[ZZMitch]

Cool to see so many big nations there, it seems like every game I play the whole world just gets fractured into tiny pieces constantly.

I think mods such as Death and Taxes do a great job with the AI in these situations.

[joezombie]

I found Teutonic Order pretty easy, way easier then the brunswick and bavaria games I tried before. If you can avoid a land border with austria or whoever is hre, you can sweep east and create fake russia

My map from my last game about 1803 after forming Germany:



I'm trying to play a game as timurids, but I just can't handle he horde mechanics. Just constantly get swept under by revels after about 10 years

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Cool to see so many big nations there, it seems like every game I play the whole world just gets fractured into tiny pieces constantly.

Setting AI aggressiveness to "low" tends to allow larger nations to form and stay large.

[Basileus777]

Setting AI aggressiveness to "low" tends to allow larger nations to form and stay large.

And it also means the AI will almost never declare war on you once you reach a decent size.

[ZZMitch]

Setting AI aggressiveness to "low" tends to allow larger nations to form and stay large.

My screenshot is on normal aggressiveness I believe but that should be the case, yeah.

[Colkate]

Yeah I remember reading somewhere that turning down the level of AI aggressiveness made for larger nations, I'll try that in my next game. I want to do something really wacky next, like form Persia and then colonize the Americas.

[ThoseDeafMutes]

And it also means the AI will almost never declare war on you once you reach a decent size.

I think the low setting makes the game a bit more plausible. Standard aggressiveness AI can be very gamey, especially when you get minor African nations dogpiling some European power because they've just broken the badboy limit or are at war with a bunch of neighbors. In its own way, low aggressiveness can make the game challenging since you're more likely to face large, unified states (who are in turn less likely to be at war with other people simultaneously).

[Basileus777]

I think the low setting makes the game a bit more plausible. Standard aggressiveness AI can be very gamey, especially when you get minor African nations dogpiling some European power because they've just broken the badboy limit or are at war with a bunch of neighbors. In its own way, low aggressiveness can make the game challenging since you're more likely to face large, unified states (who are in turn less likely to be at war with other people simultaneously).

Large states that rarely fight each other isn't very difficult. The only challenge in this game comes from unexpected events that you haven't prepared for, and I find that on low aggressiveness I have complete control of with who and when I go to war, which makes it easy and pretty boring.

[Sir Fragula]

Ideally there would be "Player vs CPU" and "CPU vs CPU" aggressiveness settings.

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Planet Fuck circa 1545

[ZZMitch]

Badajoz, Seville, Zaragoza?

Is that a mod or something?

Also damn, nice job dude.

[Colkate]

Is that a mod or something?

My thoughts exactly, a Northumberland ruled GB is really cool, I had previously wanted to try a Lancaster ruled GB but wasn't sure how to go about it as I don't believe they have any cores from the start.

[Son1x]

That looks like Misc Mods' Shattered Europe scenario.

[ThoseDeafMutes]

That looks like Misc Mods' Shattered Europe scenario.

Yep.

This is the SE start:

[zoku88]

So, it looks like they're overhauling the crusade system in CKII, one of the changes in 1.05.

Apparently, this is the first of three dev diaries dealing with 1.05

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...arch-30th-2012

Apparently, what is awarded is based off of your contribution score (with the de jure kingdom going to the person with the highest score.)

[Colkate]

I have yet to tear myself away from EUIII for long enough to play CKII much, but I really like the sounds of those changes, should make for a more realistic crusading experience, and rewards for everyone.

Also I didn't see anyone mention this already, they're releasing "Ruler Designer" DLC soon (probably the DLC they're referring to in the patch talk) that will let you customise your character and dynasty quite a bit.

There's a video too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvf8X_bXDHI

[Alpha-Bromega]

anyone LOVE to play as California Republic? or as Oranje?

[TheAngryBanana]

I have always found the Paradox strategy games too complicated until Crusader Kings II. I've played like 200 hours of that game. So awesome.

[pegaso]

Is it more accessible than the other Paradox games? I was a huge fan of HoI and Europa Universalis II when they came out, but it's been a while since I've last played a Paradox game and I don't have so much free time now to learn their intricacies. I would love to play something like that again, though.

[Sir Fragula]

I have always found the Paradox strategy games too complicated until Crusader Kings II. I've played like 200 hours of that game. So awesome.

Considering CK2 is about a million times more complicated than EU3 this seems very strange!

[Colkate]

Is it really much more? I guess with CKII you have to deal with many different characters and take into account all their stats and goals, and I find the research system a little obtuse coming from EUIII. But CK seems to present its information more clearly and readily than EU with things like Trade Efficiency, Production Efficiency and the various things they have an effect on which often aren't as clear to discern.

I don't really disagree, I'm just curious as I haven't play much CKII yet, as to what the complexities are.

[zoku88]

Is it really much more? I guess with CKII you have to deal with many different characters and take into account all their stats and goals, and I find the research system a little obtuse coming from EUIII. But CK seems to present its information more clearly and readily than EU with things like Trade Efficiency, Production Efficiency and the various things they have an effect on which often aren't as clear to discern. I don't really disagree, I'm just curious as I haven't play much CKII yet, as to what the complexities are.

That seems to be mostly an interface thing than anything else.

I think fragula is just saying EUIII is less complicated from a gameplay standpoint, since you have to manage less things.

In CK2, you basically have to manage characters and demense attributes (like land, tech and money), but in EUIII, you basically just manager money and tech and land.

Well, that's an oversimplication, haha.

[TheAngryBanana]

I played like an hour of EUIII and could not figure out what the hell was going on. Maybe I was just more patient with CK2.

[Colkate]

I reckon I just had an easier time getting into CKII because I had already played EUIII and had an understanding of the fundamentals of games on that engine.
Also whilst they still don't cover many things, I think it helps that the tutorials in CKII are much better than the EUIII ones.

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I've taken as much as I wanted of Europe, so now I'm propping up Ulm (who I vassalized earlier in the game) as a powerful German buffer state.

[zoku88]

I reckon I just had an easier time getting into CKII because I had already played EUIII and had an understanding of the fundamentals of games on that engine. Also whilst they still don't cover many things, I think it helps that the tutorials in CKII are much better than the EUIII ones.

I think tutorials is one of the things Paradox has become increasingly good at making. I mean, I never played the tutorial for CKII, but I remember the tutorial in Vicky II actually being quite good.

I was pretty surprised.

[Colkate]

So after many hours of thinking the "Cavalry cost 10% less" type bonuses only effected buying costs in EUIII, I just found out that the amount you pay for a unit directly alters the maintenance of that unit, and is also applied retroactively when creative Land/Sea buildings and such. This whole time I've just been building units from random provinces like a chump.

Also I'm currently playing a game as the Cherokee in which I was expecting to fail miserably, but I've actually managed to Westernise and am doing decently, will post details later on.

[ThoseDeafMutes]

So after many hours of thinking the "Cavalry cost 10% less" type bonuses only effected buying costs in EUIII, I just found out that the amount you pay for a unit directly alters the maintenance of that unit, and is also applied retroactively when creative Land/Sea buildings and such.

I've sunk like 500 hours into the game and I didn't know that.

[Son1x]

I've sunk like 500 hours into the game and I didn't know that.

I have also just recently found that out while reading the paradox forums. Makes aristocracy a lot more useful.

[ZZMitch]

Are cannons actually useful? In my 200 hours of play time I have never used them. I tried once and it just slowed my armies down and it didn't seem to have much of an effect.

[Colkate]

The early artillery units are only really useful for sieges imo, assaulting a fortress with artillery is far more effective than without. Their usefulness in battles goes up quite a bit as they get better though I believe, a regiment of artillery positioned behind a regiment of infantry in battle adds I think half of their defence to the unit in front. So in the mid-late game I tend to have armies consisting of an even number of infantry/artillery + 4 regiments of cavalry for combined arms and maximum flanking bonus. Then I just have some inf/cav only armies for rebel hunting and to act as emergency reinforcements.

[Son1x]

Yea. Early in the game, cavalry (which shock) is your main damage dealer, but later on, infantry and artillery get useful with their high fire stats. I start using artillery in late 1600's or early 1700's.

[ZZMitch]

Thanks for the responses! Maybe I will start using some artillery. Most of the fighting I do is blitzkrieg style, but we will see.

Anyway, here is my Papal Empire in 1700. Just united the Mediterranean.

[Colkate]

Doesn't The Papal State get a unique National Decision? Something like form Kingdom of God, I don't think I've ever seen that formed before, have yet to see Italy formed for that matter.

[ZZMitch]

Doesn't The Papal State get a unique National Decision? Something like form Kingdom of God, I don't think I've ever seen that formed before, have yet to see Italy formed for that matter.

Yeah I did that decision. It didn't actually change my country name or anything though.

[Toma]

I already knew how to play EU3, restarted it yesterday and noticed that I completely forgot everything about how to play it, argh.

Are there any mods (small and big) for EU3-DW that you guys would recommend?

[Son1x]

I already knew how to play EU3, restarted it yesterday and noticed that I completely forgot everything about how to play it, argh. Are there any mods (small and big) for EU3-DW that you guys would recommend?

Depends on what you are looking for.

For extended timeline, you can play Steppe wolf. It goes from 10 AD to 2000-something. But with a timeline like that, its pretty much impossible to make it balanced. It also uses Victoria II's provinces, so there a lot a lot more than compared to DW.

If you just want an "improved" DW, I'd go for something like Death&Taxes, MEIOU or DAO.

[Basileus777]

Crusader Kings II is currently $18 on Amazon's Digital Store and it's activatable on Steam. It's a great time to buy it for anyone interesting that hasn't jumped in yet.

[FrontalMonk]

Crusader Kings II is currently $18 on Amazon's Digital Store and it's activatable on Steam. It's a great time to buy it for anyone interesting that hasn't jumped in yet.

wow, that's a steal. boughtened.

[Toma]

Depends on what you are looking for. For extended timeline, you can play Steppe wolf. It goes from 10 AD to 2000-something. But with a timeline like that, its pretty much impossible to make it balanced. It also uses Victoria II's provinces, so there a lot a lot more than compared to DW. If you just want an "improved" DW, I'd go for something like Death&Taxes, MEIOU or DAO.

Thanks for helping! Which one of the "improved" DW mods is the best one? I just want an overall better experience (more events? better balancing) without too much bugs, and not a dramatic change.

Which one would you recommend? (I also want to play it coop with a friend if that matters)

[Colkate]

If you're not after drastic changes I'd personally recommend MiscMods. Can't speak for multi-player functionality though as I have yet to play any co-op.

[Son1x]

Thanks for helping! Which one of the "improved" DW mods is the best one? I just want an overall better experience (more events? better balancing) without too much bugs, and not a dramatic change. Which one would you recommend? (I also want to play it coop with a friend if that matters)

Well, I've only played D&T out of those but I have spend a lot of time with it. Its also getting updated regularly.

From what I know, both DAO and MEIOU are high quality mods as well. I think MEIOU changes the core gameplay the most out of three and DAO started as a mod mod. Now it probably has the best improvements for muslim nations, but it doens't exclusively improve them.

I think you can't go wrong with choosing any of these.

edit: Yea, MiscMods' pretty good too. The Shattered Europe especially is very enjoyable.

[Toma]

Well, I've only played D&T out of those but I have spend a lot of time with it. Its also getting updated regularly. From what I know, both DAO and MEIOU are high quality mods as well. I think MEIOU changes the core gameplay the most out of three and DAO started as a mod mod. Now it probably has the best improvements for muslim nations, but it doens't exclusively improve them. I think you can't go wrong with choosing any of these. edit: Yea, MiscMods' pretty good too. The Shattered Europe especially is very enjoyable.

D&T seems to be the most appealing to me, but I cant get it to start. I cleared the map cache, and when I choose it from the launcher it always keeps getting stuck on "Creating Map" or something in the loading screen.

Any other idea?

(Downloaded D&T 5.3 for the latest current DW steam version)

Edit: MiscMod runs fine btw.

[Son1x]

D&T seems to be the most appealing to me, but I cant get it to start. I cleared the map cache, and when I choose it from the launcher it always keeps getting stuck on "Creating Map" or something in the loading screen. Any other idea? (Downloaded D&T 5.3 for the latest current DW steam version) Edit: MiscMod runs fine btw.

I have no idea. You'd probably be best asking on the D&T thread on Paradox Forums. I'm still playing 5.1 or 5.2 and I'm running the non-steam DW. Never had a problem like that with any mods though.

[Toma]

I have no idea. You'd probably be best asking on the D&T thread on Paradox Forums. I'm still playing 5.1 or 5.2 and I'm running the non-steam DW. Never had a problem like that with any mods though.

Alright, thanks though! :)

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Form Kingdom of Heaven is the worst decision in the game, because it disables the Papacy. By the time you have united Italy and are able to form it, you're probably already the permanent Papal Controller because you have permanent 100% influence as Papal States and you have lots of rich territory. When you push into Turkey/ Greece early on (since they're ripe for the taking usually) this becomes especially true.

You can usually pull off 6-7 Cardinals controlled, which gives a huge .6 / .7 infamy reduction bonus. The bigger you get, the more cardinals you will control, and therefore the more infamy reduction and prestige bonus you will recieve from it. Papal Controller also gives you bonuses, including being able to excommunicate people at will, and some prestige/diplomat boosts iirc. Your first national decision can be Unam Sanctum, because then the game becomes EASY MODE.

As papal controller with unam sanctum, you get free Holy War on every heathern. You get cleansing of heresy on every heretic. And you can excommunicate any member of the true faith. If they have too high influence, you insult your target to -200 relations and watch it plummet. Obviously controlling relations with the papal states is easy when you ARE the papal states!

[superdeluxe]

So in crusader kings my daughter in law (married to the future king of Ireland) started to come onto me which was fine, then my old hag of a wife decided she needed to go to a convent for a month. Well what is the duke of Leinster and Meath to do? Bang the living crap out of the dil. 9 months later Adela mac Marchand. Did I bastardize her? Hell no, claimed her as my own. My wife and son were pissed

[SteveWinwood]

I need crusader kings.

[Basileus777]

I need crusader kings.

It's $18 on Amazon's Digital Store. Buy it then.

[SteveWinwood]

It's $18 on Amazon's Digital Store. Buy it then.

Done.