This game is strangely the only one that I’m really looking forward to this season, despite the many high profile titles coming out. (Dragon Age was good and AC2 looks interesting, but not for PC yet). It’s also strange since I didn’t like EU3 itself very much, I hardly played it at all, although I did get the gold version as a thanks for EU2 (and AGCEEP). I wasn’t interested in the first expansion either, but by the second it became a game I’ve played a lot, and the third expansion should make it even better!
In Nomine was one of the best strategy expansions of recent years, but I’m really on the edge about Heir to the Throne. I love the new casus belli system they’ve announced, but a lot of the new features are edging into bloat territory. Did we need a new trade republic system? And, as important as dynastic politics were in the period, I wonder how much relearning and balancing the Dynasty mechanism will require.
Troy
Nah, bring it on :). The EU economic system is basically solid, and any more differentiation on the political side is very welcome. The governments in EU3 are still rather weakly defined.
The idea was to make different countries more unique to play in style…
Yes Troy, we DO need a trade republic system. I always felt that Merchant Republics got short shrift - they lose several key diplomatic options that make them far less fun to play. My goal was to make England into a trading master, then overthrow the monarchy for a Calvinist Trade Republic (perhaps not 100% realistic, but Oliver Cromwell is CLOSE). But I never wanted to, not only because the stability hit, but also because - once done, I would have no diplomatic options. Hopefully these changes will address that.
I’m excited and apprehensive about the dynastic system as well. I hope that it finally allows EUIII to properly simulate the dynastic squabbles that characterize the Early Modern Era (i.e. War of Spanish Succession). Without historical events, it was difficult to create these. I agree, In Nomine was a big step forward - easily, as you said, the best expansion I have seen. But still, some things needed to advance, and the dynastic system was one of them.
However… I fear that the overly complicated Crusader Kings model will rear it’s ugly head, lead to performance issues, crashes, and more emphasis on who people are marrying at the expense of the 100 other things you need to think about in EUIII. Hopefully this won’t happen.
I agree regarding the CB system - it looks fantastic!
Bael
it shouldnt… no such code at all. the trailer we made earlier this week at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ofiDf54SE shows the extent of it.
Which is great! I think the motivations behind the changes are well thought out. Execution is another matter altogether. I read each Developer Diary with a mixture of “what a wonderful idea” and “how will this work with the systems I already know?”
Looking forward to HttT, of course. But I’m cautious.
Troy
Looks like the advisor system has recieved a much-needed overhaul so the AI countries won’t snap up all new advisors within seconds of them becoming available.
Wow, this is looking pretty good. Any excuse to go back to EU3 is great.
With the new advisor recruit system, there is only a small minority of random advisors around. You basically use your cultural, land and navy tradition for recruiting the advisors you want. And if you have more tradition than you can use, you can turn tradition into money by creating advisors and get gold as they get hired… A small bonus if you want to play a peaceful minor.
Is it viable or even fun to play a peaceful minor in EU3? I’ve messed around a bit with Crusader Kings and Victoria, but I always enjoyed the management aspects far more than the military part, and the AARs I’ve seen of EU3 seemed to be focused mostly on war, war, war. That’s why I’ve shyed away from it so far (even though I own it thanks to those recent collection sales), but maybe I’ll have to check it out when HttT comes out.
It says expansion, what other game do I need to play it?
I believe it requires EU3 + the previous expansions. It’s sold as EU3 Complete on Steam and Gamersgate.
I’m looking forward to this one. I’ve only played one game of EU3 so far, a post-In Nomine Austrian Grand Campaign. I spent my first fifty years in mortal terror of France, but eventually turned the tables and dismembered both France and the Ottoman Empire into collections of pathetic duchies. I quit after the early 1500s, with a firm lock on the HRE, swathes of vassal states, and no real rival left – I didn’t think anything after that could rival those early thrills. For my next game, I’d like to shift to a small maritime power (Portugal, the Netherlands, maybe England?) and avoid land wars in favour of discovery and trade with Asia. How satisfying does the game model those?
By the way, did anyone see the mention in one of the dev diaries that non-Western troops should now be up to par against Western troops of an equal tech level? I’d also like to play as Ming China sometime, so that would be quite welcome!
Well, you now have a process of westernisation, where you first get better tech speed… and then you go through a decade or two or three… depending on how quickly you want to force it. Where you need to get to +3 stability again, and are not currently resisting westernisation due to some group demanding it, to finally modernise the military.
The two things I want (that I haven’t read about) is the ability to have the Call to Arms to pause (but maybe that’s possible now?) as well as more speed options. As it is I never use the slower speeds which I assume are intended for MP, but the second fastest is a little slow while the fastest is too fast. A few more couldn’t be too hard to add I hope?
GamersGate seems to say this is coming out on Dec 15? That would be perfect, just in time for holiday vacation… time to reinstall EU3 + expansions!
This expansion might actually get me to pick up EU3. I always wanted to give it a shot, since I loved both EU1 & EU2, but was holding off for the patches to do their work.
I wonder if they’ll be selling it as a bundle.
I am looking forward to the Heir to the Throne expansion. My Europa Universalis III Complete won’t be complete much longer.
One of our developers have started an AAR on Heir to the Throne at http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448218
Should highlight a little more about how the game works.