New to EU

klesh · May 11, 2002, 17:23

Actually EUII. Just bought it today. I'm about to install it and I am wondering if there is anything I should know to get me up to speed. Patches etc?

I hope this game fills the void from the dissapointing CivIII, but for $19.99 US, how can one go wrong!?!

I look forward to rappin strategy with you all once I get my game up and runnin'.

Happy Civ...er...um... Universalin'!

-FMK.

Mordoch · May 11, 2002, 17:30

Make sure you download the 1.04 patch, there are different ones for each publisher of the game. The official webiste with alot of information about the game in the forums is right here.

klesh · May 11, 2002, 17:35

Heh, a step ahead of you there with the forums and website. Looking for patch data now. Different publishers you say? Hmmm, I guess mine would be Paradox (US)? We'll see. Do you suggest the turtorial scenarios for me to get started? There really seems to be alot to learn in this one.

/me drools.

-FMK.

uh Clem · May 11, 2002, 17:36

Current patch (for North America at least) is 1.04; I think 1.05 is due out in the next week or two.

There are lots of features that are either not explained in the manual or only slightly so. Check the forums at http://www.europa-universalis.com/. They're essential, and you'll learn more there than anywhere else.

I bought EUII when it came out, tried it a bit, thought it was too much to bother with, and put it aside. Then a couple months later, I tried it again and since then it's the only game I've played.

Edit: x-post

Mordoch · May 11, 2002, 17:44

The publisher for North American is Strategy First, you can find it a the bottom of the page here.

klesh · May 11, 2002, 17:44

North American patch commin down the pipes now. I'll install, then patch it up, and try a tutorial.

Yes, I have heard that this game is very complicated. That is one thing that I really enjoy about certain games. What I am not so sure about is that this is apparently a RTS game? I have read about the pause and gamepley slowdown feature, but I hope that I do not get rushed. I hate being rushed.

I just need something new to really get into. CivII still holding its own, but CivIII is horrible, imho. Hopefully this can catch my intrests a bit. Though, I wonder why such a short timescale. I might have prefered a bit longer, or at least slide the eras back a little. Finnish with WWI era perhaps.

What are the battles? Are they Civ-esque? How do you controll your units or armies? Do all the units have to be in armies for them to move (at the rate of the slowest unit in that army, of course)? So many questions....ahhhhhhhh. I love getting new badarse games! w00t!!1!

-FMK.

Mordoch · May 11, 2002, 18:22

The army work is someone abstrated, it is more a game of grand strategy than individual combat. The time scale is someone long if you think about it, the problem with a civ like game is that the differences between different periods of history are not accounted for. The game focuses on a particular period of time so that it can account for the unique traits of that era. The WWI era is an entirely differnt feel than the situation during this period of history, i.e. railroads mean that armies can rapidly be transported from one end of and empire to another. While it is technically an rts game, the fact you can simply pause an issue orders at any time means that you can play the game like it is turn based. A key thing to keep in mind is that the game really is based on history, and knowledge of how things were like in Europe during a particular period can help you determine how the actual game rules operate.

Mark_Everson · May 11, 2002, 18:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Field Marshal Klesh
What I am not so sure about is that this is apparently a RTS game? I have read about the pause and gamepley slowdown feature, but I hope that I do not get rushed. I hate being rushed.

Hiya Field Marshal Klesh:

I Hate RTS stuff too, but the pause and speed controls make this pretty much a non-issue for EU2. Hope it works out the same for you.

klesh · May 17, 2002, 10:32

Hey everybody.

What a steep learning curve eh? Well I have had a few games under my belt now, and am really starting to feel more comfortable with the game.

I've taken a few missions for points, made a few trade agreements and such. Declared war, annex provinces. In general, just feeling more comfortable.

I have been playing on the easiest levels, with mostly the easiest nations but one thing always is seeming to escape me. $$$!! I can never seem to make more than 100-200 ducats per year, which is immediatly used to fill the ranks of a nearby armee that has dwindled in this past year. So there I go, slowly eating up the treasury of whichever nation I start with, till I get down to 0, then I proceed with a stagnant game untill my enemies overrun me.

I have tried placing my merchants about, even aquiring a monopoly here and there. But these never seem you yield much cash. I certainly never have enough ducats to build shipyards, manufactories or any infastructure things.

Any thoughts? I will say that I havent focused at all on colonies or trading depots. I have been busy enough at this time on the Euro continent, fighting and holding my borders... perhaps this is the problem.

-FMK.

Maniac · May 17, 2002, 11:47

In the beginning it's normal you only earn 100-200 ducats a year and that you have to spend it all on the military (or at least I think so; I'm still playing my first game). The trick is to get 5 merchants in every CoT (not a monopoly! - too hard to keep). That should give you a few 100 ducats per year a few decades after the game's started. Eg, in my Denmark game, normal difficulty and aggressiveness, I now (1515) earn 1300 ducats per year, of which some 40% is due to trade income. (EU Vets, is that a reasonable amount??)

Btw, I think it's normal you can't do much infrastructural works. I'm almost playing a century now, and I've only built 5 tax collectors and fortresses, and merely one 'factory', a Fine Arts Academy in my capital.

General Ludd · May 17, 2002, 12:30

For money, you have to keep a good balance on how much you want to spend on building military, and maintaining it afterwards - it's best not to build a military larger then your supply limit, unless it is greatly needed.

Next, you have to consider your budget spending and what to invest in, putting money into Trade and Infrastructure will ultimately lead to more money coming in, and you can keep a little bit of the money in your treasurey every month - but be careful not to take too much or your inflation will inrease. (and be sure to invest some in weapons technologies aswell, or you will fall behind)

Finally, you have to consider what infrastructe to build and in which provinces, I tend to build tax collectors and upgrade to chief justice whenever I have a bit of spare money lying around, and mayor's offices only when I have inflation of 1%+ in order to keep my inflation down.

As for the manufactories:

The Art Ccemdy is the most expensive manufactory, and may also be the most useless one depending on your situation - it's bonus is an investment into stability every month, which is completely wasted if you have a stable country, however, if you have domestic policies (or other factors) that makes it hard to keep your country stable this can be of great help. It's best to build them in capitals.
The Brewery is one of the earlier manufactories you will get access to, and can be of great help in the early game. Aside from the regular income that all manufactories bring in, it provides a bonus to trade investment everymonth - which will ultimately allow you to make monoplies and make trade embargos earlier on in the game, and also increase the efficiency of your merchants. It's best to build them in Wine or Sugar provinces.
Goods Factories, aside from the usual incomes, provide a bonus to Infrastrcute and although you may think this isn't very worthwhile since it is the last improvement you get in the infrastrcture department, it is still very valuable because advances in infrastruce always increses the overall income of your country. (it improves every aspect of your income except for trade revenues) They are best built in Cloth, cotton, or tobacco provinces and are also the cheapest manufactory to build.
Weapons Manufactories are, perhaps, the most practical manufactory you can build. Unlike most of the others, they actually provide two bonuses, firstly they provide a bonus to weapons investment, and secondly they provide a bonus to your army supply limit which allows you to maintain a larger army for a smaller cost. They are best built in copper or iron provinces.
Naval Manufactories are the same as above, only inregard to the navy - their bonus to naval support isn't always as useful, though. They are best built in Fish or Naval Supply provinces.

General Ludd · May 17, 2002, 12:37

And some other general tips on money making....

Domestic policies can have a lage effect on your income, both directly and indirectly - when changing them be sure to consider the impact that smaller supply limits, higher stabilty costs, ect... can have on your country.

Loaning money to countries can be very profitable - if you have spare money lying around, and can find someone willing to take a loan.

Monopolies in busy CoTs can be extremely hard to keep, if you own the CoT you can make trade embargoes to keep some of the other countries out, or you can focus your efforts on foreign CoTs that don't have alot of european competition - these are usually the biggest and best CoTs to get a monopoly in, but can be very costly to send merchants to. (that can be changed with domestic policies, though...)

Maniac · May 17, 2002, 15:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
And some other general tips on money making....
Loaning money to countries can be very profitable - if you have spare money lying around, and can find someone willing to take a loan.

Yeah, but first you have to upgrade your relations with lots of ducats before they accept a loan. Or not? In any case, I haven't been able yet to get a loan offer accepted. Though I gave up after my first few tries...

Havard · May 17, 2002, 15:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
For money, you have to keep a good balance on how much you want to spend on building military, and maintaining it afterwards - it's best not to build a military larger then your supply limit, unless it is greatly needed.

Could this be the reason for the fiscal problems of the good Field Marshal? Are you within our supportable amount of troops? Paying extra maintenance can be very expensive...

Shadowstrike · May 17, 2002, 18:24

The supply limit is a fickle problem indeed. Generally, you'll want to have a bit more troops then the supply limit, otherwise, you probably have quality too low. Just keep it within say 10k or so over the supply limit at most and you should be fine (excepting of course playing a micronation)

klesh · May 17, 2002, 20:18

Quote:

Originally posted by Havard

Could this be the reason for the fiscal problems of the good Field Marshal? Are you within our supportable amount of troops? Paying extra maintenance can be very expensive...

Well I was building building building troops, unitll I came across this part of the manual. I then checked, and I was well below the support limit. My problem might have been fighting too much? I wanted to strike early blows at france to see if I could destroy her forces early on. Obviously with my minimal ammount of income, attrition (not in the game sense) got to me and I just couldnt keep up. France had blasted through Alsace and was commming right for Austria and I when she chose to fight me first. This, combined with uprisings in my Polish conquests, allowed for nothing but immediatly buying troops.

Perhaps I just need to take things more slowly in the game. With RTS games, I know the computer is always making every decision all the time. None of his units are stagnant and such. So i get this feeling that if I dont hit up the AI fast and hard, that they will mechanically outproduce me anyway. Hmmm. More to come...

-FMK.

uglyduck · May 18, 2002, 02:59

You have hit on the key. Take things more slowly it is a long game. Let the other nations cut each others throats for a while then step in and take over the weakened ones.

Dauphin · May 18, 2002, 07:56

The longer you are at war, and the more people you are at war with, increases the chances that someone else wil decalre war on you too. Its a domino effect. I remember one game, where I was at war with almost every European nation.

St Leo · May 18, 2002, 17:09

I can never seem to make more than 100-200 ducats per year, which is immediatly used to fill the ranks of a nearby armee that has dwindled in this past year.

1. If your armies are dwindling, they are too large for the provinces in which they are sitting. Let them dwindle down to their optimal size or upgrade a fortress there ASAP.
2. Large standing armies are VERY EXPENSIVE to maintain in EU2. Check your army tab from time to time and keep the maintenance at 50% when you are not at war.

Yeah, but first you have to upgrade your relations with lots of ducats before they accept a loan. Or not? In any case, I haven't been able yet to get a loan offer accepted. Though I gave up after my first few tries...

Under older patches, distant countries with -200 relationships loved to fund your expansion by accepting large loans from you. This is considered an exploit.

The longer you are at war, and the more people you are at war with, increases the chances that someone else wil decalre war on you too. Its a domino effect. I remember one game, where I was at war with almost every European nation.

Perhaps that was because you annexed a lot of land and people were jumping in because of your badboy value.

Dauphin · May 19, 2002, 11:51

Well there was that.

What gives the bad boy image? Say you never declare war, only ever fight defensively and when peace is offered you only ever accept cash.

Does your reputation suffer just by being rich and powerful, even if you are isolationist and none conquest oriented?

St Leo · May 19, 2002, 12:57

Does your reputation suffer just by being rich and powerful, even if you are isolationist and none conquest oriented?

No. In fact, with 0 BB, your relations will improve.

Dauphin · May 19, 2002, 13:33

0 BB - bad boy? I am not upto speed on abbreviations.

So if you take out provinces, but never annex, you won't annoy anyone?

Havard · May 19, 2002, 18:28

BB = badboy. It's an indicator on how "bad" you have behaved... Annexing a country military give 5 BB "points", annexing non-core provinces give BB, declaring war without a CB etc...

The rating you see in your diplomatic screen ("We have a honorable reputation"...."We are worse than dishonorable scum" etc) reflect that BB rating.

To answer your question: You do not get BB for taking core-provinces (those with a little shield on it in the political map) or annexing pagan countries (as a non-pagan - new in 1.05) - apart from this you get BB points for all provinces you take...

If you get enough BB your relations with other countries will detoriate, they will try to bring you down (in war) etc.