Europa Universalis IV News

Good afternoon and welcome to today’s Developer Diary! Today’s topics are new Achievements and Moddability expansion, as well as further discussion on the Idea groups changes proposed by the community and our QA

But first, we’ve got a cool Stream for you!
Tomorrow, Wednesday the 10th between 10am and 6pm CEST we’ll go live with the Europa Universalis IV segment of this year’s Grand Campaign! So head on over to our Twitch channel tomorrow and join us!

Read more here: https://pdxint.at/3p5vuqp

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Brick by Brick


Starting as Denmark, enact the Unified Kalmar Monarchy government reform and own the entire Scandinavian region as your cores.

This achievement flows nicely with the gameplay elements introduced in 1.34 and ties well into a nice playthrough as Denmark, with a lofty goal in mind!


Super Trooper

Starting as Sweden, enact the Allotment System government reform, have 80 regiments of Carolean raised at the same time with at least +40% infantry combat ability.

Let the Swedish new Carolean units teach you all abbaout combat ability!


Assembly Instructions Needed

Form Scandinavia and revoke the privilegia of the Holy Roman Empire while being the Emperor.

The manual is surely lying, how am I supposed to put together a large administrative body of dozens of different nations with different goals and agendas in just 15 minutes!?


Holy Horder

Starting as the Teutonic Order, form the Mongol Empire while having the Holy Horde government reform enacted.

Why yes of course, starting as the theocracy of the Germanic Teutonic Order, turning into a special Holy Horde and subsequently resurrecting the Mongol Empire is not the end of times, it’s a legitimate strategy! History at its finest! /s


For the Emperor!

Form Prussia or Germany, have the Empire government rank and 40.000 Marines raised at the same time.

Prussia is one of the - if not the most - powerful military powers in the entire game. Its soldiers are of unparalleled discipline and combat prowess, one could even say these marines’ ability reaches beyond outer space!


The Freest Man in the World

Ensure that no colonized province in the world produces slaves while having the War Against the World Doctrine government reform enacted.

The era of free pirates is upon us! Wealth, fame, power are nothing to people if they do not own their freedom first and foremost!


Crossing the Finnish Line

Release and play as Finland in 1444 and have a direct land connection to the Cape while your capital is in Nyland/Uusimaa.

Is it really border gore if the border is a straight line?


Purify the Temple

Starting as Riga, enact the Salvific Plutocracy government reform and raid the heretic church of Rome.

Riga receives an interesting and quite large mission tree for its size, now accompanied with a cool new achievement for a flavorful and fresh playthrough! We

Almost Prussian Blue

Starting as the Livonian Order, form Livonia and own the territory of the North German Confederation as core provinces.

A new achievement to support a splendid new mission tree for the Livonian Order. Now imbued with style due to Livonia’s new color, it’s an old familiar color but it checks out.


Let it Go!

As Norway, have your capital in the Canada region while not owning any province in Scandinavia.

Traverse through the snowy locales of Canada with the brand new mission tree for Norway and leave behind your European lands. The cold never bothered you anyway!


Hanukkah Mutapa

Starting as Mutapa, convert to Judaism and celebrate a festival.

It means no worries for the rest of your campaign! It’s a problem-free philosophy!

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The second part of this Developer Diary will be dedicated to the various additions and new script goodies we are adding with 1.34. In total, over 40 new script parameters have been added to best help the modding community expand its amazing work, a love letter sort of speak. So, in the spirit of showing off some of the cool new script additions, let’s take a look at some of them.

[h3]Modifiers and Effects:[/h3]

- set_bankruptcy = The tag gets instantly bankrupt
- Added reasons_to_elect which adds additional modifier for HRE election reasons
- Added morale_damage and morale_damage_received that works similarly to fire_damage and fire_damage_received during combat
- Added military_tactics modifiers which allows you to increase this value given by the military tech.
- Added max_hostile_attrition
- local_garrison_size = - modifies the local garrison size of the province as long it has a fort to begin with, see the "garrison_size" modifier for reference
- global_attacker_dice_roll_bonus, local_attacker_dice_roll_bonus, global_defender_dice_roll_bonus, local_defender_dice_roll_bonus, own_territory_dice_roll_bonus, global_trade_goods_size




Modifiers both local and country-wide take a good bit of the spotlight for 1.34 with interesting new one such as the dice roll for defenders, attackers and own territory. This new modifier will add another layer of depth to military-related rewards of events, missions and decisions should you wish to mod them in.

What’s more, some new modifiers we are excited to play around with are local garrison size, giving more defensive capabilities to smaller nations with defensible terrain and military_tactics, a very potent modifier that decreases the casualties your side takes during battle. A small note here, this modifier always applies as a percentage to the base amount (0.5) thus a 10% increase would always amount to essentially +0.1 military tactics.

[h3]Rule Modifiers[/h3]
In the EU IV Wiki there’s a portion of the Modifiers page dedicated to the so-called Rule Modifiers. Up until now, these were hardcoded to only appear either in Ideas or Age Bonuses. However, with 1.34 and onwards we will be able to utilize them as normal country modifiers! Some of the cool modifiers included are the ability for units to ignore fort zones of control, attack bonus in provinces with the same terrain as capital province and allowing ships to repair in coastal sea zones adjacent to owned provinces.



[h3]Triggers (requirements):[/h3]
- any_war_enemy_country/all_war_enemy_countries
- gives_military_access_to = (returns true if the country gives the specified country military access
- receives_military_access_from = (returns true if the country receives military access from the specified country
- gives_fleet_basing_rights_to = (returns true if the country gives the specified country fleet basing rights
- receives_fleet_basing_rights_from = (returns true if the country receives fleet basing rights from the specified country
- added has_naval_doctrine = or "any"



The idea behind adding these trigger checks is to help save time from long and performance-intensive scope checks for requirements such as all_war_enemy_countries. Furthermore, checking for countries that give any type of access would only serve to further imbue missions and new modding works with more freedom to create content as it’s visualized, without having to cut down or resort to “duct tape” solutions. Lastly, a personal favorite is the check for naval doctrine, a trigger I am very much looking forward to using!

[h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]
Mercenary armies will now have descriptions so you can write the story behind some of the most legendary hired arms during the timeline of the game. This change aims at adding an increased sense of roleplay and help the player see the mercenary armies as a unique and alive part of the game, not just some faceless troops to be thrown into battle :D In this instance, the description is used to declare that the Swiss mercenaries will not cost any Army Professionalism:



Golden Ages now have the ability to be extended (in the form of months) and even be reset as part of a new effect “reset_golden_age = yes & extend_golden_age = ”



The Breakthrough mechanic will also appear in the game, however by default it will be turned off (read more in this Developer Diary about Breakthrough). However, the system is in place and modders can activate and tweak it on demand via the “defines” file.



Aggressive Expansion can now be granted as an effect as add_aggressive_expansion and reverse_add_aggressive_expansion. Moreover, this effect can be affected by a parameter to simulate AE taking culture, religion etc into account.

Monuments will be able to have descriptions, conditional modifiers (if X applies you get Y else get something else as a modifier) and even have region-wide effects on top of province, area and global effects.



We went ahead and added a new console command, namely “remove_country ”, behold its effect!

Before:


After:

(Sweden will still fight and win its independence, subsequently annexing the entirety of Scandinavia despite the fact that it does not exist anymore - still not overpowered ).

Finally, we have converted all the stats of special units. They used to reside in the “defines” file, now they are static modifiers which are more moddable:



Having advisors give scaling bonuses based on their level will also be a reality with 1.34, a change we are most excited about! For example, you can have Advisors grant -5% Mercantilism Cost per level, for a total of -25% at level 5:



Overall, 1.34 adds a very healthy number of new triggers, modifiers and effects to play around with and we are looking forward to seeing how they will be utilized both by our colleagues as well as the modding community. Do bare in mind that the modding additions showcased here are still a work in progress and only reflect a portion of what we are adding for 1.34 due to us wanting to keep this Developer Diary from being 20 pages longer and only showing off some of the highlights!

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And now here Pavía, talking (again) about the balance changes for the upcoming update.

After going through all the feedback we received from the community a in the last couple of weeks, and more internal testing about the changes, this is going to be the final version of the Idea Groups changes for 1.34 Update:

• Economic Ideas:
  
  • Bonus now gives -10% Development Cost instead of -20%.
    
• Innovative Ideas:
  
  • ‘Optimism’ now also gives +1 Leaders without Upkeep.
    
  • 'Formalized Officer Corps' replaced by ‘Expanded Policies’, now granting +1 Free Policies.
    
• Espionage:
  
  • ‘State Propaganda’ now also reduces Covert Action Relation Impact by -100%.
    
  • 'Agent Training' now gives -15% Advisor Cost.
    
  • ‘Vetting’ now also grants -0.2 Yearly Corruption.
    
  • 'Privateers' now give +25% Chance to Capture Enemy Ships instead of +25% Embargo Efficiency.
    
  • ‘Audit Checks’ replaced by ‘Blackmailing’, now granting:
    
    • Reasons to Accept Vassalization +15.
      
    • Monthly Favors Modifier +33%.
      
  • Bonus now gives Rebel Support Efficiency of 100% instead of 50%.
    
• Exploration Ideas:
  
  • ‘Free Colonies’ now gives +10% Settler Chance.
    
  • ‘Global Empire’ now also gives +25% Treasure Fleet Income.
    
• Trade Ideas
  
  • ‘National Trade Policy’ now also decreases Promote Mercantilism Cost by 25%.
    
  • Bonus now also gives +10% Loyalty of the Burghers/Vaisyas
    
• Aristocratic:
  
  • ‘Noble Knights’ now gives -20% Cavalry Cost instead of 10% and +15% Cavalry Combat Ability instead of 10%.
    
  • 'Serfdom':
    
    • National manpower modifier now giving +15% instead of +33%.
      
    • Adding -5% Development Cost.
      
  • 'International Diplomacy': Replacing +1 Free Leader Pool for -25% General Cost.
    
  • ‘Noble Connections’ now increases mercenary manpower by 25% instead of 20%.
    
• Divine:
  
  • 'Martyrs' now gives +20% Manpower in True Faith Provinces instead of +15% Global Manpower modifier..
    
  • 'Servants of God' now gives -5% Development cost.
    
• Horde:
  
  • 'Horse-lords of the Steppes' now also gives +10% Cavalry to Infantry ratio.
    
  • Bonus now also gives +10% Tribes Loyalty Equilibrium.
    
• Indigenous Ideas:
  
  • ‘Controlled Burns’ from Indigenous Ideas gives now +15% National Manpower Modifier instead of +20%
    
• Plutocratic:
  
  • 'Tradition of Payment'
    
    • Replacing +10% Mercenary Manpower for -20% Mercenary Cost.
      
    • Mercenary Discipline now gives +5% instead of +2.5%.
      
  • 'Free Cities' now also gives -5% Development Cost.
    
• Naval Ideas:
  
  • ‘Naval Glory’ now also gives +1 Impact on Siege.
    
  • ‘Oak Forests for Ships’ now also gives +10% Ship Durability.
    
  • Bonus now gives -100% Naval Barrage Cost instead of +10% Ship Durability.
    
• Offensive Ideas:
  
  • ‘Grand Army’ now gives +10% Special Unit Force Limit and +15% Land Force Limit Modifier instead of 20% Land Force Limit Modifier.
    
• Quality Ideas:
  
  • ‘Quality Education’ now also gives +0.5 Navy Tradition.
    
• Quantity:
  
  • 'Levée en Masse' now gives +25% National Manpower modifier instead of 50%.
    
  • Bonus now gives +25% Land Force Limit Modifier instead of +50%.
    

Policies:

• Economic - Quantity:
  
  • No longer gives -10% Development Cost, instead it gives -10% Land Maintenance Modifier.
    
• Innovative - Quality:
  
  • Now gives Infantry Combat Ability +15% instead of +10%.
    
• Aristocratic - Espionage:
  
  • Now gives Cavalry Combat Ability +15% instead of +10%, and +10% Noble Estate Loyalty Equilibrium.
    

On top of that, we’ve made a few small balance changes here and there, implementing feedback we’ve received in the last DDs; most of them we already commented on in there , so I don’t want to make this one longer.

And speaking of, this is going to be the last Development Diary of this cycle. Most of the team here at Tinto will be going on vacation in the next few weeks, so we’re making sure that in the following days all the content gets as polished as possible for the release, and some team members will also be taking care of the preparations during this period. We know that there will be speculation about the dates of the next DLC, but we want to be sure that we offer a high quality product; so hopefully there will be more news on this soon.

Thank you very much to everyone who’s been following us and participated in this cycle of DDs that began more than 3 months ago. We’re quite happy with the feedback we’ve received during it, and we’re also very excited about the new content and the update. See you!

We're only one month out before PDXCON returns to Stockholm this September! Meet the devs, join a massive board game session, attend Paradox games' orchestra and of course play our games!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In addition to all the activities offered by our other games (Don't forget you'll be able play Victoria 3 at PDXCON!), you also get the chance to experience some in person EU4 fun such as...

[h2]Play through the History of Europa Universalis[/h2]
Have you played EU1 or EU2? This might be your chance to do it and to meet with Johan and the team at Paradox Tinto. We’ll have all the historical EU games playable for a day at the event, a good opportunity to dive into our (glorious) past.


[h2]EU4 Panel and Q&A[/h2]
Johan and the team will be talking about what’s next for EU4 at Paradox Tinto, and of course answer everything you’ve always wanted to know about the game and red spanish wines.


[h2]EU4 Timed Challenge[/h2]
Limited time, a devious challenge carefully crafted by the EU4 team, do you have what it takes to score the best and get on top of the leaderboard?



[h3]Get tickets here while supplies last! [/h3]

PDXCON2022 returns to Stockholm this September! Join us on the road to PDXCON2022 with another Grand Campaign!

Watch our developers as they play through a customized game of Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris and follow laws passed by our Community-led Senate. Following the great tradition laid down last year for PDXCON, there may be familiar faces, returning arch-rivals, and maybe some new friends!



[h3]What is a Grand Campaign?[/h3]

The story of a Grand Campaign is written in the senate, where Community-formed and led parties propose and vote on laws, that our developers have to follow on stream. This Grand Campaign spans the timeframe of four of our games, spanning several thousand years of alt-human history. Starting in the Crusader Kings era, all the way to Stellaris. In between games, we will transfer elements of one era to the next, so that the entire game is played in the same universe. This year, we've teamed up with some of your favorite modders, to make it that much more entertaining!

[h3]How can I get involved?[/h3]

Join the Senate on discord! Parties on discord are still accepting newcomers, and while the bills have been passed for Crusader Kings, there are still around a thousand years of history, and ~40 hours of streams that your laws can directly affect! There will also be quick votes held on discord for in-game events deemed appropriate to pass to the senate by our Game Masters.

[h3]Where can I watch?[/h3]

Join us on twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive, starting at 1000 AM CEST (0800 UTC)!

[h3]What is PDXCON?[/h3]

PDXCON2022 is an opportunity to meet some of your favorite developers, live in person at our annual Paradox Convention! Join a massive board game session, attend Paradox games’ orchestra & play our games (potentially including some cool new unreleased content)! Get the tickets while supplies last!



See you there!

Welcome to another art dev diary! I’m David Horler, the Art Lead here at Tinto, and I am going to be telling you about all the amazing work that the team has been doing here over the last year or so.

As always, our artists have been working hard creating literally hundreds of new assets, big and small, including the beautiful new Monument illustrations that you saw last week, and dozens of new icons and event pictures for the amazing new mission trees that our Content Designers have showcased over the last few months.

For example, here are the Swedish Scandinavian, Danish, and Commonwealth trees that you have seen in previous diaries, but with all the new icons added.




And here are a couple of my favourite new event images, including this one based on the 1877 painting by Anton von Werner, but with the fashions adjusted to look more period-appropriate for EU4, and also our interpretation of “Livonian knights with guns”.




But today I’m going to be focusing on showing you the Scandinavian Unit Pack that comes packaged with the new content pack, and this one has the aim of bringing new visual flair to the regions around the Baltic and North Seas. It was easy to pick the countries featured here, as many in this region have been frequently suggested by fans for a long time.


The first concepts are rough thumbnails based on our research, so we can quickly choose a direction based on silhouette and values.

We started work on these in December 2021, so it’s incredibly exciting to see our hard work is finally being revealed to fans after working on it so long. With Paradox being a Scandinavian company, but also because we have colleagues here in Tinto with all sorts of connections to Nordic countries, this was a particularly exciting project for us to work on.

The concept team goes through many iterations to find the right look for each unit.



An example of a final concept that is passed to the 3D team.

Most of these unit packs are in fact tied to primary culture rather than tag, so you should see them popping up wherever else it makes sense, including retaining them when forming unions like Scandinavia.


[h2]Norway[/h2]
The tier 1 wears a coat of plates sporting the Norwegian lion, as well as good arm and leg protection. The red ribbon around the kettle helmet is a nod towards ‘Kongshirden 1260’, a Norwegian re-enactment group who use it as an identifying mark, as one of their members helped us with the research for some of the units in this pack.

Norwegian fashion throughout the middle eras was inspired heavily by that of the Dutch, and you see some of this influence in the uniforms, especially in terms of the coats and the cravat neckties.

The final tier unit is of course based on the elite ski regiments. The intense training performed by these troops consisted of cross-country skiing while firing muskets, and was designed to prepare them for rapid deployment in the harshest wintry environments of Scandinavia. These training exercises eventually developed into the biathlon sport, today competed by countries from around the world in the Winter Olympics.




[h2]Denmark[/h2]
The Danish receive a partial set, as their Tier 2 is already featured in the Evangelical Union Unit Pack.

The Danish cross is famously one of the oldest flags still in usage, so we thought it was a cool idea to sew it onto the gambeson of the first tier. We don’t imagine this helmet is great for vision, but they cropped up multiple times in our research and we loved the distinctiveness.

The black facings used on the later tiers were not universal, and they were used by specific Danish regiments, but black is an underutilised facing colour and so we decided to keep them.

During the research stage, we found that many of the references included moustachioed infantrymen, and also our resident Dane character artist Vonboe sports a moustache, so it felt like a very important inclusion.



[h2]Dithmarschen[/h2]
This small country on the Jutland peninsula is notable for being a peasant republic, and so we examined the way peasants and militias in Frisia and Germany dressed throughout the ages to inspire our designs here. Fans of peasant mobs will be happy with the fact we finally managed to include the trope of pitchforks used as a polearm.



[h2]Finland[/h2]
Finland’s native Uralic culture has been influenced through the ages by Sweden, Novgorod, and Russia. Because of this, the Finnish didn't have much opportunity to carve out a military personality of their own - with one main exception.

The iconic appearance of the famous Hakkapeliitta binds together most of these units, from the armoured man-at-arms to the Carolean-era cuirassier. We also used a cartridge pouch made out of näver, a woven birch bark that was a common craft material in the wooded north. The final unit is an infantryman inspired by Russian military kit with a Finnish twist.

The colours of light grey accentuated by blue are inspired by the modern Finnish flag and the military uniforms that Finland developed once it finally became a sovereign country in the 20th Century.




[h2]Riga[/h2]
Throughout the eras, we wanted to reflect the wealth and devoutness of Riga, a Hanseatic city in the Baltics settled by German traders and led by the Catholic church.

In terms of later fashion, we drew heavily from the Prussian army but with a twist. The grenadier mitre is reminiscent of the mitre worn by the Archbishop of Riga, and continuing that theme, the glorious feather plume on the shako is also based on German grenadier regiments from a later period.



[h2]Sápmi[/h2]
The Sámi are perhaps the most visually-striking of these units, with their iconic colourful Gátki tunics and extravagant hats. Their pointy boots (known as nutukas) appear unusual but they are practical; they have wide soles for traversing deep snow, and toe hooks for attaching to skis. Their knives are carved from reindeer antlers in the duodji style.

The reindeer fur mittens and thick leather coats betray the harsh conditions that they endured in the far north of Europe, and their bows and spears both double as ski poles.

We selected hats to be reminiscent of fashion elsewhere in Europe, such as the four-winds hat during the tricorn era, and the peaked cap to resemble a Belgic shako.



[h2]Holstein[/h2]
The armoured footman with a sallet is archetypical of Northern Germany in this era, so felt essential to include. Keeping with the armoured theme, the Tier 2 retains the cuirass and other pieces of armour, as the wealthier soldiers sometimes did.

The final era is inspired by troopers of light horse regiments, which gives them a cavalier appearance that we felt was a little underutilised in EU4.




[h2]Iceland[/h2]
Another fascinating country without a strong military tradition of their own, we looked for inspiration primarily from contemporary Norwegian styles and the Þjóðbúningur, the modern Icelandic national dress.

In the earliest stages of the game, the metal skullcap, baggy breeches, and handaxes reveal their Norse heritage, and the harpoon spears emphasise their reliance on the ocean.

As they begin to modernise, they follow just a few steps behind the latest fashions in Norway, most notably the almost universal usage of cravats.

Their woolly tail caps (skotthúfur) and closed tunics (treyjur) were necessary protection for the sailors of the windy, northern seas, but also became part of the national costume in the modern era. Furthermore, we drew some inspiration from the rough-and-ready look of North American frontier militias (like Roger’s Rangers), which meshed really well with Iceland's theme of isolated utilitarianism.




[h2]Latgalia[/h2]
The releasable nations of the native Baltic cultures share this unit, inspired heavily from Estonian and Latvian traditional clothing.

The heavy woollen greatcoats are reminiscent of the streltsy, but are embroidered with fine details as a central theme of the Baltic visual style. They also have elaborately-woven socks, magnificent hats, and belt sashes which give them a unique look compared to their conquerors and neighbours.






[h2]N-iX Game & VR Studio[/h2]

The EU4 art team has been collaborating with our friends at the Ukrainian studio N-iX for several years now, and they have worked on almost everything beautiful in the game, from monument illustrations to event pictures to unit models.

We had already started working with them on the unit pack when the news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine broke. For those of us here in Spain, working with them almost every day, it was a shock. But not nearly as much as it must have been for them, forced to either displace across Europe as refugees, or remain in the uncertainty of their home cities.

Despite these unimaginable challenges, the team continued with determination, and delivered some exceptional work for you. So please spare an extra thought for our Ukrainian colleagues the next time you load up EU4.



Next week PDX Big Boss will bring you an update on the new Achievements and some moddability changes. Until then, let us know in this thread what you think of the units and icons!

Hello everyone! Today I’ll introduce you to the new monuments we’ve designed for the next update. As before, this content will be free for all Leviathan DLC owners. Along with that, I’ll also comment on some game balance changes we’ve implemented for free in the 1.34 update.

[h2]New Monuments[/h2]

As already mentioned in some of the previous DDs, we decided to introduce a few more monuments. Overall, we’re happy with the monument density we got after the 1.32 update, so we just wanted to address one specific region that was lacking in love (Scandinavia, which fits in pretty well with the upcoming DLC), and a few gaps we wanted to cover here and there. Since we had few monuments to cover this time, we also tried to get creative with the attached modifiers (you may notice some new modifiers on them, also). Let’s see:

The Falun Copper Mine was already present in the game, as a local modifier to the province of Dalaskogen. As it was the main copper production site for Europe in the Modern Age, we decided to turn it into a monument (and for those not owning Leviathan, the local province modifier will stay as it is).



Modifiers:



Built by King Erik VII in the early 15th century, Kronborg Castle was established to enforce the Sound Toll, though it would later be transformed into a magnificent royal residence.



Modifiers:



The city of Visby was one of the main ports on the Baltic trade routes, its walls protected it from its many enemies, making it the heart of an independent Gotland.



Modifiers:



Trakai Island Castle was completed in the early 15th century by Grand Duke Vytautas, first for a military purpose and later transformed into a royal residence.



Modifiers:



Salvador da Bahía was one of the oldest cities established by the Portuguese in Brazil, becoming the capital of the colony for more than two centuries.



Modifiers:



M'banza-Kongo was the seat of Manikongo, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, becoming the most important city in the region during the 15th and 16th centuries, as the power of its king prospered.



Requirements:
Culture is in Kongo group and is accepted by its owner

Modifiers:



The historic city of Harar Jugol was one of the main places of pilgrimage for Muslims, with dozens of mosques and shrines, and a tradition of scholars and holy men.



Requirements:
Province has the state or syncretic religion, which is in Muslim group.

Modifiers:



Dujiangyan is related to the ancient irrigation system developed around the city of the same name, and how it made the Sichuan region one of the most prosperous in China.



Modifiers:



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[h2]Idea groups & Policies rebalance[/h2]

We already talked in previous DDs about the new national ideas that we developed for some countries. Along with that, we decided to rebalance some of the existing idea groups. The general design behind this rebalance was to give again a bit of extra diversity to the different groups available, so choosing different possibilities between them might be more viable from this update. Getting into more detail, here are some of the reasoning behind specific changes:

• Ideas giving National Manpower and Land Force limit are nerfed, to combine them with the new changes in the combat system. We felt that there were already many different sources of Manpower and Land Force available to the player and that also some ideas (e.g. Quantity) were heavily favored over others.
  
• We’re also nerfing both the Economic Ideas and the Economic-Quality Policy Development Cost reduction, as we felt that we already introduced a fair amount of Development Cost elsewhere, so we saw it right to reduce it considerably here, effectively rebalancing the total amount you get from these sources.
  
• We wanted to buff some of the underdogs in the Idea Groups, such as Espionage, Trade and Naval, to make them more viable compared to others in their groups.
  

Here you’ve got a detailed account of the changes implemented:

• Innovative Ideas:
  
  • ‘Optimism’ gives now also gives +1 Leaders without Upkeep.
    
  • 'Formalized Officer Corps' replaced by ‘Expanded Policies’, now granting +1 Free Policies.
    
• Economic Ideas:
  
  • Bonus now gives -10% Development Cost instead of -20%.
    
• Espionage Ideas:
  
  • ‘State Propaganda’ now also reduces Covert Action Relation Impact by -50%.
    
  • ‘Vetting’ now also grants -0.1 Yearly Corruption.
    
  • ‘Audit Checks’ replaced by ‘Blackmailing’, now granting:
    
    • Reasons to Accept Vassalization +15.
      
    • Monthly Favors Modifier +33%.
      
  • Bonus gives now Rebel Support Efficiency of 100% instead of just 50%, and reduces Covert Action Relation Impact by -50%.
    
• Trade Ideas
  
  • ‘Shrewd Commerce Practice’ now also decreases Promote Mercantilism Cost by 25%.
    
  • ‘Free Trade’ now also gives +2 Merchant Trade Power.
    
  • ‘Overseas Merchants’ now also decreases Trade Company Investment Cost by 25%.
    
  • Bonus now also gives +10% Loyalty of the Burghers/Vaisyas
    
• Exploration Ideas:
  
  • ‘Free Colonies’ now gives +10% Settler Chance.
    
  • ‘Global Empire’ now also gives +25% Treasure Fleet Income.
    
• Aristocratic Ideas:
  
  • ‘Noble Knights’ gives now -20% Cavalry Cost instead of 10% and +15% Cavalry Combat Ability instead of 10%.
    
  • ‘Serfdom’ now gives +20% National Manpower Modifier instead of +33%.
    
  • ‘Noble Connections’ now increases mercenary manpower by 25% instead of 20%.
    
• Divine Ideas:
  
  • ‘Martyrs’ gives now +25% Manpower in True Faith provinces instead of +15% Global Manpower modifier.
    
• Horde Ideas:
  
  • Bonus now also gives +10% Tribes Loyalty Equilibrium.
    
• Indigenous Ideas:
  
  • ‘Controlled Burns’ from Indigenous Ideas gives now +15% National Manpower Modifier instead of +20%
    
• Offensive Ideas:
  
  • ‘Grand Army’ now gives +10% Special Unit Force Limit and +15% Land Force Limit Modifier instead of 20% Land Force Limit Modifier.
    
• Quality Ideas:
  
  • ‘Quality Education’ now also gives +0.5 Navy Tradition.
    
• Quantity Ideas:
  
  • ‘Levée en Masse’ now gives +33% National Manpower Modifier instead of 50%.
    
  • Bonus now gives +33% Land Force Limit Modifier instead of +50%.
    
• Naval Ideas:
  
  • ‘Naval Glory’ now also gives +1 Impact on Siege.
    
  • ‘Oak Forests for Ships’ now also gives +10% Ship Durability.
    
  • Bonus now gives -100% Naval Barrage Cost instead of +10% Ship Durability.
    

Policies:

• Economic - Quantity:
  
  • No longer gives -10% Development Cost, instead it gives -5% Land Maintenance Modifier.
    
• Innovative - Quality:
  
  • Now gives Infantry Combat Ability +15% instead of +10%.
    
• Aristocratic - Espionage:
  
  • Now gives Cavalry Combat Ability +15% instead of +10%, and +10% Noble Estate Loyalty Equilibrium.
    

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[h2]Crownland & Government Reform Progress[/h2]

You may know that it was commented by my colleagues PDX Big Boss and Ogele that we replaced the tax modifier from high crownland with Reform progress growth, but for those who don’t follow as much in detail the DDs, here is a kind reminder of it:



We made an additional change to this: now each Crownland Level above 50% Crownland increases Reform Progress Growth (the modifier, not the flat value) by 20%, up from the current 10%, so the final amount of RPG you can get at 100% Crownlands is 100%. And we’ve also lowered the subsequent reform growth cost from 50 to 40. This makes for more consistent growth of RP, making it easier to progress through the expanded tiers of Government Reforms.

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[h2]Government Capacity[/h2]

Along with the above change, we also decided that we could make Reform Progress Growth even more strategic, by adding a malus to Administrative Efficiency if being over the Government Capacity - which is something that can be countered either by the Centralize State mechanic or by getting more Gov. Cap. with buildings, monuments, reforms, etc. This will certainly curb growth speed, but we think that this also adds some more depth to the game because it presents the player with the choice of how to get extra Gov. Cap. from the different features from where it can be expanded, but also an additional “How do I spend my precious Government Reform Progress” because it can be used either on the ‘Centralize State’ mechanic or in getting more Government Reforms.

Thus, the change we implemented is adding -1% Administrative Efficiency for every 2% Governing Capacity above the cap. This way it scales logically and gives off a dynamic and natural effect on the expansion speed of the country in question.



To help adjust the Government Capacity, we made that Courthouses and Town Halls no longer require an open building slot to be constructed, similar to how Universities work, making them a more interesting type of building. Additionally, the State House building now no longer requires an open building slot, and now decreases local governing cost by a percentage of 25% and a flat -25. These governing modifiers are doubled when constructed on a Paper, Gems or Glass province.

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[h2]Other Miscellaneous Changes[/h2]

Aside from that, we've implemented a few more changes here and there, which we're covering in this miscellaneous section, as we think they might be of interest:

• Expanding the Infrastructure of a province now increases local development cost by -25% instead of -5%. We decided against using Development Efficiency because it could end up at 0 Dev Cost for a province
  
• Ramparts give 1 Combat Roll Bonus for the defender.
  
• Pagan religious rebels can now force you to convert to their religion if the majority of your country has this religion. Nahuatl, Mayan and Ican are excluded from it due to their "primitive" status in the game.
  
• If you have Mare Nostrum then the Spy Network in a foreign country will decrease AE Impact in that nation by -30% instead of -10%
  
• Support Rebels now costs 30% Spy Network instead of 60%
  
• Scorched Earth now causes +0.25 Local Monthly Devastation alongside the -50% Hostile Movement Speed for 5 years
  
• Devotion now gives +25% Church Power, 25% Harmonization Speed, 0.001 Monthly Piety Accelerator, 0.5 Yearly Authority, 0.1% Yearly Patriarchal Authority, 0.5 Yearly Doom Reduction, 0.05 Yearly Karma Decay and 0.05% Clergy/Brahmins Loyalty Equilibrium additionally to the Papal Influence, Prestige and Global Tax modifiers
  Note: this change has been added to make Theocracies more fitting for other religions too.
  
• Crimea now becomes a Tributary State of the Ottomans instead of a March when they seek Ottoman protection during the "Fate of the Crimean Khanate" event
  

There were a lot of things to cover today! Please let us know of any feedback you have regarding these changes, as we feel today's DD is more about engaging with the community on balance changes than any other. Also, keep in mind that the numbers presented still have room for improvement, so please stay civil in discussing them. Next week the DD will be all about the great art our team has been working on for the upcoming DLC, brought to you by SaintDaveUK. See you!