Thinking about buying EUIV- have a few questions

[DPKdebator]

Hello all, and I'm considering saving up for Europa Universalis IV. However, I have a few questions regarding both this and Steam (as I'm new to both):


1. How much of a fun factor does it have between highlights? Is it like HOI3 where you blandly have to follow history or Victoria 2 where you're only able to get away with managing your country, or is there something wild at every turn?

2. I'd like to try the demo- do I need a Steam account for this?

3. How easily moddable is it? Is there a map based editor that lets me do things like change ownership, add provinces, and change names? PS: I don't know any code

4. Which expansions should I buy to start off? If I buy Conquest of Paradise, is it possible to disable random new world?

5. What is the difficulty of playing as an Irish minor? Which one is easiest?

6. How easy is it to setup multiplayer? Does Steam auto-connect you?

I might have another Q or 2, but most likely not. Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[Stormbringer]

I'll give it a shot answering.

1. It is a lot more open-ended than HOI2 and Vicky2. Take a look at the "Post your Empire" thread. People have conquered the world with Ulm and colonized Americas with the Byzantines. There are 400 years to play with so a lot more things can go differently than in other games.

3. It is easily modable, but I do not know of a utility that would let you do so. I think, in fact, because it is so easy to mod the actual game files which are all just text files there hasn't been a big need for a utility. Mods are by no means necessary to enjoy the game btw.

4. You do not need any to enjoy the game. Just try the base game and see if you like it. Art of War is a major one and just came out. You can disable random new world (it is disabled by default in fact).

5. Extreme. This is not CK2, Ireland is not a good place to start learning. Give Castille a try instead.

I would certainly suggest you buy the game. Its a great series for anyone who likes history and strategy.

 

[IIWW]

1. At every turn - no. But it's far more alternative history than Vicky or HoI. Especially than HoI.
2. Propably, You need to play the full game anyway
3. There is no editor, but it's easily modable. You don't need to know any code, since it's very simple. + there are ton's of mods already
4. I'd say Res Publica, for national focus. The rest are better in overall, but they don't have a single such useful option. In CoP You can disable Random new world (or maybe: You can enable it, since it's disabled at default)
5. Not much difference between them, they are relatively hard, since they lack natural path of expansion aside from early conquest of Ireland and colonization. Of course more experience player can do more with them, but then again, there are tons of Byzantine empires in the "post Your empire" thread. For choice: look at BT of provinces, choose the one with the highest, I think it's Connaught.
6. Very easy, AFAIR steam auto-connects You.
If You have more questions don't hesitate to ask

 

[crownsteler]

1a) The game gives you a lot of freedom, and very little of is forced upon you. Most of what happens, happens quite naturally. This does come at the cost of flavour and immersion IMO.
1b) The game revolves completely around warfare. Outside of it there is very little to do. I found colonising and exploring really fun, but that got quite routine after a while as well. Playing inside the Holy Roman Empire adds some additional mechanics as well.
2) It would seem so. Setting up a steam account is easy enough.
3) No map editor or anything like it. Few other tools as well. The code is really easy to learn though.
4) I don't own Art of War, but it seems like the one to choose. It is adds more generalised content, whereas the others focus more on specific play styles.
5) Irish minor is going to be hard. The game is rather unforgiving if you are small. Try a bigger country first, if you mess up, it aint so bad.

 

[oldroad]

I've played a number of games as the Ottomans when I first started. None of them have been the same as far as actions by the Balkans, Austria and Hungary to the west and the various and numerous Muslim countries to the north, east, and south. So not only does the game not follow history completely, it doesn't even act the same from one play of a country to the next. That's not to say that some historical events aren't scripted in (the Hundred Years War is ongoing at the start, the War of Roses and Iberian Wedding may or may not take place, some events are just scripted as information to give historical context or show when the initial country to use cannons starts, etc), but those events don't necessarily turn out as they did in history. Argon could be the leading power after the Iberian Wedding, not Castile. Portugal could be the country that forms what is now Spain. Colonization of the New World goes nothing like it did historically. The same powers may be involved, but who lands where and how they proceed will be completely different.

 

[DPKdebator]

Thanks for the help, I'll see what happens.

I also have a few more questions:

1. Is version 1.8 vanilla or does it need an expansion?

2. Will Steam auto-update the game?

 

[RobRoy3]

Thanks for the help, I'll see what happens.

I also have a few more questions:

1. Is version 1.8 vanilla or does it need an expansion?

2. Will Steam auto-update the game?

1.8 is vanilla. Whether you "need" the expansions is somewhat subjective. Paradox's DLC philosophy is to provide most of the changes free of charge, so 1.8 will include most of the changes to date. But they keep a few features behind the DLC paywall for each expansion. Since the DLC sales fund the improvement of the game as a whole, most people find this a reasonable model. As a beginner, you may not notice the absence of the paid DLC features. But as you get into the game, you'll probably find their absence irritating and will want to pay to play with them. Conquest of Paradise, for example, included the ability to Support Independence of another nation's vassal or Personal Union partner; Res Publica included the ability to set a Focus for your Monarch Points; Art of War includes improved mechanics for religious wars in the Holy Roman Empire. You can probably find a comprehensive list of what's behind the paywall by searching the forum; it's in the patchnotes for Art of War.

Steam will automatically update the game to 1.8. Sometimes people don't like this. If you're one of them, for future updates, you can copy the game files to a different folder to preserve previous versions. Some previous versions are available as "beta".