Demo: First Impressions?

[unmerged(133986)]

Well lets see...

Austria inherits Poland after few years...
Muscowy gets overrun by Ottomans...
Sweden excommunicates Gothland some 5 times in about 5 years...
Castille annexes/inherits Aragon (not sure didn't see what happened and i was playing Portugal :rofl: )
England annexed one Irish minor ...
Damned King decided to die just as i was hoping to inherit Savoy...

One interesting thing i noticed is that AI seams a lot more opportunistic now.
BBB attacks Castille and starts destroying them ect. Then the 2 province Navarra decides to join the party. Few months later Naples and Morocco DOW Castille as well.
I was allied with Castille but ofc wisely decided to stay out of war. Wish i could go back and backstab them a bit

Love it so far.

 

[The Valkyrier]

The new CB system can create big blobs: here the OE inherited Crimea, then launched a Jihad on Poland.

Isn't Crimea a vassal of OE when the game starts? I think so, in which case that's why they dissapear straight off. Same goes with Castille-Aragon. In my games both Crimea and Aragon dissapears straight away. When we get the full version of the game on tuesday this wont be a problem.
I've noticed OE is wicked as well tho, in 9/10 games I've played they expand into poland and russia and stretch all the way to the baltic coast in 20 years. I think it's more due to the demo having a bad starting date than the game itself tho, 1399 is a very balanced start imo while 1493 isn't.

 

[Willem IV]

make the price for PU higher!

I declared war against Norway for their Throne. Denmark was the only alliance helping them. I occupied Halland & Själland and had some vessels in blocking the strait, so my troops could enter Denmark and walked trough Sweden to Norway. While chasing the 'main' stack of Norway they accepted the PU peace offer.

Seem with Scotland few years later. Portugal made Scotland to resign all treaties with France, so i DOWed and a blocked Edinbrugh and the Norwegians where already invading, while mine troops where still in Yorkshire walking up north from Kent. (in put a cog in the Channel to cross from Calais.) And I got their Throne as well (from my nephew Arthur.)

Both war where too easy. I didn't fight Scotland myself and my troops in Norway has problems aswell.

 

[Galaahd]

The thing that annoys me about OE is that they always expand north, never south. You often find Turks on the Baltic Sea, never seen them conquering the Mameluks

 

[Blackluck]

It's useless because warfare can easily provide you with all the prestige you need.

I've played games where any wars are done within the first few decades of a game. Therefore it's not useless for non-warring countries (it also happens to degrade very quickly if not papal controller, etc.)

 

[Zagys]

In my games both Crimea and Aragon dissapears straight away. When we get the full version of the game on tuesday this wont be a problem.

Why won't it be a problem? It was a problem before, it will be a problem after.

I've noticed OE is wicked as well tho, in 9/10 games I've played they expand into poland and russia and stretch all the way to the baltic coast in 20 years. I think it's more due to the demo having a bad starting date than the game itself tho, 1399 is a very balanced start imo while 1493 isn't.

Not the 1492 start in general, it's just that the vassal status on Crimea should be edited out.

 

[Zagys]

The thing that annoys me about OE is that they always expand north, never south. You often find Turks on the Baltic Sea, never seen them conquering the Mameluks

The game mechanics heavily discourage Turkish expansion in the middle east. Hopefully HTTT removes some of the roadblocks against attacking same religion countries and/or provides events to deal with the Mameluke situation.

 

[Merrivale]

I really think there should be a limit how many royal marriages you can have, for instance 5.

I think this is an important mechanic that should get a little bit of differentiation from a gameplay and historical perspective. It simply isn't possible to have your ruler or your primary heir married to more than one person at a time, so you should not be able to inherit more than one country with each. If a secondary heir or relative is married off and ends up inheriting another throne, that doesn't mean that your country itself has absorbed the other, it means your family has. So the other nation still exists and is still separate from yours, but is "in the family", meaning that any ruler who dies without an heir should make it more likely that your country will successfully claim it, but if a stable succession continues, the countries should continue to be separate.

This might be better to illustrate with an example (not totally historical, some of this is inaccurate but just off the top of my head to prove a point). Your English king is Henry V, who has an heir (will become Henry VI) as well as several other children. Henry V completes a royal marriage with the French rulers, who then die without a direct heir. Henry V (England) can claim the throne of France. Meanwhile Henry VI has married into the ruling house of Aragon, they die without a direct heir, England can try to claim Aragon. But if one of the other children, say Richard, is married into the ruling house of Burgundy, his claim of the throne in the event of a death without a direct heir is not for England, it is for Richard who is not, and will not be the King of England in this case. Richard may go off and rule Burgundy, and if he dies without an heir then Henry V or VI might be able to grab the throne then. But if not, he isn't simply going to turn over Burgundy to his elder sibling and go his merry way. The two countries will be in an extremely close relationship, presumably, although siblings weren't notorious for being super friendly when things like thrones were at issue) but not joined.

In the game as it is now, there is no distinction, Henry V and VI can seemingly have four, five, six, twenty, whatever wives at the same time, allowing them the ability to potentially inherit all of those countries (certainly not at once since it all resets when the ruler dies, but you've hedged your bets here). Beyond the nonsensicalness, it would seem to me to make for better gameplay to have to choose and be limited in what thrones you can pursue with your ruler and heir. I recognize that there is a bit of can of worms here, as the system isn't setup for this CK style, but the mechanics of HTTT opened it up.

 

[unmerged(72188)]

I downloaded it and played Austria for some time:

One blink of an eye into the game and i inherited Scotland and a French minor.
That was a bit odd....

Also after 5 years playing i noticed an inheritance almost every year (also some major ones).

I like PU's and the consequent inheritances but this is too much.

Also when my king (also HRE) died and my infant son's rule was preceded by a regent, however my son (2 years old) became HRE instantly....

However i bought the game anyway....

 

[Alerias]

there are too many regency councils.

+1

In fact, the best way to both dimnish the odds of regency councils and the "new" inheritances, is to have a bit more heirs on average, and to have heirs with strong claims a bit more often than now. Ideally the value could be moddable, even.

This would allow a bit less "claims/force pu" scenarios, have less Regencies, and overall make the game a bit more fun. I understand the desire to showcase the new features, but a delicate balance must be struck.

 

[Ex Mudder]

Doesn't PotA give you cheap universities and Fine Arts Academies if you are at peace and have a low BB? That should give you all the culture (and magistrates) you need.

Think the regency thing is because all the heirs start at age 0 at game start. At least I'm pretty sure Henry VIII didn't inherit at 17 (age 0 in 1492), but I could be wrong.

Wish I could qualify for the Byzantine refugees goodie before it goes away in 1500. Who got it historically? Austria?

Wish the trigger for Vassilize Scotland took into account that I start with a truce with Scotland before giving me the mission, but at least the conquer Ireland missions are do able now BB wise.

Was Portugal's monarchy really that low on the legitimacy scale in 1492? Seems an easy way to inherit them.

 

[Metz]

We have. You are not running the Gold version.

You guys should have it in a switch under options like for difficulty and AI Aggressiveness... Like it can be:

Unions/Inheritances:

Never
Rare
Normal
Common
Very Common


That way people can play differently and the game can have a more interesting and unique replay value. I'm sure this feature can be done.


Also you guys should add a notifier that tells you when your claim will expire so you can reclaim it before it disappears and then you can't inherit the throne.

 

[Macknull]

You guys should have it in a switch under options... Like

Unions/Inheritances:

Never
Rare
Normal
Common
Very Common


That way people can play differently and the game can have a more interesting and unique replay value. I'm sure this feature can be done.


Also you guys should add a notifier that tells you when your claim will expire so you can reclaim it before it disappears and then you can't inherit the throne.

+1 hell jeah

 

[Romtos]

You guys should have it in a switch under options like for difficulty and AI Aggressiveness... Like it can be:

Unions/Inheritances:

Never
Rare
Normal
Common
Very Common


That way people can play differently and the game can have a more interesting and unique replay value. I'm sure this feature can be done.


Also you guys should add a notifier that tells you when your claim will expire so you can reclaim it before it disappears and then you can't inherit the throne.

+1
Though 3 would be plenty, drop Never and Very Common. Makes it easier to implement I guess.

 

[The Valkyrier]

Why won't it be a problem? It was a problem before, it will be a problem after.

In 1399 Aragon isn't a vassal and Crimea doesn't exist. Problem solved.

Not the 1492 start in general, it's just that the vassal status on Crimea should be edited out.

What do you mean edited out? Crimea was a vassal state of OE in 1492. Are you suggesting that historical accuracy should be exchanged for game balance? Wrong game

 

[Evie HJ]

More first impressions (or second impressions, as may be)...

ARGH. Portugal STILL guns for the East Coast!

What is it with the AI and its bloody East Coast obsession?

 

[lordkestrel]

5- I had 60% naval tradition and a bit more than 60% cultural tradition and all I could hire were one stars advisors. How high does it needs to get for me to hire better advisors?

I got a 4* advisor at 99.5% tradition, and then a 6* advisor at 85%. So it looks like it's semi-random, but at 20% I only ever get 1*, so it's weighted towards the high end.

 

[Ex Mudder]

More first impressions (or second impressions, as may be)...

ARGH. Portugal STILL guns for the East Coast!

What is it with the AI and its bloody East Coast obsession?

Are they at least going for the 5/6 base tax provinces? In IN they always colonize the 1 base tax provinces first.

Can Portugal colonize Brazil without a navigator advisor in 1492? that might be the problem.

 

[Evie HJ]

Yeah, they went for Massachusetts, Connecticut, Powhattan and Conoy. (Succesfully colonized Massachusetts, Powhattan and Conoy, but natives "mysteriously" rebelled in Powhattan so they lost that one.

Mysteriously means that any stray supplying of guns to said natives by Spanish citizens, along with horror tales about the Portuguese was entirely and completely unrelated to the policies of the Spanish crown.

Yes, the lack of range may be the problem. I'm starting to think Colonial Range wasn't such a good idea after all.

 

[lordkestrel]

Maybe not, but A) Patron of the Arts as it is now is useless and B) it's disturbing, to me, that it doesn't give CT.

Maybe they can give less CT from other things.

While I agree that Patron of the Arts should give Cultural Tradition, calling it 'useless' is a little shortsighted. Prestige appears to be one of the more important factors in who gets an inheritance, and the 2% from Patron of the Arts when combined with modifiers from decisions and advisers will keep your prestige pegged at 100%. Then toss in things like army morale (incredibly important in the expansion), stab cost, compete chance, etc, and you'll see why it's even better now than it was in In Nomine.