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EU4 - Development Diary - 13th of December 2016

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another development diary for Europa Universalis IV. Today we’ll talk about the biggest feature of our next expansion. A system we called “Ages of Europa Universalis”.

The game is now divided into 4 separate ages, where different rules apply in each age. Each age also have objectives you can fulfill, and abilities you can use use.

  • Age of Discovery => 1400 -1530
  • Age of Reformation => 1530 - 1620
  • Age of Absolutism => 1620 - 1710
  • Age of Revolutions => 1710-1821

Each age have seven objectives that can be fulfilled, and if they are fulfilled, you gain +3 power-projection as well as 3 splendor each month.

Now you may ask? What is splendor then? Well.. Splendor is the age specific currency you use to purchase abilities. There are seven abilities in each age that each country can purchase, and there is also four unique abilities in each age, where countries that historically were powerful in that age can unlock a special ability.

Whenever a new Age arrives, you power projection from objectives start decaying, and you now lose all the abilities you purchased in the previous age.

Today we’ll take a look at the Age of Discovery, which is the first Age.

eu4_140.png


Rules
Religious Rules are valid. (Previously before 1650)
Peasants War, Castilian Civil War, War of the Roses can only happen in this Age.

Objectives
  1. Capital in old world, discover Americas
  2. Own Territory on two continents
  3. Embrace Renaissance and keep it in all state provinces.
  4. Own a 30+ development city
  5. Own 5 Centers of Trade
  6. Have at least 2 personal unions.
  7. Humiliate a Rival
Abilities
  • Allow Edict “Feudal De Jure Law”
  • Transfer vassal wargoal
  • Create a claim bordering claims
  • 50% longer lasting claims.
  • Explorers & Conquistadors do not cost maintenance while on missions.
  • Finished colonies gets +1 random development.
  • Gain +1 attack bonus in your capital's terrain type
  • Ottomans : +33% Siege Ability
  • Portugal : +50 colonial growth
  • Denmark : 30 less liberty desire in subjects.
  • Venice : +50% Trade Power from Ships

Another cool concept we have related to the Age mechanics is the Golden Era. A golden era can be started once per game for a country, as soon as you have fulfilled 3 objectives in an Age, and lasts for 50 years.

A golden age gives you 10% cheaper costs for anything you spend monarch power on, your land and naval morale increase by 10%, and you produce 10% more goods.


The free patch keeps track of which age the game is in, and uses it for triggers for disasters and events.
 
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I feel like ages should be tied to institutions. As of now, institutions give you NI-level bonuses, when adopting something like the renaissance or colonialism should really change the way a nation operates. What if rather than a global flag, ages would apply only to nations with certain institutions?
 
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Assuming that Inland centres count:

QQ starts the game with two (Tabriz and Baghdad), and have at least three more within plausible reach (Aleppo, Mogostan, Mazandaran).

The Timurids start with two (Mogostan, Samarkand) and have quite a few within manageable reach if they survive the collapse-railroad (Tabriz, Baghdad, Mazandaran, ...).

The Ottomans start the game with one (Hüdavendigar), grab a second (Constantinople) quite quickly, can get a third (Dubrovnik) fairly readily if they drop or circumvent their guarantee on Ragusa, and can get a fourth (Aleppo) and fifth (Alexandria) by achieving their historical borders of 1517.

Ming starts the game with this goal fulfilled.

Muscovy starts with two (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod), and is in plausible reach of Novgorod, Kazan, and if Lithuania gets unlucky, Kiev.
Also Portugal and Castile can easily conquer one or two in North Africa and then colonise a couple more in America and/or Africa.
 
Wrong way Paradox, wrong way...

Hear the voice of the people:

* D - Disappointment. :( Looks like "micro-achievements" with even more "magical" and deliberate mechanics.

* Again, static bonuses are bad and lame.

*aaaaaaand it's not Asia. *cries*

* Old mechanics is buggy, acting weird and pretty much 1/3 of the game needs rebalance patch? Who cares! Listen, you can blob faster than any time before as Ottomans, how can you still complain that naval warfare is non-existant, idea groups are still unbalanced, that institution and several other things need a rework! Look at this! Cool, shiny neons! Engine and four wheels are not that important anyway. Old things are already paid for, nobody cares!

*You know, I commiserate Paradox a bit: @Johan has announced "the biggest feature yet" and created a hype train. People have been waiting for a huge milestone like tech system overhaul in RoM:
reworked trading system with dynamic routes and centers, changeable goods prices
land and naval combat rework (especially naval) to make war more engaging, skill-based and fun.
some tweaks (or even an overhaul) to weird and fantasy-style monarch points aka mana system.
serious rebalance of NIs, ideagroups and policies to make meaningful not only combat quality modifiers.
Asia flavor and rework.
But it turns out to be an "extensive" feature that wasn't expected so much. I don't say it's bad, but honestly, It didn't fit my expectations.

IMO EU4 needs a break from new features and needs intensive and massive work on existing mechanics and features. You could even release a large skin pack and loyal PDS fans (including me) would buy it just to support the company.
 
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Last comment got deleted because I referenced certain near eastern dish. I will not do it anymore, even though we use this word on subreddit all the time.
Anyway to reiterate.

Are you seriously railroading the game even more? And with static bonuses for the historically successful nations?
This ages thing makes the game even more eurocentric than before and seams like really unimaginative at best.
Guys sorry but this is not a good thing. Most of us don't play this game to see Big Blue Blob no.53164 or Green Ottomans of Doom no.46465456.
 
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There are seven abilities in each age that each country can purchase, and there is also four unique abilities in each age, where countries that historically were powerful in that age can unlock a special ability.

So "lucky nations" from 1444 to 1820 will be finally gone?
 
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I can't imagine how in the world this, of all things, was the priority to put in the DLC. Maybe if it was envisioned back at the beginning of the game and shelved for years until now, I guess?

All I can think of are all the missed opportunities. I've only been this disappointed with EU4 updates when the naval rework that accompanied Mare Nostrum was unveiled.

The feature's fine I guess, whatever. It just isn't anything I care about at all.

Maybe if some of those new "abilities" can be accessed by modders and triggered using alternate methods with the free patch? So you could pick something like claiming adjacent to claims as a national idea for custom nations. But that's too much to hope for, I think. And I wouldn't really see the point of removing the system if you do have the DLC.

This lands with a wet "thud" for me, sorry :\
It really is a gigantic missed opportunity the more I think about it.
 
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While this mechanic looks interesting, I find this goal here is a major turnoff. It might seem like nitpicking but this is a very historically implausible goal for a nation to complete before 1530. To me this indicates that the new expansion will continue to focus around arcadey map painting rather then anything grounded in history

So yeah, a lot of potential but not interested in arcade mode so I will continue to not buy DLC.

easy as apple pie for ottos,
 

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They never focused on Africa.
Trade posts in Africa were only a way to reach India.
The main objective (and their neighbours' too) was India. And Indian trade was actually what was the most profitable for them, even compared to Brazil one century later.
I agree with your statement about the ingame bonus though, but they already have one in their NI's. I'd rather go for a naval bonus.

No one said they focused on Africa though. However they did end up with larger colonial positions in the south west and southeast eventually.

My main issue is that Portugal often ignores Brazil to settle down in the Caribbean.
 
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Hooray! Just what EUIV Needed, MORE RAILROADING!![/sarcasm]

Why are Ages based on years? Congrats, you managed to replace one arbitrarily chosen year with 4! Hooray! Tying Political Changes to absolute years will NEVER be a good idea. It was Stupid with Political Parties in Victoria 2 especially considering Victoria 1 didn't have that limitation. It was Stupid with Holy Wars ending at 1630 already. It is Stupid Here.

Why can't Ages Overlap? This would let us have different Ages for different parts of the world. Given the idea that Golden Ages and unique Bonuses can only happen for a country once, it would FINALLY create a system which encourages people to try to Resist changing ages. Never before has any Grand Strategy Game successfully done this. You had an amazing opportunity, but NOPE! Effectively Hard Coded Years.

It also would have allowed Dynamic History. What if the Catholics completely stomp the Protestants? Then why will there still be an Age of Reformation? What if the Republics manage to tear the big monarchies apart in 1500 and even France falls to become a Noble Republic? Why would there be an Age of Absolutism?

This system could have actually been really cool. Could have been, Unfortunately. But alas, Paradox has demonstrated that they are either incapable or unwilling to make systems that are actually dynamic. National Ideas, Institutions, and now at last Ages.

Maybe one day Paradox will move beyond their infatuation with Linearity.

But I doubt it.
 
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Maybe one day Paradox will move beyond their infatuation with Linearity.

The reason why Paradox is so adamant about linerarity including the Tech Tree is the AI. The made a simple system so they have less to worry about the AI. Look at Civilization 6 AI. It is unable to handle all the complex choices and does not understand opportunity costs.
 
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Maybe one day Paradox will move beyond their infatuation with Linearity.
Maybe one day, the set of people who both (a) own computers that can run 200+ instances of an AI that handles elaborate nonlinear systems competently and (b) want to play grand strategy games on those computers rather than climate simulations, nuclear warhead simulations, protein folding simulations, or chess solvers will be large enough to be worth selling video games to.
 
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While I like the idea of it, I see numerous issues from the start.
-unique bonus for a handful of nation. Like Otto need a buff you know. And why those faction specifically anyway ? EU4 is all about alternate history.
-non western european nation should have their own age (at the same period for gameplay sake). I don't see why asia or africa would care about an age of reformation. Or the age of absolutism. I don't think even Russia would care much about the Reformation. I mean, they used it for war and alliances, but they were not affected much. The age of revolution is fine, even though it came later on in Africa and Asia.
-I feel like I'm pushed to follow paradox path, in a game that is about setting your own goals. And those goals are very specific. From the list, if you are a german country for example, you'll be able to make it in a few years, if you are not, well good luck. The game should reward you for your deeds not push you to do specific one. What next, a very detailed path, where the Ai will only take historical decisions, and you'll be rewarded to follow your own country's one ?
-The objective cater to specific gameplay. For example Genoa or France can have most of the objective completed stupidly fast. On the other hand, if you play a landlocked country, tough luck. Also, depending on the nation, you will play differently. Portugal as a colonizer or Brandeburg as militaristic Prussia to be country.
 
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Allow Edict “Feudal De Jure Law”

Does this mean we will have laws

Europa Universalis 4: Civilisation 6? :p

God NO! :eek::eek:As some one who has CIV 5+6, 6 was a good idea, but strange turnout. Litterally after finishing a game of civ 6 after a couple hours (I didn't i finish the game. I got so repulsed by the change from 5 to 6)

aaaaaaand it's not Asia. *cries*

I feel ya.:(

no, its just a way to fabricate claims bordering other claims, so you can claim all of a country if you so desire.

Yes! Now as Theodoro I can claim all of the Crimean Khanate. Also Johan, is it possible that the Purple Phoenix models could be redone (just tier 3+4);)

ottoman empire was most successful state about the sieges or logistics in the 16th century. they sieged and took tens of castles in hungary.

Only with the help of Anti-Hapsburg Hungarian nobility:rolleyes:

No new start date

Ah. Cool.

Civilization Universalis... Really?

Do you mean civ 5?:confused:
 
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No !! No !! Too much micromanaging for my brain !!
These objectives kinda force you to play in a certain way... And worry about the dumb splendor resource (like we didn't have enough resources already...)
Maybe, like for a DLC, allow players to turn off this Age mechanic ??
 
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Hooray! Just what EUIV Needed, MORE RAILROADING!![/sarcasm]

Why are Ages based on years? Congrats, you managed to replace one arbitrarily chosen year with 4! Hooray! Tying Political Changes to absolute years will NEVER be a good idea. It was Stupid with Political Parties in Victoria 2 especially considering Victoria 1 didn't have that limitation. It was Stupid with Holy Wars ending at 1630 already. It is Stupid Here.

Why can't Ages Overlap? This would let us have different Ages for different parts of the world. Given the idea that Golden Ages and unique Bonuses can only happen for a country once, it would FINALLY create a system which encourages people to try to Resist changing ages. Never before has any Grand Strategy Game successfully done this. You had an amazing opportunity, but NOPE! Effectively Hard Coded Years.

It also would have allowed Dynamic History. What if the Catholics completely stomp the Protestants? Then why will there still be an Age of Reformation? What if the Republics manage to tear the big monarchies apart in 1500 and even France falls to become a Noble Republic? Why would there be an Age of Absolutism?

This system could have actually been really cool. Could have been, Unfortunately. But alas, Paradox has demonstrated that they are either incapable or unwilling to make systems that are actually dynamic. National Ideas, Institutions, and now at last Ages.

Maybe one day Paradox will move beyond their infatuation with Linearity.

But I doubt it.

1. In no EU game mysterious "republics" have turned apart Europe or France became one.
2. Victoria 2 is awesome game, 10X times than prequel, and many others (although I would like to see the exchange regions mechanic implemented in VIC3).
3. Ages cannot overlap.Even If HRE succeeded to terminate protestant progress and win the 30 years war, Scandinavia and UK also, there would still be protestants, even if minority (they would rise again in colonies).
There would still be revolutions (and surely colonial) even if Cromwell succeeded to rule in UK, France would suddenly fall for noble republic and Sweden would still get the ridksag to rule there.
4. If China ruled the world or Kuba-Luba, we cannot know what would have happened. Of course the game is Eurocentric, da, after all they colonized the whole world 100 years ago, in a process that began in that era. As I'm not European or from European-descent myself, I know these facts, and I really hope for Asia to improve in general. I'm glad (really glad) with what they've done here, I really hope they would go in that direction and not creating fantasy scenarios, as it would only be under player's (limited) control, as should be. Bravo Paradox!
 
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So actually we get a "mission" tab, in addition to the mission tab, and with achieving this set of missions or some of them in a specific period we can get some nice bonuses.
Nothing new here.
 
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