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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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It's late in the thread but I really hope the devs will see your post, this is a beautiful solution, it links together the mechanics so well. Right now the golden ages just sound like yet another button slapped on top of everything else, but this will actually integrate them. And then by removing the cutoff for when the bonuses end but linking it to institutions, you could even potentially do things like give Ottomans and Ming powerful things they don't want to get rid of, that'll incentiveize them to naturally fall behind in institutions and so in tech as well and weaken them over the course of the game.
I agree, this is a great solution.
 
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You seem overly afraid of the ottomans, they hardly ever take a single step into europe in my games, I more often see european AI's beat them up really bad than get beaten up by them.
Well then your version of EUIV is somehow fundamentally different to mine. I've literally seen the AI take on almost every single major european power (france, spain, austria, poland, russia, sweden, numerous HRE states, venice) in a single war and beat them. As I said, I've never seen the AI win a war against the ottomans unless they were seriously weakened first (at least not for most of the game, the european powrs do tend to even the odds towards the late game).

The issue is their (as mentioned by others) irritating habit of sticking their nose into every conflict that has nothing to do with them and the basically non-viability of playing a non-european nation in the general vicinity (again unless you're minmaxing).
 
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have to say though, i'm not too keen on the bonus to all provinces of your capitals terrain type... it gives too much incentive to move your capital around to unhistoric pkaces. it conflicts my powergamer and immersion gamer terribly:(
maybe make it the terrain type that most of your state development is in? or just flat out most provinces (to represent most land, not most people)

but the age mechanic looks sweet, maybe i'll finally finish a game instead of starting over after 100-200 years now
 
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Great idea but horrible implementation.
It is exactly like before westernization removal. Playing Muscovy your entire game was based upon capturing Danzig to fire an event.
Now it will be usually exploration as first idea and rush for americas through Siberia or Norway.
 
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have to say though, i'm not too keen on the bonus to all provinces of your capitals terrain type... it gives too much incentive to move your capital around to unhistoric pkaces. it conflicts my powergamer and immersion gamer terribly:(
maybe make it the terrain type that most of your state development is in? or just flat out most provinces (to represent most land, not most people)

but the age mechanic looks sweet, maybe i'll finally finish a game instead of starting over after 100-200 years now
They need time to unlock it and it lasts for only the first age, so indipendent Sweden will still be a thing, just not common before 1530 (that's a date near enough to the swedish war of liberation too).
 
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They need time to unlock it and it lasts for only the first age, so indipendent Sweden will still be a thing, just not common before 1530 (that's a date near enough to the swedish war of liberation too).
No it's not Sweden elects it's first separate king (in the period) in 1448. There are also independent riksföreståndare (reagents) not pledging their alliegience to the king in denmark such as Engelbrekt, Oxenstierna, Tott, and the two Stures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VIII_of_Sweden
In fact the only regent of sweden in the era that does not seems to have been at war with denmark at some point seems to be the Trolles. And well the event leading up to the stockholm massacre will tell you how most of sweden felt about that family (basically as soon as Eric Trolle died they put his son Gustav, the archbishop on a boat out of the country with the words and stay out).

Well then your version of EUIV is somehow fundamentally different to mine. I've literally seen the AI take on almost every single major european power (france, spain, austria, poland, russia, sweden, numerous HRE states, venice) in a single war and beat them. As I said, I've never seen the AI win a war against the ottomans unless they were seriously weakened first (at least not for most of the game, the european powrs do tend to even the odds towards the late game).

The issue is their (as mentioned by others) irritating habit of sticking their nose into every conflict that has nothing to do with them and the basically non-viability of playing a non-european nation in the general vicinity (again unless you're minmaxing).
Really? I play Ethiopia often enough and I never seems to have a problem. For meddling I feel Bohemia is much worse in it's region, they often enough gulp up half the HRE and then start messing with everything.
 
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They removed it because of the chaos and the only documented case of a PU outside of Europe was one involved in Korea.
Thailand. (They had to clone half a dozen guys in the history files as a result.)
 
The bonus goes away in 1530, when the age ends.
And Sweden actually started to be rebellious in like 1430 but sure make the union super stable until 1530.
 
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Cautiously optimistic for the potential of the mechanic itself, but the current implementation seems a bit lackluster.

Arbitrary global year boundaries, while several mechanics would already be in place to which it could be dynamically tied to? Institutions would be a pretty obvious one. Goals and bonuses clearly geared towards Europe, and Europe only? Meh. Really wished there were different ages with fitting flavor for different regions of the world. Why would India care about the Reformation or anything tied to it?

Curious how this will play out with the later ages, but the huge "wow" effect I expected when I read the first few sentences kinda failed to manifest itself so far.

Also,
Religious Rules are valid. (Previously before 1650)

I might be a bit dense at the moment, but can someone explain to me what that even means?
 
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I'm still burningly curious for more details about edicts, and I'm also wondering what "Transfer vassal war-goal" does. I'm imaging that if my vassal has a claim, I can take that land for myself, but does it also work for subjugation or pu's?
 
I might be a bit dense at the moment, but can someone explain to me what that even means?

After the first age ends, crusades and excommunication-wars stop.
 
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I'm still burningly curious for more details about edicts, and I'm also wondering what "Transfer vassal war-goal" does. I'm imaging that if my vassal has a claim, I can take that land for myself, but does it also work for subjugation or pu's?

To me it sounded more like a special war goal where you can ask that a vassal of your enemy becomes your vassal instead, for reduced cost or something maybe.
 
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To me it sounded more like a special war goal where you can ask that a vassal of your enemy becomes your vassal instead, for reduced cost or something maybe.

Ah. "Transfer-Vassal War-Goal", rather than "Transfer Vassal-War-Goal". I concede that your reading makes far more sense.