I've been slowly moving from RTS/TBS/strategy hybrids like Total War with plenty of action to pure TBS/strategy games that aren't heavy in the action department. I'm finding that the more a video game simulates a board game feel, the more I like it. The Europa Universails series seems incredibly deep, but I was scared away by GalCiv2 for years and have finally begun to learn it and love it. So would anyone recommend the Europa Universalis for a player like me?
I picked up EU:Rome a while back and love it. One thing that I'd warn you about though is that EU is not TBS, it is technially real time but you can pause and give commands. But, if you like the Total War series and GalCiv 2, then the EU games might be worth a look, dunno if theres a demo out htere though...
EU is the most incredibly series of games ever. I didn't really get into EU3 until a few months ago. Honestly, I was put off by its 3D graphics and routinely played EU2 up until the switch, but some of the gameplay tweaks and improvements more than made up for the graphics (for me at least).
The developers are a lot like the folks around here. They don't just shove the game out the door to make a buck. It's a labour of love and they invest a lot of themselves in bettering the game.
You're right, the game is deep and there's a learning curve, but it really shouldn't take too long for things to sink in.
I would highly recommend EU3 plus the two expansion packs, Napoleon's Ambition and In Nomine. You can buy the whole set (called EU3: Complete) for about $30. The series adds a lot of depth to parts of the game that virtually all other strategy games ignore completely (intricate diplomatic relations, choosing which national laws to invoke, treatment of different ethnic and religious groups, rebellions with a purpose and goals, and the list goes on). I love it for the fact that it offers so much that no other game does. It's the only game where I actually enjoy unrest and rebellions. The rebels have a leader and a purpose, and can be negotiated with. I'm more lukewarm on EU: Rome, but I haven't tried the new expansion yet.
I also wouldn't call them real-time games. In reality, 1 day is the smallest unit of time in the game. Nothing, including unit movement, occurs on a shorter timescale than 1 day. The only thing that makes it slightly real-time-ish is that, because most things you do in the game take many "turns" (i.e. days) to complete, the game automatically chugs along through the days until you tell it to stop. You can also configure it to automatically stop when any one of many dozens of events occur.
Eu needs both XP's to be a good game, but with it the game is very good.
EU:R is a SWEET ASS culmination of the EU experience. I highly recommend it for anyone with a more then passing interest into strategy game play.
For classical play the EU-Complete is a winner hands down.
Both EU3+expansions and EU:R+expansion are excellent games. They also have games that take place in the Victorian era as well as WW2 but they lack some of the depth of the more current games.
I have killed many hours(much more than I should have) playing the games of Paradox Interactive. I would recomend starting with EU-Complete. In my mind it is the most polished of the two I mentioned above. Also, I will warn you that unlike most games you will want to read the manual and do all of the tutorials before you play the game. There is so much going on that w/o doing so you will become overwelmed by the game play and everything going on. As mentioned before there is definatly a learning curve.
Not disagreeing with you when it comes to HoI or HoI2, but wasn't the problem with Victoria that it had too much depth and an interface that couldn't handle it?
Sounds to me like you might enjoy EU3 + Napoleon's Ambition and In Nomine. I'm not sure how many people here will agree with me, but the game really got a lot better with the two expansions. Upon release, things like the lack of a sea patrol option really bugged me since I was coming from EU2, but that feature got added later on thankfully.
You would be correct in my opinion.
BTW: GG has a Paradox pack which includes ALL its base titles on sale right now for $50!!! You can see it here. A Super value to be sure!!
I was greatly dissapointed with EU: Rome, but to be fair, I only tried it after the first patch, then decided to give it a year to be fixed by the fans.
Europa Universalis 3, however, is simply excellent with all expansions installed as well as the mod Magna Mundi. This seems to be the case with most of the paradox games, they start out somewhat playable, but easiy customizable, and ends up being excellent.
I've only ever played the original EU, and I found it to be be very unintuitive in terms of combat resolution. Nothing tells you how to win battles, and you can go from victory to defeat in a matter of moments even with all the advantages you can muster.
That being said, it was an incredibly deep game. If you can stand the stupidity of the combat system, it's a pretty good empire game.
loved EU3 + expansion.
Picking a small german faction, then go and unite germany and (re)form the german kingdom. Or uniting Ireland and colonising america. Or playing the Vatican and conquering Mekka and Medina (or vice versa).
Best game was as Japan. Reforming into european technology (was pretty hard), then go and conquer the whole world thanks to the immense military bonus you get for being Shinto, also being able to declare war on everyone without getting unrest (with that religions national idea Deus Vult, allows you to declare war for free on anyone that is not of your states religion, and well Shinto is Japan only, all hail the japanese Emperor).
I think when the time was up (1820ish), japanese troops were about to lay siege to Venice after completely destroying the strongest european armed force (France). Of course, all of China and South-East Asia was conquered too.
good times.
Also loved HoI2 + expansions.
edit: oh and I loved the multiplayer modes in both games /wave Frogboy
Basicaly what happens is a "dice roll" the higher the roll the more damage potentialy inflicted. This is modified my your military tech level in the form of troop orginaization types, commander stats, and topology of province. The military tech level and comander of your opponent will work to opose any advantages you may have. Anyway, this isnt the EU3 Forum so I wont go farther in depth.
If you have only played vanillia EU3 I highly reccomend spending ~$30 for EU3:Complete on Amazon.com. The expansions together take a great game and make it into a phenominal game.
YES!
I'm still playing EU2 (after having played EU1 during 6 years). You can get it at GamersGate. From what I heard, EU3 is not an improvement (with un-needed 3D graphisms) and EU: Rome has serious issues. Hearts of Iron can't really simulate WWII correctly (AI, logistics, air combat, blaaaaah!)
Get EU2 (my final word)! But, to fully appreciate, be prepared to read a little about the kings, countries, and heroes of those times; it will take your games to a new level of depth.
I can not agree with that.
The games from Paradox are full of bugs when they come out and it takes them a really long time to fix "most" of them. However some bugs get never fixed.
Another thing that is totally different from Stardock is the way they treat their customers. If you write something on their forums where it would be nice to have an answer from an official person, you have to be very very lucky to get one.
EU is not really such a complex game when you figured out how to handle it and EU:R isn't a complex game at all. What makes most of their games seem to be more complex than they are is the fact that -lets say it nice- their games have "unusual" GUI's and even more important because the documentation is so bad (I mean really really bad) and last but not least because there are no tutorials at all.
Dont get me wrong, some of their games can make a lot of fun when you figured out how to handle them, but you have to be aware of the bad quality of their software regarding bugs and of the bad documentation. They are infamous for their software quality.
Merry Christmas
Xiskio
By the way, these games are now available on Impulse. EU III and both expasions.
~C
Hmmm.... Do I rebuy them on Impulse or not??? Decisions, decisions...
I have the RCD (via Amazon) and the DDL (via GG) versions already of all.
I like Stardock, but buying a game (that is quite old now) again, just out of loyality, seems ... strange. But if you have that much disposable income, go for it .
EU3 needs both expansions to be really good. The learning curve is steep, but manageable. If you have the money and the patience, you will loose weeks of your live to the game. Its just grand. It gets a 4/5 from me, 'cause the UI could be a lot better.
For a really rich board-game feeling game, I very highly recommend Dominions 3. The graphics is not great, but the gameplay... well, I've played a great many strategy games over the years, but for the last year and a half I've basically only played Dom3, it really is excellent. The community is very good too.
Hmmm.... I'll check it out. Is it on Impulse (call me lazy)?
No and as far i know, its not distributed through download. But it is a nice game.
There are lots of races to play, hundreds of units, a good magic system, a confusing battle system and heroes you can hire and equip. You can craft magic stuff to equip your forces with etc.
Learning curve is kind of steep, the UI is (how to put it nice ...) crap. IMHO you need the manual to play.
Its completely developed by two guys. They patch and add stuff fairly constantly.
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/DOM3/DOM3_page.html
Cool thanks for the info. I'll look into it.
Maybe someone from SD sould contact them and try to set up a DD deal for them.
Perhaps. But then it certainly doesn't hurt to have some gamers go over there and let 'em know about your desire to have it on Impulse as well.
Have no worries. I already pimp Impulse to other developers whos products that are worthy. Hell I like to think that in some small way I'm responsible for the PI titles on Impulse. After all I was pushing them on the forums and in private emails to join you guys before Impulse was released. Shoot I even pushed for a full blown merger between companies.
Honestly, I can recommend the game, but you should buy it on Gamersgate not Impulse.
I love Stardock, and I like Impulse, but I believe unless there's a sale, you should support the developer (Paradox in this case) fully.
Buying it on Impulse- Stardock gets a cut of the profits.
Buying it on Gamersgate- Paradox gets more of the profits, and it is their work. Also Gamersgate doesn't even have a client anymore- and since it's primarily a SP game (MP exists though) you don't need a client service.
I wouldn't buy GC2 on Gamersgate. (again barring sales) I also think the whole package is cheaper on Gamersgate as well.
I hope the Stardock folks aren't too mad at me, but that's the way I feel- it in no way means I think Paradox is better- just that if practical, you should try to give the developer the most profit possible.
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