Paradox Interactive Games Thread

[dead0man]

The new patch for HOI4 is ballin' too.

[dead0man]

I didn't discover Paradox games until like, two years ago, so I've only played HOI4 and CK2 (I've dabbled with HOI3 and and EU4).  HOI4 is one of those games that's more fun to think about playing than it is to actually play sometimes.  I probably feel that way because I'm really bad at it and feel like I shouldn't be.

[dead0man]

I hope you can do direct military control of allies in HOI4.

usually not, but sometimes (rarely) your lesser allies will let you control all their dudes, but not normally.  I'm not good enough or smart enough to know if you can force this.  Perhaps you could use the control prompt somehow.

[dead0man]

The splitting of your lands among your various sons can be frustrating.  It's often pretty easy to just declare war on the younger son right away as he usually gets the lesser counties and duchies.  Sometimes (I think if they are really weak) they will accept a Vassilization (sp?) right away, but rarely.  Just don't spend a lot of coin upgrading your sh**t in the counties you will be losing, especially as your charterer gets older.

I'm still figuring the game out though, so my advice might not be on point.  I wish it was easier to.....get to know your court.  I want to be more emotionally involved in the game, but it's kind of hard to.  Sometimes it happens organically in the game, but not as often as it should and I'm pretty sure it's more my fault than the game.

[dead0man]

this is just my personal experience but the game became so much more immersive when it clicked for me just how important character traits are. They aren't just stat modifiers, they determine entirely how every AI character acts (and it's all surprisingly intuitive, too)

a few examples: a brave and ambitious vassal will be the one leading the faction to overthrow you.  An envious and greedy council member will be the one who steals money from you. A trusting, content wife will almost never catch you cheating on her. A gregarious and gluttonous drunkard will definitely be the guy who accidentally tells everyone about your secret assassination plot.

A character's particular combination of traits lets you know their entire personality. Once I realized that, individual characters stood out so much more for me and I even started to notice emergent storytelling

The German in me just wants to see the numbers and it's keeping me from fully enjoying the game and it's frustrating to see that and not be able to get passed it.  I'm trying and I really want to enjoy the game.  It presses a lot of my buttons and some that have never been pressed before in a video game.

I suspect the "openness" of it is throwing me off my ...ahem...game too.  Is it even possible to "take over the world" in a Civ kind of way?  I suppose it has to be.  I have a hard time getting out of Ireland.  Hell, I don't even know if there is a proper end

[dead0man]

Is it even possible to "take over the world" in a Civ kind of way?

check out this ironman Byzantium game I've been playing on-and-off for a few months now - I've accomplished all this in a mere 150 years! Still another five centuries left before the game ends so I have plenty of time to conquer the rest of the world



religious map

that's all very impressive, it's hard for me to get past Wales.   What's the deal with </Sienfeld> the Iconoclast bit?  I'm guessing cool new options like this become available if you're in control of Rome?

[dead0man]

ahhh...earliest start date as in 866 (or whatever the earliest DLC lets your start) or the Vanilla 1066 earliest start date?

[dead0man]

Yeah, I found CK2 way easier to get into than EU4 was....at least for me.  I have not played Victoria.

[dead0man]

I need to get some DLC for CK2, any suggestions outside of the character builder one which I'm already planning on getting.  It would be nice to play as the Mongolians and/or start in 866(?) instead of 1066.  And I think vanilla limited the mod choices I had, but it's been a month or so since I looked and it was just the once.  I'd look now, but I'm at work and the DoD frowns on installing Steam on thier networks for some reason.

[dead0man]

whoa, thanks man!

I ended up getting a "pack" of DLC, but I don't exactly remember what was included. (and I'm at work where they don't let me log into Steam for some reason...JERKS!) I know it has The Old Gods, Legacy of Rome and Way of Life.  I got the one that lets you modify your dude too.

I do have the GoT mod, I think I've played that more than Vanilla at this point.  Sacking King's Landing is fun, but cutting Jof's head off is even more fun.

[dead0man]

whoa, thanks man!

I ended up getting a "pack" of DLC, but I don't exactly remember what was included. (and I'm at work where they don't let me log into Steam for some reason...JERKS!) I know it has The Old Gods, Legacy of Rome and Way of Life.  I got the one that lets you modify your dude too.

I do have the GoT mod, I think I've played that more than Vanilla at this point.  Sacking King's Landing is fun, but cutting Jof's head off is even more fun.

k, I'm home and remembered this thread (thanks Mr Wallace), I have the three I mentioned and The Sword of Islam.

I'm putting Conclave, Reaper's Due and Monks and Mystics on "the list" though.

[dead0man]

Maybe I'm just bad at the game, but does anyone have any advice for dealing with revolts? There are so, so many pretender risings and it's very annoying. Imprisoning the claimants and executing them just seems to cause more revolts, as my vassals then hate me for being a "tyrant". Having my spymaster scheme sometimes stops the growth of factions, but only temporarily.

Stop executing them, just let them rot in prison and be nice to their heir in the mean time.

[dead0man]

What's an "easy" country to learn the game with?  (I'm still thinking about getting it, but leaning towards it)

[dead0man]

Cool, just got it.

[dead0man]

I don't know why I'm so bad at these games.  Played as USA in first game, did nothing for my military and did nothing to appease the slavers, so the CSA rebelled a decade before I was expecting them to and I wasn't ready...at all for it.  So the plan was to see how the early war played out and if it went bad, just let them go.  As it's playing out (and not well because I have no idea what I'm doing), Mexico decides they want Oregon.  So I make peace with the CSA and then go about getting my ass handed to me by Mexico.  So I quit and start another w/ USA, balance my tech better, and I still got my sh**t pushed in.  Not as bad, but uggg...I had the same problem with HOI4 for the first 40 games or so, just not playing well.  I suspect it's because I basically ignore large parts of the game because I don't understand them, am I supposed to be doing something in the Trade section?  'cause I'm not.  I get to like 80% liberal, but I'm still electing Democrats?

[dead0man]

My third game with the US is going much better (I had a game with Brazil in the meantime, it wasn't a complete sh**t show).  Easily won the Civil and Mexican wars.  I've got all 50 states, plus the three most northern Mexican states and Belieze!  I got Belieze and the rest of Alaska 'cause the UK keeps declaring war on me and I beat their ass the first two times.

...

This thid time war is not going so well.  It's 1902ish, the UK has several giant stacks of doom roaring around Canada taking back all the land I grabbed early in the war, and have moved hard into New England.  I'm just starting to build up the navy and have had mixed success jumping the UK's blockaders, I've cleared most of the eastern Pacific, but once I clean out a chunk of Atlantic ocean of 4-10 UK wooden ships, they refill the chunk with 5-8 steel ones.

but that's not important.  I think my issue this game was not making any friends and not keeping my Army and Navy on top things during peace time.  I'm trying to make friends with France, but I think it's too late.  I can give up Alaska or NE and get peace, but I worry about for how long.


The important thing is for me to learn from it.  Is the UK attacking me so much becuae I was a bit of a bully towards Mexico?  Or just because I'm "doing better"?

[dead0man]

I'm very much enjoying Victoria 2, probably the most enjoyable of the Paradox games as far as actually playing the game goes.  I still love the idea of Hearts of Iron, but actually playing it can be a chore sometimes.


So, uhhhh, anybody play the Total War games?  I'm a virgin and my son got me Total War Saga:Thrones of Britannia.  It kind of looks like Civ5/6, has aspects of Crusader Kings, but as a RTS layer that is kind of fun.  Otherwise, I'm totally confused

[dead0man]

I have a mediocre computer and the only time I ever notice a slow down (other than during saves and "big events") on any Paradox games is late in HOI4 games when 3-10 countries have many hundreds of units.

[dead0man]

I name my kids after family members, friends and famous people (never politicians though, that would be too nerdy by half)....that's what I do in all games where I can name people.

[dead0man]

Thank you for alerting me of this sale. I now have five days to find six extra dollars somewhere.

TV tells us to check under the couch cushions

[dead0man]

So, the new Navy set up in HOI4 is confusing.  It was already my least favorite part of the game (though not the most forgotten about by me during games, that was and still is the air force), and they just made it all the more confusing.  I guess the best way to do it is to have a cruiser or two with a dozen or so destroyers on "patrol" in each region with a bigger/stronger "strike force" for each fleet.  But holy hell that's a lot of micro management for the bigger navies (UK,US,Italy).  I don't mind the new "fuel" system, and playing as the US is certainly more fun with the politics added in, but that naval system almost makes me want to go back to a previous version.

[dead0man]

say a fella wanted to get Civ 6 during the Steam Summer Sale, any suggestions to him as to which way to purchase it.  Seems there are three options.
1.Base game=$15
2.Digital Deluxe (base game+the 1st 6 exp civs....Australia,Khmer,Nubians,Persians,Poland and Vikings)=$20
3.Gold Edition (all of the above + Rise and Fall DLC)=$30

The other DLC, Gathering Storm, is 25% off at $30 as well.



Several things to consider.  I probably will never play the civ specific scenarios.  I've traditionally played heavily modded versions of this kind of game, so are the mods good and easy to do and which expansions and DLCs do I need to get "the best" mods?  I still play Civ4 more than any other single game.  I own Civ 5, but just the base game, never really got into it.  The wife has Civ6 already so I've played it some and it does seem more fun than 5, so I'm not too concerned I won't like it...ok, maybe a little.

[dead0man]

I forgot the wife had bought it already, so I've been playing hers with the Steam share thing, but you're probably right.

[dead0man]

I forgot the wife had bought it already, so I've been playing hers with the Steam share thing, but you're probably right.

How different is Civ 6 from Civ 5, actually? I do like Civ 5 and my only experience with 6 is watching a few youtube videos but from what I have seen it looks... incredibly similar to 5. Much more so than 5 was to 4, 4 was to 3, and 3 was to 2 (I never played civ 1, before my time, so I can't speak to it)

it plays more enjoyable than 5, the "districts" mechanic isn't a bad one and the fighting is better....but, like 5, the AI is just HORRIBLE at fighting.  I just got back from vacation, the first "comfort" game I played when I got home was Civ4.  You are right that 5/6 are the most alike of all the Civ games, if only in feel if nothing else.

[dead0man]

Erdogan is a fragile man, something like this could set him off.  Didn't a couple of central American countries get in a fight over soccer once?  Would anyone be surprised if the Turks got set off over a video game?