Tinto Talks #20 - 10th of July 2024

[Johan]

Are the advances in the focuses at the start of each age the same for every country? Seems like there would be 'meta picks' for each age, with some ages having pre-defined better focuses than others, unlike other advances which change depending on various factors in/about your country.

No. Part of the tree is "randomized"

 

[Johan]

Smaller question: Can technologies be gated behind institutions only, or can an individual tech be gated behind an arbitrary trigger (societal values, stability, number of provinces, etc)?

It can be gated by anything.

The Horse Riding advance from Age of Traditions requires there to be horses in the market the capital belongs to.

 

[Johan]

Personally, I hope that the "age of revolutions" tech tree is big enough that it is a challenge to finish it by 1836
I hope that the tech "tree" becomes more non linear, with techs that get unlocked with either this or that kind of thing.

Its really really non-linear.

 

[Johan]

In EU4 when selecting which nation to play you can see the national ideas, will there be something similar in place so you can see which unique advances each nation has at its disposal before playing as that nation?

Yes. We have a system that lists "all" custom content you get from tag, culture, religion, government type etc on the start screen.

 

[Johan]

Did you consider designing it so that you don't, as the state, research anything directly yourself?

i.e. instead of having a research meter that you fill up, you instead can set some funding/commercial incentives for military, diplomatic or administrative industries. And then, according to other factors you indirectly control (literacy, burgher wealth, trade exposure), the estates do the research for you.

Whilst some will feel that this limits player agencies, I think you could design it in a way where you have agency, it's just indirect. It's also much more in line with your stated initial philosophy of immersion over feeling like a board game.

That would be an entire other game.

 

[Johan]

If i pick diplomacy focus will I not be able to research any military advances?

No.. You just don't get the 10 extra military ones.. you still have 25+ other military ones.

 

[Johan]

‘if you are a country that can own locations or not’
Would the countries that cannot own locations be referring to indigenous nations in the Americas, Africa, and Australia, or are there some countries that will be playable while not present on the map?

There are multiple types of countries, and those owning locations are only one type.

 

[SaintDaveUK]

I am defenitely not a fun of this mechanic of secretness, percentages look like capacity, its artificial and anachronic for this game. Dead game... 100%
View attachment 1161637

Modifier creep IRL. We just researched all the secrecy advances.

 

[Johan]

Can you change focus in the middle of the Age for gold\stability\other?

no

 

[Johan]

One thing I don't understand is the foci we get at the start of ages. What does it even do? Make available certain techs or make them easier or less costly? Why would I choose one or the other? It is supposed to replace idea group selection from EU4?

It gives you access to 10 advances of your choosing. Its similar to an idea group selection.

 

[Johan]

So If I have it right, you have to pick one of three focuses for an age and you're locked only to technologies related to that focus for the rest of the age?

Or are there 'normal' technologies that can be picked regardless of focus, and the focus only allows you to pick a few, particularly powerful and specialized ones?

The selection is for 10 of the about 100 advances you get in that age.

 

[Johan]

The focus system is nice though. It will eventually lead to "builds", such as admin focus in age 1, mil in age 2 and 3, then diplo in 4, to make a synergistic combination of idea groups.

probably, but also depending on what country you want to play.. as the advances are different in different ages.

 

[Johan]

Given that it's a tree, does unlocking an advance further down the tree require first having every advance that connects to it, or just one?

all

 

[SaintDaveUK]

Lines and background are kinda similar it makes lines barely visible in the advances tree

Good feedback, we will schedule some time to make them more distinct.

 

[Johan]

Given how you can pick a focus at the start of an Age, how long does it take to complete a Advance Tree?
Eg: choosing Admin focus to go for Deus Vult, are we going to unlock 2 or even 3 Admin groups before the 100 years is up?

Thats 10 of the 100 advances you have in that age. You should be easily able to get 70+ of them before the next age.

 

[Johan]

Are there any 'must have' techs that you need to get in order to advance? Something like fire arms or somesuch thing that every country will eventually have?

It all depends on what you are playing.

 

[Johan]

Setting your focus for 100 years seems like a really long time. Many things can change in that period. Have you thought about ability to change the focus, for example on every new ruler?

This is for 10% of your advances, its not a big deal.

 

[Johan]

But if I may ask a question, would there be some kind of mechanic which would allow us to "refund" some kind of tag specific Advance and get another standard one instead ? A

Why? Just ignore them, as they are almost always a single leaf. Having extra unique advances are not always a benefit, as you have to research them instead of something else.

 

[Johan]

So, correct me if I misunderstood this, but does this mean that if I change my country's religion from Catholic to Protestant at the start of the Age of Reformation, I will have to wait until the next age to be able to research protestant-exclusive advances? That would be a bit strange.

The protestant specific advances will not be for an age when you convert, but for the next age.

 

[Johan]

Can you somehow unlock advances of not selected focuses? For example in the next age? I think it will be not fun to never unlock something like Claim Fabrication, and can lead to ruined runs (I haven't selected this focus 500 years ago and now I'm doomed)

Thats why they are designed to not be such things.