Hello and welcome to our third Developer Diary presenting the content of the upcoming DLC. While I presented Developer Diaries before, this will be my first since my change of role from QA to Content Designer. Today we will tackle the central European countries that are included, with Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and the formable country of Germany.
As you can see, all of these countries received some Mission Trees before in the Emperor DLC. Therefore we decided that these nations should receive a touch-up, that is, an update similar in scope to that which Spain received during Domination. Thus, the main idea was not a total overhaul, but preservation of the core skeleton of their old tree, improving and expanding it where needed, and adding additional flavor and as many important historical things as possible that could not fit into their old mission trees.
Hungary in the 15th century was a regional great power, holding off against the Ottomans and waging successful wars against Austria, Bohemia, and Poland, as well as being a center of Renaissance, as one of the first countries outside of Italy to embrace it. While Hungary starts with some strong perks, its current position is quite perilous due to various powerful neighbors, such as Austria, the Ottomans, and Poland. This is why we decided to give Hungary a facelift, bridging the gap between it and the recently updated neighbors – Poland and the Ottomans.
Historically, Hungarian monarchs, wearing the Holy Crown, styled themselves as Apostolic Kings. As a part of the free 1.37 update, Hungary is getting its own unique T1 reform – the Apostolic Kingdom. Those who own Golden Century and the new DLC will also gain access to the Order of the Dragon, a new local organization that should help the player protect Christendom from the Ottomans:
Note: all ART in the Developer Diary is a placeholder.
As a part of the free update, Hungary is getting about a dozen new flavor events, dealing with various things such as cultures living within the kingdom – including Croats, Slovaks or Transylvanian Saxons, historical personalities such as Beatrice of Aragon, famous generals of the Black Army like Pál Kinzsi and Balázs Magyar, and even the Hunt of Juraj Jánošík, a Slovak bandit hero and almost a legendary figure of their folk tales.
Owners of the new DLC will gain access to additional government reforms, such as employing Cumans with a unique attribute giving you bonus Army Tradition whenever you stackwipe enemy armies:
Before we delve into the Mission Tree of Hungary, a quick note about the Hungarian national ideas. We decided to move some of their ideas into other content, like the Apostolic Kingdom Government Reform, and replace them with other modifiers to deliver a better experience and some room to revive your inner Magyar spirit:
First of all, Hungarian economic missions were massively expanded and now deal with a wide variety of topics ranging from economic development, religion, and cultural progress but also ethnic tensions which started mounting up by the end of the game’s timeline. This branch includes rewards such as important historical personalities as advisors, estate privileges as well as upgrades for them, the ability to pick a new trade good in Pest, or unique bonuses such as gaining government reform progress when unlocking national ideas or getting monarch points refund on technology progress:
Moving on, the next branch deals with the expansion into the Balkans and Poland. The Balkan branch will grant you Subjugation CBs on Balkan tags, and should you establish buffer states in the region, you’ll unlock an empowerment of the Strong Duchies. The Polish branch finally adds the massively requested historical friendship between the nations and also grants you a PU CB on Poland/Commonwealth or a modifier that further strengthens the friendship between Poles and Hungarians. Restoring the Jagiellonian Union will then allow you to expand further into the Baltic and Ruthenia Regions:
The next branch is focused on one of your biggest historical rivals – the Ottomans. The branch gives you bonuses for the duration of your first offensive war and also deals with some important historical institutions that were vital in Hungarian defense against the Turks, including further interactions with the Order of the Dragon, the Black Army, or the Végvár fort system. Banishing the Ottomans from the Balkans will allow you to proclaim yourself the Bulwark of Christianity and gain a powerful permanent reward for winning wars against Heathens.
The bottom left branch is a completely new one, and we added it since we felt that the absence of any Adriatic-oriented missions in their Emperor tree was noticeable, given the relations between Hungary and Croatia or Venice. This branch will have you tighten the union with Croatia, reclaim Dalmatia from Venice, put an end to the Serenissima, and finally, reclaim the legacy of the Angevin kings of Hungary and claim the crown of Naples for yourself. At that point, you will be an undisputed hegemon of the Adriatic:
The final branch of the mission tree will see you march against the Hussite king of Bohemia and dethrone the Habsburgs, fulfilling one of Matthias Corvinus’ ultimate ambitions. This branch includes two PU CBs, an imperial incident, an event allowing you to decide the fate of the empire, and finally, permanent rewards depending on how you deal with the HRE:
And this is not everything that Hungary is getting in 1.37. We have revised the province and capital names consistency in this update removing German, Romanian, and Slovak names, and we have also given Hungary localized ruler titles, government ranks, and more!
Before moving on to Austria, there is one additional thing we would like to show you. As a part of the free update, the Romanian mission tree will be getting a slight reward upgrade, which also includes access to the Order of the Dragon, and the dynamic province names of Romanian nations were extended to cover all of Transylvania and further parts of Hungary!
During the 15th century, the Duchy of Austria saw its rise in European politics. Their clever diplomatic maneuvering granted them the title of Holy Roman Emperor, which they retained until the end of the Empire’s lifespan. For that reason, 1444 can be considered a fortunate time for the Habsburg dynasty, as the aftermath of the battle of Varna left the Hungarian and Bohemian crowns without a king, which Ladislaus the Posthumous had a claim on thanks to his father, Albert II of Germany.
Before we get into their new mission tree, let us talk about the situation in mainland Austria, specifically the fact that Frederick III, Duke of Styria and German King, the starting ruler of Austria, was not the Archduke of Austria, but the Regent for the underaged Ladislaus the Posthumous. In addition, the title of Archduke of Austria was only created in 1452 with the Privilegium Maius law which elevated the Duchy into an Archduchy. Representing all of this would pose a major balancing problem, so we opted for a simpler approach. Austria still retains their Austrian Archduchy government reform; however, they start with a new privilege to represent the split between Styria and Austria proper:
Whilst there may be several ways to unite the House of Habsburg, you will only get rewarded for being proactive, reforming the laws of Austria to unify the two Duchies into the Archduchy. However, you can still get rid of this privilege by either disinheriting Ladislaus or making him your ruler if you so ever desire to.
Speaking of heirs, Austria has now received a new event about a ruler that shaped the history of the Habsburg monarchy significantly, Maximilian I of Austria, who claimed the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and by his marriage to Mary of Burgundy secured the Burgundian lands for the dynasty:
This event can only fire from the year 1460 until the year 1500, and it only triggers when you do not have an heir, as we do not want your current heir replaced, specifically if Ladislaus is still the heir to the Austrian throne. With his capable leadership, he will be able to help you complete some of your missions, but that is for later.
I should also mention that Austria received several additional events claiming their historical territories, such as the lands of Cilli and Trent, as well as the Universal Empire that the Habsburgs established. Lastly, there is a new Burghers privilege for the Austrians, about one influential Swabian family, the Fuggers, which served as economic allies to the Habsburgs.
With the starting position changes now covered, let us delve into the new Austrian mission tree. Austria had already received attention back in the Emperor DLC, however with its neighbors receiving new trees as well, it only made sense for the tree to be modernized. The character of the old tree remains the same, just that the layout and the conditions and rewards have been changed significantly:
Let’s speak about the additions to the old skeleton first. There is now a small branch dedicated to the spread of the Habsburg dynasty in Iberia. Considering the influence the Habsburgs left on the region, it was one of the priorities for us to include now. Secondly, the layout has been changed so that you may no longer be forced to conquer certain regions before you can go into another one, such as having to conquer Croatia before you can expand into Italy or having to conquer Switzerland before you can expand into Burgundy or France. Most of these changes are meant to give the player a more flexible experience, having the ability to focus on one area, or maybe even several at once. The branching part of the mission tree will offer you two choices in dealing with the German lands and the Holy Roman Empire. Will you choose to restore the Holy Roman Empire to its former glory, or will you use the title to try and unify Germany through force?
This change is made to give the player the choice on the German matter, rather than making it so you cannot complete the entire tree if you choose to blob into Germany or play the HRE game and unite the empire through imperial reforms.
The Legacy of Charlemagne path contains missions that mainly assist other Imperial Princes, adding a bit more flavor and a bit more character to their HRE missions:
The German Unification path however revolves around some of their historical acquisitions, as well as some other historical flavor such as adapting to Prussian army reforms:
Now let us talk about the rest of the tree, specifically what Austria can conquer. Most of it remains the same in terms of expansion, however as mentioned previously there are now missions about the Iberian Peninsula. The missions are pretty straightforward there. You can either gain Castile or Spain as a PU if you manage to surpass them in development and put a Habsburg on their throne. As there are already multiple ways for the latter to happen through either the Spanish “A Strategic Marriage” event or the generic “request relative as heir” diplomatic action, we decided to not offer additional paths to achieve this. However, what is unique is that you don’t need to go to war to press your claim on the Iberian throne. Instead, there is now a new decision that requests them to become your junior partner, allowing you to get a personal union with the pen rather than the sword:
Such a union may seem strong, however, like in real life, such a union may prove to be detrimental for a player who cannot manage it. A new imperial incident has been added in case the Spanish and Austrian crowns fall under a union, where the fate of this Universal Empire will be decided:
Moving away from the lands of Iberia and Western Europe though, let us move further east, specifically in the lands of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. The starting mission in this branch has remained roughly the same, with an addition to its reward. It will be possible to gain the crown of Bohemia either through conquest or through personal union, and depending on how it is completed, you will gain a different reward fitting that play style. As for the Polish PU mission, it has received a small rework. Instead of having to conquer Galicia first, to gain the PU CB on them if their total development, including their subjects, is less than 300. This means that should they get their Personal Union with Lithuania, it will put them above 300 total development, meaning that if you want to claim the throne of Poland you must weaken them first:
Now to finish off the major conquest changes, let us look at the Balkan parts. Whilst what you have to conquer there remains the same, there have been new additions to some of these missions. For starters, Hungary can now become an Incorporated Personal Union. What is that you may ask? Incorporated Vassals and Incorporated Personal Unions will be unique subjects that Austria can establish, making them cheaper to integrate. Showcasing the relation between Austria and Hungary was quite important for the Austrian content, as the Hungarian crown was pretty autonomous from the rest of the Habsburgs' domains. Whilst this is not fully represented in EU4, integrating Hungary will now give their lands tons of autonomy, as well as in the Age of Absolutism, a new disaster will start ticking up should you not grant the Hungarians autonomy, which may have some country-changing consequences.
Other additions include the creation of an Austrian Empire that uses Germanization as their way of ruling non-Germans, as well as establishing the Latin Empire should you defeat the Ottomans and reclaim Constantinople:
Moving away from conquest, let’s look at the remaining part of the tree, where a lot of the Austrian flavor lies. Whilst the Habsburgs are regarded as some diplomatic masterminds, that was not their only accomplishment. Maximilian I had left a legacy beyond that of the pen, as he promoted the new Pike and Shot formation whilst fighting the French in the Low Countries. As his nickname implies as well, he was a model ruler for any European king at the time. For that, there’s a mission around that theme, the Last Knights of Europe which rewards you for completing it as early as possible, as you gain strong bonuses in the Age of Discovery. Furthermore, there are a few missions revolving around diplomatic achievements as well, using your courtly connections, your diplomatic prowess, and your subjects to expand using the pen rather than the sword:
Due to the lack of formables for Austria and Hungary, we have decided to include Austria-Hungary as one. We are fully aware that the addition of Austria-Hungary might be a controversial decision, so let us share a few important points about why we decided to add a formable nation that will be considered alternate history The first is a gameplay reason, as we see formable nations as an important gameplay and role-playing oriented goal for the players, and as we have mentioned before, both nations lacked a formable nation. While Austria can form Germany, we concluded that Germany is not the best fitting formable for the Habsburg Monarchy from the roleplaying perspective. We also did not want to delve too much into alternate history by adding formables such as a Danubian Federation or Carpathia. Austria-Hungary might be outside of the game’s timeline, but we do not see that as much of an issue, since an early reform of the Austrian and Hungarian domains into a Dual Monarchy is plausible inside the timeline, similar to how Germany or Italy as formable countries are included.
So Austria-Hungary will be a formable country available for both Austria and Hungary. But there is a catch. Austria-Hungary historically was not a usual proclamation of a new country. For that reason, there is a dedicated disaster for both Austria and Hungary that will be active from the Age of Absolutism and on. A decision to form Austria-Hungary once you reach administrative tech 20 will also be available. This is to give the player a choice in the matter: Do you want to maintain the old realm and possibly anger their junior partner, or do they want to make a more multicultural realm and avoid this disaster?
So, what is this disaster about? The Hungarian (or Austrian) Revolution is a disaster that you will have to manage constantly, making it so you have to keep your lands in peace and happy lest the people start revolting:
Once the disaster triggers, then rebels will start spawning in your non-primary culture provinces. The way to deal with this disaster is quite simple: squash the rebellion and get at least to 1 stability. If the rebellions turn out to be too much, then the choice of compromising with the revolutionaries is always there. Speaking of outcomes, the disaster has 3 outcomes to it:
The Hungarian counterpart of the disaster is the same, just instead of the Hungarians, it’s the Austrians. In addition, Hungary will be able to become Hungary-Austria instead, a rename that is optional for the player. Similarly, Hungary will be able to retain its Hungarian color if they choose to. Lastly, we know that the Austria-Hungary color is too close to that of Austria, so we’d like to hear your opinion on what color would suit them better.
And just before we move on to Bohemia, here are the Austro-Hungarian ideas:
In 1444, Bohemia was slowly recovering from the massive impact the Hussite Wars had on their lands. One of the things we wanted to address is the lack of any meaningful and sensible impact of the war on the nation. Therefore, in 1.37, Bohemia will be greeted by a new event which will inform the player about the impact the Hussite Wars had on the land. Most Bohemian provinces now start with 30-50 devastation on average, and players with the new DLC will also gain an additional debuff which will either expire after 30 years or can be removed via the new mission tree:
Another important thing we aimed to address is the lack of formable nations for Bohemia and their West Slavic brethren, which we perceive as important gameplay, but also roleplaying, oriented goals for the player. While there are a few candidates available in what-if alternate history scenarios such as the Bohemian Commonwealth or Zapadoslavia, we have decided to add a nation that existed before EU IV’s timeline – Great Moravia. Although quite short-lived, Great Moravia had a profound impact on the Slavic world – it was the first Slavic country to become officially Christian, it was the place where the first Slavic script, Glagolitic, was developed, their efforts led to the recognition of Church Slavonic as the fourth liturgical language by the Holy See, and after its disintegration, the spirit of Moravia lived on in the Bulgarian Empire. Due to its historical importance, we felt like this was an ideal pick for a formable nation. Although nowadays, Czechs perceive it as their country, Bohemia itself was not really a direct successor to Great Moravia, it was briefly ruled by it, but quickly became “independent” following the collapse of Moravian authority. Therefore, Bohemia will have to unlock access to this formable via their new 1.37 mission tree, where they will be claiming the legacy of Great Moravia for themselves and proclaiming Bohemian rulers the heirs of Svatopluk:
Of course Great Moravia will also receive their own idea set:
On the other hand, the two founding principalities – Moravia and Nitra – will gain access to Great Moravia as a part of the free update without having to unlock it first. Although we did not have the capacity or time to give them a fully fleshed-out unique tree, we have given Moravia and Nitra a short, shared branch of 5 unique missions which should help you form Great Moravia and make your Great Moravian achievement run a bit less painful. These five missions are also included in the free update:
Now let’s move to the Bohemian Mission Tree itself. It will consist of 33 regular and 3 branching missions, which means that the tree is roughly double the size of the Emperor tree. As mentioned in the beginning, the core skeleton of the old tree was preserved, but largely expanded upon with the addition of better and more flavor that we felt was missing from the old tree:
The first part of the mission tree deals with conquest. The upper central part will have you recover lands controlled by Great Moravia, unlocking the formable in the process. The Austrian part includes a bit of a timed challenge in the form of a bonus reward. If you complete 'Otakar’s Legacy' while the modifier given by the previous mission is still active, you will be able to keep it permanently:
The left side of the tree will have you claim the throne of Hungary, gaining interesting rewards such as the ability to transfer the ownership of Slovakia for yourself in case you PU Hungary, since the mission ‘Recover Nitrava’ is needed for forming Great Moravia requires you to own those provinces directly. Having claimed the Hungarian crown, you will also take their spot as the Bulwark of Christianity, unlocking the Order of the Dragon holy order and gaining Subjugation CBs on all Balkan nations, as well as access to “Unite Balkans” Casus belli:
The right side of the mission tree deals with Poland. This branch includes an evolving modifier called “Premyslid Heritage” which gets stronger as you complete more missions. This branch also includes some interesting rewards, such as the ability to combine your subjects into Silesia, or a decision to release Prussia as your vassal:
The lower central part of the conquest part deals with your imperial neighbors and potential rivals in Brandenburg and Saxony. By solidifying your position as the strongest nation in the HRE, you will be able to gain Subjugation CBs on those nations, as well as the ability to decide their status once subjugated. This branch also awards you with the Hussite War wagons government reform, which includes a unique attribute that gives you extra army tradition for winning battles on your owned land. The final mission of this branch also finalizes your conquest tree by having you establish a Bohemian Commonwealth stretching from the Baltic to the Bosphorus:
Moving on to the lower part of the tree, its central piece has its missions concerned with infrastructure and economic matters. These will have you recover from the Hussite Wars, further expand the influence of the famed Charles University, and realize the industrial potential of the Bohemian lands:
The right side of the tree will ask you to realize the imperial ambitions of the Bohemian crown through influencing the electors, reclaiming Bohemian emperorship, reforming the empire, and eventually proclaiming Bohemian hegemony over Europe:
Finally, the part I am sure many of you are the most excited about – branching missions. As probably expected, these deal with religion and come in two variants – Catholic and Hussite (both have fallback requirements and rewards so you are not restricted to these two religions only). The branching missions are previewable from the beginning of the game, but are unlocked depending on the way you complete the “Return of the Hussites” event:
Firstly, the Catholic branching missions will see you root out the Hussite heresy, and then fight for the victory of the true faith during the times of the Reformation. Should you prevail, you will gain upgrades to the 'Religious Diplomats' estate privilege as well as a permanent scaling modifier for your diplomat and statesman advisors, further solidifying your position as the shield of the true faith in the Empire:
Should you pick the Hussite branch, you will have to survive as an outcast while trying to spread the teachings of Jan Hus. You will be aided by a center of reformation, reduced cost to enforce religion, and also gain rewards such as a new Hussite aspect of faith giving CB on religious enemies, or a chance for a refund of church power when applying Hussite aspects of faith:
But wait, does the last mission, called the Hussite Empire, kind of imply that you can now become a Hussite Empire? That is correct! In 1.37, we are adding a new imperial incident called ‘The Hussite Protest’, which works the same way as the Reformed incident added way back in Emperor. Should Hussite become a majority religion in the empire following the Protestant victory, the incident will fire, allowing you to make Hussite the official religion of the HRE:
And this is far from over! Since we can't show you everything in the DDs, as we also want to leave something for you to explore, we will conclude the Bohemian part of the DD. However, we can say that you can also expect content additions such as events about historical personalities including Jan Amos Komensky or Jan Rokycana, the ability to abolish the Bohemian elective monarchy, corrections and consistency updates of Bohemian dynamic province names, such as the removal of German names or renaming of Ostrava to Hradiste since Ostrava did not exist in 1444, localized ruler titles and government ranks (for Slovak too!) and more!
And with that, we move on to Germany, the last subject of this developer diary. The Germany rework follows the same principles as the Italy from last week. Rather than fully reworking the mission tree from the ground up, we have chosen to take the old content and mold it into a more interesting & more polished experience, while adding plenty of new missions to further enhance the gameplay. Without further ado, here's the mission tree:
The conquest mission tree, claim-wise, has not seen many changes, the only new areas available for conquest are Denmark and North Jutland. Most of the changes here are certainly in the mission rewards. Let us take a look at some of them, then:
The Overseas missions have seen an addition of the "Found Wilhelmshaven" mission but are otherwise structurally the same. The same cannot be said about the mission rewards, with "Imperial Navy" allowing you to get a new Naval Doctrine, the "Scramble for Africa" giving you the tools to take over large portions of the continent, and the "Overseas Empire" allowing you to establish a Treaty Port in China:
The economic missions have seen the addition of several missions allowing you to truly claim the title of dominant economic power. The branch starts with "Rapid Industrialization", requiring 30 manufactories and giving a temporary construction cost modifier for you to further capitalize on. The next mission is "Promote Urbanization", requiring you to have developed your provinces over 50 times and to have at least 10 provinces with 30 Development in either of the German regions. That, and the two following missions either add or modify existing estate privileges:
The Protected Markets then allow you to industrialize Rhineland and Silesia, requiring you to have a specific amount of development with manufactories in the areas. The missions, in turn, allow for early adoption of Coal and give you modifiers that later merge together in the final mission.
Lastly, the Diplomatic missions have seen quite an expansion. Further missions have been added to cement Germany as a new major power in Europe and a force to be reckoned with. Here are some of the most interesting rewards from the mission tree.
Yet, the most sought-after remains the Kaiserreich mission:
The reform granted by the mission is based on the primary culture, and there's a lot of variation you can acquire, here's a collection of them:
The fallback for not having any of the cultures is a generic reform with +5% Administrative Efficiency.
What is your favorite? What cultural reform would you change? We'd be curious to know!
Lastly, I'd like to mention that the Holy Roman Empire tag also received a small update to their missions and has some variation in the mission tree, for instance, the Italy mission and the Holy Roman Empire now offer evolving modifiers that merge:
Lastly, as the formation of Germany is going to be quite the power spike, the formation of Germany offers you a new challenge, in the form of a new government reform you need to work towards removing. The Cultural Fragmentation government reform gives you access to a government mechanic, whereas you pick a culture to integrate after which you integrate it. Once you have integrated 7 cultures, the government reform will be abolished through the "Trust Your Neighbor" mission:
While Cultural Unity is called National Unity in some places, those terms will be unified into Cultural Unity.
And that's a wrap for this week's Developer Diary! Next week @PDXBigBoss will be back with Hisn Kayfa, Hormuz, Oman, Theodoro and Trebizond. And of course we can not forget this weeks comics by FatherLorris:
As you can see, all of these countries received some Mission Trees before in the Emperor DLC. Therefore we decided that these nations should receive a touch-up, that is, an update similar in scope to that which Spain received during Domination. Thus, the main idea was not a total overhaul, but preservation of the core skeleton of their old tree, improving and expanding it where needed, and adding additional flavor and as many important historical things as possible that could not fit into their old mission trees.
Hungary in the 15th century was a regional great power, holding off against the Ottomans and waging successful wars against Austria, Bohemia, and Poland, as well as being a center of Renaissance, as one of the first countries outside of Italy to embrace it. While Hungary starts with some strong perks, its current position is quite perilous due to various powerful neighbors, such as Austria, the Ottomans, and Poland. This is why we decided to give Hungary a facelift, bridging the gap between it and the recently updated neighbors – Poland and the Ottomans.
Historically, Hungarian monarchs, wearing the Holy Crown, styled themselves as Apostolic Kings. As a part of the free 1.37 update, Hungary is getting its own unique T1 reform – the Apostolic Kingdom. Those who own Golden Century and the new DLC will also gain access to the Order of the Dragon, a new local organization that should help the player protect Christendom from the Ottomans:
Note: all ART in the Developer Diary is a placeholder.
As a part of the free update, Hungary is getting about a dozen new flavor events, dealing with various things such as cultures living within the kingdom – including Croats, Slovaks or Transylvanian Saxons, historical personalities such as Beatrice of Aragon, famous generals of the Black Army like Pál Kinzsi and Balázs Magyar, and even the Hunt of Juraj Jánošík, a Slovak bandit hero and almost a legendary figure of their folk tales.
Owners of the new DLC will gain access to additional government reforms, such as employing Cumans with a unique attribute giving you bonus Army Tradition whenever you stackwipe enemy armies:
Before we delve into the Mission Tree of Hungary, a quick note about the Hungarian national ideas. We decided to move some of their ideas into other content, like the Apostolic Kingdom Government Reform, and replace them with other modifiers to deliver a better experience and some room to revive your inner Magyar spirit:
Code:
HUN_ideas = {
start = {
cavalry_power = 0.20
army_tradition_decay = -0.01
}
bonus = {
cav_to_inf_ratio = 0.25
}
trigger = {
tag = HUN
}
free = yes
hun_renaissanse_knowledge = {
global_unrest = -1
}
bulwark_of_christianity = {
global_manpower_modifier = 0.2
}
found_the_black_army = {
discipline = 0.05
}
reformed_coinage = {
global_tax_modifier = 0.1
}
curtailed_peasantry = {
production_efficiency = 0.1
}
strengthened_towns = {
global_prov_trade_power_modifier = 0.25
}
hungarian_estates_general = {
no_religion_penalty = yes
}
}When it comes to content, the new Hungarian tree consists of 42 missions, which is about twice the amount of their Emperor counterpart. We have preserved the main skeleton of the Emperor tree, expanded it where we felt it was lacking, and restructured it a bit, so for example going against Austria does not require you to deal with Bohemia first and more:
First of all, Hungarian economic missions were massively expanded and now deal with a wide variety of topics ranging from economic development, religion, and cultural progress but also ethnic tensions which started mounting up by the end of the game’s timeline. This branch includes rewards such as important historical personalities as advisors, estate privileges as well as upgrades for them, the ability to pick a new trade good in Pest, or unique bonuses such as gaining government reform progress when unlocking national ideas or getting monarch points refund on technology progress:
Moving on, the next branch deals with the expansion into the Balkans and Poland. The Balkan branch will grant you Subjugation CBs on Balkan tags, and should you establish buffer states in the region, you’ll unlock an empowerment of the Strong Duchies. The Polish branch finally adds the massively requested historical friendship between the nations and also grants you a PU CB on Poland/Commonwealth or a modifier that further strengthens the friendship between Poles and Hungarians. Restoring the Jagiellonian Union will then allow you to expand further into the Baltic and Ruthenia Regions:
The next branch is focused on one of your biggest historical rivals – the Ottomans. The branch gives you bonuses for the duration of your first offensive war and also deals with some important historical institutions that were vital in Hungarian defense against the Turks, including further interactions with the Order of the Dragon, the Black Army, or the Végvár fort system. Banishing the Ottomans from the Balkans will allow you to proclaim yourself the Bulwark of Christianity and gain a powerful permanent reward for winning wars against Heathens.
The bottom left branch is a completely new one, and we added it since we felt that the absence of any Adriatic-oriented missions in their Emperor tree was noticeable, given the relations between Hungary and Croatia or Venice. This branch will have you tighten the union with Croatia, reclaim Dalmatia from Venice, put an end to the Serenissima, and finally, reclaim the legacy of the Angevin kings of Hungary and claim the crown of Naples for yourself. At that point, you will be an undisputed hegemon of the Adriatic:
The final branch of the mission tree will see you march against the Hussite king of Bohemia and dethrone the Habsburgs, fulfilling one of Matthias Corvinus’ ultimate ambitions. This branch includes two PU CBs, an imperial incident, an event allowing you to decide the fate of the empire, and finally, permanent rewards depending on how you deal with the HRE:
And this is not everything that Hungary is getting in 1.37. We have revised the province and capital names consistency in this update removing German, Romanian, and Slovak names, and we have also given Hungary localized ruler titles, government ranks, and more!
Before moving on to Austria, there is one additional thing we would like to show you. As a part of the free update, the Romanian mission tree will be getting a slight reward upgrade, which also includes access to the Order of the Dragon, and the dynamic province names of Romanian nations were extended to cover all of Transylvania and further parts of Hungary!
During the 15th century, the Duchy of Austria saw its rise in European politics. Their clever diplomatic maneuvering granted them the title of Holy Roman Emperor, which they retained until the end of the Empire’s lifespan. For that reason, 1444 can be considered a fortunate time for the Habsburg dynasty, as the aftermath of the battle of Varna left the Hungarian and Bohemian crowns without a king, which Ladislaus the Posthumous had a claim on thanks to his father, Albert II of Germany.
Before we get into their new mission tree, let us talk about the situation in mainland Austria, specifically the fact that Frederick III, Duke of Styria and German King, the starting ruler of Austria, was not the Archduke of Austria, but the Regent for the underaged Ladislaus the Posthumous. In addition, the title of Archduke of Austria was only created in 1452 with the Privilegium Maius law which elevated the Duchy into an Archduchy. Representing all of this would pose a major balancing problem, so we opted for a simpler approach. Austria still retains their Austrian Archduchy government reform; however, they start with a new privilege to represent the split between Styria and Austria proper:
Whilst there may be several ways to unite the House of Habsburg, you will only get rewarded for being proactive, reforming the laws of Austria to unify the two Duchies into the Archduchy. However, you can still get rid of this privilege by either disinheriting Ladislaus or making him your ruler if you so ever desire to.
Speaking of heirs, Austria has now received a new event about a ruler that shaped the history of the Habsburg monarchy significantly, Maximilian I of Austria, who claimed the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and by his marriage to Mary of Burgundy secured the Burgundian lands for the dynasty:
This event can only fire from the year 1460 until the year 1500, and it only triggers when you do not have an heir, as we do not want your current heir replaced, specifically if Ladislaus is still the heir to the Austrian throne. With his capable leadership, he will be able to help you complete some of your missions, but that is for later.
I should also mention that Austria received several additional events claiming their historical territories, such as the lands of Cilli and Trent, as well as the Universal Empire that the Habsburgs established. Lastly, there is a new Burghers privilege for the Austrians, about one influential Swabian family, the Fuggers, which served as economic allies to the Habsburgs.
With the starting position changes now covered, let us delve into the new Austrian mission tree. Austria had already received attention back in the Emperor DLC, however with its neighbors receiving new trees as well, it only made sense for the tree to be modernized. The character of the old tree remains the same, just that the layout and the conditions and rewards have been changed significantly:
Let’s speak about the additions to the old skeleton first. There is now a small branch dedicated to the spread of the Habsburg dynasty in Iberia. Considering the influence the Habsburgs left on the region, it was one of the priorities for us to include now. Secondly, the layout has been changed so that you may no longer be forced to conquer certain regions before you can go into another one, such as having to conquer Croatia before you can expand into Italy or having to conquer Switzerland before you can expand into Burgundy or France. Most of these changes are meant to give the player a more flexible experience, having the ability to focus on one area, or maybe even several at once. The branching part of the mission tree will offer you two choices in dealing with the German lands and the Holy Roman Empire. Will you choose to restore the Holy Roman Empire to its former glory, or will you use the title to try and unify Germany through force?
This change is made to give the player the choice on the German matter, rather than making it so you cannot complete the entire tree if you choose to blob into Germany or play the HRE game and unite the empire through imperial reforms.
The Legacy of Charlemagne path contains missions that mainly assist other Imperial Princes, adding a bit more flavor and a bit more character to their HRE missions:
The German Unification path however revolves around some of their historical acquisitions, as well as some other historical flavor such as adapting to Prussian army reforms:
Now let us talk about the rest of the tree, specifically what Austria can conquer. Most of it remains the same in terms of expansion, however as mentioned previously there are now missions about the Iberian Peninsula. The missions are pretty straightforward there. You can either gain Castile or Spain as a PU if you manage to surpass them in development and put a Habsburg on their throne. As there are already multiple ways for the latter to happen through either the Spanish “A Strategic Marriage” event or the generic “request relative as heir” diplomatic action, we decided to not offer additional paths to achieve this. However, what is unique is that you don’t need to go to war to press your claim on the Iberian throne. Instead, there is now a new decision that requests them to become your junior partner, allowing you to get a personal union with the pen rather than the sword:
Such a union may seem strong, however, like in real life, such a union may prove to be detrimental for a player who cannot manage it. A new imperial incident has been added in case the Spanish and Austrian crowns fall under a union, where the fate of this Universal Empire will be decided:
Moving away from the lands of Iberia and Western Europe though, let us move further east, specifically in the lands of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. The starting mission in this branch has remained roughly the same, with an addition to its reward. It will be possible to gain the crown of Bohemia either through conquest or through personal union, and depending on how it is completed, you will gain a different reward fitting that play style. As for the Polish PU mission, it has received a small rework. Instead of having to conquer Galicia first, to gain the PU CB on them if their total development, including their subjects, is less than 300. This means that should they get their Personal Union with Lithuania, it will put them above 300 total development, meaning that if you want to claim the throne of Poland you must weaken them first:
Now to finish off the major conquest changes, let us look at the Balkan parts. Whilst what you have to conquer there remains the same, there have been new additions to some of these missions. For starters, Hungary can now become an Incorporated Personal Union. What is that you may ask? Incorporated Vassals and Incorporated Personal Unions will be unique subjects that Austria can establish, making them cheaper to integrate. Showcasing the relation between Austria and Hungary was quite important for the Austrian content, as the Hungarian crown was pretty autonomous from the rest of the Habsburgs' domains. Whilst this is not fully represented in EU4, integrating Hungary will now give their lands tons of autonomy, as well as in the Age of Absolutism, a new disaster will start ticking up should you not grant the Hungarians autonomy, which may have some country-changing consequences.
Other additions include the creation of an Austrian Empire that uses Germanization as their way of ruling non-Germans, as well as establishing the Latin Empire should you defeat the Ottomans and reclaim Constantinople:
Moving away from conquest, let’s look at the remaining part of the tree, where a lot of the Austrian flavor lies. Whilst the Habsburgs are regarded as some diplomatic masterminds, that was not their only accomplishment. Maximilian I had left a legacy beyond that of the pen, as he promoted the new Pike and Shot formation whilst fighting the French in the Low Countries. As his nickname implies as well, he was a model ruler for any European king at the time. For that, there’s a mission around that theme, the Last Knights of Europe which rewards you for completing it as early as possible, as you gain strong bonuses in the Age of Discovery. Furthermore, there are a few missions revolving around diplomatic achievements as well, using your courtly connections, your diplomatic prowess, and your subjects to expand using the pen rather than the sword:
Due to the lack of formables for Austria and Hungary, we have decided to include Austria-Hungary as one. We are fully aware that the addition of Austria-Hungary might be a controversial decision, so let us share a few important points about why we decided to add a formable nation that will be considered alternate history The first is a gameplay reason, as we see formable nations as an important gameplay and role-playing oriented goal for the players, and as we have mentioned before, both nations lacked a formable nation. While Austria can form Germany, we concluded that Germany is not the best fitting formable for the Habsburg Monarchy from the roleplaying perspective. We also did not want to delve too much into alternate history by adding formables such as a Danubian Federation or Carpathia. Austria-Hungary might be outside of the game’s timeline, but we do not see that as much of an issue, since an early reform of the Austrian and Hungarian domains into a Dual Monarchy is plausible inside the timeline, similar to how Germany or Italy as formable countries are included.
So Austria-Hungary will be a formable country available for both Austria and Hungary. But there is a catch. Austria-Hungary historically was not a usual proclamation of a new country. For that reason, there is a dedicated disaster for both Austria and Hungary that will be active from the Age of Absolutism and on. A decision to form Austria-Hungary once you reach administrative tech 20 will also be available. This is to give the player a choice in the matter: Do you want to maintain the old realm and possibly anger their junior partner, or do they want to make a more multicultural realm and avoid this disaster?
So, what is this disaster about? The Hungarian (or Austrian) Revolution is a disaster that you will have to manage constantly, making it so you have to keep your lands in peace and happy lest the people start revolting:
Once the disaster triggers, then rebels will start spawning in your non-primary culture provinces. The way to deal with this disaster is quite simple: squash the rebellion and get at least to 1 stability. If the rebellions turn out to be too much, then the choice of compromising with the revolutionaries is always there. Speaking of outcomes, the disaster has 3 outcomes to it:
- The Revolution Crushed, where the rebellion is completely stomped out, allowing you to centralize your Hungarian/Austrian lands.
- Compromising with the Nobility, where you create an Austro-Hungarian state by agreeing to elevate the Hungarian/Austrian crown to the same level as your realm.
- The Victorious Revolution , where Hungary/Austria become free and your realm is humiliated.
The Hungarian counterpart of the disaster is the same, just instead of the Hungarians, it’s the Austrians. In addition, Hungary will be able to become Hungary-Austria instead, a rename that is optional for the player. Similarly, Hungary will be able to retain its Hungarian color if they choose to. Lastly, we know that the Austria-Hungary color is too close to that of Austria, so we’d like to hear your opinion on what color would suit them better.
And just before we move on to Bohemia, here are the Austro-Hungarian ideas:
Code:
AUH_ideas = {
start = {
land_morale = 0.1
diplomatic_reputation = 2
}
bonus = {
no_religion_penalty = yes
}
trigger = {
tag = AUH
}
free = yes
auh_first = {
discipline = 0.05
}
auh_second = {
manpower_in_accepted_culture_provinces = 0.3
}
auh_third = {
global_trade_goods_size_modifier = 0.1
}
auh_fourth = {
global_unrest = -1
}
auh_fifth = {
state_governing_cost = -0.2
}
auh_sixth = {
global_prov_trade_power_modifier = 0.25
}
auh_seventh = {
artillery_power = 0.1
artillery_cost = -0.1
}
}In 1444, Bohemia was slowly recovering from the massive impact the Hussite Wars had on their lands. One of the things we wanted to address is the lack of any meaningful and sensible impact of the war on the nation. Therefore, in 1.37, Bohemia will be greeted by a new event which will inform the player about the impact the Hussite Wars had on the land. Most Bohemian provinces now start with 30-50 devastation on average, and players with the new DLC will also gain an additional debuff which will either expire after 30 years or can be removed via the new mission tree:
Another important thing we aimed to address is the lack of formable nations for Bohemia and their West Slavic brethren, which we perceive as important gameplay, but also roleplaying, oriented goals for the player. While there are a few candidates available in what-if alternate history scenarios such as the Bohemian Commonwealth or Zapadoslavia, we have decided to add a nation that existed before EU IV’s timeline – Great Moravia. Although quite short-lived, Great Moravia had a profound impact on the Slavic world – it was the first Slavic country to become officially Christian, it was the place where the first Slavic script, Glagolitic, was developed, their efforts led to the recognition of Church Slavonic as the fourth liturgical language by the Holy See, and after its disintegration, the spirit of Moravia lived on in the Bulgarian Empire. Due to its historical importance, we felt like this was an ideal pick for a formable nation. Although nowadays, Czechs perceive it as their country, Bohemia itself was not really a direct successor to Great Moravia, it was briefly ruled by it, but quickly became “independent” following the collapse of Moravian authority. Therefore, Bohemia will have to unlock access to this formable via their new 1.37 mission tree, where they will be claiming the legacy of Great Moravia for themselves and proclaiming Bohemian rulers the heirs of Svatopluk:
Of course Great Moravia will also receive their own idea set:
Code:
GMA_ideas = {
start = {
global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
global_trade_goods_size_modifier = 0.1
}
bonus = {
max_absolutism_effect = 0.15
}
trigger = {
tag = GMA
}
free = yes
gma_reforge_moravias_hegemony = {
overextension_impact_modifier = -0.25
}
gma_apostles_to_the_slavs = {
missionaries = 1
}
gma_princes_of_nitra_kings_of_moravia = {
monarch_admin_power = 1
}
gma_rebuild_veligrad = {
build_time = -0.1
development_cost = -0.05
}
gma_rex_sclavorum = {
legitimacy = 1
devotion = 1
republican_tradition = 0.3
meritocracy = 1
horde_unity = 1
}
gma_canonize_cyril_methodius = {
tolerance_own = 3
}
gma_svatopluks_legacy = {
discipline = 0.05
max_absolutism = 5
}
}On the other hand, the two founding principalities – Moravia and Nitra – will gain access to Great Moravia as a part of the free update without having to unlock it first. Although we did not have the capacity or time to give them a fully fleshed-out unique tree, we have given Moravia and Nitra a short, shared branch of 5 unique missions which should help you form Great Moravia and make your Great Moravian achievement run a bit less painful. These five missions are also included in the free update:
Now let’s move to the Bohemian Mission Tree itself. It will consist of 33 regular and 3 branching missions, which means that the tree is roughly double the size of the Emperor tree. As mentioned in the beginning, the core skeleton of the old tree was preserved, but largely expanded upon with the addition of better and more flavor that we felt was missing from the old tree:
The first part of the mission tree deals with conquest. The upper central part will have you recover lands controlled by Great Moravia, unlocking the formable in the process. The Austrian part includes a bit of a timed challenge in the form of a bonus reward. If you complete 'Otakar’s Legacy' while the modifier given by the previous mission is still active, you will be able to keep it permanently:
The left side of the tree will have you claim the throne of Hungary, gaining interesting rewards such as the ability to transfer the ownership of Slovakia for yourself in case you PU Hungary, since the mission ‘Recover Nitrava’ is needed for forming Great Moravia requires you to own those provinces directly. Having claimed the Hungarian crown, you will also take their spot as the Bulwark of Christianity, unlocking the Order of the Dragon holy order and gaining Subjugation CBs on all Balkan nations, as well as access to “Unite Balkans” Casus belli:
The right side of the mission tree deals with Poland. This branch includes an evolving modifier called “Premyslid Heritage” which gets stronger as you complete more missions. This branch also includes some interesting rewards, such as the ability to combine your subjects into Silesia, or a decision to release Prussia as your vassal:
The lower central part of the conquest part deals with your imperial neighbors and potential rivals in Brandenburg and Saxony. By solidifying your position as the strongest nation in the HRE, you will be able to gain Subjugation CBs on those nations, as well as the ability to decide their status once subjugated. This branch also awards you with the Hussite War wagons government reform, which includes a unique attribute that gives you extra army tradition for winning battles on your owned land. The final mission of this branch also finalizes your conquest tree by having you establish a Bohemian Commonwealth stretching from the Baltic to the Bosphorus:
Moving on to the lower part of the tree, its central piece has its missions concerned with infrastructure and economic matters. These will have you recover from the Hussite Wars, further expand the influence of the famed Charles University, and realize the industrial potential of the Bohemian lands:
The right side of the tree will ask you to realize the imperial ambitions of the Bohemian crown through influencing the electors, reclaiming Bohemian emperorship, reforming the empire, and eventually proclaiming Bohemian hegemony over Europe:
Finally, the part I am sure many of you are the most excited about – branching missions. As probably expected, these deal with religion and come in two variants – Catholic and Hussite (both have fallback requirements and rewards so you are not restricted to these two religions only). The branching missions are previewable from the beginning of the game, but are unlocked depending on the way you complete the “Return of the Hussites” event:
Firstly, the Catholic branching missions will see you root out the Hussite heresy, and then fight for the victory of the true faith during the times of the Reformation. Should you prevail, you will gain upgrades to the 'Religious Diplomats' estate privilege as well as a permanent scaling modifier for your diplomat and statesman advisors, further solidifying your position as the shield of the true faith in the Empire:
Should you pick the Hussite branch, you will have to survive as an outcast while trying to spread the teachings of Jan Hus. You will be aided by a center of reformation, reduced cost to enforce religion, and also gain rewards such as a new Hussite aspect of faith giving CB on religious enemies, or a chance for a refund of church power when applying Hussite aspects of faith:
But wait, does the last mission, called the Hussite Empire, kind of imply that you can now become a Hussite Empire? That is correct! In 1.37, we are adding a new imperial incident called ‘The Hussite Protest’, which works the same way as the Reformed incident added way back in Emperor. Should Hussite become a majority religion in the empire following the Protestant victory, the incident will fire, allowing you to make Hussite the official religion of the HRE:
And this is far from over! Since we can't show you everything in the DDs, as we also want to leave something for you to explore, we will conclude the Bohemian part of the DD. However, we can say that you can also expect content additions such as events about historical personalities including Jan Amos Komensky or Jan Rokycana, the ability to abolish the Bohemian elective monarchy, corrections and consistency updates of Bohemian dynamic province names, such as the removal of German names or renaming of Ostrava to Hradiste since Ostrava did not exist in 1444, localized ruler titles and government ranks (for Slovak too!) and more!
And with that, we move on to Germany, the last subject of this developer diary. The Germany rework follows the same principles as the Italy from last week. Rather than fully reworking the mission tree from the ground up, we have chosen to take the old content and mold it into a more interesting & more polished experience, while adding plenty of new missions to further enhance the gameplay. Without further ado, here's the mission tree:
The conquest mission tree, claim-wise, has not seen many changes, the only new areas available for conquest are Denmark and North Jutland. Most of the changes here are certainly in the mission rewards. Let us take a look at some of them, then:
The Overseas missions have seen an addition of the "Found Wilhelmshaven" mission but are otherwise structurally the same. The same cannot be said about the mission rewards, with "Imperial Navy" allowing you to get a new Naval Doctrine, the "Scramble for Africa" giving you the tools to take over large portions of the continent, and the "Overseas Empire" allowing you to establish a Treaty Port in China:
The economic missions have seen the addition of several missions allowing you to truly claim the title of dominant economic power. The branch starts with "Rapid Industrialization", requiring 30 manufactories and giving a temporary construction cost modifier for you to further capitalize on. The next mission is "Promote Urbanization", requiring you to have developed your provinces over 50 times and to have at least 10 provinces with 30 Development in either of the German regions. That, and the two following missions either add or modify existing estate privileges:
The Protected Markets then allow you to industrialize Rhineland and Silesia, requiring you to have a specific amount of development with manufactories in the areas. The missions, in turn, allow for early adoption of Coal and give you modifiers that later merge together in the final mission.
Lastly, the Diplomatic missions have seen quite an expansion. Further missions have been added to cement Germany as a new major power in Europe and a force to be reckoned with. Here are some of the most interesting rewards from the mission tree.
Yet, the most sought-after remains the Kaiserreich mission:
The reform granted by the mission is based on the primary culture, and there's a lot of variation you can acquire, here's a collection of them:
The fallback for not having any of the cultures is a generic reform with +5% Administrative Efficiency.
What is your favorite? What cultural reform would you change? We'd be curious to know!
Lastly, I'd like to mention that the Holy Roman Empire tag also received a small update to their missions and has some variation in the mission tree, for instance, the Italy mission and the Holy Roman Empire now offer evolving modifiers that merge:
While Cultural Unity is called National Unity in some places, those terms will be unified into Cultural Unity.
And that's a wrap for this week's Developer Diary! Next week @PDXBigBoss will be back with Hisn Kayfa, Hormuz, Oman, Theodoro and Trebizond. And of course we can not forget this weeks comics by FatherLorris:
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