Victoria 3 News

Happy Thursday! Today I'm very pleased to announce the changelog for Update 1.7, appropriately codenamed "Kahwah" after the delicious saffron, cinnamon, and cardamom infused tea from Central Asia. In addition to the changelog you will get a rundown of the major features of the Sphere of Influence expansion most of these features were developed for, but for full details you should read the previous dev diaries on that subject.

Before we get into the changelog I want to also draw your attention to the Known Issues list for Update 1.7. Most of these bugs will be addressed in upcoming hotfixes releasing shortly after the update. As usual, save games made on any 1.7.x version will be compatible with subsequent hotfixes, but save games from 1.6 or before will not be compatible with 1.7 due to the large number of changes.





Update 1.7 "Kahwah", as well as Sphere of Influence, will be released on Monday June 24th around 18:00 CEST. Those of you who own either the Grand Edition of Victoria 3 or our first Expansion Pass will just have to update the game to get your hands on Sphere of Influence and start extending your tentacles around the globe. If you do not yet own it, it can be pre-ordered either standalone or as part of the Expansion Pass.

Let's get into it!




[h2]Power Blocs[/h2]

• As a Great Power or a powerful Major Power, you can form your own Power Bloc centered around one of five central Identity pillars: Trade League, Sovereign Empire, Military Treaty, Ideological Union, or Religious Convocation.
  
• Each of these provide different opportunities and benefits to its leader with respect to its member countries, and can be developed further with up to 4 of 20 different Principle groups, resulting in over twenty thousand different combinations affecting your strategy for global domination!
  
• As a Power Bloc leader you can expand your global reach by extending your Leverage over other countries where you have declared an Interest. A large number of factors that can cause you to gain (or lose) Leverage over a country, such as maintaining Diplomatic Pacts, maintaining favorable Lobbies, helping them in their wars, being accepting or discriminatory against their cultures, or making them economically dependent on you through foreign expansion or trade.
  
• Power Blocs can be expanded peacefully through diplomatic invitation into your Bloc or, if the invite fizzles, through a Diplomatic Demand the country may or may not yield to without an armed conflict.
  
• The leader of a Power Bloc must maintain its Cohesion by enforcing its shared values across the bloc. Failure to properly manage Cohesion across your bloc may result in internal strife.
  
• All members of Power Blocs may construct expensive statues to represent its glory, providing a number of benefits to the state it's built in. The leader of a Power Bloc can customize both the appearance of the statue, the Power Bloc emblem, and its name to better represent its ideas and visions for its bright global future.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: the Trade League Identity and its two Primary Principle groups, Internal and External Trade, are available even without Sphere of Influence and replaces the Customs Union diplomatic pact by enforcing a shared market across the Power Bloc.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: it is also possible to play as Great Britain, Russia, or the Ottoman Empire who starts with the Sovereign Empire Identity, permitting them to subjugate weaker Power Bloc members, or as Austria whose Power Bloc Identity of Ideological Union permits them to Enforce Regime Change in countries that start flirting with the concept of Republicanism and suffrage. Players without Sphere of Influence may also play a member of the Zollverein, an established Trade League at game start.
  
• To read much more about Power Blocs, see dev diaries here and here.
  

[h2]Foreign Investment[/h2]

• With the Foreign Investment Rights or Mutual Foreign Investment Pacts, countries can gain the ability to directly build up another country's resource or manufacturing industries, or offer these rights to another country if they're incapable of rapid industrialization on their own. This right extends to both countries and its investor class, who may use their Investment Pool to construct private industry abroad and gain access to new resources, cheap(er) labor, or both.
  
• With the Foreign Investment Power Bloc Principles, these rights can also be extended across an entire Power Bloc by default without the need to establish and maintain potentially fragile pacts. With Power Bloc Leverage being informed in part by economic dependence, this can become a great way to maintain control over your Power Bloc members during the extent of the long Victorian century.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: Ownership is represented by two new buildings, Manor Houses (housing the Aristocracy) and Financial Sectors (housing Capitalists), who can own buildings outside their own states or even their country. These buildings extract the profits produced by building levels they own, leading to much greater variance between productive states and wealthy states.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: In addition to private ownership through Manor Houses and Financial Sectors, Cooperative Ownership is also possible through the right economic system laws. Cooperative Ownership gives pops working their buildings the fruit of their own labor.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: State-owned enterprises are also possible, which yield dividends directly to state coffers (or drain them, if unprofitable). Under most economic systems, buildings constructed by the state are put up for sale when completed, making them available for acquisition by private interests (or even other countries, if Foreign Investment Rights are in play). Under others, it's possible for the state to nationalize industries, with or without compensation to its owners - with sometimes grave repercussions, domestic or international.
  
• Available with Update 1.7: Overlords are always able to construct industries in their Subjects, even without Pacts or Power Blocs enabling it.
  
• With the Sphere of Influence expansion, it is also possible to nationalize all your country's foreign-owned industries with a Diplomatic Demand - but be prepared to defend your economic self-determination!
  
• To read more about Foreign Investment and the Building Ownership overhaul, see the dev diary here.
  

[h2]Lobbies, Catalysts, and Opportunities[/h2]

• A Lobby consists of one or more Interest Groups in a country that have a stance on another country in the world. This stance can either be positive, where they wish to form closer relations or imitate its laws and reforms, or negative where the emphasis lies on distancing yourself, forming rivalries, or even crushing them in armed conflict.
  
• Lobbies have a chance to form in response to a Diplomatic Catalyst, which can trigger for a variety of reasons such as establishing or breaking a Pact, choosing a particular event option, having a revolution, joining or being kicked out of a Power Bloc, inviting or exiling an Agitator, and so on. Whenever something happens as a result of a Catalyst, such as a lobby forming or an AI strategy changing, you will be told exactly the reason why it happened.
  
• Lobbies will benefit or hinder you in a number of ways, such as increasing a country's AI Acceptance for Diplomatic Pacts due to your close ties, or increasing your War Support when fighting a hated foe. The impact your Lobby has relates directly to its Interest Group membership's Clout, so you have a vested interest in supporting those groups that align with your own foreign policy and opposing those who support your geopolitical enemies.
  
• Adhering to your Lobbies' wishes will increase their Appeasement, which is another source of Interest Group Approval and leads to political stability at home. Opposing them will of course do the opposite, so think carefully if you can afford to break that pact they like!
  
• With the Sphere of Influence expansion, Lobbies will occasionally grant opportunities or make demands. These are Journal Entries that incentivize you to go after specific foreign policy goals, or which you ignore at your peril!
  
• Also with the Sphere of Influence expansion, you have access to a new Diplomatic Action that lets you fund lobbies in other countries by bribing providing much-deserved financial support to the country's elite, increasing the chance that lobbies favoring you (or lobbies that oppose your enemies) will emerge there. If a suitable lobby already exists, the financial support you provide will increase its power and improve the Leverage you gain there.
  
• Subjugated countries can also be home to two other types of Lobbies - those for or against the country's Overlord, supporting integration or independence respectively. Nurturing or suppressing these Lobbies can provide the necessary political impact you need to nudge Liberty Desire in the direction you want and inform one of four new AI Strategies for subject countries.
  
• Read more about Lobbies in the dev diary found here. More on Catalysts can be found here.
  

[h2]Subject Interactions[/h2]

• Sphere of Influence comes with a number of brand-new ways you can interact with your Subjects, or if you are a subject, ways you can engage with your Overlord. Several new categories of Diplomatic Actions have been added which apply only to countries with special relationships: Overlord/Subject, Subject/Overlord, Power Bloc Leader/Member, and Power Bloc Member/Member.
  
• For example, an Overlord can use actions on their Subject to increase or reduce the weekly payments they must submit, distribute conquered territory between their subjects, share their technological knowledge with them, permit them to control their own market, and more!
  
• Similarly, Subjects can petition their Overlord to grant them relief in various ways. This often costs them Liberty Desire, a new metric in Update 1.7 that tracks how much the country's elite is in favor of independence. Like Leverage, this metric is informed by a variety of factors, such as Opinion - but also by many Pacts maintained between the countries, their Economic Dependence on the Overlord, relative Prestige, and so on. If a Subject's Liberty Desire gets very high they will start generating more Radicals, prompting them to request increased autonomy from their Overlord; if not granted, it could well result in a Diplomatic Demand for full independence instead. On the other hand, a Subject with very low Liberty Desire can be persuaded to have their autonomy reduced, potentially leading them down the road to full annexation if they aren't careful.
  
• With the Sphere of Influence expansion, in addition to the many new Diplomatic Actions, it is also possible to support a Subject's independence, causing their Liberty Desire to increase and automatically including you as a supporter in any Diplomatic Play for Independence they launch. Subjects may even support each other, and will rebel as a group if a war for independence is imminent! On the flip side you can also Guarantee Independence for a country that is not yet subjugated, ensuring none of your rival Great Powers can make such a demand unquestioned!
  
• To read more about Subject Interactions and Liberty Desire, go here.
  

[h2]The Great Game[/h2]

• Throughout the nineteenth century, Russia and Britain competed with one another for influence in Asia. This period of rivalry was known colloquially as the Great Game, beginning in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and expanding over time to include struggles for influence in areas as far away as Korea and China. In Sphere of Influence you can play out this crucial "cold war" between these two dominant but very different Great Powers from several perspectives: Russia, Britain, Persia, or one of three countries - Kabul, Herat, and Kandahar - that will form the country of Afghanistan during the era.
  
• The Great Game can be experienced by playing one of the six countries in question in any regular game, or through the new Great Game objective which provides a quickstart into all the new features of Sphere of Influence. You will naturally also experience the conflict from the sidelines while playing as any country in the world, and can get involved to help or hinder any of its participants. Many regions adjacent to the Great Game also have their own unique narrative content relating to it, such as the Caucasian War, the Donghak Rebellion in Joseon/Korea, and the expedition to Tibet.
  
• The Great Game is designed to make full use of all new features in Sphere of Influence, and you can be sure that your skills in maintaining your Power Bloc, expanding your Leverage, supporting your foreign Lobbies, expanding your economic reach through Foreign Investments, and interacting with your Subjects will be tested in the process!
  
• To increase the historical accuracy of the Great Game, the map of Central Asia has been greatly improved, with several new countries and cultures added as well as regional Interest Groups, twelve new Companies, and more.
  
• To read much more about the experience of playing as one of the Great Powers in the conflict, see the dev diary here. Even more details on what might be in store if you play as a Central Asian nation is available here.
  

There are also a wealth of new art features available with the Sphere of Influence expansion:

• 'Great Empires' papermap theme
  
• New main menu
  
• 2 new loading screens
  
• 10 new event illustrations
  
• Late-game European military uniform character outfit as well as late-game female military outfits
  
• Added Necklaces, Capes, and Sashes for different Power Bloc identities, to be worn by Heads-of-States in those Power Blocs
  
• Persian military outfits, Landowner clothes, and royal character outfit and jewelry
  
• Cossack and Cuirass character outfit
  
• Greatcoat character outfit for some characters to wear during winter
  
• Zulu character outfits
  
• Cigars and Smoking Pipes
  
• Distinct appearances for many British historical figures, such as Joseph Chamberlain, John Maynard Keynes, Provo Wallis, David Lloyd George, Douglas Haig, Arthur Balfour, Friedrich Engels, Lord Palmerston, and Rotha Lintorn-Orman
  
• Distinct appearance and new character assets for Empress Myeongseong, Klemens von Metternich, George Curzon, Reza Shah Pahlavi, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Amir Kabir, Sattar Khan, and Abdul Hamid II
  
• Distinct appearances for certain Interest Group leaders
  
• Updated appearance for Tsar Alexander III
  
• Sphere of Influence Coin 3D asset for papermap object
  
• Cutty Sark Trading Ship 3D vehicle for Trade Leagues
  
• Royal Carriage 3D vehicle for Sovereign Empires
  
• Hot Air Balloon 3D frontline asset for Military Treaties
  
• Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 3D vehicle for Ideological Unions
  
• Ornate Carriage 3D vehicle for Religious Convocations
  
• Voice of the People, with Sphere of Influence: Added a late game uniform for France
  
• Voice of the People, etc.: Updated the Divided Monarchist journal entry and several other complex journal entries to use the new progressbar system
  
• Colossus of the South: Implemented an additional South American clothing set
  

To read (and view!) even more about the Art of Sphere of Influence, go here.


To accompany all the new features and content added in Sphere of Influence, we have added fifteen new achievements to the game:

• Durran Durran: As Herat, form Afghanistan, own all the historical states of the old Durrani Empire, and do not be a member of any power bloc led by any other country.
  
• Hyperpeace: As any country, have both Finland and Korea in your power bloc.
  
• Bootlicker: As a subject, have the pro-overlord lobby at max appeasement.
  
• I'm the Captain Now: Look at me. As a member of a power bloc, win the struggle for power bloc leadership.
  
• The New Order: Have a fully decked out power bloc.
  
• Great Game no re: Complete the Great Game Objective.
  
• Honor and Life: As Circassia, complete the Honor Before Life journal entry.
  
• Iranzamin: As Persia, complete the Eastern Frontier Journal Entry, and have a literacy rating of 80%
  
• For Twelve Years You Have Been Asking: Privatize all buildings and prevent them from being state or worker-owned for 12 whole years.
  
• Can't Touch This: As a country with at least 10% of your GDP owned by a foreign power, nationalize all buildings and prevent them from being privatized for 12 whole years.
  
• Standard Oil: Own at least 30 levels of oil rigs in foreign countries.
  
• Diplomatic Victory: As a Great Power, have a pro-country lobby for your country in every other Great Power.
  
• Hermit Kingdom: As Korea, act on the Donghak movement's petitions.
  
• Cult of Reason: Pass the State Atheism Law and be the leader of an ideological power bloc with at least 10 members.
  
• Declaration of Independence: Starting as a subject nation, break free from your overlord.
  

Of course, no set of achievements is complete without a series of wonderful, and in some cases disturbing, icons to go along with them.




The following changes have been made to the game compared to 1.6.2:

• Removed the Directly Controlled Investment Game Rule from the game, as it is incompatible with the new Building Ownership Rework/Foreign Investment mechanics
  
• Added fifteen new events that fire as a result of having an active, non-revolutionary political movement
  
• Added a universal Journal Entry for unrecognized countries permitting them to peacefully achieve recognition over time, and a diplomatic action to speed it up
  
• Removed the Force Recognition wargoal and diplomatic play, as it has been replaced by the new Journal Entry
  
• Added an Afghan Reunification journal entry for Afghan contenders
  
• Added scripted Journal Entry progress bars, allowing Journal Entries to track more than one progression value and display them on separate progress bars that can be visualized in a number of different ways
  
• Overlord can now join a revolutionary country against their subject
  
• Reworked the map of Persia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, with new state regions, countries, and cultures
  
• Truces can now be unidirectional (preventing a country from attacking another without restricting the target country in a similar way) as well as bidirectional
  
• Investors now have a chance of finding resources in countries they invest into, even if that country doesn't have technology to do so on their own
  
• Removed Ownership PMs from most buildings, since the new ownership model introduced in 1.7 is used where applicable instead
  
• A huge number of Diplomatic Catalysts have been added to facilitate Lobby creation, AI Strategies and "memory", cooldowns, and other functions
  
• Added Grant and Take State Overlord Actions
  
• China, Korea, and Vietnam now all start as Confucian nations. Starting laws and pops have been updated to reflect this.
  
• Serfdom law now blocks both Internal and Mass Migration for Peasants
  
• Land Reform law now blocks Internal Migration for Peasants (but does not impact Mass Migration)
  
• Reworked Russian state regions and populations
  
• China, Korea, and Vietnam now all start as Confucian nations. Starting laws and pops have been updated to reflect this.
  
• Declining a call to arms will now break off any alliance, defensive pact or guarantee you have against the country calling you in
  
• Society techs now give more maneuvers for plays with each era
  
• It is now possible for countries that join a play due to a call to arms to add a war goal themselves, so long as that war goal would cost 25 maneuvers or less to add under normal circumstances (does not actually cost maneuvers for the primary participant)
  
• Added decaying modifiers that massively nationalization cost & radicals generation from nationalization in newly conquered/liberated states. Recently conquered states also suffer decaying penalties to tax collection, pop political strength and conscription rate.
  
• Added new diplomatic action Guarantee Independence which functions like a one-sided defensive pact that doesn't require approval
  
• It is now only possible to impose laws on Puppet, Dominion, Vassal, and Personal Union subjects (Protectorates and Tributaries are too independent) unless you're in a Power Bloc that permits it
  
• The 'Cut Down to Size' wargoal now also removes all wargoals held by the target in other diplomatic plays/wars (but keeps any wargoals targeting them in those plays/wars)
  
• Demands for imposing a Law on another country are now handled with events and a journal entry, similar to Interest Group Petitions. Notifications are triggered when the other country takes action.
  
• It is now possible to make Diplomatic Demands even though you're already in a Diplomatic Play (or at war), as long as it's not against a country you're already targeting or a country on the same side as you in another Play / war. You also cannot make additional Diplomatic Demands while already dealing with a Diplomatic Play you initiated until that Play has escalated into war.
  
• Added Karelian, Mari, Buryat, Bashkir, Chechen, Mordvin, Chuvash, and Udmurt cultures
  
• Added numerous new releasables to Russia
  
• Added 6 new companies
  
• Commercialized agriculture law now makes Financial Districts more likely to invest in agriculture, ranching and plantations
  
• The Homesteading law now makes agriculture buildings convert themselves to 50% self-ownership over time
  
• Expanded the Monuments Effect game rule to include Power Bloc Statues
  
• Buildings with several unstaffed levels and that are at least 50% privately owned will now autonomously reduce their privately owned levels if they fail to hire for an extended period of time
  
• Economy of Scale now scales against the
• employed
• levels of a building, so empty building levels no longer grant throughput bonuses. Additionally, Economy of Scale now starts granting bonuses immediately at level 1, so a half-employed level 1 building will get +0.5% throughput, for example.
  
• Added a Seminole Wars Journal Entry to USA, present at game start
  
• Added a 'Give State' diplomatic action
  
• Added diplomatic actions for increasing and decreasing autonomy in subjects
  
• You can now impose a Law on another country even if they are currently trying to enact something else (they have an option to cancel the current law or defer enacting it until later) or do not have any support for this law (you will now see their chances before issuing the demand)
  
• Changed the time to respond on Diplomatic Proposals from 14 days to 30 days, the AI will still respond in the same amount of time
  
• A country can now only ever have one diplomatic proposal pending towards a given country
  
• Changed the required tech unlock for Steam Powered Fishing and Whaling Production Methods to Gantry Cranes instead of Ironclads, allowing a smoother distinction between civil and military usage of steam powered ships (thanks to "WOWZA 'Mr. Rework' Scrooge" for the suggestion!)
  
• Increase Autonomy and Independence Diplomatic Plays now have Liberty Desire requirements
  
• Added an event referring to the Australian Emu War
  
• Added new Russian Republic and Russian Soviet Republic names to Russia
  
• Reworked the way we display pact influence costs to be more consistent and to always have breakdown tooltips
  
• Implemented more characters for Central Asia, East Asia, Britain, and Africa
  
• Added the Yat'siminoli, Salish, and Pannakwati to North America
  
• Added the Wati and Mirning peoples to Australia
  
• There is now a 1 year cooldown between attempts to impose a Law on another country if they outright reject your demand. Otherwise you will have to wait until they enact (or reject) the law you previously imposed on them.
  
• Servicemen now gain Officer qualifications faster while deployed in active wars
  
• Added additional state traits to Russia
  
• Added historical interest group leaders to Australian colonies
  
• Added starting pro- and anti-country lobbies to various nations in 1836
  
• Added silk as a potential resource in Lebanon, and a starting silk plantation to model the historical Lebanese silk industry
  
• Added the Mount Lebanon state trait to Lebanon, increasing the state's silk throughput
  
• Forming the Free States of America now requires you to have abolished slavery
  
• Made the South Bessarabian retrocession borders more historically accurate.
  
• Updated migration concepts for clarity
  
• Henry Temple is now referred to as Henry Palmerston
  
• Added a historical ruler for Indian Territory at game start
  
• Adjusted Tasmanian population to reflect the historical situation
  
• The Baltic strategic region has been renamed to Scandinavia, due to Finland becoming its own region
  

• Major work done on the economic AI, both to allow it to use the new features in 1.7/Sphere of Influence and improve its overall ability to grow its economy
  
• The AI now always has a concrete reason for changing its Strategic Desire (and Attitude) towards another country, based on the new system of Diplomatic Catalysts. For example, increasing relations with a country may result in the adoption of a more friendly attitude, while breaking a pact or triggering a diplomatic incident can result in the reverse. This is now shown to the player in a notification when a country changes their attitude, and you can tooltip the attitude of an AI country to see what caused them to adopt that attitude.
  
• The AI is now much less willing to accept reverse-sways if it has an overwhelming advantage in a play, even if there are undecided participants who can potentially be a challenge for them
  
• The AI is now much less willing to accept reverse-sways that involve giving something up (subjects, states etc) if they don't stand to lose much from the enemy wargoals
  
• Most Diplomatic Demands now have an upper bound on AI acceptance, ensuring a small-to-moderate chance you won't get your way
  
• The AI is now willing to take on more infamy later in the game
  
• The AI is now generally more keen to add war goals rather than wasting maneuvers, so long as they don't take on excessive amounts of infamy
  
• AI subject countries will now have a chance of accepting a Diplomatic Demand for full annexation when their Liberty Desire level is at Loyal
  
• USA will now want to take Colorado from Mexico
  
• Acceptance scores for Annexation and Loyal Subject have both been decreased in impact
  
• Call Ally now grants a +25 AI acceptance bonus when used as a sway
  
• Subjects now have access to four new AI strategies to placate or break free from their overlord
  
• Overlords now consider Obligations owed to them by Subjects more important for purpose of AI diplomatic acceptance score calculations
  
• Fixed an issue that would make the US not care about Kansas when manifesting their destiny
  

Continued in Part 2!

Greetings fellow map-starers! I am Lufthansi, one of the narrative designers on Victoria 3, and I’m here to talk about the upcoming map and pop setup changes for Sphere of Influence. Since there’s quite a few of them, let’s just jump straight into it.

[h2]Persia and Central Asia[/h2]
The lands of Iran and Turan have gotten a much needed facelift for the upcoming expansion.
Say goodbye to the conspicuously modern-looking looking Afghanistan (bar Wakhan dongle) of 1.6, and say hello to your new best friends in the region: the emirates of Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat. These three Pashtun realms will be the main contenders for the struggle to unify Afghanistan under one banner, though the Uzbek khanates of Maimana and Kunduz might give them a run for their money.



To their immediate south, the Khanate of Kalat’s influence in the region has grown considerably, with an enlarged Makran now starting as a Kalati vassal, standing in for the plethora of local Baluchi tribes that owed the Kalati Khans their allegiance.
Further east, the Sikh Empire’s borders have been redrawn to better reflect the situation in 1836 and the Nawabate of Bahawalpur has been established on the left bank of the Sutlej river. In the Eastern Hindu Kush, Chitral emerges as a new power, representing both itself and dozens of smaller statelets and tribes such as Hunza and the yet-Islamised ‘Kafiristan’.

In Central Asia proper, borders have been polished and shifted around slightly, with the most notable addition being the establishment of a decentralised Turkmen area, representing various Turkmen tribes outside Khivan control, chief among them the Tekke.

Persia has seen its starting territories further reduced, losing control of more of its coastline to Arab and Baluchi rulers and having to contend with a new vassal: the influential Sheikhdom of Muhammara, conveniently parked right on top of the country’s major oil reserves. (Surely nothing bad will ever come of this). Oh, and Persia is now blue (dabadee dabadi).



In terms of state regions, there’s quite a few new ones, and we have tried our very best to toe the line between what is historically appropriate and what is recognizable to the modern eye. The state regions represent a mixture of historical provinces, borders, and cultural areas, so while the initial setup might look alien to some, to all you Durand line fans out there, I say: ‘fear not, there is still a way’.



The old pop setup of Persia and Central Asia included many oddities, like the vast majority of Persian Jews and Armenians being slaves for some reason. This has now been rectified, and pop numbers and cultures for the entire region has been reworked, working off a motley collection of primary and secondary sources of varying trustworthiness as well as a good pinch of creative licence. You will also find three new cultures added to the region: Luri, Mazanderani, and Chitrali, each with their own accompanying country/releasable.

[h2]The Russian Empire[/h2]
Another big change this patch will come in the form of a map rework to the Russian Empire and its surroundings. A whole lot of new states have been added to the game, and even more remoulded to better reflect the international, cultural, and administrative divisions of the time.



Accompanying this state rework is another pop setup change. Primarily based on downscaled and modified data from the 1897 census, it adds a number of new cultures to the game, such as the Mordvins, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Udmurts, and the Buryat.





The Baltic Governorates under General-Governor Carl Magnus von der Pahlen will also make their debut in this patch. Starting as a German-cultured puppet under the Russian Empire, it is there to reflect the unique cultural and political situation of the three governorates of Estonia, Livonia, and Courland.





Of course, no map rework is complete without a slew of new releasables to populate it. I’m not going to list them all here, so feel free to look around and identify your own favourites!

[h2]East Asia[/h2]
Sphere of Influence will also see the arrival of a much requested religion, namely Confucianism. Confucianism will start out as the state religion of China, Korea, and Vietnam, though they all retain large Buddhist minorities. (In Vietnam’s case with the Buddhists making up the majority of the population.) Due to a change in the countries’ law setup, China and Vietnam will both start out by tolerating their Buddhist subjects, whereas the Buddhist practitioners in Korea will be persecuted by the state, representing Korea’s historical anti-Buddhist movement.



[h2]America and Australia[/h2]
To all those still grieving the loss of Noongar some patches back, I bring good tidings: Noongar is back, and it brought some friends! Wati and Miring together help reduce Anglo control over the Outback, better reflecting the limited control settlers then enjoyed over the country’s interior.



North America is also getting a bit busier, with the addition of the Seminoles of Florida (at long last), the Salish and Bannocks of the Western Plains, and the Athabaska of Alaska.



The addition of the Seminole is also accompanied by a new starting Journal Entry for the United States, ‘The Seminole Wars’, detailing the grim conquest and eventual displacement of the Seminole peoples of Florida by the United States.



[h2]Miscellaneous Changes[/h2]
Some other changes include the beautification of the Southern Bessarabian strip ceded as part of Romania’s ‘All for One’ Journal Entry, and the addition of more straits around the Tierra del Fuego to sort out some colonisation wonkiness, which would cause some individual island provinces to not be colonised by either Argentina or Chile.





Well, that’s all for now! I hope you are all as excited for Sphere of Influence as we are! See you all in the next developer diary where WHO WILL DO WHAT?

Editor's Note: We left this because it's funny. But next week the ‘WHAT’ our diary will be is the Changelog for 1.7 and Sphere of Influence, and the ‘WHO’ is writing it is Mikael! With that, have a Happy Thursday all!

Hello. This is Victoria, and today I will be covering the new script features coming in 1.7.

Our scripting language is the basis of all of the ingame content in Victoria 3. This means that every script functionality that we use in making game content is also usable by modders. As well as triggers and effects which interface with new features such as power blocs and building ownership, 1.7 and Sphere of Influence add several novel functionalities for modders. These include our new scripted progress bar system for journal entries.

[h2]Scripted Progress Bars[/h2]

In 1.7, journal entries will have a new way to display data: scripted progress bars. Multiple progress bars can be added per journal entry, and progress bars can be shared between journal entries. Scripted progress bars can also be configured to automatically increment on weekly, monthly, and yearly ticks.



Previously, all journal entries with progress bars have worked off of a “goal” system, where the journal entry is tied to a variable, and incrementing this variable causes the journal entry to progress.

Pictured: When this journal entry is initialised, it gets the current amount of coffee buy orders in one’s market, and multiplies it by 2.5. That multiplied value is the “goal”, and the current value is always equivalent to the current amount of coffee buy orders in the market.

This previous system remains available, and all journal entries utilising it will stay functional. However, the scripted progress bar system permits for new and interesting use cases, such as better support for incrementing progress based on various conditions.

Each scripted progress bar has certain conditions which can change its progress on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, and can be changed by means of scripted effect, using the new “add_progress” and “set_bar_progress” effects.



Pictured: The add_progress effect. This is used in a journal entry scope.

Scripted progress bars also have loc support, allowing for printing whatever text one wants on them.

Pictured: Think of these thoughts as limitless light; exposing closing circuitry of fright;

Scripted progress bars are defined in the common/scripted_progress_bars folder, in files therein. Looking inside one of these files, one can see the structure of each progress bar in script.



Going line by line, the first thing one sees is the ID of the progress bar. This is used in the journal entry that the progress bar is connected to. Note that progress bars can be connected to multiple journal entries at once.





Next is the localisation for the progress bar. The desc is the text displayed on the bar itself, and the name is displayed in the tooltip when one mouses over the bar.



Next is the skin the progressbar uses.



This is the communism progress bar, and so it uses the colour red. This is what it looks like ingame.



A complete list of available progress bar skins follows:

• double_sided_gold
  
• default_green
  
• default_bad
  
• default
  
• double_sided_bad
  

The double-sided progress bars have two text fields, allowing those who use them to put text on both the left and right of the progress bar.

Pictured: The double_sided_bad progress bar skin, which uses the journal entry icon as the mid-point between its two sides. Switching the text was not WAD, but is WAD now.

Going back to the internals of the progress bar script, one now sees the conditions scripted in the progress bar. These are what makes it trend in one direction or the other over the course of various increments.

Pictured: If one’s country has any incorporated state with over 10% of the population as radicals, every incorporated state in the country with over 10% radicals will contribute their radical count to the progress of the journal entry.

For the purpose of this example, all that matters is the amount of radicals in one’s country. In practice, a progress bar can have however many factors behind it as one wants, and all of them will be printed in a nice and orderly list.



Lastly, there is the start_value, the min_value, and the max_value. These values define the bounds of the progress bar - its minimum bound, its maximum bound, and what value it will start with when the journal entry is initialised.



The value of a progress bar can be retrieved, compared, and used in variable math with the scripted_bar_progress trigger in a journal entry scope.






[h2]Diplomatic Pact Modifiers[/h2]

Diplomatic pacts can now apply modifiers to both involved parties. These are controlled by the first_modifier and second_modifier fields in the diplomatic pact’s script–the first_modifier applies to the initiator, and the second_modifier applies to the other country.

For example, the Support Regime subject interaction gives the subject in question lowered radicalism, and less liberty desire, at the cost of some legitimacy for yourself.



Here is how this script looks ingame.

Pictured: I love the Regime.

[h2]Diplomatic Interaction Types[/h2]

Diplomatic interactions now have types.



The type of a diplomatic action determines from where it can be accessed. Current diplomatic action types are as follows:

• general
  
• subject
  
• overlord
  
• power_bloc_leader
  
• power_bloc_member
  

General diplomatic actions are available for any country, mostly encompassing actions like defence pacts, alliances, and other currently existing actions. Subject interactions are available for subjects of countries petitioning their overlord for something, overlord interactions are available for overlords demanding things of subjects, and power bloc leader/member interactions are much the same, albeit with power blocs rather than subject relationships.

All of these diplomatic action types are scriptable, and can make use of the new diplomatic action modifier system to have a wide variety of different effects.

[h2]New Script Support[/h2]

In addition to a selection of triggers, modifiers, and effects related to new features, several new and useful triggers for pre-existing game content have been added in 1.7. These include:

Triggers:

• country_innovation - compares against the total innovation produced by a country
  
• gdp_per_capita_ranking - compares against a list of all countries’ GDP/c stats. Note that in this case, lower is better, as the top GDP/c ranking is 1.
  
• sol_ranking - compares against a list of all countries’ Standard of Living stats.
  
• income_transfer - compares against the income transferred by a diplomatic pact.
  
• potential_diplomatic_play_power_ratio - compares against the expected power ratio in a diplomatic play between two countries.
  
• can_add_wargoal_against - evaluates true if a country can add a wargoal against a specified country.
  
• can_break_diplomatic_pact - evaluates true if a country can break a specified diplomatic pact with a specified country.
  
• can_create_diplomatic_pact - evaluates true if a country can create a specified diplomatic pact with a specified country.
  
• would_accept_diplomatic_action - evaluates true if a specified country would accept a request for a specified diplomatic pact.
  
• progressiveness - compares against the progressiveness of a given law type.
  
• law_progressiveness_difference - compares the progressiveness of two law types.
  
• journal_entry_age - compares against the time since a journal entry was activated, in days.
  
• enactment_chance_for_law - compares against the enactment chance for a law type, if it were to begin enactment immediately.
  
• can_trigger_event - takes an event ID, returns true if the event is currently fulfilling its trigger conditions.
  
• economic_dependence - compares against one country’s economic dependence on the another country.
  
• gdp_ownership_ratio - compares against the percentage of one country’s economy that is owned by another country.
  

Modifiers:

• allow_trade_routes_without_interest_bool - Boolean modifier that, when set to true, enables a country to establish trade routes with countries that it does not have an interest in.
  
• state_migration_quota_mult - increases or decreases the amount of people migrating to a given state.
  
• country_overlord_income_transfer_mult - increases or decreases the amount of money that a subject pays to its overlord.
  
• country_convoy_contribution_to_market_owner_add - increases or decreases the amount of convoys that a country contributes to its market.
  
• country_cannot_cancel_law_enactment_bool - Boolean modifier that, when set to true, forbids a country from manually cancelling a law enactment.
  
• country_port_connection_cost_mult - increases or decreases the convoy cost of port connections.
  
• tariff_[import/export]_outside_power_bloc_mult - increases or decreases tariffs for non-power-bloc members’ goods.
  

Effects:

• regime_change - immediately forces a Regime Change wargoal against the specified country, using the current country scope as a template.
  

To acquire a full list of triggers, effects, modifiers, and scopes, use the script_docs command in the console. This will export files full of useful documentation to your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Victoria 3/docs folder, or the equivalent on your computer.

I will now hand things over to Mikael to cover the modifier rework and new scripted widget system.

---

[h2]Modifier Rework[/h2]

In 1.7, the modifier_types database has been replaced with the new modifier_type_definitions database, and the modifiers database renamed to static_modifiers. Loc strings for modifier types will no longer have “modifier_” appended to their beginnings.

Modifiers have been a mainstay in Paradox grand strategy games for several generations and are an integral component of the Clausewitz game engine, but their implementation details and usage patterns sometimes differ from game to game. In Victoria 3, modifiers are used to run the entire socioeconomic simulation, and define everything from the throughput of buildings and how many units of coal are being produced, to how much Political Strength an aristocrat can wield and how quickly a starving farmer radicalises. They propagate from modifier sources, such as technologies or commander orders, through a tree of game objects (for example technology -> country -> state -> building, or commander order -> unit -> battle). When a modifier reaches its final destination, it still needs to be aware of its origin so we can explain in a tooltip that the reason your soldiers are currently fighting at 125% their base strength is because of a certain mix of commander orders & traits, the technologies you've researched, and the mobilisation options you've permitted. This system of tracking, propagating, and aggregating variables is very flexible both for programmers and designers, and has the very nice side effect of also being highly useful to modders.

However, it is also very performance intensive; due to the web of interdependencies in the game object tree it needs to keep track of the validity of each modifier node and send a signal up the tree to refresh everything when it's no longer valid. For example, whenever you change a Production Method in a building, the entire economic state of your market needs to be refreshed, which could also have an effect on other objects interfacing with the economy (which, this being Victoria, is most objects in the game).

The number of modifier nodes and invalidation events of those nodes has the biggest impact on the aggregate performance of the game, competing with number of pops for the prestigious #1 spot of "worst performance factor". Due to the increased demand on the simulation coming with 1.7/Sphere of Influence, we have had to do a major overhaul to the modifier system in the Clausewitz engine, specifically to improve performance by avoiding unnecessary work in modifier node recalculations.

This rewrite comes at a cost. Whereas previously, new modifier types defined in the modifier_types database would propagate down the tree in accordance with the first part of the modifier type name (for example, country_ targets countries and will not propagate further; building_, when applied to f.ex. a technology, will propagate to the country, then its states, then all buildings in those states), new modifier types defined by modders in script (in the modifier_type_definitions database) will no longer have a designated target and will propagate everywhere. If you specify a new modifier type country_phlogiston_generation_add and apply it to a technology, it will not stop at countries that have that technology but will merrily copy itself down the whole tree, to states, buildings, interest groups, characters, etc - all game objects that could inherit modifiers from countries. While with some careful planning this might still permit your mod to work, it can cause both performance problems and confusing UX bugs, and in the worst scenario cause modifier duplication.

We're currently working on a solution to this issue that will allow you to optionally turn on custom modifier type registration in your mod. This will allow custom modifier types to propagate according to the earlier rules. We hope it will be ready for release, if not it should appear in a hotfix afterwards. Watch the patch notes for news on this, and until then try not to include new modifier types in your modding endeavours.

[h2]Scripted Widgets[/h2]

Finally, some of you will be pleased to know that we have ported over the scripted_widgets system introduced in Crusader Kings III to Victoria 3, allowing you to more easily add new UI elements to your mod without causing conflicts with other UI mods touching the same files. In addition, the AI will now evaluate whether it should be taking actions defined in the scripted_gui database dependent on its ai_is_valid trigger, the ai_frequency noted (in months), and the ai_chance (number between 1-100) defined for the scripted gui. We hope these features will allow your mods to interface even deeper with the rest of the game mechanics!

---

And that is all. Thank you for reading. Next week, Hansi will cover the new map and culture changes coming in 1.7.

Hello fellow Victorians, and happy Thursday!
Alex here and it’s my turn to bring you another exciting update on what’s coming with 1.7. This time I’ve been tasked with showing you a selection of certified Cool™ things we’re doing that didn’t really fit in other Dev Diaries. This will be a lot like the proverbial box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get next!

[h2]Religion and Culture map modes[/h2]
In case you missed it, a few Dev Diaries ago we mentioned in passing that we now have a new highly requested map mode that shows you what religion the Pops in different states follow. This new mapmode functions similarly to the Culture map mode you are already familiar with.

Additionally, while implementing the religion map mode we also took the opportunity to upgrade both of these map modes so they now show if there are significant cultural or religious minorities in those states. The way it works is that, apart from the largest culture or religion, if a second culture’s or religion’s relative population is above a certain threshold, we blend the colors weighted by that relative population. Up to three cultures or religions can be represented this way, each with separate thresholds for each of the map modes. These thresholds are completely moddable and if you just prefer the old look, you can easily revert back to it.

Being able to see the clear divide between Protestants and Catholics in Europe really hits different!

The new upgraded cultural map mode does a much better job at showcasing all the different cultures in Brazil. I like how you can see the lavender haze shifting in tones between the different Northeastern states as the game progresses.

[h2]National Migration[/h2]
For a long time you have all been talking about how it’s awkward that your migration laws also prevent your pops from migrating inside your country, rather than only restricting it when moving out. With 1.7 this will change!

Migration laws will no longer prevent pops moving between states in your country. Instead, your migration laws will only prevent pops from moving out of or into your country, be it through mass migrations or through regular market migration from other countries within your market or power bloc.

These are the 22 laws Japan starts with. Closed Borders and Isolationism in particular make Japan a fairly unique starting country in how isolated they are. Previously this meant no inter-state migration could happen, which severely limited your growth opportunities.

Starting with 1.7 that won’t be a problem anymore as countries with Closed Borders will allow their own pops to migrate between their states, while still being closed to the outside.

[h2]Support and Guarantee Independence pacts[/h2]
As part of our changes to subject mechanics we’ve also introduced two new diplomatic pacts:

• Support Independence
  
• Guarantee Independence
  

As you might imagine, they allow you to signal to a country that you will side with them in a potential war for their independence. Guarantee Independence works essentially as a one-sided defensive pact letting you support a country if they were to be attacked, while Support Independence is for countries that are not currently independent. One particularly cool aspect of this is that subjects can now support the independence of other subjects of the same overlord, potentially leading to a big war for joint independence.

An Indian-Canadian alliance might be somewhat unexpected, but I can appreciate the enthusiasm to stop being under British rule. So long, London!

Must feel reassuring for Belgium to be Guaranteed by Britain, France and Prussia. You have to wonder what it will mean for the development of Europe. I’m sure it will last.

[h2]Multiple Active Wars[/h2]
Another highly requested feature! For a long time you’ve been asking for this and now we were finally able to do it. In the current version of the game you can’t initiate a war if you already have another war in progress. Starting in 1.7, you will be able to initiate as many simultaneous wars as you want. You still need to wait for each diplomatic play to progress to war before starting another one, but other than that if you wish to wage war against the whole world, you’re free to do so.

Pictured: France thinking they can take on Spain while already fighting Prussia (notice the widget at the top). What year do they think it is? 1808? Maybe it’s time for another coalition. Paris is lovely this time of year.

[h2]Calling an Ally now gives them a war goal of their choosing[/h2]
In 1.7 calling an ally will now let that ally pick a war goal of their own. This is done through the regular Add War Goal interface and adds it as a secondary demand. This war goal is subject to a maneuvers limit, but doesn’t cost maneuvers for the war leader.

Of course, now they want help. Maybe don’t start wars you can’t win. I guess we can help for the right price, but this is the last time.

[h2]Overlords can now side against their subjects during revolutions[/h2]
Tired of having to support your subject in a revolution when they get into their Communist phase despite you being a staunch defender of the sanctity of the free market? In 1.7 you’ll be able to support the revolutionary side instead. If you do, when the war breaks out it will make the revolutionary country your subject instead and you can then fight the war and go on as usual.

Come on, Norway. You knew all too well this was going to happen when you tried to pass State Atheism. I’m done.

See? Look what you made me do. Now I have to fight Prussia while siding with the Devout!

[h2]Unidirectional Truces[/h2]
Another requested feature that is coming with 1.7 is the support for unidirectional truces that only prevents one side from starting fights with the other. Unidirectional truces will, at least for now, only be applied after breaking a Guarantee Independence pact and after changing the autonomy of subjects, but let us know if you have any suggestions for other cool places we could use them in.

Well, that didn’t last long. Good thing Europe is at peace and wars are a thing of the past… Right?

[h2]Subjects can turn against overlord at high enough liberty desire[/h2]
With the coming update, at high enough liberty desire levels, a subject might offer to support your enemies in exchange for their support in getting independence from you or simply raising your subject’s autonomy.

Make sure to keep your subjects happy. The treacherous ones might decide to backstab you.

[h2]Auto-downsizing for Privately owned buildings[/h2]
Privately-owned Buildings that are not able to fill all their vacancies will in 1.7 start downsizing on their own under certain conditions. If it becomes relevant, the building will issue a warning that it intends to downsize in 12 months, unless conditions get better. If it starts downsizing it will remove levels one at a time until the number of employees better matches its output and profit potentials.

Finally something is being done about all those abandoned buildings all over the place. Maybe we can clean it up and repurpose old industrial areas into parks or something.

[h2]New Character Outfits[/h2]
We have also added a few more character clothing options. In particular I really like these late game military British and French outfits!

This guy is exactly how I imagine an innocent British lord in the 1800s going on their first field trip to the colonies would look like. “Blimey lads, they have us surrounded!”

This one on the other hand looks like he has some serious bad blood with someone (probably the Prussians)

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! (also look at this guy’s style! I want a hat like that)

[h2]New Companies[/h2]
We have a number of new companies coming for Sphere of Influence owners! Here’s some of my favorite ones:







In addition to these, the following companies will also be introduced with Sphere of Influence:

• Perskhlopok
  
• Persshelk
  
• Šerkat-e Eslāmiya
  
• West Ural Petroleum Company, Limited
  
• Kirgizian Mining [Joint Stock] Company
  
• Moscow Irrigation Company
  
• Tashkent Railroad
  
• MM. Nicolas Portalis et Cie.
  
• Anglo-Persian Oil Company
  

The following companies will be available for all players as part of the 1.7 free update:

• Iranian State Railway
  
• Šerkat-e Etteḥādīya-ye Welāyat-e Šemālī
  
• Bongāh-e Enḥeṣār-e Ṣāderāt-e Taryāk
  
• Arthur Guinness Son & Co. Ltd
  
• Oriental Development Company
  
• Turkish Petroleum Company
  

That’s all for now! Hope you enjoyed this smörgåsbord of assorted changes coming soon. Next week Vicka will be telling you more about modding in 1.7!

Hello and happy Thursday!
It’s Lino, back from the depths of development, to talk about more details on Power Blocs, one of the central new systems coming to you with Sphere of Influence on June 24.
If you don’t know anything about Power Blocs yet, I recommend you to give my first Dev Diary on them a good look because we will be referencing a lot of the terminology today.

Small disclaimer for today’s Dev Diary:
You will see a lot of WIP values, for modifiers and bonuses, for special powers and so on. Take them all with a grain of salt please, as we’re in the process of touching a number of these right now. If you have feedback on them, we’re happy to read it though! We have plans to adjust some values before release.

[h2]Identities[/h2]
On release, there will be five different Central Identity Pillars to choose from for your Power Bloc. One of which is available to everybody, even if you did not purchase the DLC.

The Identities differentiate themselves from another by a couple of things:

• All five Identities have a unique power that the leader has access to which is central to how the Identity plays out
  
• They have one or more unique effects for the leader or members
  
• The Primary Principle Groups which each Bloc needs at least one Principle from are different
  
• Some Principle Groups are unlocked only by a specific Identity
  
• How a Power Bloc’s Cohesion value is calculated depends on its Identity
  

Even if you do not own Sphere of Influence, you can play as the countries that have a historic Power Bloc at game start, even if they are not a Trade League (Great Britain, Russia, Ottoman Empire, Austria). You can keep the Principles their Power Blocs start with, that you would not usually have access to, but you will not be able to expand on them or replace them with other principles you could not usually pick.

The five Identities are:

• Trade League (free with 1.7)
  
• Sovereign Empire
  
• Military Treaty
  
• Ideological Union
  
• Religious Convocation
  

So let’s look at some Identity details, shall we?

Trade League

The first big thing we can see for the Trade League Identity is their unique attribute which automatically makes every Power Bloc member part of a Customs Union under the Power Bloc Leader.
This lets you recreate the Customs Union pact functionality which will be removed with the 1.7 update.
Don’t worry, for all other Identities there will be an alternative path which we’ll get to.

Next up, we can see the Bloc Leader only effect for Trade Leagues. In this case, 4 Trade Routes will be free of bureaucracy cost for the leader.

Also the Internal Trade Principle Group is unlocked by this Identity and is in fact one of Trade League’s Primary Principle Groups. One of these Primary Groups is required to be picked from when you first create your own Power Bloc.

Speaking of that Principle Group, here is a closer look at Internal Trade.






As you can see, the first tier comes with a heavy hitter in the form of a bonus to Market Access Price Impact (also lovingly called MAPI) for all Bloc members.
Growing convoy contributions to the Power Bloc Leader can be seen, alongside tariff increases and other infrastructure improvements due to the harmonization of regulations within the Bloc.

The other Primary Principle Group for Trade Leagues is the External Trade Group:

Note that in some cases (a customs union in the Bloc) the bureaucracy cost is not actually going to provide any benefit. But since you can use it also outside the Trade League, it will provide a benefit for you there.





Due to unified trade policies, various improvements to Trade Routes can be found in this group. But we also see a new thing in the list, which is the unlocking of a new Production Method (PM) for Trade Centers.
When selected, that PM will replace the base PM since it is an upgraded version of it and provides you with a bonus to Influence!
Last but not least, we can see that on tier 3, members will gain the power to establish trade routes without requiring interest in the region. That should make it easier, even for small member countries, to engage in trade across the globe.

The last thing that is specific for Trade Leagues is how their Cohesion value is calculated. For this we look at the leader’s GDP share of the total Bloc GDP. The higher the leader’s share, the better for Cohesion. Then we also apply a penalty for each shortage that is happening in your market. To compensate for this, we are adding a bonus for each top producer of a good (rank #1 to #3).

Sovereign Empire

Onwards to the Sovereign Empire Identity. At game start, multiple Power Blocs will have this at their core. Namely the British, Russian and Ottoman Empire.
It allows the leader to subjugate other Power Bloc members and make them a vassal of their own!
Additionally, choosing this Identity reduces the weekly Liberty Desire progress of all subjects that the Power Bloc leader has. Note: The current effect’s description is wrong, it will be updated for release to indicate this applies to their subjects, not themself.

Next up we also have two Primary Principle Groups for the Sovereign Empire. Let’s start with a closer look at Vassalization:






We can see that it does what the name promises - various improvements to having subjects and managing them with the third tier even allowing you to enact decrees in your subjects which you use to further bolster them.

Next is a group that is exclusive to Sovereign Empire Power Blocs, Exploitation of Members:






Here we see that this group comes with some penalties for the regular members, in favor of only providing the leader with benefits.
In turn, since members will not enjoy that of course, the Power Bloc’s Cohesion takes a hit. So you will need to evaluate if the benefits outweigh the costs for you or if you are able to find other ways to cut down on Cohesion penalties.

Speaking of Cohesion, for Sovereign Empires you will have to manage your subjects and strengthen your Prestige. The highest Liberty Desire among the leader’s subjects imposes a penalty of equal value. So if the British East India Company has the highest Liberty Desire among the British subjects with a value of 40, the Cohesion penalty will also be 40 for example.
On the other hand leaders get a bonus to Cohesion based on their share of total Prestige in the Power Bloc.



The third Identity we’re looking at today is the Military Treaty (yes, it received a catchier name).

Military Treaty Military Goods Cost is a placeholder effect which will be replaced before release

First thing we see is “Allows free War Goal”. But what does that mean? It means that the Leader of a Military Treaty Power Bloc may add a single secondary War Goal to any Diplomatic Play of members that the Leader is also involved in, even if they joined of their own volition. This war goal can “cost” up to 30 maneuvers, but it will not actually subtract any when selected.

There is also a placeholder modifier in this screenshot (which will be replaced before release!), that reduces the military goods cost for all Bloc members. In its place another effect is going to be added, with the focus remaining on the military side of things of course.
In addition there are a few more for increased Prestige from Power Projection for both, leader and member.

As for the other identities, we have two Primary Principle Groups, one of which is exclusive to Military Treaty Blocs.

The first group is Defensive Cooperation:






Like most other Principle Groups, Defensive Cooperation does what you would expect. Through mutual commitment, Power Blocs with this Principle are not able to wage war among each other. On the higher tiers, swaying countries gets easier if you’re the target of a play and on tier 3, all members are being forced to join all Diplomatic Plays if a member is being targeted.

But what would imperialism be without waging some war yourself? That’s what the other, exclusive to the Military Treaty group is for:






Ranging from lower infamy generation to forcing every member to join all Diplomatic Plays of any other member, this group is for you if you’re planning to conquer the world (or at least parts of it). Beware of the Cohesion penalty on the third tier due to members not wanting to go to war constantly.
Cohesion in Military Treaty Blocs is dependent on the leader’s share of the Bloc’s Power Projection, similar to how Prestige works for Sovereign Empires in that regard.
Reductions to Cohesion are based on the highest infamy value in the Bloc and the country with the worst relations with the leader.

Next up, we’re taking a peek at Ideological Unions:

Ideological Union

Here we see that Ideological Union leaders can Force Regime Changes in member countries. There are a few conditions like how different their laws need to be compared to the leader’s, how much Cohesion the Power Bloc has and some minor others.
When you do it, what happens is again what you would expect: You enforce a regime change on the target country, changing their laws, without having to go to war.

Good thing the Ideological Union Power Blocs have an easier access to Regime Changes. Because one of the negative Cohesion factors for these Blocs is the country with the biggest difference in Governance Principles and Distribution of Power law groups compared to the leader.
A positive factor is found in the form of the leader’s Legitimacy.

Creative Legislature and Ideological Truth are the two Primary Principle Groups for Ideological Union Power Blocs, with the latter being exclusive to them.







For Creative Legislature we see various bonuses to the enactment of laws. It allows you to have more setbacks on the third tier, essentially giving you another roll at it, in addition to the reduced stall chance, making the process proceed faster. Also, it reduces Movement spawn chances that would undo the work you are trying to do with the enactment of your desired law.

Now let’s take a look at the Principle Group exclusive to Ideological Union Blocs.






Here we can see that this group focuses on Interest Groups (IG) and your government. It not only makes unwanted Agitators’ lifes harder, lets you bolster your desired IGs and suppress your enemies at the cost of less authority, but even increases your Minimum Legitimacy by 25 on the third tier.

The fifth and last Central Identity Pillar is great for everybody who always wanted to play as a religious great power, uniting the world.

Religious Convocation

Religious homogeneity is what this Power Bloc Identity strives for. It allows leaders to impose their state religion on other members. It’s an unique Diplomatic Action which will set a member's State Religions to the leader’s. Similarly to other Power Bloc Leader actions, it requires a certain Cohesion and Prestige value and also cannot be used immediately on a new member.

The Religious Convocation Identity also boosts conversion rates in all members, which goes nicely with your power to convert Power Bloc members. For release, we’re supplementing this effect with another one, likely along the lines of reducing radicalism.

Its Primary Principle Groups both deal with the involvement of church in different aspects of life.
The first of the two is also exclusive to the religious Identity - it’s Divine Economics.







We see here that we get various effects with relation to faith and economy. Higher subject payments if they’re following a different religion, but on the flip side higher trade route competitiveness if they are following the same religion for example.
The PMs that you can unlock on tier 2 allow you to exchange some workforce in the new Manor House and Financial District buildings with Clergymen. You don’t have to make use of it of course, but you get the option to.

The other Principle Group is Sacred Civics:






This group features three unique effects. It improves upon Liberty Desire and general acceptance for diplomatic proposals if the country shares the same state religion.
On tier 3, you can see it also allows the leader to impose their own church and state laws onto Power Bloc members.

Cohesion for Religious Convocations has a few factors as well. First, it looks at the leader’s Devout IG clout to determine a bonus to Cohesion. Secondly, we add or subtract Cohesion based on the lowest share of population in a Bloc member that follows the same religion as the leader’s state religion.
So if you have a member that has 0% of their Population following the same religion as yourself as leader, you will get a penalty, but if you are actually able to have the lowest member value be 50%, you will get a bonus instead.

That was a detailed look at all the Identities. But wait, there’s more!

[h2]Principles[/h2]

Apart from the Primary Principle Groups, there are a number of other groups of different flavors that you can make use of to assemble your dream Power Bloc. In total, including the 5 Identity exclusive groups, there are 20 Principle Groups with three Principles each for you to choose from.

Here are some examples:







This Principle Group is the alternative route to get to a Customs Union without having to pick the Trade League Central Identity Pillar.
It comes with a few other bonuses on the lower tiers, in particular the +5% MAPI bonus you have seen in the Trade Union exclusive group.

Another example I’d like to show because of its differently themed effects is Police Coordination.







This group provides multiple positive effects for the Police Institution in particular and upgrades its effects. The +50 Authority and reduction in Political Movement Radicalism is applied to each level of the institution. So the deeper you go into this, the more you will profit from it too.

The last group we want to show you today is dealing with Foreign Investment.







We can see three interesting effects in this group. On the first tier, you will get a higher amount of Leverage from Economic Dependence which, if you recall, is based a lot on how many investments you have in another country which makes them more dependent on you.
The second tier provides you with a reduction for Nationalization cost, which you can make use of to decrease your own dependence on other countries for example.
On the last tier, every member of the Bloc gets automatic Investment Rights in other Members of lower rank. This should allow you and other powerful countries to spread your influence inside your Bloc more easily, which in turn makes it more likely for the lower rank countries to stay inside your Bloc.

Another thing that has changed slightly since the original Power Blocs Dev Diary is the slots that are available to your Power Bloc.
If you own Sphere of Influence, by default each Power Bloc you’re leading has two slots that you can fill with Principles.
Even if you don’t own the DLC, you will still have one slot available for customization, where you can choose one of the two Primary Principle Group paths to take.
You can unlock the third and fourth slot by overtaking the other Power Blocs in the rankings for which we look at the total prestige of all members.
For the third slot you will need to be among the top 5 Power Blocs and have at least 5 members, the fourth one will be unlocked if you are among the top 3 and have at least 10 members in your Bloc.
Due to this change, we have removed the maximum number of Principle Mandates which you can spend. So in theory you can now get to 4 fully leveled tier 3 Principles, it is just going to be harder for you to do so.

Next, I’d like to provide you with a seemingly small, but significant update to how we deal with Leverage.

[h2]Leverage 2.0[/h2]
Since the last Dev Diary on Power Blocs, we have made some changes to how Leverage works and also added a few more sources of Leverage. If you recall, Leverage is what you need to build up in other countries to make them join your Bloc.
Apart from the sources mentioned last time, we have now added factors for adjacency, meaning if you have a direct adjacency or a treaty port for example, you will get more Leverage in the target country. High infamy values on the other hand will reduce the gain of Leverage, so you will have to keep it in check if you want to make good use of the resources you’re investing into building up Leverage.
Various other diplomatic pacts now will also provide or reduce the Leverage you can build up in other countries.

The main change we’ve done though is how Leverage is calculated. Before it was basically a never-ending race of building up infinite amounts of Leverage. Now we have changed it so that there is instead a shared pool of 1000 Leverage which all involved parties (including the target country) need to fight over. This value of 1000 never changes, never shrinks or grows.
The best way to understand this is by looking at a screenshot of the WIP tooltips that our UX designer Aron has made:



Here we see (from the British perspective), how Leverage over Greece is currently split up and what distribution it is trending towards.
In the upper bar, we see the current Leverage situation and we can see that Greece is currently able to stand up for itself against the Blocs trying to influence it. Its value of 584 is 490 higher than the British value which therefore is currently at 94, resulting in 9.4% Leverage Share for Great Britain. The Greek value is also directly translatable into their Leverage Share of 58.4%. The target country’s Share is called Unclaimed Leverage since no Power Bloc is taking that for themselves. If no Power Bloc was active in gaining Leverage in Greece (this should barely ever be the case), their Leverage Share/Unclaimed Leverage would be 100%.

What is actually happening in that situation though is that all 4 involved Power Blocs currently have a higher Leverage Factor (which is kind of like a Leverage “income”) than Greece has resistance. They might have a bunch of diplomatic agreements with Greece or trade or have sided in Diplomatic Plays with them for example. So over time, the Greek share of the pie will decrease, while all Power Blocs in this case will make gains and expand their influence over Greece, eventually (and if nothing about this situation changes) resulting in the situation depicted in the bar on the bottom of the tooltip.
The Russian Empire will have roughly 40% of the Leverage Share then and will likely be able to invite Greece to their Bloc with a good chance of success.
You can hover over each bit of the bars of course to get more detailed information on how the depicted share is calculated.

This system change makes Leverage something worth fighting over even if you are late to the party because nobody will be able to accumulate mountains of Leverage before you try yourself to get active in the country.
It also makes it possible to not only build up more Leverage, but reduce another Bloc’s Leverage Share, by having more positive Leverage Factors going for you than they do.

Another thing that we’d like to bring to your attention is a few examples for how Leverage is tied into our narrative content, in particular the Great Game content that was presented to you in the previous Dev Diaries for the Great Game and the Graveyard of Empires.
For example, in the Afghan unification, if you appeal to Great Britain or Russia, this will create Leverage on your country for their respective Power Blocs.

Similarly, the Eastern Frontier Journal Entry buttons and also an accepted Circassia recognition will create some Leverage for the according Power Blocs in the target country.

That’s it for today. We hope you liked this expanded outlook on Power Blocs. Next week, Alex is going to talk about some general changes that we’re making with the 1.7 update. Get ready for a cute mapmode and have a lovely rest of this happy Thursday!