EU4 - How do you play - August 2015 Edition
- Thread starter Johan
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I honestly think it's that CK2 is a bit harder to perfect given it's actual gameplay, making total conversion mods that are well established the likely go to to improve things that players felt were lacking in whatever recent release.
I think it shows that you guys are doing a great job with EU4, and that maybe CK2 in itself might be a bit harder to balance for given it's more convoluted and less straight forward gameplay.
Wow, my mod made it to the top. I'm impressed especially by how far my mod is ahead of all other major mods.
Well, I make the ironman's stastic lower, (pardon for that!), because (as previous people, who don't play ironman mode) I don't care about achievement's and like mods.
IIRC, Paradox doesn't rely solely on Steam, they also inserted something into the EU4 startup that collects and sends info back to the Mother Ship. I suspect that's how most of the metrics are gathered.
So, I believe you need to pull the internet plug, completely (and literally), if you really want to foil their dastardly plot, and join the 0.01%. Unfortunately, that means Steam can't communicate with its Mother Ship, either, which causes some minor game anomalies. So, you either need to accept those anomalies or start the Steam Client, then pull the plug, then start the game via the .exe file. Bit of a pain, but a true paranoid doesn't worry about such things.
Of course, they can probably just start storing the information locally, and try collecting it later (you'll have to update your game at some point and the Steam Client needs to phone home periodically). But last time I tried spying on the spyware, it didn't appear to be doing anything like that.
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Well if i monitor everything thats written to the disk then i will know if information is being stored
But people were talking about metrics and EU4's is not dependent on steam being run? That is why I was confused though given later posts it seems people were not aware of it not being steam only.
Aaaah, that makes a whole lot of sense. EU4 is definitely connecting to the internet when you start the game on their launcher. I always assumed it was to connect to some kind of multiplayer service (I've never even looked into the muliplayer section of the game, so I really have no clue what kind of connection options it allows). I always thought this was just sloppy coding, since they could have done the connection when I hit "Multiplayer" on the first game screen, but EU4 phoning home to transmit some metrics makes sense. I just blocked the EU4 process for outgoing network connections (I really dislike programmes needlessly connecting to servers without my permission), so if you are correct my stats are definitely missing ;-)
I think the only way to stop games from sending data to the developers is to block them in your firewall/windows.
On the first load, EU4 should ask if you want to provide anonymous usage statistics, so yours might have been missing anyway. But the launcher and game still connect so that they can advertise DLCs to you.
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Interesting. Yeah, I don't recall that prompt, but I'm sure I would have disabled it, so you're probably right ;-)
Even without internet connection it advertises DLC I haven't bought on the game's home screen, but maybe there would be even more ads if I didn't block the connection? Anyway, if this is a property you can set when you launch the game for the first time - it should be stored somewhere, right? I've been digging through the game folders and my registry, but I couldn't find any obvious locations so far...
There isn't one. They changed their EULA so you agree to it w/o actually agreeing to it.
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Really? That's bullshit. Not surprised though. Companies do what companies do.
CKII definitely has a larger "community of mods" than EUIV, I'd say. As someone who's put 1700 hours into CKII, and 700 hours into EU4, and has made little mods for both, I'm pretty sure the endurance of CKII overhaul mods is due to three factors.
1.) The settings for new maps are more plentiful.
People generally prefer to play fantasy settings in a mod that allows individual character RPing, and it's easier to convert a medieval setting to the classical era, e.g., than a renaissance one. So, on the one hand, it's more fun to play the ASOIAF _as_ Jon Snow or whoever, and on the other, it's easier to simulate the Migration Period in a game with different types of infantry, but without field artillery.
2.) The missing aspects of the game are easier to add in CKII.
EUIV has a much, much cooler economics system, a more in-depth tech system, and a more interesting way differentiate cultures than retinues and succession preferences: ideas. But it's fairly easy to add culturally-locked decisions that act like ideas to CKII, and to use modifiers that work like techs. I even toyed with using modifiers to model population growth/decline for The Winter King, and rudimentary trade systems have been integrated into CKII mods. But it's essentially a giant pain to add a better dynasty/local nobility system to EUIV. I haven't played Lex Talionis yet, but treating the most human aspect of the game (the rulers) as a RGN variable, as opposed to something one can influence, interact with, and manage, makes it pretty difficult for me to want to play, say, a zoomed-in mod of The English Civil War.
Since you can never play as, for example, the Earl of Argyle under the Scottish Crown or General George Monck, the interesting outcomes (comebacks and the underdog winning) are never fun as a matter of internal policy. Another example: The Dutch Revolt would be much more interesting if you could play as the House of Orange and revolt even after Spain "annexed" your lands, waiting for the opportune moment. "But be careful: Alessandro Farnese plots your assassination!" I can tell these interesting historical stories in CKII, which is why there's an excellent War of the Roses mod for that game - I'll sacrifice accurate trade for personalities, if I'm a modder.
Since you can never play as, for example, the Earl of Argyle under the Scottish Crown or General George Monck, the interesting outcomes (comebacks and the underdog winning) are never fun as a matter of internal policy. Another example: The Dutch Revolt would be much more interesting if you could play as the House of Orange and revolt even after Spain "annexed" your lands, waiting for the opportune moment. "But be careful: Alessandro Farnese plots your assassination!" I can tell these interesting historical stories in CKII, which is why there's an excellent War of the Roses mod for that game - I'll sacrifice accurate trade for personalities, if I'm a modder.
3.) MEIOU is more demanding that HIP/aGoT, by far, on my system.
Total conversions usually are more demanding than the main game. I bet a lot of people, myself included, can't run MEIOU as fast as they can run aGoT.
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There are other overhaul mods that are not so taxing, Extended Timeline for once and, of course, VeF.
