Hello fellow EU4 players and Paradox members. I love EU4 and have spent many hours playing the game. That said I would like to talk about one particular mechanic in the game that I think has been a little bit overlooked and has caused many unfavorable half measures: namely the technology tree, tech group costs, and in extension westernization.
I have played several campaigns in RoTW, but the experience has always been inferior to playing in Europe due to the increased tech costs. The increased tech costs for RoTW exists to slow down the technology advances of RoTW nations, but also indirectly impacts the gameplay of those nations in negative way. Namely the lack of MP for all the other mechanics in the game that require them, far fewer ideas and the idea groups can be picked far too infrequent and late in the game to play its role.
So what can be done to make gameplay in RoTW equally immersive while keeping tech differences, but also add to the game by making the gameplay in different parts of the world more unique in their own ways? Well, the root cause of the problem is that the single existing tech tree in the game that all nations, wherever they are in the world, must follow is tailored after the Western civilization. So in my opinion the answer is rather simple: remove the increased tech costs and introduce separate tech trees for each tech group.
By introducing separate tech trees all nations get to spend equal amounts of MP on ideas and all the other mechanics, while the tech differences and unique modifiers for tech groups can be placed in the tech trees. The game can then also be more easily balanced since the levels will be equal all over the world. So if the Americans should have canoes and spears when the westerners arrive just compare the tech level x of western with the same tech level x of american.
Separate tech trees will also provide a good way of making the gameplay in different places of the world unique to that area. Sub-Saharan tech group should have reduce attrition in desert climates while westerners should have a very hard time marching far into African mainland. Japan, Korea and China should fight each others with completely different naval units than the western they use now. Hordes should get earlier increased combat with and flanking range. Well the list of possible improvements are endless and I would like to discuss one last thing: namely westernization or as I would like to call it: modernization.
Westernization as implemented right now is too easy and also only leads to the player using gamey strategies to westernize as early as possible. ‘Real’ westernization is, as Wiz stated in a recent thread, also non-existent in the time frame of EU4. So how to make, the better named, modernization better? Well i would suggest to remove the option to ‘click’ the westernization button and instead let the modernization start as an Event chain. The first event would require a minimum year and that the nation borders western civilization. Trade companies or not. The Event chain would eventually lead to a disaster, depending on choices, which happens faster the more bordering provinces there are as well as if the nation is a protectorate. When the disaster fires the nation loses lots of army/navy tradition, legitimacy, get relation penalties with all tech group neighbors and has to win a civil war against reactionaries. So what will the effects of the modernization be now that there isn’t any increased tech cost to remove? Well the nation should get access to gunpowder units, both army and navy. It should also unlock other western tech modifiers that was locked up until that point.
I have played several campaigns in RoTW, but the experience has always been inferior to playing in Europe due to the increased tech costs. The increased tech costs for RoTW exists to slow down the technology advances of RoTW nations, but also indirectly impacts the gameplay of those nations in negative way. Namely the lack of MP for all the other mechanics in the game that require them, far fewer ideas and the idea groups can be picked far too infrequent and late in the game to play its role.
So what can be done to make gameplay in RoTW equally immersive while keeping tech differences, but also add to the game by making the gameplay in different parts of the world more unique in their own ways? Well, the root cause of the problem is that the single existing tech tree in the game that all nations, wherever they are in the world, must follow is tailored after the Western civilization. So in my opinion the answer is rather simple: remove the increased tech costs and introduce separate tech trees for each tech group.
By introducing separate tech trees all nations get to spend equal amounts of MP on ideas and all the other mechanics, while the tech differences and unique modifiers for tech groups can be placed in the tech trees. The game can then also be more easily balanced since the levels will be equal all over the world. So if the Americans should have canoes and spears when the westerners arrive just compare the tech level x of western with the same tech level x of american.
Separate tech trees will also provide a good way of making the gameplay in different places of the world unique to that area. Sub-Saharan tech group should have reduce attrition in desert climates while westerners should have a very hard time marching far into African mainland. Japan, Korea and China should fight each others with completely different naval units than the western they use now. Hordes should get earlier increased combat with and flanking range. Well the list of possible improvements are endless and I would like to discuss one last thing: namely westernization or as I would like to call it: modernization.
Westernization as implemented right now is too easy and also only leads to the player using gamey strategies to westernize as early as possible. ‘Real’ westernization is, as Wiz stated in a recent thread, also non-existent in the time frame of EU4. So how to make, the better named, modernization better? Well i would suggest to remove the option to ‘click’ the westernization button and instead let the modernization start as an Event chain. The first event would require a minimum year and that the nation borders western civilization. Trade companies or not. The Event chain would eventually lead to a disaster, depending on choices, which happens faster the more bordering provinces there are as well as if the nation is a protectorate. When the disaster fires the nation loses lots of army/navy tradition, legitimacy, get relation penalties with all tech group neighbors and has to win a civil war against reactionaries. So what will the effects of the modernization be now that there isn’t any increased tech cost to remove? Well the nation should get access to gunpowder units, both army and navy. It should also unlock other western tech modifiers that was locked up until that point.
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