Why is (West) Africa 'playable'?

[ZappyVlaams]

Hello,

I was wondering why it is possible to colonize/conquer so much land in West Africa. I know it's in part because there are nations there, but why make the whole region playable in the first place? As far as I know, European involvement in Africa was limited to coastal trading posts, yet this game allows you to own a vast piece of land in the Saharah region, something which even Victoria doesn't allow you to do at game's start in 1836. Ultimately, what happens in most games, is that the AI thinks colonizing Africa is as good an idea as colonizing the Americas and the whole area becomes European; I've even seen the Hansa move their capital there. It just seems ridiculous. I'd think it would be a good idea to reduce Africa to just coastal provinces, except for North Africa, South Africa and maybe the Ethiopia area. This would result in West African nations being removed, but seriously, who ever plays these nations except people looking for a challenge? When do these countries ever play a significant role in the course of a grand campaign?

 

[Stefanos_P]

Nonesense.

I need to conquer Mali for the slaves, ivory, and the gold, sweet sweet shiny gold.

Also the coastal CoT is nice if you're a colonizer.

 

[Shiranui]

I need to conquer Mali for the slaves, ivory, and the gold, sweet sweet shiny gold.

But you can get that from coastal provinces.

 

[cuendillar]

Hello,

I was wondering why it is possible to colonize/conquer so much land in West Africa. I know it's in part because there are nations there, but why make the whole region playable in the first place? As far as I know, European involvement in Africa was limited to coastal trading posts, yet this game allows you to own a vast piece of land in the Saharah region, something which even Victoria doesn't allow you to do at game's start in 1836. Ultimately, what happens in most games, is that the AI thinks colonizing Africa is as good an idea as colonizing the Americas and the whole area becomes European; I've even seen the Hansa move their capital there. It just seems ridiculous. I'd think it would be a good idea to reduce Africa to just coastal provinces, except for North Africa, South Africa and maybe the Ethiopia area. This would result in West African nations being removed, but seriously, who ever plays these nations except people looking for a challenge? When do these countries ever play a significant role in the course of a grand campaign?

The Europeans may not have been going deep into Africa, but under the Saadi dynasty, Morocco actually reached all the way south to conquer Gao and Timbuktu from Songhai in 1591. They went via the Tuat-Taodeni route that is also available to them in-game. Giving them that possibility, assuming Castille doesn't annex them long before that, seems reasonable enough to me. It's not all about Europe, after all.

 

[cacra]

When do these countries ever play a significant role in the course of a grand campaign?

you could also say the same about loads of opms, i think they are more in there for flavour rather than historical accuracy.

 

[ZappyVlaams]

The Europeans may not have been going deep into Africa, but under the Saadi dynasty, Morocco actually reached all the way south to conquer Gao and Timbuktu from Songhai in 1591. They went via the Tuat-Taodeni route that is also available to them in-game. Giving them that possibility, assuming Castille doesn't annex them long before that, seems reasonable enough to me. It's not all about Europe, after all.

Right, when was the last time you saw that happen? How often have you seen those provinces being colonized by Europeans? How often by Morocco?

 

[Shiranui]

Well it would be better to just make West Africa very unattractive to Europeans, except like the Ivory and Gold coasts.

 

[midget_roxx]

Well it would be better to just make West Africa very unattractive to Europeans, except like the Ivory and Gold coasts.

It already is very unattractive. Grain, base tax1, high aggressiveness with large native populations yet AI will still try to colonise.

I found the best way to reduce the amount of colonisers was increasing the spread of land/sea provinces. This allows for usually only the historical colonisers to grab the african/american provinces instead of random french and italian minors, while decreasing the overall colonised provinces.

 

[Nunn45]

I presume they are their for the same reason you have anyone in America for example, their were proper Nations around and this is a game were you are ment to be able to play any nation in the world at the time, not just Europe.
Its less a flaw in having Countries in these areas then how easy it is to conquer them and Colonise the area.

 

[Antonius66]

Hell, if anything I hate that MORE land is not available. I hate permanent terra incognita. I want to control every last square inch.

 

[KaptainMorganWo]

This really is a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." scenario. As an African history enthusiast, I'd like to see more variety in the African territories, countries, and provinces; but I also see where this is a problem in the game.

Personally, I think that all of the provinces in Western Africa should be either part of the main players (Songhai, Mali, Benin), or be One Province Minors instead of colonisable territory. Sub-Saharan African countries and provinces should also have harsh penalties for European conquerors until the VERY late game, and the European AI should be programed in such a way that it only takes interest in Africa if it has interests in the Indian or Pacific Oceans.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

It's not all about Europe, after all.

The game is called Europa Universalis.

Europe is drawn larger on the map in proportion to the other continents.

Europe is also the densest in terms of provinces and also the richest.

European states are "recommended" states for almost every bookmark.

 

[AndreasPhokas]

The game is called Europa Universalis.

Europe is drawn larger on the map in proportion to the other continents.

Europe is also the densest in terms of provinces and also the richest.

European states are "recommended" states for almost every bookmark.

most people have an issue with the game being so eurocentric. It should content some bias to europe but eu3 goes a bit overboard. Realistically one of the best ways to limit europe is to nulify the ability to ship 20k troops anywhere in the world. All im saying on this topic there are already other threads about this games eurocentrism etc.

 

[Nunn45]

The game is called Europa Universalis.

Europe is drawn larger on the map in proportion to the other continents.

Europe is also the densest in terms of provinces and also the richest.

European states are "recommended" states for almost every bookmark.

Its mainly about Europe yes, but its NOT all about europe, otherwise you wouldnt get to play anything but it.