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EU4 - Development Diary - 6th of November 2018

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for another EU4 dev diary. This week and next I’m going to be showing off some of the new mission trees, events, and national ideas coming in the 1.28 ‘Spain’ update and the accompanying Immersion Pack.

NB: Most mission icons are currently using placeholder art

Let’s start with the star of the show, Spain itself:

spanish missions.png


The Spanish mission tree is available to nations beside Aragon that form Spain, while Castile immediately has access to a reduced version of the tree prior to forming Spain.

For the most part these missions follow Spain’s historical expansion overseas; from the Pillars of Hercules to California and the Philippines, the Spanish Empire was one of the largest the world has ever seen. Driven by the quest for gold and silver, Conquistadors such as Cortez and Pizarro will join your service to lead the conquests of Mexico and Peru. You’ll also be encouraged to spread the word of God in the New World by establishing Holy Orders in your colonies.

Spain will also have opportunities to expand in Europe. If the Iberian Wedding or Burgundian Succession don’t work out for you, permanent claims on Naples and Wallonia will help you seize your rightful inheritance through conquest. With a foothold in the Netherlands, Spain can then pursue powerful Personal Unions with both England (depending on their religious choices) and Austria, with the ultimate goal of establishing a Universal Monarchy.

We’ve also split up the National Idea sets for Castile and Spain, as we did for England and Great Britain in Rule Britannia:

Spanish national ideas:
Code:
SPA_ideas = {
    start = {
        land_morale = 0.15
        global_colonial_growth = 25
    }
 
    bonus = {
        discipline = 0.05
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = SPA
    }
    free = yes        #will be added at load.

    devout_catholisism = {
        papal_influence = 2
    }
    inter_caetera = {
        idea_claim_colonies = yes
        colonists = 1
    }
    gold_fleet = {
        global_tariffs = 0.15
        global_prov_trade_power_modifier = 0.1
    }
    spanish_armada = {
        heavy_ship_cost = -0.1
        leader_naval_manuever = 1
    }
    spa_casa_de_contracion = {
        envoy_travel_time = -0.33
    }
    spa_cortes = {
        free_adm_policy = 1
    }
    siglo_de_oro = {
        prestige = 1
    }
}

 spa_casa_de_contracion:0 "Casa de Contratación"
 spa_casa_de_contracion_desc:0 "We must extend the reach of the House of Trade of the Indies. Our colonial agents must have a presence in every part of the world to ensure the smooth functioning of our empire."
 spa_cortes:0 "Rein in the Cortes"
 spa_cortes_desc:0 "Each constitutent Kingdom in the Spanish realm has its own corte, an assembly of the most powerful elements of society in the region. There is often tension between the Crown and the Cortes over such issues as taxation and regional autonomy. We must rein in these institutions so that they primarily serve the Crown rather than their own interests."

Castilian National ideas:
Code:
CAS_ideas = {
    start = {
        land_morale = 0.15
        missionaries = 1
    }
    bonus = {
        artillery_fire = 1
    }
    trigger = {
        tag = CAS
    }
    free = yes        #will be added at load.
    the_reconquista = {
        army_tradition_decay = -0.01
    }
    spanish_inquisition = {
        global_missionary_strength = 0.02
    }
    cabildos = {
        production_efficiency = 0.1
    }
    inter_caetera = {
        idea_claim_colonies = yes
        colonists = 1
    }
    infantas = {
        diplomatic_reputation = 1
        heir_chance = 0.33
    }
    salamanca_scholars = {
        global_institution_spread = 0.1
    }
    nueva_planta = {
        yearly_absolutism = 0.1
    }
}

 cabildos:0 "Cabildos"
 cabildos_desc:0 "Representing the interests of the cities, the 'Caboldio' councils have a wide variety of functions and duties. They are responsible for both advocating the interests of the city to the Crown and for many aspects of local governance. We must continue to establish Cabildos in newly-founded or newly-conquered cities, particularly in the New World where the need for Castilian institutions is felt most severely."
 infantas:0 "Infantas"
 infantas_desc:0 "The Princes and Princesses of the Crown are among our most valuable assets. They can be sent as royal envoys, married off to secure alliances, or appointed as regents when the need arises. It is important that we ensure that our monarch's loins continue to bear fruit."
 salamanca_scholars:0 "School of Salamanca"
 salamanca_scholars_desc:0 "Based in the University of Salamanca, the School's interests lie in fields as diverse as theology, economics, and political philosophy. As one of the leading schools of thought in the Catholic world, its entrenched presence in Castile ensures that our nation is always at the forefront of intellectual affairs."
 nueva_planta:0 "Nueva Planta"
 nueva_planta_desc:0 "It is time to assert true royal authority in the realm; under a single set of laws and a common language, a renewed and centralized Castile will directly appoint officials and enshrine the absolute rule of the monarch."


aragon missions.png


Aragon has an entirely different focus, with a distinct Mare Nostrum theme. An Aragonese player will be encouraged to dominate the Mediterranean both militarily and economically. This mission tree will take Aragon into southern France, Italy, the Maghreb, Egypt, Anatolia, and Greece.

Aragon also has access to several purely economic missions. By establishing trade dominance in the Genoa node and developing the city, Valencia will gain access to the rare Silk trade good as well as a sizable bonus to production of this luxury resource. Completing Aragon’s economic missions will reward the player with the versatile ‘Golden Century’ modifier, giving a 1% reduction to all monarch power costs for 100 years.

portugal missions.png


Portugal’s mission tree is larger than any other in the game besides Great Britain with Rule Britannia. Like the Spanish mission tree, it is largely concerned with the recreation of Portugal’s historical overseas empire, particularly in Brazil and Asia. Missions have been added for the conquests of Malacca, Oman, Ceylon, and other ports in the East. When Portugal has discovered the Far East they will have the opportunity to negotiate for the purchase of two historically important ports: Macau and Nagasaki. In Brazil the Portuguese player can lead the Bandeirantes in the search for gold in Minas Gerais and acquire an increased chance to discover Gold as a trade good in all of their new colonies.

brz.jpg


The times were not always kind to Portugal. In 1807, in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, the situation became so dire that the Portuguese court abandoned Lisbon, fled to Brazil, and made Rio the new seat of government. This will be represented in the game as a decision available to Portugal should they find themselves in dire straits. Your tag will change to Brazil, and Portugal will be released as a junior partner controlling your remaining European provinces. Note that by doing this you will lose access to Portuguese missions.

Not shown but will be in the final version: taking the decision will also change your primary culture to Brazilian.

Navarra missions.jpg


Finally we have Navarra. Navarra’s mission tree will be entirely free for anyone playing on the 1.28 ‘Spain’ patch. As you might expect, this mission tree takes the player down a very different path than history intended. Navarra must reclaim its unjustly stolen coastline, and from there pursue an invasion of France that can culminate in a Personal Union. With access to the sea, the New World beckons. In homage to the time-honoured strategy of migrating to the Americas to escape the cutthroat politics of Europe, Navarra will have the opportunity to move their capital to Terranova if they so choose.

Some of you may have noticed that Navarra’s starting monarch is also Aragon’s designated heir in 1444. A new event chain will bring Navarra under a Personal Union with Aragon if Navarra remains independent upon the death of King Afonso. If Navarra is being controlled by a player, they can of course choose to accept this union. But a truly ambitious player can instead reject the union and instantly gain a Restoration CB on Aragon.

nav_event.jpg


That’s all for today! Next week I’ll be back with more mission trees and national ideas with a focus on North Africa.
 
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The new mission system is absolutely awful. Favored countries just get magic super bonuses and claims on half the world and the ‘unfavored’ get a worse mission system than the old random one.

Worse yet is it’s just an excuse for DLC padding when the game still has serious fundamental issues.
Agreed. The mission system is basically a cheap way to pad DLCs with easy to make content which is sure to sell as the blob gamers want more permaclaims and easy PUs.
I just wait for the DD which presents us with new iberian specific estates (slightly altered normal estates).
And as long as the minor feature no one asked for (flagships) + mission tree DLCs sell the big problems EU4 has (no gameplay besides blobbing, too much money, mandatory merc armies, lobsided and generally unimportant except for Britain naval system, uninspired one click button stability system, overreliance on magical mana systems, bad AI, etc.) wont be addressed.
 
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Some of you may have noticed that Navarra’s starting monarch is also Aragon’s designated heir in 1444. A new event chain will bring Navarra under a Personal Union with Aragon if Navarra remains independent upon the death of King Afonso. If Navarra is being controlled by a player, they can of course choose to accept this union. But a truly ambitious player can instead reject the union and instantly gain a Restoration CB on Aragon.

What happens if Alfonso dies after Castile (or anyone else) has subjugated Navarre?
 
Are the mission working with random new world ?
It would be great if a dynamic version would exist as it is a shame to have those DLC not working great together (it's also true for the UK).
 
Whats the point of transforming into Brazil like that if they dont have missions of their own? Doesn't seem like a fun transformation... :(

Also the Morocco missiom path ends kind of in a disappointing note if it doesn't go on to include conquering Fez and Marrakesh. I don't think King Sebastian wanted to just chill in the coast.

Im intrigued by the Lusitanian Empire idea though, plus the decision they censored. Are they related? :eek:
 
The more I think about it the more I think the whole United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves should be one of the final missions, unlocking the wealth of Brazil and inviting the player to fully exploit a Southern Hemisphere Empire. That would not only be Late Game content but also something clearly different from the objectives of other nations. It would also prepare the groundwork for an hypothetical future Brazil mission tree.
 
It's planned to be a last chance decision not a "progress" decision. Doesn't seem bad like that.
Yes, it might be both fun and mechanically useful for an AI that has been defeated in Europe but still holds some colonial domains. Thing is, how often will that happen, and why bother to spend time coding a decision only the AI would ever take, when the same capital change could be used to justify a much more interesting option for players? Then again, they blacked out a decision, maybe we haven't seen it all yet.
 
You could learn so much from the CK2 developer team. They are giving the players what they want, and even much more. The response is as good as it can be and you can tell by the forums that people are overhyped for the next dlc (me included).
 
I really liked the idea of adding more subcultures into game. It actually makes me joyful when I think about Meshketian, Qarapapaq, Gagauz (they also became distinct from Anatolian Turks over time to their settlements) Yörüks or even Kipchak, Cumans.

Mission trees look awesome as always. Historical drive is immersive.
 
I'm not sure it's possible to nerf Portugal's ideas further. They already get 0 military ideas, you would have to make them the first country with negative mil ideas :p

Right now Portugal is expected to attack and successfully take provinces from countries all around Africa and Asia with zero mil ideas, lol, I'd be happy with a tier 1 morale boost

In exchange they can take that global tariffs boost in the Ambition slot
 
Are the mission working with random new world ?
It would be great if a dynamic version would exist as it is a shame to have those DLC not working great together (it's also true for the UK).

Some of them will be salvaged for RNW games, but many are very specific to regions that won't exist in those cases.

Im intrigued by the Lusitanian Empire idea though, plus the decision they censored. Are they related? :eek:

No. The censored decision has nothing to do with Portugal specifically, though it is possible for almost any nation to see it under the right circumstances.