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EU4 - Development Diary - 3rd of April 2018

Good morning all. It's Tuesday and that means time for another Dev Diary. As I mentioned in the last non-alcoholic dev diary, we're going to start looking at changes and features coming with the 1.26 and its accompanying, unannounced expansion.

Before that though, we are currently looking to iron out the kinks with the open beta 1.25.1 hotfix (AI allies deciding that money is more important than friendship and nations sometimes failing to explore for a long time). These fixes will be made, applied to the open beta and rolled out in due time.

Governments

The way governments work have remained mostly unchanged for the duration of Europa Universalis IV, still being almost entirely lifted from EU3. While we have added new government types and their own mechanics such as Theocracy devotion, Steppe Nomads and American Natives, the government progression has remained quite stale, where tech sometimes unlocks a new tier within your government tier and you will switch to it at a cost of 100 ADM if you want its better effects, different election times, absolutism etc.

As a feature in 1.26's accompanying expansion this goes out the window and instead we introduce the system of Government Reforms where you will hand-craft your own government through a series of reforms as the game progresses.

The start of any great project starts with burning a few things down, so to set things straight:

All Monarchy types are merged into one
All Republic types are merged into one
All Theocracies are merged into one
All Tribals are merged into one

The differences we had between government types, for example between Administrative Republic and Oligarchic Republic, or Steppe Nomad and Tribal Despotism, will now be modeled through the reforms

Each Government has a starting reform and maximum number of reforms available. When a Reform value ticks up to a required value, a Governmental reform can be made granting a choice of modifiers and effects and advancing Government reform by 1 step. Each bonus gets incrementally more expensive to increase.

Each reform costs 100 Government Reform Progress, plus 50 for each additional reform. Each nation gains +10 Government Reform Progress towards reform per year, multiplied by 1-(its average autonomy across all provinces. As ever, the numbers we talk about today are subject to balancing and can and likely will change by release, but the net effect is that nations who crack down on autonomy are going to have a far easier time passing their government reforms.

We will cover all the different types of governments over the course of a few dev diaries, but today we will focus on the reforms for a Monarchy.

  • Feudalism vs Autocracy
    • Feudalism: +25% Income from Vassals

    • Autocracy: -10% Unjust Demands
    • [Other Special monarchies]*
  • Hereditary Nobility
    • Enforce privileges: +15% Manpower

    • Quash Noble power: +10% Tax Modifier
  • Bureaucracy
    • Centralize: -0.05 Autonomy reduction

    • Decentralize: +2 Accepted Cultures
  • Growth of Administration
    • Clergy in Administration: +1 [HIDDEN] , +5% base loyalty of Clergy

    • Of Noble Bearing: -10% hire leader cost, +5% base loyalty of Nobility

    • Meritocratic Focus: -10% Advisors Cost

    • Seizure of Power: [Early path for Government type change]
  • Deliberative assembly
    • Parliamentary: Enables Parliaments if Common Sense DLC enabled, else -1 Unrest

    • Royal Decree: +5 max absolutism

    • Aristocratic Court: -0.5 Army Tradition Decay

    • States General: +10% Production Efficiency
  • Absolute Rule v Constitutional
    • l'etat c'est moi: +5 States, -15% State Autonomy

    • Regional Representation - 25% lower autonomy in Territories
  • Separation of powers
    • Political Absolutism: +5 max absolutism, +0.1 Yearly Absolutism

    • Legislative Houses: +1 Possible [HIDDEN]

    • Become a Republic

    • Install Theocratic Government
"What about unique government types?"

The game is host to various different unique government types, with their own effects or mechanics. some examples:

  • Shogunate - +1 Diplomat, -25% Envoy Travel Time, +2 Number of states, +5 Max Absolutism. Dynasty is fixed, Enable Shogun-Daimyo mechanics
  • Daimyo - +10% Morale of Armies, 10% Infantry CA. Dynasty is fixed, enable Daimyo mechanics
  • English Monarchy - +0.5 Yearly Legitimacy, -1 National Unrest, 1 states, -30 absolutism, uses Parliaments
  • Prussian Monarchy - -2 Unrest, -0.02 War exhaustion, +3 Monarch Military skill, uses Militarism.

These special tools will now be modeled by unique reforms. In most cases, it will be a special reform on the first level (Feudalism vs Autocracy) ready-unlocked for said countries. We will also be making the system more flexible in that if you fulfill the criteria for having a certain government type, but previously had no way of switching into it, you will be able to change your reform to pick it up. Changing reforms that have already been passed comes at a cost (currently 10 corruption)

This system is still Work in Progress, so expect changes along the way. Here's a screenshot of it in-game at this current time:

government.png

Return of the pink coder-art and overflowing GUI. Games are like sausages, beware of seeing them made.

Next week we will have more information about this feature as well as looking at another reform path. Which shall we look at, Republics, Theocracies or Tribals? See you next week for it!
 
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The good news is, if you look at the tier 1 and tier 2 list and the candidates that are already out of the running, I would say that Spain is basically the top candidate for the next immersion pack (which, I assume, will come along with patch 1.28, with 1.27 a smallish update on the new features of 1.26) - the only real contenders, in my opinion, are Austria (along with a general HRE immersion pack) and Sweden (which is probably an objectively less "deserving" possibility, if such a thing exists, but always a likely pick with Paradox ;) ).

I wouldn't be surprised if 1.26 was called Austria and focused on Germany and Italy.
- With duchies, kingdoms, archibishoprics, free cities, merchant and oligarchic republics all crammed in the HRE, not mentioning the surrounding holy orders, senj, dutch republic, papal states and the prussian monarchy, all the main forms of government aside from tribal are featured in this region and many of the special government forms, especially those which needs the most rework, are present in the surrounding areas.
- The HRE itself is a very special form of government which many want to see reworked.
- In all of Europe, Germany is the region with the most tags lacking national ideas, especially since England took care of Ireland and Netherlands. Italy is still lacking a lot of national ideas too, even though most of the concerned countries are either one province wide or not available in 1444.
- It would be a perfect opportunity to rework the mission trees for Austria, Brandenburg/Prussia, Bavaria, Venice, Genoa and the Papal States, and add new ones for Lubeck, Milan, Savoy, Tuscany, Naples and formed Italy, Germany, Roman Empire and HRE. Basically, it may be the best place to go wild with the new mission system.
 
I don't know about Ottomans, they already have their unique governement with lots of decisions, a recent reworked of its provinces in anatolia. I only see the case where Balkans would be remade, with new provinces in Greece and Thracia.
Which is why I don't think that they are among the likely candidates for the next expansion pack. Same goes for France and the Netherlands, who just had their provinces reworked in the 1.25 patch.
Spain, Portugal (which in all likeliness would be part of the Iberia immersion pack), Austria and Sweden stand out as "tier 1" countries that haven't had any province reworks for a really long time. Which makes it a good bet that Paradox may have held off these province reworks for immersion packs.
Btw, if I was a betting man, I'd say that 1.25 is going to be the "Venice" or "Poland" patch - because these are countries in areas that could use a province rework, but unlikely to be the subject of their own immersion pack. Or possibly "Ottomans", if there is a rework of Greece and the Balkans. That, is of course, assuming that the naming is based on an area where there are major map changes.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if 1.26 was called Austria and focused on Germany and Italy.
- With duchies, kingdoms, archibishoprics, free cities, merchant and oligarchic republics all crammed in the HRE, not mentioning the surrounding holy orders, senj, dutch republic, papal states and the prussian monarchy, all the main forms of government aside from tribal are featured in this region and many of the special government forms, especially those which needs the most rework, are present in the surrounding areas.
- The HRE itself is a very special form of government which many want to see reworked.
- In all of Europe, Germany is the region with the most tags lacking national ideas, especially since England took care of Ireland and Netherlands. Italy is still lacking a lot of national ideas too, even though most of the concerned countries are either one province wide or not available in 1444.
- It would be a perfect opportunity to rework the mission trees for Austria, Brandenburg/Prussia, Bavaria, Venice, Genoa and the Papal States, and add new ones for Lubeck, Milan, Savoy, Tuscany, Naples and formed Italy, Germany, Roman Empire and HRE. Basically, it may be the best place to go wild with the new mission system.
That... would actually make a whole lot of sense, and I would love that.
 
I don't think that anybody is against Spain/Iberia getting a nice update/immersion pack.
It is just a matter of priority.
Apparently, Paradox has decided to do make 1.26 a meaty content patch, with a fundamental rework/enhancement of base game mechanics.

Paradox have said that they plan to continue making immersion packs. It is (I think) quite save to assume that all countries that already got a "named" patch are out of the running for an immersion pack.
I.e., no (more) immersion packs for Prussia, Denmark, Ming, Hungary, Russia, Persia, Japan and England. Among the "Tier 1" countries (according to Johan, way back: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-3-tiers.636355/ , this leaves France, the Ottomans, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Austria, and among the second tier the Netherlands, Poland, Venice and the Mughals. While Paradox's design philosophy has certainly shifted to a certain extent since 2012 - and they already named one patch after a tier 3 country -, I do not think that the likely candidates for an immersion pack are outside those two tiers.

What I am trying to say is: Spain is almost certain to be pegged for an immersion pack by Paradox. They are not going to "waste" a Spain update on a content expansion, because that would prevent them from subsequently making a Spain immersion pack. Which is a marketing decision that people can legitimately disagree with, but still a reasonable decision.

The good news is, if you look at the tier 1 and tier 2 list and the candidates that are already out of the running, I would say that Spain is basically the top candidate for the next immersion pack (which, I assume, will come along with patch 1.28, with 1.27 a smallish update on the new features of 1.26) - the only real contenders, in my opinion, are Austria (along with a general HRE immersion pack) and Sweden (which is probably an objectively less "deserving" possibility, if such a thing exists, but always a likely pick with Paradox ;) ).
thanks for the commet


but i think this is a wrong policy.

I know this game is not extrictly "historical" and the follow marketing decisions, but in this period of game, Spain was de most important and decisive country in the world, and this treatment is not fair for spain.

is only mi opinion, i don say this like a stupid nacionalist but as lover history. Thanks again fiera
 
  • Clergy in Administration: +1 [HIDDEN] , +5% base loyalty of Clergy

  • Of Noble Bearing: -10% hire leader cost, +5% base loyalty of Nobility
I assume a leader is an admiral/general. Otherwise, did Jake forgot to redact leader? @DDRJake
 
Government reformation is a really nice addition, which has long been requested. Country management lacked much depth, even with Estates.
Hopefully this will allow some reforms closer to the CK2 government centralization (through modding or vanilla ?)

I really don't understand (and disagree with) the addition of YET ANOTHER type of points though
Considering we already have Administrative Monarch points for this; and since switching between different monarchies doesn't cost 100 points anymore as it's done through reforms and not directly anymore, it seems like we will get more ADM and a new type of points to manage (with every other points from DIP, MIL, money, and all immersion pack points...)

I would rather suggest that ADM expanses remain a player-driven choice, focusing either on centralization (government reform) or annexation (country expansion), as it already is the case (instead of freely giving away reforms every few years); with country size and average autonomy modifying the cost of the reform.
CK2 is a good reference in this matter, especially with Conclave
 
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No stabhit on ruler death; no regencies ever; constant heir generals; great estate control when you select heirs; pretty good events; +1 prestige; +25% tax; and no hit to Absolutism?

Theocracies are great; the only reason they get 'hate' is they are either locked to Dutchy/Kingdom [Special Theocracies] or are minors in bad positions.
Oh, I love Theocracies or all of those reasons, too, I just thought the community hated them. Maybe I got a wrong impression somewhere? I dunno.
 
  • Clergy in Administration: +1 [HIDDEN] , +5% base loyalty of Clergy

  • Of Noble Bearing: -10% hire leader cost, +5% base loyalty of Nobility
I assume a leader is an admiral/general. Otherwise, did Jake forgot to redact leader? @DDRJake
I dont think so. If its hidden its likely to be something new yet to be revealed in future DDiaries.
And even if it is not so, a clergy in ADMINISTRATION is hardly a military leader.

How does the revolution, rev republic and rev empire work with this? Is that getting a complete overhaul too?

I suppose it will be tied to an specific reform and when it happens through event or rebels, that reform will be selected automatically, unlocking its unique features, just like with the parliament feature.
 
Well... since we are keeping the unique government mechanics (guessing that also means the special bonuses like military points for Prussia and admin for Mamluks), I really like this change.
I’m eager to see the other governments. I really hope that the republics include a development cost reduction.

Also, I think this would be a good opportunity to buff tall play. Enabling government reforms to be faster for smaller nations would be good to give them more of a leg up against the vastly superior wide countries
 
Yes, yes and YES!
Good to see this ancient government system getting a rework. It was definitely needed, and is much welcome from my end.

Also:
Clergy in Administration: +1 [HIDDEN] , +5% base loyalty of Clergy

Legislative Houses: +1 Possible [HIDDEN]

Uhhhhh, intriguing ;) I wonder what those hidden things might be.

Regional Representation - 25% lower autonomy in Territories

This seems very strong for any wide empire. Just imagine, you get 25% benefits from territory development, and suddenly you get 50%.

If you have much land, this will be a huge powerspike. But of course, this has to compete with the other one, that is pretty strong as well.
 
Will you be finally adding American Govt as an unique reform for new world British culture CN? Long story! However short story is that American Dream add a new republic type and has been pretty much "removed from the game" more or less since then. Which made the point of the DLC well pointless since you get nothing but events really.

If you are playing as a "Ruthemia risen from the ash" Orthodox nation, you are completely locked in at duchy due to needing to be Russia primary culture to unlock Empire rank which is messy if you don't want to form Russia to get empire rank. Will you be doing something about this?
I disagree with your last part. You can also form Ruthenia to get out of duchy rank, which gives you the Tsardom government as of latest patch.

So if you're playing "Ruthenia risen from the ash", just form Ruthenia and get Empire rank. :)
If you're forming Ruthenia from a non-Ruthenia or Byelorussian country at game start or "release and play as vassal" country, then don't forget to take the decision https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/List_of_decision_lists#Adopt_Autocratic_Administration before forming Ruthenia, as this gives you the russian principalty government needed to become a Tsardom as Ruthenia. You need to be orthodox and culture shift to east slavic (Ruthenian or Byelorussian in this case), but this is totally in line with "Ruthenia risen from the ash".
 
I like it.
It also opens up nice possibilities for DLC features that don't take that much away from not owning the DLCc but are very nice to have at the same time. You could introduce a number of special reforms allowing you to get unique bonuses for your government.
 
I don't know about Ottomans, they already have their unique governement with lots of decisions, a recent reworked of its provinces in anatolia. I only see the case where Balkans would be remade, with new provinces in Greece and Thracia.

before rule britannia england had its own unique government type too but this didn't prevent pdx from making a new immersion pack about great britain.

there is no immersion pack targeting ottoman empire yet and it should be in future. all of those new features added to ottomans time to time, it is because ottoman empire is kinda one of the main countries in eu4, maybe the first.

so half of ottoman heartland (greece & bulgaria) didn't get update yet. also ottoman empire itself seperately needs an immersion pack.

there are literally tens of features you can add to ottoman empire from its huge & rich history.
 
so half of ottoman heartland (greece & bulgaria) didn't get update yet. also ottoman empire itself seperately needs an immersion pack.

there are literally tens of features you can add to ottoman empire from its huge & rich history.

I seriously doubt it. Even without their own Immersion pack, they have one of the biggest mission trees in the game. Compare it to the missions of Muscovy or Russia - it's just laughable. Their religion also was strengthen in 1.23, while previous immersion packs dealt with religion.