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Welcome to the first development diary for Art of War, the third major expansion for Europa Universalis IV. To start off, we’ll focus on how the expansion will change you naval management, and get into some detail about the new concept of “local autonomy”.

We’re also happy to announce that we are adding a lot of new nations and provinces to the the game, mostly to make sure that the rest of the world gets the same attention to historical detail that we’ve spent on making Europe look right. But don’t worry; we are making sure that the game runs as quick as it does in the version you have now. Today, we will talk about the changes coming to India.

Upgrading Fleets
Building a fleet is a lot of fun, but can sometimes feel like a chore, especially when you have 30 Early Carracks and everyone else is cruising around in the latest two-decker technology. In Art of War, we are aiming to make it easier to keep you fleets up to date. The fleet menu now has a button that allows you upgrade the entire fleet to more modern ships of the same type.

How much will this shiny new option cost? The same amount of money as building a new fleet in that location would, and putting each ship at 0% strength for a while. This is best used as a peacetime action in a province that is dedicated to building ships (to keep the cost down.) This is not a strictly historical idea, of course; it’s easier to give an infantryman new weapons than it is to refit a warship. But we want to ease some of the micromanagement of navies that we thought took away from the more enjoyable parts of the game.

Mothballing Fleets
If you have been playing the game for a while, you will notice a lack of fine control over your fleets. Your main warfleet is expensive and not always needed, whereas your trade fleet and pirate hunters are usually indispensable. As it stands now, your only funding choices are all or nothing; to keep your frigates and merchantmen at full power you need to have your ships-of-the-line sucking cash, too.

No longer.

Each individual fleet can be now be mothballed (or not) while at port. While mothballed, they lose 5% strength each month, down to 25% minimum. They do not repair while mothballed, nor can they move out of port. A mothballed fleet always costs as if the maintenance slider is at 0. At any point in time, you can always toggle a fleet back from its mothball status, but, if they have been mothballed for a while, it will take quite some time until they are fully repaired.

Local Autonomy
Each province now has a variable called “local autonomy”, which ranges from 0 to 100%. This represents how freely the province operates from central authority; i.e., how much direct control you have over what is happening there. This is an inverse value, so the higher it is, the worse it generally is for you income wise, but the population will be happier. If a province’s local autonomy is at 100%, it basically provide nothing valuable to the owner of the the province, economically speaking. Mind you, fewer rebellions could be of economic value in the short term.

Specifcally, Local Autonomy will have an effect on your trade power, tax income, production, manpower, missionary work and recruitment/shipbuilding times. It is something that you will need to pay attention to from time to time, especially in those provinces that are the centers of your wealth and manpower.

Every 30 years, you can directly increase or decrease the autonomy of a province. Increasing it will give the province -10 unrest or 30 years, and adding +25% autonomy. Decreasing local autonomy adds 10 unrest and removes 25% autonomy. (What is unrest, you may ask? It’s a replacement for revolt risk, but we’ll talk about that in more detail next week!)

If you are at peace, autonomy decreases by about 1 point per year, with more advanced forms of governments decreasing it far more quickly. An occupied province slowly increases its autonomy by 1 per year, so long bitter wars are not entirely ideal, even if you may recover your lands.

Conquering a non-core province adds +50% autonomy to that province, while having a claim reduces the impact to 40%. It will take time to establish a firm foothold on newly taken lands.

Local autonomy lets us change some things in the main game to avoid some weirdness. For example, we removed the overseas penalties, and instead an overseas province can never be below 50% autonomy. This, we think, captures the economic problems of managing large overseas empires better than a penalty based on map location, which did not always make sense.

Also, the Ming have been changed a fair bit as well. Its government penalties have been reduced (they weren’t much fun to fight against and forced certain strategies), but instead the Celestial Empire means that a province can never be below 50% autonomy. And hordes can never reduce autonomy below 25%. These changes, we think, enhance the historical flavor.

eu4_50.png


India
Now I give the word over to Trin Tragula, who was the main man behind the changes in India.

As it stands now, India in EU4 has 77 provinces. These had mostly been drawn to facilitate the many border changes that took place between 1444 and 1820. They were a convenience more than anything else.

After the overhaul in Art of War, India is made up of 153 provinces. This has added a considerable level of detail to the subcontinent and, much like in Europe, you'll now see a higher province density in richer areas especially. The Indian tax and manpower base has also been boosted a bit to compensate for the added amount of provinces.
As you can imagine, this means both that there is a whole lot more to do for the tags in the area themselves and there can be more historical competition for the ports of the region. It also means the region is more differentiated. You can more clearly tell which areas are rich and which are poor. Along the way some changes have been made to the general setup as well as some new additions in the form of tags, cultures, etc.

Easiest way to see the changes is probably a tour of the new map region by region. So here's a short overview of the area and what's going on in 1444:

Delhi and Jaunpur, the Indo-Gangetic Plain:

delhi.jpg


The Indo-Gangetic plain is really the heart of northern India. This is one of the most densely populated regions in the world and was the centre of all the great northern Empires of India.
Apart from dividing up the plain itself into many provinces due to its high population, the overhaul has allowed us to pay better attention to the various minor states that border it here and there.

Overview of the area in 1444:
Once the overlord of all Muslim Indian states, the Sultanate of Delhi is crumbling in 1444. While the last ruler of the Sayid dynasty is hiding in his palace, the neighboring state of Jaunpur, itself a former possession of the Sultanate under its last dynasty, has advanced up the Ganges and now borders the city itself in the east.
In the west a local Afghan strongman named Bahlul Lodi is massing an army to march on the capital* after having made a base for himself in the Punjab.

New Tags:
  • Patiala, a minor western Punjabi state that, much like Punjab itself, is a revolter in 1444.
  • Baghelkhand: Minor kingdom at the border of the northern plains and the tribal hills to the south.
  • Rohilkhand: A state founded by Afghan military colonists in the traditionally unruly Katehar hills in the north. Historically this small state would take an active part in carving up the lands of the Mughal Empire once it crumbled.
  • Garhwal: A minor Rajput kingdom on the slopes of the Himalayas. Fiercely independent, one of its queens earned her nickname from taking of the noses of would be invaders.


*Historically Bahlul Lodhi was content to make the last of the Sayids his puppet for a while. Then he attacked again and took the throne for himself. He then proceeded to reinvigorate the Sultanate and reclaim much of what was once lost.

Bengal, Bihar and Assam:
bengal.jpg

The eastern parts of the Ganges and its delta are much like the central region: a highly populated and rich area both in terms of agriculture and trade. Controlling this territory is, therefore, essential for any great northern Indian empire. Over the centuries, however, it proved to be harder than holding on to the rich central areas of the river plain.

In 1444 this region is dominated by the Bengal Sultanate under the Ilyas Shahis, while, in the northeast, the Ahom kingdom of Assam is slowly expanding in the Brahmaputra valley, annexing and integrating the various kingdoms and tribal populations in the area through its process of Ahomization.

New Tags:
  • Sadiya: Along with the Kachari kingdom this is the last remains of the older culture of the area before the arrival of the Ahoms.
  • Tirhut: Northern Bihar is still under Hindu rule in 1444 and continued to thrive for another 100 years before succumbing to the Muslim states that surround it.
  • Manipur: At a crossroad between India and Burma lies the valley kingdom of Manipur. In 1444 this is still an animist state and will remain so until the 18th century when Hinduism is promoted by royal decree.
  • Tripura: Another small kingdom in the mountains separating India and Burma.

Rajputana, Gujarat, Sindh and Malwa:
rajputana.jpg

Notoriously divided and prone to conflict, the region of Rajputana is now a region of larger minor states rather than just a few one-province minors (amazing what you can do with more province!). The richer areas of Gujarat and Malwa are now more divided and Malwa has also gotten a culture of its own to distinguish it from the Rajput provinces to its north.
In 1444 the kingdom of Mewar is the dominant power in Rajputana, despite being surrounded by vengeful Sultanates to its east, west and south however the kingdom is focused on the neighboring state of Marwar. A period of joint rule and very close cooperation has just ended very badly between the two states with intrigues, murder and treason leading to the total annexation of Marwar as retribution. As the game starts the claimant to the Marwari throne is roaming the countryside with the remains of his army*.

New Tags:
  • Nagaur: While the Muslim kingdoms in India are generally the dominant ones Nagaur is the exception. This small Sultanate lies precariously surrounded on all sides by Hindu Rajput states, ruling only a swath of desert.
  • Hadoti: The Hadoti region is home to the kingdoms of Kota and Bundi, a vassal of the dominant Mewar state in 1444.
  • Rewa Kantha: Small kingdom in the hills between Malwa and Gujarat based around the great fortress of Champaner.

*And would continue to do so for several years until he managed to retake the area. Relations between the two states would take a very long time to recover and for much of the history of Rajputana they are to be considered the main rival powers of the region.

Central Indic Tribal Region:
Tribals.jpg

The region between Malwa and the eastern coast is characterized by hills, jungles and many tribal kingdoms. It was quite possibly one of the most abstracted regions in the pre-AoW map, and, while it hasn't received as many provinces as some other parts of India (due to being both poor and relatively lightly populated), care has been taken to make it a bit different from the other Indian regions.

The states in this part of India all use a new government type called Tribal Kingdom (which is a less expansion-oriented form of tribal government). New cultures have been added to better cover the diversity in the region and they also get a new National Idea group relating to tribal religion and customs.

New Tags:
  • Chanda: Small Gond kingdom east of Bastar.
  • Jharkhand: A tag that represents the many minor states in the jungles south of Bihar such as the Nagas of Kokrah or the Raksels of Surguja.

Deccan:
deccan.jpg

In 1444 the Deccan is defined by the tripartite struggle between Orissa, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagara empire.

As the game starts the Gajapatis of Orissa have just managed to expand deep into Vijayanagara territory and entrenched themselves there. Nonetheless, the Orissan state itself is by far the weakest of the three and the areas they now hold in this region are a long way from the Orissan power base in north-eastern India.

Dependent on the arrival of outside goods and immigration, the cosmopolitan Bahmani state is desperate to regain the coastal areas it lost to Viyanagar some 60 years before.While large and seemingly stable the Vijayanagara empire has grown a lot over the last 80 years and straddles a diverse area of cultures, terrains and climates.

New Tags:
  • Baglana: Small Rajput kingdom at the border of Gujarat, Malwa and Bahmani. Tried to play its neighbors against each other but was more often than not the vassal of one (or two) of its neighbors.
  • Habsan: Small naval oriented state created by freed Muslim Ethiopian slaves. Its capital is the impregnable island fortress of Janjira.


Southern India:
thesouth.jpg

Covered almost entirely by the Vijayanagara empire on this picture, the southern part of India is far more diverse in itself than the northern regions above. The dry Telugu and Kannada uplands that are the base of recruitment for the Vijayanagara state are actually a comparatively small part of the empire by now. Having lost its eastern ports to Orissa the main source of income for the empire is instead the lush Tamil region in the far south.

When revising the provinces in this region, one of our goals was been to create a sensible setup not only for Vijayanagara, but also for its various regional revolter states that can appear here. The southern coast is also a very rich region and one that consequently drew the most attention of the European imperial powers, almost all of home had a settlement or factory in the region.

In game terms, the main difference in the political setup in 1444 from before AoW is that we now have an independent state in Mysore under the Ummatur chiefs and the inclusion of the obscure last remains of the ancient Pandya dynasty clinging on in Tirunelvelli in the extreme south of India.

New Tags:
  • Jaffna: Small Tamil kingdom on the northern part of Sri Lanka under Vijayanagara protection.

Himalayas:
farnorth.jpg


Last but not least there have been changes to the Himalayas too. The old Kashmir province was huge, and has now been broken up into some more provinces. The new tag of Ladakh (often refered to as "Little Tibet") has been added and it starts out controlling Ladakh and Baltistan in the north where India borders the Tarim basin, Afghanistan and Tibet.

Trade Flow:
tradenodesoverhauled.jpg

With this many new provinces a new trade node setup was more or less necessary in itself. The new setup has the added benefit of portraying the trade links of the subcontinent a lot better than the old one did. The Indian interior (the Doab node here) nicely incorporates the grand trunk road into the game, while the southern coasts are divided into the historical zones of competition for more distant traders.
 
UPGRADING FLEETS - Really good decision. I made this suggestion a while ago and probably wasn't the only one. Everyone who has run a large overseas trade empire knows how tedious it is to recreate your trade fleets consisting of several hundred of ships. It's a micro nightmare. For balance reasons though, I really hope you can only upgrade as many ships as you have provinces at a time. So if I have 10 provinces, I can only upgrade 10 of my ships at a time. Making them locked for the average duration it would take to build a new ship. This change will really make the naval game more fun.

Don't care too much for this one. I think the micro manage upgrading of your ships now, trying to do it in the most efficient matter, is fun actually. :)

MOTHBALLING FLEETS - Really good decision too. One question, will MOTHBALLED fleets still count towards force limit?
This will make it easier to keep a large transport fleet since you can mothball the transports when you don't need them. Same goes for heavy ships.

Oh Yeah, love this one. Very historical as well. Even in war time nations didn't have all their Ships of the Line operational at all times, that was too costly. The swedish-danish wars comes to my mind. Was important to spot/scout if the enemy was putting their huge ships and transports in motion though.


LOCAL AUTONOMY - Sounds better than the overseas penalties. I never liked those penalties and found them extremely irritating when playing Genoa and trying to take trade provinces in Egypt etc. I however wonder what this will do to Trade Companies. Will they still be worth forming or could it lead to nations like GBR taking India and getting super manpowe and taxr because they somehow make the Indians have little Autonomy? I trust you will balance it so you can't really do that. Trade Companies should always be more profitable than keeping the provinces yourself.

Fantastic idea of an mechanism. Will suit this game very well.

CHANGES TO INDIA - Looks amazing. Both from a perspective to play there and from a overseas trade empire perspective. I just wish you would add a trade route from India that bypasses the Aden. Because as it is now. It's always better to collect in India, than to try to steer it anywhere.

India changes are awesome indeed.

Love this DLC already. Will be the hugest to date for EU4 it seems, just as promised.

This makes WC even more impossible...

It will? I certainly hope so. Good riddance.
 
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Looking very well :) Autonomy adds more of strategy and less of randomness.

The fact that they are providing such detail to India is promising and will likely imply they are boosting them as well :)
 
New Achievement for EUIV that needs to go along with this: Pink India- conquer all 153 Indian provinces as Kochin
also different fromable Indian nations (Baharat for Hindus,Hindustan for Muslims ect)


EUIV's art of war patch is looking a patch to make the game Terra universalis
 
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Who cares about achievments ? You can have your own goals, it's the focus of the Para games. I know that achievments became a big thing in all games, but i really think that Para games are all about your own imagination and have your own goal. Yes you will not have the Steam medals ("hochet" would say Napoleon), but you can still be proud to create that empire, control these trades roads etc etc... without Steam say "Congratulation, you gain the catsempire success". Achievments don't have to dictate the dev of the game.

Used to think the same way, but then tried Venetian Sea and it became a different game (forces you to limit yourself for a little trophy, essentially).
 
Really? Most single player games (lets leave the MP part out of it for now) will more or less stop being played one year after release. Not to mention many players (I just so happen to be one of them) have over 1000 hours by now.

I think many of the players on this forum would have stopped playing EUIV by now if it wasn't for the mechanism changes, as they would have done everything there is to be done in the game by now.

By changing and updating the game on a regular basis EUIV remains an interesting game for me, if the game was as stable as many other games are, I would have lost interest somewhere around last Christmas, when I hit the 500 or so hour mark.

I have to echo this sentiment. I got EUIV on launch day and I still love the game, and one the main reasons I still play it (along with CK2) is the constant updates and new content being released.

As for this Dev Diary, I'm loving each new feature revealed, so hopefully that's a good sign for what's coming the future!
 
Can there be a limit on the minimum local autonomy for Feudal Monarchies? Like 10-25% or so? It would be great if you went as far as to tie it to culture of province, so if you're France, Cosmopolitine cultured provinces have 0% autonomy, whereas Burgundian and other provinces in the culture group have 10%, and non-culture group provinces have 25%?I feel that that could represent feudalism in the early game really well! Please consider it!
 
As it stands now, India in EU4 has 77 provinces. These had mostly been drawn to facilitate the many border changes that took place between 1444 and 1820. They were a convenience more than anything else.

After the overhaul in Art of War, India is made up of 153 provinces. This has added a considerable level of detail to the subcontinent and, much like in Europe, you'll now see a higher province density in richer areas especially. The Indian tax and manpower base has also been boosted a bit to compensate for the added amount of provinces.


Well I think that is time to follow the tips of the great DDrake and try TTM before it hahahaha
 
As far as playing, I go back-and-forth myself. I play a lot, then some "fix" to the game ("wants your provinces") makes me throw up my hands in disgust, or a new release breaks a currently ongoing campaign. So, I toss it in for a while, wait for bugs to get fixed, or "fixes" to get unfixed, then start up a new one within a few weeks or a month.

But the reason the game is eminently re-playable is because you can always start with a new nation on a new continent, or with a different religion or government type, and try the game from a completely new perspective.
 
It will? I certainly hope so. Good riddance.

Why good riddance? While it might not be your prefered playstyle, why does it need to be destroyed? You can choose not to go for a world conquest, but the game is advertised as a conquest/world dominating power game. As such it should be possible (else its just false advertising). (note i dont say it should be easy).

I think people can respect eachothers chosen playstyle without just attacking eachothers playstyle. In a game like this, ultimately you yourself choose how you play and asking for something which wont affect you, (since you don't like to play for world conquest for example), to be changed, is just spitefull.
 
Can there be a limit on the minimum local autonomy for Feudal Monarchies? Like 10-25% or so? It would be great if you went as far as to tie it to culture of province, so if you're France, Cosmopolitine cultured provinces have 0% autonomy, whereas Burgundian and other provinces in the culture group have 10%, and non-culture group provinces have 25%?I feel that that could represent feudalism in the early game really well! Please consider it!
I like this a lot. I think it would help in nerfing France slightly too, which all the cool kids seem to want.
 
Can there be a limit on the minimum local autonomy for Feudal Monarchies? Like 10-25% or so? It would be great if you went as far as to tie it to culture of province, so if you're France, Cosmopolitine cultured provinces have 0% autonomy, whereas Burgundian and other provinces in the culture group have 10%, and non-culture group provinces have 25%?I feel that that could represent feudalism in the early game really well! Please consider it!
Interesting. In such a case, in order to not being hit by a double penalty, non-culture group provinces should not have a -33% malus on taxes. A higher autonomy would be more consistent than a tax malus and should not be combined.
 
I love the Indian map, it looks amazing (although I'm scared it'll make my computer cry). I'm also quite happy about the fleet Mothballing.