Europa Universalis III Forum - *** PLEASE READ FIRST! ***

[MrT]

Europa Universalis III Welcome and FAQ

Welcome to the Europa Universalis III forum. Please take time to read the forum stickies before you post a new thread, since most of the common questions and answers will be answered in them to the best degree that the information has been made public.

Also, please take the time to read through the thread titles on the first page or two of the forum before beginning a new thread on a topic. Chances are that there will already be a recently-active thread on the same subject already. Post your comment there, and please only start a new thread for a new subject. If you start a new thread and it "disappears", chances are that is was merged with an already-existing thread on the same subject.

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That said, we hope you enjoy your visit, and come back frequently for the latest news.

[MrT]

EU3 Forum - FAQ

This thread answers some of the questions most commonly asked on the forum.

System Requirements and Hardware Questions

What are the system requirements for EU3?

You must have the following minimum system requirements:

• Intel Pentium or AMD Athelon 1.9GHz processor or equivalent (the faster the better).
• Windows 2000 or Windows XP (home/pro/media edition). Vista should work correctly if there is a compatible driver available for your card.
• 512MB system RAM. At least 1GB RAM is highly recommended for Windows XP.
• A graphics card with 128MB video RAM and full hardware support of the Dx9.0c library including PixelShader 2.0. The EU3 1.1 patch allows cards with lower on-board memory and turbocaching (or equivalent) to run the game, though the PS2.0 requirement remains. Always make sure that your graphics drivers are up to date! For further details, see posts later in this thread.
• A mouse with scroll wheel is highly recommended.
• High speed internet connection is needed to play multiplayer games.

Systems that only barely meet the requirements may experience some performance limitations and may need to disable some graphics features.

Will there be a port of EU3 to the MAC?

Yes. It is our understanding that a MAC port is in the works. We'll post a link and information here once we have any concrete details.

Can I run EU3 on a Linux platform?

Several of our members are trying to find a means of running EU3 on their Linux systems. To date, they have not yet been able to achieve this due to the Dx9.0c support requirements, but they have not given up hope of finding a solution. If one does become available, we have asked them to prepare a "how to" walk-through and we'll be happy to provide a link to it here.

I have an Intel GMA controller (integrated graphics controller with software emulation of the normal hardware support requirements for the DirectX 9.0 library needed to run EU3). Will I be able to play the game?

At present, no. Intel’s software emulation does not correctly handle the graphics commands used by EU3, but the developers are working hard to find a solution that will allow you to run the game on a computer that has the Intel chipset (most commonly found in laptops). We will post a special notice if a solution is found that allows customers to play the game with this hardware. A more detailed discussion about this (and other) graphics issue can be found in posts further down in this thread.

Will my nVidia 5200/5500/[any 5000-series] card work with EU3?

Yes, any card from the 5000-series will allow you to launch and play the game; however, the performance will be extremely poor as the processor on that card is only barely able to handle the necessary amount of data. Be sure to turn off multisampling, anisotropic filtering, shadows, and “map items” in the game’s graphics options. You will get a bit better performance, but it will still be very slow. You should probably consider upgrading to a 6000-series card (or better). See the information in posts further down in this thread

My motherboard only has a PCI slot available (no AGP or PCI-e slot). Is there a card that will work?

Yes, there are still a few cards available in the nVidia 6000-series that will play the game and are available for a PCI-bus. The nVidia 62000 and 6600 are available in a PCI version that has the necessary 128MB of video RAM. It will be a little slow, but shouldn’t require you to also purchase a power supply (most other cards will require more power than your power supply is likely to be able to deliver if your motherboard is that old as well).

I heard that Paradox released a patch that allows you to try playing the game even if you don’t have 128MB of video RAM. Why won’t the demo work?

The EU3 1.1 patch allows you to launch the game even if you lack the necessary 128MB of V-RAM; however, a patch has not been created for the demo version so you must have a full 128MB of physical RAM on your card to allow the demo to operate. As of the present, it is not known whether a patch will be made available for the demo.

Questions About GamersGate Direct Downloads

I placed my order to download EU3 from GamersGate but it won’t let me download it. What do I do?

There are several possible solutions, depending on the exact cause of the problem:

In some cases, an unstable internet connection can be the source of the issue. You may simply need to retry downloading. You can also try resetting your internet connection by turning off/disconnecting your modem, waiting for about 30 seconds, and then reconnecting. This will establish a new connection with your ISP. Now go back to GamersGate and retry your download.

The GamersGate download software uses the .NET 2.0 framework to manage downloads. If your system does not have the .NET framework, it will be installed when you install the GamersGate downloader utility. Some customers have reported that this isn’t correctly enabled until they have rebooted their computer, so try rebooting yours and then try downloading again.

Some firewalls and routers with built-in hardware firewalls may prevent the GamersGate downloader from working properly. If you run into a problem, temporarily disable any software firewalls and open port 8080 on your router (see your router’s instruction manual for details -- each router is slightly different).

If none of these solutions works, please contact the Paradox Community Manager by sending an email to florian(at)paradoxplaza.com (replace the “(at)” with the @ sign). Make sure your email includes the details of your purchase and a description of your problem. Flori will help resolve the problem for you.

I have downloaded the game from GamersGate but now it won’t let me install it. The message says that I don’t have the necessary .NET2.0 components, even though I’m sure that I do. Help!

A few customers have reported similar problems that can happen if you are using the Windows XP x64 operating system which does handle the usual GamersGate downloader setup utility correctly. We have posted a fix for this as a beta x64 utility available here. Download and install it and all should then be well.

I ordered and downloaded EU3 from GamersGate and now I want to register my game here on the Paradox site, but I don’t know what my serial key is.

The key can be found by logging into your account at GamersGate and then going to the “My Games” tab.

I ordered and downloaded EU3 from GamersGate, but where’s the manual? What languages are available?

The manual is available for download for GamereGate purchasers English, French, German, and Italian (Paradox self-publishes in these languages). Spanish and Polish versions are only available through their respective regional distributors.

Go to www.gamersgate.com and log in to your account. Go to "My Games" where you will see:

Europa Universalis III
Serial: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX <--this is your registration key
Manual (Fixed pages 131-144)

Click on Manual to download it, then click on (Fixed pages 131-144) to download the fixed manual pages.

Questions About Game Features and Patches

I played EU2 and used the auto-pause feature all the time. Where is it on EU3?/What happened to the old auto-pause feature?/Why did Paradox remove the auto-pause feature?

Paradox didn’t disable the auto-pause. The EU3 engine was completely recoded from the round up, and auto-pause was a feature that the developers felt was not essential for play. Subsequent public response has led them to reconsider this and Johan has stated that he will add it as a feature in the 1.2 patch, although we do not yet know when this patch is likely to be released. Until then, there isn’t an auto-pause.

When will the next patch be released?

The current version is EU3 1.1 which was made available to coincide with the game arriving on store shelves. You can update your game by clicking on the “update” button in the launcher. A direct link to the update is also provided in the tech support forum for registered owners of the game. It is unknown exactly when 1.2 will be made available, but an official notice will be posted as soon as it is released.

Is there a demo of the game that I can download and try out?

Yes, you can download it from any of the links provided on the Downloads page of the main game website.

Is there a Wiki anywhere for the game?

Yes, a new EU3 Wiki has been created by one of our forum administrators. As time goes by, this will increasingly become an excellent resource for the player.

Note that there are many other general questions about the game that are answered in the "Unofficial FAQ" thread in this forum. You can also read more about the game on the Main Game Website, in the Developer Diaries, in many mainstream reviews linked here, and elsewhere on this forum.


Questions About These Forums and Registration

Why can’t I post in the Multiplayer or User Modifications subforums?/Where are the other usual Paradox game subforums?

With EU3, Paradox is trying hard to inconvenience people who pirate software (obtain illegal copies) without unduly inconveniencing legitimate customers. Instead of implementing copy protection schemes or other methods of validation (which usually end up being more annoying that not for the buyer and do little to thwart a determined pirate), Paradox has changed the access and viewing requirements for the forums.

Anyone can view and post in the main general discussion forum (this one), and everyone can also “see” the User Modifications and the Multiplayer forums. However, you must be a registered owner of the game before you will be able to see such forums as the FAQ forum, Bug Reporting forum, or Technical Support forums; or be able to post in the User Modifications or Multiplayer forums. This ensures that the staff are spending their time helping legitimate customers, and not wasting time offering support to thieves.

Registration is fast and easy. Click the “My Games” link near the top of any forum page, then enter your game registration key in the space provided and click “register”. You’ll see a small morion appear under your avatar (morion is the term for the little hat) and this will unlock the additional forums for you. Collectors Edition owners will also see a special forum that contains additional content that is part of the added bonus material provided with the CE version of the game.

If you have any difficulties with this process or if for any reason the registration doesn’t work, please send an e-mail to florian(at)paradoxplaza.com (replace “(at)” with the @ symbol) with the registration key number and a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing. He’ll resolve the problem for you promptly. (Nnote that he is usually only available during normal business hours in Sweden (~08:00-17:00 GMT, Mon-Fri)).

Do I have to register my game to get support?/Do I have to register my game to download a patch?

No. If you are a legitimate owner of the game you can obtain support directly with Paradox via email (see the information in the game manual) and will be able to download any patches using the update feature in the game launcher.

Where’s the forum “search” function?

Due to the huge volume of members and some limitations with our server, we were forced to disable toe forum search function in order to avoid constant “server busy” messages. While we do hope to re-enable it at some point in the future, for the present time you will need to us Google to conduct a forum search. Here’s how:

In the google search box type: site:forum.paradoxplaza.com “whatever you’re searching for”. That initial “site” part limits google’s search to only these community forums and most member report that this works extremely well for finding the necessary information.

Check back periodically as new FAQs are added as needed.

[MrT]

Graphics Requirements

Johan has mentioned on several occasions that EU3's graphics will require support for Pixelshader 2.0. Most cards made by most major manufacturers since 2003 will include this. You will also need a minimum of 128MB video RAM. Full system requirements can be found here. To check your card's compatibility, please follow one of these links:

• nVidia Cards listed here as "Dx9.0" support.
  • All GeForce FX Series cards -- except 64MB cards
  • All GeForce 6 Series Cards -- except 64MB cards
  • All GeForce 7 Series Cards -- except 64MB cards
  • Any new cards they have released that aren't on that listing and have 128MB or better.
  
  
• ATI Cards listed here as "Dx9.0" support.
  • All Radeon R300 Series cards -- with possible exception of 64MB cards?
  • All Radeon R300 PCIe Series cards -- except 64MB cards
  • All Radeon R420 AGP Series cards -- except 64MB cards
  • All Radeon R420 PCIe Series cards -- except 64MB cards
  • All Radeon R520 Series cards -- except 64MB cards
  • Any new cards they have released that aren't on that listing and have 128MB or better.
  
  
• Intel Chipsets listed here appear not to support it. See the comments here for a bit more info and links to work-arounds.
  • Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset Family
  • Intel® 945G Express Chipset
  • Mobile Intel® 915GM /GMS,910GML Express Chipset
  • Intel® 82915G/82910GL Express Chipset Family
  
  As you can see here this is not an isolated problem and Paraodx are investigating to see if a work around exists.
  
  
• For other card manufacturers, please follow the appropriate link from this page.

To see what card you have go to 'run' in your start menu, type in DXDIAG and click ok. On the third tab page ("Display" on English Windows) it lists the graphics card under "Device".

This information is NOT officially confirmed and is provided simply for your convenience.

[MrT]

The Latest Word on EU3 and Graphics Cards

Since information is scattered throughout a number of threads, I thought I’d compile it all into a single post that people can read and use to check their individual situations. The following information is not provided as an official statement from Paradox, and is only my own personal observation and recommendation that you are free to disagree with or ignore.

The graphics requirements listed for the game are a “128MB Video Card with Hardware T&L and support for Pixelshader 2.0 or better”. While it is not stated specifically, it should also be noted that you will require a card and monitor that is able to display at 1024 x 768 resolution or higher.

Let’s look at these requirements in more detail.

Resolution

The minimum resolution for the game is 1024 x 768 so you must also have a card and monitor that are capable of at least this resolution (as far as I know, all cards that would have PS2.0 will support it since that resolution was already common 4 years ago). There is no upper limit to resolution (if your card + monitor can display it, EU3 can feed it the data) but interfaces and fonts do not currently scale so the practical limit would be in the 1900x 1200 range, beyond which it might be too difficult to read the texts or control the interfaces. I find 1280 x 1024 and 1680 x 1050 perfectly acceptable in spite of my poor eyesight (I have two different monitors that I use).

Two additional comments about resolution. If you are using a CRT monitor (looks more or less like a regular television) you will find that using somewhat lower-than-maximum resolutions will improve the game’s performance as there will be less load on the graphics card to generate the necessary display. If you’re using an LCD monitor, you will often get the best performance running at your monitor’s native resolution (consult your monitor’s user guide to find out that that is). Some LCDs are pretty good at scaling (internally) on the fly, and some aren’t, so you may not gain any performance boost by reducing the game resolution to a lower value in the way that you would with a CRT. You can play around with settings to find one that gives you optimum performance. (I don’t have a plasma screen so I can’t offer any suggestions regarding those.)

The downloadable demo version of EU3 has a default value in the file \eu3 demo\settings.txt that sets the initial screen resolution to a resolution that may not be supported by your card/monitor. For some users this will result in an error message when you attempt to launch the demo and the start-up will fail. Open that file with a basic text editor (like Notepad) and change the values for the screen resolution and refresh rate to something that your card and monitor will support (consult your card and monitor documentation to determine what settings might be suitable). For initial tests, I would also recommend turning off shadows, antialiasing (multisampling) and anisotropic filtering since this places the fewest demands on rendering. You can always turn them back on later to see if they will work for you. A good starting point for most people might be:

gui={
language=l_english
}
graphics={
size={
    x=1024
    y=768
}
refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
shadows=no
multisampling=0
anisotropicFiltering=0
gamma=50.000004
}
sound_fx_volume=100.000008
music_volume=75.000000
scroll_speed=50.000004
camera_rotation_speed=50.000000
zoom_speed=50.000004
mouse_speed=50.000000
master_volume=100.000008
mapRenderingOptions={
renderTrees=yes
onmap=yes
}
lastplayer="MrHuman"
lasthost=""
serveradress="diplomacy.valkyrienet.com"
autosave="YEARLY"
difficulty="NORMAL"
outliner={
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 }

This presumes that your card and monitor are “happy” with 1024x768 @ 60Hz but you should check this in their documentation before trying it. If they aren’t, change the x= and y= values to a resolution that they do like, and chance the redreshRate= value to one that your monitor likes (setting the wrong refresh rate can damage your monitor so please do take the time to check this!).

People with systems that only barely meet the specs may also be able to improve performance by turning off trees (change the line near the bottom to say renderTrees=no) and disabling the non-essential map items (little things displayed on the map that are there for added visual flavour, which is done by changing the next line to onmap=no).

The default settings in the gold release version of the game (EU3 v1.0) that are installed from the game CD are 1280 x 960 and might cause an error message or unusual display characteristics on initial load. The 1.1 patch will make 1024 x 768 the default as per the “fix” I posted immediately above. If you are just starting out and haven't patched the game yet, please follow the instructions about if you run into problems of error message on load. Otherwise, use the in game options-->graphics-->resolution utility to change it.

There will be a patch (EU3 v1.1) released on approximately January 23rd, 2007, that will include an “catching” routine that will attempt to start the game using your current desktop settings if an error is returned when you launch. It is very likely that this will resolve most issues for people with cards that otherwise support the minimum game requirements.

Pixelshader 2.0

Pixelshader2.0 is a part of the DirectX9.0 library and is mandatory for the game to operate. If your card doesn’t support it, EU3 will not run on your system. Period. If you want to be able to play, you will almost certainly need to install a new card that does offer that support.

The demo version and all official release versions will return an error when you attempt to launch the game on a system that lacks PS2.0 support. Lack of support will be due to one of two causes: (1) you have a card that was manufactured prior to about March 2003 when DirectX9.0 cards were introduced onto the market; or (2) you have an Intel graphics controller that does not, in fact, correctly provide the necessary support in spite of some the company’s claims.

In the first case, you will have no alternative to buy a new card to play the game. If this is impossible for you, EU3 is not for you. It is highly unlikely that any “fix” will be possible any time in the future since the amount of coding required is not feasible, and even if it were feasible the performance of the game would likely be unacceptable to a player.

If you have an Intel graphics controller, you should consult Intel’s game support listing and look up your specific model. A large number of Intel chipsets do not correctly support the PS2.0 requirement and will not run EU3. At present, EU3 is not included in Intel’s compatibility listing; however, you should be fine if games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Half Life 2, Splinter Cell, Civilization IV, and Quake 4 are all listed as compatible.

In practice, it seems that many of Intel’s chipset families will be a problem for at least the near future. Intel currently denies that the problems lie with them, however the inability to run many mainstream games (made by companies with development budgets that are many times what Paradox has) doesn’t offer much support for that position. It is possible that Intel will eventually release drivers that will add the missing functionality, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for it. Paradox is looking to finding a solution, but one is not presently available or expected in the near future. Again, considering the other mainstream games that remain incompatible, I personally have some doubts that a fully compatible fix will be likely.

So…what do you do if you have an Intel chipset that doesn’t work?

If you have an available PCI-e slot or AGP slot in your motherboard, the best solution is to purchase a graphics card that does support PS2.0 (see below) and add it to your system. I have done this in the past with other systems, and you will probably need to jump through a few hoops to get your computer to recognise and use the new card. In my case I had to uninstall the Intel drivers (be careful only to uninstall the graphics drivers, not any of the other Intel drivers), then reboot and go into my BIOS on startup where I then force-disabled the Intel graphics controller and told it to look for a graphics card in my AGP slot. I then saved the changes to BIOS, exited, and continued the boot process. When Windows launched, it correctly detected the new card and installed the necessary drivers.

If your only available slots are PCI (not PCI-e) there are a few cards still available that can be added (you’ll still need to jump through the aforementioned hoops) but it is very likely that the performance will be quite poor (game play will be very slow; map scrolling and mouse movements will be sluggish or delayed; and interfaces and tooltips may be sluggish or delayed in appearing when activated). All in all, I’d probably consider a wholesale computer upgrade since the odds are that your entire system is now (by computer industry standards) quite outdated.

If you have a laptop (or don’t have an available slot), you may or may not be able to run the game. Some users have reported a degree of success with 3D-Analyse, although in most cases this will result in considerable slowdown of the game, and may still exhibit a variety of display issues or other graphic anomalies. Again, you may need to consider a purchasing a “gaming” computer if you want to play EU3.

Minimum of 128MB Video RAM

Both the demo and gold release version of EU3 (EU3 v1.0) perform a check on launch to confirm that you have at least 128MB of V-RAM in your system. If you don’t, you will receive an error message to that effect and the launch will fail. This can occur due to three different reasons: (1) your card is an older one that really does have less than 128MB of RAM; or (2) your card does have the minimum 128MB of RAM but for some reason is incorrectly reporting it; or (3) your card/graphics controller is specially designed to share system resources (motherboard RAM) using a system like turbocaching (or equivalent) so it really does have less than 128MB RAM even though Windows may report that it has more than this. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

If you have an older card with less than 128MB of RAM, you may be able to purchase more RAM for the card to bring it up to the minimum requirement. Before spending any money on this, though, read the rest of this post since the performance of such a card may not make the expenditure worthwhile. If you can’t increase the card’s RAM, you will need to consider purchasing a new card. As of the release of EU3 v1.1, the game will allow you to launch with less than 128MB RAM but the performance is likely to be very poor and, for all intents and purposes, may not be playable. You could always attempt this before going shopping for a new card or additional V-RAM.

I do not know whether this fix will be available as a patch for the demo version, but I somewhat doubt it. Check elsewhere in this forum to see if a demo patch has been released. If one has, it will be linked in a sticky at the top of the main EU3 forum. If you don’t see one, it hasn’t.

If your card has 128MB of RAM or more but isn’t reporting it correctly, you will probably be able to apply the EU3 v1.1 patch when it becomes available (approximately January 23rd, 2007). You will receive the message warning you that you have insufficient RAM, but you will be able to launch the game in spite of this. The performance will depend on the card itself, but should be at least playable. Again, I doubt that the demo version will receive this fix.

Turbocaching cards (or equivalent) will probably not offer quite the performance level that could be achieved from a similar-spec card with dedicated V-RAM, but as of EU3 v1.1 you will be able to launch the game as per above. The vintage and specs of your card will determine just how well it is able to manage the required load.

Why Does EU3 Require These Minimum Specifications?

I’ve read at least a hundred different posts that complain/question why EU3 would have the kind of minimum graphics requirements that it has. In particular, people point to the game itself and observe that the graphics can’t possibly be as demanding as some other games that are on the market that have quite a bit more eyecandy than EU3 does (examples abound). Often, these posts lead to incriminations about Paradox coders’ programming capabilities or fervently lament the fact that the old 2D map was just swell and that Paradox is screwing the loyal fan by making the move to 3D just to give a bit more (debatable) eyecandy to induce greater sales from store shelves.

I’ve posted replies to this several times, in several different places, but considering the volume of threads (and the length of some of them) it seems that the subject just won’t go away. I’ll restate my response here, again, in the hopes that a few more people will read it before raising the subject again (and at very least I’ll just be able to post a link to this thread whenever someone does bring it up, which will save me from tearing my hair out or wearing out my keyboard). Note that if you’re a computer expert I’ll be taking a few liberties with precise accuracy to avoid making things excessively confusing so please bear with me.

So what gives? Why the PS2.0 and 128MB RAM in the first place? Isn’t this a colossal error on Paradox’s part that will alienate long-time customers, damage its fan base, and prevent just as many sales to people with older systems as it will gain from its eyecandy appeal?

Before I give my answer, I just want to restate very clearly that the following is my opinion and general understanding of the situation. I am not currently a Paradox employee (though I have done work for them and hope to continue doing so in the future). I am not making an official statement. I am not privy to the discussions that led to this change in EU3. I am not privy to their finances or development budget information. I am not a graphics programmer (though I have some passing familiarity with what’s involved) so some of this is based on my (potentially incomplete) understanding of things. With that caveat stated, here’s the argument.

Resource Limitations. To me, this is the most important reason for the change; and I’m not talking about Paradox’s resources (personnel or whatever) but rather the customer’s resources. Your hardware. Your system.

The EU3 game design and feature set places a very serious burden on the player’s computer that is uncommon in the gaming industry. The same is true of all of the preceding Paradox games. The demands of a real-time grand strategy game -- one that is played in continuous time instead of having distinct turns (like Civ IV) -- are enormous. Under the hood, the game must manage the affairs of 250 or more countries, respond to the player’s actions, and carry out all the normal “daily” calculations that the game elements require. The biggest demand, by far, is on making a challenging and “intelligent” AI. All of this requires processing horsepower, and almost every game Paradox has released has pushed the resource envelope about as far as it dares based on the published minimum specs.

For those who are not computer savvy, this “horsepower” is determined by the motherboard specification of your computer. A 1.9GHz processor (EU3’s minimum spec) is capable of performing nearly two billion operations per second. Sometimes you’ll hear these operations referred to as “cycles”. Sure that sounds like a lot, but you’d be amazed how rapidly these “operations” get used up. Writing a single pixel to your monitor takes up a bunch of them. Doing simple arithmetic chews up some more. AI decision-making algorithms devour cycles like they’re going out of style. The more intelligent you want the AI to appear to be, the more cycles you’re going to need. Remember that it has to manage quite a few different AI components (war AI, diplomacy AI, trade AI, economy AI, etc.) for the 250+ countries that the player isn’t playing. That’s A LOT!

Without going into any more excessive detail, each of Paradox’s games has set a target minimum specification that will (hopefully) not make the game unavailable to too many customers. The rule of thumb in the computer game industry is usually that an average game should be capable of running fairly well on a system that is about 2 years old. FPS games (Oblivion, for example) often trim that down to 1 year, but offer reduced-quality settings to make it backwards-compatible for people with older systems.

When I say “2 years old” I’m not talking about a computer you that you’d buy from a mega-store on an end-of-the-line bargain clearance sale two years ago. Those are at least 3 years old or more. I’m talking about the “drool over getting that cool new high-powered computer that just came out” system that was on the shelf two years ago for a thousand or two thousand dollars. The ones that began to hit the bargain level a year ago and are being blown out now by mega-stores for a few hundred bucks. Got the picture?

Paradox has usually been fairly conservative in their willingness to alienate people with older systems, so their minimum specs are usually older than that common 2-year rule of thumb. Some of their earliest games were a little more demanding for the time; but when I look at the specs for most of their games I’d say that they’ll run on older systems than almost any other concurrent new game release.

The assumption in the computer industry as a whole is that most consumers will buy a new system every couple of years. You can stretch that a bit by upgrading rather than replacing (getting a new graphics card to replace your existing one rather than buying a whole new system), but continual advances and accompanying hardware demands will eventually force you to abandon that old box that has served you faithfully for years.

In recent times this is the much faster PCI-e card slot that supersedes the old AGP slot which in turn superseded the earlier PCI slot. Many motherboards will offer two of those (PCE + AGP, or AGP + PCI-e depending on vintage) to help a bit with compatibility. Processor speeds have continued to increase too, but these higher speeds generate more heat, which increases the power requirements (both to power the processor and to power a fan to cool the bloody thing down so it doesn’t double as a kitchen stove). Eventually, that upgrade path comes to a close.

Software vendors -- particularly those who offer the core ingredients that make computer systems run -- tend to be the first ones on the bandwagon to take advantage of the increased speeds and much greater available memory of newer systems. A company like Microsoft develops an operating system to (supposedly) make life easier for the casual computer user. They develop graphics handling programs (like DirectX) to help manage and improve the cool stuff you can display on your screen.

The next ones on board are often the big budget game companies that make the latest and greatest shoot ‘em up games that blow the minds of little kids and turn them into vegetables. They look at the increased horsepower, waaaaaaay cool graphics capabilities, and then push them to the limits. Paradox isn’t one of those companies…they’re much further back in the line.

What does all of this rambling have to do with EU3? I’m getting there.

Four years ago, back in the spring of 2003, Microsoft released the latest iteration of a graphics handling standard that took advantage of some amazing developments in the hardware graphics industry. It was called DirectX 9.0.

The hardware folks had come up with the clever idea that you could put a fairly powerful processor (like the one on your motherboard) onto a graphics card. Give the card some memory and a decent set of instructions about how to do graphics-related stuff, and suddenly you can feed very basic data and commands to the card and let the card do the “real” work. DirectX 9.0 became the new software standard that allows a program (like EU3) to send this data and accompanying demands and then communicate it correctly to the card. (A graphics driver is the “translator” required to allow DirectX and the card to communicate efficiently without the broken-telephone syndrome cropping up.)

Moving this stuff to the card has thee great advantages. It means that your motherboard doesn’t have to handle all of that graphics processing that is now being done by the processor on the card, so this frees it up to do other more important things like calculate the attrition losses for 2000+ AI regiments and then figure out who they should attack. This frees up hundreds of thousand (or even millions) of cycles from the CPU that used to be preoccupied with handling graphics, allowing them to be used for AI and other game mechanics and features instead.

If the card’s memory is also large enough to handle and store all of the game’s graphics building blocks as well (the map, unit sprites, etc.), your regular system RAM is also now relieved of that chore and can be used for other game-related stuff (keeping track of advisors, monarchs, units, etc., as well as handling the results of all of those AI decisions and whatnot).

The third advantage is related to speed, and actually has two components to it. Modern graphics cards are optimised to handle graphics-related processes, so they can usually chew through this stuff faster than a motherboard’s processor can. There is also an issue of how fast data can be transferred between the motherboard and the graphics card and then on to your monitor. The bottleneck was often in the “bus” between the CPU and the card. PCI was a city street. AGP is more of a highway. PCI-e is a superhighway! By storing the graphics stuff in the card when the game first loads, and then during the game only needing to send a little data and some instructions about what to do with it, you’ve eliminated one of the bottlenecks that was limiting the speed of a game.

When you look at a game like Oblivion, the killer in terms of “load” on the CPU has nothing to do with the game mechanics. Sure, there’s some stuff going on. A few characters need to have some AI going on, and there’s the other underlying game rules like “swing and hit” combat and spellcasting. But this pales in comparison to what’s happening behind the scenes in EU3. Where Oblivion makes its demands is in the graphics end of things -- in fact it’s so demanding that a huge amount of it still has to be handled by the main CPU. EU3’s graphics are nowhere near as complex (or as pretty) but the key thing to take away from this is that they are pretty much all handled by the card.

Finally we hit the reason behind the two major demands of EU3’s minimum graphics requirements. The game’s graphics have to all fit on the card or the advantage of moving it there is lost. It also has to be in a format that the card can work with locally. Without getting grossly overtechnical, this means you’ve got to have 128MB of RAM on that video card, and the information has to use this Dx9.0 standard (which happens to include the first time that the Pixelshader2.0 command set was included in the DX library).

“But wait,” you say. “I have other games that work just fine without all this mumbo jumbo.” Yes you do. EU2 is a good example of one. Dx9.0 is backwards compatible to accept the graphics instructions that EU2 gives it, but what’s actually happening there is the game is doing all of its graphics using the computer’s CPU, then handing it over to Dx9.0 which basically passes it along to the card saying “just display this old stuff.” The card isn’t actually doing anything with it. EU3 does none of the graphics work in the main CPU, give some data and instructions to Dx9.0, and then Dx9.0 hands it over to the card and says “you’ve gotta take the graphics building blocks you’re already storing and then figure out what happens to them now.” Big difference...and something that needs Dx9.0 and its PS2.0 library.

You could code EU3 to do exactly the same thing (and there are some games that can do it both ways), but then you’ve got to do all of that graphics handling before it gets sent to the card, so you’ve lots all of those cycles you wanted to free up in the first place. This means that there’s not much point in doing so if it’s going to make the game grind to a halt anyway...not to mention that you’d have to double-code everything that relates to graphics which makes for a lot more code and a lot more development time (and a correspondingly bigger budget being required for that part of the game).

“But I have an older card, and I also have Dx9.0c which is even newer than Dx9.0. Should that work?” Nope. Unless the card has the on-board processor and memory, and is able to understand the 9.0 instructions, Dx9.0 has to pretend that it’s Dx8.x and pre-process all of that stuff. The only place it can pre-process is in your main motherboard.

“Okay. I get it. But...why so ugly if all of this graphics stuff is being handled by my graphics card? Shouldn’t it be beautiful like some other games are?” Again, no. Most of those other games are using the motherboard for handling the lion’s share of the graphics, while still offloading as much as possible to the card. Luckily, more of them have very little else (relatively speaking) going on under the hood, so this isn’t an issue. Of course the more demanding the game, the bigger an issue it is. But those games have minimum requirements that are much more demanding than EU3’s are.

EU3 needs a card that can handle the whole kit and caboodle by itself without needing system RAM or the motherboard’s processor to do any work. That’s the only way to free up the cycles for the other cool stuff. This, in turn, means that EU3’s graphics have to be designed to fit on those cards. Earlier in development we had some graphics that were perhaps prettier than the ones you see now. Trouble was, this would require the card to have 256MB of RAM. Bad move, since that’s going to make a lot of cards that are more than 2 years old be useless. Want a super-amazing map? Up we go to 1GB minimum video RAM! Nopes...not a chance.

Scale back on the quality a bit and it fits into 128MB, a size that is common of most cards that have hit the market within the last 4 years. Happily, that same 4 years time frame corresponds to the time that Dx9.0 came out. And hey, that’s still two years more than the average new game thinks is appropriate as a demand. Doesn’t seem too unreasonable.

“Um...but earlier, didn’t you say that Paradox was going to allow the game to run on a 64MB card?” Yes. Provided it supports the full Dx9.0 library of commands, this can be done. The potential problem is now that the card can’t hold all of the information it needs, so it’s going to have to borrow some memory from your motherboard. Not only will it take up that space, but it’s also going to need your motherboard’s CPU to help handle that exchange of data on an ongoing basis (the graphic card isn’t able to manage system resources). Some computers are actually designed to do this quite efficiently (the turbocache ones, for instance) but will still be a little slower than would otherwise be the case.

Yes, this has been an exceedingly long post. If you actually read all of it, congratulations! You should now have a basic understanding of the underlying reasons for Paradox to make this move. Factor on top of that the whole argument about 2D games being unable to compete for shelf space with 3D games and it seems more and more reasonable for them to make this painful decision. With this new engine in place, they shouldn’t need to bump the demands in future games for quite a long while (by computer industry standards, anyway).

The next post in this thread will list EU3-compatible cards and comment on the performance you might expect from them.

[MrT]

Graphics Cards Compatible With EU3

This post lists all of the common graphics cards that I believe should be compatible with EU3 v1.1 (due approx. Jan 23rd, 2007). There are far too many cards on the market to list them all, so I am including a detailed list of only the nVidia and ATI cards that meet the game’s specifications. If you have a different make or model than the one’s listed here, you will need to consult the manufacturer to determine compatibility.

If we receive reports that a certain card is confirmed to be incompatible, I will update the list. Also my apologies for any formatting abnormalities in the charts below.


nVidia

All cards made by nVidia since March 2003 should be able to load and run EU3 v1.1. I would expect the performance of the FX (5000-series) cards to be quite poor due to a very unpowered onboard processor. Initial reports from people trying the demo with these cards tends to confirm this. The cards that will give acceptable performance on EU3 really begin with the GeForce 6000-series, with 7000-series and later being optimal. Performance with PCI-e cards will be better than an otherwise comparable AGP card. PCI (not-e) will not perform as well as the others due to slower bus speeds.

I have personally used a 6100 and a 7300LE, the latter (not surprisingly) giving me better performance. Many members are reporting excellent performance and no problems whatsoever with the later 6000-series and the 7000-series cards.

Always see if there are any undated drivers that might be available for your card. These will resolved compatibility and stability issues and should be checked on a monthly or by-monthly basis. You can find nVidia drivers here on their support page for driver downloads.

Data source: Wiki. More detailed information can be found here.

Model 				Year 	Bus interface 		Memory max (MiB) 
GeForce FX 5200 		Mar-03	AGP 8x,PCI 		256
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 		Mar-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5500 		Mar-04	AGP 8x,PCI 		128, 256 
GeForce FX 5600 XT 		2003	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5600 		2003	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5600 Ultra 		Mar-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5600 Ultra Rev.2 	Aug-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5700 VE			AGP 8x 			128, 256 
GeForce FX 5700 LE 		2003	AGP 8x, PCI 		256
GeForce FX 5700 		2003	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 		Oct-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra DDR3 	Mar-04	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5800 		Jan-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5800 Ultra 		Jan-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5900 XT 		Dec-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5900 		May-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 		May-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 		Oct-03	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce 6100 			Nov-05	Hyper Transport 	128 (Shared) 
GeForce 6150 LE 		Jun-06	Hyper Transport 	128 (Shared), 256 
GeForce 6150 			Nov-05	Hyper Transport 	128 (Shared) 
GeForce 6200 			2004	PCIe x16, AGP 8X, PCI 	128, 256, 
GeForce 6200 TC 		2005	PCIe x16 		16, 32, 64 supporting 128 or 256 
GeForce 6200 			2005	PCI 			128, 256 
GeForce 6200 			2005	AGP 8X 			128, 256, 512 
GeForce 6500 			2005	PCIe x16 		128 Supporting 256 (in >=512 System), 256 Supporting 512 (in >=1024 System) 
GeForce 6600LE 			2005	PCIe x16, AGP-8x 	128, 256 
GeForce 6600 			2004	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	128, 256, 512 
GeForce 6600 DDR2 		Nov-05	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256, 512 
GeForce 6600 GT 		Nov-04	AGP 8X 			128
GeForce 6600 GT 		Aug 2004, 2005 	PCIe x16 	128, 256 
GeForce 6800 LE 		2004	AGP 8X 			256
GeForce 6800 XT 		2005	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
GeForce 6800 			2004	AGP 8X 			256
GeForce 6800 			2004	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 6800 GTO 		2004 	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 6800 GS 		Dec-05	AGP 8X 			256
GeForce 6800 GS 		Nov-05	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 6800 GT 		May-04	AGP 8X 			256
GeForce 6800 GT 		2004	PCIe x16 		256, 512 
GeForce 6800 Ultra 		Apr-04	AGP 8X 			256
GeForce 6800 Ultra 		Jun-04	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 6800 Ultra 		Mar-05	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce 7100 GS 		Sep-06	PCIe x16 		128
GeForce 7300 SE 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		128 Supporting 256 (in >=512 System), 256 Supporting 512 (in >=1024 System) 
GeForce 7300 LE 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		128 Supporting 256 (in >=512 System), 256 Supporting 512 (in >=1024 System) 
GeForce 7300 GS 		Jan-06	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	128 Supporting 256 (in >=512 System), 256 Supporting 512 (in >=1024 System) 
GeForce 7300 GT 		May-06	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
GeForce 7600 GS 		Mar-06	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256, 512 
GeForce 7600 GT 		Mar-06	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
GeForce 7800 GS 		Feb-06	AGP 8x 			256
GeForce 7800 GT 		Aug-05	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 7800 GTX 		Jun-05	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 7800 GTX 512 		Nov-05	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce 7900 GT 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 7950 GT 		Sep-06	PCIe x16 		256, 512 
GeForce 7900 GTO 		Sep-06	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce 7900 GTX 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce 7900 GX2 		Mar 2006 	PCIe x16 	2x 512 
GeForce 7950 GX2 		June 2006 	PCIe x16 	2x 512 
GeForce 8300 GS 		Feb-07	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 8300 GT 		Feb-07	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 8600 GT 		Feb-07	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce 8600 Ultra 		Feb-07	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce 8800 GTS 		Nov-06	PCIe x16 		640
GeForce 8800 GTX 		Nov-06	PCIe x16 		768
GeForce Go 7300 		Jan-06	PCIe x16 		128, 256, up to 512 with TurboCache[1] 
GeForce Go 7400 		Jan-06	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
GeForce Go 7600 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		256, 512 
GeForce Go 7600 GS 		2006	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce Go 7600 GT 		2006	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce Go 7700 		2006	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce Go 7800 			PCIe x16 		256
GeForce Go 7800 GTX 		Oct-05	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce Go 7900 GS 		Apr-06	PCIe x16 		256
GeForce Go 7900 GTX 		Apr-06	PCIe x16 		512
GeForce Go 7950 GTX 		Oct-06	PCIe x16 		512

ATI

Much the same is true of ATI cards. Models dating prior to 2004 will offer poor performance and we would strongly recommend against any of the 64MB RAM versions of them. The R-500 series (and other cards made since mid-to-late 2005) will offer good performance with the game, particularly if they are PCI-e bus.

I don’t have any personal experience with these cards, but members with cards made in the last two years seem happy with the performance.

Always see if there are any undated drivers that might be available for your card. These will resolved compatibility and stability issues and should be checked on a monthly or by-monthly basis. You can find ATI drivers here on their support page for driver downloads.

Data source: Wiki. More detailed information can be found here.

Model 				Year 	Bus interface 		Memory max (MiB) 
Radeon 9500 			2002	AGP 8x 			64, 128 
Radeon 9500 Pro 		Oct-02	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9550 SE 			2004	AGP 8x 			64, 128, 256 
Radeon 9550 			2004	AGP 8x 			64, 128, 256 
Radeon 9600 SE 			2003	AGP 8x 			128, 256 
Radeon 9600 			2003	AGP 8x 			128, 256 
Radeon 9600 Pro EZ 		2003	AGP 8x 			128, 256 
Radeon 9600 Pro 		Apr-03	AGP 8x 			128, 256 
Radeon 9600 XT 			Oct-03	AGP 8x 			128, 256 
Radeon 9700 			2002	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9700 Pro 		Jul-02	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 SE 128Bit 		2003	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 SE 256Bit 		2003	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 128Bit 		2003	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 Pro 128Bit 		Mar-03	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 			2003	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 Pro 		Mar-03	AGP 8x 			128
Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB 		2003	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon 9800 XT 			Oct-03	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon Xpress 200 IGP 		? 	onboard PCIe 		128
Radeon Xpress 200 IGP 		? 	onboard PCIe 		128
Radeon Xpress 1100 IGP 		? 	onboard PCIe 		128
Radeon Xpress 1150 IGP 		? 	onboard PCIe 		128
Radeon X300 SE 			Jun-04	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X300 			Jun-04	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X550 SE 			Jul-05	PCIe x16 		64, 128 
Radeon X550 			Jul-05	PCIe x16 		64, 128 
Radeon X600 Pro 		Jun-04	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
Radeon X600 XT 			Jun-04	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
Radeon X800 SE 			? 	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 GT 			2005	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 Pro 		May-04	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 Pro VIVO 		May-04	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 XL 	 		? 	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 XT 			2004	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X800 XT PE 		May-04	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X850 Pro 		2005	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X850 XT 			2005	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X850 XT PE 		2005	AGP 8x 			256
Radeon X700 			? 	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
Radeon X700 Pro 		Sep-04	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
Radeon X700 XT 			Sep-04	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X800 SE 			? 	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X800 GT 128 		Sep-05	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X800 GT 256 		Sep-05	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X800 GTO 128 		Nov-05	PCIe x16 		128
Radeon X800 			Dec-04	PCIe x16 		128, 256 
Radeon X800 GTO 256 		Nov-05	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X800 Pro 		May-04	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X800 Pro VIVO 		? 	PCIe x16 	
Radeon X800 XL 			Dec 2004, May 2005 	PCIe x16 	256, 512 
Radeon X800 XT 			? 	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X800 XT VIVO 		? 	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X800 XT PE 		? 	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X850 Pro 		Dec-04	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X850 XT 			Dec-04	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X850 XT PE 		Dec-04	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1300 			Oct-05	PCIe x16, (AGP 8x, PCI) Visiontek 	128, 256, 512 
Radeon X1300 Pro 		Oct-05	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
Radeon X1300 XT 		Sep-06	PCIe x16 		128, 256, 512 
Radeon X1600 Pro 		Oct-05	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	128, 256, 512 
Radeon X1600 XT 		Oct-05	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
Radeon X1650 Pro 		Sep-06	PCIe x16, AGP 8x 	256
Radeon X1650 XT 		Oct-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1800 GTO 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1800 GTO Rev.2 		Mar-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1800 XL 		Oct-05	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1800 XT 		Mar 2006, Oct 2005 	PCIe x16 	256, 512 
Radeon X1900 GT 		May-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1900 GT Rev.2 		Oct-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1900 All-In-Wonder 	Jan-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1900 Crossfire Edition 	Jan-06	PCIe x16 		512
Radeon X1900 XT 		Sep 2006, Jan 2006 	PCIe x16 	256, 512 
Radeon X1900 XTX 		Jan-06	PCIe x16 		512
Radeon X1950 Pro 		Oct 2006, Nov 2006 (AGP) 	PCIe x16, AGP 8X 	256
Radeon X1950 XT 		Nov-06	PCIe x16 		256
Radeon X1950 XTX 		Sep-06	PCIe x16 		512
Mobility Radeon 9600 		Jun-03	130	AGP 8x 
(400 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	DDR 		128
Mobility Radeon 9700 		Feb-04	130	AGP 8x 
(520 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	DDR 		128
Mobility Radeon 9800 		Sep-04	130 low-k 	AGP 8x 
(600 DDR) 			4:8:8:8 	DDR 		256
Mobility Radeon X300 		Nov-05	130	PCI-E x16 
(600 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	DDR 		128
Mobility Radeon X600 		Jun-04	130	PCI-E x16 
(500 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	DDR 		128
Mobility Radeon X700 		Mar-05	110	PCI-E x16 
(700 DDR) 			6:8:8:8 	GDDR3 		128
Mobility Radeon X800 		Nov-04	130	PCI-E x16 
(800DDR) 			6:12:12:12 	GDDR3 		256
Mobility Radeon X800 XT 	Jun-05	130	PCI-E x16 
(1100 DDR) 			6:16:16:16 	GDDR3 		256
Mobility Radeon X1300 		Jan-06	90	PCIe x16 
(650 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	DDR 		128
Mobility Radeon X1350 		Sep-06	90	PCIe x16 
Mobility Radeon X1400 		Jan-06	90	PCIe x16 
Mobility Radeon X1450 		Jan-06	90	PCIe x16 
(690 DDR) 			2:4:4:4 	GDDR3 		128
Mobility Radeon X1600 		Dec-05	90	PCIe x16 
(700 DDR) 			5:12:4:4 	GDDR3 		128
Mobility Radeon X1700 		Sep-06	90	PCIe x16 
(700 DDR) 			5:12:4:4 	GDDR3 		128
Mobility Radeon X1800 		Mar-06	90	PCIe x16 
(1000 DDR) 			8:12:12:12 	GDDR3 		256
Mobility Radeon X1800 XT 	Mar-06	90	PCIe x16 
(1300 DDR) 			8:16:16:16 	GDDR3 		256
Mobility Radeon X1900 		Jan-07	65	PCIe x16

Intel

As I stated in the previous post, I am leery of proposing Intel cards if you’re looking at purchasing a new card that will support EU3.

If you have an Intel GMA chipset, begin by reading this information. As stated there, Intel says that the new GMA X3000 will have actual hardware support of the necessary libraries, but their other GMA chipsets use software emulation to mimic this support -- often resulting in some serious issues and incompatibilities with games. I would not expect them to work with EU3; and even if some of them do, they will probably not offer very good performance.

See also:

• My previous post that discusses them in some detail as well. If you have a free PCI-e or AGP slot, consider a second card for gaming.
• Intel Support Site
• Intel Gaming Support and FAQ page

Other Recommendations or Known Issues

Your video drivers are only part of the equation. You should also make sure that your version of Windows is up to date (link to Microsoft update) and that your version of DirectX is up to date (check here).

Windows Vista will be released almost simultaneously with EU3 v1.0 reaching stores. It is very likely that some people will have issues relating to the compatibility of the new OS with EU3, particularly until the graphics card manufacturers have had time to collect bug reports from customers and release new drivers for their cards. If you plan to install Windows Vista, I would strongly suggest a dual boot installation that allows you to choose between booting to Vista or XP when you first turn on your computer. This will help to avoid the heartache of being unable to play some of your favourite games for a while. Paradox will obviously address any issues that exist between EU3 and Vista (that aren’t driver-related) if and when they are discovered.

EU3’s normal memory requirement is in the range of 500-800 MB of system RAM (depending somewhat on the date and what’s happening in the world. XP normally eats a good 300 MB (or more) so I would suggest that you have at least 1GB of RAM if you want to run EU3 without heavy use of your swap file. I am told that Vista has a very large system footprint, and that 2GB might be more suitable under that OS. This does not include any other software you might have running in the background. Your performance will be MUCH better if you disable any non-essential background processes (antispyware, antivirus, internet browsers, etc.) when playing.

In theory, NTFS-formatted drives do not particularly benefit from regular defragmenting in the way that FAT-formatted drives do. Nevertheless, I’d suggest removing any software or files you don’t need prior to installing EU3. Then do a defragement of your hard drive and then immediately install EU3. This will keep the files fairly continuous and if nothing else it will speed up initial load a bit. I still habitually defragment my drives on a weekly basis.

More items will be added as I become aware of them.

[MrT]

Where Can I Get EU3?

This is a common question so I guess it deserves a post of its own.

A downloadable demo version of EU3 is available from multiple mirrors that are listed here on the main Europa Universalis III webpage. This is a version created shortly before the game went gold and allows you to get your feet wet with the game. It does not include the ability to save/load games, has a limited number of years of gameplay (though unlimited time), and a few other minor limitations.


You can purchase the game, on line, via the Paradox Web Shop which uses secure connections to hand your order. It will usually take a couple business days to process and ship, and then exact delivery time will depend on where you are in the world. Shipping is from Sweden, often using postal service, and most European customers will receive their order within a day or two of shipment. North American customers report approximately 3-4 business days for their package to make the trip across the Atlantic. The Web Shop version is (I think) available only in English. You may purchase either the Collector's Edition (while supplies last) or the Regular Edition from the Web Shop.


You may purchase a downloadable version of the game from Gamer's Gate. You get the full version of the game and the manual is supplied as a pdf. Future patches will be made to be 100% compatible with both this version and the regular retail (store) version, so you will have no problems getting them as soon as they become available. This version is also 100% compatible in terms of the checksum for multiplayer game compatibility. This version will be available as of 8:00GMT on January 23rd, 2007. Since this is a download, only the Regular version is available (not the Collector's Edition). The language versions available for download are English, German, French or Italian. Spanish and Polish language versions are only available through the local distributor.


Worldwide release dates that I am aware of at present are:

• North America - January 23, 2007
• Scandinavia – January 26
• Germany – January 26
• UK – February 2
• France – February 2
• Benelux – February 2
• Italy – February 22

I'll add more as I hear about them. I do not have a listing of the regional distributors but I will try to obtain one and add it in here as soon as possible.


Some on-line resellers will also be carrying the game. Check for ones that commonly server your geographic area (example: regional Amazon.com sites) to see if one that you use is carrying the game.

Many regions have one larger vendor with exclusive rights to carry the Collector's Edition. In the USA this is Target. I am not sure about other regions at present. Try doing a Google search for Europa Universalis Collector Edition" since most such vendors have the product advertised on their websites.

[MrT]

Replaced the previous small FAQ section with a much-expanded version that answers many of the questions I see coming up time and time again. Please check it periodically since we will try to keep it up-to-date as new quesitons are asked.

[Johan]

Development Diary Entries:


#1 - 4th of April 2006 - Court Screen / Advisors

#2 - 11th of April 2006 - Budget, incl. new Government Tech investment.

#3 - 25th of April 2006 - City View

#4 - 3rd of May 2006 - Government Type / National Ideas

#5 - 10th of May 2006 - Army & Naval Tradition

#6 - 17th of May 2006 - Modding Country Tags / Domestic Overview

#7 - 31st of May 2006 - Modding DP Sliders / Holy Roman Empire

#8 - 8th of June 2006 - Modding Static Modifier / More Details on Government Types

#9 - 15th of June 2006 - Modding Buildings / The Holy See

#10 - 21st of June 2006 - Modding Technology Group Tables / Historic Events

#11 - 28th of June 2006 - Modding Trade Goods / Building Province Improvements

#12 - 9th of August 2006 - Modding Cultures / Peace Negotiations

#13 - 16th of August 2006 - Random Events / Rulers / Succession

#14 - 23rd of August 2006 - Modding National Ideas / Army Unit Types / Political Mapmode

#Extra-A - 5th of September 2006 - Countryguide Preview

#15 - 13th of September 2006 - Modding Units / Siege Interface

#16 - 27th of September 2006 - Triggered Modifiers/ Resolutions

#17 - 11th of October 2006 - Religions / Diplomacy

#18 - 18th of October 2006 - Cores/Land Combat

#19 - 25th of October 2006 - Diplomacy / Outliner

#20 - 8th of November 2006 - Colonisation / Tradezones



Beta After Action Reports:
(Links to the first beta AARs for Europa Universalis III.)


The War of Castilian Succession - by MrT

Friedrich's Ambition (A Saxony AAR) - by MrT



Napoleons Ambition

#1 - 9th of May 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=302696

#2 - 23rd of May 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=304802

#3 - 30th of May 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=305907

#4 - 13th of June 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=308235

#5 - 20th of June 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=309530

#6 - 27th of June 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=310710

#7- 27th of July 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=315227

#8- 3rd of August 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=316305

#9- 10th of August 2007 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=317303


In Nomine
#1 - 19th of March 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=347217

#2 - 10th of April 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=350496

#3 - 16th of April 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=351594

#4 - 23rd of April 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=353242

#5 - 30th of April 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=354499

#6 - 7th of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=355683

#7 - 14th of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=356701

#8 - 21st of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=357831

#9 - 22nd of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=357933

#10 - 23rd of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=358073

Beta Opinions - 24th of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=358206

County Guide - 25th of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=358326

#11 - 26th of May 2008 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=358464


Heir to the Throne

#1 - 29th of September 2009 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=434906

#2 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=436294

#3 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=437722

#4 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=438882

#5 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=440084

#6 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=441435

#7 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=442732

#8 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=444377

#9 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=445770

#10 - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=447098