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EU4 - Development Diary - 16th of February 2021

Hello everybody and welcome back to another EUIV dev diary and it has been a while for me!

Shortly before EUIV moved over to sunny Barcelona, I devoted some of my time to reworking Australia as I felt the current map of the continent was a bit lacking and very annoying to own what with all these little unconnected islands amidst the wasteland. On top of that, the continent being an entirely uncolonized block of nothing before colonialism seems a little inaccurate, given how lively the continent actually was before the Europeans arrived.

So, first thing to note is that Australia is now entirely connected through colonisable provinces, with the great Pilbara now connecting the north and west of Australia.
20210215172646_1.jpg

Another important rework comes in the form of the new states Australia now enjoys. What I wanted out of this is I wanted Australia to be on par with the other colonial regions in the game in terms of province count and strategic importance.
20210215170805_1.jpg

When shaping the states and provinces, I wanted to hit a nice balance between pre and post colonial Australian borders, so state borders are largely determined by colonial Australian state boundaries, while provinces are more determined by the distribution of Aboriginal peoples. All provinces also have both their Aboriginal and colonial names depending on who owns the province.
1613408346626.png

The Australian Gold Rush can now be yours, with Australian provinces enjoying a high chance of gold and some provinces in the south having a chance for gems, and a few key provinces able to produce coal.
20210215172855_1.jpg

Next, I’ll highlight some of the playable nations down under. Up north we have the Larrakia Federation composed of all of the top-end nations you see here, with Larrakia and Tiwi enjoying a unique set of national ideas. The Larrakia federation was responsible for much of pre-colonial Australia’s wealth through trade with the Makassarians. This trade also brought with it some Islamic influences, though the Aboriginal people of Australia never fully converted.
20210215170717_1.jpg

LAR_ideas = {
start = {
global_trade_power = 0.1
trade_efficiency = 0.1
}

bonus = {
global_ship_trade_power = 0.2
}

trigger = {
tag = LAR
}
free = yes #will be added at load.

LAR_makassar_trade = {
merchants = 1
global_foreign_trade_power = 0.1
}
LAR_federation = {
diplomatic_upkeep = 2
}
LAR_dreaming = {
global_autonomy = -0.05
}
LAR_dowed = {
legitimacy = 1
republican_tradition = 0.2
global_unrest = -1
}
LAR_ceremonial_scarring = {
shock_damage = 0.1
}
LAR_hospitality = {
diplomatic_reputation = 2
}
LAR_kenbi_land_claim = {
core_creation = -0.15
}
}

TIW_ideas = {
start = {
female_advisor_chance = 0.75
shock_damage_received = -0.2
}

bonus = {
leader_land_shock = 1
}

trigger = {
tag = TIW
}
free = yes

TIW_yiminga = {
may_recruit_female_generals = yes
global_manpower_modifier = 0.2
}
TIW_dreaming_totem = {
tolerance_own = 2
}
TIW_kulama = {
production_efficiency = 0.1
}
TIW_purrukapali = {
naval_tradition_from_battle = 0.5
}
TIW_marriage = {
heir_chance = 0.5
global_unrest = -1
}
TIW_isolationism = {
land_morale = 0.1
}
TIW_one_people = {
culture_conversion_cost = -0.25
}
}

Moving along down south we have the Eora people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.
EOR_ideas = {
start = {
diplomatic_reputation = 1
light_ship_power = 0.15
}

bonus = {
num_accepted_cultures = 2
}

trigger = {
tag = EOR
}
free = yes

EOR_lifestyle = {
naval_morale = 0.15
}
EOR_bands = {
state_maintenance_modifier = -0.25
}
EOR_enduring = {
religious_unity = 0.25
tolerance_heathen = 1
}
EOR_protect = {
manpower_recovery_speed = 0.1
global_sailors_modifier = 0.1
}
EOR_sacred = {
own_coast_naval_combat_bonus = 1
}
EOR_pemulwuy = {
land_morale = 0.15
}
EOR_berewaldal = {
merchants = 1
global_foreign_trade_power = 0.1
}
}

The Kaurna people, first inhabitants of Adelaide.
KAU_ideas = {
start = {
female_advisor_chance = 0.75
global_tax_modifier = 0.3
}

bonus = {
development_cost = -0.1
}

trigger = {
tag = KAU
}
free = yes

KAU_totemic_matriarchy = {
may_recruit_female_generals = yes
tolerance_own = 2
}
KAU_pangkarra = {
governing_capacity_modifier = 0.1
}
KAU_coastal_pangkarra = {
global_ship_trade_power = 0.2
}
KAU_redgum_shelters = {
build_cost = -0.15
}
KAU_communal_ownership = {
global_unrest = -2
}
KAU_old_tjilbruke = {
stability_cost_modifier = -0.1
reform_progress_growth = 0.15
}
KAU_south_australia_act = {
core_creation = -0.2
}
}

Palawa, first people of Tasmania.
PLW_ideas = {
start = {
stability_cost_modifier = -0.1
land_morale = 0.1
}

bonus = {
monarch_military_power = 1
}

trigger = {
tag = PLW
}
free = yes #will be added at load.

PLW_oyster = {
production_efficiency = 0.1
}
PLW_dual_identity = {
legitimacy = 1
num_accepted_cultures = 1
}
PLW_darwin = {
shock_damage = 0.2
}
PLW_parlevar = {
ae_impact = -0.15
}
PLW_writers = {
technology_cost = -0.1
}
PLW_survivors = {
fire_damage = 0.1
}
PLW_enduring = {
manpower_recovery_speed = 0.25
}
}

Kamilaroi, one of the most populated collective of Australian nations.
GMI_ideas = {
start = {
land_morale = 0.1
shock_damage = 0.1
}

bonus = {
land_forcelimit_modifier = 0.33
}

trigger = {
tag = GMI
}
free = yes #will be added at load.

GMI_sacred_caves = {
core_creation = -0.15
}
GMI_land_of_languages = {
num_accepted_cultures = 2
}
GMI_fertile_soils = {
development_cost = -0.1
}
GMI_dhulu = {
diplomats = 1
envoy_travel_time = -0.25
}
GMI_matrilineal_lineage = {
legitimacy = 1
republican_tradition = 0.2
female_advisor_chance = 0.5
}
GMI_familial_law = {
global_autonomy = -0.05
}
GMI_red_kangaroo = {
global_unrest = -2
}
}

I would have loved to have made ideas for all nations in Australia, but alas time was not on my side there so if you do not have unique ideas, you will get the shared Aboriginal Ideas.
generic_aboriginal_ideas = {
start = {
tolerance_own = 1
stability_cost_modifier = -0.1
}

bonus = {
shock_damage = 0.1
}

trigger = {
culture_group = aboriginal_australian
}
free = yes

aborig_art = {
prestige = 1
}
aborig_fire_stick_farming = {
development_cost = -0.1
}
aborig_walkabout = {
movement_speed = 0.1
}
aborig_outback = {
land_attrition = -0.1
}
aborig_sacred = {
global_tax_modifier = 0.1
}
aborig_dreamtime = {
religious_unity = 0.2
}
aborig_music = {
improve_relation_modifier = 0.2
}
}

But Aboriginal culture is not a single monolithic entity, so it has been divided into its own group. If we were being entirely accurate about this, almost all provinces in Australia would be their own culture, so some generalization has been done for gameplay purposes.
20210215173636_1.jpg

On top of all these new nations, the Aboriginal Australians also have access to the new Alcheringa religion! Most commonly known to colonizers as “Dreamtime”, Alcheringa refers to the vast distinct religions found among the Australian population. Though each people usually have their own distinct faith, most Australian faiths have a concept of “Dreamtime” or “The Dreaming”, a time of myth and legend that simultaneously occurred in the distant past and continues to occur around us every day.
20210215173412_1.jpg

Every Aboriginal people has their own pantheon of gods and “Dreaming Stories”. Alcheringa uses a system similar to the Fetishist cult system, with new stories becoming unlocked via missions.

These missions vary in what you must do, from defeating enemies in battle, to building an oceangoing vessel for the first time, to turning the Makassar trade on its head and dominating trade in the Moluccas.

The Aboriginals also enjoy all new unit models.
image (21).png


That’s all for this week, hope you all enjoy my last hurrah of EUIV content.
 
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Thats a silly answer.

Its about two things.

1. In game balance, specifically the balance between ideas. The more native tags there are the weaker exploration and especially expansion ideas become as there is less need to even colonize countries when you can simply conquer it from natives. At least colonizers pose some form of challenge when you try to take their colony, but conquering natives is mostly just busywork.
It also devalues a entire game system and makes the game less diverse when conquest becomes the solution to everything and you do not need colonization much anymore.
And it makes "colonizing" much faster which is already ahistorically fast in EU4 which makes later settler techs useless.

2. Historical accuracy. That natives were conquered and incorporated into colonies happened a few times, mainly in central and south america by the Spanish, more often than not the natives were displaced entirely and did not become part of colonies (Australia, North America). So that you can simply conquer natives in those regions instead of having to colonize does not reflect how expansion in those regions worked.

Edit: That could be solved if, apart from the central and south american high cultures, you could not annex natives directly, but the conquered territory would turn into a colony with some initial population. Conquering would still provide a boost but dedicated colonizers would still have an advantage because of colony growth and you can't just simply conquer natives until a colonial nation forms without actually colonizing something.
Hmmm, I hadn't seen it from that angle. You're right. I TAKE BACK MY SILLINESS.
 
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This all looks great. I'll definitely be trying out a game in Australia after I do a few SEA playthroughs.

With this showing Paradox being willing to bounce around the map for updates though, I wonder if 1.32 could cover the African and South America reworks at the same time?

My personal wishlist for that would also include Persia getting a proper modern mission tree instead of the lacklustre one it has right now, as well as some sort of nation to do a Zoroastrian Phoenix run with. But that is just me, and any sort of Phoenix nation always angers the Historical Accuracy crowd since they are inherently ahistorical. But with Zoroastrianism getting a nice little upgrade this patch, it seems like the time to add in some sort of nation that can take advantage of it.
 
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So you disagree that ideas should have a relation to the actual achievments of a country?
Mainly I just think national ideas aren't a measurement of how "good" a country is. I could give Palawa every military buff in the game and they'd still crumble to the British Empire when the time comes because national ideas alone don't determine the outcome of an EU4 campaign.

We can't win with national ideas. If we make them strong, people complain because they're better than X national ideas, but if we make them weak people complain because then there's no point to play them. The design I take to it, which is not everyone's, is I tend to give nations in a difficult starting positions strong ideas to reward the player for pulling themselves out of a tough situation.

When I designed Saluzzo ideas, I didn't find anything to support the idea that Saluzzo were intrinsically better than any of the other Italian city states, but in-game Saluzzo has to fight hard to establish itself so rewarding that seems fitting.

Not everyone takes that approach and it's fine, but I don't agree that me giving Palawa some army bonuses is really going to change the fact that any world superpower targeting Australia is going to be able to overpower them.
 
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Absolutely love this and the Oceania update. Can't wait to do an Aotearoa run followed by an Aboriginal Australia run. I think the ideas look great and love the approach that if you can build up a base and weather the colonial storm, you have some advantages and tricks to fight back with.
 
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My personal wishlist for that would also include Persia getting a proper modern mission tree instead of the lacklustre one it has right now, as well as some sort of nation to do a Zoroastrian Phoenix run with. But that is just me, and any sort of Phoenix nation always angers the Historical Accuracy crowd since they are inherently ahistorical. But with Zoroastrianism getting a nice little upgrade this patch, it seems like the time to add in some sort of nation that can take advantage of it.
I consider myself part of the historical accuracy crowd and personally as long as we don't see an AI Zoroastrian phoenix rising from the ashes to take over Persia I'm absolutely fine with that. Something like the current Roman Empire situation, for instance, would be for me a win-win. In my opinion, players should have a free hand to do whatever they want in that regard; the AI, not so much.
 
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It's just a bunch of mindlessly thrown modifiers to OPM's that did absolutely nothing in history in terms of conquest, trade, civilization, culture compared to Europe, India, China, Japan or even North and South America!
How much do you actually know about the Aboriginal Australians? Because I'm willing to bet that even if you did know much about their history, you could not reasonably say they were a lesser culture/civilization without taking on some inherently prejudiced views.

Anyhow I don't believe that the strength of a nations idea set should be determined by how successful they were historically, this is a game of what-ifs after all. Some of the ideas are quite strong yes, but this is completely negated by the fact that they're OPMs based in Australia that have terrible units and are destined to fall heavily behind on tech. The AI certainly isn't going to be taking advantage of them, so the only real imbalance that could arise is from meta-gamers in MP, but I don't think that nations should be balanced around the 'meta' of MP anyway.
 
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How much do you actually know about the Aboriginal Australians? Because I'm willing to bet that even if you did know much about their history, you could not reasonably say they were a lesser culture/civilization without taking on some inherently prejudiced views.

Anyhow I don't believe that the strength of a nations idea set should be determined by how successful they were historically, this is a game of what-ifs after all. Some of the ideas are quite strong yes, but this is completely negated by the fact that they're OPMs based in Australia that have terrible units and are destined to fall heavily behind on tech.

As you are so knowledgable, can you show me some references to the Eoran navy and their light ships and costal defenses?
EU4 is supposed to be a game based on history, meaning there should be a relation between national ideas and the history of said nations. And for a nation get this many military ideas the history should show a string of military successes and exceptional behaviour.
So is that the case? Were the Palawa really this warlike and had such a powerful military so that those ideas make sense instead of being completely based on fantasy as a form of difficulty slider?
 
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For each new comment about national ideas, I will replace a Prussian military bonus with +10% Transport Combat Ability. I may lack the authority to do it, but by golly I'll try. I got very twitchy fingers.
 
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How many gold provinces do you find on average after colonising Australia? Love that there's an increased chance.

Also, is there any chance of a screenshot showing the simple terrain of Australia?
 
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I would really like some more of the religion mechanic that you added - are there more details about it?
As this is just for australia the new zealands and polynisian tags will still have the "normal" animist faith ?
 
This whole NI discussion makes me think that NIs as a concept need an overhaul. They need to be more like the age bonuses - something truly unique and not available through idea sets, preferably something meta and not a direct +10% this, -25% that. Maybe in EU5...
 
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The dlc is looking great, hope SA gets some love tho, from what i can remember it's the most outdated region, even polynesia and Australia are in good shape now.
The giant Amazon wastelands could get some rework, srink good part of it and being really hard to settle for balance purposes.
Like a lot of people already said, the fetishist religion needs a rework.
Anyway, i think the development has improved in the past year and i am counting you guys will do the right thing.
 
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Wow! Wasn't expecting this much love for Australia. Love it!

Just a question - What colonizers will have dynamic names for the provinces? Obviously England, but anyone else?
 
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As you are so knowledgable, can you show me some references to the Eoran navy and their light ships and costal defenses?
EU4 is supposed to be a game based on history, meaning there should be a relation between national ideas and the history of said nations. And for a nation get this many military ideas the history should show a string of military successes and exceptional behaviour.
So is that the case? Were the Palawa really this warlike and had such a powerful military so that those ideas make sense instead of being completely based on fantasy as a form of difficulty slider?
You don't need to be an academic scholar to tell when someone is talking rubbish. I was mostly taking issue with the claim that the culture and civilisation of the aboriginal people was 'nothing'.

True, to my limited knowledge they did not have a history of vast conquests, and maybe the military ideas could be toned down a little but... It just doesn't strike me as a big issue for the other reasons I listed- they're OPMs based in far-away Australia with terrible unit pips. You could give them god-tier ideas and they still would be weaker than the average European OPM. If you want to get upset over nations with unbalanced and historically unjustifiable military ideas, look to nations like Prussia.
 
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The Australian Gold Rush can now be yours, with Australian provinces enjoying a high chance of gold and some provinces in the south having a chance for gems, and a few key provinces able to produce coal.
Are there any unique province production modifiers to be gotten in Australia (I mean the +X goods produced modifiers like Cerro de Potosi and similar)?
 
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You don't need to be an academic scholar to tell when someone is talking rubbish. I was mostly taking issue with the claim that the culture and civilisation of the aboriginal people was 'nothing'.

True, to my limited knowledge they did not have a history of vast conquests, and maybe the military ideas could be toned down a little but... It just doesn't strike me as a big issue for the other reasons I listed- they're OPMs based in far-away Australia with terrible unit pips. You could give them god-tier ideas and they still would be weaker than the average European OPM. If you want to get upset over nations with unbalanced and historically unjustifiable military ideas, look to nations like Prussia.
Its not about the effect but about how NIs are developed.
As a historical game the NIs should have imo a basis in history instead of being completely fantasy because "doesn't matter because they are weak".
 
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