Europa Universalis IV

coanda said:

Right then... I've got EU4 and am thinking of starting up a first game.

Any recommendations for a nation with plenty of detail in events, decisions, and such, enough power that the player can test out most of the options in the game - diplomatic, military, economic... but in a somewhat tenuous position? Powerful, potentially hostile neighbors, that sort of thing.

I'm wondering if maybe one of the native tribes would work well for this, or somewhere in Africa. Or possibly a middling-small central European nation.

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I wouldn't really recommend starting out somewhere other than Europe or the Middle East in a first game. The chances are too high that you'll wind up getting steamrolled mid-game (or even earlier if the fates go against you), and wind up not liking the game as a result. Nintz's recommendations are generally good, though I wouldn't recommend Portugal first as in my experience they're a fairly boring nation to play due to the high degree of isolationism.

I went with Burgundy in my first EU3 game, and found them to be a good mix. Strong enough that I was able to keep France from conquering me (barely), but weak enough that I very nearly was done in by Austria later on. In other words, it kept it interesting for a fairly long time. So a second-rate European power isn't a bad idea... you just don't really want to try, say, Utrecht and expect to do well your first game. And if you do pick a "middling-small European nation" and lose in 20 years, try again with someone like the Ottomans, England, or Austria so you can get the taste of the game over the longer term.

I wouldn't recommend any of the native tribes to start with. The Mamluks are a good choice in Africa, if you count them. Anyone else is probably a poor choice for a beginner. Mali probably is second-best since they have neighbors that they compare favorably to, and face the Iberians less soon than their northern African neighbors, but there's still a high chance of trouble later on. Another choice that might be decent outside of Europe is Vijayanagar, generally the most powerful state in India.

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Does anyone know what happens to colonial nations if you integrate their colonial overlord? In my Italian game, Castile has been in a personal union with me for over a century. If I were to integrate them, would Castillian La Plata become Italian La Plata, and so forth? Or would they become independent, or something else?

Your integration target's colonial nations become yours, but their names don't change and they don't merge with any colonial nation you already control in that colonial region.

Browd said:

Your integration target's colonial nations become yours, but their names don't change and they don't merge with any colonial nation you already control in that colonial region.

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Cool; thanks! Better to know that before I start integrating for thousands of diplomatic points than afterwards!

Owen Glyndwr said:

My first EU3 game was as Brandenburg and I always have found that one to be a reasonably fun and easy game to play too. You learn a ton about land combat and the HRE-system without a reasonably low chance of failing hilariously.

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Things have changed a great deal since the EU3 HRE system.

It's now 1740 in my game, the latest I've ever played an EU4 game to. Southern Anatolia is Italian, and thus only the Near East, the coast of Egypt and Libya, and two provinces of the Sea of Marmara stand in the way of the Mediterranean belonging 100% to either me, my vassal the Pope, or my Castillian personal union partners. The difficulty is definitely falling as Mare Nostrum approaches. After a very tough 1500s and an appropriately challenging 1600s, the 1700s are easy mode.

But it's not entirely uninteresting. Colonial nations are starting to seek independence, so I may get to interfere with English ambitions, which could be a challenge as they have the best blue water navy. I've begun building the Panama Canal in my only New World province, and hope to complete the Suez as well. Vijayanagar is my cool new ally in India, whom I hope to help form Hindustan eventually. And Austria continues its path to uniting the Holy Roman Empire, which I am part of. For Christmas 1740, they proclaimed the Erbkaistertum. At the current rate, within a couple decades they'll revoke the Privilege of Non-Appeal, which should spice things up for a bit. I've never actually seen the HRE come anywhere near that far along in one of my EU games before, so it's kind of neat that it's happening this time.

My OTHER part of the map overhaul >=D

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...9-Revolutions-1618-Bookmark-and-North-America

I must say, you've done an absolutely amazing job with the North American map, and this should definitely make colonialism that much better. I'm especially glad to see that annoying and ahistorical Maya/Aztec/Zapotec trio in Mexico has been split up.

That looks very nice! I may have to give colonialism a try in EU4 after all. Or maybe just playing as native to start with.

So pre-Art of War, is it only France that can go Revolutionary?

Only France has a Rev. tag right now.

Any nation can get the revolution event and become a revolutionary empire/republic, but only france gets a tag switch. So, really, the only new thing is simply other nations switching tags when they get a revolution.

Civ'ed said:

Only France has a Rev. tag right now.

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Omega124 said:

Any nation can get the revolution event and become a revolutionary empire/republic, but only france gets a tag switch. So, really, the only new thing is simply other nations switching tags when they get a revolution.

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Thanks, that answers my question. As it would happen, France went Revolutionary on me yesterday, but the Revolution was swiftly crushed by my allies and myself. Absolute Monarchy forever!

I have only barely played EU4 but this looks like a great addition to the game. Good job on the maps.

Full patch notes posted:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?810805-1.8-Full-Patch-Notes

I'd copy-past directly here, but it's actually longer than the allowed character limits of CFC. Which stands to reason for an eighteen-page document.

- Wasteland provinces whose adjacent controllable provinces are all owned by one country will now take on the color of that country in political mapmode, if the COLOR_WASTELANDS define is set to 1

I think this one is already going to be my favourite.

Oooo, good catch, didn't even notice that one!

I'd just like to congratulate our very own TheLastOne (if he's still here) on his work in East Africa.

I don't think AoW will convince me to buy EUIV just yet, but I am glad it's taking the right step in diversifying the world and making everyone outside of Western Europe a bit more interesting.

generally nice patch notes but the **** storm over the 50% autonomy cap for colonization is already under way. With good reason to. Why should a native tribe get it on something they colonise FOREVER when colonial nations don't and this applies to African nations, hordes, Russia, and south east Asians as well. As others on the PDX forum have suggested why not make it a cap that can dissolve with time and investment? Traditional colonisers already get 75% overseas so its not really a nerf to them but is to the no European nations.

So basically, everyone is crying because they can't do world conquest ... again.

DDRJake will find a way.
He always does.

WC may or may not be the source of some peoples concern but for most it just seems inconsistent that a colonized province next to your capital will have a cap of 50% forever but a conquered province the other side of the continent that has different religion and culture won't be capped.