Isn't there a map mode for forts or a 2D sprite when zoomed out when an army is selected, as in Europa Universalis IV?Testers want to see where forts are when you zoom out.. its kind of vital
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Also, yes, London Tower has a cool design, but should France really be speckled with copies of it (around two dozen visible in this screenshot) ?
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Hey, if it's possible, could you tell us please what PC configuration do you have?
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First time I've actually found the 3D map pleasant to look at in one these games.
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Dont get me wrong: there's nothing offensively bad anywhere; this is a product that can be shipped. However, I have some concrete suggestions:
So... While bespoke topography looks nice, it isn't terribly accurate and mischaracterises plenty of iconic european geographical features.
Please, since you already have a simple orthodox projection, why not just start with a NASA heightmap and tweak it where it looks strange?
Most paradox games have some mod that redoes the map to fit a real projection and uses real height data. These—with almost no exceptions—just tend to look way better.
- The Scandinavian mountains in the Nordics and Iceland simply just don't look like the Scandes. These look more like the rockies. The mountains in Scandinaviawere sanded down by Ice Age glaciers, so they typically aren't as jagged as some more southernly ranges. The Icelandic mountains are especially bad here. They don't resemble the real deal even the slightest. You couldn't point to the Jökulls even if you knew where they were.
- On a related note, the archipelago around Åland is missing a some islands. I know that there's a lot of them, but it's what makes the region special!
- There not being even the gentlest hint of differences in elevation anywhere in Eastern Europe makes the region look very flat and uninteresting. Even some slight hills would go a long way.
- Finland and similarly lakey places need more lakes. This has been said before.
- Colourwise it all looks very, very smooth. Like lime-green clay. Some simple textural variation would go a long way. Darker marshes, coarser cliffs, more patchworkey farmlands, Etc. (I'm not the biggest fan of the trees being amorphous blobs either, but I understand why they look like that.) The I:R map is of course a good example of this, and, IMO, Crusader Kings II as well. The boreal forests were dark and musty, and the european plains were much lighter.
So... While bespoke topography looks nice, it isn't terribly accurate and mischaracterises plenty of iconic european geographical features.
Please, since you already have a simple orthodox projection, why not just start with a NASA heightmap and tweak it where it looks strange?
Most paradox games have some mod that redoes the map to fit a real projection and uses real height data. These—with almost no exceptions—just tend to look way better.
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Imperator Rome’s map was amazing. EU5 feels like a big downgrade, looks more like a Civ game.
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Here's a satellite photo of what the same area my screenshot was of looks like in real life. (Apologies about the line, it was the most cloud-clear image I could find)
You'll notice the colour difference is subtle if even present. In fact the place you see the closest colour to the game's Mediterranean is from the river outlets into the English Channel and the currents going through it.
Those colour differences people capture are usually either manipulated, are freshwater flows into the ocean, or are the meeting points of ocean currents of different temperatures - as in the video you sent, which is of Cape Agulhas in South Africa. It's also not really visible at this level:
Now I'm not saying that there should be no visual difference just because there's not one in real life - so long as it looks good and is a little more subtle. It does after all help the player differentiate that they're different types of location and have different effects for navies and such. I just think it can be a much better colour.
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Those two maps mainly make different choices on how to represent the difference in horizontal to vertical scale. Maybe a bit more accentuation should be added to the hills in the EUV-map, but I don't think there's something wrong with the heights themselves ?
I think parts of Iberia still need a touchup, especially around Valencia
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Glad you enjoy it so much
So on the camera angles, it's similar to how CK3 works. 99% of gameplay will be zooming in, with automatic tilt (The tilt is toggleable btw!), north on top. You can do some camera rotations but camera will snap back to this default configuration.
Zoom levels and camera tilts for this video are entirely for the purposes of the showcase. Nothing here is actual gameplay pans/zooms.
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Difficult to overstate how OK the fanbase would be with a complete 1:1 copy of the I:R map...Is it just me that thinks the Imperator Rome map is much cooler?? We need to follow this cool map. The current map looks like Civilization
View attachment 1335112
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Definitely, the coastlines together with the texture resolutions are where I think the biggest improvements can be made right now.
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Having the ability to lock it would be a pleasant addition.
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I agree, the map definitely needs more polish.
As of now, it looks flat overall.
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…They did that though? Like, the heightmap used to look completely different before we asked them to use the real world heightmap as a basis, which they did. The issue seems more that some of the height differences aren’t visible enough.
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Strong sincere request to allow the default camera angle to be modded. Playing an Islamic nation would be super immersive if we could also orient the map so South is Up.Glad you enjoy it so much
So on the camera angles, it's similar to how CK3 works. 99% of gameplay will be zooming in, with automatic tilt (The tilt is toggleable btw!), north on top. You can do some camera rotations but camera will snap back to this default configuration.
Zoom levels and camera tilts for this video are entirely for the purposes of the showcase. Nothing here is actual gameplay pans/zooms.
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I wonder how hard it is to make terrain stand out more or less at different zoom levels. The mountains look fine close up, but look flat when you zoom out
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There are still things that stand out to me, that could be improved in my opinion. Mainly the terrain texture, which lacks details and looks quite blurry in some places. It also looks less "realistic" and has a more "cartoony" vibe to it, especially when compared to the IR terrain texture. There are also some places where the transition of different climate/vegetation textures are quite abrupt and unatural.
Also some parts of the map look pretty empty in my opinion. The map could really do with a generall increase in vegetation desity, especially more trees/forests.
I know that much of this is subjective and different people prefer different art styles, but the thing that I loved about the IR map was the sense of scale it managed to convey to me. It felt truly massive and vast to me, it just had that right balance of 3D sprite sizes (mainly the city sprawls, monuments and vegetation), location density, use of terrain textures, and so on. That's something the EU5 map hasn't managed to achieve for me, at least not so far.
Overall it's a good map, but the IR one just looks and feels a lot better to me.
Also some parts of the map look pretty empty in my opinion. The map could really do with a generall increase in vegetation desity, especially more trees/forests.
I know that much of this is subjective and different people prefer different art styles, but the thing that I loved about the IR map was the sense of scale it managed to convey to me. It felt truly massive and vast to me, it just had that right balance of 3D sprite sizes (mainly the city sprawls, monuments and vegetation), location density, use of terrain textures, and so on. That's something the EU5 map hasn't managed to achieve for me, at least not so far.
Overall it's a good map, but the IR one just looks and feels a lot better to me.
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There are a lot of good tips here. Honestly, I'm torn between our wishes and optimization. I really want the changes the community suggests to be made, I hope you'll find a way to deal with this. It's also worth noting the FPS drop in the showcase. Some YouTubers had similar drops during their first reviews, so I repeat, I hope you'll be able to improve the game visually and tame this beast (EU5 optimization).
Yeah no this looks pretty bad, especially when EU3 did better.
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