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EU4 - Development Diary - 12th of January 2021

After a few weeks without Dev Diaries, I am happy to present you a new one. I hope you all had a great time during them!

When I joined Paradox in October, Polynesia was not included in this Expansion. Considering it was the last part of the Earth without representation, I thought it would be nice to have some work done on it, so I proposed some ideas that I am happy to share with you all.

But, before I start, I would like to thank @Meka66 for his help and work that has greatly inspired me for this project.

THE MAP
The map has been slightly changed, since the basic needed setup was already there. However, in order to go a bit deeper, a few provinces have been added here and there. Do note that the flags are still a placeholder and not the final result.

Starting with Fiji, the archipelago has been divided in three provinces: one for each big island (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) and a third one for the Lau archipelago that had a great influence from Tonga. Each province has a country inhabiting it, which is an abstraction of the many clans that populated each island. Should you unite them all under your banner, you will be able to form Viti.

Fiji Archipelago.png

[Fiji Archipelago and TAGs]​

In New Zealand a new province has been added in North Island which has the most populated one by the Maori people. The number of countries, though, goes up to 7. Six of them (Mataatua, Tainui, Takitimu, Taranaki, Te Arawa and Te Tai Tokerau) are in the Northern Island and Waitaha is in the Southern One. As in the case of Fiji, a Maori country that manages to unite the area is able to form Aotearoa.

New Zealand Archipelago.png

[New Zealand Archipelago and TAGs]​

Finally, the greatest transformation has been done in the Hawaiian Archipelago, that has gone from one province to four. Each province has their own country attached (Hawai’i, Kaua’i, Maui and O’ahu). As in the other cases, there is a formable for the unifiers of the islands.

Hawaii Archipelago.png

[Hawaii Archipelago and TAGs]​

A Polynesian rework could not let the two most important countries out: Samoa and Tonga.

Samoa & Tonga Archipelago.png

[Samoan and Tongan Archipelagos and TAGs]​

THE MISSIONS
As in the case of the Americas, the mission tree consists of a general common mission tree for every country and some specific missions for each country or group of them.

Tongan Mission Tree.png

[Tonga Mission Tree]
(Notice that all icons are still placeholders)​

Tonga is probably the most important TAG during this period. Despite the fact that the Tongan Empire is no more, a skillful player could rebuild it, bringing not only the neighboring islands under the control of Tongatapu, but go even further.

Some highlights of this tree include:
  • Bringing both Fiji and Samoa under your control again.
  • Recovering the Tongan Empire.
  • Expand even further.

Samoan Mission Tree.png

[Samoan Mission Tree]
(Notice that all icons are still placeholders).​

If Tonga was the political power during the period, Samoa was the cultural one. Most of the Pacific was colonized from there and from there were most of the traditions that ruled the lives of the Polynesians.

Some highlights of this tree include:
  • Recover the place as the cultural center.
  • Challenge Tonga.
  • Replace Tonga as the main power in the Pacific.

In order to not spoil the surprise, I will let you discover what the missions for the Maori the Fijian and the Hawaiian countries consist of.

THE NATIONAL IDEAS
Adding new TAGs would not be the same if they were not accompanied by their National Ideas.

Starting with the Fijians TAGs, their warring nature brought them a reputation of ruthless combatants, feared by everyone. But Fijians were also deeply religious people and famous shipbuilding artisans. All these things are represented in their National Ideas, making them a rather expansionist set.

Code:
fijian_ideas = {
    start = {
        light_ship_power = 0.1
        naval_attrition = -0.1
    }
  
    bonus = {
        ae_impact = -0.2
    }
  
    trigger = {
        OR = {
            tag = LAI
            tag = VIL
            #TODO: tag = VIT
            tag = VNL
        }
    }
    free = yes
  
    fijian_crossroad = {
        num_accepted_cultures = 2
    }
    fijian_degel = {
        range = 0.1
        global_ship_trade_power = 0.1
    }
    fijian_conjoined = {
        global_missionary_strength = 0.02
    }
    fijian_waqa = {
        prestige_from_naval = 0.4
    }
    fijian_cannibal = {
        army_tradition_from_battle = 0.25
        prestige_from_land = 0.4
    }
    fijian_kai = {
        land_attrition = -0.25
    }
    fijian_confederacy = {
        global_tax_modifier = 0.05
        production_efficiency = 0.05
    }
}
[Fijian National Ideas]​

As in the case of the Fijians, the Maori are famed for their bravery and constant warfare. Their set of ideas is focused on land combat, without disregarding ways to keep the land around a strong leader.

Code:
maori_ideas = {
    start = {
        global_regiment_recruit_speed = -0.10
        harsh_treatment_cost = -0.20
    }
  
    bonus = {
        prestige = 1
    }
  
    trigger = {
        primary_culture = maori
    }
    free = yes
  
    sons_of_kupe = {
        global_sailors_modifier = 0.10
        range = 0.10
    }
    kaikiakitanga = {
        tolerance_own = 1
    }
    kaumatua = {
        stability_cost_modifier = -0.20
    }
    kapa_haka = {
        land_morale = 0.10
    }
    pa_defence = {
        fort_maintenance_modifier = -0.10
    }
    te_moko = {
        leader_land_shock = 1
    }
    maori_king = {
        core_creation = -0.10
        legitimacy = 1
    }
}
[Maori National Ideas]​

As with the missions, we’d better not spoil the surprise by showing everything, am I right? I have a challenge for those that love them: try a world conquest with a Polynesian TAG! There are a couple of things in this area that could help you in that adventure. ;)

THE EVENTS
Events are one of the parts I like the most. While not as much time as I would have liked has been available, I have added more than 40 events to the area, including general events, specific Country events and even a few Easter eggs that I hope you can find and enjoy!

Fiji Event.png

Practice is what makes you a good warrior, after all.
(Notice that all pictures are still placeholders).

Hawaii Event.png

This event can be very nasty if you are in a very bad shape.
(Notice that all pictures are still placeholders).

Samoan Event.png

As Samoa, you will be given the choice to reform your society a bit or go on with the traditions with every ruler.
(Notice that all pictures are still placeholders).​

THE EXTRAS
There are a few things that have been added in order to create a bigger sense of immersion.

Maori culture has been created, separated from the main Polynesian branch. By the start of the game, the Maori were abandoning the Archaic Maori Period and entering a transformation one. The Iwi became more sedentary and their once pacific nature became more warlike as competition for resources becomes more central. New traditions had evolved by this time that justifies separating them from their islander cousins.

A new Polynesian technology group has been created. This technology group is between that of the Mesoamericans and the North Americans in penalty, but starts at tech 2.

Most Estates have been renamed to their proper versions to increase the flavor.

And some extra surprises here and there.

For now this is all. We still have lots of things to show, so just be patient and enjoy the time in between, everything will come!
 
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View attachment 669458

I have counted 17 free provinces. So there should be enough space for colonization.

Also, the Pacific is still a Colonial Region. That has not changed.
Thanks for the quick reply! Yeah, I figured there would still be plenty of colonizable provinces. I mostly wonder how the newly inhabited provinces might slow colonization, given limited colonial range early game. I remember a good few games starting in Japan or East Africa where uncolonized provinces juuuust in range were super key.
 
Man i can't wait untill this DLC launch. I realy wanna try some SEA country. Tho i have one more q. Will you expand mission tree for Persia? I wanna try out Zoroastrianism and the best way is to play as Persia.
There are no plans for this.

Can New Zealand be made its own CN region?
Cannot make promises, it is on the lower province count to be its own CN but I might consider it after some more testing.
 
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Fantastic to see this, and I'll buy the next DLC on release just to show support for this work. Absolutely the right move away from Paradox's past policy of showing too much of the world as 'uncivilised/uninhabited' as if its players were all from nineteenth century Europe. Thank you for this.
 
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Spain? Why Spain? Spain literally only has +10% Heavy Ship combat.
Off the top of my head, Denmark, Norway, Genoa, Japan and Korea can 1v1 Spain on the ocean. Even with their flagship bonus.
Probably because of the artillery fire, which applies to naval as well as land units. It’s actually a pretty significant bonus.
 
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Fantastic to see this, and I'll buy the next DLC on release just to show support for this work. Absolutely the right move away from Paradox's past policy of showing too much of the world as 'uncivilised/uninhabited' as if its players were all from nineteenth century Europe. Thank you for this.
Oh, very hopeful for what they plan to do with Australia, seeing as a new religion and a province rework was hinted for there. The "stateless society" government type added for those hill people in SEA really expands the scope of what's possible in future tags.
 
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Can we stop making light ship combat ability a thing? Just like transports CA was removed. They just don't work against heavies or galleys. It is just a wasted idea slot.
 
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Can you fabricate on pacific tags with the Exploration finisher though? It only works in colonial regions, which only applies to the Iwis here.
Good question. Thanks for bringing this up.
 
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Oh, very hopeful for what they plan to do with Australia, seeing as a new religion and a province rework was hinted for there. The "stateless society" government type added for those hill people in SEA really expands the scope of what's possible in future tags.
Hell yeah. I’m really looking forward to my tall ancom runs.
 
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And the two new NIs are bad. Really bad. All of the naval bonuses are weak (ship morale, durability and combat ability, engagement width are the only worthwhile ones) and the rest of the bonus don't make up for it. The only saving grace is -10% AE and CCR. Still, they will have to fight off super ships from the Malay and with those bonuses they will lose every time.
I do think the Maori military ideas should be a little stronger, but it’d be a mistake to try to make every tag’s NIs top-tier. For tags that never historically expanded beyond their respective regions, these NIs’ power levels are completely fine.
 
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I do think the Maori military ideas should be a little stronger, but it’d be a mistake to try to make every tag’s NIs top-tier. For tags that never historically expanded beyond their respective regions, these NIs’ power levels are completely fine.
I made a similar argument in the thread about the changes to Zoroastrianism regarding Persian ideas. Some people have this weird idea that every tag and religion needs to be competitive with the strongest tags and sets of modifiers in the game. A similar thing happened with Battle for the Bosporus where people were annoyed new focus trees didn't make the tags strong enough to fight GPs on their own. I really don't get it.
 
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Good job, for a long time I had wished play with Tonga in Polynesia and now it will be possible, the unique geographical location, emphasy in ship battles and starting size of all tags could be enough to make a unique experience.

Some questions:

- For balance reasons have you considered make the AI of these tags less probable to take exploration ideas? This would help to preserve uncolonized provinces when tags from other regions reach Oceania and at same time would not affect Oceania players, or it is not necessary? Maybe the default chance for a AI tag that was not a historical colonizer take exploration is already low enough.

- Any chance of polynesian's army or ship models? If new army models are not being created, in my opinion a good compromise would be use the andean army model for Tonga, Samoa, maori tags and hawaiian tags, Fiji could use subsaharan models. About ships I can't think in a good idea, would be neat if before their first institution polynesian's ships don't use gunpowder in their animations.
 
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Can New Zealand be made its own CN region?
Ehh. I think it’d be cool to have more small, regional colonial nations in general, but unless there is a design shift that creates a lot more/smaller colonial regions or unless this update adds a TON of new provinces to Australia, I can’t see it being necessary.
 
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It's funny how "primitive" tags in the middle of the Ocean are often getting more love and flavour than some European countries ;/
Pretty sure outside of the regional ideas and missions and stuff for Tonga and Samoa this is literally the least fleshed out part of the entire world as it was just added. They don't even have a religion. That's not a dig (as I have wanted this for a long time and am very excited), but I'm just putting it into perspective compared to how much attention Europe gets.
 
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