• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Tinto Flavour #25 - 6th of June 2025

Hello, and welcome one more Friday to Tinto Flavour, the happy days in which we take a look at the flavour content of Europa Universalis V!

Today, we will take a look at the flavour content for the Ottomans, one of our Tier 1 countries, the Turkish Beliks in general, and the Rise of the Turks situation, in which all of them are involved!

The Ottomans were founded by Osmanoglu Osman Bey, a chieftain of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks, around 1299. Residing around the Northwestern coast of Anatolia, they were initially one of the many Beyliks to occupy the border territory of Rûm, a once-powerful Sultanate. Under the leadership of Osmanoglu Gazi Orhan Bey, they have consolidated and greatly expanded their domain, securing vital land along the coast of the Bosphorus. Bountiful raids, victories, and diplomacy have secured them as one of the region's most powerful rising Beyliks...

Country Selection.png

As usual, please consider all UI, 2D and 3D art as WIP.

Ottomans1.png

Ottomans2.png

A lovely day in 1337 on the coast of the Bosphorus…

The Ottomans, like the other Anatolian Beyliks, start with some Reforms and Privileges, of which some are unique:
Estates1.png

Estates2.png

Reform Anatolian Beylik.png

Privilege Ghazi Lords.png

They also start with a unique and troublesome succession law:
Fratricide.png

And this policy:
Royal Harem.png

These are some of the advances available, which you may notice are quite relevant:
Advance Ghazi.png

Advance Uc Bey.png

Subject Uc Bey1.png

Subject Uc Bey2.png

Advance Heirs of Rum.png

Advance Akincular.png

Unit Akincular.png

Advance Kanun.png

Policy Kanun.png

Advance Tulip Period.png

Advance Imperial School.png

Although the most important advances for the Ottomans are:
Advance Janissaries.png

Building Janissary Barracks.png

Advance Janissary Guards.png

Unit Janissay Guards.png

There’s a different Janissary unit available in each age; for example, this is the one available for Age of Reformation:
Janissary Musketeers.png

This is very relevant, as the key flavour content for the Ottomans, and the rest of the Anatolian Beyliks, is a situation that triggers a couple of months into the game; I'll let one of our Content Designers, @PDXBigBoss :
image (36).png

The situation focuses on the rise of the Ottomans, in most cases. However, this does not mean that another Beylik cannot take their place, with their own unique flavor, reforms, and outcomes!

image (40).png

This unique reform is granted to the strongest Beylik, if they are the Ottomans.

image (41).png

This reform is only available for the Strongest Beylik, if they are NOT the Ottomans!

This is the panel of the situation. Many countries, beyond the "Strongest Beylik" can play a part in it, the ever-shifting environment of politics, diplomacy, and eventual war. While the Strongest will gain access to a few unique actions, most actions are available to any Beylik.
image (42).png

The Ottomans are by far not domineering across the region, let alone beyond it, in 1337. Foreshadowing or…?

image (43).png

  • Press Claims - The ability of the Strongest to fabricate a claim against an enemy in Anatolia.
  • Raise a Bey Fortress - It's a unique building that increases the Fort Level of a location and produces an ample, steady supply of manpower, much earlier than many other countries can. It can only be built in cities across Anatolia. Upon its construction, you will be greeted by a positive event, whose historical information is tailored specifically to the location you build it. This means that it will be different if you build it in Bursa, Izmit, Konya, Smyrna, etc... While this is good and all, these fortresses are a symbol of authority, for better or worse. This means that if a location with a Bey Fortress gets sieged down, you will suffer a blow to the stability and legitimacy of your rule, and your people will lose faith in your ability to win the war. The maluses will be far worse should the enemy even annex that location, so be careful…
image (44).png

Location Importance is a composite metric, tailored specifically to the Situation. It depends on many factors such as development, market access, road connectivity, and more. This is used to determine the volume of certain bonuses and utilizes a nice little “game concept” tooltip to explain its application and usage.

  • Seek Relations with the Byzantines - as long as the Romans hold Constantinople, and they are "relevant" any Beylik that is strong enough will be able to leverage diplomacy to extract gifts from the Empire. These gifts may be the hand of a daughter in marriage, ample coin, the recognition of a Beylik as legitimate sovereign of Anatolia, or the demand of capable characters to prop up your administration in exchange for relations and good faith. They can - and often do - decline, but are they really in a position to barter ?
  • Offer Diplomatic Protection - through marriage, the exchange of territory and diplomacy, as any Beylik we can offer an alliance and guarantees of sovereignty to another lesser Beylik. Of course, history has shown such friendships are short-lived…
  • Create Uc Bey - A unique subject type for the duration of the situation. A powerful weapon when used appropriately, the Uc Bey guards the frontier of the Beylik against foreign threats. They will be an army-based country with a powerful Government Reform, making them the perfect guardians. However, you will need to integrate them and centralize later on, should you survive and come out on top after the situation ends…
A couple of locations in the Situation map mode previously shown, are marked in red and yellow. This is for two reasons:
  • Anatolia in 1337 is traversed by a Great Trunk Road, controlling important points across it (Konya, Sivas, etc) unlocks a scaling Estate Privilege for your Merchant Estate, let's take a look:
    image (45).png
The privilege will grant 1% Trade Efficiency for each of these locations that we control directly…

  • Konya and Sivas are also home to Seljuk Mints, which were used by the former Sultanate to produce coinage and project an aura of legitimacy and authority. Owning and developing these locations will be vital when it comes to spreading our Control across the region through a unique building…
image (46).png

image (47).png

As the Strongest Beylik consolidates holdings with a majority of Greek Culture, this event will appear, heralding the beginning of a great Turkic Migration. It enables a unique action for our country to call upon Turkic migration from the East, to populate the coasts of the Aegean Sea and Anatolia. Historically, this was very vital and it carries the same importance in-game, as having a majority of our culture in locations will allow us to fully core them, thus increasing our control!

The number of migrants that will travel is dynamically balanced. The pops will always come from a province with an ample population, and the amount of pops will always be "relevant" to the target province we are trying to populate:
image (31).png

And a nice little short-term modifier to ensure a swifter cultural integration​

Once the strongest Beylik consolidates themselves, and crosses the Dardanelles, the Press Claims action will evolve, allowing the Beylik to declare war through a good Casus Belli across the Balkans, as well, posing a direct threat to the Kingdoms that populate that region:
image (30).png

Once the player conquers 300 locations, including at least 30 urban locations, and we own Konstantiniyye, we will be greeted by this event, which heralds in the Classical Era of your (now) Empire. In most cases, this will be the Ottomans.:
new classical era screenshot.png

This event will also grant us the rank of Empire, which comes with significant bonuses and some double edges in the form of a unique disaster for Empires…

image (28).png


But what happens if the Karamanids or another rises, instead? They are greeted by a different outcome, a choice. They will be able to adopt the Ottoman tag, inheriting the Ottoman content, events, reforms, everything they have to offer, whilst still holding on to their flag, name, color on the map, dynasty, history, etc. However, should you choose not to do this, you will be able to reform the Sultanate of Rum....

Moreover, other Beyliks across Anatolia have dedicated flavor content to themselves. The Germiyanids, Aydinids, Eretnids will have a few events associated with their history in the middle of the 14th century, onwards.
image (29).png

Germiyanids Ruler perishes, who is 79 at game start. A nasty event, reminiscent of Shah Rukh

image (27).png

The Eretnids are displeased with Jalayrid rule, trouble steers!

image (48).png

On top of that, the Ottomans have around 200 DHEs, making it a proper Tier 1 country in terms of flavor…

… And much more, but that’s all for today, as it’s already very long! As today is Friday, this will be the schedule for next week, which will be completely on @Roger Corominas , as I’ll be off:
  • Monday -> Tinto Maps Feedback about Japan & Korea
  • Tuesday -> Tinto Flavour about Korea & Manchuria
  • Wednesday -> Tinto Talks about the Shinto religion & Shogunate IO
  • Thursday -> ‘Behind the Music of Europa Universalis V - Composing the Grandest Score’ video!
  • Friday -> Tinto Flavour about Japan & the Nanboku-chō Jidai & Sengoku Jidai situations

And also remember, you can wishlist Europa Universalis V now! Cheers!
 

Attachments

  • image (37).png
    image (37).png
    870,4 KB · Views: 0
  • 119Like
  • 106Love
  • 4
  • 4
  • 3
Reactions:
I'm sorry, where are the cities?

I'm slightly colourblind and I am guessing Red is for Rural, so that makes the green(s) urban and I can't tell what's what.
Please change Cities to Blue or something that stands out!
The green is not unly standing out, but popping, are you suggesting they change something that looks great just to cater to one person? Oh God, blue would look so damn ugly. They are sure to have colourblind options, so just use that.
 
  • 4
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Ottoman is more suited for counquer and play wide. But i hope i can play it tall too
 
  • 3
Reactions:
View attachment 1314238
I think Judaism's color has to be changed away from this purplish color since it is so close to Orthodoxy and Miaphysitism that you can't tell it apart, and Judaism appears pretty commonly in countries that have Orthodox and Miaphysite pops (Ethiopia comes to mind....)

I am in favor of either a kind of bright blue that's different enough from Lutheranism and Calvinism to stand out:
View attachment 1314245

Or a currently unused color in the western world, silver:
View attachment 1314244
I'd also increase the contrast between sunni and shia colors. As they are right now it's a bit hard to distinguish them
 
  • 1
  • 1Like
Reactions:
That poses a question then: why did those ottomans vassalize their Romanian conquests instead of annexing them directly? As you point out they can sail across the Black Sea and up the Danube, so communication difficulties are a bad explanation. My guess would be they didn’t want to deal with ruling over Romanians, but I don’t know Ottoman or Romanian history that well.
That was, generally speaking, the Ottoman expansion policy: retain the rights of the rulers of the territory in exchange for their perpetual allegiance and servitude. Slowly whittle away their power (building military outposts, imposing heavy tribute), and eventually annex their territory. By the time you do, the people have already been exposed enough to the Ottoman state (and the general decline of their own due to aforementioned tribute and the like) that they ostensibly welcome the change. I'm not too familiar with Ottoman rule over Wallachia and Moldavia but I presume it was an extension of this effort that never got to the "annexation" phase.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
This seems like a really strong assimilation ability for an empire that historically remained very decentralized and tolerant of many different cultures out of necessity. The Aegean coast, for example, remained majority Greek all the way to the early 1900s when they were expelled in the aftermath of Greek independence. Other cultures throughout the empire certainly were never accepted, but they were also never forcibly assimilated like other empires in this era endeavored.
No. This is a Large misconception. People think Greeks in the Orhan's time remained there until 20th century like Terracotta army for 600 years somehow. In fact, İzmir was a small town in Early modern period. It only attracted Greeks in the 19th century through migration when it was built as an Industrial harbor by French and English. I did post, with primary and secondary sources, that Greek was a minority in 14th century. Especially in rural areas. There was no Greek villages in the agean. Greeks lived in the cities because they feared the raiders. 19th century Greeks in the Aegan is NOT the same phenomenon as 14th century Greeks.
 
  • 8Like
  • 4
  • 1
Reactions:
Every release makes me more and more excited!! I am really astounded at the level of detail and passion that has gone into this game! This is what we have been wanting from Paradox.
 
The green is not unly standing out, but popping, are you suggesting they change something that looks great just to cater to one person? Oh God, blue would look so damn ugly. They are sure to have colourblind options, so just use that.
You think there's only one colourblind person in the world who could potentially buy this game ?

Asked an AI :

Let's break this down step-by-step:
  1. Estimate total buyers: We'll use the higher end of the provided estimate for Europa Universalis IV sales to ensure we capture a broader range, let's say 7 million buyers. (If we use a lower estimate, the final number of colorblind buyers will also be lower).
  2. Calculate the number of male buyers:
    • Total buyers: 7,000,000
    • Percentage male: 95%
    • Male buyers: 7,000,000×0.95=6,650,000
  3. Calculate the number of colorblind male buyers:
    • Prevalence of color blindness in males: Approximately 1 in 12, or about 8%.1

    • Colorblind male buyers: 6,650,000×0.08≈532,000
  4. Calculate the number of colorblind female buyers:
    • Female buyers: 7,000,000−6,650,000=350,000
    • Prevalence of color blindness in females: Approximately 1 in 200, or 0.5%.
    • Colorblind female buyers: 350,000×0.005=1,750
  5. Total colorblind buyers:
    • Total colorblind buyers = Colorblind male buyers + Colorblind female buyers
    • Total colorblind buyers = 532,000+1,750=533,750
Therefore, based on these assumptions and estimates, approximately 533,750 colorblind persons are estimated to have bought Europa Universalis IV.
It's crucial to remember that this is an estimate based on several assumptions:
  • The exact number of game sales is an estimate.
  • The 95% male demographic is an assumption.
  • The global average prevalence of color blindness in males and females is applied, which might not perfectly reflect the specific demographic of game buyers.

At a current full price without dlc of 50€, it's same to assume that at least 25 million euro worth of euiv has been bought by colorblind people, problably closer to double that.
 
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
Tribes with 0% power is unrealistic. Tribes were the holders of ABSOLUTE majority of power in this age of the Ottomans. Their numbers were MUCH bigger also. 50k is too small. It should be at least 3 times as much. Maybe even more. Tribes were the ones that pressured the Ottomans to start wars, because they want plunder.

Sultan Murat founded Janissaries spesifically to counter the major influence of Tribes, the akıncıs. Tımar system was also introduced to settle them to make them abandon their unruly and nomadic roots. Ottomans of the classical period tried their absolute best to rein in the tribes. Many of them fled to join the Safavids, who were much more friendly to their way of life. Tho there is a religious aspect to this. But they reinforce each other.

Dhimmi's power is also waaaaaay too much. They were NOT in the adminstrative cadre of the empire yet. That happened after the conquest of Constantinople. Admin and military cadres of the Ottomans of this time were Turkish muslims. Admin cadre was Turkoman nobility and military cadre was mostly the tribes.

Ulema's power should also be stronger. Since in this period, even in Osman's reign, she married a daughter of a famous mystic. Şeyh Edebali. Ulema start to gain a lot of privileges during Orhan's and Murat's reign. Their own tımars, tax exemptions, subsidies, patronage etc etc. They have Much more impact than 11%.

Edit: As others also stated, Fractricide was not a practice in Orhan's reign. It should be a event that creates a law by Murat, Orhan's heir, when he suceeds the throne.

2nd edit: I think game merges Mystics and ulema, which I think should be seperate. If you add mystics as an estate, ulema's power is understandable since this era is dominated by mystics rather than the Ulema. Ulema's power continued to increase as the time passes and mystics' declined. If you are going to merge them for convinience, though it would be unrealistic since mystics were opposing the Ulema at every turn, please increase the power of the ulema. If not please add mystics to represent the balance.
 
Last edited:
  • 5Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Also, please less Arabic for consistency. I don't think any Turk knows the word "Guzat"
 
  • 3Like
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
You think there's only one colourblind person in the world who could potentially buy this game ?

Asked an AI :

Let's break this down step-by-step:
  1. Estimate total buyers: We'll use the higher end of the provided estimate for Europa Universalis IV sales to ensure we capture a broader range, let's say 7 million buyers. (If we use a lower estimate, the final number of colorblind buyers will also be lower).
  2. Calculate the number of male buyers:
    • Total buyers: 7,000,000
    • Percentage male: 95%
    • Male buyers: 7,000,000×0.95=6,650,000
  3. Calculate the number of colorblind male buyers:
    • Prevalence of color blindness in males: Approximately 1 in 12, or about 8%.1

    • Colorblind male buyers: 6,650,000×0.08≈532,000
  4. Calculate the number of colorblind female buyers:
    • Female buyers: 7,000,000−6,650,000=350,000
    • Prevalence of color blindness in females: Approximately 1 in 200, or 0.5%.
    • Colorblind female buyers: 350,000×0.005=1,750
  5. Total colorblind buyers:
    • Total colorblind buyers = Colorblind male buyers + Colorblind female buyers
    • Total colorblind buyers = 532,000+1,750=533,750
Therefore, based on these assumptions and estimates, approximately 533,750 colorblind persons are estimated to have bought Europa Universalis IV.
It's crucial to remember that this is an estimate based on several assumptions:
  • The exact number of game sales is an estimate.
  • The 95% male demographic is an assumption.
  • The global average prevalence of color blindness in males and females is applied, which might not perfectly reflect the specific demographic of game buyers.

At a current full price without dlc of 50€, it's same to assume that at least 25 million euro worth of euiv has been bought by colorblind people, problably closer to double that.
Colour.Blind.Mode.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
I think a Vizier mechanic — or any similar system you might suggest — would perfectly reflect the unique power dynamics of the Era I’ve outlined below.

I’d like to suggest a Vizier system for the Anatolian Beyliks, especially during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Back in that time (14th century), the person officially in charge — the Bey or Sultan — wasn’t always the one actually running things. A lot of real power was in the hands of high-ranking officials, especially viziers, many of whom had a Persian or even Byzantine background. These guys handled the admin, diplomacy, money — basically, they kept the state running while the rulers were out fighting or just weak.

Take the Karamanids, for example — they were deeply influenced by Persian bureaucracy. Or the early Ottomans, who leaned heavily on powerful viziers like Çandarlı Halil. Later on, under the Köprülü family, viziers basically ran the empire while the sultans sat back.

This kind of setup — where power is split between the ruler, military, and court — would fit this era, I guess.

How?

  • You could have a system where the vizier grows stronger or weaker depending on your decisions.
  • A strong vizier might help you with reforms and diplomacy but could also undermine your legitimacy or cause power struggles.

It adds a lot of flavor to the early game for these Turkish states, who weren’t exactly centralized powers at the time. Just like I mentioned in a previous idea for the Ilkhanate, this kind of internal politics could really bring the setting to life.


A Possible Mechanic:
The Grand Diwan ?
Resource?

Let's Introduce a Vizier Authority Bar, affected by:
  • Military victories/losses
  • Court faction balance
  • Tribal support
  • Economic strength

Example Actions:
  • Empower Vizier: Boost Distance Cost to Capital or Max Control and event-construction cooldowns but weaken legitimacy.

  • Purge Vizierate: Increases stability and legitimacy but triggers civil unrest or (perhaps) event chains.

  • Foreign Vizier: Gain a unique modifier (e.g. diplomatic bonuses, religious modifiers if invited vizier follows different sect of Islam or is heathen) but lose cultural tradition.
Possible Events:
--The Vizier Plots Alone: A powerful vizier begins operating without oversight. Lower Max control or Distance Cost to Capital? Add corruption rises?

--Scholar-Bureaucrat (OUR VIZIER) vs Ghazi Lord (GUZAT): Court split between learned administrator and warlord— choose between a learned administrator or war-hardened warlord.

--Call the Divan: Similar to Estates — we choose who to back in a court crisis and we must balance rival factions-estates to avoid disaster.

The related post:
I’d like to suggest adding a vizier mechanic. During Timur’s reign, he was the real power as Amir, while a puppet Chagatai Khan held the title for legitimacy. (He held the title of 'Amir' and was the de facto ruler of his empire. To legitimize his authority, Timur installed a puppet Chagatai Khan, Suyurghatmish, as the nominal, de jure leader.)

In the Ilkhanate, viziers—drawn from Persian bureaucracy—were crucial. They bridged the gap between the Mongol military and settled administration, sometimes even overshadowing the ruler. I remember from high school how some viziers could even dethrone leaders in certain cases. Here are some historical examples, and I hope we see these figures as events or a mechanic in the game.
  • Mu'in al-Din Parwana – De facto ruler of the Anatolian Seljuk state, orchestrated the assassination of Sultan Kilij Arslan IV in 1265, and installed his son as a puppet while he held real power.
  • Nizam al-Mulk – While not directly dethroning a ruler, he consolidated power during Sultan Malik Shah I’s reign and shaped Seljuk governance with his reforms.
  • Ikhtiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Ghafras – A powerful Seljuk vizier. His political maneuvering and the circumstances around Sultan Kilij Arslan II’s death suggest a complex power dynamic.
  • Sokollu Mehmed Pasha – Grand vizier under three Ottoman sultans (Suleiman, Selim II, Murad III). His influence extended to reforms and patronage, often overshadowing the sultans.(yes, the Ottomans had elements of Persian bureaucracy too!)
  • And from the Era of Köprülü, we have Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, Köprülü Mehmed II, and Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, who played a major role in Ottoman state affairs.
We also have figures like:
  • Qizil Arslan,
  • Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk,
  • Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi,
  • Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh,
  • Evaz Beg,
  • Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha, and
  • Khoja Ali Shah.
Some didn’t directly dethrone rulers, but they shaped governance and sometimes held more power than the sultans themselves.

I really think viziers should be a unique mechanic for the Ilkhanate and other Persian culture groups.
Thanks for reading! I’ve been looking forward to sharing this idea for a (long-long) while.

Disclaimer Thingy:
I used color highlights in my post on purpose. Stuff like losses are in red, gains in blue, and vizier-related stuff has its own color too. It just helps me spot key points quickly if I come back to it later.

I’ve noticed some folks get picky about colored text on here, but honestly, this is just how I like to organize things. Please don’t derail the topic just to nitpick formatting — this is a discussion about ideas, not color schemes.


Why not? We don’t all have to stick to black-and-white posts or the same exact structure. Let people express themselves the way that works for them. I’m a bit frustrated seeing this kind of side-comment take over threads, so I wanted to be upfront about it.
 
  • 5Like
Reactions:
Ottoman is more suited for counquer and play wide. But i hope i can play it tall too
playing tall is possible with every tag. You are not forced to declare war. I already have intentions to have a tall and a wide gameplay session with them. Just conquer what you want and focus on building it up. Thanks to the slave mechanics you could in theory even periodically declare war on your neighbours, get slaves and end in a white peace.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
The green is not unly standing out, but popping, are you suggesting they change something that looks great just to cater to one person? Oh God, blue would look so damn ugly. They are sure to have colourblind options, so just use that.
First of all, it's not just one person, come on mate. Secondly, there are more colours than just blue. You're being very closeminded.
If they had gone with other colours would you have said "oh man this needs to be green, I like green" or would you accept whatever colours they went with?
In the first scenario, you'd be doing the same as me, asking them to "cater to one person" which makes you a hypocrit, in the second scenario you're fine whatever they do, so what do you care if they change from the initial colour scheme?
You're just coming off rudely.

On another note, I have no idea if colourblind options (which I know they have, for text in UI) will also effect mapmodes. There's no bloody way I'm going to shut my mouth and just HOPE that the devs have thought everything through, leaving me unable to freaking tell what is what until they have time to patch the game so that colourblind people like me don't have to jump through hoops to get information that SHOULD be gained at a glance.
FFS, man.