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Hello again! @Ryagi here to bring you yet another overhaul for EUIV. Overhaul mods are by definition some of the most ambitious projects to undertake for any mod team. And Atlas Novum is no exception, broadly touching almost every major game mechanic in EUIV, provinces, government reforms, techs, institutions, units and more! Taking inspiration from some of Grandfathers of EUIV modding such as Beyond Typus, MEIOU & Taxes.
So, lets sink our teeth into this huge project with the help of lead Dev Amyzonis, presenting Atlas Novum!
Howdy! My name is Amyzonis and I am the lead developer of the mod Atlas Novum, a project that has been in development for the past six years.
What is Atlas Novum?
Described by some as EU4.5, Atlas Novum is a total overhaul of the game. Our development process has been to focus on reworks in three distinct phases: mapwork, mechanics, and content. Thus far only the mapwork has been completed in its entirety, though mechanics are rapidly approaching completion as well. Once those two aspects are done, we will consider the mod to be in a feature-complete state, and focus our efforts entirely on content.
Mapwork
Originally based on the Typus projection from our partners at the eponymous Beyond Typus mod, Atlas Novum has gone on to vastly outstrip its older brother in terms of provincial detail. As the main endeavor over the past six years, our massive overhaul of the map stretches the entire breadth of the world, adding in thousands of new provinces. Moreover, this includes new sea tiles for all of the world's oceans and historically navigable rivers (Rhine, Danube, Don, Volga, Congo, Zambezi, Ganges, Yangtze, Columbia, Mississippi, Laurent, Hudson, Amazon and the Paraná). Some rivers can only be fully accessed and navigated with the completion of expensive and laborious canalization projects.
Our process for mapwork has involved extensive research into the early modern world with reliance on scholarly sources, and we’ve sought to represent reality as best we can. Following this, we’ve reflected many landforms as they once were, from the yet unsunken Uthlande and the unbroken landbridge of Rama Setu, to the historical coastline and basin of the Yangtze river. While we don’t achieve the density and border gore of our friends over at Voltaire’s Nightmare, many areas are still delightfully complex in both provinces and the nations that own them.
As the namesake of Europa Universalis, the old continent is brought to you in new form. Iberia starts with subject co-kingdoms that must be brought to heel before further expansion can take place. France remains divided by its major fiefdoms, and is still in the midst of its hundred-year war with England. Italy is the cradle of four institutions, and hosts a variety of smaller powers that punch above their weight class. The Holy Roman Empire has been represented in all its fractured glory, where ascension to great power status can be up to chance as much as planning and politicking. Scandinavia is dominated by the still-intact Kalmar Union. Poland and Lithuania are the behemoths of the East, while Muscovy is still attempting to throw off the Tatar yoke. The Wild Plains are dominated by hordes and migrating tags, which use the tribal land mechanic. Finally, the Balkans are under the onslaught of advancing Turkish influence and armies, sure to fall unless a Bulwark of Christendom emerges to contest them.
While predominantly Muslim, the lands of North Africa and the Middle East are among the richest and most diverse in the world, home to a myriad of peoples; the remnants of the Crusader states, Copts, Syriacs, Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, and Jews, and more. To the north, the demesne of Osman is set to dominate the region, given enough time and focus. The powerful Mamluk Sultanate extends its influence from Egypt into the Levant and western Arabia via their various subjects. The Sahara and Arabia feature a number of isolated oases and wadis, surrounded by expanses of uninhabitable desert. Nonetheless, these lands hold great promise for growth and valuable resources sufficient to supply a fledgling empire.
In Central Asia, the Gurkani empire is on the verge of collapse. Divided between various successors within and bedeviled by Turkmen and Uzbeks without, the future of Turan has never been as uncertain. Yet, from its ashes any number of powers may ascend — most notably, the Mughals.
India is the home of some of the most productive soil and sought-after spices in the world, its wealth only rivaled by that of East Asia. In the north, Delhi has suffered under weak leadership, allowing Sirhind and Jaunpur to encroach upon the venerable city. Bengal controls the navigable Ganges Delta, and can easily become a naval power to be reckoned with. To the south, the Bahmanis and Vijayanagara square off over who will be preeminent from Comorin to the Deccan.
The once great Majapahit empire is in steep decline, while Malacca, Ayutthaya, Brunei, and Dai Viet are poised to expand. The long arm of Ming China extends into this region, but its presence is far from secure. Islam continues its spread throughout the region, contending with Hindus, Buddhists, and Animists. The Malay peoples will undoubtedly continue to settle and assimilate throughout the archipelago. Any empire founded in Maritime Asia is sure to be a Thalassocracy, controlling the sources of some of the most valuable resources in the world. Indeed, in South East Asia, gold ought to be easy to come by, whether it be from war or trade.
The Middle Kingdom, Ming China, is the Sun around which all of East Asia orbits yet as grievous losses on the frontiers check its expansion, the Celestial Empire may see itself eclipsed. It maintains a wide system of tributaries, from faraway Malacca and Ceylon, to Tuzi and Tibetan polities in its hinterlands. Offshore, the Ashikaga Shogunate’s grip on Japan wanes, and each Daimyo prepares to fend for itself in this new era of Warring States. It will require a great unifier to put the island back together again. The Hermit Kingdom of Korea is unified, rich, and isolated, with a variety of Manchurian and Mongol tribes just past its borders.
Extraordinarily vast, diverse, and rich in natural resources, Sub-Saharan Africa is a world unto itself. Though most culture groups belong to the broader Bantu cultural family, that is often where the similarities end. In the West, Mali is in steep decline, whereas Songhai may soon be able to conquer up and down the Niger as the developed Hausa states squabble amongst themselves. In the East, Coptic Ethiopia is embroiled in a contest for regional hegemony with its Muslim neighbor, Adal. The Nyanza states are well isolated, but also primed for incredible growth in population, while the merchants of the Zanj fight for control of trade throughout the Indian Littoral. Though the ravages of slavery are sure to be an immense detriment to the continent as a whole, participation also presents a unique opportunity for wealth and influence, particularly in the Kingdom of Kongo.
Inhabiting perhaps the most geographically gifted continent on the planet has its advantages. North America has vast navigable rivers, numerous protected harbors, and wide tracts of fertile grounds waiting to be planted. Though they are mostly migratory, the inhabitants of North America are anything but primitive. Indeed, any prospective colonizing power is likely to find a land filled with powerful confederacies and little land left unoccupied, at least until disease, war and exploitation take their toll. Though little written information from this period of history remains for modern historians to study, we have spent innumerable hours reviewing historical linguistics, archaeological evidence and oral tradition to help fill in the gaps. The result is a continent as bountiful as it is beautiful, whose future is left to the hands of the player.
As one of my personal favorite regions, Mesoamerica is prosperous and developed compared to its contemporaries throughout the Americas. Though the Aztec empire is on the move and the Maya continue to languish in their decline, the numerous polities here can easily gang up to subvert the endeavors of any would-be regional hegemon. The Purepecha empire of Irechikwa represents a significant power in its own right, with more advanced metalworking than its neighbors. We were graciously allowed to adapt many of the aspects of the Mesoamerica Universalis mod, allowing us to represent this fascinating region in the level of detail as it deserves.
Although inhabitants of the Andes lack a codified system of writing, this has hardly hampered their development. The ‘vertical archipelago’ of the Altiplano is sure to become the heartland of any great power that finds itself here, while the navigable Amazon and Paraná rivers are among the most extensive in the world. Though isolated, the Mapuche are a bastion of agriculture and organization amongst an otherwise sparsely populated south. Though many lands lay open to foreign colonization, the wilderness and sheer size of the continent is sure to slow their expansion.
Though the Pacific is one of the most isolated regions in the world, the islands are home to many populous, well-organized polities. Hawaii has only recently been discovered and colonized, and is perhaps the most important waystation for any circumnavigating navy. Polynesian sailors are renowned for their skill, and sought after the world over. Though once mighty, the empire of Tonga is in decline, perhaps to be subsumed by the rising power of Samoa. To the far south, the Maori inhabit the lush forests and hills of Aotearoa. Any would-be colonizer is sure to face stiff, if not insurmountable resistance from the fierce peoples of Oceania.
While we will discuss this more later, terrain types have been entirely remade in Atlas Novum. When combined with our climate and forestry systems, each province’s situation can present unique challenges for development.
Atlas Novum features a large number of trade nodes, often modeled after riverine drainage basins or geographic features of great import. There are four end nodes: the Channel, the Öresund, the Adriatic and the Orient. Estuaries now vary in strength, depending on the relative size and importance of the river in question. Additionally, we now have 5 different stages of centers of trade (Natural Harbor, Anchorage, Hithe, Entrepot, World Port; Crossroads, Waystation, Trade Depot, Caravansary, World Trade Center).
Colonial regions exist primarily in the New World, and have been modeled after the borders of historical colonies. However, a colonial region also exists on the African Cape, as well as several in Australia and New Zealand. Like vanilla EU4, trade companies cover the rest of the world, and conform to the borders of their respective trade nodes. However, in some nodes, two companies co-exist. This occurs primarily in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and exists to spur competition amongst colonizers, as one can only get an additional merchant if they control 51% of the trade in the entire node. Naturally, this makes sabotage or outright conquest of a rival trade company a lucrative endeavor.
Mechanics
Terrain and Climate
As mentioned earlier, we’ve reorganized terrain into twenty-two distinct types, based on biome and topology. Each terrain is classified by a type: Fertile, Productive, Rugged, Alpine, and Barren. Europe, East Asia, and North America easily have the largest supply of fertile and productive lands, but marginal types can still support a modest population or serve as effective defensive barriers to invading armies. Each terrain type serves as a source of both Carrying Capacity and Infrastructure Limit to the province in question. Carrying Capacity represents the maximum population a province can support, whereas Infrastructure Limit represents the maximum level of infrastructure that can be built there.
We’ve also introduced twenty-five Climates, which are roughly based on 1900 Koppen-Geiger readings. These climates are categorized along two axes — one for heat, the other for humidity. Their nomenclature was developed to reflect this while ensuring easy readability and player understanding. (Yes, Tinto, I have a simplified 9 and 16 climate setup for Project Caesar if you happen to be interested).
Each climate type provides a certain amount of carrying capacity to a province, and this amount can vary based on climate change. Major historical volcanic events and the Little Ice Age can cause dramatic shifts in fortune for your population as the carrying capacity and productivity of the land changes beneath their feet…
Finally, you will find forest modifiers present in many provinces. These can range between three sizes: Sparse, Abundant, and Dense. Forests belong to one of six types that can be grown or cleared as needed: Broadleaf, Needleleaf, Coniferous, Bane, Rainforest, and Laurel. Be careful though, as fully deforesting a terrain type which is defined by the presence of trees — Woodlands, Taiga, or Jungle, for example — will result in a nasty deforestation modifier. However, this modifier will disappear in time, so it can be worth enduring it if some trees are getting in the way of your plans.
Population and Development
While development was a solid addition to EU4, its abstractness and “clicky” gameplay always bothered me. To that end, we reworked development into Wealth, Infrastructure, and Population. Wealth and Population will grow organically, based on local factors such as trade good price, level of infrastructure, carrying capacity, logistics cost, and civilization level. Development growth is checked at the end of every year. The formulae for growth of these two values can be found below, and you will notice that they are rather complex affairs. To increase Infrastructure, you must invest two Wealth and wait for it to be constructed, with the opportunity cost that no other buildings can be constructed during that time. While development doesn’t need to be micromanaged, it may serve you well to pay special attention to a few of your most precious provinces and manage them according to your desired outcomes.
Cultures and Religions
Atlas Novum adds nearly two thousand new cultures (2,299 in total currently) and a dozen new religions, including a minority system.
Cultures have largely been designed around historical linguistics; after all, it's difficult to share a culture with someone that doesn’t speak the same language. There are notable exceptions to this rule, however.
While religions have not been a priority up until now, we have still added a number of new faiths. Moreover, we have recolored existing religions to correspond with colors for which they are historically associated.
Minorities come in three sizes: small, significant, and large, and can be either cultural or religious. The cultural and religious acceptance of a given minority will affect their impact on your provinces, just as unaccepted cultures and religions do in vanilla. Cultural statuses can range from integrated to enslaved or expelled, with consequential effects. There can also be secondary minorities present, which can only be one size: small, but are there to represent notable independent cultures or religions. Moreover, minorities can grow and shrink, as well as migrate and resettle throughout your lands. Whether it be Turkish settlers entering Rumelia, Moriscos leaving Iberia or Romani migrants shuffling around throughout Europe, every game ought to have something interesting happen culturally.
Another critical aspect to cultures are “assimilated” or “settler” cultures. Should the province in question meet certain conditions, it will begin to transition to a new culture within your culture group, most of which aren’t present at game start. For example, long-term Venetian control of Crete will spawn the Italian culture of Candian. This system likewise functions in the context of colonialism. Iberian cultures are liable to transition into Brazilian, Platinean, Mexican, Colombian and more. Not every culture group has unique cultures for colonialism and assimilation, but it is an area we are eager to expand as time goes on.
Finally, while it does not currently affect gameplay, every culture group and religion group now belongs to a “family”. For example, the French, Occitanic, Iberian, Arpetan, Italian, and Romanian groups all belong to a broader “Romance” family. While purely aesthetic at this time, this serves to better inform the player of their peoples’ relation to the broader world.
Government and Estates
We’ve also overhauled government reforms and estates. Countries begin with all of their tiers of reforms preselected, with progression occurring within each tier. Natives have 6 tiers, tribes 8, and theocracies, monarchies, and republics 10. Moreover, we have a ‘corporate’ type planned at some point in the future.
Estates have also been entirely reworked, in large part inspired by our partners over at MEIOU & Taxes. To start, we added 3 new estates to all theocracies, monarchies, and republics, those being: the Court/Council, the Bureaucracy, and the Military. We’ve further reworked the way that estate privileges work. Now, they are divided into two types: Rights and Privileges. Every nation starts with their privileges preselected, like government reforms, and upgrading them can often be an involved and complicated endeavor. At this time, we’ve reworked the Nobility, Clergy, and Burghers into this new design, but more region specific estates are still yet to be done.
Technology and Institutions
Atlas Novum includes a complete overhaul of technologies and institutions. Technology has now been broken up into 46 different levels, separated by fifteen-year increments. There are now sixteen different institutions, with the first seven already present at game start.
Indented technologies are there to differentiate various different technological starts among our myriad of technology groups.
Institutions will not necessarily spawn in the prescribed start location, though they are likely to emerge in a place with similar conditions.
52 Technology Groups
Units
Since we overhauled technology, it only made sense to likewise redo units. Land units now belong to one of eight types: Offensive Infantry, Defensive Infantry, Ranged Infantry, Offensive Cavalry, Defensive Cavalry, Ranged Cavalry, Light Artillery, and Heavy Artillery. As technology progresses and gunpowder becomes ubiquitous, ranged infantry and cavalry merge with their offensive and defensive counterparts. It must be noted that many technology groups do not have innate access to horses or gunpowder, and will be locked out of units requiring them — regardless of technology level. In order to gain access, a nation must either control a province producing the trade good in question, or control at least 5% of the global trade in that good.
Naval units have been similarly redone. To better reflect their role, Galleys have been renamed to Littoral Ships. Now, everything from the simple Canoe to globe-spanning Battleship are part of our roster.
Subjects
There are several new subject types to contend with - fiefs, domains, confederates and paramountcies. Fiefdoms represent the various feudal relationships existing at game start. While they aren’t particularly useful, they can be easily integrated after the Age of Discovery has passed. Domains represent a multitude of different overlord-subject relationships that center on a common ruler. Domains function as “unbreakable” personal unions, and while their bonuses aren’t particularly powerful, they can expand the influence of their liege significantly. Confederates represent states in an equal partnership with their ‘overlord’. Groups of confederates can be a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Finally, paramountcies — though temporarily disabled — are a unique vassal type for native and tribal governments.
Trade Goods
Atlas Novum adds over one hundred new trade goods, each with dynamic prices determined on supply and demand — a system which is adapted from the Stock Market Mod. Many vanilla trade goods have new art, either custom made for our project or adapted with permission from the Trade Goods Expanded Mod.
Each trade goods price is determined by its supply and demand, which in turn can be affected by the Economic Access modifier. China, for example, has a unique modifier that greatly limits its effect on trade good prices, reflecting its burgeoning internal market. Though this is a global market, supply and demand for goods from the Old World will not affect the New — and vice versa — until the Columbian Exchange has happened.
Trade goods in Atlas Novum belong to one of four types: Immature Unrefined, Mature Unrefined, Immature Refined, and Mature Refined. Take note, most of the Mature Refined goods do not exist at game start. Luckily for you, with the requisite technology and trade good inputs, you may change a province’s trade good as needed. In particular, gunpowder is sure to be a highly sought-after good for strategic purposes, though making a new source of gunpowder production requires owning provinces that produce Niter and Sulfur.
Content
Missions
Six years ago, this mod was originally focused on mission reworks for the colonizing powers. While we felt that we had done excellent work at creating in-depth mission trees, there was a problem: they were simply too long. Portugal alone had a mission tree of over 300 missions, and this greatly lagged an already slow gameplay experience. So, we took some inspiration from the modular system of Imperator Rome, with a twist: you can have two ‘modules’ selected at any one time. Now, our new mission modules are a standard 4x5 in size and you are no longer limited to just “one” general objective. Want to focus on developing your homeland while colonizing Brazil? With this system, that is now a distinct possibility.
Green missions are required to complete the module, whereas teal missions unlock optional modules. I must further note that while these missions are playable, they are still not complete, as indicated by their placeholder icons.
When you finish the necessary missions in a module, you will complete it, and be able to select a new module to follow. Some modules are optional, others can only be unlocked via certain ahistorical missions, while still others directly follow those which you have just completed. It should be noted that content has not been our immediate priority up until now, and currently only the initial Portuguese mission modules are available for general consumption. However, now that we are entering a feature complete state, content development will become our primary objective, with mission modules being our main vehicle of delivery.
Wonders and Great Projects
Called “Monuments” in vanilla, we’ve added over a hundred new Wonders & Great Projects representing significant monuments and geological features, as well as a dozen new canal projects. Additionally, many of these have been reworked to nerf some of the most excessive national modifiers, such that their impact is not out of proportion with their importance.
These Wonders fall into three categories: Historical, Legendary, and Mythological. The existence of each of these categories will be customizable at game start. While historical Wonders will be present in every game you play, the location and occurrence of legendary and mythological wonders is left up to the player. Legendary wonders are poorly-attested, if not outright fictitious locations, such as the Seven Cities of Gold or Atlantis. Mythological wonders are fantastical in their conception, such as the everlasting Fountain of Youth or eldritch R'lyeh.
Starts
Atlas Novum has a myriad of initial options as well as multiple starts to fine-tune your game experience.
Conclusion
Though Atlas Novum has been in development for over half a decade, I must warn that it is still in beta. Occasionally, icons may be placeholders, mechanics in need of revision, or content missing. Updates to the Github Mirror on Steam can be hot code and subject to bugs or balance issues. This is a necessary consequence of active development, and we can only improve the project with your input. Thus I highly encourage your participation on our Discord server. Anyone wishing to contribute is welcome, and we’re always looking for new members of any experience level.
Also, while EU4’s optimization and performance has improved significantly in the past few years, it must be said that this is a sizable mod. It will inevitably run more slowly than vanilla, though perhaps not as slowly as some other overhaul mods that exist on the workshop. The startup and first few years of the game are likely to be a crawl, but speed should pick up considerably as you play. Moreover, with the expanded internal mechanics at your disposal, you may wish to use this slower pace to better explore, customize, and develop your nation.
Thank you for your attention, and thank you to Ryagi and Paradox Interactive as a whole for providing this space to share our labor of love with you all! I very much hope you enjoy what we have put together thus far, and look forward to continuing to develop the project with your input in the future!
Please check out Atlas Novum over on the Steam Workshop, or follow its development on the Atlas Novum Discord Server. We are a very active and close-knit community that welcomes your feedback!
Thanks for joining us for this spotlight, we hope you enjoyed the look into Atlas Novum presented here
Atlas Novum is still in constant and active development, and we believe it will stand the test of time for EUIV mods! Be sure to check it out.
For our next spotlight we'll be hosting Aveum Lupi Bicipitis (Or just "ALB" if you prefer not to summon a demon) for some more alt history mod fun. As usual if you have any suggestions for spotlights do let us know! See you next time.
So, lets sink our teeth into this huge project with the help of lead Dev Amyzonis, presenting Atlas Novum!
Howdy! My name is Amyzonis and I am the lead developer of the mod Atlas Novum, a project that has been in development for the past six years.
What is Atlas Novum?
Described by some as EU4.5, Atlas Novum is a total overhaul of the game. Our development process has been to focus on reworks in three distinct phases: mapwork, mechanics, and content. Thus far only the mapwork has been completed in its entirety, though mechanics are rapidly approaching completion as well. Once those two aspects are done, we will consider the mod to be in a feature-complete state, and focus our efforts entirely on content.
Mapwork
Originally based on the Typus projection from our partners at the eponymous Beyond Typus mod, Atlas Novum has gone on to vastly outstrip its older brother in terms of provincial detail. As the main endeavor over the past six years, our massive overhaul of the map stretches the entire breadth of the world, adding in thousands of new provinces. Moreover, this includes new sea tiles for all of the world's oceans and historically navigable rivers (Rhine, Danube, Don, Volga, Congo, Zambezi, Ganges, Yangtze, Columbia, Mississippi, Laurent, Hudson, Amazon and the Paraná). Some rivers can only be fully accessed and navigated with the completion of expensive and laborious canalization projects.
Our process for mapwork has involved extensive research into the early modern world with reliance on scholarly sources, and we’ve sought to represent reality as best we can. Following this, we’ve reflected many landforms as they once were, from the yet unsunken Uthlande and the unbroken landbridge of Rama Setu, to the historical coastline and basin of the Yangtze river. While we don’t achieve the density and border gore of our friends over at Voltaire’s Nightmare, many areas are still delightfully complex in both provinces and the nations that own them.
As the namesake of Europa Universalis, the old continent is brought to you in new form. Iberia starts with subject co-kingdoms that must be brought to heel before further expansion can take place. France remains divided by its major fiefdoms, and is still in the midst of its hundred-year war with England. Italy is the cradle of four institutions, and hosts a variety of smaller powers that punch above their weight class. The Holy Roman Empire has been represented in all its fractured glory, where ascension to great power status can be up to chance as much as planning and politicking. Scandinavia is dominated by the still-intact Kalmar Union. Poland and Lithuania are the behemoths of the East, while Muscovy is still attempting to throw off the Tatar yoke. The Wild Plains are dominated by hordes and migrating tags, which use the tribal land mechanic. Finally, the Balkans are under the onslaught of advancing Turkish influence and armies, sure to fall unless a Bulwark of Christendom emerges to contest them.
While predominantly Muslim, the lands of North Africa and the Middle East are among the richest and most diverse in the world, home to a myriad of peoples; the remnants of the Crusader states, Copts, Syriacs, Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, and Jews, and more. To the north, the demesne of Osman is set to dominate the region, given enough time and focus. The powerful Mamluk Sultanate extends its influence from Egypt into the Levant and western Arabia via their various subjects. The Sahara and Arabia feature a number of isolated oases and wadis, surrounded by expanses of uninhabitable desert. Nonetheless, these lands hold great promise for growth and valuable resources sufficient to supply a fledgling empire.
In Central Asia, the Gurkani empire is on the verge of collapse. Divided between various successors within and bedeviled by Turkmen and Uzbeks without, the future of Turan has never been as uncertain. Yet, from its ashes any number of powers may ascend — most notably, the Mughals.
India is the home of some of the most productive soil and sought-after spices in the world, its wealth only rivaled by that of East Asia. In the north, Delhi has suffered under weak leadership, allowing Sirhind and Jaunpur to encroach upon the venerable city. Bengal controls the navigable Ganges Delta, and can easily become a naval power to be reckoned with. To the south, the Bahmanis and Vijayanagara square off over who will be preeminent from Comorin to the Deccan.
The once great Majapahit empire is in steep decline, while Malacca, Ayutthaya, Brunei, and Dai Viet are poised to expand. The long arm of Ming China extends into this region, but its presence is far from secure. Islam continues its spread throughout the region, contending with Hindus, Buddhists, and Animists. The Malay peoples will undoubtedly continue to settle and assimilate throughout the archipelago. Any empire founded in Maritime Asia is sure to be a Thalassocracy, controlling the sources of some of the most valuable resources in the world. Indeed, in South East Asia, gold ought to be easy to come by, whether it be from war or trade.
The Middle Kingdom, Ming China, is the Sun around which all of East Asia orbits yet as grievous losses on the frontiers check its expansion, the Celestial Empire may see itself eclipsed. It maintains a wide system of tributaries, from faraway Malacca and Ceylon, to Tuzi and Tibetan polities in its hinterlands. Offshore, the Ashikaga Shogunate’s grip on Japan wanes, and each Daimyo prepares to fend for itself in this new era of Warring States. It will require a great unifier to put the island back together again. The Hermit Kingdom of Korea is unified, rich, and isolated, with a variety of Manchurian and Mongol tribes just past its borders.
Extraordinarily vast, diverse, and rich in natural resources, Sub-Saharan Africa is a world unto itself. Though most culture groups belong to the broader Bantu cultural family, that is often where the similarities end. In the West, Mali is in steep decline, whereas Songhai may soon be able to conquer up and down the Niger as the developed Hausa states squabble amongst themselves. In the East, Coptic Ethiopia is embroiled in a contest for regional hegemony with its Muslim neighbor, Adal. The Nyanza states are well isolated, but also primed for incredible growth in population, while the merchants of the Zanj fight for control of trade throughout the Indian Littoral. Though the ravages of slavery are sure to be an immense detriment to the continent as a whole, participation also presents a unique opportunity for wealth and influence, particularly in the Kingdom of Kongo.
Inhabiting perhaps the most geographically gifted continent on the planet has its advantages. North America has vast navigable rivers, numerous protected harbors, and wide tracts of fertile grounds waiting to be planted. Though they are mostly migratory, the inhabitants of North America are anything but primitive. Indeed, any prospective colonizing power is likely to find a land filled with powerful confederacies and little land left unoccupied, at least until disease, war and exploitation take their toll. Though little written information from this period of history remains for modern historians to study, we have spent innumerable hours reviewing historical linguistics, archaeological evidence and oral tradition to help fill in the gaps. The result is a continent as bountiful as it is beautiful, whose future is left to the hands of the player.
As one of my personal favorite regions, Mesoamerica is prosperous and developed compared to its contemporaries throughout the Americas. Though the Aztec empire is on the move and the Maya continue to languish in their decline, the numerous polities here can easily gang up to subvert the endeavors of any would-be regional hegemon. The Purepecha empire of Irechikwa represents a significant power in its own right, with more advanced metalworking than its neighbors. We were graciously allowed to adapt many of the aspects of the Mesoamerica Universalis mod, allowing us to represent this fascinating region in the level of detail as it deserves.
Although inhabitants of the Andes lack a codified system of writing, this has hardly hampered their development. The ‘vertical archipelago’ of the Altiplano is sure to become the heartland of any great power that finds itself here, while the navigable Amazon and Paraná rivers are among the most extensive in the world. Though isolated, the Mapuche are a bastion of agriculture and organization amongst an otherwise sparsely populated south. Though many lands lay open to foreign colonization, the wilderness and sheer size of the continent is sure to slow their expansion.
Though the Pacific is one of the most isolated regions in the world, the islands are home to many populous, well-organized polities. Hawaii has only recently been discovered and colonized, and is perhaps the most important waystation for any circumnavigating navy. Polynesian sailors are renowned for their skill, and sought after the world over. Though once mighty, the empire of Tonga is in decline, perhaps to be subsumed by the rising power of Samoa. To the far south, the Maori inhabit the lush forests and hills of Aotearoa. Any would-be colonizer is sure to face stiff, if not insurmountable resistance from the fierce peoples of Oceania.
While we will discuss this more later, terrain types have been entirely remade in Atlas Novum. When combined with our climate and forestry systems, each province’s situation can present unique challenges for development.
Atlas Novum features a large number of trade nodes, often modeled after riverine drainage basins or geographic features of great import. There are four end nodes: the Channel, the Öresund, the Adriatic and the Orient. Estuaries now vary in strength, depending on the relative size and importance of the river in question. Additionally, we now have 5 different stages of centers of trade (Natural Harbor, Anchorage, Hithe, Entrepot, World Port; Crossroads, Waystation, Trade Depot, Caravansary, World Trade Center).
Colonial regions exist primarily in the New World, and have been modeled after the borders of historical colonies. However, a colonial region also exists on the African Cape, as well as several in Australia and New Zealand. Like vanilla EU4, trade companies cover the rest of the world, and conform to the borders of their respective trade nodes. However, in some nodes, two companies co-exist. This occurs primarily in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and exists to spur competition amongst colonizers, as one can only get an additional merchant if they control 51% of the trade in the entire node. Naturally, this makes sabotage or outright conquest of a rival trade company a lucrative endeavor.
Terrain and Climate
As mentioned earlier, we’ve reorganized terrain into twenty-two distinct types, based on biome and topology. Each terrain is classified by a type: Fertile, Productive, Rugged, Alpine, and Barren. Europe, East Asia, and North America easily have the largest supply of fertile and productive lands, but marginal types can still support a modest population or serve as effective defensive barriers to invading armies. Each terrain type serves as a source of both Carrying Capacity and Infrastructure Limit to the province in question. Carrying Capacity represents the maximum population a province can support, whereas Infrastructure Limit represents the maximum level of infrastructure that can be built there.
We’ve also introduced twenty-five Climates, which are roughly based on 1900 Koppen-Geiger readings. These climates are categorized along two axes — one for heat, the other for humidity. Their nomenclature was developed to reflect this while ensuring easy readability and player understanding. (Yes, Tinto, I have a simplified 9 and 16 climate setup for Project Caesar if you happen to be interested).
Each climate type provides a certain amount of carrying capacity to a province, and this amount can vary based on climate change. Major historical volcanic events and the Little Ice Age can cause dramatic shifts in fortune for your population as the carrying capacity and productivity of the land changes beneath their feet…
Finally, you will find forest modifiers present in many provinces. These can range between three sizes: Sparse, Abundant, and Dense. Forests belong to one of six types that can be grown or cleared as needed: Broadleaf, Needleleaf, Coniferous, Bane, Rainforest, and Laurel. Be careful though, as fully deforesting a terrain type which is defined by the presence of trees — Woodlands, Taiga, or Jungle, for example — will result in a nasty deforestation modifier. However, this modifier will disappear in time, so it can be worth enduring it if some trees are getting in the way of your plans.
Population and Development
While development was a solid addition to EU4, its abstractness and “clicky” gameplay always bothered me. To that end, we reworked development into Wealth, Infrastructure, and Population. Wealth and Population will grow organically, based on local factors such as trade good price, level of infrastructure, carrying capacity, logistics cost, and civilization level. Development growth is checked at the end of every year. The formulae for growth of these two values can be found below, and you will notice that they are rather complex affairs. To increase Infrastructure, you must invest two Wealth and wait for it to be constructed, with the opportunity cost that no other buildings can be constructed during that time. While development doesn’t need to be micromanaged, it may serve you well to pay special attention to a few of your most precious provinces and manage them according to your desired outcomes.
Cultures and Religions
Atlas Novum adds nearly two thousand new cultures (2,299 in total currently) and a dozen new religions, including a minority system.
Cultures have largely been designed around historical linguistics; after all, it's difficult to share a culture with someone that doesn’t speak the same language. There are notable exceptions to this rule, however.
While religions have not been a priority up until now, we have still added a number of new faiths. Moreover, we have recolored existing religions to correspond with colors for which they are historically associated.
Minorities come in three sizes: small, significant, and large, and can be either cultural or religious. The cultural and religious acceptance of a given minority will affect their impact on your provinces, just as unaccepted cultures and religions do in vanilla. Cultural statuses can range from integrated to enslaved or expelled, with consequential effects. There can also be secondary minorities present, which can only be one size: small, but are there to represent notable independent cultures or religions. Moreover, minorities can grow and shrink, as well as migrate and resettle throughout your lands. Whether it be Turkish settlers entering Rumelia, Moriscos leaving Iberia or Romani migrants shuffling around throughout Europe, every game ought to have something interesting happen culturally.
Another critical aspect to cultures are “assimilated” or “settler” cultures. Should the province in question meet certain conditions, it will begin to transition to a new culture within your culture group, most of which aren’t present at game start. For example, long-term Venetian control of Crete will spawn the Italian culture of Candian. This system likewise functions in the context of colonialism. Iberian cultures are liable to transition into Brazilian, Platinean, Mexican, Colombian and more. Not every culture group has unique cultures for colonialism and assimilation, but it is an area we are eager to expand as time goes on.
Finally, while it does not currently affect gameplay, every culture group and religion group now belongs to a “family”. For example, the French, Occitanic, Iberian, Arpetan, Italian, and Romanian groups all belong to a broader “Romance” family. While purely aesthetic at this time, this serves to better inform the player of their peoples’ relation to the broader world.
Government and Estates
We’ve also overhauled government reforms and estates. Countries begin with all of their tiers of reforms preselected, with progression occurring within each tier. Natives have 6 tiers, tribes 8, and theocracies, monarchies, and republics 10. Moreover, we have a ‘corporate’ type planned at some point in the future.
Estates have also been entirely reworked, in large part inspired by our partners over at MEIOU & Taxes. To start, we added 3 new estates to all theocracies, monarchies, and republics, those being: the Court/Council, the Bureaucracy, and the Military. We’ve further reworked the way that estate privileges work. Now, they are divided into two types: Rights and Privileges. Every nation starts with their privileges preselected, like government reforms, and upgrading them can often be an involved and complicated endeavor. At this time, we’ve reworked the Nobility, Clergy, and Burghers into this new design, but more region specific estates are still yet to be done.
Technology and Institutions
Atlas Novum includes a complete overhaul of technologies and institutions. Technology has now been broken up into 46 different levels, separated by fifteen-year increments. There are now sixteen different institutions, with the first seven already present at game start.
Indented technologies are there to differentiate various different technological starts among our myriad of technology groups.
Institutions will not necessarily spawn in the prescribed start location, though they are likely to emerge in a place with similar conditions.
52 Technology Groups
- Golden Gears: Western, Latin, German, Nordic, Han
- Blue Gears: Eastern, Greek, Russian, Balkan, Caucasian, Anatolian, Mashriqi, Maghrebi, Persian, Indian, Tibetan, Japanese, Indochinese, Malesian
- Silver Gears: Sahelian, Guinean, Cushitic, Zanji, Nyanzan, Congolese, Nomadic, Uralic, Kanata, Mississipian, Mesoamerican, Andean
- Bronze Gears: Bantu, Khoisan, Siberian, Papuan, Aboriginal, Oceanic, Eskaleut, Athabaskan, Cascadian, Californian, Great Basin, Great Plains, Aridoamerican, Caribbean, Isthmoamerican, Amazonian, Chacoan, Brasilian, Patagonian
- Easter eggs: High American, Chthonic
Units
Since we overhauled technology, it only made sense to likewise redo units. Land units now belong to one of eight types: Offensive Infantry, Defensive Infantry, Ranged Infantry, Offensive Cavalry, Defensive Cavalry, Ranged Cavalry, Light Artillery, and Heavy Artillery. As technology progresses and gunpowder becomes ubiquitous, ranged infantry and cavalry merge with their offensive and defensive counterparts. It must be noted that many technology groups do not have innate access to horses or gunpowder, and will be locked out of units requiring them — regardless of technology level. In order to gain access, a nation must either control a province producing the trade good in question, or control at least 5% of the global trade in that good.
Naval units have been similarly redone. To better reflect their role, Galleys have been renamed to Littoral Ships. Now, everything from the simple Canoe to globe-spanning Battleship are part of our roster.
Subjects
There are several new subject types to contend with - fiefs, domains, confederates and paramountcies. Fiefdoms represent the various feudal relationships existing at game start. While they aren’t particularly useful, they can be easily integrated after the Age of Discovery has passed. Domains represent a multitude of different overlord-subject relationships that center on a common ruler. Domains function as “unbreakable” personal unions, and while their bonuses aren’t particularly powerful, they can expand the influence of their liege significantly. Confederates represent states in an equal partnership with their ‘overlord’. Groups of confederates can be a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Finally, paramountcies — though temporarily disabled — are a unique vassal type for native and tribal governments.
Trade Goods
Atlas Novum adds over one hundred new trade goods, each with dynamic prices determined on supply and demand — a system which is adapted from the Stock Market Mod. Many vanilla trade goods have new art, either custom made for our project or adapted with permission from the Trade Goods Expanded Mod.
Each trade goods price is determined by its supply and demand, which in turn can be affected by the Economic Access modifier. China, for example, has a unique modifier that greatly limits its effect on trade good prices, reflecting its burgeoning internal market. Though this is a global market, supply and demand for goods from the Old World will not affect the New — and vice versa — until the Columbian Exchange has happened.
Trade goods in Atlas Novum belong to one of four types: Immature Unrefined, Mature Unrefined, Immature Refined, and Mature Refined. Take note, most of the Mature Refined goods do not exist at game start. Luckily for you, with the requisite technology and trade good inputs, you may change a province’s trade good as needed. In particular, gunpowder is sure to be a highly sought-after good for strategic purposes, though making a new source of gunpowder production requires owning provinces that produce Niter and Sulfur.
Content
Missions
Six years ago, this mod was originally focused on mission reworks for the colonizing powers. While we felt that we had done excellent work at creating in-depth mission trees, there was a problem: they were simply too long. Portugal alone had a mission tree of over 300 missions, and this greatly lagged an already slow gameplay experience. So, we took some inspiration from the modular system of Imperator Rome, with a twist: you can have two ‘modules’ selected at any one time. Now, our new mission modules are a standard 4x5 in size and you are no longer limited to just “one” general objective. Want to focus on developing your homeland while colonizing Brazil? With this system, that is now a distinct possibility.
Green missions are required to complete the module, whereas teal missions unlock optional modules. I must further note that while these missions are playable, they are still not complete, as indicated by their placeholder icons.
When you finish the necessary missions in a module, you will complete it, and be able to select a new module to follow. Some modules are optional, others can only be unlocked via certain ahistorical missions, while still others directly follow those which you have just completed. It should be noted that content has not been our immediate priority up until now, and currently only the initial Portuguese mission modules are available for general consumption. However, now that we are entering a feature complete state, content development will become our primary objective, with mission modules being our main vehicle of delivery.
Wonders and Great Projects
Called “Monuments” in vanilla, we’ve added over a hundred new Wonders & Great Projects representing significant monuments and geological features, as well as a dozen new canal projects. Additionally, many of these have been reworked to nerf some of the most excessive national modifiers, such that their impact is not out of proportion with their importance.
These Wonders fall into three categories: Historical, Legendary, and Mythological. The existence of each of these categories will be customizable at game start. While historical Wonders will be present in every game you play, the location and occurrence of legendary and mythological wonders is left up to the player. Legendary wonders are poorly-attested, if not outright fictitious locations, such as the Seven Cities of Gold or Atlantis. Mythological wonders are fantastical in their conception, such as the everlasting Fountain of Youth or eldritch R'lyeh.
Starts
Atlas Novum has a myriad of initial options as well as multiple starts to fine-tune your game experience.
- Reparata Varna or “Revenge for Varna” is our standard start.
- Satus Latius or “Expanded Start” is an expanded start with additional tags.
- Plus Ultra or “Further Beyond” is the start for those of you looking for maximum border gore and PC temperature.
- Maiora Imperia or “Major Empires” is a reduced tag start intended for lower power computers and multiplayer games, though it is a little under-maintained at the moment.
- Custom Rulesets, which is currently a placeholder, but will allow you to select between things like climate type (Historical, Hothouse, Ice Age, &c), disease virility and mortality, and Great Project & Wonder types.
- Alternative Histories, which are functional (though presently lacking content) and are split between region removals and custom setups.
- Region removals include:
- Tabula Rasa - No Afro-Eurasia tags
- Seiuncta Beringia - No Americas tags
- Anahuac Inhospitalis - No Central or South American tags
- Invia Darien - No South American tags
- Nul Insulae - No Oceania tags
- Exculto Populo - No native or tribal tags
- Custom setups imagine alternative scenarios for the New World based on apocryphal evidence or theorized settings including:
- Absit Rome - Rome located in Mesoamerica
- New Zion - Mormons located in Mesoamerica
- Hawaii Nui - Polynesian colonists along the Andes
- Vinlandic Perseverance - Vikings still residing in Newfoundland
- Ard Majhulah - Arabic explorers in Brazil
- Zheng He’s Eighth Voyage - Chinese colonies in South California
- Third Odyssey - Byzantine refugees in the Chesapeake *cough Elysia cough*
- Sunset Invasion - A massive High American technology Mesoamerica
- Chthonic Awakening - currently a placeholder for some… unnatural cultists worshiping long-slumbering eldritch Gods
- We have some further ideas for Mali, Irish/Welsh, Ancient Egyptian, and Phoenician starts, but implementation is low priority compared to historical content…
- Region removals include:
Conclusion
Though Atlas Novum has been in development for over half a decade, I must warn that it is still in beta. Occasionally, icons may be placeholders, mechanics in need of revision, or content missing. Updates to the Github Mirror on Steam can be hot code and subject to bugs or balance issues. This is a necessary consequence of active development, and we can only improve the project with your input. Thus I highly encourage your participation on our Discord server. Anyone wishing to contribute is welcome, and we’re always looking for new members of any experience level.
Also, while EU4’s optimization and performance has improved significantly in the past few years, it must be said that this is a sizable mod. It will inevitably run more slowly than vanilla, though perhaps not as slowly as some other overhaul mods that exist on the workshop. The startup and first few years of the game are likely to be a crawl, but speed should pick up considerably as you play. Moreover, with the expanded internal mechanics at your disposal, you may wish to use this slower pace to better explore, customize, and develop your nation.
Thank you for your attention, and thank you to Ryagi and Paradox Interactive as a whole for providing this space to share our labor of love with you all! I very much hope you enjoy what we have put together thus far, and look forward to continuing to develop the project with your input in the future!
Please check out Atlas Novum over on the Steam Workshop, or follow its development on the Atlas Novum Discord Server. We are a very active and close-knit community that welcomes your feedback!
Thanks for joining us for this spotlight, we hope you enjoyed the look into Atlas Novum presented here
Atlas Novum is still in constant and active development, and we believe it will stand the test of time for EUIV mods! Be sure to check it out.For our next spotlight we'll be hosting Aveum Lupi Bicipitis (Or just "ALB" if you prefer not to summon a demon) for some more alt history mod fun. As usual if you have any suggestions for spotlights do let us know! See you next time.
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