• 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 Talks #4 - March 20th, 2024

Welcome to the fourth iteration of Tinto Talks!

Today we’ll give you an overview of the different mechanics of the Government part of the game. There will be development diaries going into much more detail for these later on.

First of all, we have 5 different government types in the game, which determines a fair bit of what type of mechanics you get access to. As an example, a Republic does not have access to royal marriages, and a Steppe Horde has a different view on how war, peace and conquest works compared to other types of countries.

  • Monarchy, which uses Legitimacy
  • Republic, which uses Republican Tradition
  • Theocracy, which uses Devotion
  • Steppe Horde, which Horde Unity
  • Tribe, which uses Tribal Cohesion

ZLW8XrWYZLxnovNzgF_7TuPQWyWmoGGLwwD2R2susU8CbvdqziEL_Ulp-yKCubRFOexelDTDIdjssj852lmLobBEQVeYT6bSkHFEIZmWUs_H-38W79jBh1S5OiDDATUVu0nB6GXgi2ze2LmNyJ115OU

An illustration from our game..

These, together with country rank, government reform, and local flavor gives countries names like “Crown of Aragon,” “Kingdom of Sweden,” “Principality of Wales.” Not all countries are countries that are based on owning locations on a map though; more on that in later development diaries.

Each country also has a ruler, or they may be in a regency, if there are no possible adult heirs.

One of the most defining parts of the government of a country in Project Caesar is the Estates mechanic. This has been one of the core parts of the game, with a full connection between the population and the estates. Keeping the estates satisfied while keeping their powers low is an important part of the gameplay loop. In this game, the Estates are also active entities and will do things on their own if they get enough power.

qYgBGNEzv3H0jQc6eneo7kkUZgpdahDdiD2oZxQEQZsEziJaaYEGiEnn0-whjga7G0UAzf7YYhABAvScXHNozJux_FGQz5ujPQN8ey_63fuKTGJCI91U-b_fQ15sn3qbalZo_HQ4dyjmlZKWg_zOT1w

Two government reforms, one culture specific and one government specific.

As time passes, different government reforms and reform-slots will be available. They can also be based on tag, culture or religion.

uS3pA3GElx0t_YJa_9rdYdyTavbK_IEfSQP1AT3GA9nESw5PidjM0ca7CawBGS80IfNTF-gFGP7O5WDOKzR9Wt5Ffn9iPUkg7hzYRIdfnGp6EG-7ssCmrxh6kd1snKgU2LssP30gr5KJqlfgGJmfIjE

These are the two available possibilities in the Law 'Language of Pleading' for the country I tested.

Something that is different from a reform is what we call a Law. A Law can have several different policies you can pick from, and several laws have unique policies only available to certain tags, religions, cultures, government types or other factors.

There are some drawbacks to adding new reforms or policies though, as it takes a few years for it to have full effect, depending on your country's administrative efficiency. (Yes, it's a name for something else in another game, but it fits here.)

Regularly, if your government allows it, you can call in a Parliament. If you don’t do it often enough the estates will start to get irritated, but each parliament has issues that need to be resolved, and the estates will have agendas they want done for their support. Of course, you also have options to push through what you want from a parliament, if you are willing to accept the demands of the estate, like changing a particular law.

Another part of the government is the cabinet, which also grows in size as you become more advanced, allowing you to do more things. This is something that can be viewed as a hybrid between EU4 Advisors and the CK2 council actions.

Some of you may remember the domestic policies from EU2 and EU3. In Project Caesar we are bringing the idea back in the form of Societal Values. There are seven that we took from these games, one that was split in two, and we added four new ones, bringing the total to 13 different Societal Values. Societal Values are primarily affected by what other actions you do, like what policies you pick in a law, or what reforms you pick. As with so many other things in our game, this is not an instant action, but a gradual change over time.

ZEZWxSpKakO4WurGDUAAsx7sedtM4QfQOCQe32TQGOWyLFGbPv2JrSLjbi0NgOMzD855iLKD6JGOWancM-kU6hqp65oRF7P7ubsaNOY9_L5kdzqELF2f26rggfEojZBnW0giSvY1Xf3thtmlKDVEtqg

oh look, its eu3!

Next week, we will go into much more detail about estates and how they work.
 
  • 264Love
  • 167Like
  • 13
  • 10
  • 1Haha
Reactions:
@Johan

In the case of a constitutional monarchy, will there just be one leader at the helm or would the separation of monarch and prime minister be reflected with the use of the cabinet feature? Can constitutional monarchies in different countries empower more the prime minister than the monarch and vice versa?

Nothing I can talk in details about YET
 
  • 26Love
  • 19
  • 15Like
Reactions:
Please consider the gameplay of adding local power to feudal and nomadic countries, just like the early estate system, which can become their unique system, combined with the Patrician of CKII. Otherwise, it would be difficult to accept a feudal or nomadic country that had completed centralization and control in various regions in the 14th century.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
it would be really funny if those screenshots are from like 50 to 100 years into the game and we're just getting bamboozled
 
  • 16Haha
  • 1Like
  • 1
Reactions:
No. In EU4 you can't demand provinces in areas without occupied forts. If you siege Selanik and whatever Bosnian fort the Ottomans have conquered and demand Constantinople, the AI will oblige. Not sure about other areas but any scenario where AI Byzantium just hands over Constantinople even though you haven't taken it would be insanely immersion breaking.
I took Sjaelland from Denmark once. I think the special rule is that if you can get to 100% WS without holding the capital, then the AI will have to capitulate and give it to you.
 
  • 1
  • 1
Reactions:
@Johan

In the case of a constitutional monarchy, will there just be one leader at the helm or would the separation of monarch and prime minister be reflected with the use of the cabinet feature? Can constitutional monarchies in different countries empower more the prime minister than the monarch and vice versa?
Nothing I can talk in details about YET
Project Ceasar = Imperator Rome 2 with two Consuls confirmed
 
  • 12Haha
  • 1Like
Reactions:
I think the start date is 1331.

The Ottomans own Izmit, which was conquered sometime between 1331-1338
In 1333 Serbia attacked the Byzantine empire which saw them conquer parts of Greece, which here they do not
In 1332 Epirus controlled Thessaly, which here they do not

Also another important thing is a major event happening in the start date. Well...

In 1331, The first recorded outbreak of the Black Death occurs, in the Chinese province of Hubei.
It can't be 1331 either because in 1331 the Ilkhanate is still in one piece (although not for long), and the previous map showed a fracture, post-Ilkhanate Iran.

So, it really looks like it's a 1337 start date, with the Ottomans being still confined in Anatolia, the Serbian Empire not having established itself quite yet as the Byzantines still control Northern Greece and Macedonia, but the Ilkhanate having blown up in 1335 already. So, a start date for the beginning of the 100 Years War.
 
  • 6
  • 1Like
Reactions:
I really hope this game has just as many flavor events and dynamic historical events as EU4.
Any previous events that can be reused (from any game), as possible would be fantastic. They really make EU4 whole... wouldn't be the same without them.
 
  • 2Like
  • 1
Reactions:
These, together with country rank, government reform, and local flavor gives countries names like “Crown of Aragon,” “Kingdom of Sweden,” “Principality of Wales.” Not all countries are countries that are based on owning locations on a map though; more on that in later development diaries.
What is the "title" (Principality, Kingdom etc.) for Peasant Republics?
 
  • 1
Reactions:
This is honestly the best 'not a dev diary' yet. Even better than the one introducing the population mechanic.

I have personally asked for so much of this over the years.
- A distinction between states based on territory and states based on other criteria, such as culture
- Including all internal political mechanics for everyone
- Interactions between estates and population
- changing the seat mechanic for parliaments

I'm positively giddy.

On top of that, sliders are back! Awesome!
 
  • 10
Reactions:
I like the idea of the feature shown, but the current UI and terminology have me a bit worried. I understand that it's obviously a VERY VERY early access screenshot and that they probably don't represent anything about the final product. But the autocracy and Pasha's government images remind me a lot of the Victoria 3 and CK3 UI styles of slightly rounded and tinted buttons and UI. This is opposed to the more paper style of I:R and EU4. I really hope this isn't representative of the final product and rather simply placeholder gfx because it will seriously dampen my desire to play the game if it changes the UI that much.
 
Will EU4 type mission trees make a reappearance in Project Caesar (definitely not EU5)?

no. there will very likely be another type and style of mission trees.
 
Last edited:
  • 40Like
  • 32
  • 22Love
  • 7
  • 2
Reactions:
Am I the only one who thinks the "societal values" mechanic seems super abstracted and game-y? Wouldn't it make more sense to tie a modifier directly to the policies rather than have the policies affect a societal value which changes a modifier? Like instead of "Court Language" adding monthly serfdom progress which gives -X% peasant strength, make "Court Language" give -X% peasant strength.

I just think it's kind of silly to be like "France has 20 narrowmindedness points while England only has 10 narrowmindedness points". Like what does "narrowmindedness" look like in real life? What does that represent practically?
I think a certain amount of abstraction is inevitable. To represent the fabric of a country, its underlying values, processes and situation, such scales can be useful, instead of a granular representation of everything there is.

Like, sure, there were serfs in France and in Russia, but it looks like they were treated differently.

If you want to see it differently, the mercantilism/free trade "slider" can be seen as the mercantilism value in EUIV, but instead of investing bird mana in it, you encourage it over time. Same with innovativeness.

Of course, the final evaluation on that mechanic will depend on what the different scales do, but as a concept, I like it, since it can be a way to differenciate countries.
 
  • 9
  • 2Like
Reactions: