A better feel for other countries

[RedRalphWiggum]

I'd like if one could get a real sense of the character of the countries you are playing against, rather than see them as blocks of provinces and three key numbers on a chart.

I think it would be great if we could have some culture-specific music when we clock on another country, the ability to see their POPs' issues (wouldnt it be cool to know if you are AH whether or not most Italians are feeling serious revanchism, or whether most people in Germany are xenophobic and favour residence?). It would be cool if instead of the present system of pop-ups for announcements, we had a mock-newspaper from the country in question. Now, obviously, there cannot be a separate newspaper for every country, but couldnt the main culture groups have a generic newpaper (all German states get 'Zeit', all English langage countries get 'Times', etc).

I admit this stuff doesn't add much to gameplay, but it would be cool for flavour an immersion.

 

[Parabola]

The newspaper idea sounds good.

Music I don't care much for as I listen to other stuff when I play games anyways.

 

[unmerged(12990)]

I really support this as for me personally, immersion is extremely important when playing any game. I can play a mediocre game for months, if it keeps me immersed into its world, and I can uninstall a good game after a few hours, if it fails to do so. Vicky 1 had that covered with historical events, but in Vicky 2 something like culture-specific music, newspapers detailing current events, etc. would go a long way. I assume it's not a top PI priority, although on the other hand, it probably doesn't take a long time to code in either.

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

I'd like to hear some other suggestions too, dont get me wrong the present PI games setup is really cool, but I think for a little coding buck you would get a lot of bang if immersion is increased.

How about when you click on an AI capital, you can access a box that contains some sort of description of the country, see this for example

'Japan is a country with a [very strong] culture, a [homogenous] population, its industry is [growing rapidly], however its population is [quite militant] as the present government is not popular. The main political issues are its claims on lands currently controlled by [Russia], [militarism] and [secularism]. They are a force to be reckoned with in [Asia].

 

[Earl Uhtred]

More info is a must - a lot of the stuff in the ledger should be visible in the main interface, plus more internal political information.

 

[Gezz Inti]

Wonderful suggestions. I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

I suppose we will need to find out more form the devs about the features before we can really think of many more flavour stuff to add, but I hope there is scope to implement at least some of this

 

[Sarmatia1871]

This could be quite simply done by taking some features from HOI2, like a skin system and having little portraits of the Heads of State and Government (although not beyond this, owing to the difficulty of finding pictures of minor figures).

While anything more would probably be going slightly overboard, I'd really like different interface styles for different cultures and time periods: so, for the first few decades of the game as a European country, icons, buttons, menus and borders would have a Neo-Classical look, shift to Gothic Revival or Realist in the mid-nineteenth cenutry, move on to Art-Nouveau for the 1890-1914 period, and finally end in Art-Deco.

Would proabbly be far to much work to implement though, and is likely better for a mod.

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

Oh, something else: non-generic POP icons. If I'm playing as a subsaharan African nation I don't want my labourers to look Swedish. Maybe even different fonts for different culture groups?

 

[h.r.e.]

Oh, something else: non-generic POP icons. If I'm playing as a subsaharan African nation I don't want my labourers to look Swedish. Maybe even different fonts for different culture groups?

you could have one for europe (including australian and newseelandian) , one for mexico , asia , arabia and subsahara - that would be pretty sweet indeed

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

you could have one for europe (including australian and newseelandian) , one for mexico , asia , arabia and subsahara - that would be pretty sweet indeed

Exactly. Of course, it isnt really that important and has no bearing on gameplay, but little stuff like this can give a game a nice feel. I'd like to know what type of copuntry my neighbour is, get a mental picture of what it would be like to live there etc...

 

[unmerged(68110)]

The newspaper idea is AWESOME.

IDK how much work it would use, but the level of character it would add is at worst HUGE.

 

[Nooki]

I´d love a newspaper for my country, would be cool if the style of the paper changes over time.

It would be cool with a monthly outcome for each country with the most relevant news and perhaps a special edition if there is any special event such as a decleration of war.

A article example as i imagine it:

Germany insults Sweden!
A german diplomat insulted the king of Sweden during a bankett last week, the swedish goverment is yet to adress the issue as tention rise around the swedish german border.
The liberaist party leader mr Hausberg commented on the issue by saying "If we were in control of the house, we´d teach those Hunns a lesson".
The officers of Sweden demand revenge!

 

[Jolt]

I´d love a newspaper for my country, would be cool if the style of the paper changes over time.

It would be cool with a monthly outcome for each country with the most relevant news and perhaps a special edition if there is any special event such as a decleration of war.

A article example as i imagine it:

Germany insults Sweden!
A german diplomat insulted the king of Sweden during a bankett last week, the swedish goverment is yet to adress the issue as tention rise around the swedish german border.
The liberaist party leader mr Hausberg commented on the issue by saying "If we were in control of the house, we´d teach those Hunns a lesson".
The officers of Sweden demand revenge!

Which would be the newspapers of Bhutan? Tibet? Aceh? Sokoto?

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

Which would be the newspapers of Bhutan? Tibet? Aceh? Sokoto?

Generic ones, for (and this is just off the top of my head)

English speaking world and its colonies
French etc etc
German
Spanish
Slavic
China
EastAsia
etc... look it doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it wouldn't affect gameplay.

Maybe only the great powers should have it?

 

[Jolt]

Nah, other nations beside Great Powers should also have flavor fonts and images. I'd make it only to Civilized countries which historically had newspapers of that time. Uncivilized ones should have something else other than newspapers. Something like a Government Message/Letter/Scroll.

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

Nah, other nations beside Great Powers should also have flavor fonts and images. I'd make it only to Civilized countries which historically had newspapers of that time. Uncivilized ones should have something else other than newspapers. Something like a Government Message/Letter/Scroll.

Yeah, that's probably a better system alright. Maybe towards the end it could change to telegraph or something?

 

[Andrelvis]

I´d love a newspaper for my country, would be cool if the style of the paper changes over time.

It would be cool with a monthly outcome for each country with the most relevant news and perhaps a special edition if there is any special event such as a decleration of war.

A article example as i imagine it:

Germany insults Sweden!
A german diplomat insulted the king of Sweden during a bankett last week, the swedish goverment is yet to adress the issue as tention rise around the swedish german border.
The liberaist party leader mr Hausberg commented on the issue by saying "If we were in control of the house, we´d teach those Hunns a lesson".
The officers of Sweden demand revenge!

This reminds me of Imperialism's Daily Imperialist newspaper that appeared at the start of each turn. Great idea!

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

Yes please. The more flavour/feeling for the period = the better.Ya dont need a newspaper for every country but to read the headlines for a month or week alone would be awesome.

 

[ABosnian]

Generic ones, for (and this is just off the top of my head)

English speaking world and its colonies
French etc etc
German
Spanish
Slavic
China
EastAsia
etc... look it doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it wouldn't affect gameplay.

Maybe only the great powers should have it?

Love the newspaper idea!

For Muslim and Arabic speaking countries, the name "Avaz" for voice is commonly used for newspaper names (ex. Bosnia has a newspaper called "Dnevni Avaz" = Daily voice) and could be the generic name.