• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

EU4 - Development Diary - 14th of July 2020

Good morning! Last week I revealed that the focus of the next update is South-East Asia, and gave a brief overview of the map setup for the mainland part of that region. Following on from that, today we’re going to look at Maritime South-East Asia.

dd_full_map.png


This rework is somewhat more radical than the rework of the mainland, which focussed primarily on adding detail and tactical depth to the existing setup. For the Maritime region I wanted to provide a very different and much more engaging campaign experience that reflected the thriving and diverse Malay world that existed historically.

First thing to note is that all of the surrounding sea zones have been converted to Inland Seas, meaning that galleys get combat bonuses in the region. Naval warfare was very important in the Malay world, and Malay fleets tended to consist of smaller vessels not unlike those used in Mediterranean warfare.

Let’s take a closer look at the map:

dd_sumatra.png


Seen here is the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra. Pattani and Kedah are no longer one-province minors; Pattani receives the inland province of Gerik, which historians believe may have been the origin of the kingdom, whie Kedah receives Penang, which would eventually become a point of conflict between the Sultanate and the British East India Company.

Malacca remains the dominant power on the Peninsula, but no longer controls the eastern half. The Sultanate of Kelantan and the Kingdom of Pahang are now independent. Pahang is the last non-Muslim polity on the Peninsula, and would historically be conquered by Malacca in 1454 and made into a vassal state. Its last Maharaja, Dewa Sura, sits upon a precarious throne. Kelantan is another city-state that would eventually fall to Malacca, and in 1444 shares a dynasty with the Sumatran nation of Jambi. Malacca has gained the province of Singapura, modern Singapore. Singapura is the origin of the Malacca Sultanate, and according to legend also the origin of many other Malay dynasties.

Quite a lot has changed on Sumatra. Besides its many additional nations and provinces, the central inland part of the island is now impassable. This to emphasize the importance of navies in the region and reflect how difficult it was to march armies across this hostile terrain.

There are several accounts of the origins of the Aceh Sultanate, located at the northern tip of Sumatra. It is generally considered to have come into being at the end of the 15th Century, being preceded by a kingdom named Lamuri about which we know little. I have opted to take a slightly ahistorical route and represent Aceh as a Sultanate in 1444. Aceh is one of the historical “winners” of the region; Sultan Iskandar Muda launched a successful campaign in the 17th Century that resulted in the conquests of much of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and prior to that Aceh was already the dominant power in northern and western Sumatra. Aceh is also referred to as the “Porch of Mecca” owing to its importance in the spread of Islam to Maritime South-East Asia.

Western Sumatra is ruled by the Hindu and Buddhist nations of Barus, Pagaruyung, and Indrapura. Eastern Sumatra is far more Islamized, with the Sultanate of Deli, Siak, and Jambi having embraced the Sunni faith and leaving Palembang as the last Hindu state on that side of the island. On the topic of Palembang, it remains under the rule of Chinese elites following the expulsion of the pirates by Zheng He, and players that own Golden Century still have the option to restore the pirates to power. Palembang has received an additional province on the southern tip of the island; the area today known as Lampung produced an immense amount of pepper and as such has been given a significant goods produced modifier.


dd_java.png


Onwards to Java! The familiar kingdoms of Majapahit (Mahajapit, Majahapit, Mapajahit, Mahapajit, Mapajahit, Majahapit?) and Sunda have received a fair few additional provinces - Java is a very populated place both historically and today. Sunda is now the home of the Sundanese people, a new culture in the Malay group made distinct from Javanese. Two new nations appear on the map in 1444: Blambangan and Bali. Both are represented as Tributary States of Majapahit. Majapahit is a nation in its death throes. An empire that once spanned across Maritime South-East Asia is now struggling to hold together its remaining Javanese territory. We’ll talk more about the fall (and potential resurgence) of Majapahit in a later dev diary.


dd_borneo.png


Here we have Borneo (left), Sulawesi (center) and the Moluccas (right). These more distant nations, with the very notable exception of Brunei, have yet to embrace Islam and follow a mix of Hindu and Animist faiths. The Hindu kingdoms of Borneo are Sambas, Berau, Kutai, and Banjar. The Animist kingdoms of Sulawesi are Makassar, Bone, Luwu, and Buton. Coastal Borneo would become dominated by the Bruneian Empire during our period, which will be reflected in Brunei’s mission tree. The interior of Borneo remains impassable. Even today it is extremely difficult to traverse except by its indigenous tribal people, and no nation in our time period attempted to make incursions into the interior, being fully aware of the impossibility of maintaining rule.

Ternate and Tidore are the only nations in the aptly named Spice Islands. Tidore and Ternate share a small mission tree that allows them to colonize the surrounding islands. In 1444 they have a monopoly on a new trade good: Cloves. Cloves initially exist only on Tidore and Ternate themselves, but have a very high chance of being discovered on colonized provinces in the surrounding islands. With a base price of 8, a province effect of +20% local trade power, and a trading bonus of +5% trade efficiency Cloves are by far the most desirable trade good in the game prior to the availability of Coal. Note that as always, numbers presented in dev diaries are not final.


dd_malaya.png


The formable nation of Malaya has undergone several changes. Firstly, the requirements have changed to owning at least 40 provinces in the Malaya or Indonesia regions, as well as several specific provinces depending on your religion. When you form Malaya, you’ll immediately get an event giving you the option of what to name your new nation. You can always choose Malaya or Nusantara (a geographical Malay term for the entire region). If you have the Srivijaya dynasty - Malacca begins with it in 1444 - you can choose Srivijaya, while if you form the nation as Majapahit you can choose to name yourself the Majapahit Empire. This uses the same cosmetic name change mechanic that we introduced with the Kingdom of God in 1.30.

That’s all for this week! I haven’t yet decided on the topic of next week’s dev diary - most likely we’ll focus on a major nation in South-East Asia. If there’s any nation either in Mainland or Maritime South-East Asia you want me to talk about in more detail for next week, let me know in the comments and I’ll consider it. Until then, have a great week!

Moderator Note:
Neondt and gigau have - multiple times - said that the subject of the DDs are South East Asia. Given that the developers tasked with bug fixes and balancing issues are not here and not available to answer your questions in any meaningful way, we are not entertaining those topics in Neondt's threads. Posts ignoring this warning and those posted by the demi-moderators will be deleted and the user infracted as all those posts do is serve to create a negative emotion feedback loop.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • 159Like
  • 56Love
  • 20
  • 10
  • 8
Reactions:

I already made a more detailed post in "Suggestions" on the PDX forum, but I really feel that Barus should be Animist or Buddhist and should be given a central region connecting to Deli region, "Toba". A mountainous central province and the giant Lake Toba should be added to the map.

Barus should be renamed Hatorusan or Bakkara. There is a rich history there and is much to play with for ideas (think cannibalistic priest killers).

Deli should also be renamed "Aru".

Siak should be a Malaccan vassal or tributary.

Palembang should be a Majapahit tributary or vassal. Once they get the decision to form Pirate Republic, they should have another option to remain under MJP control.

Aceh didn't exist but this has been explained and is a cool edition. Hopefully they have a lovely green colour and unique ideas.

Other than that, very, very happy with the changes and I'm damn excited. Thanks to all the devs, my island is finally getting some more flavour!
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Great post, but as a mediterranean i have seen that you intend to add cloves, and thats perfectly fine, and probably there are many others lacking, but its nonesense whilst olive oil isnt there. please add this trade good.
Olive_niche.jpg
 
  • 7
  • 2Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Feel free to write up the suggestion and post it in the suggestion forum.

(The Mediterranean is off topic for this dev diary :) )
 
  • 1Like
  • 1
Reactions:
On the debate folks were having over the name for a united Philippines, why not use the new cosmetic tag name system like they are doing with Indonesia or did with the Papal States.
 
  • 1Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Finally! Maritime Southeast Asia is getting some love! I am really happy to see you working on this region. As someone who lives in this area, i can already see the things are already much better than what he had in the game right now.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Finally! Maritime Southeast Asia is getting some love! I am really happy to see you working on this region. As someone who lives in this area, i can already see the things are already much better than what he had in the game right now.

PART 1
I would also like to add suggestions/requests regarding the northern part of Sumatra:

1. Gayo province should be renamed as Meulaboh (major trading port). Gayo is an ethnic group that lives in the inner highlands of Barisan Mountains, a far cry from their current position in the western coast of Sumatra.

2. Since you decided to go with the ahistorical route and add Aceh as a Sultanate, i suggest renaming the province of "Lamuri" as "Aceh". Since the current Lamuri province in the game also covers city states and kingdoms such as Darul Kamal/Dar Al-Kamal, Daya, etc. Aceh is founded in unification of these smaller states.

[[[Sorry for the multiple posts!! i was trying to get past the spam flag]]]
 
Last edited:
  • 2
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Finally! Maritime Southeast Asia is getting some love! I am really happy to see you working on this region. As someone who lives in this area, i can already see the things are already much better than what he had in the game right now.

PART 2

3. The western half of the province of Pasai should be a new province called "Pedir/Pidie" owned by Aceh, since it was historically a rice and pepper production region. The Aceh Sultanate was also a vassal under Pedir until some time around 1514, after a war which resulted in Aceh conquering Pedir itself. Since Aceh has Daya and Lamuri now, why not Pedir too? This way Aceh Sultanate and Pasai could be neighboring rivals with 3 provinces each.

4. A new "Gayo" should be added as a mountain pass between Pasai and the old in-game "Gayo" as an uncolonized-high attrition-low supply province. This is to reflect the fact that it was still passable for armies, as it was the last bastion of the Aceh Sultanate against the Dutch Empire until the surrender of the Sultan in 1903

to be continued

[[[Sorry for the multiple posts!! i was trying to get past the spam flag]]]
 
  • 2Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Finally! Maritime Southeast Asia is getting some love! I am really happy to see you working on this region. As someone who lives in this area, i can already see the things are already much better than what he had in the game right now.

PART 3

Here's a quick paint sketch what what the new provinces and renames would roughly look like (red stripes are wasteland)
eu4 aceh sketch.png

Karo represents the Batak tribes that live in the region.

regarding the smaller acehnese states:

regarding the gayonese:

[[[Sorry for the multiple posts!! i was trying to get past the spam flag]]]
 
  • 3Like
Reactions:
After some reading, it seems that the accounts of the smaller acehnese states have been pieced together from various external documents.

Lamuri was a kingdom based around modern day Lamreh, Aceh Besar District.

According to Arab sources such as Ibnu Khordadhbeh (844-848), Sulaiman (955), Mas’udi (943), and Buzurg Ibn Shahriar (955), Ramni/Lamuri was a camphor producing region under the Srivijayan Empire. According to Hikayat Atjeh (Chronicles of Atjeh), at the end of the 15th century Lamuri moved their capital to Meukuta Alam, north of the Aceh River (around modern day Kuta Alam, Banda Aceh), the state would later be known as Meukuta Alam.

Here are the list of rulers of Lamuri:
 
Last edited:
  • 1
  • 1Like
Reactions:
As for the province Batak,

Batak itself (besides the tribe name) covers all areas around the provinces including Barus and the current Lake Toba-less wasteland.

A better way to show it is to rename the province Mandailing (in real-life covers Indonesia's Southern Tapanuli region including Padang Sidempuan, Angkola/Sipirok, Mandailing/Panyabungan, Natal/Kotanopan) OR Tapanuli (historically this covers Sumatran west coast between Aceh and Minangkabau, with Barus as its center, so it covers both Barus and this province in the planned map).

AND put Lake Toba on the map, surrounded by a mountainous uncolonized animist province with more than 6000-strong fierce natives, named Batak or Toba. This area has never been intruded by outsiders in EUIV timeframe, in fact it is in 1821 (right after EUIV ends) that Minangkabau army invaded the region. The western powers (in real-life case, Dutch) came around 30-40 years later.
 
  • 1
  • 1Like
Reactions:
There is also the Kingdom of Linge located in the Barisan Mountains, my Gayo province suggestion. Although the rulers seem to not be documented properly


The Kingdom of Banua/Tamiang also existed in what is now Langkat province in this dev diary, rulers seem to not be properly documented as well.
 
Feel free to write up the suggestion and post it in the suggestion forum.

(The Mediterranean is off topic for this dev diary :) )
Feel free to write up the suggestion and post it in the suggestion forum.

(The Mediterranean is off topic for this dev diary :) )
thanks!! didnt know that existed, i knew it wasnt with the topic but didnt know where else to put it xD
 
The relationship of Aceh and Pedir is just a mess, i still cant pinpoint whether Aceh/Pedir or any of them are vassals or not, whether it's a war of successions or not.

I can understand you picking the ahistorical route, just make Pedir a province of Aceh instead ;)

 
And I thought the 1.30 Balkans map update DD would get touchy :p It's good to see people really into the update though. Is this period of Sumatran history really this murky, to excuse an Early Aceh?
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
And I thought the 1.30 Balkans map update DD would get touchy :p It's good to see people really into the update though. Is this period of Sumatran history really this murky, to excuse an Early Aceh?
Better to have an aceh at game start than an aceh that forms when you have the northern half of the island. And yeh history keeping seems to be crap this late somehow or all the sources we could use got lost