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EU4 - Development Diary - 18th of August 2016

Good afternoon. It's Thursday and that means we in the EU4 team are being shaken down for Dev Diaries. With Johan cooking something up for you all at Gamescom, I'm back in the saddle to bring you another taster of what's to come in our upcoming [name-leak patched] expansion.

Fetishists were introduced lately, diversifying the Pagan religions by having a tailor-made African variant. While they have some purposed African events, the religion was left without its own mechanics, leaving it looking at its religious brothers with envious eyes.

No longer! As a feature in the upcoming expansion, Fetishist nations will have a choice of Cult granting them bonuses and unique events. Where in Africa you start will determine the Cults which are available to you, giving Central Africans a different starting Cult selection from, say, the West Africans

eu4_2.png


"Starting" Cult selection you say? Yes. The mechanic will look similar for those of you who enjoy some Hindu campaigns but our Fetishist friends can add some extra tools to their belt as they forge their destinies.

Each Fetishist nation will start with 3 Cults available to them, which can be chosen from by each new ruler. Additional Cults can be unlocked through interaction with other faith groups. Through fighting, bordering with alliance or ownership of heathen land, you can unlock additional cults based on that faith. Each monarch can choose one Cult to worship, granting a national bonus and unlocking events for that cult.

eu4_3.png


Last I counted, there are 17 in total If you've been putting off that Victorian Three achievement run, 1.18 is the patch to go for it. Fetishist Cults, along with the Coptic Holy Sites mentioned before, are paid features in the upcoming expansion which will be released alongside the 1.18 free patch.

Between the changes in the throne room, the religious mechanics, Great Powers, Traits, Personalities and tech overhaul, you could be forgiven for thinking we have run out of things to reveal about the upcoming expansion and patch. You would still be far from the truth though. We'll be back with another Dev Diary next week to talk not just about what you can do for your subjects, but what your subjects can do for you.
 
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The "Sanatana Dharma" event for African nations is somewhat confusing... Sanatana Dharma is not just a "way of life" (although it literally translates to that), it is, essentially the Hindu religion itself. I am not sure why African nations should be getting it.

There's a bunch of African cults they can encounter and adopt but if they expand outside of Africa they will adopt cults based on other religions they encounter. These cults are not named exactly the same as the existing religions as adopting a cult is a less decisive thing than actually converting to another faith entirely. If you are in a cult based on Hinduism for instance you may well find that some of your subjects start to convert to that faith, or that people of that faith settle in your lands.
So to sum up they wouldn't be getting the cult in the screenshot if they hadn't expanded into India or somewhere where there's actual Hindus.
 
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The "Sanatana Dharma" event for African nations is somewhat confusing... Sanatana Dharma is not just a "way of life" (although it literally translates to that), it is, essentially the Hindu religion itself. I am not sure why African nations should be getting it.
I guess in game it refers to a shallowly understood version of Hinduism, or a syncretic version of it.

EDIT: ninja'd by Trin Tragula :D
 
Zoroastrianism mechanic

As interesting as Zoroastrianism is I wouldn't hold my breath for a grand Zoroastrian mechanic. Religions that have states following them or exist in more than one province will always take precedent.
There are some flavor events here and there related to Zoroastrians or Parsis though.
 
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As interesting as Zoroastrianism is I wouldn't hold my breath for a grand Zoroastrian mechanic. Religions that have states following them or exist in more than one province will always take precedent.
There are some flavor events here and there related to Zoroastrians or Parsis though.
Please disregard what I said, one has to make an exception for his/her motherland.
Keep up the good work, I hope to see them all one day.:)
 
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In that case, care to explain why Norse, a religion died 400 years before game startpoint got special religious mechanic way before Shinto and Confucianism?
Swedish company, no one is unbiased no matter how hard they try.
 
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As interesting as Zoroastrianism is I wouldn't hold my breath for a grand Zoroastrian mechanic. Religions that have states following them or exist in more than one province will always take precedent.

How about Confucianism ... that might well be the religion with least meat on its bones
 
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Cheers for the DD DDR Jake :). Cults sound good, an interesting way to add to the religious gameplay of fetishist nations, and very much like the adoption of cults from other religions as well. Still working out which other PDS game to play while I take a break from HoI4, and CK2 and EU4 are both too bloody good, can't work out which one to go with - a good problem to have, keep up the great work :D.

Sadly Jake is feeling a bit under the weather today, so I don't know how much he'll be able to respond.

Don't believe his lies. I still function.

Hope you feel better soon, and that Bjorn didn't summarily imprison you after you accused him of lying :).
 
If you are in a cult based on Hinduism for instance you may well find that some of your subjects start to convert to that faith, or that people of that faith settle in your lands.
So if you have a cult which is based on a foreign religion you can have your provinces randomly flip to that religion? Or was the quoted sentence just an RP explanation?
And if provinces flip does the people moving to your land then mean you can get random development boosts too as your land gets settled with more people?
 
really wish they would revamp mechanics for shinto, confucionism, orthodox, and I'm really curious to see what's in the free patch since I can't by this or any other DLC
 
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Nice feature. But I really hope the dev team does tweak gameplay for East Asian nations someday. For example, Ming and Korea really shouldn't have their ruler's dynasy changed. Low legitimacy should also result in higher unrest as well. In addition, the change in dynasty meant the state has changed. Also, Confucianism really didn't ban other religion and can arguably be a set of ethics, not a religion. Maybe they can turn it into something like Tengri where they accept another religion as well?
But aside from my personal view on the lack of mechanics for Asian countries, I think this DLC is going to be a great one. Maybe I'll start playing African nations for once. Gonna buy it on steam as soon as it gets released.
 
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Gonna buy it on steam as soon as it gets released.
If you buy it in the PI store PI gets the most money from your purchase.
 
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I like it, it's what I was hoping for when Fetishist was introduced, a shame it's too late for my current Mutapa campaign. I think I will try again for Prester John or start as a West African nation with my first Rights of Man campaign. Add new unit packs for the African nations and some DHE's and I would be satisfied that Africa is complete, next East Asia and Shinto and Confucian.