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EU4 - Development Diary - 6th of November 2018

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for another EU4 dev diary. This week and next I’m going to be showing off some of the new mission trees, events, and national ideas coming in the 1.28 ‘Spain’ update and the accompanying Immersion Pack.

NB: Most mission icons are currently using placeholder art

Let’s start with the star of the show, Spain itself:

spanish missions.png


The Spanish mission tree is available to nations beside Aragon that form Spain, while Castile immediately has access to a reduced version of the tree prior to forming Spain.

For the most part these missions follow Spain’s historical expansion overseas; from the Pillars of Hercules to California and the Philippines, the Spanish Empire was one of the largest the world has ever seen. Driven by the quest for gold and silver, Conquistadors such as Cortez and Pizarro will join your service to lead the conquests of Mexico and Peru. You’ll also be encouraged to spread the word of God in the New World by establishing Holy Orders in your colonies.

Spain will also have opportunities to expand in Europe. If the Iberian Wedding or Burgundian Succession don’t work out for you, permanent claims on Naples and Wallonia will help you seize your rightful inheritance through conquest. With a foothold in the Netherlands, Spain can then pursue powerful Personal Unions with both England (depending on their religious choices) and Austria, with the ultimate goal of establishing a Universal Monarchy.

We’ve also split up the National Idea sets for Castile and Spain, as we did for England and Great Britain in Rule Britannia:

Spanish national ideas:
Code:
SPA_ideas = {
    start = {
        land_morale = 0.15
        global_colonial_growth = 25
    }
 
    bonus = {
        discipline = 0.05
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = SPA
    }
    free = yes        #will be added at load.

    devout_catholisism = {
        papal_influence = 2
    }
    inter_caetera = {
        idea_claim_colonies = yes
        colonists = 1
    }
    gold_fleet = {
        global_tariffs = 0.15
        global_prov_trade_power_modifier = 0.1
    }
    spanish_armada = {
        heavy_ship_cost = -0.1
        leader_naval_manuever = 1
    }
    spa_casa_de_contracion = {
        envoy_travel_time = -0.33
    }
    spa_cortes = {
        free_adm_policy = 1
    }
    siglo_de_oro = {
        prestige = 1
    }
}

 spa_casa_de_contracion:0 "Casa de Contratación"
 spa_casa_de_contracion_desc:0 "We must extend the reach of the House of Trade of the Indies. Our colonial agents must have a presence in every part of the world to ensure the smooth functioning of our empire."
 spa_cortes:0 "Rein in the Cortes"
 spa_cortes_desc:0 "Each constitutent Kingdom in the Spanish realm has its own corte, an assembly of the most powerful elements of society in the region. There is often tension between the Crown and the Cortes over such issues as taxation and regional autonomy. We must rein in these institutions so that they primarily serve the Crown rather than their own interests."

Castilian National ideas:
Code:
CAS_ideas = {
    start = {
        land_morale = 0.15
        missionaries = 1
    }
    bonus = {
        artillery_fire = 1
    }
    trigger = {
        tag = CAS
    }
    free = yes        #will be added at load.
    the_reconquista = {
        army_tradition_decay = -0.01
    }
    spanish_inquisition = {
        global_missionary_strength = 0.02
    }
    cabildos = {
        production_efficiency = 0.1
    }
    inter_caetera = {
        idea_claim_colonies = yes
        colonists = 1
    }
    infantas = {
        diplomatic_reputation = 1
        heir_chance = 0.33
    }
    salamanca_scholars = {
        global_institution_spread = 0.1
    }
    nueva_planta = {
        yearly_absolutism = 0.1
    }
}

 cabildos:0 "Cabildos"
 cabildos_desc:0 "Representing the interests of the cities, the 'Caboldio' councils have a wide variety of functions and duties. They are responsible for both advocating the interests of the city to the Crown and for many aspects of local governance. We must continue to establish Cabildos in newly-founded or newly-conquered cities, particularly in the New World where the need for Castilian institutions is felt most severely."
 infantas:0 "Infantas"
 infantas_desc:0 "The Princes and Princesses of the Crown are among our most valuable assets. They can be sent as royal envoys, married off to secure alliances, or appointed as regents when the need arises. It is important that we ensure that our monarch's loins continue to bear fruit."
 salamanca_scholars:0 "School of Salamanca"
 salamanca_scholars_desc:0 "Based in the University of Salamanca, the School's interests lie in fields as diverse as theology, economics, and political philosophy. As one of the leading schools of thought in the Catholic world, its entrenched presence in Castile ensures that our nation is always at the forefront of intellectual affairs."
 nueva_planta:0 "Nueva Planta"
 nueva_planta_desc:0 "It is time to assert true royal authority in the realm; under a single set of laws and a common language, a renewed and centralized Castile will directly appoint officials and enshrine the absolute rule of the monarch."


aragon missions.png


Aragon has an entirely different focus, with a distinct Mare Nostrum theme. An Aragonese player will be encouraged to dominate the Mediterranean both militarily and economically. This mission tree will take Aragon into southern France, Italy, the Maghreb, Egypt, Anatolia, and Greece.

Aragon also has access to several purely economic missions. By establishing trade dominance in the Genoa node and developing the city, Valencia will gain access to the rare Silk trade good as well as a sizable bonus to production of this luxury resource. Completing Aragon’s economic missions will reward the player with the versatile ‘Golden Century’ modifier, giving a 1% reduction to all monarch power costs for 100 years.

portugal missions.png


Portugal’s mission tree is larger than any other in the game besides Great Britain with Rule Britannia. Like the Spanish mission tree, it is largely concerned with the recreation of Portugal’s historical overseas empire, particularly in Brazil and Asia. Missions have been added for the conquests of Malacca, Oman, Ceylon, and other ports in the East. When Portugal has discovered the Far East they will have the opportunity to negotiate for the purchase of two historically important ports: Macau and Nagasaki. In Brazil the Portuguese player can lead the Bandeirantes in the search for gold in Minas Gerais and acquire an increased chance to discover Gold as a trade good in all of their new colonies.

brz.jpg


The times were not always kind to Portugal. In 1807, in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, the situation became so dire that the Portuguese court abandoned Lisbon, fled to Brazil, and made Rio the new seat of government. This will be represented in the game as a decision available to Portugal should they find themselves in dire straits. Your tag will change to Brazil, and Portugal will be released as a junior partner controlling your remaining European provinces. Note that by doing this you will lose access to Portuguese missions.

Not shown but will be in the final version: taking the decision will also change your primary culture to Brazilian.

Navarra missions.jpg


Finally we have Navarra. Navarra’s mission tree will be entirely free for anyone playing on the 1.28 ‘Spain’ patch. As you might expect, this mission tree takes the player down a very different path than history intended. Navarra must reclaim its unjustly stolen coastline, and from there pursue an invasion of France that can culminate in a Personal Union. With access to the sea, the New World beckons. In homage to the time-honoured strategy of migrating to the Americas to escape the cutthroat politics of Europe, Navarra will have the opportunity to move their capital to Terranova if they so choose.

Some of you may have noticed that Navarra’s starting monarch is also Aragon’s designated heir in 1444. A new event chain will bring Navarra under a Personal Union with Aragon if Navarra remains independent upon the death of King Afonso. If Navarra is being controlled by a player, they can of course choose to accept this union. But a truly ambitious player can instead reject the union and instantly gain a Restoration CB on Aragon.

nav_event.jpg


That’s all for today! Next week I’ll be back with more mission trees and national ideas with a focus on North Africa.
 
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Is it possible to add a mission tree to Brazil as well?
After all, there is a probability that Portugal could be forced to flee to Brazil way earlier (maybe centuries earlier even) than 1807 and having nothing to do but being a generic country would be quite dull. Unless it is planned for South American DLC...

I really hope Latin America/Colonial-rework will be a major focus of this DLC, otherwise this looks to be a rather lackluster purchase. Although the Mesoamerica rework seems to be a nod in the right direction.
 
“The capital will move to Rio de Janeiro if owned, or else to a random province in the Brazil colonial region.”

Wait what? We could find ourselves with a 1/1/1 inland capital just because we do not have Rio de Janeiro but instead we own a godly-developed Bahia??

This should be changed ASAP. The new capital would be the Capital of the Brazil Colonial Nation that Portugal has. Not Rio de Janeiro because “railroading” or else too bad you’ll play the lottery.

This makes no sense.


Salvador was actually Brazil's capital for over 200 years. More research should be done here.
 
Edit:
But wait, does upon tagswitch the new released Portugal realy inherit all european Land?
This sounds like a realy sharp double edged blade. LD would be insane if one had a huge powerbase in Europe.

According to what was said, you need to be in a dire situation in Europe to be able to tagswitch. Most probably, you already lost your European base by this point, and in other cases you're still able to use common sense (not the dlc).

Speaking of which: doesn’t the “Integrate Naples” mission for Aragon a bit ahistorical for it being a starting mission?

All the missions it leads into (and most of the Aragonese mission tree, actually) are ahistorical, so I don't really see any problem.

It is very weird that Aragon start to form Spain will be much more powerful than Castillian start since you can use both of their mission trees.

Just like Novgorod give cb on German cities and half of Scandinavia (probably more than that if you count by province dev). However, taking your time to conquer all of Aragon's claims in the Mediterranean sea may slow your later colonial development.
 
Just like Novgorod give cb on German cities and half of Scandinavia (probably more than that if you count by province dev). However, taking your time to conquer all of Aragon's claims in the Mediterranean sea may slow your later colonial development.

You will gain PU on Portugal and form Spain. Then you can PU England and Austria. All colonizers are already in your hand so you don't need to worry about slowed down on colonial development. You can even PU France if your start is lucky and you get alliance with them early on.
 
Sometimes I wonder if it is even possible for them to add more in-depth mechanics. Mission trees are an improvement, in some ways, but I'm starting to worry about this games direction. I've been loyal, bought every DLC and I have almost 10k hours playing. That said, more bonuses and buttons are not immersive and add very little content. As for the NIs, while I do agree that Spain should have a very powerful navy, I actually play as Portugal, and don't form Spain just so the game is a little challenging. I know almost no one will agree with me on this, but I would almost pay for a dlc that adds negative events after the dozens of buffs we've gotten over the past 5 years. PDX adds buttons, adds buffs to pretty much every aspect at the game, and it makes it so much easier to play, and couple that with the fact that after you have a basic understanding of the game, the player will use those abilities MUCH more effeciently than the inept AI.
 
Probably too late to be mentioning this, but speaking of Jesuits, it would be a lot more interesting if they worked as some sort of Espionage-based mechanic for converting provinces you didn't own, perhaps requiring trade power? It feels wrong that Islam of all religions in the only one in EU4 than can convert foreign-lands peacefully.


I know almost no one will agree with me on this, but I would almost pay for a dlc that adds negative events after the dozens of buffs we've gotten over the past 5 years. PDX adds buttons, adds buffs to pretty much every aspect at the game, and it makes it so much easier to play, and couple that with the fact that after you have a basic understanding of the game, the player will use those abilities MUCH more effeciently than the inept AI.

Yes, yes yes, you read my mind. Particularly for mercenaries. Somehow Ottomans get regular Janissary blackmail events but there's not a single negative for spamming mercs?
Negative events are exactly what the human player needs at this stage of the game's development, anybody still buying DLC at this point can already run rings around the AI.
 
Still in need for a good reason to not buy this DLC on a discount.

I thought they learned from two consecutive negatively-reviewed Immersion Packs. A lot of people just insta-buy things, doesn't mean it's any good. Quite the contrary; just more updated buttons and updated modifiers in already existing mechanics that shouldn't even carry the DLC, nor its pricing. We need something groundbreaking and new which doesn't deal with modifiers or just adds some buttons to already-existing mechanics. Where's the creativity?

It's an Immersion Pack. It's not really supposed to be ambitious, it's just supposed to add flavor.
 
Changes to generic missions
Why would we ever do this then :(

A Brazilian Tree ending with "Return to Europe"/"Reclaim the Peninsula" would be very cool. It would put an end to always having to ally Spain/Castille to keep them from killing you since you could just flee to the New World and plot your revenge instead.
 
It's an Immersion Pack. It's not really supposed to be ambitious, it's just supposed to add flavor.
Flavour is a big word for what we've seen. And immersion packs don't just deal in flavour, but also in tag-specific mechanics.
 
It's an Immersion Pack. It's not really supposed to be ambitious, it's just supposed to add flavor.

That’s the problem. A couple of extra mission with some event locked behind them are NOT flavor. Or rather, the are 5% flavor.

The other mechanics are unnecessary and unfun to say the least, so I can understand why he is complaining and asking the dev team to change.
 
It's an Immersion Pack. It's not really supposed to be ambitious, it's just supposed to add flavor.

Third Rome was improving Orthodoxy, Rule Brittania was providing at least some global modifiers with Naval Doctrine and Innovativeness even tough they are not very ambitious mechanics. But in Golden Century there is nothing up to now. Sending your minority to new world? Meh. Jesuits for Iberians? It does not add much. Flagships? In SP you can simply ignore naval warfare and having that flagship or not make not much sense.
 
No naval changes to the most important naval nations in the time that the game covers. GGWP!

1: Britain has a word to say to 'most important naval nation' especially as they sunk the Armada.

2: We already have flagships.

3: It's an Immersion Pack don't expect anything that drastically changes a significant part of the game itself. [About the closest we got was Orthodox changes which is basically the Russia religion anyway, allother Orthodox get eaten by Otto without player intervention]
 
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Are you guys knowingly or unknowingly nerfing Spanish ideas? It seems like the designer doesn't want power creep but then we just got Deccan and Mughal Diwan for the strongest late game WC tags ever created. Whoever designs idea sets should probably be experienced enough to understand the strength of common modifiers and how they relate to the gameplay of individual nations. For example Spain is a popular option for mass conversion, taking out the 2% missionary strength and +1 missionary makes their set considerably less attractive than Castile's. Envoy time is a completely useless modifier and the rest of the ideas in both sets except 15% morale are about as useless. Many of the generic sets you guys picked out of a hat to give the new Indian minors are stronger.

I enjoy seeing new mission trees, events, provinces, and more flavor in general but those are only eye candy compared to mechanics and ideas reworks that have much bigger impact on gameplay. I hope idea changes are given as much explanation as the mission trees for that reason instead of the zero explanation we get in this diary.
 
Hmm nothing for Leon or Galicia? :(

Mission trees do a good job of helping to guide historical expansion.
However, it should also offer alternative routes ala HOI4, routes of expansion into different regions in N.America, Oceania and even the East Indies if the treaty of Tordesillas was reversed.
 
Why would we ever do this then :(

A Brazilian Tree ending with "Return to Europe"/"Reclaim the Peninsula" would be very cool. It would put an end to always having to ally Spain/Castille to keep them from killing you since you could just flee to the New World and plot your revenge instead.
After finishing the missions I guess?
 
Claims on Aragon? I would rather Spain have gotten something with the Castilian civil war and choosing a Aragon aligned path of a Portugal aligned path.