Gamescom 2012 - Europa Universalis IV Sneak Peak

[Poh]

Moddable they are.

Also, you shouldnt look at the nodes as cot:s but rather an areas where trade can flow through/be generated in and where you can use your influence to for greater control and profit. The actual province where the symbol of the node happens to be is not really important, if you where to build up Crete for example as a great trading port then that might be the most important trading location in the 'Alexandria' trade area.

So the Node is a representation of all the trade that is generated, incoming and outgoing of the area the Node is placed in. It wouldnt matter if the Node of Alexandria was in Alexandria or in Cyprus/Crete or any other province in the area. If you have presence in a Node area you can send merchants to that Node. The Node also show the amount of provinces every country holds in the Node area aswell as if that country is protecting trade with their ships, if they have opend an office and how much gold they generate from said office (or extracting to another node area). Quite clever

 

[Seli]

Trade routes are static? Bad news, kind of defeats the purpose of implementing this new system in the first place. But maybe I'm missing something, I'll wait for more information.

I would say the possible trade routes being static makes sense. Those are in these times determined by geography more than anything else. Tradewinds, ocean currents, ice, proximity etc.
The trade that flows through these routes, which is the important bit of a trade route, is going to be dynamic and can be influenced by the various nations.

 

[Poh]

A thought just crossed my mind, nations as the Ottomans and Denmark have in EU3 been getting modifiers for holding straits gaining some sort of bonusses to their trade income modifers. Now in the new model with nodes and actual trade value running from node to node, will we see a system where you do not gain a modifier but tax the actual trade running through the strait and maybe giving small negative relation modifiers to the nations in the node areas that get reduced incoming trade because of said strait taxes?

 

[Don_Quigleone]

What if, say, the route to round the cape stops in Lisbon, and then continues to the rest of Europe. Does that mean the Portuguese get any kind of inherent advantage just by virtue of holding Lisbon and the surrounding provinces?

 

[unc15]

Are trade routes affected by the state of the area they are coming from? It was stated that trade routes can have nothing going on at them and be worth little, but can progressively become more important and rich as lands are discovered, etc. Does this also take in account the state of the discovered lands?

For example:

For instance, if the America's have just been discovered, do their trade routes suddenly become richer and more important? Or, will the trade routes be affected by the state of the newly-discovered areas. Like, North American trade routes only start to get richer after the area has been colonized, and then become progressively richer as the colonized areas become more developed?

 

[Derdiedas]

Because it develops into one. I don't think CoT's are buildable or anything in game. So even if no trade was going through in the beginning, it would need to be there for later.

Why "it develops into one"? Because it was destined for it? No, Vienna became important as the time gone only because the ruling dynasty of HRE made it their capital and it took them great time and great efforts to turn it into important city. One unfortunate accident on the hunt, title of king of HRE could change hands and Vienna would never developed into one. Why is the game forcing on us the development, when it should be us who change it?

Also, you shouldnt look at the nodes as cot:s but rather an areas where trade can flow through/be generated in and where you can use your influence to for greater control and profit. The actual province where the symbol of the node happens to be is not really important, if you where to build up Crete for example as a great trading port then that might be the most important trading location in the 'Alexandria' trade area.

Ok, then why the trade flow through Vienna and can be generated there when in that time it was rather smaller uninteresting city? And I guess there is no difference between having trade nod in your territory or not?

Ironically, after the work you've put into the new model, I think that the older system with CoT siphoning trade from adjacent areas/allied states/cuturally similiar countries where CoT could be created and destroyed was both more realistic and more fun, because it gave players something to strive for.

 

[unmerged(1823)]

Why "it develops into one"? Because it was destined for it? No, Vienna became important as the time gone only because the ruling dynasty of HRE made it their capital and it took them great time and great efforts to turn it into important city. One unfortunate accident on the hunt, title of king of HRE could change hands and Vienna would never developed into one. Why is the game forcing on us the development, when it should be us who change it?

Ok, then why the trade flow through Vienna and can be generated there when in that time it was rather smaller uninteresting city? And I guess there is no difference between having trade nod in your territory or not?

Ironically, after the work you've put into the new model, I think that the older system with CoT siphoning trade from adjacent areas/allied states/cuturally similiar countries where CoT could be created and destroyed was both more realistic and more fun, because it gave players something to strive for.

Donau

 

[Jaol]

What if, say, the route to round the cape stops in Lisbon, and then continues to the rest of Europe. Does that mean the Portuguese get any kind of inherent advantage just by virtue of holding Lisbon and the surrounding provinces?

Probably. Which makes sense. If Portugal has a strong navy, merchant fleet, etc. it would be able to take advantage of its position on the trade route. Just imagine if both Portugal and the Netherlands tried to stop the flow of trade from India to England (and neither had any colonies). Portugal would have an easier time of it, by virtue of the fact that it sits on the trade route.

 

[Calgacus]

Great looking. Trade routes idea is brill, and very welcome.

 

[Derdiedas]

Donau

I'm gad to hear that Regensburg will finally get attention that it deserves.

 

[siis]

I would say the possible trade routes being static makes sense. Those are in these times determined by geography more than anything else. Tradewinds, ocean currents, ice, proximity etc.
The trade that flows through these routes, which is the important bit of a trade route, is going to be dynamic and can be influenced by the various nations.

I guess that's the meaning of the routes. But I think the name is a little bit misleading, "trade route" sounds dynamic. On the hander, if every trade route could have it's own name that is shown on the map (smiliar to nations, cultures, regions(?), relegions...) than they would feel more "static". Imo it's not so much a problem of gameplay but naming the elements (trade route, center of trade). The terms might give false impressions.

 

[Palfouri]

Why "it develops into one"? Because it was destined for it? No, Vienna became important as the time gone only because the ruling dynasty of HRE made it their capital and it took them great time and great efforts to turn it into important city. One unfortunate accident on the hunt, title of king of HRE could change hands and Vienna would never developed into one. Why is the game forcing on us the development, when it should be us who change it?

In 1221, Vienna received the rights of a city and as a staple port (Stapelrecht). This meant that all traders passing through Vienna had to offer their goods in the city. This allowed the Viennese to act as middlemen in trade, so that Vienna soon created a network of far-reaching trade relations, particularly along the Danube basin and to Venice, and to become one of the most important cities in the Holy Roman Empire.

This is from Wikipedia so someone more educated on the subject can correct this, but this makes it sound like Vienna already had moderate importance in trade by 1444.

 

[Derdiedas]

This is from Wikipedia so someone more educated on the subject can correct this, but this makes it sound like Vienna already had moderate importance in trade by 1444.

Yeah, but far behind Hansa cities, Mainz, Frankfurt, Prague and Breslau.

 

[flame7926]

Yeah, but far behind Hansa cities, Mainz, Frankfurt, Prague and Breslau.

But still somewhat important.

 

[Killzerslaul]

Moddable they are.

Also, you shouldnt look at the nodes as cot:s but rather an areas where trade can flow through/be generated in and where you can use your influence to for greater control and profit. The actual province where the symbol of the node happens to be is not really important, if you where to build up Crete for example as a great trading port then that might be the most important trading location in the 'Alexandria' trade area.

I think that has convinced me the trade system will be awesome. I think maybe though the current map interface is then a little misleading. maybe the lines shown on the map should change to indicate which provinces are getting the most trade? or maybe you could scrap the lines entirely (except in Trade mapview) and just show ships going along trade routes, but breaking off to go to the individual provinces based on the trade region?
(so if Crete dominated the "Alexandria" trade area, many ships would break off on their way to Alexandria to stop at Crete.)

 

[WeissRaben]

Probably. Which makes sense. If Portugal has a strong navy, merchant fleet, etc. it would be able to take advantage of its position on the trade route. Just imagine if both Portugal and the Netherlands tried to stop the flow of trade from India to England (and neither had any colonies). Portugal would have an easier time of it, by virtue of the fact that it sits on the trade route.

Yes. And if, as I told in another thread, Venice conquered Malta/Tunis/Oran/Tangiers-Gibraltar/Canarias/Natal, route protected by a strong navy? What is going to bring merchants to Lisbon, when the most obvious choice is Venice?