VICTORIA III - Available now!

[jamus34]

Drunken posts are a specialty

[Father Ted]

Shpeshialty

[Gusington]

^Heh  ;D

[Jarhead0331]

Painful. This guy still absolutely hates it. I don't know him really, but he talks funny. 

[Old TImer]

I don't know.  He makes some good points but his actual gameplay while
he's talking is awful.  Like he doesn't know what he's doing.  Nobody would
queue 64 buildings.....I get that he's just demonstrating the game but geez.
On the other hand, his comment about a DLC heaven is probably sadly spot on.
The problem is DLCs will probably vastly  improve the game.  Even radically
change it  (warfare system, I'm looking at you).  So this could be a vastly different
game in a year or two.
Which is the problem.   I miss games that came out complete.   Here it is, we're
finished with it, have at it.   And if it's modable, all the better.  But Paradox's
philosophy......release a half baked game and make your customers pay indefinitely
if they want the most current and updated version, is not something to be admired.
I'm enjoying "3" and I'll probably buy all the damned DLCs but sheesh, I feel almost
taken advantage of.  Now I'll get back to my Vic 2 save.
So what do you think of the game JH?

[Jarhead0331]

I don't know.  He makes some good points but his actual gameplay while
he's talking is awful.  Like he doesn't know what he's doing.  Nobody would
queue 64 buildings.....
On the other hand, his comment about a DLC heaven is probably sadly spot on.
The problem is DLCs will probably vastly  improve the game.  Even radically
change it  (warfare system, I'm looking at you).  So this could be a vastly different
game in a year or two.
Which is the problem.   I miss games that came out complete.   Here it is, we're
finished with it, have at it.   And if it's modable, all the better.  But Paradox's
philosophy......release a half baked game and make your customers pay indefinitely
if they want the most current and updated version, is not something to be admired.
I'm enjoying "3" and I'll probably buy all the damned DLCs but sheesh, I feel almost
taken advantage of.
So what do you think of the game JH?

I haven't had the time yet to really formulate an opinion. I went away this past weekend and have been swamped at work. The new DCS patch and a couple of other new and shinnies have also gotten in the way. I've honestly enjoyed what I have seen though, and I think some of the stuff he is complaining about, although totally legitimate, is probably not stuff that will really bother me at the end of the day if the game is otherwise enjoyable. Sometimes having too much complexity, too many limitations on what the player can do or not do, etc. hurt the experience and make it less fun and approachable for me. Like ok, Vicky 2 still exists. It is still on my hard drive and I'll play it when I want. Vicky 3 is different. There is no question...but that doesn't mean it can't be good in its own right. That is the mentality I'm trying to approach it with.

[ArizonaTank]

Painful. This guy still absolutely hates it. I don't know him really, but he talks funny. 

I'll give Paradox credit, their games certainly create passion.

I seem to recall that Vicky1 players were very miffed at the changes in Vicky2...HOI2 players (myself included) thought HOI3 was unforgivable...and so it goes with Paradox.

In general, Vicky2 does have some advantages IMHO, but so does Vicky3.

I can't explain it, but Vicky3 has better immersion for me. I feel like those little virtual countries actually need me to guide them. Whereas Vicky2 seems a little cold.

But Vicky2 has a more efficient interface, better tutorial and a more logical market system...Vicky2 is 300% better on the military front...so what is one to do?

I don't mind the 'Paradox Way' as far as DLCs are concerned. I know I will be paying for Vicky3 DLCs until my 2 year old grand son gets to college. As long as those DLCs are adding good things, I am fine with that.

[FarAway Sooner]

Develop a strong opinion, project it forcefully on everybody and everything, and when discussing the topic with other players, use those feelings as your strength.  Embrace the power of the Dark Side!!

[ArizonaTank]

Develop a strong opinion, project it forcefully on everybody and everything, and when discussing the topic with other players, use those feelings as your strength.  Embrace the power of the Dark Side!!

I know, I know, I keep forgetting... :bd:

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women!

[WallysWorld]

Painful. This guy still absolutely hates it. I don't know him really, but he talks funny. 

I watched it in its entirety and he made a lot of interesting points about the game. Thanks for posting.

[Grim.Reaper]

Developers posted the post-release plans on areas of focus........

The first of these areas is military: The military system, being very different from the military systems of previous Grand Strategy Games, is one of those systems that has gone through a lot of iterations. While I believe that we have landed on a very solid core of how we want military gameplay in Victoria 3 to function and we have no intention of moving back towards a more tactical system, it is a system that suffers from some interface woes and which could do with selective deepening and increasing player control in specific areas. A few of the things we're looking into improving and expanding on for the military system follow here, in no particular order:
Addressing some of the rough edges in how generals function at the moment, such as improving unit selection for battles and balancing the overall progression along fronts
Adding the ability for countries to set strategic objectives for their generals
Increasing the visibility of navies and making admirals easier to work with
Improving the ability of players to get an overview of their military situation and exposing more data, like the underlying numbers behind battle sizes
Finding solutions for the issue where theaters can split into multiple (sometimes even dozens) of tiny fronts as pockets are created
Experimenting with controlled front-splitting for longer fronts


The second area is historical immersion: While we have always been upfront with the fact that Victoria 3 is a historical sandbox rather than a strictly historical game, we still want players to feel as though the events unfolding forms a plausible alt-history, and right now there are some expected historical outcomes that are either not happening often enough, or happening in such a way that they become immersion-breaking. Again, in no particular order, some areas targeted for improvement in the short term:
Ensuring the American Civil War has a decent chance to happen, happens in a way that makes sense (slave states rising up to defend slavery, etc), and isn't easily avoidable by the player.
Tweaking content such as the Meiji Restoration, Alaska purchase and so on in a way that they can more frequently be successfully performed by the AI, through a mix of AI improvements and content tweaks
Working to expose and improve content such as expeditions and journal entries that is currently too difficult for players to find or complete
Ensuring unifications such as Italy, Germany and Canada doesn't constantly happen decades ahead of the historical schedule, and increasing the challenge of unifying Italy and Germany in particular
General AI tweaks to have AI countries play in a more believable, immersive way


We're balancing cultural/religious tolerance laws by having more restrictive laws increase the loyalty of accepted pops, so there is an actual trade-off involved.


The third area is diplomacy. While I think what we do have here is quite good and not in need of any significant redesign, this is an area that could do with even more deepening and there's some options we want to add to diplomacy and diplomatic plays:
'Reverse-swaying', that is the ability to offer to join a side in a play in exchange for something
The ability to expand your primary demands in a diplomatic play beyond just one wargoal (though this has to be done in such a way that there's still a reason for countries to actually back down)
More things to offer in diplomatic plays, like giving away your own land
Trading (or at least giving away) states
Foreign investment and some form of construction in other countries, at least if they're part of your market
Improving and expanding on interactions with and from subjects, such as being able to grant and ask for more autonomy through a diplomatic action


While those are the major areas targeted for improvement, there are other things that fall outside the scope of either warfare, historical immersion and diplomacy where we've also heard your feedback and want to make improvements, a few examples being:
Making it easier to get an overview of your Pops and Pop factors such as Needs, Standard of Living and Radicals/Loyalists
Experimenting with autonomous private-sector construction and increasing the differences in gameplay between different economic systems (though as I've said many times, we are never going to take construction entirely out of the hands of the player)
Ironing out some of the kinks with the late-game economy and the AI's ability to develop key resources such as oil and rubber
Making it more interesting and 'competitive' but also more challenging to play in a more conservative and autocratic style


One of the first mechanics we're tweaking is Legitimacy, increasing its impact and making it so the share of votes in government matters far more, especially with more democratic laws.


The above is of course not even close to being an exhaustive list of everything we want to do, and I can't promise that everything on the list is going to make it into the first few patches, or that our priorities won't change as we continue to read and take in your feedback, only that as it stands these are our plans for the near future. I will also remind once again that everything mentioned above is something we want for our free post-release patches. At some point we will start talking about our plans for expansions, but that is definitely not anytime soon!

What I can promise you though, is that we're going to strive to keep you informed and do our best to give you insight into the post-release development process with dev diaries, videos and streams, just like we did before the game was released. I'll return nex

[Skoop]

Having not played vicky 2 enough to really care back in the day, the youtubes of the new game kind of sold me on getting vicky 3.  It could be really fun for someone like me that has no attachment to the old game.  In fact, I agree with the design path of the new game.

[ArizonaTank]

Having not played vicky 2 enough to really care back in the day, the youtubes of the new game kind of sold me on getting vicky 3.  It could be really fun for someone like me that has no attachment to the old game.  In fact, I agree with the design path of the new game.

I am having fun with Vicky 3...  Damn the torpedoes and all that...

[al_infierno]

I've put about 9 hours in according to Steam, and I have to say I think it's pretty good for what it is - a 19th century economic simulator that bears little resemblance to Vicky 2 in which the "flavor" of the game is pretty much uniform no matter what nation you play.  Nothing really special about playing Russia instead of China except you have different regions and different window dressing for your little characters.

That said, the really, really big issue with the game is the AI seems to back down from conflict more than not.  In my current Russia playthrough, I conquered a good chunk of central Asia including Persia and Afghanistan without a single fight, even though both nations had the support of surrounding neighbors.  I understand that the little landlocked nations with no support give up easily, but freakin' Afghanistan?  No way.

Anyway, if you want to play easy mode, play a nation like Russia or China which has an ungodly amount of manpower and make sure you just use it wisely.... you know, against the grain of the Russian/Chinese tradition.     War itself is barebones as hell and basically just an RNG fest, so having a ton of weight to throw around makes things a bit easier.  The front system is absolute doggy doodoo.

Seriously, someone do their best to explain WTF is going on here because this "front" GUI is incomprehensible to me:

[Gusington]

I have no idea but that sure is a purty map.