Europa Universalis IV

[Hitoshura]

Because the diplomacy isn't as tight as it was then.

Yup, the AI is not as good as humans. The AI in that game is decent unlike most strategy games out there but still has a lot to learn to beat humans that know what they are doing.

There's also the fact that the AI are handicapped when it comes to relations, it's always keeping one free in order to let the players interact with it. That's one of the reason why if you get just big enough, you can ally pretty much anyone instantly and they will not say: "Sorry buddy, we are at our relations limit". Dropping that rule could make the AI much tougher.

 

[AwesomeButton]

What the AI is always handicapped in, in any game really, is strategic thinking. In EU the AI may be far superior than me in calculating how many armies he can throw into a battle before it's over, so he can always count the time needed for combat to be over and his armies will always support each other. But when it comes to counting the manpower and reinforcement times, the AI can usually be outsmarted on a strategic level. What he doesn't know, but I do, is that his manpower will be drained before mine and then I'll be able to enforce a 100% warscore peace. This is what puts me off EUIV, wars get pretty boring.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

then go overboard with aggressive expansion and fight the whole world at once.
i did it once, but i was after the 1001 provinces achievement.

 

[Kane]

Last game as China:

 

[Delterius]

Doesn't the Eunuch faction put you on Muslim tech level? With all of China's money it should be easy to keep up with the europeans.

Now its time for Victoria-CK Universalis of the Coptic Christianity!

Spoiler

The skies are blue, the sun is shining and Sweden is very nearly shut down for Summer. I'm not kidding, this whole country just turns off in July like you pulled out its batteries. None the less, before the great productivity purge we're here for one more development diary for Europa Universalis IV.

A fair few forumites were clairvoyant enough to predict this after we added Ruler Personalities. Indeed, as part of the upcoming expansion we will have Leader Traits

At the conclusion of any battle the leader involved has a chance to gain a trait. This trait will, unlike Ruler Personalities, always be a bonus. Current chance of gaining a trait is set to 2% multiplied by the Army Tradition gain from a battle (this, like most numbers during development, is subject to balance changes) which can be set in the defines.

Leaders are limited to one trait each and that trait will affect all units under their command. In battle, the trait of the commanding general (the one whose shock/fire pips are used) will affect all units on their side.

Some of the traits:
Goal Orientated:+10% Movement Speed
Hardy Warrior: -20% Attrition
Siege Specialist: +15% Siege Ability
Born to the Saddle: +50% Cavalry Flanking Range

Of course, Admirals can gain traits too. Same rules as generals except the chance is based on naval tradition from battles.

Buccaneer: +25% Privateering Efficiency
Prize hunter: +5% chance of capturing enemy ships
Ironside: +5% Ship Durability
Extortioner: + 15% Light Ship Trade Power

There are 22 traits in total, many with combat modifiers which have been added to the game for use in modding (and in National Idea changes which we will show later). It's worth noting that Heirs, Monarchs, Conquistadors and Explorers can also gain traits from combat.

Leader Traits are a paid feature in the upcoming [name removed] expansion. There are many more features and changes to come but you're going to have to hold out for 5 weeks on more news since as I mentioned, this country is going to shut down for a month. I'll be back with the next dev diary in the first week of August.

Great generals are like Swedish Summer, never lasting quite as long as you want.

Spoiler

The holy Swedish month of July is over and our workforce has been steadily trickling back into the office, resigned to the fact that sunlight is a luxury we won't be seeing for another 11 months. With that lovely thought in mind, let's return to our weekly dev diaries and talk about a new feature for our upcoming yet unrevealed expansion for Europa Universalis IV: Coptic Holy Sites.

Copts have had a rough time. Way back in EU's history they were simply represented as the Orthodox faith before getting their own religion within the Christian group, but even then they lacked their own flavour, destined to be left in the Horn of Africa and Armenia with hungry neighbours and their Patriarch being locked up and bullied in Mamluk-held Alexandria.

Well no longer! A feature in the upcoming DLC is a Holy Sites system unique for Coptic nations. Any nation which follows the Coptic faith will have access to a screen showing their Holy Sites. There are 5 in total, detailed with who is currently controlling them and the faith followed by the province. It is the Copts' holy mission to see these restored to Coptic control.

As shown above, Armenia (Who I released&played as from QQ) can open their Coptic menu and see the state of their Holy Sites. If a Holy Site is held by any Coptic nation and the province itself follows the One True Faith™ then all Coptic nations will be granted a blessing from the Patriarch. You are able to pick from the 5 available blessings but be sure that you or your Coptic friends hold onto your possessions tightly, as losing ownership of a Holy Site to a nation of another faith will lose you the blessing until it is returned to Coptic hands.

In 1444 the only Holy site in control of the Copts is Aksum, in the far north of Ethiopia. This will allow all existing Coptic nations to pick one blessing of their choice from the above list.

Legitimize Government: +0.5 Legitimacy
Encourage Wariors of the Faith: +10% manpower recovery
Send Monks to Establish Monasteries: +1.5% missionary strength
Promote Territorial Rights: -10% Core creation Cost
Will of the Martyrs: +5% discipline

Unlike other religious mechanics, the Coptic Holy Sites will collectively make all followers of that religion stronger. It makes no difference in the available Blessings if your nation or another Coptic nation holds the Holy Sites. Should the Copts fight back from their perilous position in 1444 and secure their Holy Sites, they will be that much stronger. Co-operate with other Coptic nations and share the Patriarch's blessings

Alongside the Holy sites and Patriarch Blessings, Copts will have a healthy dose of unique flavour events and missions to drive their liberation of the Holy Sites. Coptic Holy Sites will be a paid feature in the upcoming DLC, which will be released alongside the free 1.18 patch.

Next week I'll pass the reins back to Johan, as we return to see what changes have been going on in the Throne Room

Spoiler

Hello everyone and welcome back to another development diary for Europa Universalis IV. It is definitely a game of staying power, as this saturday we celebrate the 3 year anniversary of the release. I’m back from paternity leave, so now I’m here, and will do most of the development diaries for this expansion. Next week I’ll be at gamescom, where our plans is to reveal it all, so Jake will be writing next week development diary, as after all, the show must go on.

We have one vision for this patch and expansion, and that is to breakthru and make the organisational aspects of your country more interesting. In the june diary about ruler personalities we avoided talking about the empty spot at the court screen, but here goes.

In the next expansion, your king will get a queen. A queen is obviously named Consort or a government-specific name if you have a ruling Queen.

You have a chance to get a queen at any time you sign a royal marriage, and she will then be of the dynasty of the country of origin. There is also the chance of getting a queen of a local minor noble dynasty if you gain a heir without a current queen.

And when another one bites the dust, and you previously would have ended up with a regency, your queen will now head up the regency instead. In some governments this is not possible though, as they won’t allow it due to other mechanics, like the Dutch Republic or Iqta.

The legitimacy when a queen is the highest of either the current heir, current legitimacy and the country she originated from.

One of the benefits of having a queen is that you will know in advance which stats you will get, and a personality which may give benefits. If another nation gets a queen from your nation, they will be viewing you slightly more favorably.

Same of you may say its a scandal the way the mechanics have worked since the release of original EU3, and have put us under pressure to change it. A Queen Regent will allow you do declare wars like normal during a regency.

 

[Hoodoo]

At this point I would sound like a broken record. But I'm sure 3-4 micro scripts and insignificant 'Sawyer style' bonuses are way worth 15$. You buy 4 of those for the price of a full fledged AAA game just saying.

 

[Makabb]

Rights of Man





Hyped for Great Powers, you can have a queen now......get cucked by different nations !!! is this ck2 ?

 

[Hitoshura]

This expansions take a lot of ideas from their other games, which is not necessarily a bad thing. A limited trait system for leaders. Per province geographically spread of technology. These are from CK2. A province can have more than one culture and this balance can change over time. Specific mechanics for great powers. That's from Vicky 2.

 

[Makabb]

Ruler Personalities
Great Power Mechanic
Queens & Queen Regency
New goals for Coptic and Fetishist religions
Leader Traits giving battle hardened commanders added prowess
More detailed military instructions for Subject Nations
Abdicate
Revolutionary Republics now have Factions to balance
Ottoman Empire gets new Harem Politics events and options
Greater control over adopting new cultures in your empire
New Technology System

 

[Makabb]

11 october

 

[Fry]

$20

 

[curry]

$20

Jew gotta eat

 

[Castozor]

So this stuff is on sale now, what DLC is recommended to enhance the vanilla experience and what shit is uneeded?

 

[Tigranes]

Art of War is probably the one must buy.

Cossacks I think could be a must but the Estates used to be controversial, I only just bought it myself.

Common Sense is good general improvement but some people don't like the fort control zones. To me CS is now a must-buy, since it saves on the time-honoured EU war strategy of beating the doomstack, splitting your army into 50 pieces then besiegeing every province in France at once (or eternally chasing every single AI army so you don't end up re-sieging every province forever).

The rest, only if you're specifically interested in their focus area.

 

[Castozor]

What exactly do the forts do that makes it an improvement?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

heavier attrition, block movement through nearby regions until they're conquered, are tougher to be taken.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Common Sense is good general improvement but some people don't like the fort control zones. To me CS is now a must-buy, since it saves on the time-honoured EU war strategy

In my experience it doesn't. Wars still come down to just that - 1. exhaust manpower 2. carpet-siege. Fort control zones still add some challenge though. While you're sieging them, the computer is recuperating his losses.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

i once beat russia as underdeveloped china because i used a net of max level forts and single mercenary units burning lands. my main casus belli regions were all without forts so all i had to do to conquer them was to walk a single unit over them, this way i always would have had the lead in score, and if russia had tried to push into my territory it would have had to siege for years in desert and mountain terrains. just attrition won that war for me.

 

[Delterius]

Fort control zones still add some challenge though. While you're sieging them, the computer is recuperating his losses.

Well, that's the whole point.

 

[Makabb]

Prussian Monarchy in Rights of Man

 

[Makabb]

Finaly minting is back from eu 3 in next dlc

It only took them 3 years after release to bring back the feature from previous EU, now they only need to uncuck the manpower recovery and EU4 will be finaly better than EU 3

 

[AwesomeButton]

Debase currency is better than minting. I think the whole monthly income-based system is inferior to the yearly income-based one. States collected taxes on a yearly basis. The current one feels too much like the monarch's monthly salary.

 

[Makabb]

Late game in 1.18 is shaping up to be Victoria. me like.

 

[Anthedon]

Just finished a playthrough as Qing. I hadn't played a lot after the fort ZoC was introduced in the hopes they would improve it with time. But the mechanic is still a mess. The AI still has a ton of no-maintenance forts and the zone of control bounces around way too much when border forts change hands. Pray to god when there are overlapping ZoC.

 

[Makabb]

Body count in 1.18