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WHAT IS THE AGC?
* "AGC" is short for "Alternative Grand Campaign".
* The AGC is one of the mods for Europa Universalis 2. Since it uses the moddir command, it will only work if you have used the 1.05 patch. Other EU2 mods can (generally) be found here.
* One thing that particularly sets the AGC apart from other EU2 mods is the configurator which is included (as of beta 2). It allows you to disable any changes you don't agree with (with the exception of bugfixes). The configurator will also be used to help "plug in" other mods, such as the Vinland fantasy scenario, into the Alternative Grand Campaign.
* The AGC development is community-driven, meaning that everyone is free to participate, that there is no single leader for the project and that the work is done in a (fairly) democratic way. There are, however, some crazy individuals who have volunteered for roles that come with more responsibility (and power!) than that of a regular AGC poster. More information can be found at the High Council.


WHERE CAN I GET IT?
You can get beta 2 of the AGC here. Please note that the beta is still in beta, however.
Beta 3 won't be released this year. I think.


WHAT SHOULD I KNOW BEFORE I PLAY THE AGC?
The AGC is designed for the 'coward' (lowest) level of AI aggression. If you pick an aggression level higher than that, don't blame ahistorical outcomes on us.;)


WHAT ARE THE KEY ***DIFFERENCES*** BETWEEN THE AGC AND THE EEP?
* The AGC is still in beta, while the EEP has reached the mod equivalent of "gone gold" status.
* The AGC makes use of a configurator which allows you to select which features you want to include in your games, should there be anything that you don't like.
* The AGC focuses more on conditions, while the EEP focuses more on historical characters, as far as event triggers are concerned. In effect it means that the EEP events usually have narrower timeframes but have trigger conditions that are easier met. One might say that where the EEP tries to stay close to history as it happened, the AGC is more focused on history as it could have happened.


HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
This is not an elitist club; anyone is free to participate and contribute as much as he or she wants to, provided that he or she was actually born on this planet and is not an illegal alien. Platypuses aren't allowed either. The most basic level of participation is simply reading and posting in threads that you find interesting. If you want to do more, you can either start a new thread covering your preferred focus area (unless one exists already) or volunteer for a special position at the High Council (not all positions are limited to only one person). If you are looking for the design philosophies and guidelines of the project, click here. The following focus threads already exist:I HAVE A QUESTION NOT ANSWERED IN THIS FAQ
If you do, please post it as a reply to this thread and we'll answer it soon enough (but please keep in mind that we are real humans with real lives containing real issues, and may therefore occassionally not be able to answer right away).


 
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About time... ;)

What you should do first is:
1. Explain what the AGC is - what it does, how it is done and by whom.

Then:
2. How to contribute
3. Where to get it

I would also like someone to try to explain the deifference compared to the EEP... ;)
 
@Havard: I've included your questions in the list, but I don't have the complete answers yet.
 
Originally posted by Havard
I would also like someone to try to explain the deifference compared to the EEP... ;)
well, i dont really want to see another debate coming in this thread. i dont actually think it is necessary. i think it is enough just to define positively what the AGC is, and leave the difference alone. AGC and EEP r two projects of equal status, it's not a subsidiary or something like that, it doesnt really need to be defined by its difference from another project.

i m content with just one sentence "AGC is a mod for EUII. There is another mod called the EEP", something along those lines.
 
Originally posted by Sun_Zi_36
well, i dont really want to see another debate coming in this thread. i dont actually think it is necessary. i think it is enough just to define positively what the AGC is, and leave the difference alone. AGC and EEP r two projects of equal status, it's not a subsidiary or something like that, it doesnt really need to be defined by its difference from another project.

i m content with just one sentence "AGC is a mod for EUII. There is another mod called the EEP", something along those lines.

Agreed. I hope the way I put it in the FAQ will be good enough (no direct mention of the EEP, but a link to the scenarios forum where the EEP should be visible enough).
 
To be added to the "What is the AGC"

* The AGC is a mod for EUII which requires EUII v.1.05

* The AGC is installed in a separate directory (a moddir in EUII terminology), which means that it does not replace any of the original EUII files. In other words, you can safely install the AGC and still play the original scenarios.



To be added: an installation section


To be added to the "What is the difference between the EEP and the AGC"
The EEP is up and running, while the AGC is in beta.

Both are mods replacing the grand campaign (1419-1819) in EU2, both are written by players, and both deal with many of the same issues - often, but not always, in the same way.

The EEP has more history as it happened whereas the AGC looks to get more history as it might have happened. Sounds fishy? Read on.

With the EEP you can expect a lot historic events that happen when they historically took place, if certain in-game conditions hold (This approach emphasizes the importance of the people who were involved, and argues that since these people weren't alive at other times, it doesn't make sense to have the events when these people aren't around).

With the AGC you can expect events that happen when the in-game conditions deemed sufficient hold - this may or may not be within the timeframe it happened historically. (So the people are deemed less important than the in-game circumstances.)

...As an example safely out of the time-frame, which should lessen controversy, consider Alexander the Great invading Persia. An EEP event would likely trigger on an interval of a few years around the date Alexander invaded, possibly require that relations between Macedonia and Persia were low, and that Macedonia had a certain size, and would allow the player to start a war with Persia.

A corresponding AGC event would be set to trigger on a much wider range of years, require that Macedonia and Persia were neighbours, that Macedonia was relatively strong in Greece, and Persia weak, and that relations were bad.

In the EEP event it would only be the magnetic leadership of Alexander that made the invasion possible - in the AGC event it would be the effect of an expanding Macedonian empire [in game terms] bordering an old enemy, in other word, if not Alexander, then somebody else could have had the same bright idea


Actually, taking one step further from historical accuracy, the writer of AGC events would be encouraged to write similar events for other Hellenic states that managed to achieve the same position, if they might reasonably (using armchair arguments) have acted in the same way had they achieved Macedonia's position with regards to Persia. Possibly setting an invasion as option_b for the most unlikely of the likely states. This is far out in what-if land, and more of an ideal than something which is rigorously pursued, but it is a consideration in the AGC.


Additionally, the AGC - as of beta 2 - comes with a configurator allowing the player to broadly select which parts of the AGC he wishes to use. This opens the AGC for fantasy options, which are added as non-default options, and also allows the contributors to attempt more radical ideas, since they can be designed to be turned on or off at the user's leisure.
 
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Originally posted by Sun_Zi_36
well, i dont really want to see another debate coming in this thread.
Me neither. I didn't ask for a debate, just a definition... ;)


i dont actually think it is necessary. i think it is enough just to define positively what the AGC is, and leave the difference alone. AGC and EEP r two projects of equal status, it's not a subsidiary or something like that, it doesnt really need to be defined by its difference from another project. i m content with just one sentence "AGC is a mod for EUII. There is another mod called the EEP", something along those lines.
I disagree. The people who come here and read the FAQ have no idea what the AGC is, or the EEP. They will see two similar projects, and the first question they will ask after that is: "What's the difference?".

I think Peter Ebbesen has give a good (and long ;)) explanation of that :)
 
Originally posted by Havard

I disagree. The people who come here and read the FAQ have no idea what the AGC is, or the EEP. They will see two similar projects, and the first question they will ask after that is: "What's the difference?".

I think Peter Ebbesen has give a good (and long ;)) explanation of that :)
In an ideal world, defining the difference between the projects should not be needed, since they are - common territory apart - separate.

In a FAQ for Blackjack, e.g., you don't expect a segment explaining how it is different from Bridge, despite the fact that both are - broadly speaking - a set of rules imposed on a deck of cards.

We don't live in an ideal world.

As Havard says, that question is one of the first to be asked, again, and again, and again - and it is tiring to answer it, and tempers, occasionally, flare.

My explanation, long-winded as usual, can be added to the bottom of the FAQ. I couldn't think of a shorter explanation that didn't degenerate into slogans or mine-is-better-than-yours type of claims.
 
i think what Onslaught had in the first post now is already enough. all the theoretical stuff.... might even be a bit confusing for ppl.

anyhow, u have already posted it, i dont see a difference between the explanation being in the fourth post or the first post.
 
Originally posted by Onslaught
Where is this explanation?
Four posts above your question :D
 
Thanks

As someone who is usually away from these forums a while and then every so often reads them fervently, I appreciate the definition and am very much in Uglyduck's camp.

Thanks.
 
Are you thinking of something else than the standard "download the installer, double-click it and follow the instructions" answer?
 
Originally posted by Onslaught
Are you thinking of something else than the standard "download the installer, double-click it and follow the instructions" answer?

I'm thinking of the 'create a moddir and stuff like that" question.
 
The elusive 2.3

I'm looking around the wonderful site you guys have created, and it's filled with refernces to the AGC Beta 2.3. Where is it? Is the link in the FAQ it? or is it just 2.2 with the bugfix?