How easy is it to get startet as a newcommer to a pradox 4x game?

[Droa]

Hi everybody

I am a newcommer to paradox 4x games, i tried to play hearts of iron 3, but it seems waary complicated to get into.

It was hard to resist to preorder stellaris as it seems like a perfect sci-fi x4 game for a sci fi nerd like me, so ofcause i bought it... now i just need to learn about all the concepts a paradox 4x games features, as i know it is not like any other 4x game.

Will Stellaris feature full tutorials, or do i need to play past 4x games to know how to play it?

 

[Voidlord]

Stellaris will have an advisor called VIR who will guide you through the game, telling you want you need to know and so on

 

[Milten]

Stellaris has simpler mechanics compared to HoI, but it's still a PD game. Read VIR tips and take a look on main game parts in wiki. Even after that there will be a lot of attempts and fails, but it's part of the fun.

 

[Njordin]

In terms of complexity:
Civilization is like learning to ride a bike.
Stellaris, Eu4, Ck2 is like learning to drive a car.
Hoi3 and Vic2 is like learning to dock an module to the ISS.

If you can play average 4x with ease, Stellaris is no problem. If your 4x experience is just based on civ5 or the new MoO you´ll learn it without problems but need time to adapt.

 

[ahhheygao]

I am a newcommer to paradox 4x games, i tried to play hearts of iron 3, but it seems waary complicated to get into.

Hearts of Iron 3 (and Victoria 2) is extremely complicated even for Paradox grand strategy games, so that's not much of an indicator. Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 were far easier than HoI3 for new comers to get into.

Will Stellaris feature full tutorials, or do i need to play past 4x games to know how to play it?

No tutorials, but you'll have a voiced paperclip advisor showing you the ropes. Paradox designed Stellaris to be as accessible as possible, though perhaps even a bit overboard for my liking (no map modes and ledger reek of casualization). If you've played simple turned-based strategy games like Civ or Total War, you'll be fine. If you've played other complex space 4x like Distant Worlds Universe or Master of Orion 2, Stellaris should be a breeze.

If all else fails, watch the devs' stream in twitch or watch eventual Youtuber Let's Plays to get a general idea of how to play.

 

[SirRoderick]

Hi everybody

I am a newcommer to paradox 4x games, i tried to play hearts of iron 3, but it seems waary complicated to get into.

It was hard to resist to preorder stellaris as it seems like a perfect sci-fi x4 game for a sci fi nerd like me, so ofcause i bought it... now i just need to learn about all the concepts a paradox 4x games features, as i know it is not like any other 4x game.

Will Stellaris feature full tutorials, or do i need to play past 4x games to know how to play it?

You'll likely be able to pick it up just fine. And if you want to have a better look :

Them just playing it will give you some insight.

 

[Held der Arbeit]

I think Stellaris will be one of the easiest Paradox games to get into. Still much more complex than, say, Endless Space, but generally pretty straightforward.

And as others have mentioned, there will be an AI guiding you through the first steps, but I have a suspicion that this will mostly be the standard 4x fare while you will have to figure out the really deep mechanics (like how the varuius happiness and productivity modifiers work optimally) yourself.

But provided you are interested in the topic in general that should be no problem. It is quite possible to enjoy Paradox games for hundreds of hours even if you havent figured out all the intricacies of gameplay. I clock ~400hrs on EU4 now and I am still learning new things

 

[Koopatin]

i would even say eu 4 is the easiest now until stellaris comes out. at least i had a harder time with ck2 compared to eu 4 and thought eu 4 was alot easier compared to eu3. buuut... memory is a fickle thing. in any case stellaris seems reasonable "easy" compared to the monsters other paradox games can be and other 4x games arent that easy to master either

 

[corny.1234]

What is a pradox 4x game?

 

[Droa]

thanks for all the nice tips, for what i can read, i should try my luck with EU4 to learn a little about what i can expect in stellaris, i think i have it in my library, but i never had time to play it, but i will try tonight, when i have some time

 

[Droa]

What is a pradox 4x game?

paradox 4x game is what i call the complicated and advance 4x games, with alot of political views

 

[corny.1234]

paradox 4x game is what i call the complicated and advance 4x games, with alot of political views

Just wanted to point out the typo in the title

 

[skillincarnate]

I honestly wouldn't worry too much. The nice thing about Stellaris is that you start with one planet and things gradually ramp up from there. That should give you time to get a feel for the game's mechanics before the complexity sets in. With other Paradox titles half the problem is you start out running a giant country where everything is already firing on all cylinders.

 

[Koopatin]

thanks for all the nice tips, for what i can read, i should try my luck with EU4 to learn a little about what i can expect in stellaris, i think i have it in my library, but i never had time to play it, but i will try tonight, when i have some time

portugal or england are always nice choices for a nice first game. ^^

 

[Kaochi]

I would say Ireland 1066 in CK2 is the easiest way to get in the game, but I am subjective since I'm not much a fan of eu4 since the 1.8 patch (and even before, 1.5 is my gold mark. Or 1.3 Moscovy, stomp on everyone like a giant green bully. THAT was fun. Crunch, expand, repeat.). Like everyone say, trial and reload is a good way to get into the game, and the wiki is a good help.
When I played HoI3, I always had the wiki open.
Stemmaros should be the easiest game made by Paradox to get into, but ... it's not out yet, so we can't trust the dev.

 

[doomdude1]

Hearts of Iron 3 (and Victoria 2) is extremely complicated even for Paradox grand strategy games, so that's not much of an indicator. Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 were far easier than HoI3 for new comers to get into.


No tutorials, but you'll have a voiced paperclip advisor showing you the ropes. Paradox designed Stellaris to be as accessible as possible, though perhaps even a bit overboard for my liking (no map modes and ledger reek of casualization). If you've played simple turned-based strategy games like Civ or Total War, you'll be fine. If you've played other complex space 4x like Distant Worlds Universe or Master of Orion 2, Stellaris should be a breeze.

If all else fails, watch the devs' stream in twitch or watch eventual Youtuber Let's Plays to get a general idea of how to play.

Yeah but what's the point of a game that doesn't take you 4 hours to start to grasp the basics?

Spoiler

As you may have guessed I'm also a DF masochist

 

[Mordaith]

When I told my usual bunch about this game coming out, as soon as they heard it was Paradox they started making that ... you know... disconcerting noise old people make when they see a piece of technology they don't understand. (I make it at some smartphones these days....) But after they got a chance to see the Blorgcast with @Wiz and @cKnoor and the learned that there would be a computer advisor, they realized that Paradox made it seem like priority one was to deliver an accessible game to as many people as possible.

Stellaris represents a fantastic leap in Grand Strategy games for the company and the players both. I think we are going to see some fantastic things from Stellaris as far as bringing new players to the community here.

The promise of Stellaris is ease in to larger GS mechanics from a familiar 4X start.

 

[hrimhari]

Speaking as someone with moderate-to-high 4x experience, I found ck2 (my first paradox game) very very very very very very very very very
*breathes in*
Very very very very very very hard to get into. I've recommended it to a few people, none of them slouches in strategy games and they've all failed to get into it. I describe paradox games as "aggressively unfriendly to newcomers".

BUT Stellaris may be different. The AI advisor, yay. Also, it looks like it handles a bit more easily than ck2 and eu4 and, most importantly, with closer analogues to other games of the same genre. Ck2 and eu4 are great games, don't think I'm dissing them. But they handle very very very differently to other similar games (ck2 especially). This is, of course, their strength. But paradox has, traditionally, done an awful job of communicating HOW they're different.

So yeah, Stellaris is one I'm recommending unconditionally to friends. I hope it lives up to it!

 

[Njordin]

For some CK2 was very easy and for others hard. it´s hard to not offend someone if talking about the difficulty topic. i personally like overcomplex games, because they give me the feeling of real simulation, that´s why i have no hard time getting into those games and would never ever call CK2 a very complex game. it has some depth and many options but you never need an manual or wiki for actually playing it. Hoi3 instead, leaves you in the dark with many mechanics and looking for tutorials and wiki is recommended... but even that game "only" requires the player to learn the game, before actually playing it.

There are people out there actually calling Civilization 5 a very complex game and hard to learn (lol). It´s a matter of taste and willingness to (very oldschool) learn. I can fully understand if someone has no time or does not want to invest time in that, and just play and learn while playing. i actually prefer this method, too IF available, but its very hard time for developers to combine these things. Most times you have to cut out game sections and let the play learn one after another. Paradox gives you the full sandbox directly and says: here have some blablatext about the most basic things and then have fun. I´m very eager to see how PDX solved that in Hoi4.

 

[13Foxtrot]

everyone will have a different opinion because with Paradox there are so many different ways to play......personally I would start with EUIV and specifically playing Castille....

of course other people will say different things....you just have to try different things, and stay positive about the process. It will be very easy to get frusted at times, but once you get going it is fun as hell.

Don't worry about getting lost and keep trying different things. It is easy to get slaughtered and be the victim of crappy luck.