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EUIV - Development Diary - 10th of September 2019

Good morning. Welcome to our third and final dev diary on the 1.29 Manchu Update. With only a week to go until release we have a lot to get through today. Topics will include Japan, Korea, Central Asia, and whatever else I didn’t squeeze into the previous dev diaries.

The 1.29 Manchu Update will release on Tuesday the 17th of September.

First, a minor correction: I mistakenly stated that the Mukden Palace modifier would appear in Beijing. It will actually be applied to your current capital, wherever it is.

I’ve seen a good few comments in previous dev diaries about a certain Ming loyalist named Koxinga. During the Manchu conquest Koxinga was able to flee to Taiwan with a portion of the army and fleet. There he founded the Kingdom of Tungning, from which Koxinga aimed to eventually retake the mainland. Though Tungning survived for over two decades, it was eventually conquered by the Qing, thus becoming integrated into the Empire of China for the first time in history.

koxinga.jpg


For all you pirate lovers, we’ve added a new province and a new Daimyo to Japan. Located on the island of Tsushima, the So clan will have the option to become a Pirate Republic after the Wokou incident has happened. These pirates will now be seen terrorizing the coasts of Korea and Japan.

dd_wokou.png


One more thing from me today: following the collapse of the Four Oirat, the constituent tribes were left to fend for themselves. One of these tribes, the Dzungars, eventually came to dominate great swathes of the Steppe and even controlled parts of Tibet. The Dzungar Khanate became a thorn in the side of the Qing dynasty that would trouble them for over a century.

dd_dzunghars.png


Now I’ll hand you over to @Ofaloaf , who has a juicy new Japanese mission tree to show you among other things.

----------------------------------------------------------

It is indeed the juiciest. Hey folks, @Ofaloaf here with another mission tree for you guys to take a gander at. This time we'll be talking about an overhaul to the Japanese mission trees.

Our current mission trees for Japan and the Japanese Daimyos are somewhat limited in scope. Both have two linear chains that accompany the main generic missions, and that's it. Those few missions are good, but there's only a handful of them and they don't interact with each other all that much.

So! It was obvious what should be done: Recompile all the missions together into one tree and add some more missions on top of them all.

japanese_missions.png



Japanese Daimyos and Japan proper now share the same mission tree behind them. Thing is, the new tree is gated- only the first few rows of missions are can be completed by a mere daimyo. To continue further, an aspiring daimyo must first become shogun and thus complete the 'Win Political Supremacy' mission, after which they can begin flexing their muscles a bit. An ambitious shogun may try to immediately invade Korea, but a patient one can first consolidate their hold on the land of the Rising Sun, actually form Japan, and then go nuts with the rest of the mission tree. A truly united Japan has lots of opportunities for expansion and development, from further conquest in East Asia, growing commercial interests at home, and a shot at some colonization on both sides of the Pacific. All in all, the new combined Japan tree should give daimyos something to do while still encouraging them to aim for something greater than control of their provincial fiefs.

An expansionist Japan might get to encounter some other changes that the Manchu Update will introduce.

old_and_new_siberian_areas.png


Here’s the old (top) and new (bottom) area map of eastern Siberia

Eastern Siberia has had its areas consolidated, making Siberian colonization just that much easier for Japan and making it take that much longer for a colonizer to hit the state limit by colonizing that region.

central_asian_provinces.png


Old (top) and new (bottom) map of Central Asia.

Further to the west, Central Asia's provinces have had a minor overhaul, breaking apart old provinces like mega-Barnaul and making it much harder to fortify the Central Asian frontier. It's the steppes, I've been to the steppes, they're big and hard to defend and have very very porous borders. More provinces in that region, even if they have very low development (and these certainly do), help make static defenses a little harder to pull off and encourage a bit more roving warfare that keeps bouncing back and forth across the border, which is appropriate for the region at that time.

But that’s not all that we’re adding with this update. For the pièce de résistance, I’ll pass this dev diary on to @Caligula Caesar.

----------------------------------------------------------

Hi all, @Caligula Caesar here, and it’s time to talk about Korea! In EU4 as things stand in 1.28.3, Korea is a fairly powerful nation: With a 6/5/5 ruler, no cultural penalties to worry about and plenty of smaller nations to the north to expand into, their gameplay could hardly be described as difficult. Elements of this are exacerbated in 1.29: The Jurchens are now even more fragmented at game start, and Ming is likely to implode in the 16th century, giving you the ideal opportunity to claim part of all of China. However, in history, Korea was not an expansionist state (at the start of our period, Korea already had almost exactly the same territory North and South Korea still hold today, and there were no serious attempts to expand its territory), and Korea was not particularly strong owing to crippling internal strife that erupted at regular intervals.

With this in mind, we felt that Korea needed some special treatment, so its mission tree would be supplemented with flavour events to represent certain internal challenges the country faced. The conquest-based tree shouldn’t be particularly extensive (although what they ended up with is more than enough) and there should be a greater focus on internal affairs than is usual for our mission trees. The result was this:

koreamissions.png


The main conquest tree is fairly straightforward. The first task is to take Mount Paektu, which as with the Manchu (as mentioned last week) is a holy site for the Koreans, granting +1 tolerance of own faith and +0.5 yearly prestige. After that, an ascendant Korea is tasked with subduing the Jurchens, who historically would invade Korea when Korea sided with Ming during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. While doing this, you will be helped along the way by several modifiers: For instance, “Restore Goguryeo” (referencing the old Korean kingdom that had existed almost a thousand years before) will give you -20% culture conversion costs on Manchurian provinces you directly own for the next 50 years. Once Korea has expanded northwards somewhat, they might also consider expanding westwards and claiming the Celestial Throne as their own; doing this will grant -15% development cost, +1 yearly prestige and +0.03 mandate growth for 20 years.

The tree also provides for expansion into Japan. Given the importance of naval power to both defence against Japan and as a means to conquer the island, the first mission is to build a large fleet: At least 30 galleys and 5 heavy ships. This done, Korea will gain claims on parts of Japan that it neighbours via sea provinces. If you can contrive to annex a few of these provinces, you will gain claims on the southern half of Japan up to Kyoto. By capturing Kyoto, you can then exact the perfect alt-history revenge on Japan:


korea1.png


Finally, to ease the suffering of the Japanese and ensure there are no historical grievances, being Confucian, you might want to harmonise with Shinto to gain +1 stability (there are fallbacks for if you aren’t Confucian, they involve making all of Japan be your religion).

Now, to move on to the various non-conquest missions that were added, there are several different categories of further missions. One group is based on defence: Building a strong army and navy, shoring up the vital relationship with the Chinese Emperor and fortifying the nation. These will be particularly useful for Korea if the start doesn’t go your way: For instance, “The Righteous Army” (a reference to the peasant armies that repeatedly rose up in defence of Korea when the country was invaded) requires you to be at war with a country that has at least 1.5x the army strength and will give you 1.5x your yearly manpower as a lump sum. “Harness the Seokjeon” (a Korean game involving participants throwing rocks at each other – ouch!) gives you an 80-tradition general if you manage to gain 7.5% discipline – always useful in a pinch. “Restore the Northern Wall” basically needs you to upgrade your starting fort on the Manchu border and will give that province +2 manpower and +25% local defensiveness; holding 4 fortresses will then complete “The Hermit Kingdom”, giving -15% fort maintenance for the rest of the game. Finally, “Fire the Hwacha” (a reference to early Korean artillery used to good effect against the Japanese in the 16th century) requires 30% of the army to be artillery and will give you +25% land fire damage for the next 20 years.

A further, but smaller group is based on trade. At the start of our period, the trade with Japan flourished, though it would decline as time went on and both countries became more isolationist. These missions will reward you for encouraging trade, giving various temporary trade bonuses for controlling the trade with Japan. Similarly, there’s two missions based on settling land: First the recently conquered provinces in the north-east which had only been held by Korea for a few decades, then generally “Expand the Homeland” to somehow make there be 30 provinces with Korean culture. Both missions grant handy prestige and diplo power bonuses.

Finally, the centrepiece of the Korean mission tree is that which focuses on internal cohesion. Historically, several interrelated issues plagued the Korean state. Firstly, the peasants were increasingly destitute due to overtaxation and would often flee their land to avoid debts they couldn’t pay, in turn weakening the state as it struggled to raise tax income. Secondly, the somewhat stagnant Yangban ruling class was increasingly challenged by the “Neo-Confucians”, who sought to introduce new ideas. After several purges of the Neo-Confucians around 1500, a regular rhythm of factional strife emerged: The weaker faction would seek to displace the stronger one by any means possible and purge all its enemies, only for disputes among the victors to lead to a rift in their faction and a new factional dispute.

To bring these challenges to the player, we added several events and related missions, which you have to fulfil to mitigate the effects of the events. The first of these is “The Plight of the Peasantry”, essentially a race against time to get 6 development in all Korean provinces (i.e. add 18 development spread across the country). Failing to manage this by 1470 will lead to you suffering this event:

korea2.png


If the event happens, completing the mission will remove the modifier instead and stop this event from happening in the 1550s:

korea3.png


For the AI’s sake, the modifier is removed by the second event (in which case the effect is just +15 legitimacy).

Parallel to this, from 1480 you will start getting events about the rise of the Neo-Confucians and factionalism:

korea4.png


We repurposed the estates to be two factions of Yangban and one of Neo-Confucians (just in time to have to rework this system for 1.30):

korea5.png


After the above event has happened, the existing Literati Purge events will happen, with some changes: Now you can choose who to purge.

korea6.png


Finally, once the third purge event has happened, you can solve the whole crisis by managing to please all your estates: Two need to have at least 70 loyalty and one at least 50 loyalty. This is not an easy task, however, since you cannot get past the literati purges without seriously upsetting at least one faction, and this event will repeat every twenty or so years to remind you of the crippling factionalism:

korea7.png


Once you have completed this mission, along with “Expand Hanseong” and “Develop Korea” (the latter needs all your Korean provinces to have 200 development, up from the starting 130), you can finally look to achieve true national self-reliance:

korea8.png


This done, you will be buffed by -2 national unrest, -10% stability cost and +2 diplomatic reputation, which will surely help you lead Korea to its full potential!

That’s it for Korea for now. I was also responsible for the national idea sets we added with 1.29 Manchu. First of all, we decided to split up the Manchu ideas into a progression from the moderately strong Jurchen ideas to the militarily rather potent Manchu ideas to the also extremely potent but more balanced (i.e. not solely focused on military) Qing ideas:


Code:
MJZ_ideas = {
    start = {
        land_morale = 0.1
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.15
    }
 
    bonus = {
        land_attrition = -0.1
    }
 
    trigger = {
        OR = {
            tag = MJZ
            tag = MHX
            tag = NHX
            tag = MYR
            tag = EJZ
        }
    }
    free = yes
 
    sons_of_the_mountain = {
        hostile_attrition = 1.0
    }
    jurchen_pigtail = {
        horde_unity = 0.5
        legitimacy = 0.5
        global_unrest = -1
    }
    jurchen_foreign_service = {
        leader_land_shock = 1
    }
    jurchen_border_skirmishes = {
        manpower_recovery_speed = 0.2
    }
    jurchen_many_wives = {
        heir_chance = 0.5
    }
    jurchen_warlords_generosity = {
        improve_relation_modifier = 0.25
    }
    the_jurchen_banners = {
        amount_of_banners = 0.15
    }
}

MCH_ideas = {
    start = {
        leader_land_shock = 1
        land_maintenance_modifier = -0.05
    }
 
    bonus = {
        land_morale = 0.15
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = MCH
    }
    free = yes
 
    united_three_jurchens = {
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.15
        core_creation = -0.15
    }
    manchu_eight_banners = {
        amount_of_banners = 0.25
    }
    the_manchu_alphabet = {
        global_institution_spread = 0.05
        stability_cost_modifier = -0.1
    }
    the_later_jin = {
        horde_unity = 1
        legitimacy = 1
    }
    link_with_the_mongol_dynasty = {
        cavalry_power = 0.15
    }
    manchu_chinese_learning = {
        mil_tech_cost_modifier = -0.1
    }
    seven_grievances = {
        ae_impact = -0.1
    }
}


QNG_ideas = {
    start = {
        core_creation = -0.2
        ae_impact = -0.1
    }
 
    bonus = {
        advisor_cost = -0.15
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = QNG
    }
    free = yes
 
 
    expand_the_banners = {
        amount_of_banners = 0.3
    }
    the_green_standard_army = {
        manpower_recovery_speed = 0.15
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.15
    }
    pigtail_or_death = {
        global_unrest = -2
    }
    qng_bogda_khan = {
        years_of_nationalism = -5
        legitimacy = 1
        meritocracy = 1
    }
    the_chinese_rules = {
        administrative_efficiency = 0.05
    }
    qing_viceroyalties = {
        state_maintenance_modifier = -0.15
        global_autonomy = -0.05
    }
    the_ten_great_campaigns = {
        land_morale = 0.15
        prestige_from_land = 0.5
    }
}

 MJZ_ideas:0 "Jurchen Ideas"

 MJZ_ideas_start:0 "Jurchen Traditions"

 MJZ_ideas_bonus:0 "Jurchen Ambition"

 sons_of_the_mountain:0 "Sons of the Mountain"

 sons_of_the_mountain_desc:1 "According to the foundation myth of the Jurchen people, the first Jurchen prince was the offspring of a heavenly maiden residing on Mount Bukari (known as Mount Paektu to the Koreans) who was impregnated by a fruit dropped by a magpie.\n\nThat prince's descendants know our inhospitable land intimately, and will gladly die protecting it from their enemies."

 jurchen_pigtail:0 "The Queue"

 jurchen_pigtail_desc:0 "For generations, Jurchen men have worn their hair in a distinct manner known as a 'queue', shaving the front of the head and braiding the rest into a pigtail. This has helped to foster a sense of brotherhood between the diverse Jurchen peoples."

 jurchen_border_skirmishes:0 "The Borderlands"

 jurchen_border_skirmishes_desc:1 "To maintain our independence, we have had to protect our borders against the neighboring Chinese and Mongols on many an occasion. These border wars along with the many internecine conflicts have given birth to a nation of fiercely independent tribes and feared warriors."

 jurchen_many_wives:0 "Wives and Concubines"

 jurchen_many_wives_desc:0 "Owing to their practice of taking a multitude of wives and concubines, the Jurchen warlords are never short of potential heirs to inherit their conquests."

 jurchen_foreign_service:0 "Foreign Service"

 jurchen_foreign_service_desc:1 "We have traditionally lived in the shadow of our neighbors in the Great Ming, who have often sought to exert influence over us. Many a Jurchen prince has practiced the art of war in their service."

 jurchen_warlords_generosity:0 "Generosity of the Warlord"

 jurchen_warlords_generosity_desc:0 "The Jurchen warlord is ready to give lavish gifts of slaves, wives and property in order to win others to his cause. His large number of offspring allows him to offer a ready supply of brides to woo foreign dignitaries and potential defectors."

 the_jurchen_banners:0 "Jurchen Banner Armies"

 the_jurchen_banners_desc:0 "Reorganize the army of tribal clans into a force to be reckoned with and establish the feared Jurchen banner armies."

 the_later_jin:0 "The Later Jin"

 the_later_jin_desc:1 "The Manchurian state traces its roots back to the Great Jin of the 12th-13th century, which held sway over northern China until the Mongol conquest. The new, restored Jin seeks to emulate the conquests of its predecessor and restore the glory of the past."

 manchu_chinese_learning:0 "Chinese Learning"

 manchu_chinese_learning_desc:0 "Our scholars have translated Chinese military treatises such as Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' and Lü Shang's 'Six Secret Teachings' into Manchurian, allowing our warlords to become well-versed in the theory of military strategy."

 seven_grievances:0 "The Seven Grievances"

 seven_grievances_desc:1 "Over the years, the Manchu people has built up a long list of grievances against the Han - a list that could be seen to justify military action to depose their current rulers."


 QNG_ideas:0 "Great Qing Ideas"

 QNG_ideas_start:0 "Great Qing Traditions"

 QNG_ideas_bonus:0 "Great Qing Ambition"

 expand_the_banners:0 "Expand the Banners"

 expand_the_banners_desc:0 "By allowing Han and Mongol peoples into the Eight Banners, a large and powerful multi-ethnic force available at the whim of the Qing Emperor is established."

 qng_bogda_khan:0 "Bogda Khan"

 qng_bogda_khan_desc:0 "Unlike the Ming, the Qing Emperors have no qualms regarding the acculturation of 'barbarians' and actively seek to integrate them into the Empire. For instance, while known as Huangdi (Emperor) to the Han, the Qing adopt the title of Bogda Khan (wise Khan) when among the Mongols."

 qing_viceroyalties:0 "The Viceroyalties"

 qing_viceroyalties_desc:1 "We have expanded the late Ming system of viceroys, which focused on protecting the northern border, into a system of eight permanent viceroys covering the majority of China. The viceroys have considerable military and civilian power in their provinces, effectively acting as the Emperor's regional governors and thereby simplifying the administrative system of the Empire."

 the_ten_great_campaigns:0 "The Ten Great Campaigns"

 the_ten_great_campaigns_desc:1 "Our conquest of China has allowed those living on the fringes of the Empire to rise above their station. A series of campaigns must be led to restore order to these territories and extend the Great Qing's power over our enemies."


A second focus was the Mongol hordes. These nations already had very strong NIs through the horde ideas, but nevertheless it was a bit boring that they were the same for each nation, so we added a set each for the Oirats, Mongolia (the starting tag, not the Empire) and Chagatai. The aim was to make them fairly equivalent in strength to the original Horde ideas. As you can see, they still use some of the Horde ideas, since those were well-written and appropriate for all Mongols, so removing them and replacing them with some other idea would have just meant having to come up with something that would probably not have been as good quality.

Code:
OIR_ideas = {
    start = {
        cavalry_power = 0.20
        core_creation = -0.20
    }
 
    bonus = {
        leader_land_shock = 1
    }
 
    trigger = {
        OR = {
            tag = OIR
            tag = ZUN
        }
    }
    free = yes
 
    fearsome_warriors_of_tumu = {
        leader_land_manuever = 1
        cavalry_cost = -0.1
    }
    life_of_steppe_warrior = { #also used in Horde ideas, KHA_ideas
        land_attrition = -0.20
    }
    the_four_oirats = {
        horde_unity = 1
        legitimacy = 1
    }
    todo_besheg_script = {
        technology_cost = -0.05
    }
    OIR_great_khans_legacy = {
        ae_impact = -0.15
    }
    defiance_of_the_dzungars = {
        discipline = 0.05
        manpower_recovery_speed = 0.15
    }
    glory_of_conquest = { #also used in Horde ideas, KHA_ideas and CHG_ideas
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
    }
}


KHA_ideas = {
    start = {
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
        years_of_nationalism = -5
    }
 
    bonus = {
        land_maintenance_modifier = -0.05
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = KHA
    }
    free = yes
 
    ghostly_horses_of_the_plain = {
        cavalry_power = 0.20
    }
    ikh_mongol_uls = {
        ae_impact = -0.15
    }
    life_of_steppe_warrior = {
        #land_attrition = -0.20 (effect taken in OIR_ideas)
    }
    northern_yuan = {
        core_creation = -0.25
    }
    yams_of_the_great_khan = {
        envoy_travel_time = -0.25
        reinforce_cost_modifier = -0.15
    }
    mongolian_mobility = {
        leader_land_manuever = 1
        movement_speed = 0.1
    }
    MNG_kheshig = {
        leader_land_shock = 1
    }
}

CHG_ideas = {
    start = {
        cavalry_power = 0.20
        harsh_treatment_cost = -0.2
    }
 
    bonus = {
        land_maintenance_modifier = -0.05
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = CHG
    }
    free = yes
 
    the_mountain_khanate = {
        hostile_attrition = 0.5
        land_attrition = -0.10
    }
    CHG_border_wars = {
        land_morale = 0.05
        manpower_recovery_speed = 0.15
    }
    sons_of_chagatai = {
        diplomatic_annexation_cost = -0.15
    }
    CHG_chagatai_literature = {
        prestige = 1
    }
    tradition_of_conquest = { #also used in horde_ideas
        core_creation = -0.25
    }
    CHG_constant_scheming = {
        diplomats = 1
    }
    glory_of_conquest = {
        #global_manpower_modifier = 0.25 (effect taken in OIR idea)
    }
}

 OIR_ideas:0 "Oirat Ideas"

 OIR_ideas_start:0 "Oirat Traditions"

 OIR_ideas_bonus:0 "Oirat Ambition"

 fearsome_warriors_of_tumu:0 "Fearsome Warriors of Tumu"

 fearsome_warriors_of_tumu_desc:0 "The Oirats are skillful and feared horsemen, capable of embarrassing far vaster infantry-based armies with their greater maneuverability. The sound of hoofbeats drumming across the plains shall strike fear into the hearts of our enemies!"

 the_four_oirats:0 "The Four Oirats"

 the_four_oirats_desc:0 "The Alliance of the Four Oirat Tribes binds the Western Mongols together. Made up of the Dzungars (or Choros), Torghut, Dörbet and Khoshut, it first emerged in 1399 and has held firm ever since, allowing a powerful Oirat state to emerge Central Asian Steppe."

 OIR_great_khans_legacy:0 "Legacy of the Great Khan"

 OIR_great_khans_legacy_desc:0 "There are many among our people who remember the exploits of our people under the leadership of the Great Khan. They would wish to emulate these and reclaim his legacy - but this time, the Khan should be an Oirat, not one of the Eastern Mongols."

 todo_besheg_script:0 "Todo Besheg Script"

 todo_besheg_script_desc:0 "The Todo Besheg or 'Clear' Script adapts the Mongolian script to ensure that all sounds in the spoken Oirat language can be distinguished in it, as well as making it easier to transcribe Sanskrit and Tibetic languages. It will be a considerable boon to us in our administration and in spreading knowledge acquired by our neighbors and foreign subjects."

 defiance_of_the_dzungars:0 "Defiance of the Dzungars"

 defiance_of_the_dzungars_desc:0 "The Dzungars or 'left hands' are the most fearsome tribe of the Oirats. Widely hated and feared by our enemies, they will fight to the last man, woman or child rather than surrender to a foreign ruler."


 KHA_ideas:0 "Mongolian Ideas"

 KHA_ideas_start:0 "Mongolian Traditions"

 KHA_ideas_bonus:0 "Mongolian Ambition"

 ikh_mongol_uls:0 "Ikh Mongol Uls"

 ikh_mongol_uls_desc:1 "As the original Mongols, we Mongols of the Ilkh Mongol Uls ('Great Mongolian State') see ourselves as the primary heirs to Genghis Khan's great empire. Given the slightest chance, our people would seek to emulate the exploits of the Great Khan and reclaim his legacy, reuniting the once-vast territories of the Mongol Khanate."

 northern_yuan:0 "The Northern Yuan"

 northern_yuan_desc:2 "In the 13th century, Kublai Khan conquered China and founded the Yuan dynasty. Claiming Genghis' title of Great Khan as well as that of the Emperor of China, the Yuan state was sometimes known as the Empire of the Great Khan. Although eventually defeated by the Ming, who confined our power to Mongolia itself, memory of the Yuan lives on, as does the ambition to reclaim the Celestial Throne if ever the chance should arise."

 ghostly_horses_of_the_plain:0 "Ghostly Horses of the Plain"

 ghostly_horses_of_the_plain_desc:0 "The prowess of the Mongolian horsemen is renowned across the entire world. Our enemies will tremble with fear at the sight of a dust cloud in the distance, fearing that it might signify our cavalry's approach!"

 yams_of_the_great_khan:0 "Yams of the Great Khan"

 yams_of_the_great_khan_desc:2 "In order to ensure that messengers could travel fast enough to keep up with Mongol armies, Genghis Khan instituted a system of relay stations or 'yams', which were set up every 30-60 km to provide food, shelter and spare horses for Mongol army messengers. This allowed messages to travel as fast as a horse can gallop, with fatigue no longer slowing the speed a messenger could travel. By these means, our empire was able to overcome the logistical problems caused by the vast scale of the Pax Mongolica - at least temporarily."

 mongolian_mobility:0 "Mongolian Mobility"

 mongolian_mobility_desc:2 "Each of our soldiers typically maintains 3 or 4 horses, allowing them to change horse each time their mount becomes tired and so travel at high speed for days without stopping. Furthermore, their extra mounts provide them with food reserves through mare's milk as well as horsemeat, making our armies far less vulnerable to starvation than other, so-called civilized nations' armies. This allows us to outmaneuver our enemies with ease, covering a staggering amount of territory in shorter periods than they had believed to be possible."

 MNG_kheshig:0 "The Kheshig"

 MNG_kheshig_desc:0 "The Kheshig once formed the formidable bodyguard of the Great Mongol Khan. Their descendants will continue to protect the Khans of Mongolia as they ride into battle against their people's foes!"


 CHG_ideas:0 "Chagatai Ideas"

 CHG_ideas_start:0 "Chagatai Traditions"

 CHG_ideas_bonus:0 "Chagatai Ambition"

 the_mountain_khanate:0 "The Mountain Khanate"

 the_mountain_khanate_desc:0 "The Chagatai Khanate lies sheltered between Lake Balkhash and the Tian Shan Mountains. It is a harsh and unforgiving land, one which our people can harness to use as a weapon against would-be invaders."

 sons_of_chagatai:0 "Sons of Chagatai Khan"

 sons_of_chagatai_desc:0 "The current Khan of Chagatai traces his line back to Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan, who once ruled these lands and established a powerful Mongol successor state. Although that empire has now been broken up between Chagatai, Yarkand and Transoxiana, the current Khans can still claim considerable legitimacy by appealing to the legacy of their ancestor."

 CHG_chagatai_literature:0 "Chagatai Literature"

 CHG_chagatai_literature_desc:0 "The Chagatai language of the eastern steppes is widely used as far afield as the Timurid Empire as the carrier of the thoughts and ideas of the great Mongol lineage. We must promote the use of our ancestral language and allow the Chagatai literary tradition to flourish."

 CHG_border_wars:0 "Ceaseless Border Wars"

 CHG_border_wars_desc:1 "Boxed in between the Empire of China, the Timurids, the Uzbeks and the Oirats, we face a constant struggle to maintain our borders. Our ever-vigilant soldiers have plentiful opportunities to hone their skills in battle, giving birth to a battle-hardened warrior people ready to reclaim the legacy of the Great Khan."

 CHG_constant_scheming:0 "Scheming Nobility"

 CHG_constant_scheming_desc:0 "The constant power struggles between the various princes, local noblemen, cities and tribes in the Chagatai Khanate have produced a nation of highly-adept schemers and politicians. If we can put aside our quarrels and channel this energy towards outsmarting our enemies, it would be a great boon to our people."

Finally, a few of the more interesting tags involved in our rejigging of East Asia got some ideas:

Code:
SOO_ideas = {
    start = {
        trade_efficiency = 0.1
        trade_steering = 0.2
    }

    bonus = {
        navy_tradition = 1
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = SOO
    }
    free = yes        #will be added at load.
 
    soo_wakan = {
        global_own_trade_power = 0.25
    }
    soo_tradition_of_wakou = {
        galley_power = 0.1
        navy_tradition_decay = -0.01
    }
    soo_fight_for_tsushima = {
        naval_morale = 0.2
    }
    soo_bahan_ship = {
        privateer_efficiency = 0.2
    }
    soo_tough_negotiator = {
        diplomatic_reputation = 1
    }
    soo_port_improvement = {
        naval_forcelimit_modifier = 0.25
        sailor_maintenance_modifer = -0.05
    }
    soo_elementary_school = {
        technology_cost = -0.05
    }
}


 SOO_ideas:0 "So Ideas"

 SOO_ideas_start:0 "So Traditions"

 SOO_ideas_bonus:0 "So Ambition"

 soo_wakan:0 "Wakan"

 soo_wakan_desc:0 "Wakan, Japanese settlements in the southernmost part of the Korean peninsula, are the only official gates recognized by the government. If we manage to control them by protecting the settlers, we can monopolize Korean trade."

 soo_tradition_of_wakou:0 "Wakou Tradition"

 soo_tradition_of_wakou_desc:0 "While we appreciate lawful and peaceful trade under official certificate, we need to prepare worse situation with military tension. Fortunately, our piracy tradition could help us to solve problems with power."

 soo_fight_for_tsushima:0 "Fight for Tsushima"

 soo_fight_for_tsushima_desc:0 "Laying between the Asian continent and the Japanese islands, our homeland Tsushima and its sea zone are the place where countries clash and fight hard. May our fleets be strong, so that we can not only defend our country, but also expand it!"

 soo_bahan_ship:0 "Bahan Ship"

 soo_bahan_ship_desc:0 "Our privateer ships, called Bahan, are feared by flying the flag of Hachiman. Nobody won't intercept our fleet protected by this the war god!"

 soo_tough_negotiator:0 "Tough Negotiators"

 soo_tough_negotiator_desc:0 "We are a melting pot of different cultures, and know the difficulty of negotiations between different peoples. Even in a harsh and seemingly endless war, we must try to find diplomatic solutions."

 soo_port_improvement:0 "Port Maintenance"

 soo_port_improvement_desc:0 "We are traders in foreign countries, but now is the time to consider opportunities for expansion overseas. Let us improve our ports so that we can construct a sizable military fleet."

 soo_elementary_school:0 "Elementary School"

 soo_elementary_school_desc:0 "Elementary schools are important for children's basic education. They are the next generation and must bring our country into a new era."


Code:
evenk_ideas = {
    start = {
        hostile_attrition = 1
        province_warscore_cost = -0.1
    }
 
    bonus = {
        trade_efficiency = 0.1
    }
 
    trigger = {
        primary_culture = evenk
    }
    free = yes
 
    evenk_family_brigades = {
        land_attrition = -0.1
        movement_speed = 0.05
    }
    evenk_reindeer_herds = {
        trade_range_modifier = 0.15
    }
    event_self_sufficiency = {
        years_of_nationalism = -5
    }
    evenk_siberian_resources = {
        build_cost = -0.1
    }
    evenk_mongolian_deel = {
        possible_mercenaries = 0.25
        merc_maintenance_modifier = -0.1
    }
    evenk_love_of_the_forest = {
        leader_land_manuever = 2
    }
    evenk_new_ways_to_hunt = {
        fire_damage = 0.1
    }
}


 evenk_ideas:0 "Evenk Ideas"

 evenk_ideas_start:0 "Evenk Traditions"

 evenk_ideas_bonus:0 "Evenk Ambition"

 evenk_family_brigades:0 "Family Brigades"

 evenk_family_brigades_desc:0 "Many of the Evenk people live in family brigades that intimately know the lay of the land and the wild foods of the area. They are able to survive in even the most inhospitable environments and move through their territory with ease."

 evenk_reindeer_herds:0 "Reindeer Herding"

 evenk_reindeer_herds_desc:0 "The Evenk practice of reindeer herding allows us to travel great distances to trade furs, wild foods and goods, and be ever resourceful in the struggle to survive in the barren landscape that constitutes our home."

 event_self_sufficiency:0 "Self-Sufficiency"

 event_self_sufficiency_desc:0 "The Evenks can survive anywhere and will readily teach foreigners these skills, enabling us to absorb others into the Evenk way of life."

 evenk_siberian_resources:0 "Siberian Resources"

 evenk_siberian_resources_desc:0 "The natural resources of the Siberian tundra and taiga provide the materials to build many things, facilitating the development of towns."

 evenk_mongolian_deel:0 "Mongolian Deel"

 evenk_mongolian_deel_desc:0 "By exchanging our furs for the traditional Mongol clothing, the deel, we can better attract Mongolian Mercenaries because we are similar in appearance to their lords. They come to us in droves, allowing us to make ready use of them against our enemies."

 evenk_love_of_the_forest:0 "Love of the Forest"

 evenk_love_of_the_forest_desc:0 "Nobody knows the forest of the land like we do. We are able to move swiftly and silently. Our leaders have learnt to traverse terrain others would consider treacherous with ease, something we can use this to our advantage in battle."

 evenk_new_ways_to_hunt:0 "New Ways to Hunt"

 evenk_new_ways_to_hunt_desc:0 "Trading basic firearms for our furs and reindeer, we have discovered new ways to hunt and win in battle. Firearms can fire greater distances than our traditional bows and do more damage than our knives."


Code:
CSH_ideas = {
    start = {
        global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
        production_efficiency = 0.10
    }
 
    bonus = {
        prestige = 1
    }
 
    trigger = {
        tag = CSH
    }
    free = yes
 
    shun_humble_beginnings = {
        manpower_recovery_speed = 0.1
    }
    shun_dashing_king = {
        diplomatic_reputation = 1
    }
    shun_hidden_treasury = {
        interest = -0.5
    }
    shun_obedient_to_heaven = {
        land_morale = 0.1
        stability_cost_modifier = -0.1
    }
    shun_perfection_of_sieging = {
        siege_ability = 0.10
    }
    shun_from_sticks_to_guns = {
        infantry_power = 0.15
    }
    shun_claim_to_the_mandate = {
        imperial_mandate = 0.03
        meritocracy = 0.5
        legitimacy = 0.5
    }
}


 CSH_ideas:0 "Great Shun Ideas"

 CSH_ideas_start:0 "Great Shun Traditions"

 CSH_ideas_bonus:0 "Great Shun Ambition"

 shun_humble_beginnings:0 "Humble Beginnings"

 shun_humble_beginnings_desc:0 "The Shun dynasty began as a rebellion against Ming authority, an uprising of farmers and peasants weary of being bled dry by the tax collectors of their overlords. Our people will gladly take up arms rather than be forced to suffer further hardship and famine."

 shun_dashing_king:0 "The Dashing King"

 shun_dashing_king_desc:0 "The leader of the Shun has been nicknamed the Dashing King. By officially adopting this title and using it in our dealings with foreign dignitaries, we can boost our reputation both domestically and abroad."

 shun_hidden_treasury:0 "Hidden Treasury"

 shun_hidden_treasury_desc:0 "We have abolished the old grain taxes payment system, allowing the rural Shun lords to keep more of their revenues, with which they can pay their soldiers to fight, their farmers to farm, and their diplomats to represent them abroad. This additionally means there is money available should we need to borrow some."

 shun_obedient_to_heaven:0 "Obedient to Heaven"

 shun_obedient_to_heaven_desc:0 "The chosen name of our dynasty means "obedient to heaven". In keeping with this name, our troops have taken an oath of loyalty to our ruler, who they view as one with heavenly capabilities. As such, they are willing to train harder and become more disciplined to ensure a glorious outcome to their battles."

 shun_perfection_of_sieging:0 "Perfection of Siegecraft"

 shun_perfection_of_sieging_desc:0 "We have found new ways to make use of gunpowder in siege warfare and developed effective methods of scaling and breaking fort walls. With these methods, we can successfully lay siege to even the strongest forts, and easily capture and control provinces in wars."

 shun_from_sticks_to_guns:0 "From Sticks to Guns"

 shun_from_sticks_to_guns_desc:0 "Our troops have been drilled in the usage of both hand-to-hand and ranged weapons. Proficient at using sticks, swords, knifes, bows and guns, our soldiers can fill any role we might require of them. Their versatility gives them the ability to dominate the battlefield."

 shun_claim_to_the_mandate:0 "Claim to the Mandate"

 shun_claim_to_the_mandate_desc:0 "Although our dynasty emerged from humble origins, through our strength and justice we have won noblemen and commoners alike to our side. We are now seen as worthy claimants to the Mandate of Heaven, a legitimate ruling dynasty of the land of China."


Welcome. @DDRJake here. Since our team Content Design have been expositing the large gameplay and content additions to 1.29 Manchu, I’m here to balance that out with some additions that won’t have an impact on the gameplay, but are important nonetheless.

Firstly, Europa Universalis IV will be adopting the new Paradox Launcher. This launcher’s first debut was with Imperator:Rome, and now Europa Universalis will be having its own version of it:

1.29 Launcher.jpg


This is the new launcher and for now, the new launcher functions very much like the old one. You can launch the game through Steam, toggle which mods you want to use, adjust your language and resolution, and so on. Eventually it will include a lot of new features designed to help you get the most out of your Europa Universalis experience.

Secondly, with the release of 1.29 Manchu, some users will notice a slight difference on the select nation screen.

1.29 screens 1.jpg


We’re well aware of the staggering number of expansions and other DLC that are available for EUIV, but find that exposure and clarity on their content is severely lacking and cannot be solved on the storefronts alone. We often read community posts about which DLC are worth buying for x nation and many cases of uncertainty as to what features are actually present in each Expansion. To that end, Expansions and other DLC that the player does not own will be recommended for certain relevant nations, accompanied with explanations of what features are present in the DLC. For example, anyone choosing to play as my favourite nation the glorious Great Horde, will have a small icon appear by the nation’s flag, explaining why The Cossacks Expansion may be of interest to you.

Clicking on any of these will show a swanky screen with details on the DLC, Nations of interest for said content and any other related expansions. For example, if you select the Rule Britannia icon:

1.29 screens 2.jpg


Our hope is that players can be better informed about fitting content and expansions for their campaigns without having to trawl through less than ideal digital storefronts. All this information is available in the nation-select select screen (they won’t appear in any way during gameplay) so if you are not interested in these or already own all the content that you want, you can completely ignore them and jump straight into the game.

I mentioned earlier that “some users” will notice these changes. For at least a limited time, only a certain % of players will see these DLC information screens. We at Paradox will be running this experimentally to see if they indeed prove to improve your experience and to be of any interest to users, and the best way to measure that is to make it available to a random group, so we can gauge reception against those who do not.

And that’s the end of our dev diary! We hope you enjoyed reading this series on the 1.29 Manchu Update, which releases next Tuesday. Next week’s dev diary will contain the full changelog for the update, which will include a variety of bugfixes in addition to the content revealed in this dev diary.
 
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@DDRJake
And what if somebody does not use Steam to launch launcher?
Will it become broken the same as for Imperator?

Shame that so many changes are right downhill
 
This expansion looks great, and it is generous of you to release it for free.

One point of criticism:

According to the dev diary, descriptions of each DLC are being added to the game, to make it easier for people to identify which DLC will improve their experience the most.

This is a good feature. However, the game still has its share of bugs, including a bug affecting primitive nations that I reported in May last year.

Of course, not everyone plays as a primitive nation. But there are also bugs which affect every player, such as inaccurate tooltips for army travel time and truce timer length, among other things.

I would prefer if game stability were a higher priority than, say, this new feature which describes each DLC in-game.

On that note, I have purchased all DLCs, and I'm happy to have supported the continued development of this excellent game. But the state of bugs in the game (and lack of acknowledgement/transparency with bug reports) is something that I find disappointing.

Little issues (like the truce dates thing) are supposed to be a priority in the next expansion. This was just to be the 64 bit change, and they threw in the additional content to keep the game fresh as the expansion was delayed.
 
While I do quite like the idea of getting the new launcher, there's one question I need to ask:

In Imperator, the launcher defaults your Documents folder to C:\...\documents. This is a problem if you have moved your documents folder to, say, a different drive.
Basically what I (and several other people according to this) have had to do is go into the game files and change the gameDataPath after every single update. Additionally (at least for me) that also breaks the steam overlay. You can imagine that this gets quite annoying. So: Is that already fixed in the EU4 launcher or do we have to wait for that? Or does it use a completely different approach than the launcher of Imperator and they just look similar?
 
This launcher’s first debut was with Imperator:Rome, and now Europa Universalis will be having its own version of it:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
/Sarcasm aside... make sure we are not having smiler problems of impertor rome somehow -_-
 
This is a great update. I love the events and Qing isn't that bad.

I too share Bly08's question what development numbers did you give Manchu to those additions as strong as a gold mine?

To me a 1 1 1 gold mine at game start is worth a 10 10 10 cloth province at game start or 25 1 1 1 provinces of grain, cow, and fish.

WC players/attempters should indeed be sad at these nerfs as Manchu horde WC was one of the strongest and quickest WC partly due to the nerfed or removed features of CCR, Gold Mine, and instant cores.

I don't care though. I disliked attempting WC as horde and I do not see myself trying to do it again due to the unenjoyable experience. But I am very excited about Qing and doing a historical Qing run.
 
This is a great update. I love the events and Qing isn't that bad.

I too share Bly08's question what development numbers did you give Manchu to those additions as strong as a gold mine?

To me a 1 1 1 gold mine at game start is worth a 10 10 10 cloth province at game start or 25 1 1 1 provinces of grain, cow, and fish.

WC players/attempters should indeed be sad at these nerfs as Manchu horde WC was one of the strongest and quickest WC partly due to the nerfed or removed features of CCR, Gold Mine, and instant cores.

I don't care though. I disliked attempting WC as horde and I do not see myself trying to do it again due to the unenjoyable experience. But I am very excited about Qing and doing a historical Qing run.

I find Manchu Tribes (except Yeren) extremely easy. Raise banners, declare war on other tribes. Get a lot of land. Core 3 of them and you are ready to carve Ming in whatever shape you desire. I don't think nerfing Manchu was argument of Bly08 though. I think argument was motives and justifications of developers for changes.
  • You cannot simply compansate removal of early goldmine with some dev increase.
  • Forming Qing is terrible because there is no better government than steppe horde for a blobbing campaign - which is a shame because Qing has terrific flag and map colour, it just kills the run when you form it as a horde.
  • Devs put Great Mongol Empire as a supertag for horde players. But guess what? Name of the game right now is Trade Company Universalis and forming Great Mongol Empire moves your capital to Asia.
Add these stuff top of their statement about Territory Corruption - "it fits our vision for the game so it will stay" - and needless changes to missionary conversions and their complete radio silence about the issue. It feels like devs don't understand this game at all. And when knowledgeable players - no I am not one of them - ask important questions they are almost always getting ignored.
 
Hello, everyone! I'm from Agin Buryat okrug.
Europa Universalis IV is the only game where I have found a representation of my people. Buryatia was the main reason why I started to play this game in the first place. I was like: "Wow, I can play my little nation in EU4! I should really check it out". It was extremelly fun to play as a Siberian tribe and conquer all of China and colonize America. And the news about its removing have made me really upset. It reminded me about the times when Agin Buryat okrug was a federal subject of Russia. But now we have lost this status and merged with another subject. It's like our government was pretending we do not exist. Come on, don't be like that. Buryats are the largest indigenous group in Siberia! And we share a lot in common with our brothers - Mongolians. Even our languages sound almost the same. It was mentioned before that Culture groups in EU4 do not illustrate it correctly) It would be very strange if Buryatia would appear as a revolter tag in provinces of Oirat. Because Tuvan people live in these provinces and they have their own unique culture.
So I was hoping for the changes. Maybe a mission tree or an achievement for Buryatia or all of the Siberian tribes. There were some suggestions in my mind. But now... I... don't know what to say .
Much love from the shores of Baikal and the steppes of Aga!
#MakeBuryatiaGreatAgain
 
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Will it be possible for Japan to reclaim the Chrysanthemum Throne from Korea, or is it lost forever?
 
Is it? You have virutally limitless mana as a horde. How does republic without absolutism malus competes with it? Though I admit it is great way to play republics.
You get 100 influence estate grabs every other month, so 100 adm & mil gain per month average. Half your state dev of an eastern slavic culture, half of any other culture, burgher grab gives 200 dip, switching between costs 100 dip. Hordes have advantages in the cb and not having to do some really tedious thing every other month of the whole game though. It also takes time to set up.
Is it just the Oirats that get those ideas, or all Oirat cultured nations? Sorry if it's already been answered.
Dzungar also.
 
I have engaged in forum discussions for hundreds of times and consistently almost on one understood what I was saying when talking about strategy and replay ability. With this in mind one could think I am a nut job or simillar but then my work speaks otherwise. So it is either an issue with my English or something else. I say it is something else. Regardless the aftermath was almost always a colossal waste of my time like this post.

The bottom line is that I still care enough with EU IV and this is why I still bother to post here which also ends up being a big waste of my time since clearly no one cares or even can see what I see.
Maybe you should try being less snarky and more straightforward next time.
People would probably respond better to honest advice or even harsh criticism as long as it isn't so obviously full of contempt.
 
I have a friend in a messenger group chat who keeps posting noteworthy dev diaries (the group was originally intended for getting together to play EUIV, but we haven't played for a few years, mostly a way to keep in touch) which is sort of quirky/annoying since we don't really care to the level he does... but the Manchu update fkin floors me. Way to get me back into playing. (You win... again...)