Europa Universalis III

[Beskar]

What is that new great person thing they added next to the spy?

[al Roumi]

Magisters or Intendents I think. They were mentioned in one of the Dev diaries, I think they are what allow you to make/implement "decisions", presumably National ones.

[TinCow]

What is that new great person thing they added next to the spy?

From Dev Diary 6:

Before we get to the screenshots, which speak louder than my paltry words anyway, I think I will round off by revealing what 'Magistrates' are for. In our early brainstorming sessions, we thought that some type of "focus points" would be a great way to ensure a proper progression of government forms, from primitive to almost modern (like the "Constitutional Republic".) After some shape shifting, this idea eventually coalesced into the form of the Magistrate; an all-purpose official whose chief purpose is to execute decisions, especially at the province level (this is not a hardcoded requirement, but simply a scripted effect of the decisions.) Magistrates are gained much faster for later government types, allowing quicker decision making. Magistrates should also be welcomed by our esteemed modding community, since they can be used in all kinds of clever scripts.

[Veho Nex]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Recent invasion of france. I started as Scotland. Thats 250k troops with an additional 50k from ireland. This was the 12th invasion I've had of france, and the only one that actually took the beaches.

[frogbeastegg]

There's a demo for Heir to the Throne now.

HTTT sounds like it fixes a lot of the shortcomings I found with EU3 so I shall definitely be trying the demo.

[Beskar]

Is there a full list of things about Heir to the Throne which is easy to browse? (opposed to reading all the developer diaries)

[Martok]

There's a demo for Heir to the Throne now.

HTTT sounds like it fixes a lot of the shortcomings I found with EU3 so I shall definitely be trying the demo.

I'll be grabbing the demo as well. I'm almost hoping that I don't enjoy it too much, for fear that I will be compelled to go out and purchase the game at once (instead of waiting til next year like I've been planning).

Is there a full list of things about Heir to the Throne which is easy to browse? (opposed to reading all the developer diaries)

Well it's not a full list, but these are most of the major features (taken directly from Paradox's site):

• Intriguing Casus Belli system, where wars have specific goals from start to finish.
• Monarchs now belong to dynasties, with far reaching effects on the diplomatic model.
• More involving and powerful Holy Roman Empire and Papacy options.
• Special diplomatic options for Republics.
• Set your National Focus in a province to enhance growth and strengthen your hold in the region.
• Permanent Terra Incognita removed and replaced with impassable regions.
• Cultural Tradition allows better advisors in the same way that Military Tradition allows better generals and admirals.
• Spheres of Influence simulate the Great Game of the major powers.
• More dynamic pirates. Issue letters of marque to plague the sea zones of rival nations.
• Monarchs need to uphold their legitimacy in the eyes of their subjects
• Many other additions and improvements.


Personally, I'm most intrigued/excited by the first 5 bullet points. Those alone are reason enough to make me want to get HttT.

[Beskar]

Well it's not a full list, but these are most of the major features (taken directly from Paradox's site):

• Intriguing Casus Belli system, where wars have specific goals from start to finish.
• Monarchs now belong to dynasties, with far reaching effects on the diplomatic model.
• More involving and powerful Holy Roman Empire and Papacy options.
• Special diplomatic options for Republics.
• Set your National Focus in a province to enhance growth and strengthen your hold in the region.
• Permanent Terra Incognita removed and replaced with impassable regions.
• Cultural Tradition allows better advisors in the same way that Military Tradition allows better generals and admirals.
• Spheres of Influence simulate the Great Game of the major powers.
• More dynamic pirates. Issue letters of marque to plague the sea zones of rival nations.
• Monarchs need to uphold their legitimacy in the eyes of their subjects
• Many other additions and improvements.


Personally, I'm most intrigued/excited by the first 5 bullet points. Those alone are reason enough to make me want to get HttT.

I have to see that Casus Belli system to comment on that.
I would like to see dynasties and more related options to royal family. As all it seemed to be was randomly marriages which just disappeared without comment down the line.
I would like to see stronger HRE and Papacy, as HRE had basically no power and Papacy was only a random crusade.
I would like to see diplomatic options for Republics.
"natural focus" I would have to see.
"Permanent Terra Incognita removed" This is a very big plus.

[Monk]

I have to see that Casus Belli system to comment on that.
I would like to see dynasties and more related options to royal family. As all it seemed to be was randomly marriages which just disappeared without comment down the line.
I would like to see stronger HRE and Papacy, as HRE had basically no power and Papacy was only a random crusade.
I would like to see diplomatic options for Republics.
"natural focus" I would have to see.
"Permanent Terra Incognita removed" This is a very big plus.

I highly recommend reading the dev diaries. They go into great detail and provide screenshots, including the new CB system.

[Beskar]

I downloaded the demo for my laptop, but for some reason, there is no land, there is only ocean/sea and land provinces are sea.

[Veho Nex]

Im kinda lost when it comes to taking over countries...

How come when I conquer every single provence of france and have taken all its colonies, I can only obtain a few provences tops from them? If you looked at my SS I went through and conquered all of france. I then left 40k there and moved the rest of troops around the world to conquer the rest. Once I finally did that I was only allowed to take Caux Pidicari Finistere and one other provence.

Is there a way to take more?

[Beskar]

Im kinda lost when it comes to taking over countries...

How come when I conquer every single provence of france and have taken all its colonies, I can only obtain a few provences tops from them? If you looked at my SS I went through and conquered all of france. I then left 40k there and moved the rest of troops around the world to conquer the rest. Once I finally did that I was only allowed to take Caux Pidicari Finistere and one other provence.

Is there a way to take more?

Well, in EU3 complete (not this new demo) you can invade all their land and take what you want all except their capital. You can only take their capital when you declare war on them when they have one province then you can annex it.

[Veho Nex]

So if you have all their lands you dont need to worry about them going

"HAHAHAH We are Le French and even though you own everything we will only give you 4 provinces for peace, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

I can just take everything? even if its over that "100" mark?

[Beskar]

So if you have all their lands you dont need to worry about them going

"HAHAHAH We are Le French and even though you own everything we will only give you 4 provinces for peace, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

I can just take everything? even if its over that "100" mark?

You can. Destroy all their armies and hold the territory for a year or so. They will be begging for it.

[Veho Nex]

Gah... Oh well I still have 160k in France and an additional 40k near their territories in America. Shouldn't be too hard to take them out.

[TinCow]

I downloaded the demo for my laptop, but for some reason, there is no land, there is only ocean/sea and land provinces are sea.

That's a problem caused by some onboard videocards, and is common on laptops (I have the same problem on mine). There is no way to fix it because it is caused because the onboard video card doesn't have the capability of displaying some parts of the EU3 graphics. There is a workaround for the problem, but it only fixes the terrain map, so you'll never be able to use the nations, religion, etc. stuff which is very annoying.

Workaround for regular game:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=327504

Workaround for IN and Complete versions:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=385680

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

As someone who (eventually) got into Victoria (a little) but couldn’t wrap his head around HoI, would Paradox vets recommend me trying EU? When I have more time I’m going to play this demo, but I played a past EU demo and found the tutorial unhelpful and the demo to limited to learn on.

[Monk]

As someone who (eventually) got into Victoria (a little) but couldn’t wrap his head around HoI, would Paradox vets recommend me trying EU? When I have more time I’m going to play this demo, but I played a past EU demo and found the tutorial unhelpful and the demo to limited to learn on.

If you figured out Victoria, EU will be a breeze. On the list of complexity I'd rank EUIII as quite a bit more accessible than both Victoria and HoI.

Plus you can buy EUIII: Complete (includes the core game and the first two expansions) on Amazon for $7 USD.

[A Very Super Market]

EU has its own sort of difficulty. Most of which lies in the sheer scale of the timespan it encompasses. As far as I can tell, it also had more random events than Vicky as well, and they can throw your plans off very easily.

[frogbeastegg]

I'll be grabbing the demo as well. I'm almost hoping that I don't enjoy it too much, for fear that I will be compelled to go out and purchase the game at once (instead of waiting til next year like I've been planning).

Think of the standard Paradox bugs and balance issues. It's going to take a patch or three before HTTT is in good form.

[Beskar]

I have to be honest, the worst thing about EUIII is simply time. To do anything, it takes a lot of time (such as research, moving to areas, diplomacy waiting times, cool downs on bad-boy rating, converting, etc) with no easy way to do things or get into very favourable situations due to other limits such as small income. In this respect, it is very different to the Total War series where it is quite in the opposite in many ways.

That's a problem caused by some onboard videocards, and is common on laptops (I have the same problem on mine). There is no way to fix it because it is caused because the onboard video card doesn't have the capability of displaying some parts of the EU3 graphics. There is a workaround for the problem, but it only fixes the terrain map, so you'll never be able to use the nations, religion, etc. stuff which is very annoying.

Workaround for regular game:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=327504

Workaround for IN and Complete versions:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=385680

That's a big shame, as I am without my main computer. I do have EU3 on that, but I am currently using a laptop while I dont have access to it.

[Martok]

Think of the standard Paradox bugs and balance issues. It's going to take a patch or three before HTTT is in good form.

Hmm, that's a good point. I know a lot of people are still dissatisfied with HOI3, even with all the patches that have been released so far.

Perhaps I ought to wait for EU3: Ultimate Edition (or whatever they decide to call it)? Hopefully by that point, it will be in a more playable condition.

[al Roumi]

I have to be honest, the worst thing about EUIII is simply time. To do anything, it takes a lot of time (such as research, moving to areas, diplomacy waiting times, cool downs on bad-boy rating, converting, etc) with no easy way to do things or get into very favourable situations due to other limits such as small income. In this respect, it is very different to the Total War series where it is quite in the opposite in many ways.

True. Going back to Total War games after EU3 makes them seem rather simple on the grand strategy front though. I think it's partly due to the lower number of regions in TW games, and how this can really hang the AI out to dry in e.g. ETW.

As in both EU3:IN and ETW, the hardest and most intersting part of the game is the first phase, where you are establishing your nation/state. That said, barring a mid/late game Maratha blob in ETW, EU3 has more potential for also creating large rival nations to challenge yours (hello BBB aka France).

[TinCow]

Hmm, that's a good point. I know a lot of people are still dissatisfied with HOI3, even with all the patches that have been released so far.

Perhaps I ought to wait for EU3: Ultimate Edition (or whatever they decide to call it)? Hopefully by that point, it will be in a more playable condition.

Personally, I'm waiting until Magna Mundi is updated to be compatible with HttT. I'm absolutely drooling over the new causus belli system, but I don't like the idea of going back to the relative simplicity of unmodded EU3.

[Beskar]

EU3 has more potential for also creating large rival nations to challenge yours (hello BBB aka France).

France was a real pain in my game, they kept declaring war on me and I kept losing due to Man power. Everytime I sent a massive army to their shores, they were able to double my numbers and push me away so I had to play a game of trying to keep them. Though, my navy was vastly more powerful than theirs, which allowed me to keep them away from getting to the British isles, so it was a game of them declaring war on me and being unable to do damage to them and vice-versus.

However, with France managing to get into a bunch of wars on different fronts with Lombardy, Brittany, Savoy and Castile (which owned ilberia and big chunk of Morocco, except for the last one of Portugal), allowed me the opportunity to deal a crippling blow to them. While I didn't have the power to wipe them out, I had the power and situation to get them to release their vassals such as Normandy, etc which really stemmed the great blue blob.

France in the game has recovered the land from their ex-vassals, etc, except for Normandy/Picardi/etc which I own. However, they are in no situation to take me on (I am the strongest power in Europe, with Vassal Alliances with Portugal (which i helped them in expanding) and what I will call a "Greater Netherlands" and "Greater Switzerland" and Bradenburg which dominated central Europe and I got really lucky and ended up in a Personal Union with them. (also due to these, I ended up Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, even though I am not a member. Though I do own a couple of provinces which are in it)

However, biggest issue in Europe been this whole provinces randomly turning protestant and calvinist which weakened all the European powers quite significantly. In Europe, the major powers are Sweden, Bradenburg (who are in personal union with me), Papal States, Hungery, Lithunia, France, Castile and Novograd. (both of these could turn into Russia and Spain when they got the cores)

What worries me though, are the powers outside of Europe, amazingly. The Chinese power is bordering Novograd, and owns vast territories but due to religious instability is crippled with major uprising and national uprisings. Far more closer to home which is the possibly the biggest threat is Ottoman Empire who pretty much owns Parts of the Baltics, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and North East Africa (it conquered Ethiopia area) with Persia as a vassal owning Iran area, and Mamaduks as a vassal owning Eygpt. They are strong with hardly any troubles though minor conflicts between Hungary and Ottoman keep occuring.

I am currently expanding colonially however it looks like Castile got a massive headstart in this area and Portugal later joined the Fray and far more recently, France.

[al Roumi]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

France was a real pain in my game, they kept declaring war on me and I kept losing due to Man power. Everytime I sent a massive army to their shores, they were able to double my numbers and push me away so I had to play a game of trying to keep them. Though, my navy was vastly more powerful than theirs, which allowed me to keep them away from getting to the British isles, so it was a game of them declaring war on me and being unable to do damage to them and vice-versus.

However, with France managing to get into a bunch of wars on different fronts with Lombardy, Brittany, Savoy and Castile (which owned ilberia and big chunk of Morocco, except for the last one of Portugal), allowed me the opportunity to deal a crippling blow to them. While I didn't have the power to wipe them out, I had the power and situation to get them to release their vassals such as Normandy, etc which really stemmed the great blue blob.

France in the game has recovered the land from their ex-vassals, etc, except for Normandy/Picardi/etc which I own. However, they are in no situation to take me on (I am the strongest power in Europe, with Vassal Alliances with Portugal (which i helped them in expanding) and what I will call a "Greater Netherlands" and "Greater Switzerland" and Bradenburg which dominated central Europe and I got really lucky and ended up in a Personal Union with them. (also due to these, I ended up Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, even though I am not a member. Though I do own a couple of provinces which are in it)

However, biggest issue in Europe been this whole provinces randomly turning protestant and calvinist which weakened all the European powers quite significantly. In Europe, the major powers are Sweden, Bradenburg (who are in personal union with me), Papal States, Hungery, Lithunia, France, Castile and Novograd. (both of these could turn into Russia and Spain when they got the cores)

What worries me though, are the powers outside of Europe, amazingly. The Chinese power is bordering Novograd, and owns vast territories but due to religious instability is crippled with major uprising and national uprisings. Far more closer to home which is the possibly the biggest threat is Ottoman Empire who pretty much owns Parts of the Baltics, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and North East Africa (it conquered Ethiopia area) with Persia as a vassal owning Iran area, and Mamaduks as a vassal owning Eygpt. They are strong with hardly any troubles though minor conflicts between Hungary and Ottoman keep occuring.

I am currently expanding colonially however it looks like Castile got a massive headstart in this area and Portugal later joined the Fray and far more recently, France.

In EU3:IN France is an infamous pain for any continental european power. Playing as England it's easier to do as you did and play an almost historical game of withdrawing from the mainland in the 100 years war and focussing on colonial adventures -maintaining a fleet big enough to keep the island apart.

There is plaenty on how to beat France on the Paradox forum, basically you need to pick your moments (as you did, when they were at war with several others) and seek to partition their terrirtory with (ideally English) provinces owned by a (otherwise) neutral/ally state of yours. I think theat partitioning and lack of "land bridge" cuts the income received in the provinces seperated from the capital.

[Meneldil]

As someone who (eventually) got into Victoria (a little) but couldn’t wrap his head around HoI, would Paradox vets recommend me trying EU? When I have more time I’m going to play this demo, but I played a past EU demo and found the tutorial unhelpful and the demo to limited to learn on.

As said earlier, EU3 is much simpler than Vicky. Though I haven't quite worked out how to be successful at Victoria, I now find EU3 to be quite simple (the basic game at least).

I can take a minor power and turn it into something big pretty easily. From then, the next step will be to try out MM, but this one seems a bit overcomplicated and to stack a lot of hostile rules against the player.

[frogbeastegg]

Hmm, that's a good point. I know a lot of people are still dissatisfied with HOI3, even with all the patches that have been released so far.

The last Paradox game I brought near release was EU: Rome and that hammered the lesson into my head so hard my skull fractured. There may have been some brain damage also.



One of the difficulties I have with EUII/EUIII, which HTTT won't fix, is the tech groups. I wouldn't mind playing as Japan, China or one of the other eastern countries I find historically appealing. Their tech group makes them unpleasant to play. On the one hand they are missing and/or slow at a lot of the key gameplay, and that makes them less enjoyable to play. On the other the attitude of "Har har, look, these countries were stoopid because they weren't like western Europe, lolz!" is embarrassing. It's not as if we're talking about an isolated tribe of head-hunters complete with stone spearheads ...

[TinCow]

One of the difficulties I have with EUII/EUIII, which HTTT won't fix, is the tech groups. I wouldn't mind playing as Japan, China or one of the other eastern countries I find historically appealing. Their tech group makes them unpleasant to play. On the one hand they are missing and/or slow at a lot of the key gameplay, and that makes them less enjoyable to play. On the other the attitude of "Har har, look, these countries were stoopid because they weren't like western Europe, lolz!" is embarrassing. It's not as if we're talking about an isolated tribe of head-hunters complete with stone spearheads ...

Well, Magna Mundi has a lot of new content for Asian nations, particularly for Japan. The mod is certainly very difficult, but if you're looking for a more historical method of playing Japan, that mod is an option.

[frogbeastegg]

Well, Magna Mundi has a lot of new content for Asian nations, particularly for Japan. The mod is certainly very difficult, but if you're looking for a more historical method of playing Japan, that mod is an option.

It does? There's some good news; EU3 kicks off at the point where my historical interest peters out and dies so it's harder to find a nation I want to play. To then have many of the ones I'd like to try lumbered with a research penalty is still more off-putting. I'm a researcher/builder/trader at heart, with a sideline in conquest.

I suppose you need a decent understanding of the vanilla game before you try the mod?

Not necessarily more historical, just not so "Hur hur, you dumb [insert tech group label] are so stoopid you can't understand court houses, hur hur!" I can understand and agree with limiting access to the obviously western research outcomes (e.g. scientific revolution) but the approach taken by the game is blanket, heavy-handed and outright tedious in its effects on gameplay. I don't want to mod the non-western nations into becoming western nations with a different colour and name either; I want to see them keep some individual flavour.