Imperator Dev Diary - 28/10/19

[Efimer]

I like the missions mechanic but some potential issues come to my mind
What about AI handling of the missions?
What about game balance breaking from missions rewards?

 

[Ma®tin]

Will the mission system be hand-tailored for specific nations, or is it going to be a more generic thing (For example tailored for specific religion/culture group instead of one nation)?
With how many nations there are in Imperator, it would be easy to fall into a situation where most nations except for a handful of chosen ones would feel overly generic, if missions were as hand-tailored for a single nations as for example national focus trees in HOI4.

A mix of religion, government type and culture group semi-generic missions could be nice, to let people guide their nations on a path they enjoy. Or missions that pop up depending on situation in the nation (Large slave pops, unhappiness, multiple cultures and religions, having multiple subjects etc.)

 

[fabius]

It seems to be both more extensive and provide more direction, which happens to be what I don't like.
It just comes down to how I play the game: I get part of my enjoyment from looking at the game world and thinking about what to do next.
This becomes somewhat redundant when Im nudged towards hunting bonuses from missions, largely railroading the game experience.
It's a matter of putting "flavor" in the driver seat rather than the core mechanics.

It also makes every nation without these unique "flavor missions" effectively unfinished, as the game is now largely intended to be played following missions.
I don't mean that it's bad design, it's just a different approach. It gives the devs far greater control of the actual gameplay experience and should make the game design more straightforward.
I just find it bland.

I somewhat agree with most of that. Just unsure about the final bland bit. Generally speaking, I often ignore mission trees in games because of the feeling of railroading.

That said, these look like they will be much better than simple - do this. take this province etc- and get this.

So, what I'm looking forward to about how IR missions look is:

That they appear more strategically orientated with sub mission.

And it looks possibly an engaging way of creating stories (or back stories) and meaning in the game. And slipping in some history.

If anything, I'd only suggest ways of spending big political influence or something to occasionally engage in them non-linearly. Eg. spend to put one on hold instead of cancelling.

And possibly tying some it into character or party wants to make the system feel more organic to the IR world.

 

[JohnKR]

I can't wait for the update! This Dev Diary alone made me buy the game!

 

[fabius]

I didn't phrase it very well. To me, having missions as a core inspiration for the player is bland, as opposed to rely on the game world to act as inspiration.

From that perspective I much prefer simple missions, something like the war council suggesting I should conquer something (Or just improve my relation with the Papal States). Where missions are little more than a detour.
Here there's missions for "most" (likely) avenues of expansion as well as trees for "infrastructure" and integrating subjects. So there's little "reason" doing anything without following a path of missions to collect the bonuses.

At the end of the day it's a big change in direction. The game moves away from being an entirely open ended one to one where each country becomes a scenario to be completed. And you're primarily expected to experience the game by doing a hundred tasks and then move on to the next country. Im sure it's a welcome change to many, but to me the open ended design is the main appeal.

Yes, I see. I get what you're saying here. Hmmm... yes there's pro's and cons to more or less simple missions. I'm with you, I get the enjoyment from looking at the map and other data and coming up with a strategy. And don't want to be railroaded. So, yes I would fear that missions could incentive too much.

That said. They can still add some story and immersion. Especially if they get more dynamic ! But also in the back of my mind, against the AI we won't really loose or miss game-winning bonuses from ignoring some missions when it suits us.

 

[fabius]

It's just a matter of preference.
To me EUIV went one step too far with missions and Imperator goes one step further.

Others love it, so it's probably the right decision from the Paradox team.

Yeah, I think the net effect will be positive for IR. But still, you're right making a valid point about the railroading risk. I certainly don't want to feel railroaded either.

 

[Temudhun Khan]

It should be noted that most of these missions would become active for any Punic country of some size, not just Carthage themselves.

I didn't pay attention to the "most", could we get more infos about this? Is it specific missions or entire mission trees? Or both of those?
It would make sense for "the Aftermath of the Revolution" to be specific to Carthage, but I'd like to have a confirmation and maybe a full list if only entire mission trees are concerned and it's not too much to ask.

 

[Akbar The Great]

I have to laugh, no-one is ever forced to take any missions or follow any path at all. These mission trees do not rail road any player whatsoever.

 

[CorneliusBottomly]

Hello there!
You will be able to move down two separate routes to either the mission task ‘Hispanic Overlord’ or ‘Rise of Carthago Nova’. The former will quell the unrest in the area, and the latter will make a new Colony subject named Carthago Nova who will gain control of your holdings in Iberia.

Is a Colony a new subject type or is Carthago Nova just a feudatory?

 

[Arbus]

I missed something here, probably it was mentioned before, so can someone clarify if:

Are all of these mission trees available at the same time? Are there conditions to unlock them? Can I pursue them all simultaneously?

 

[LeSingeAffame]

I missed something here, probably it was mentioned before, so can someone clarify if:

Are all of these mission trees available at the same time? Are there conditions to unlock them? Can I pursue them all simultaneously?

You can only pursue one tree at a time

 

[MohawkWolfo98]

Just want to add my sense into this: at the very least, with the addition of mission trees I finally know where and how to get CBs and continue the story. Often the case I like to create Feudatories and I no longer get any free CBs after the 1st year. So at the very least, its a welcome addition as now I know how to get them

 

[fabius]

Ah yes, because I didn't just make a point about the sense strategy in a strategy game, let's just ignore that part? Change the rules, change the strategy, really not that hard to grasp. And thanks for ending your absurdity with an insult, just to show what a nice little troll you are.

But since we can't get any further I'll just bring back the worst absurdity you've produced:

You:
Because you don't want missions in the game that you are NOT forced to follow, they should be removed for people that enjoy them? Now that's entitlement at its finest.

Ah, yes I clerarly asked for missions to be removed? Let's see what this "berating" was in response to...

Me previously:
I get it, the I:R gameworld lacks mechanics that promotes action compared to other Paradox games. Bringing missions to the core fixes this, and might very well be what turns the ship around.


Your "berating" of me only makes sense if you are incapable of either reading or thought, pick one.

Yeah, just let it go. "Railroading" may have been a too strong a term. Maybe overly lead by too juicy an incentive. But yes, I'm sure the devs get that missions will be best balanced so their not too strong.

Equally, like you were saying, if it's there it's hard to resist. Or can feel somewhat mandatory. Maybe reframe it as a decision to follow senate suggestion missions, or your own way. Like Caesar, the Senate didn't exactly mandate him to conquer Gaul.

 

[Had a dad]

multiple posts erased, a couple infractions... Play nice or don't play.

 

[Lord Hoosier]

Get rid of the green color for Carthage. It deserves White or Purple.

 

[Lord Hoosier]

On a more serious note, are any paths mutually exclusive?

 

[SjurThing]

Still curious regarding a new open beta, have there been any news on this? From a glance at my unread threads I did not find any obvious candidates for info.

I'm not intending to nag, I understand that it takes time to get something that is deemed stable enough for people to start testing (devs pride) — even though I would gladly use an unstable branch and send in bug reports. I'm a big fan of the "release early, fail hard" philosophy, but I do not know the community enough to know if an unstable beta would only generate anger in the forums.

Anyways godspeed devs <3

 

[BlueTico]

Wait ... anyone can have this? Not just Carthage? I was excited but once again it seems all the nations are the same. Why is this not unique to Carthage?