Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations expansion– Developer diary 1

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Besuchov

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Welcome to the first of several dev diaries of the next EU4 expansion Wealth of Nations.

By now you have probably heard a bit about the upcoming expansion, there have been some press about it, but in particular you have been able to follow some of the new features in our Developer MP stream (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqRhPbyFDQWir8LwA0ZXMdqg5ADde-G2o) Still, I will take this opportunity to just quickly go through what you can expect from it.

More gameplay, less fluff
The previous expansion had a few really visible game altering things such as a completely randomized new world, a new type of dynamic nations which changed how you controlled your American colonies and completely new mechanics for the native americans, perhaps a bit disrespectful to call it ‘fluff’, but bear with me. These features required quite a big investment in development time and made a big impact on how you play EU4. For Wealth of Nations you can look forward to towards more features but perhaps less headline grabbing features, in other words more interesting gameplay changes but perhaps not so many features that force you to completely rethink your priorities.

A focus on trade
The main focus of this expansion is going to be trade, as the name suggests. We are not, however going to change the the base concept but instead we are going to look into what we can do to strengthen the strategic choices and sharpen the conflicts that come from trade. We are going to add Trading Companies that allow for more specialized trading empires, we are going to add new diplomatic actions and types of peace treaties, privateers and things like that.

Not Just Trade
Just as with the previous expansion, Conquest of Paradise, not all features we add are going to fit the chosen focus. When we design features for our expansion we they usually fit the bill of either the what the expansion is about or what we really want to see in the game sooner rather than later. Like the Fervor features specially for the Reformed religion or a brand new mechanic dealing with competition among nations that we have not told you about yet, more on that in a later dev diary (or in the MP stream in a couple of weeks).

Some Free thing, some Not Free thing
As always some new features are going to be in the expansion and some in the major patch released at the same time. We want to be able to add radical changes, but we don't want to add features to expansions that are vital for the game balance or require us to remove old mechanics, so you get them for free. This is a living game that will hopefully continue to evolve for many expansions to come.

eu4_29.jpg
 
This is a living game that will hopefully continue to evolve for many expansions to come.

I like this statement.

Of course I'm waiting for Wealth of Nations but I will take this opportunity to say that some expansions enhancing warfare and/or internal affairs would be nice to see in the future.:)
 
How does this Fervor mechanic work?
 
Welcome to the first of several dev diaries of the next EU4 expansion Wealth of Nations.

I think we would like to hear something more specific and concrete in these dev diaries. This reads more like a press release with almost no real information in it, just promises of future information.
 
This is a living game that will hopefully continue to evolve for many expansions to come.View attachment 104051
Glad to hear that. EU 4 is improving every patch, hopefully we'll have 1.18 some day :)
Adding more depth and more options are always appreciated - I hope you have some DLCs planned dealing with other underpowered regions of the world (India, China, sub-Saharan Africa), like you had with North America.

Some better late game units for ever non-Western/non-Eastern nation and the adaptation of Ming's unique mechanics (internal factions) to more countries would make the game awesome. Just awesome :)
 
Like the Fervor features specially for the Reformed religion or a brand new mechanic dealing with competition among nations that we have not told you about yet, more on that in a later dev diary (or in the MP stream in a couple of weeks).
Tease.
 
Would love some new sprite packages, especially swedish sprites packs for napoleonic era (björneborgarna). But that's because i'm a swede, but still. I love the uniforms soliders have during the napoleonic era in general.
 
How does this Fervor mechanic work?
You gain monthly points that gets added to a pool. You have 3 buttons, Trade, War, and Stability, that give bonuses to that category. You click one, two, or all three of them to activate them or deactivate them. Each takes 5 points per month. Eventually you run out of points and they deactivate. As far as I know you'll never make enough points to keep all 3 up all the time. Maybe not even 1 up all the time.

Of course all that might change by release.
 
Will modders (i.e. DHarper) be able to use a religious fervor value for all countries?
 
I think we would like to hear something more specific and concrete in these dev diaries. This reads more like a press release with almost no real information in it, just promises of future information.

Well it is the first diary, the first HoI development diary simply stated their goals and what they were trying to accomplish. I think ambiguous starting diaries are a common theme.
 
My heart's interpretations...

A focus on trade

"We love reading Reddit and AARs about newer CK2 & EU4 players having a blast picking up the challenge of Victoria 2's economy and trade. We want to capture that same feeling of multi-faceted nation interplay."

Not Just Trade

"Culture diversity, spread, and reforming feels a little weird, we hear yah."

Some Free thing, some Not Free thing

"Our future..."
W9HEazK.gif
 
Welcome to the first of several dev diaries of the next EU4 expansion Wealth of Nations.

This is a living game that will hopefully continue to evolve for many expansions to come.

View attachment 104051

I hope netx exp. will focus on internal and dynastic politics. Current gov types are rather plain at the moment, the events... a bit from another world and often barely related to the current state of the game, also diplomacy connected with dynasties is... well... there is no such thing basically.

Anyway developing trade mechanics is good move, I`m very excited with inland traderoutes and trade capitals. On the other hand I`m little worried about trade companies, I DO hope it would be an optional decision not the forced move like the colonial nations (I like them, but I still think there shall be a way to maintain direct control over americas)