Europa Universalis IV

[Space Satan]

It's disappointing to see so many apologists for Paradox DLC strategy in the official forums. I assume that any reasonable person would take an instant dislike to this release day madness of 7 DLC packs with the inevitable slew of other DLC soon to follow.

All of them are cosmetic.

 

[Kem0sabe]

It's disappointing to see so many apologists for Paradox DLC strategy in the official forums. I assume that any reasonable person would take an instant dislike to this release day madness of 7 DLC packs with the inevitable slew of other DLC soon to follow.

All of them are cosmetic.

What bothers me is that the excuse of "we would not have included these in the game" probably doesn't apply here. 7 cosmetic dlc packs at release is not a development time constraint, it's a business choice. True that they are optional and i have the choice not to buy them, but it's a moral slippery slope i'm loathe to see companies i like and respect go down.

Could be wrong here and these were all post gold version work they did ramping up to release (the dlc) and the false argument is down to my conspiracy fueled mind *shrug*

 

[Spectacle]

I'd bet that the launch-day DLC is more about encouraging pre-orders by offering them as pre-order bonuses than about selling them for money.
Many pre-orders means that extra people will be playing the game at launch, and generating buzz on forums and social media which again lead to more sales further out.

 

[Space Satan]

What bothers me is that the excuse of "we would not have included these in the game" probably doesn't apply here. 7 cosmetic dlc packs at release is not a development time constraint, it's a business choice. True that they are optional and i have the choice not to buy them, but it's a moral slippery slope i'm loathe to see companies i like and respect go down.

Could be wrong here and these were all post gold version work they did ramping up to release (the dlc) and the false argument is down to my conspiracy fueled mind *shrug*

Still they did not cross the line, like Creative Assholes did, with "Brand new +999 attack and defence to peasants retainer! 5$ only!" and "Buy new uberunits to stomp noobs in MP!"

 

[Kem0sabe]

Will probably end up buying all the DLC on the next steam sale as i did with Ck2. Hopefully Portugal and Brazil will get some sprite pack and content love this time around.

 

[maverick]

It's out? And I still haven't finished my CK2 playthrough!

 

[Kem0sabe]

Speaking of the Ck2 converter, anyone witness first hand how they handled the Sunset Invasion? Curious how powerful their empire is in central america and how they factor if they managed to retain a foothold in europe.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

So far:
Pros:
- Damn lot of information. You can hover over anything and most probably there will be information about + and - you get.
- Build mode is a bliss after EU3.
- Manpower overhaul - it is MUCH more important than in EU3.
- Interface and UI are godly.
- A lot of diplomatic actions.
- A lot of diversity with ideas.
- Sieges are much cleared to understand.
- Leaders very rarely die next day after you hired them and you always can afford them.
- Missions and decisions are better than EU3.

Cons:
- Advisors is a big disappointment.
- Some disbalance in gold spending. You can have huge army but one advisor could cost more than 50k army.
- Coring is extremely cheap and hyperexpansion is way too easy.
- Missionaries sometimes stuck at 0% chance of conversion for decades.
- Diplomacy points to make peace is retarded.
- Fabricate claims ar einsanely overpowered.
- Lack of CB's like waging wars vs nomads is disappointing
- Technologies are cheap and lack cost progression, always 600 points so far.

Every year you're "ahead" on technology causes the price to go up 10% (so if you're 13 years ahead, it's 130% more expensive). It actually works really well... when you're tech is too expensive, spend those points on ideas. Also remember you can only hold 999 points, so if you get ahead you're going to have to do that eventually. I think it actually works quite well.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

you're tech

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Shit to do with the conversion process before starting:

1) Restore various cores so more shenanigans can happen.
2) Tinker with the culture types so not all French are Cosmopolitaine and not all Germans are the same.
3) That's about it.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

you're tech

Wow. Nice catch. I am forever shamed.

Faggot.

 

[AstroZombie]

I'm really glad they've been working on the UI, but as with all other Paradox releases I'll wait until they release a "complete edition" or whatever with a shit ton of DLCs.

 

[Malakal]

I just lost my first game as Poland. Tried to ironman but there is no way I could stop Ottoman hordes if I cant win a single battle even with 150% numbers. The rest of the coalition wasnt even that scary but undefeated Ottoman troops just destroyed my ability to wage war, twice. I gave up after the second loss in war.

 

[Ulminati]

I'm really glad they've been working on the UI, but as with all other Paradox releases I'll wait until they release a "complete edition" or whatever with a shit ton of DLCs.

After seeing how they handled CK2, I'm sticking to the extended demo of EU4 until I can get the full game with all the bits they wanted to charge extra for in a 75% off bundle during the next Steam summer sale.

 

[Space Satan]

I just lost my first game as Poland. Tried to ironman but there is no way I could stop Ottoman hordes if I cant win a single battle even with 150% numbers. The rest of the coalition wasnt even that scary but undefeated Ottoman troops just destroyed my ability to wage war, twice. I gave up after the second loss in war.

Rivers do wonders. But really? You have goddamn Moldavia and Maramaros - one is littered by rivers and other have hills AND mountains. And nearby hungarian Maros is a natural insane citadel, with rivers, hills and mountains and have supply limit of 17. Plus, loans and mercs can solve almost every problem.

 

[Average Manatee]

I'm really glad they've been working on the UI, but as with all other Paradox releases I'll wait until they release a "complete edition" or whatever with a shit ton of DLCs.

After seeing how they handled CK2, I'm sticking to the extended demo of EU4 until I can get the full game with all the bits they wanted to charge extra for in a 75% off bundle during the next Steam summer sale.

Same. If they've already put out 7 day 1 DLCs, which AFAIK at least some are non-cosmetic, who knows how much they are going to milk this thing?

 

[fizzelopeguss]

paradox would be a good fit for iPad considering all the in app purchasing shit they do these days.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

I gotta say, it's not as easy. I spent twenty years fighting rebels and holding back invaders as France after the Protestant Reformation. I succeeded, and now I'm going to get these fuckers back for fucking with me when I was at my weakest, but still, it's improved. Manpower is definitely something that can even the playing field a bit.

 

[Malakal]

I just lost my first game as Poland. Tried to ironman but there is no way I could stop Ottoman hordes if I cant win a single battle even with 150% numbers. The rest of the coalition wasnt even that scary but undefeated Ottoman troops just destroyed my ability to wage war, twice. I gave up after the second loss in war.

Rivers do wonders. But really? You have goddamn Moldavia and Maramaros - one is littered by rivers and other have hills AND mountains. And nearby hungarian Maros is a natural insane citadel, with rivers, hills and mountains and have supply limit of 17. Plus, loans and mercs can solve almost every problem.

I had a bit of a coalition problem so my troops werent in position. But it didnt matter anyway as OE just rolled over me. And I had 126% discipline and decent commanders. No damn idea why it went that way but OE has my respect now.

This reminds me of one issue I have with warfare: its all about stacks now. Attacking without having numerical superiority is madness.

 

[Renegen]

I just lost my first game as Poland. Tried to ironman but there is no way I could stop Ottoman hordes if I cant win a single battle even with 150% numbers. The rest of the coalition wasnt even that scary but undefeated Ottoman troops just destroyed my ability to wage war, twice. I gave up after the second loss in war.

Yeah. I've been continuing on my Genoa game and at this point if I engage in a war with anyone my equal I get my ass handed to me because they have 2 military ideas and I have 0. The game balance is done quite well given what they're working with, most idea groups provide only linear benefits so you can't really rush them but once they're maxed they're very strong. It means the player can't just cherrypick exactly what he wants for the situation, they must make heavy investments. It's really neat that the idea system is tied to technology and everything else through power points, you can't rush an idea either without sacrificing something else.

As for trading, light ships are positively broken. You know how in EU3 the force limits imposed heavy penalties? I'm currently sitting at 30 ships above my navy limit and I barely noticed any increased cost once I crossed the threshold. A light ship has around 0.12 gold upkeep and I still have a few more ideas to get the cost down, I sent only 20 ships to Constantinople and they steered around 10 gold to Ragusa, then I sent 20 ships to Ragusa and they steered 10 more gold again to Genoa. In Genoa, that 10 gold probably gets leveraged to 15 gold income. 40 ships x 0.12 is barely 5 gold upkeep for the whole business. I'm making 30 gold per month in Genoa and 30 in Sevilla. I could try to just spam an infinite number of light ships to see if it all ever breaks down, but that may be going too far. Of course, this is also part of the fun, the british empire was able to have an imposing navy because their navy actually yielded a profit thanks to their colonies.

With 200 years left, I'm already at the point where all I do is go max speed and watch my profits accumulate. Any participation in European wars leads to disaster.

 

[Malakal]

Light ships were always cheap its the extra cost coming from being over the limit that really accrues. At least it used to.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Game sucks, AI is retarded.

Can keep the ottomans perpetually out of east thrace by floating a fleet of galleys in the sea of marmara, And the mamluks made me a rival despite the fact i had a whopping 140 friendliness...AND they did it whilst they were being bitchslapped by worst turk all over syria. Seriously baldrick, that's your cunning plan?

 

[Ulminati]

How do I get a spymaster?
My current goal says I need to have the Vetting idea (I do) and a spymaster. I tried building a Spy Agency in my capital, but that did nothing. I also looked at the advisors available, but none of them were noted as spymasters. Is he something I can buy somewhere or am I shit out of luck until new administrators become available?

[edit]

The sage advice of Multi-Headed Cow on Steam (Praise Be Unto Gaben And His Steam Friends List!) solved this. The spymaster is a type of diplomatic advisor. So if none of those are available, you're fucked. I solved this by firing my diplomatic advisors and hiring new ones as often as I could afford until a spymaster appeared. Goal was neat, but in the future I gotta remember to check if the type of advisor it requires is available before selecting it.

 

[Sranchammer]

And I wouldn't look to the current crop of modders to save it.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

The Protestant Reformation can really fuck you up. It had me scrambling around for awhile. I am really liking how tech works, although I have next to nothing to do with my military points right now.

In my game Castile and Portugal had so much internal strife they didn't get around to colonizing much (Castile not at all, in fact), so I'm able to take some territories in the Caribbean, and I'm going to take out the Aztecs next. I like the improvements. In EU3 at this point of the game I was normally looking to start a new one due to how easy it had gotten, but I don't feel so untouchable right now. It's good.

 

[Mortmal]

I tried golden horde at first, it seems much more easier than your western country experiences, they are really playable unlike in EU3 . Theres much less rebel smashing than before , sure you still get rebellions after succesion crisis , non core provinces tend to rebel each time you start a new war, but its very cheap to get core provinces; you get events inviting you to invade all the time providing cores for 50 points only.
Now tech is much more harder to get with a nifty 175% cost as expected , i lagged badly behind everyone expecting to be raped by european countries, that diddnt happen thanks to ottomans shredding everyone on their path . At best with massive adminstrative and stability cost you are allowed to switch to muslim tech(reform government decisions), since no western countries are any close. You can expand very quickly and efficiently but its draining so much administrative power that you cant possibly tech up and keep on with smaller nations.
Surprisingly you dont get new unit types teching just upgrade a bit your basic units wich are lackluster to say the least. Around 1600 or so, just to take a single province from poland ,it had to burn 250k manpower(went for quantity over quality ideas) as eastern archers and steppe cavalry defintively cant keep up with modern infantry.Its very well balanced and fun , superior to EU3 in my opinion.

 

[Ulminati]

Just Me (Daimyo of Uesugi), the shogunate in Kyoto and some independent animists on Okinawa left in Grorious Nippon. I'm even in military with the Shogunate (a couple of the clans elected to be absorbed by the Shogunate instead of me when I tried to annex them), but I have barely any manpower left. If my initial assault fails, I'll be hard pressed to reinforce. But I have just managed to get arquebus'es, so I need to press my advantage.

BANZAI!