Great War Mechanic

Heebgamer · Jan 25, 2015

Hi guys,

I recently got Victoria 2 and have been playing as Prussia uniting Germany and colonizing Africa. I am in the year 1911 and I have developed Mass Politics and I heard that unlocks a Great War event? But nothing like that has happened yet. Is that a mod or a feature of the expansions or a glitch? I really want to end the last 20 years with a bang.

Thanks for the help.

crownsteler · Jan 25, 2015

It was a mechanic added in the Pop of Darkness (POD/PDM) Mod. See the mod subfolder.

PDM - Divided by Zero is more of the spiritual successor to the mod, while the PDM - Concert of Europe mod seeks to offer a longer (1821 start) and more flavourful/historically accurate experience.

Oliver Twopence · Jan 25, 2015

Hm... Vaguely remember great wars to be a feature added in A House Divided, and not something present in the base game. Could it be the case that you are not playing with the expansions (as your game-tag suggests). If you ask me, Paradox should not sell Victoria 2 without the first expansion. It has too many issues.

PDM has a more elaborate system for great wars, but vanilla Vicky has them too. They are not events as such, though. The way it works is that when someone reach a certain tech, great wars will be unlocked. From that point on, any war with two or more great powers on each side will be labeled a "Great War." Great wars are tougher to win. The loser has to demilitarize for a period and pay money to the victor.

Heebgamer · Jan 25, 2015

yea, I don't have the expansions, just the base game. Where can I get the PDM mod? Do I need any of the expansions to be able to use that mod?

crownsteler · Jan 25, 2015

Yes, it only compatible with Victoria 2 Heart of Darkness.

Heebgamer · Jan 25, 2015

. Is the expansion expensive and is it worth the money?

Mikalos · Jan 25, 2015

Heebgamer said:
yea, I don't have the expansions, just the base game. Where can I get the PDM mod? Do I need any of the expansions to be able to use that mod?

i would reccomend getting A house divided and Heart of Darkness, playing through them a bit, and then getting Pop demand, to see if you really like whats in it before commiting to it as your main playstyle.

Mikalos · Jan 25, 2015

Heebgamer said:
. Is the expansion expensive and is it worth the money?

you responded to a post that said they shouldnt even sell vanilla victorya 2, you already have the answer

AHd is currently $10, and adds more useful trading info, restricts railroad building, and lets you invest in capitalist projects with the right party in power, the ability to justify a declaration of war, and an 1861 start date (not worth it), redone civilization reforming, pop demands (helps and hinders rebellions like liberals, socialista, fascists ect), the ability to use a Focus to influence party loyalty, and a bunch of UI improvements''

HoD requires AHD, and improves the colonization game primarily (colonies dont take up a national focus). it's $20 and isn't as necessary as AHD, but is still good to have to round out the game

both are worth the full price but go on sale a lot, not nearly as much as EU4 and CK2 (since they have astronomic costs from a million dLC) but stil pretty often.

crownsteler · Jan 25, 2015

Both expansions add a lot of content and generally improve the game. Aside from what Mikalos posted, Heart of Darkness also adds a new crisis mechanic which adds a lot to international diplomacy and nationalism. If you enjoy vanilla Victoria 2 both these expansions are sure to further enhance your enjoyment. However, as I do not know your personal financial situation and what you find value, I cannot comment on whether or not they are worth it. I personally found them to be more than worth it.

El Jojo · Jan 25, 2015

you can also get the Great War" mod on its own, without PDM. PDM is a heavy mod and depending on the computer it can slow the game a lot so it's good to know you have the opportunity just to take the great war mechanic from it.

Mikalos · Jan 26, 2015

crownsteler said:
Both expansions add a lot of content and generally improve the game. Aside from what Mikalos posted, Heart of Darkness also adds a new crisis mechanic which adds a lot to international diplomacy and nationalism. If you enjoy vanilla Victoria 2 both these expansions are sure to further enhance your enjoyment. However, as I do not know your personal financial situation and what you find value, I cannot comment on whether or not they are worth it. I personally found them to be more than worth it.

despite spending most of my vicky 2 playtime without it, i actually forgot crisis came with HoD xD

Heebgamer · Jan 26, 2015

LOL. Thanks for the help guys. I am new to the Grand Strategy genre but so far, I am loving Vic 2. As for my financial situation, I'm a university student, which is too say.... pretty broke lol, but I really want to try out A House Divided, probably gonna wait for a sale tho. Also, have you guys tried other Paradox titles and which do you rly recommend (sorta random I know but im a noob). Thanks a lot tho

Mikalos · Jan 26, 2015

Heebgamer said:
LOL. Thanks for the help guys. I am new to the Grand Strategy genre but so far, I am loving Vic 2. As for my financial situation, I'm a university student, which is too say.... pretty broke lol, but I really want to try out A House Divided, probably gonna wait for a sale tho. Also, have you guys tried other Paradox titles and which do you rly recommend (sorta random I know but im a noob). Thanks a lot tho

depends on what you want, really.

ck2 is a character focused dynasty simulator in the middle ages with god awful optimization and a horde of DLc that will make you cry if $30 is strapping you.

eu4 is a war-only map painter masquerading as a complex game with an increasing amount of DLC but nowhere near the horde that ck2 has summoned up but is also less essential to the game being fun like in ck2

HOI is world war 2 and a varying number of years afterwards. HOI III is good but requires its DLC tobe worth it and HOI 4 isnt out yet

the other games (sengoku, MArch of the eagles, Rome) are all niche and didnt do well for a reason, and are about east asia, Napoleon and Rome.

--

the big difference between vicky 2 (and its generation of games) is that the new generation (ck2 onward) use a DLC model instead of an expansion model - smaller DLC are released that say, imp[rove north america or allow you to play muslims, and a lot of things are added in the free patch, instead of all the features (including the patches) being locked behind the DLC

like i said Ck2 and it's $200 pricetag for it and it's DLC will make you cry

Oliver Twopence · Jan 26, 2015

To save money, you could hope for a sale, probably during Easter.

A House Divided, at least, I feel is almost required enjoy the game - although you claim otherwise.

It is not the features alone. The expansion fixes several nasty bugs. Victoria 2 dates back to when Paradox was infamous for creating things that did not quite work. That is why the expansion is needed. Heart of Darkness less so, but I would never play without it. In any case: this is no longer a problem. CK2 and EU4 both get frequently updated with free patches, and both base games can be enjoyed as is.

Pop Demand Mod (PDM) is not for everyone. I do not like it. It slows down my laptop to a crawl, and the large number of new stuff makes the game feel foreign to me.

Egg Bub · Jan 27, 2015

I paid £8.94 for the base game and both expansions during the Steam Autumn sale last year. Personally, I would not recommend paying full price for the expansions as I have found they add little to the experience and come with their own set of gamey exploits and quirks.

Mikalos · Jan 27, 2015

Egg Bub said:
I paid £8.94 for the base game and both expansions during the Steam Autumn sale last year. Personally, I would not recommend paying full price for the expansions as I have found they add little to the experience and come with their own set of gamey exploits and quirks.

either you are lying or just amazingly uninformed

magitsu · Jan 28, 2015

Egg Bub said:
I paid £8.94 for the base game and both expansions during the Steam Autumn sale last year. Personally, I would not recommend paying full price for the expansions as I have found they add little to the experience and come with their own set of gamey exploits and quirks.

Nonsense. For instance AHD brought the whole game to playable speed (multithreading support). Before that it was immensely painful to organize naval stacks due to lag and the global unit spam bogged the game speed down. By 1900s it was terrible. It was very unappealing to even consider to continue to the finish line.
The only thing that's rather useless by now is the alternate starting bookmark (American Civil War). Perhaps someone uses it, for me it's completely useless.

Important mechanisms not in vanilla:
*Creating a casus belli (AHD)
*Popular movements and their suppression (AHD)
*Civilizing a country not on-off decision but there are paths including multiple different reforms (AHD) - ok, it has its flaws too, like RP through conquest but anyway
*Crisis mechanisms (HOD)
*New colonization system (HOD)
*New naval combat system (HOD)
*Changes to land combat (HOD) - major rebalancing of the units

Quality of life:
*Funding your capitalist's projects (AHD) - imagine how long it takes if you start with 0 capis and you need to create enough wealth for the new capitalist class to be able to build even one factory... might not be done in a decade. So if you wouldn't be state cap... RIP quick industrialization
*SoI management easier by introducing going past max influence, which deducts from your competitors ability to gain influence (AHD)