Could be, but this simplifies the AI because they don’t have to worry about tactically moving armies around. That’s going to leave more time for the strategic side if things. I can only see this helping, not hurting.
I think about the nightmare HOI4 must be. You want the AI to push forward and advance when it sees an opportunity but then you have players that will bait the AI by leaving a gap intentionally then cutting the troops off. So you have to make the AI cautious about that, but not too cautious because now you get complaints the AI isn’t taking advantage of opportunities. Ugh!
I imagine this will be like the HOI4 frontline painting system except you don’t have to assign on map units. You just have your manpower counter and you can set x number of manpower to each front, which receive multiplications of effectiveness based on tech, resources etc.
I naively hope that with fewer pieces to interact with there will be less for the AI to screw up.
The comments seem largely positive. Honestly I don’t understand people who like the standard Paradox model of dragging stacks on a map and throwing them at each other.
I might suggest allies to these players, heh! Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t want to be able to go toe-to-toe with a country 20x my size and power, especially if it relies on exploiting AI quirks.
I listened to One Proud Bavarian go over this, and I am 1000% onboard. I don’t begrudge people their tactical wargames, but I resent turning so much of gaming into tactical wargames.
And, as One Proud Bavarian points out, these tend to become very ahistorical, supporting several ridiculous narratives about how wars really work. (Not the least of which is that you can cheese your way to victory going toe-to-toe with vastly larger powers.)
But most of all, I like that this is going to be a new vision, not just same gaming franchise, +1 numeral, patch up a few problems and add better graphics.
Hmmm, I don’t know that I agree with that! I find it more interesting figuring out how I’m going to survive and build alliances or find the weak spot in an enemy one in EU4 than I do any aspect of the warfare. It’s probably pretty subjective, though. :)
Yes! They are keeping the spirit of what made Victoria such an excellent series and turning it into seemingly the most radical departure from the Paradox formula. There are enough standard PDX games out there I’m not sure why so many people are afraid of any deviations from that at all.
My experience has been that there’s a lot of people who just hate or at least get very anxious about change. Every time we improve a workflow in our software we know we’re going to hear it from a very loud minority. Even if the workflow is less cumbersome, is faster, requires fewer clicks, etc. Most end up coming around but you do end up with the occasional GRRM that is still using a DOS text editor to do his writing. :)
Given how many vocal idiots there are about monarch points even still, it’s not shocking. And yet it is simply a very vocal minority, given that EU4 clearly has more fans than EU3.
Idiots gonna idiot. I just wish they wouldn’t blast their crap everywhere so readily.
That’s a hell of a good talk. I will have to watch more of his stuff.
I wonder when Martin had to pitch this concept, and how that meeting went. Or do the top brass at Paradox just let game designers follow their muse wherever it leads?
The question I have is how easily will the AI be able to manipulate the other AI in diplomacy to attack the player. Will it really be smart enough to make friends with one of your neighbor, to attack you, while simultaneously bribing, it long time rival to stay neutral? Will they be smart enough to stockpile weapons or ammo before declaring war?
Paradox is really going to have to step up their AI game, to make a countries improve their economy and infrastructure intelligently, while engaging in strategic diplomacy.
If it operates at a similar level as to what it could do in EU4, I’ll be content. And it just so happens that EU4’s AI peak was when Martin Anward was in charge, which also happens to be who is running the show for Victoria 3. Doesn’t necessarily mean Vicky 3 will have good AI, but they’re at least good omens? The guy got his start as an AI modder for Paradox games, IIRC.
Not having to deal with the nightmare of how/where/when the AI should move every stack will hopefully leave more time for an AI dev to work on the strategic side. To my mind, there are two reasons to go the route they did. The first is that it’s thematic with the more hands-off style of Vicky 3 and the other is that it really helps streamline things for AI development. No idea if they’re take advantage of the opportunity, but for now I’m optimistic whilst keeping realistic expectations. If it can perform about as well as the EU4 AI circa Art of War era, I’m happy.
Ah good to know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the change. If want to fight a war I always have HOI IV, Planetfall, or Old World to play. So I’m very much looking forward to playing a game where warfare takes a back seat and is abstracted.
Stockpiles don’t really exist in the game. There might be some sneaky way to effectively stockpile, but generally you need to have the ongoing production/imports for your current needs. If production falls a bit short, it just costs you more money. If production falls a lot short, your military units will suffer some kind of penalty.
