military one :D

The scandinavian countries are still beating each other up, so now reliable allies there.

[path12]

In the past I have bought: EU, EU 2, EU 3, CK, Victoria 2, CK 2. I've never been able to get it to click.

So in a classic case of repeating the failures of one's past I just got EU 4 on sale. Sigh. Guess I'll try the wiki whomario spoke of above but any specific strategy site links would be appreciated. THESE GAMES SHOULD BE RIGHT UP MY ALLEY ARRRRRRGH.

[Grover]

In the past I have bought: EU, EU 2, EU 3, CK, Victoria 2, CK 2. I've never been able to get it to click.

So in a classic case of repeating the failures of one's past I just got EU 4 on sale. Sigh. Guess I'll try the wiki whomario spoke of above but any specific strategy site links would be appreciated. THESE GAMES SHOULD BE RIGHT UP MY ALLEY ARRRRRRGH.

EU4 was my first foray into the Paradox umbrella of grand strategy and I have been so very hooked since the first game.

[Grover]

Has anybody added mods through the steam workshop for maps, or UI or whatever else?

Can't seem to ever get them to show up in game.

[Peregrine]

They don't show up in the mods list on the launcher screen?

[Grover]

They don't show up in the mods list on the launcher screen?

Never. And I follow all instructions.

[Dutch]

In the past I have bought: EU, EU 2, EU 3, CK, Victoria 2, CK 2. I've never been able to get it to click.

So in a classic case of repeating the failures of one's past I just got EU 4 on sale. Sigh. Guess I'll try the wiki whomario spoke of above but any specific strategy site links would be appreciated. THESE GAMES SHOULD BE RIGHT UP MY ALLEY ARRRRRRGH.

March of Eagles...just the basics...then everything clicks.

[lighthousekeeper]

In the past I have bought: EU, EU 2, EU 3, CK, Victoria 2, CK 2. I've never been able to get it to click.

So in a classic case of repeating the failures of one's past I just got EU 4 on sale. Sigh. Guess I'll try the wiki whomario spoke of above but any specific strategy site links would be appreciated. THESE GAMES SHOULD BE RIGHT UP MY ALLEY ARRRRRRGH.

that's how i feel: i've bought ck2, and then subsequently bought most of the expansions. i *want* to like this game, i *want* to get into it, but when i sit down to play, it just feels too much like work and not enough fun.

[PilotMan]

Oh I love them. I just don't have 16 straight hours to put into it, and I know that's exactly what's going to happen. Hence less playing time on my list.

[aran]

The way I learned CK2 and EU4 is by watching 10+ hours of Let's Play videos (primarily by Quill18 and Arumba on youtube) for each over a course of a month or two. Kind of time-consuming, but if you can get a bit of it done before the game actually gets released (the LPers get preview builds) then you can *almost* hit the ground running on day 1. But if you can't, it maybe better! it's good to give Paradox a couple of weeks to pound out hotfixes because there will be bugs, and bad ones.

I've put 100+ hours into CK2 and 300+ hours into EU4 at this point and have no regrets. Fantastically fun games. I've had quite a bit of fun playing cooperatively as the same nation with a friend in EU4, as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone tried out El Dorado expansion yet?

[Abe Sargent]

Has anybody added mods through the steam workshop for maps, or UI or whatever else?

Can't seem to ever get them to show up in game.

I did the mod for the all-time one you could play any country at any time is history one and it worked fine.

[Dutch]

Anyone tried out El Dorado expansion yet?

No, haven't had the time...all free time goes to Pillars...oh and FOF. :)

[Abe Sargent]

I'm working on a nation I am making:

Micronesia

Capital - Nan Madol
Dynasty - Sandeleur

These ideas:

Artificial Islands - Reduced Build Costs -10%
Dividing the Wei - Bonus taxes +15%
Sacrifices at Night - Stability Cost reduction -15%
In the Ruins of R'lyeh - Bonus naval morale +15%
For the Great One - Bonus infantry combat ability +15%
Through the Moon Pool - Bonus Diplomatic reputation +1
Lemuria Rises - Massive increased attrition for enemies +2

Traditions:

Idea Cost - -5%
Global Trade Power - +15%


Ambition:

+30% naval force limits


Leader:

Luhe Sandeleur, 4/4/4, 29 years old
Onoana Sandeleur, heir, 4/4/4, 12

Polynesian, Animist, Despotic Monarchy, Asian, Indian

[Grover]

Abe, did you use this at 200 points?

Love the idea group.

I've got a Kurdistan going right now.

[Grover]

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/announcing-europa-universalis-iv-common-sense.854950/

Whoo!

[Shkspr]

While on the subject, is there a good screenshot-based "Let's Play" for EUIV? I know it's because I'm old, but I just can't get into the YouTube videos.

[cuervo72]

/pokes head up from installment 29 of quill18's New Ulm playlist

[Grover]

While on the subject, is there a good screenshot-based "Let's Play" for EUIV? I know it's because I'm old, but I just can't get into the YouTube videos.

I use a lot of pictures in my threads on the dynasty forum.

There's a lot of AAR types with pictures/words attached over at the reddit page for the game too.

[Grover]

Albania will not be at war with Ottomans in 1.12

[Abe Sargent]

Grabbed Common Sense just now. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to give it a spin, but I will get a chance to give it a spin.

[Grover]

I really don't like it right now. Though I think it's a matter of getting adjusted to the way building power works over building... buildings.

[NobodyHere]

Are the last 3 expansions (El Dorado, Common Sense, and Art of War) worth grabbing? The Humble Store is having a sale right now and you can grab all three for less than $12, including some other minor DLC.

[Abe Sargent]

Art of War is amazing. It opens up teh map, adds around 1000 provinces, tons of new nations and such, and for that reason alone, it's worth the price of admission to my mind. Each has new ways to zark the game. I just played through with Common Sense as a minor in India and hit the "buid up, not out" concept pretty hard in some interesting ways.

[DavidCorperial]

I believe that all the new counties was just an update, coinciding with the release of the new DLC but not DLC specific.

[Abe Sargent]

I believe that all the new counties was just an update, coinciding with the release of the new DLC but not DLC specific.

I love Paradox

[Grover]

I'm still not a big fan of the development system for provinces. I hardly ever use my monarch points for it.

[BishopMVP]

Big Paradox sale on Steam until October 5.

If I pick up EUIV, which DLC's are must-adds? Also, is it much better than EU3 which I have? I'd figure it would be, but I've actually seen some debate about this - some people feel EUIV kind of forces you to play countries a specific, more historically accurate way with the national ideas vs EU III being more of a sandbox with all the slider settings. I've also seen people say Monarch Points are kind of worthless in the later game, and its too easy to get good advisors in this game.

[Grover]

Big Paradox sale on Steam until October 5.

If I pick up EUIV, which DLC's are must-adds? Also, is it much better than EU3 which I have? I'd figure it would be, but I've actually seen some debate about this - some people feel EUIV kind of forces you to play countries a specific, more historically accurate way with the national ideas vs EU III being more of a sandbox with all the slider settings. I've also seen people say Monarch Points are kind of worthless in the later game, and its too easy to get good advisors in this game.

Art of War, Common Sense, Conquest of Paradise.

[whomario]

Everything is in abundance in the late game. Basically the main complaint i have in the game, wish they would temper "inflation" a little bit so that the numbers would not stack up quite so high in all areas (army sizes, money available and costs etc)

[bhlloy]

I can't recommend the MEIOU & Taxes mod enough. It's supposed to resolve a lot of those end game issues with army stacks, it also makes the new development mechanic a million times better and just improved the flavor of the game in a ton of other ways as well

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone try the latest DLC yet?

[Peregrine]

Not me - I seem to always be about a DLC behind - just recently installed the last one. Seems like there are some AI issues after each DLC that take some time to get worked out.

[Abe Sargent]

There are a number of reasons that EU4 and Paradox continues to be my fav, inc fee updates, like this one to EU4 recently as part of their patch-the-game-along-with-expansions-so-people-get-some-stuff-free:


Hungary is in many ways a vital country to the period the game depicts. It is at the center of many events that came right before our start date, and these events are also the reason we start the game on the 11th of November in 1444.

As the only remaining major kingdom between the Ottomans and the larger Christian world Hungary nonetheless thrived in the 15th century, only to be reduced to a battleground for stronger powers after the defeat at Mohacs and up to the end of the era our game covers.

As you know, in the years leading up to 1444 Hungary has just emerged from a civil war between the supporters of the posthumous son of their last king, Ladislaus von Habsburg, and the dynamic young king of Poland, Wladyslaw Jagiellon. Wladyslaw’s supporters won this conflict and it is under Jagiellon leadership that Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania and many others invaded the Ottoman Empire in 1443. This invasion was abruptly ended at Varna on the 10th of November in 1444 with the death of Wladyslaw and many others.

When the game opens Europe is recovering from the shocking defeat at Varna. Hungary is once again without king and powerful forces are aligning for or against the boy King, Ladislaus the Posthumous.

In Hungary patch we’ve tried to better capture the quite complicated situation of 1444 in Central and Southeastern Europe (one I have just barely touched in the short lines above). In order to do this we have both added new content and reworked some the old content related to Hungary, Austria and Bohemia.


Hungary:​

Hungary has been the main focus of this patch and has received about 20 new events as well as a rework of a number of their old existing events.

Map Changes:

Hoping to both make Hungary more influential in the early game and to make the region more realistic and interesting to wage war in we have added a small number of provinces to Hungary in the 1.21 patch.
Slovakia/Upper Hungary has been redrawn and the new province of Trencin now guards the northern border of the Kingdom. Development and trade goods of the area in general has been revised a bit to better reflect reality.

The province of Fejér has been added between Sopron and Pest. The Hungarian capital in Pest is also now an inland center of trade, which both allows Hungary itself better control over the flow of trade, and makes the conquest of Pest more important for any invader.

In the southern part of the kingdom we have added what was perhaps the most important of all Hungarian fortresses in 1444, Belgrade. The Hungarian kingdom had spent no small amount of energy acquiring the banate of Belgrade prior to our start date and its position at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube will make it a key province to control in the region from now on.

Events:

Hungary has received new events as well as reworks of their existing events. This is a broad (but not quite complete) overview of what we have added and why:

Early events will focus on recreating the rise of the Hunyadi family, allowing the player to partake in the Corvinian renaissance, with good advisors, opportunities to increase the wealth of the country and kick-starting institution spread in Budapest.

One of the more unique things about Hungary in this period was the so called ‘Black Army’, a very expensive, permanent, mercenary force that on numerous occasions was able to beat numerically superior armies. In the game you will be able to create the Black Army, allowing you to hire much stronger mercenaries at the cost of reducing your force limit and higher maintenance costs. Your nobility will remain skeptical of this mercenary force and will ask new kings to abolish it. The mercenaries may also mutiny if they don’t feel they are paid enough. If you are willing to pay the price however, you can enjoy mercenaries at +10% discipline up to the age of Reformation.

If Hussites are in power in Bohemia the Catholic estates can now turn to Hungary for protection. Should you help your brothers of faith they may offer you to be their king, giving you permanent claims on parts of their country.

There are a number of events dealing with the advance of the Turks, the establishment of a fortified frontier and the resettling of fleeing Balkan Christians within these lands.

The old “Advance of the Turks” event has been expanded upon and given follow-up events relating to the election of two different Hungarian monarchs, one with Austrian, western Hungarian and Croatian support and one with the support of Eastern Hungary. This could happen in a situation when the kingdom has been soundly defeated by the Ottomans.

There are now events dealing with the other peoples in the Hungarian realm such as Slovaks, Croats and Vlachs/Romanians and the development of their respective national movements as the game progresses.

The spread of the Protestant and Reformed faiths in the Hungarian realm now has dedicated events allowing the Hungarian player to encourage the reformation or invite the Jesuits to help them work against it.

While the Hungarian Kingdom in our timeline was divided between Turks, Austrians and the Principality of Transylvania from the mid 16th century, we have added events based on the fate of the Hungarian people during these years to provide a continued interesting experience throughout the timeline.



Map Changes:

In order to add more depth of maneuver and historical detail we have now split the province of Moravia into Brno and Olomouc and added a Moravia as a revolter country.

In Silesia we have added the province of Leignitz/Legnica and revised starting development values and trade goods a bit to better represent the importance of this area.


Events:

While the Hussite wars are a thing of the past in 1444, the Bohemian people are still largely heretics to Catholic Europe. Ladislaus the Posthumous is the presumed King of Bohemia as well as Hungary but the de facto government of Bohemia lies with the Hussite factions under George of Poděbrady.

Even prior to Hungary patch you could choose to support the Catholic or Hussite party but now this choice has a bigger impact than it used to:

With the Hussites in power you will now be less liked in Europe but enjoy stronger support internally. You will benefit from the tactical experience of the Hussite soldiers but the Catholic estates may offer the Bohemian crown to a foreign monarch willing to defend them.

Unless the pope acts against the continued heresy in Bohemia a strong Hussite movement could also make the Reformation trigger earlier than it otherwise would.

Minor Additions:​

The Vistula Spit:

Prior to 1.21 Königsberg and Danzig have been connected by a strait at the end of the Vistula lagoon. This had the unfortunate side effect that the fort in Königsberg could prevent movement between Danzig and Marienburg. Something that was impossible to get around without a fleet. The strait was also unhistorical as by 1444 the Vistula spit was no longer open and the ports inside the Vistula lagoon did not have access to the Baltic sea.

In 1.21 the Vistula spit has been extended all the way to Königsberg, this means that you can now get to the fort there (though it will count as crossing a river) and that Marienburg and Ermland now start without ports.


Austria:

Austria has had a number of their existing events modified and can now also get new events relating to Hungary if they should come to control the country. Most importantly the advance of the Turks event now gives Austria permanent claims on Royal Hungary and Hungary itself is more likely to elect Hunyadi candidates to their throne, severely hurting relations with the Austrian monarchy.


Serbia:

Serbia was not the main focus of this patch but together with the addition of the province of Belgrade we have added a decision for the Serbian state to make Belgrade their capital if they are able to retake it from the Hungarians.





Or these features, just added for free:

Added 80 provinces in the regions of Anatolia, Mashriq, Egypt, Arabia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Central Asia and Persia and redesigned the surrounding regions.
Added the trade goods Incense, Livestock, Gems, Paper and Glass to the game.
Monarchs, Heirs, Consorts & Advisors now have culture and religion.
Added sound effect when opening celestial empire factions (when Mandate of Heaven DLC is not enabled).
Added sound when winning/losing a debate in Parliament.
Minor optimisations to game.
Added 20 Achievements.
Added Two Manufactories: Farm Estate (ADM tech 6) for Grain, Livestock and Wine. Mills (ADM tech 16) for Paper, Gems, Glass, Tropical Wood and Chinaware.
Added Startup Screen, detailing your nation and its surroundings' situations.



In another patch, 1.22 they added more Russian, Novgorod, and Lithuania holdings and nations as well as new government types and such too.

[Shkspr]

As you know, in the years leading up to 1444 Hungary has just emerged from a civil war between the supporters of the posthumous son of their last king, Ladislaus von Habsburg, and the dynamic young king of Poland, Wladyslaw Jagiellon.

Oh, well of course we know. We're not some kind of slackjawed yokels around here. In fact, what kind of idiot must you people be to even think we needed to be reminded of this?

[vex]

Oh, well of course we know. We're not some kind of slackjawed yokels around here. In fact, what kind of idiot must you people be to even think we needed to be reminded of this?



I thought that was funny as well. Well, obviously, who DOESN'T know that.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I wish like hell that I had the free time to explore a game like EU4.