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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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It would be really nice if there was a generic version of the decision to abandon your home nation if it was in dire straights for all colonial regions. Portugal isn't the only colonial nation that might find itself with a weakened or no homeland and the monarchies really should have the option to flee to their colonies if they're colonial nations.

Unfortunately this is something we simply don't have time to do for 1.28. Mission trees are quite a lot of work. I've read some period-relevant South American history (especially about Brazil) for a mod I made way back. I'd love make a Brazilian mission tree in the future.
Are there going to at least be a few generic 'colonial' missions like the continental missions that most regions get?
 
Seriously... just say it’s an easy way to do DLCs...

When you see all of the more complete missions trees that the mod Missions Expanded has...
And I am pretty sure they don’t work full time on it.
I just went to that mod's workshop page.

The team is made up of 16 people credited as "coding". Plus an additional 5 contributors credited as "coding" or for specific trees.

neondt is only one person. Who has to work on more than just missions.

If anything the number of missions Missions Expanded is very limited considering the size of the team.
 
Just a simple example: Top-1 military quality belongs to Prussia without a doubt and top-2 powers are Sweden (thanks to events and +1 available policy) and Poland. The gap between top-1 and top-2 is large, but not huge.

Now we have Great Britain as an undisputed maritime nation with the best fleet in game. The second best naval NIs belong to Norway, but the gap between economic power is so huge that Norway never becomes a threat to Britain. All other candidates that might have been able to compete with British navy are either small, or just irrelevant. Now we have major powers that were historically competing with British fleet: Spain, Portugal, France and Netherlands. Unfortunately, none of them is even remotely as good as GBR.

The combination of secluded position on the islands, access to the richest trade node in game and the top-1 set of naval NIs make Great Britain one of the most powerful nations in the game without any real competitors. Is it WAD or just an unintentional imbalance?

With Iberia-focused DLC I actually expected to see some balance improvements, namely naval NIs buffs...

Great britain was very buffed in their inmersion pack,actually i only see 2 solutions,nerf great britain or bluff the other countries for they can compete with great britain
 
Great britain was very buffed in their inmersion pack,actually i only see 2 solutions,nerf great britain or bluff the other countries for they can compete with great britain

or both actually: give small naval buffs to British neighbors (France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark) but slightly nerf British morale and heavies CA. Instead add +10% fire damage or infantry power in British ideas inherited from English ones.
 
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Just gonna add my voice to the chorus of those wanting better Spanish naval ideas. Sure, the Armada was sunk, but it was still one of the most formidable navies in history. Please nix one of the genuinely useless Spanish ideas (like the free administrative policy-- I have never not been disappointed when playing with that one) and replace it with something like heavy ship combat ability or ship durability. As it is, Spain will never be able to compete on the high seas.
 
Probably Portugal will be anexed into Brazil after 50 years, so Brazil would be in South America and Europe... this is so bizarre! :eek::eek::eek:

And not only that... Brazil controling Macau? Timor? Angola? Moçambique? Goa? etc... When did this happen in history? And Portugal there, in Iberia, as a vassalized state!
More: How to undo this?
And if we could undo this, would Portugal gain again the control of its territories in Africa and Asia? Or Brazil will keep em? Confusing...
As I saw some1 saying, to do the things like this, "Better don't do anything!" Keep the game as it was!
 
I have to admit I am very disappointed with the reveal of national ideas in this diary. I am very excited for the rework on my favorite region but the national ideas are out of sync and disconnected to the rivals Spain has in the area you expect Spain to operate.

Spain was a contender on the sea against GB and on the land vs FRANCE. These national ideas are garbage in comparison. envoy travel time? free admin policy? You are giving administrative national ideas to a nation that can't fight for the empire they are suppose to build. France gets Elan in their second national idea and you move Spain's discipline to the last national idea bonus. Silly. Great Bitian gets the motherload of naval ideas for morale/naval combat ability and Spain is given heavy ship cost reduction. The navel maneuver bonus is a good addition but a drop in the bucket.

I am crossing my fingers that they reconsider the national ideas for a nation as vital as Spain. Additionally, leaving the Iberian wedding out of the mission tree is an insult considering you gave England a PU mission over France and a vassalization cb over Scotland.


HOPE.
 
I have to admit I am very disappointed with the reveal of national ideas in this diary. I am very excited for the rework on my favorite region but the national ideas are out of sync and disconnected to the rivals Spain has in the area you expect Spain to operate.

Spain was a contender on the sea against GB and on the land vs FRANCE. These national ideas are garbage in comparison. envoy travel time? free admin policy? You are giving administrative national ideas to a nation that can't fight for the empire they are suppose to build. France gets Elan in their second national idea and you move Spain's discipline to the last national idea bonus. Silly. Great Bitian gets the motherload of naval ideas for morale/naval combat ability and Spain is given heavy ship cost reduction. The navel maneuver bonus is a good addition but a drop in the bucket.

I am crossing my fingers that they reconsider the national ideas for a nation as vital as Spain. Additionally, leaving the Iberian wedding out of the mission tree is an insult considering you gave England a PU mission over France and a vassalization cb over Scotland.


HOPE.

Also considering Spains economic troubles Admin would be the last free policy slot I would give them.
 
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I don't understand the anger about Spain's military ideas. Yes, France gets +5% higher morale, but Spain gets -30% Shock Damage Received in the Age of Reformation which more than makes up the difference.
 
I don't understand the anger about Spain's military ideas. Yes, France gets +5% higher morale, but Spain gets -30% Shock Damage Received in the Age of Reformation which more than makes up the difference.
Because that only lasts for that age, and by the time the Age of Discovery is over Spain often hasn't even beaten Granada anyway, let alone France. In MP forget about it, France can just dismember Castille before they ever even get the bonus.

Honestly though I think the anger is less about how the ideas compare to other countries, and more about how Spain's new ideas compare to Spain's old ideas. They were nerfed a bit for some reason. Envoy travel time as a standalone idea? Come on.
 
so my suggestion for a NI

Castille:
Traditions:
+1
Missionary
+15% Morale of armies
The Reconquista
+5%
Discipline
Inter Caetera
Can fabricate claims on any overseas province, provided it is overseas for its owner +1 Colonist
Here I would make my first change, changing the order between inter caetera and the inquisition, because in most of the games the first idea taken by castilla is exploration instead of getting to conquer the kingdoms of the Maghreb (which have a lot of cost of annexation) since completing the idea of exploration gives you the same casus belli, and in truth it is necessary to have a longer colonization distance in order to colonize the Caribbean first, as was historically correct.
+10% or +15% Colonial range
+1 Colonist
Spanish Inquisition
+2%
Missionary strength
Devout Catholicism
+2
Yearly papal influence
Treasure Fleet
+10%
Provincial trade power modifier
+15% Global tariffs
Here my second intervention, Castilla was not a mercantile state before launching to the conquest of the Americas, I do not understand why it was given a commercial turn being that it was a state in constant war, I would change this and I would leave it later for the Spanish ideas (not Castilian). I would give a new NI reflecting the ambition of Castile by the union of iberia through force (vs portugal or aragon if there is a new event for the pu) and the dynastic wars (which had a lot before 1550)
Iberic Ambition
−10% Aggressive expansion impact
A Spanish Armada
+10%
National sailors modifier
+10% Heavy ship combat ability
Siglo De Oro
+1
Yearly prestige
here another intervention, Castilla was not so prestigious to have its own golden century, the really prestigious was Spain, so this would replace it by something more in line with the reality of this era, which could be a leader without maintenance, to be able have a general, an explorer, and 2 conquerors to begin the quick conquest of the americas / africa.
+1 Leader without upkeep
It could also be the reduction in the cost of the mercenaries, which would reflect the soldiers with criminal charges that were paid cheaply and were sent to the Americas.
−15% Mercenary maintenance
Or something more attractive would be to reflect the private companies of conquest / colonization at this stage
−50% Colonist maintenance
Ambition:
+25
Global settler increase
I do not think this is the most appropriate for a state centered on the union of the peninsula, I would give more money to csatilla to be able to pay for the colonies / mercenaries
+10% National tax modifier


now for spain:
Traditions:
+1
Missionary
+15% Morale of armies
The Reconquista
+5%
Discipline
Inter Caetera
Can fabricate claims on any overseas province, provided it is overseas for its owner +1 Colonist
Here I would make my first change, changing the order between inter caetera and the inquisition, because in most of the games the first idea taken by castilla is exploration instead of getting to conquer the kingdoms of the Maghreb (which have a lot of cost of annexation) since completing the idea of exploration gives you the same casus belli, and in truth it is necessary to have a longer colonization distance in order to colonize the Caribbean first, as was historically correct.
+10% or +15% Colonial range
+1 Colonist
Spanish Inquisition
+2%
Missionary strength
Devout Catholicism
+2
Yearly papal influence
Treasure Fleet
+10%
Provincial trade power modifier
+15% Global tariffs
A Spanish Armada
+10%
National sailors modifier
+10% Heavy ship combat ability
Siglo De Oro
+1
Yearly prestige
I think it would be historic to put a reduction in the cost of culture, Spain was known to encourage "friendly" conquered peoples to speak their language.
−15% Culture conversion cost
Ambition:
+25
Global settler increase
I think that more than the speed of colonists should be the ccr, imagine the speed at which the Inca / Aztec empire was conquered.
−10% Core-creation cost

Obviously any of the countries of the peninsula could form Spain, with their respective cultures, changing their culture to Spanish and accepting all others, with regard to the Iberian wedding, should be done with Portugal or Aragon, depending on the election in the civil war Spanish, and finally with respect to Spain having the possibility of inheriting Naples and the HRE I would like the idea of an event where diplomatic reputation is gained by having a Hasburg on the throne and losing this modifier until the dynasty is lost, this event should give bad things too, for example a high disloyalty of the estates for a time without being able to change it for example.
 
France:

+ 20% National manpower modifier + 20% army morale + 5% Discipline
Better than Spain in everything, with the + 20% National manpower modifier and 5% more in modal army than Spain, same discipline, it is clear that France devastates Spain 9 out of 10 games.

I do not say with this that Spain has to be better than France (in the XV, XVI and half of the XVII it was, then not), but at least it can stand as it did in reality, is not reflected in the ideas the importance of the Tercios that dominated Europe for more than a century, incorporated by the Grand Captain.

England:

+ 10% Infantry combat ability (Until the mid-seventeenth century did not leave or their islands ... Until the middle of the eighteenth century with the redcoats is not understood this improvement, we are talking about the final part of the game).

+ 10% Heavy ship combat ability (You can get to understand as long as they keep the same idea to Castile / Spain). When GB is formed, they obtain: + 20% Morale of navies + 15% Heavy ship combat ability Spain and France can no longer do anything, and as they remove the idea to + 10% Heavy ship combat ability to Spain ...

Developers review the idea + 10% Heavy ship combat ability of Spain.
 
On Portugal's mission tree: Why does Portuguese Malacca come after Settle Indonesia? Wasn't Malacca (conquest of 1511) the stepping stone to Indonesia rather than the other way around?
 
And not only that... Brazil controling Macau? Timor? Angola? Moçambique? Goa? etc... When did this happen in history? And Portugal there, in Iberia, as a vassalized state!
More: How to undo this?
And if we could undo this, would Portugal gain again the control of its territories in Africa and Asia? Or Brazil will keep em? Confusing...
As I saw some1 saying, to do the things like this, "Better don't do anything!" Keep the game as it was!

You have to squint your eyes and read "Fifth Empire" where it says Brazil.
 
Just gonna add my voice to the chorus of those wanting better Spanish naval ideas. Sure, the Armada was sunk, but it was still one of the most formidable navies in history. Please nix one of the genuinely useless Spanish ideas (like the free administrative policy-- I have never not been disappointed when playing with that one) and replace it with something like heavy ship combat ability or ship durability. As it is, Spain will never be able to compete on the high seas.

The Armada was sunk, in part due to the bad weather.
BUT... The english invencible lost more ships in 1589. 70% of KIA in the english fleet, the most disastrous engagement for the english navy, until the Cartagena defeat, again, against the spanish. As the british historian S.M. Hume points out.

And, in the end, Hawkins and Drake were dead, and Spain finally won the war, and the english ports were closed to the dutch. Those are the facts.
Spain was really an naval power until the Spanish Independence War. Lost its status as the great naval superpower after the dutch won in Las Dunas. The English were the naval superpower after 1715, contested mainly by Spain.
Just to point out what really happened.
 
Hi guys!

We're hearing your feedback and we'll continue to polish and balance NI's and missions. Stay tuned for future updates on what's going to happen.