A lot of content for $17:
https://www.humblebundle.com/games/europa-universalis-iv?
(FYI: the slider alters how much of your money goes to charity).
If only I could wrap my peanut brain around those Paradox games.
Quote from: Gusington on January 21, 2020, 03:47:10 PM
If only I could wrap my peanut brain around those Paradox games.
The journey can be long, but I enjoy my mistakes on the way.
Do I own this game?
(Checks Steam Library...)
"Last play November 15, 2015. Play time: 22 minutes."
::)
:nerd: Well payday is this week. So it does have a possibility.
Quote from: Gusington on January 21, 2020, 03:47:10 PM
If only I could wrap my peanut brain around those Paradox games.
That sh*t is like crack once you figure it out.
Quote from: Toonces on January 21, 2020, 04:18:17 PM
Do I own this game?
(Checks Steam Library...)
"Last play November 15, 2015. Play time: 22 minutes."
::)
I have 80+ hours in on that game. Most of it mp with Kushan. It's not nearly enough time to get comfortable and proficient. I like the time period and the mechanics. My favorite is decisions you make to hone your empire along cultural, military, economic, etc. lines. It gives you an opportunity to tailor your goals to your play style.
22 mins.
:2funny:
608 hours. Last time in 2018. You guys know those counters run even when you've tab switched out to other programs, right.
Quote from: Ian C on January 21, 2020, 03:41:21 PM
A lot of content for $17:
https://www.humblebundle.com/games/europa-universalis-iv?
(FYI: the slider alters how much of your money goes to charity).
I don't know. From what I've read/heard, I'm not sure I'd want most (or any?) of the DLC anyway.
That's why when EU IV was on sale during the holidays, I only picked up the base game. The core experience is considered excellent; the expansions, not so much.
All recommended DLC is included according to Strategy Gamer . com.
https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/europa-universalis-iv-dlc-buying-guide/
The Best EU4 DLC
We've sorted the expansions into two ranked lists: Essential for Everybody, and Situational (depending on what nation you're playing), as I think they're all worth owning eventually - it's just a matter of what order you prioritize them. If you have to make a tough choice, I'd acquire all of the 'Essential' ones in order first, then grab the 'Situational' ones that apply to the countries and features you're most interested in checking out.
ESSENTIAL:
Art of War
Common Sense
Rights of Man
The Cossacks
Mandate of Heaven
SITUATIONAL:
Cradle of Civilization (Persia area)
Dharma (India and the Far East)
El Dorado (Colonising nations)
Rule Britannia (British Isles)
Wealth of Nations (Trade-focused nations)
Third Rome (Russia)
So is it fun to play or does it play itself?
Quote from: FlickJax on January 22, 2020, 04:55:34 AM
So is it fun to play or does it play itself?
That's actually an interesting question. I may be the minority but I find the EU series to be the most "autopilot" of the paradox games.
Again I'm not an expert but I would hit huge swaths where there just was not much going on.
Not saying it's bad, just my personal observation.
That's basically what I never understood about these games. When I've attempted to play, I was basically just going through menus and ticking boxes, and the game did feel like it was playing itself with minimal input from me. I always thought I just 'wasn't getting it.'
It really depends on what you want to do. The main action comes from wars with other countries. I've had great fun playing England, Sweden, Prussia (actually creating Prussia from the Teutonic Order), and Russia (created from Moskva). Always something going on either attacking, or defending. Granted between wars can become slightly tedious as you pretty much prepare your country for another war. Some countries are more entertaining due to colonization during the non war periods. But all in all I find it quite entertaining setting up my armies, and navies, etc. during the non war periods. Managing the economy to get the most out of your provinces is also necessary. Lets not forget diplomacy is rather entertaining as well, as any success in the game will require alliances, especially if you have wolves at your doorstep. To be successful in this game you have to continually be involved in pretty much everything. Rarely have I ever felt like the game was on rails, and that my input did not matter. If you think the game plays itself, you won't last long in the game.
I didn't!
I find the more I pause it to review what is going on, the longer it takes me to lose.
Ha!
Quote from: MC on January 22, 2020, 10:45:00 AM
I find the more I pause it to review what is going on, the longer it takes me to lose.
LOL
I bought the lot. $17 was a no-brainer.
I've played EU 4 previously about 2 hours. The DLC adds an incredible amount of detail and options but also a great deal of complexity. I guess this is one of those games that takes ages to master.
I'm particularly interested in the ability to play a pirate nation and also that you can convert your finished Crusader Kings II savegame into a starting EU 4 game.
I also have a spare EU 4 base game code if anyone wants to trade?
Quote from: Ian C on January 23, 2020, 07:19:50 AM
I bought the lot. $17 was a no-brainer.
I've played EU 4 previously about 2 hours. The DLC adds an incredible amount of detail and options but also a great deal of complexity. I guess this is one of those games that takes ages to master.
I'm particularly interested in the ability to play a pirate nation and also that you can convert your finished Crusader Kings II savegame into a starting EU 4 game.
I also have a spare EU 4 base game code if anyone wants to trade?
Ditto. :-[ I folded. Besides I've kicked the "Oh well I'll wait till it comes on sale..." for too long. Strike while iron is hot I suppose.
I saw this at another site, Paradox testing out a subscription model....not sure how I feel about this, on the surface not seeing how this would be any cheaper than buying DLC but maybe the cost would be cheap.....guess we will see.
Paradox feels your pain. The din of gamers wanting to get into their grand strategy games, but unable to get over the hump of hundreds of dollars worth of DLC, (I'm looking at you, Crusader Kings 2) has been heard. It can be daunting to try a Paradox game that's been around for a few years. Which packs are "essential" and which are mere cosmetic foofery? Rejoice, you cash-strapped folks! Paradox is testing a subscription model.
"A subscription model has been suggested to us on many occasions, so we thought we'd run a test to see how popular such a service would be."
The latest update for Europe Universalis IV includes hooks for the subscription test. According to the team, the cost hasn't been nailed down, and only a limited group of people will be included in the test. Not surprisingly, the developers tried to keep details of the update a secret, but the persistent gamers figured it out.
'Cosmetic foofery' hahaha :2funny:
Quote from: bobarossa on January 21, 2020, 09:57:45 PM
608 hours. Last time in 2018. You guys know those counters run even when you've tab switched out to other programs, right.
Yes, yes! This is EXACTLY why I have > 6000 hours in the game. True story!
There's a lot to like with it, and also a lot of flaws. But the diplo planning and expansion optimization make it enjoyable and even now I come back to it sometimes.
Thinking of pulling the trigger on this deal - seems like a crazy amount of content for $17.... But I've got a couple of questions...
The HumbleBundle $17 deal includes the base game and a sack full of DLC's. It sounds like a great deal;
Reading through the EU4 DLC Guide on Strategy Gamer (https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/europa-universalis-iv-dlc-buying-guide/ (https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/europa-universalis-iv-dlc-buying-guide/)0, each of the listed DLC's seems to modify gameplay in a unique way specific to that DLC.
My questions are:
1) As someone who has never played EU4, how the heck would I know what to do with ALL of the DLC's in the HumbleBundle deal? Install them all? Install none and learn and then add one at a time?
2) Would a newbie like me learn to play the base game only to lose what was learned as addition of one or more DLC's change the game?
3) Is any combination of core game + DLC's compatible? If I grabbed - say - 4 of the DLC's and installed them, would it possibly be a "bad recipe" due to the mix and taint the experience?
The value in the deal makes it practically a no-brainer, but I just want to understand a bit more of what I'm thinking of biting in to....
A lot of the game's newer patches kind of assume you have DLC. It's probably best to just start with it; usually they add mechanics that give flavor to a particular region of the world. Like India w/o Dharma and Wealth of Nations will instead just play like Europe but with fewer events and no new mechanics at all.
Playing in the new world sucks, for the wrong reasons. Most of the old world is pretty good, though you'll need to be experienced to do very well as Sub-Saharan African nations, hordes, or bottom feeder nations like Siberian councils. Most players pick strong nations at the start to learn like France, Ottomans, etc. I picked patch 1.4 Chimu because my friend told me it was the worst nation in the game (at the time it was true). Play/learn how you like!
Spain is an excellent starting nation. You can unite the Peninsula and you have aspirations to exploring the New World.