Support NeoGAF

[BeesEight]

Finally got into EUIII with the help of fellow Gaffer Coppertracks.

I still don't dont' really understand it or what's going on in a lot of the game. But I turned off inflation and have basically just been stumbling through things as England. Removing the inflation mechanic has really allowed me to recover from large mistakes which encourages me to experiment more. For example, I had no idea that your armies would die while seiging provinces or that, if they escape, they'll eventually regenerate up to full strength (before I thought they just were dead and so would cripple my economy by building more to replace them).

Game is pretty damn fun but there's so much stuff that's going on in it. It's a pity the tutorials aren't so great.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

The game gets even more confusing if you try to understand the mechanics on a detailed level, since they often use interchangeable terms without letting you know they're interchangeable. Its also often unclear which income is monthly and which is the end-of-year tax.

There's also obscure mechanics that only sometimes becomes important, but can utterly cripple you when they rear their head. One example is if you have a massive navy as England, and then suddenly you get a noble rebellion in London or something, your naval force-limits plummet instantly because the rest of your empire is now "disconnected" from the capital and the equation calculating naval limits now says you can only support a fraction of what you have. Your expenses skyrockets until the month after you kill the rebellion, potentially bankrupting you in the mean-time.

 

[Ledsen]

Has anyone here started playing these games without any pre-existing knowledge of european history? It seems to me most people have some above average interest in and knowledge about the history of the particular period the games take place in. Am i wrong?
I'm european, and I still feel like I have to go through at least one book of general european history to get anything out of a game like eu3 (currently reading Norman Davies).

 

[Basileus777]

Has anyone here started playing these games without any pre-existing knowledge of european history? It seems to me most people have some above average interest in and knowledge about the history of the particular period the games take place in. Am i wrong?

My interest in history is certainly why I first became interested in EU2. It may even be how I even heard about the game.

 

[leroidys]

Has anyone picked up a House Divided? I love vicky2 but it could certainly use some improvements. How is it with the expansion?

 

[Clevinger]

Has anyone here started playing these games without any pre-existing knowledge of european history? It seems to me most people have some above average interest in and knowledge about the history of the particular period the games take place in. Am i wrong?
I'm european, and I still feel like I have to go through at least one book of general european history to get anything out of a game like eu3 (currently reading Norman Davies).

I was pretty shamefully ignorant about Europe before I played Crusader Kings 2, and it was pretty damn fascinating to me. I've never played EU3 though.

 

[dmann]

Crusader Kings 2 is $9.99 on Amazon DL today and tomorrow I believe. Also, activates on Steam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ULENFG/?tag=neogaf0e-20


or grab the Plentiful ParadoxPackage for $12.99
Crusader Kings 2
Magicka
Magicka DLC
Victorian
Sword of the Stars II
Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
Only CK2, Magicka, SotS2 activates on steam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085CD7BE/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Forkball]

Is Crusader Kings turned based or is it like EUIII? I tried to get into EUIII but I had no idea what I should have been doing at all times.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Defensively, you can let the enemy spread their troops out into your land, then counterattack to destroy one stack at a time. If they concentrate all of their forces into an unstoppable doom-stack, do not engage it, instead scorch the land at provinces they are about to siege in, making them take 10-15% attrition monthly. After a few months their doom-stack will have been horrifically maimed, at which point you can move in for the kill. Don't be afraid to let them siege provinces from you that you can retake easily once their armies have been destroyed.

The importance of good generals and fighting on favorable terrain cannot be overstated. A 4-6 shock general can turn an early army from pretty decent to an unstoppable killing machine capable of taking on armies twice it's size. Maintaining high army tradition is of the utmost importance, so taking Battlefield Commissions as a national idea can be extremely good. In easy wars, you can farm army tradition by deliberately letting enemy troops escape to recuperate and battle you again. Likewise, if you have defensively-focused troops, battling in mountains can see you taking on forces far larger than your own. If you have good generals, defensive troops AND they attack you in rough terrain, the battle will be a complete slaughter in your favor.

Fighting in a distant land can make things trickier because you resupply slower, they resupply faster, and new troops will be raised regularly. Many of the same principles apply, but I think you need to occupy a province before you can scorch the crops in it, so that part can be a little harder.

I'm embarrassed to say that I had never even encountered the scorched earth strategy until I read about it on the forums. Right now I'm playing as Naples trying to unify the Italian state (I only need a few more provinces, I think), but it's very slow with all of those one or two province minors in the HRE. My army force limit is also kind of pathetic, even though I still have a feudal monarchy and a rather decent-sized territory. One of these days I'd like to take out Austria, who is kind of boxed in with me on one side and Bohemia on the other, but they must have at least twice the army size. I really need to improve in combat before I go to war with them. And wars are kind of rare at the moment, so I might actually take Battlefield Commission as my next national idea to build up army tradition in peace time before it degrades.

Is Crusader Kings turned based or is it like EUIII? I tried to get into EUIII but I had no idea what I should have been doing at all times.

I haven't played CK, but I don't think it's turn-based. Usually in EU3 I spend most of the time fulfilling the missions, micro-managing the economy, and taking advantage of whatever CBs present themselves. It helps to have some sort of general strategy before you start, which unfortunately means that you probably need to have knowledge of the game's mechanics. That's why a country like England is good for beginners. From the start you can focus on forming Great Britain and then soon after colonizing the new world, building up a large navy, etc. The goals are pretty self-evident.

 

[zoku88]

Is Crusader Kings turned based or is it like EUIII? I tried to get into EUIII but I had no idea what I should have been doing at all times.

It's like EUIII.

(which is turned based if you consider the days as turns that automatically advance, or real-time because time flows automatically.)

The interface is mostly the same, but the gameplay is different. (as in, what you actually do.)

There's a demo, so you could try that out. It's a (IMO) more obvious game, since people pretty much love this type of stuff (see: Game of Thrones.)

 

[ZZMitch]

Crusader Kings 2 is $9.99 on Amazon DL today and tomorrow I believe. Also, activates on Steam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ULENFG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Do you guys think this will go lower during the Steam sale or should I just buy now? I know I will love the game anyway and it will be worth the money, I just don't want to get buyers remorse heh. Also, you said it activates on Steam, that means it is just like buying the game from Steam? I don't have experience with this stuff.

Maybe I should get the full pack, since I haven't bought Victoria 2 yet either.

 

[Walshicus]

http://citadel.prophpbb.com/topic520.html

Superdeluxe posted this in the Game of Thrones thread - someone's done a Crusader King's total conversion!

 

[dmann]

Do you guys think this will go lower during the Steam sale or should I just buy now? I know I will love the game anyway and it will be worth the money, I just don't want to get buyers remorse heh. Also, you said it activates on Steam, that means it is just like buying the game from Steam? I don't have experience with this stuff.

Maybe I should get the full pack, since I haven't bought Victoria 2 yet either.

This might be the lowest it goes this year for a sale (maybe $7.49). I don't see it going for $4.99, maybe not until the winter sale. At $10, it is still a great deal if you are into this type of game. Also, the game was just released several months ago and 75% off is a steal.

When you buy off Amazon, Amazon will give you a product key. Input that product key into Steam. You'll be able to download and play it on Steam. I believe the game requires Steam anyways so it doesn't really matter where you buy it from since you would have to activate it on Steam to play.

 

[Basileus777]

I believe the game requires Steam anyways so it doesn't really matter where you buy it from since you would have to activate it on Steam to play.

This is true for all but the GamersGate version of the game.

 

[ZZMitch]

This might be the lowest it goes this year for a sale (maybe $7.49). I don't see it going for $4.99, maybe not until the winter sale. At $10, it is still a great deal if you are into this type of game. Also, the game was just released several months ago and 75% off is a steal.

When you buy off Amazon, Amazon will give you a product key. Input that product key into Steam. You'll be able to download and play it on Steam. I believe the game requires Steam anyways so it doesn't really matter where you buy it from since you would have to activate it on Steam to play.

Thanks for the input, buying now! I know I will like it because I have put hundredes of hours into EUIII since I bought it last year.

 

[Ledsen]

Just bought the Paradox megapack and started playing CK2 as Scotland. So far my brother told me he hated me and wanted me to die. I crushed him and his pitiful little piece of land. Now I want to imprison him or preferably execute him since I am his liege lord, but I can't?

 

[Clevinger]

Just bought the Paradox megapack and started playing CK2 as Scotland. So far my brother told me he hated me and wanted me to die. I crushed him and his pitiful little piece of land. Now I want to imprison him or preferably execute him since I am his liege lord, but I can't?

You should be able to, if he's your vassal.

 

[Ledsen]

You should be able to, if he's your vassal.

I'm really new to this game, so I may be wrong. His county is striped on the map since I whooped his ass, but it says it belongs to the "Kingdom of Scotland".

edit: wait a minute, I guess he broke out of the kingdom when he declared war on me? So now I can't kill him? Family is always trouble...

 

[Clevinger]

I'm really new to this game, so I may be wrong. His county is striped on the map since I whooped his ass, but it says it belongs to the "Kingdom of Scotland".

edit: wait a minute, I guess he broke out of the kingdom when he declared war on me? So now I can't kill him? Family is always trouble...

Maybe the war is still going on and you don't realize it? If his land still has a glowing red outline, and there's still a little percentage in the lower right corner of your screen, you're still at war. To win, you need to send troops to his land and and then wait until they siege/conquer it. They do it automatically once they're there; you just have to wait. Then once that percentage in the lower right corner of your screen is high enough, you can click on it and offer your demands/end the war in your favor.

Once you win the war and offer him your demands, from what I remember your vassal will usually automatically head straight to jail. Also, once he is jailed for his rebellion I think you can also revoke one of his titles from him. Your vassals won't care in this instance because he just rebelled against you. If you don't know how to do it, you right click on his portrait and go to his diplomacy screen, then hit "Revoke Title" and choose which one you want to take.

Or another possibility is you might have kicked his ass and then accidentally offered him White Peace, which means you both get to keep your own stuff. Once the truce ends (click on his piece of land, and you should be able to find the truce info) you should be able to declare war on him again.

 

[Almighty]

Family is always trouble...

Tell me about it. I had more trouble from my own dynasty then from any of my potential foreign enemies. My own brothers and sisters joining up to try to take my crown from me. My own son who was King of Scotland at the time declared war on me trying take the Kingdom of Ireland from me because he couldn't wait for me to die and pass the title on to him anyway. Was kind of funny that after I whooped his ass and got a huge peace settlement my king died just a year or two later. Kid should of been more patient.

Though it is things like that which makes CK2 such an awesome game for me.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Got into EU3 again last week. This is the most addictive game ever made, need to force myself away from my PC after some time. Also because I know I otherwise just play non-stop and get burned out by it after some time as with every game.

Anyway, started as Byzantium this time with the Death & Taxes mod (download this if you haven't already!). Hundred years in and almost ready to reform the Roman Empire. Conquered Naples (although England decided to be funny and reform them at Sicily), the Greek states, destroyed Ottomans while they were fighting both the Mamluks and Golden Horde, after which the Horde set its eyes on the Mamluks and almost every Muslim state joined in on the fun. Good opportunity for me to join in, since I needed one of their states in Asia Minor. Freed Syria and hoping the Horde doesn't turn on me soon, I'm paying tribute for over 50 years already, luckily made that deal when my economy was destroyed to to a war with France, Aragon, Ithalyea (or something like that in Greece and Sicily) and a couple of others, so it's pretty cheap.

Hopefully ready to form the Roman Empire tonight and then going to India. Should be fun!

 

[ZZMitch]

Crap, it is 4:30 AM. Damn you Paradox!

CKII is great. I playing as Munster in Ireland. I haven't really expanded much or anything, been spending most of my time taking the castles for my self and making sure my olden son is happy since I reformed to the succession type where the oldest son gets all the stuff. My second oldest son hates me to the core (-100) so I might assassinate him soon.

The funniest part so far was when my Hungarian wife, who was my court's spymaster, uncovered her own plot to kill my first born son. Thanks for sharing, off to jail and then banishment with you now!

Can any of you guys recommend a CKII Let's Play? Those really helped me get into EUIII for the first time.

 

[Ledsen]

Maybe the war is still going on and you don't realize it? If his land still has a glowing red outline, and there's still a little percentage in the lower right corner of your screen, you're still at war. To win, you need to send troops to his land and and then wait until they siege/conquer it. They do it automatically once they're there; you just have to wait. Then once that percentage in the lower right corner of your screen is high enough, you can click on it and offer your demands/end the war in your favor.

Once you win the war and offer him your demands, from what I remember your vassal will usually automatically head straight to jail. Also, once he is jailed for his rebellion I think you can also revoke one of his titles from him. Your vassals won't care in this instance because he just rebelled against you. If you don't know how to do it, you right click on his portrait and go to his diplomacy screen, then hit "Revoke Title" and choose which one you want to take.

Or another possibility is you might have kicked his ass and then accidentally offered him White Peace, which means you both get to keep your own stuff. Once the truce ends (click on his piece of land, and you should be able to find the truce info) you should be able to declare war on him again.

Thanks! It may be because I haven't ended the war. I killed all his troops and took all his cities, but I haven't made any demands or offered peace yet.

 

[Hari Seldon]

So I am back playing Darkest Hour again. This game is like crack. I fired up the Kaiseraich mod for the first time, which is an alternate history timeline where Germany won WWI. France is a communist country, UK is fascist or something, Canada is led by the former UK Royals and are some type of right wing democracy. I decided to try the US since it was my first time playing this mod, but I didn't realize that the mod is scripted to have the US fight a Civil War with both the North, South, and the West Coast defecting.

I restarted this mod like 4 times picking various different decisions (MacArthur takes over as dictator, appeases one faction vs the other, etc.) I eventually just said fuck it and tried to hold open elections and fight the war to see what happens. Luckily, sticking with a democracy, Canada doesn't seize New England, but they did sieze Alaska. I deal with America's hat later.

I went with kicking the Northern defectors first from my home-base in Virginia, but the west is lightly guarded so they are expanded west from Chicago as I clean out PA and NY. I'm holding the line with the southern defectors, although my 3 divisions that started in Texas are recreating Sherman's march to the sea since the south isn't defending along the gulf coast. Although eventually they pulled some divisions over and are also expanding west and hit texas, but my units were already in Alabama and Florida by then so they are kind of just bypassing each other.

Out on the west coast I seized LA and San Diego but the CA army cut me off and took back San Diego. I'm trying to double pinzer them in San Diego and then move my 3 divisions north, but CA is holding strong since they have air support and all of my air is tied up on the east coast.

 

[Zero-Crescent]

Crusader Kings 2 is $9.99 on Amazon DL today and tomorrow I believe. Also, activates on Steam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ULENFG/?tag=neogaf0e-20


or grab the Plentiful ParadoxPackage for $12.49
Crusader Kings 2
Magicka
Magicka DLC
Victorian
Sword of the Stars II
Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
Only CK2, Magicka, SotS2 activates on steam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085CD7BE/?tag=neogaf0e-20

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38270796&postcount=2656
Tony just announced something that should sweeten this deal. Basically, purchasers of the bundle can get Europa Universalis III Chronicles and Hearts of Iron III Complete for $6 each.

Glad you're all digging the sale . The Paradox deal just got better:

I just got off the phone with Paradox.

We're going to extend this sale through the end of the week (6/2) since it is doing so well.

More importantly though. Everyone who purchased the Plentiful Paradox Package, and everyone who chooses to purchase it this week, will get 2 $23 promotional credits, 1 for

Europa Universalis III Chronicles

and 1 for

The Hearts of Iron III Collection

That will make both of these games $6 each for those of you looking to round out your Paradox Grand Strategy collection.

Just a note that we won't start giving out the credits until tomorrow likely. There are a couple of people that I need to click a button here and there to turn the promotion on...and I think they are eating burgers right now...

Just an FYI, for those who already purchased the bundle. I need to wait for my systems to catch up with all the data from the weekend, so you'll likely receive your email with promo credits mid-late day tomorrow...you'll get them though .

Cheers,
Tony

 

[Walshicus]

Only US... Damnit.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Only US... Damnit.

If you just enter a US billing address, you'll be able to buy stuff on Amazon internationally. I know there are a lot of people around here who have done so.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Has anyone here started playing these games without any pre-existing knowledge of european history? It seems to me most people have some above average interest in and knowledge about the history of the particular period the games take place in. Am i wrong?
I'm european, and I still feel like I have to go through at least one book of general european history to get anything out of a game like eu3 (currently reading Norman Davies).

My interest in Renaissance through to Early-Modern history was sparked by EU3. I knew some stuff, but most of what I know now I learned by playing a country in EU3, then looking up parts of that country's history as I played.

I'm embarrassed to say that I had never even encountered the scorched earth strategy until I read about it on the forums. Right now I'm playing as Naples trying to unify the Italian state (I only need a few more provinces, I think), but it's very slow with all of those one or two province minors in the HRE. My army force limit is also kind of pathetic, even though I still have a feudal monarchy and a rather decent-sized territory. One of these days I'd like to take out Austria, who is kind of boxed in with me on one side and Bohemia on the other, but they must have at least twice the army size. I really need to improve in combat before I go to war with them. And wars are kind of rare at the moment, so I might actually take Battlefield Commission as my next national idea to build up army tradition in peace time before it degrades.

Naples > Italy can be made far easier by expanding into Anatolia/Greece early-game instead of waiting for good opportunities to expand in Italy proper. Anatolia will give you the manpower and force-limits you need, and this way when you form Italy you'll already have conquered a substantial amount of the Eastern Roman lands. The other way to make your life easier is to set the start date to the early 1400's. I forget the exact year (perhaps 1403 or 1407), but Naples owns Roma and another province directly to the North of the traditional core Neapolitan lands. Not having to deal with the Pope to grab Rome is super nice.

 

[Rootbeer]

Crusader Kings II (or the bundle, which I chose) + Game of Thrones mod makes for one amazing deal for only $10. Easily the best bargain of the year so far.

 

[Ledsen]

Crusader Kings II (or the bundle, which I chose) + Game of Thrones mod makes for one amazing deal for only $10. Easily the best bargain of the year so far.

Have you tried the mod? How is it?

 

[Sickboy007]

Crusader Kings II (or the bundle, which I chose) + Game of Thrones mod makes for one amazing deal for only $10. Easily the best bargain of the year so far.

Isn't the mod just for CK1 for now?

 

[Ledsen]

Isn't the mod just for CK1 for now?

Nope.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Naples > Italy can be made far easier by expanding into Anatolia/Greece early-game instead of waiting for good opportunities to expand in Italy proper. Anatolia will give you the manpower and force-limits you need, and this way when you form Italy you'll already have conquered a substantial amount of the Eastern Roman lands. The other way to make your life easier is to set the start date to the early 1400's. I forget the exact year (perhaps 1403 or 1407), but Naples owns Roma and another province directly to the North of the traditional core Neapolitan lands. Not having to deal with the Pope to grab Rome is super nice.

Actually, at this point in the game (around 1540, I believe) I did already expand into Greece, though my efforts have kind of stalled. Right now I'm sharing a border on one side with Albania, Croatia, and a bunch of other small nations, who are unfortunately allies of Austria, and on the other side with Byzantium, whom I can't seem to get a decent CB on anymore. At one point I was sharing a boundary with the Golden Horde and was forced to pay tribute just to keep their massive army off my back, but Hungary and Bohemia managed to push them back into Asia.

As for your second point, I did actually start the game in the year 1411 (I was trying to avoid the early war with France, but the Roma thing was nice too). It managed to save me quite a bit of effort.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Nope.

OH SHIT SON!!!!!

 

[Ikuu]

There's a pretty big bug in the GoT mod at the moment, if you Surrender then instead of you going to jail your opponent does :lol.

Also they announced the first expansion for CK2, Sword of Islam.

The 1.06 update is now nearing completion, and it is now in QA. We aim to release it in mid to late june, with an exact date to be confirmed soon, and at the same time release our first expansion, the Sword of Islam, with a suggested price of 9.99€.

The patch will include lots of new features for free, including expansion of the map into Mali-Songhay, differentiation on strong and weak claims, new plot, expanded combat, and other features to be announced later.

Sword of Islam will enable playable Muslims, with lots of specific new mechanics for the muslims, creating a whole new experience for the player, where laws, marriage, holdings, traits, titles and more work entirely different.

Every Friday until release, we’ll have a detailed development diary, where Doomdark will be talking both about what will be in the patch and what will be in the expansion.

Here's a quick screenshot...

 

[Hari Seldon]

Nice! More CK2 content. I really want them to expand further back in time though into the dark ages. Something like around 800AD would be a great start.

 

[Basileus777]

I wonder how CK2 sold, I'm guessing really well if they are really throwing all that in a free patch. Paradox doesn't really put new features in patches, so this is a bit of a surprise that they aren't holding it back for the expansion.

 

[Amazon Video Gamer]

I wonder how CK2 sold, I'm guessing really well if they are really throwing all that in a free patch. Paradox doesn't really put new features in patches, so this is a bit of a surprise that they aren't holding it back for the expansion.

It has been doing remarkably well on Amazon , even before the sale. We try to pick titles for our Deal of the Week that are strong performers, so that people get really jazzed about the deal each week.

Cheers,
Tony

 

[Sickboy007]

Nope.

 

[Basileus777]

It has been doing remarkably well on Amazon , even before the sale. We try to pick titles for our Deal of the Week that are strong performers, so that people get really jazzed about the deal each week.

Cheers,
Tony

Good to hear. And on the Paradox forums, the lead programmer Johan confirmed my assumptions that the game is doing really well.

 

[HBroward]

Do either HOI3 or EU3 from Amazon register on Steam? I assume not, but you never know.

 

[Basileus777]

Do either HOI3 or EU3 from Amazon register on Steam? I assume not, but you never know.

No. I believe CK2 is the only Paradox developed game that is Steamworks. A few of their published games like Magicka are though.

 

[HBroward]

Thanks, I had bought the Paradox pack, since I didn't have any of them but Magicka. It was nice to get CK2 and SOTS2 on steam for so cheap. I've had my eye on these other two for a long time, so I may grab them anyway.

 

[ZZMitch]

I have a quick question about CKII.

I am playing as the Duke of Munster at the moment and I have a claim on the Count of Leinster. It says in order to gain it I need to take it in war. The problem with this is that I already own Leinster, it is just ruled by the guy I beat in war. How can I usurp him in order to become the Count of Leinster?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I have a quick question about CKII.

I am playing as the Duke of Munster at the moment and I have a claim on the Count of Leinster. It says in order to gain it I need to take it in war. The problem with this is that I already own Leinster, it is just ruled by the guy I beat in war. How can I usurp him in order to become the Count of Leinster?

Shouldn't you be able to revoke his title?

 

[Hari Seldon]

I have a quick question about CKII.

I am playing as the Duke of Munster at the moment and I have a claim on the Count of Leinster. It says in order to gain it I need to take it in war. The problem with this is that I already own Leinster, it is just ruled by the guy I beat in war. How can I usurp him in order to become the Count of Leinster?

As part of the terms of the end of the war did he become your vasal? If he is not your vasal you have to fight another war.

 

[ZZMitch]

Shouldn't you be able to revoke his title?

I can't do that right now because he is currently revolting from me, but I am pretty sure I tried that yesterday and the title just instantly passed to the next guy in line and not to me. Ill have to check

 

[IblisGinjo]

How easy is it to learn? I played the demo awhile back and was lost. I've been addicted to playing Civ 5 and Endless Space has the same type of great interface.

I think Paradox can copy some of the accessibility Civilization has, deep while intuitive. It's almost like how ARMA has overly complex key bindings for no reason.

 

[Walshicus]

If you just enter a US billing address, you'll be able to buy stuff on Amazon internationally. I know there are a lot of people around here who have done so.

Done - used my work's US subsidiary's address. Amazing bargain!

 

[Walshicus]