Well, I've got Europa Universalis III
Joseph Nebus
that show where the interface elements are, but among the obvious big
changes:
- There's no more trading posts. You have to build colonies
or not at all. I approve; trading posts were just exposed territory
anyway.
- There's a limit on how many colonies you can build at once,
and adjacent colonies have a better chance of success. This may cut
down on my six-continent colonial empires but it seems historically
sensible.
- Now armies and navies have a 'military tradition' which wanes
if they aren't used for anything. Could be tricky, but it sounds right
too. If I have had a century of peace it's going to be hard to get an
army that's as good as those of the ever-squabbling states.
- Historical Events are supposed to be more based on satisfying
conditions rather than being the right nation-tag with the right date.
I know I'm going to miss the stability and money events that England
gets for having Isaac Newton at the right time and place but, yeah, if
they did annex France in the 15th century chances are the publication of
the Principia would have gone differently.
- The instruction manual in the box continues the tradition of
not actually explaning anything, and in referring Europa Universalis II
readers to Appendix A in the back of the manual, which ... does not
exist. (It turns out it's hidden in the pdf file, and the printed
manual is just the first section of the pdf.)
- The startup screen includes the sound of coins dropping as it
establishes the history of the scenario. Gently funny.
- Way more government types. I'm a bit intimidated.
More to come if I actually play the game.
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Joseph Nebus
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Michael Emrys
> More to come if I actually play the game.
One question: will this play on a PPC Mac or only Intel machines?
Michael
Joseph Nebus
The interface-demonstration stuff works fine on my G4 PowerBook.
I don't know how well the game plays yet --- I was working on other
things last night --- but it functions at all and it's not like earlier
games in the series have been resource hogs.
--
Joseph Nebus
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Michael Emrys
>> One question: will this play on a PPC Mac or only Intel machines?
>
> The interface-demonstration stuff works fine on my G4 PowerBook.
> I don't know how well the game plays yet --- I was working on other
> things last night --- but it functions at all and it's not like earlier
> games in the series have been resource hogs.
Well, that all sounds like good news.
Since our last exchange of messages a couple of months ago, I've been
playing HoI2 and Doomsday right along and I stand on my first
observation on HoI years ago, which is that when Paradox attempted a WW
II game they stepped out of their metier. It's not a totally bad game,
but for anyone with much knowledge of the WW II era it isn't really
satisfying either. That said, if anyone has produced a WW II game on
this scale that is, it hasn't made it onto my hard drive yet.
The EU game system seems best adapted to the Late Medieval-Early Modern
period of EU, plus that seems to be the era that the game's designers
have the best feel for. At least that's been my impression so far. I
haven't attempted Victoria yet and I know you are a fan of that one, so
I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until I become more
familiar with it. But I have to say that I took a look at the manual
and it didn't draw me right in. I haven't heard the angels singing in
this one yet.
Michael
Joseph Nebus
>On 2009-01-08 08:50:01 -0800, nebusj-@-rpi-.edu (Joseph Nebus) said:
>>> One question: will this play on a PPC Mac or only Intel machines?
>>
>> The interface-demonstration stuff works fine on my G4 PowerBook.
>> I don't know how well the game plays yet --- I was working on other
>> things last night --- but it functions at all and it's not like earlier
>> games in the series have been resource hogs.
>Well, that all sounds like good news.
Oh, yes, another little discovery: while I got the DVD-ROM
edition instead of the direct download, once I did install it and enter
the registration code I don't need the disc to start the game anymore.
It's much like the good old days of video game playing, where there's
no unsightly tying up of the drive.
The game feels a little sluggish, but I think that reflects my
not having the keyboard controls straightened out yet, and not having
the balance of pop-up windows versus game-log reporting right for my
style yet.
Another thing I've discovered: you can only raise one unit
(infantry/cavalry/artillery) from a province at once, which is, I
suppose, more authentic than raising a 12,000-man army in 1453 at
any one spot anywhere. The interface also gives nice little sidebars
showing expected completion dates of new units, as well as notifying
of things like the freedom to change your national traits again or to
assign new advisors. I like the National Idea scheme too.
>Since our last exchange of messages a couple of months ago, I've been
>playing HoI2 and Doomsday right along and I stand on my first
>observation on HoI years ago, which is that when Paradox attempted a WW
>II game they stepped out of their metier. It's not a totally bad game,
>but for anyone with much knowledge of the WW II era it isn't really
>satisfying either. That said, if anyone has produced a WW II game on
>this scale that is, it hasn't made it onto my hard drive yet.
Aw, well, I'm sorry that it hasn't met what you were looking
for. I don't think Doomsday does the World War II era as well as
Victoria does the ... er ... Victorian era, but it does satisfy my
major interests in a way I haven't seen in other games. (For want of
time my current game is still tucked away in 1950, without the big
Soviet-Japanese war resolved and my lingering Hungarian problem.)
>The EU game system seems best adapted to the Late Medieval-Early Modern
>period of EU, plus that seems to be the era that the game's designers
>have the best feel for. At least that's been my impression so far. I
>haven't attempted Victoria yet and I know you are a fan of that one, so
>I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until I become more
>familiar with it. But I have to say that I took a look at the manual
>and it didn't draw me right in. I haven't heard the angels singing in
>this one yet.
That may be. Victoria took me several approaches to get the
hang of because of just how much focus there is to *give* on the
demographics of states and provinces, and on factories. The finance
system --- you gain or lose treasury revenues *every day* --- is also
unnerving, given how unlike it is to even the other Europa Universalis
line games, and how utterly painless it is to go into debt. (There's
no express limit on how many £100-loans you can take out at once
and no time limit either, although you pay interest on the national
debt.) But those demographic and fiscal sides are what I find the most
satisfying about the game, ultimately.
--
Joseph Nebus
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