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[Paradox Interactive] Divine Wind finally on Steam, NEW HoI3 expansion announced

Michael HMichael H Registered User regular
edited July 2011 in Games and Technology
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This is a catch-all thread for all things Paradox Interactive. Have you ever been playing Civ IV and thought to yourself, “Are they taking barometric pressure into account when determining the effectiveness of my bombers?” Do you wish Civ V had slightly worse graphics? Do you wish Microsoft Excel had slightly better graphics? Have you ever wanted to see Switzerland realize their true military potential? If so, this is the thread for you!

Paradox Interactive is a developer and publisher of many fine strategy games. Most of their games are historical simulations, allowing the player to pick almost any country throughout the course of history and guide them as they see fit. Have the British conquer the Iberian peninsula or have Prussia expand the way you thought they should have. The games are mostly built on the EUIII engine (some, like CK, are still on an older engine but will be updated soon) and each covers a specific time period. Rather than being the same game in a different time period, each has its own focus and theme:

Europa Universalis: Rome - 280 BC to 27 AD (or CE, if you prefer), Mediterranean fun
Crusader Kings - 1066 to 1482, focuses on your crazy royal family and the plots therein
Europa Universalis III - 1453 to 1879, has the most expansions
Victoria II - 1836 to 1936, the Second Industrial Revolution! Steampunk before it was cool! Factories! Tophats!
Hearts of Iron III - 1936 to 1948, World War II. All war, all the time


In addition to developing these gems, PI publishes all sorts of non-strategy games, like the class-based MP shooter Old Timey Team Fortress 2, er, Lead & Gold, and Mount & Blade: Warband (which has an upcoming expansion that includes muskets!).

How in the holy hell do I play these games?

The learning curve for either of these games can be a bit steep, so prepare to do it wrong a lot before getting it right. There are in-game tutorials, but the information they give is painted in broad strokes. A big stumbling point for most new players is that most of your goals will be self-imposed. There's a score at the end of the game where you are ranked relative to everyone else, but between the start of the game and the end of the game what happens is up to you. Most of the games have quick start manuals to get you going, and there are wikis linked below. RTFM.

I don’t have a manual; I bought these from Steam or another download service!

That’s okay, most documentation is available from Paradox on their forums. The trick is that you need to register an account on their forums, and then register each game’s CD keys on their forums. (“My Games/Registrations” is at the top of the forum.) You can get the CD key for your Steam-purchased games by right-clicking on the game in your Steam library and selecting “View Game CD Key”. Alternatively, Steam will display it every damn time you start the game until you ask it politely to stop.

What I might end up doing is just hosting the files on my website and putting up some links. I’m sure that violates some sort of terms of use blah blah but whatever. Until then, here’s the links (which will work once you register on the forums and register your games.

Hearts of Iron III Resources
Europa Universalis III Resources
Europa Universalis III Manual
It looks like you get this from PI via Gamers Gate (which is lame), but it’s available at Replacement Docs.
Europa Universalis III Strategy Guide
Europa Universalis Strategies (Includes Newbie Guide)]

Victoria II Resources
One of your best references is the PI forums, so registering is always a good idea. There’s tons of information and some great developer diaries and other amusing tidbits. In order to get tech support and see all of the available forums, make sure you register your game's key in the "My Games" tab. If you don't, you'll be missing out on all the juicy bits!

Now that I have all these cool documents, I would love to reference them while playing. How do I turn off full screen mode? There’s no setting in the graphics options!

Full screen is easily enabled, though not “officially supported” by PI. For both EUIII and HOI III, simply go to the installation directory and open “settings.txt”. In there change “fullscreen” to “no”. That’s all there is to it. While you’re in there you can set your screen resolution to your preferred setting.

These seem like laptop-friendly games, how can I play on both my desktop and laptop?

Syncing is easy, just set up a redirect using Winbolic to a Dropbox folder. PI conveniently has a dedicated “saved games” folder, so the amount of data put into Dropbox is minimal. I have both games set up this way, so I know it can be done! You can find instructions on ddgamer to get set up.

Michael H on
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Posts

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Michael H wrote: »
    Have you ever been playing Civ IV and thought to yourself, “Are they taking barometric pressure into account when determining the effectiveness of my bombers?” Do you wish The Settlers had slightly worse graphics? Do you wish Microsoft Excel had slightly better graphics? If so, this is the thread for you!

    Ha ha.

    Great OP - Bravo!

    Iolo on
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  • P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    EU is pretty simple once you understand the economy.

    Inflation is the devil and must be avoided at all costs.

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    EU is pretty simple once you understand the economy.

    Inflation is the devil and must be avoided at all costs.

    I think the key to my progress in the game was realizing that a large part of strategy is knowing when to do nothing. If you try to keep yourself occupied all the time you'll be destroyed in badboy wars by 1450 :)

    Zedar on
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  • JaramrJaramr Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Ive been playing a soviet game in Hearts of Iron 2 right now.

    It is quite fun, although my blob of 1918 infantry get their ass handed to them whenever I try and attack Europe, and I end up reloading.

    Im considering doing a Mexico game of Victoria right now, I think that would be pretty fun.

    Jaramr on
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  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I'm trying to get into EU:Rome. Things are making a bit more sense now that I've realized that the guide I was reading was for the expansion and so I don't have to manage Senate factions and send my prosepective generals through the cursus honorium.

    So one thing I've noticed is that the characters seem to be dying off much faster than they are being born. Does that seem right?

    lowlylowlycook on
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    (Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Zedar wrote: »
    EU is pretty simple once you understand the economy.

    Inflation is the devil and must be avoided at all costs.

    I think the key to my progress in the game was realizing that a large part of strategy is knowing when to do nothing. If you try to keep yourself occupied all the time you'll be destroyed in badboy wars by 1450 :)

    I think before some patches you could blitz to a capital province, take it, then force the nation to become a vassal. With this exploit I was able to subjugate the whole of Western & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, and Northern Africa. My nation? Lorraine. :P

    When I declared war against someone my computer would scream as hundreds of nations all acted at once. :D


    I tried playing Hearts of Iron 2 first, but it was just to much for me at the time. However EU was simply enough for me and taught me quite a lot that later helped me get in to Hearts of Iron later on.


    Speaking of Hearts of Iron, how is HoI3 nowadays? I know Paradox games are pretty rough when released, I imagine by now enough patches/mods are out for HoI3 to smooth things?

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • dobilaydobilay Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I think I'm going to get EU3 tomorrow, but should I get all the expansions?

    dobilay on
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    dobilay wrote: »
    I think I'm going to get EU3 tomorrow, but should I get all the expansions?

    The expansions vastly improve the base game, I really wouldn't recommend playing without them. You can get by without the most recent one (Heir to the Throne), but I would recommend picking it up anyway as it adds a lot to the experience (making wars a lot more interesting primarily)

    Edit: More specifically declaration and resolution of wars, not the actual process of fighting wars. I was watching someone play without HttT and the war declaration process just seems so lacking in comparison.

    Zedar on
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  • TeriferinTeriferin Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    So... I just united the Holy Roman Empire as Italy. Shit got crazy.

    Basically, I vassalized the HRE, and half of Europe immediately declares war on me. The other half are my vassals, and jump in on my side. Thank god Austria joined my side, and France decided to remain neutral. About 2 months later, I had enough Imperial Authority to form the HRE. Despite the horrifying wars, I now control almost everything east of France and west of Muscovy.

    So, yeah, get HttT. It makes a good game so much better.

    Teriferin on
    teriferin#1625
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Heir to the throne results in some crazy inheritences. I had united Ireland, and was buzzing along as a little merchant country. Then France inherited Sweden, and became a superpower. I've stayed out of it, but they're gobbling up other nations like crazy. The only real resistance is England, which inherited pretty much everything around the Mediterranean.

    PolloDiablo on
  • ArrathArrath Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Jaramr wrote: »
    Ive been playing a soviet game in Hearts of Iron 2 right now.

    It is quite fun, although my blob of 1918 infantry get their ass handed to them whenever I try and attack Europe, and I end up reloading.

    Im considering doing a Mexico game of Victoria right now, I think that would be pretty fun.

    Tanks. Just pump out a load of tanks. Maybe some fighters to get Air Superiority. Advance your Steel Wall inexorably towards the Atlantic.

    Arrath on
  • Kris_xKKris_xK Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I hope this thread doesn't die as I plan on asking a billion questions about EU3.

    I thought I'd be ok with me HoI experience but apparently not.

    Kris_xK on
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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Heir to the throne results in some crazy inheritences. I had united Ireland, and was buzzing along as a little merchant country. Then France inherited Sweden, and became a superpower. I've stayed out of it, but they're gobbling up other nations like crazy. The only real resistance is England, which inherited pretty much everything around the Mediterranean.

    France wasn't already a superpower? That's so... unlike EU3.

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • TeriferinTeriferin Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    We can answer the questions. And we should try playing a multiplayer game sometime.

    I'll get destroyed, but it'll be so fun.

    Teriferin on
    teriferin#1625
  • Michael HMichael H Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    How does MP work, exactly? Is it just a set rate for the time and you try to keep up as best you can?

    Michael H on
  • FerrusFerrus Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Assuming I wanted to buy a Hearts of Iron game, which should it be? HoI2 Complete or regular HoI3?

    Ferrus on
    I would like to pause for a moment, to talk about my penis.
    My penis is like a toddler. A toddler—who is a perfectly normal size for his age—on a long road trip to what he thinks is Disney World. My penis is excited because he hasn’t been to Disney World in a long, long time, but remembers a time when he used to go every day. So now the penis toddler is constantly fidgeting, whining “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now? Now? How about... now?”
    And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
  • Kris_xKKris_xK Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Ferrus wrote: »
    Assuming I wanted to buy a Hearts of Iron game, which should it be? HoI2 Complete or regular HoI3?

    In my limited experience I found HoI3 more enjoyable. I'm not sure what the census is amongst the hardcore however.

    Kris_xK on
    calvinhobbessleddingsig2.gif
  • kedinikkedinik Captain of Industry Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I just got Heir to the Throne, upgrading from vanilla.

    There are so many new ways to screw up!

    kedinik on
    I made a game! Hotline Maui. Requires mouse and keyboard.
  • dobilaydobilay Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I'm totally lost and I haven't even really started yet.

    dobilay on
  • Michael HMichael H Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Wow, EU3 really penalizes the "ah fuck it you're a small country so I'm going to eat you up". If that small country is allied with other powerful countries and you don't have a really good reason to invade, things go bad pretty quickly. And that's why Denmark couldn't conquer little old Holstein.

    Michael H on
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Heir to the throne results in some crazy inheritences. I had united Ireland, and was buzzing along as a little merchant country. Then France inherited Sweden, and became a superpower. I've stayed out of it, but they're gobbling up other nations like crazy. The only real resistance is England, which inherited pretty much everything around the Mediterranean.

    France wasn't already a superpower? That's so... unlike EU3.

    I need a word that means a super superpower. A megapower. An unstoppable natural force.

    I'd be up for a multiplayer game. I'm still learning the ropes, it would be cool to have other people.

    Michael H wrote: »
    How does MP work, exactly? Is it just a set rate for the time and you try to keep up as best you can?

    I think so. I think if everyone chooses a time speed that's what it goes to.

    PolloDiablo on
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I am a big fan of the Magna Mundi mod for EU3. It changes a lot, usally to make things harder, but one thing I really like is that it makes Japan not boring.


    edit- The very best thing about it is the new map.
    EU3_4-1.jpg

    It is the sex.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • oldmankenoldmanken Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I am back playing this (EU3/HTTT), though I very rarely take countries in Europe. Currently starting a game as one of the East Indian countries, the one right on the southern tip of the sub-continent, starts with "V".

    So hard, but I love this game...

    oldmanken on
  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I maintain the Byzantines are the most fun to start as. Surrounded on all sides by the Ottomans, good luck!

    Of course, if you build a strong enough navy, you can trap their armies on one side of the Bosporous (preferably the Turkish side) and conquer half their empire...

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • LowlanderLowlander Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I maintain the Byzantines are the most fun to start as. Surrounded on all sides by the Ottomans, good luck!

    Of course, if you build a strong enough navy, you can trap their armies on one side of the Bosporous (preferably the Turkish side) and conquer half their empire...

    That's one of the things that really irritates me about EU3 and EU3:Rome. They have completely locked away one of the most fascinating civilizations in Europe: Byzantium. Byzantium was the 'new Rome' from about 500 AD to about 1300 AD. If it weren't for all the knowledge that the Byzantines had kept from their days in the Roman Empire, there never would have been a Renaissance.

    At their height, the Byzantines controlled an equivalent amount of the world as the Romans had. In the end they were more Greek and Asian and less Italian then they started out to be, but that's part of what makes them interesting.

    Lowlander on
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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    You can be the Byzantines from 1066-19wheneverHOI ends if you really want. Though it's kind of boring to start as them in CK, as they have a huge, fairly stable empire and what, the second best territory on the entire map in Byzantium proper?

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I'm not too keen to playing Byzantium in EU3. From what i understand once you get past the initial challenge of beating back the Ottomans, the game becomes too easy due to all the cores you have. I like taking nations that never really made it anywhere, and giving them their time in the sun.

    Zedar on
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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I suppose. They're definitely a good learning choice though, as there's an obvious path for you to take and it's neither terribly easy or difficult. I enjoyed fooling around uniting India, and turning one of the Russian minors into a giant is good times. Though I got a Polish/Lithuanian union in that game that heavily stunted by western growth.

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I tend to spend most of my games playing Italian or German minors and trying to shape an aesthetically pleasing empire without provoking the HRE to crush me. None of this conquering the world business for me. I like to expand to what seem to be a logical set of borders and just work on consolidating my place as a world power.

    Lately I've taken to attempting middle eastern nations, but all the revolts along with expansionist Ottomans and Timurids make it difficult to get a good start.

    Zedar on
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  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I too like playing as a minor (even a vassal) and trying to build myself in to a local power.

    Playing as one of the HRE minors and trying to unify Germany is always fun in my book.

    The Magna Mundi mod also breaks Japan up in to numerous bickering nation-states and trying to unify that is also entertaining for me.

    Heck, one time I tried to take a Native American tribe and colonize Europe. I had to edited their tech group to "Greek" I believe, otherwise they never got ships IIRC. Yeah, it did not turn out well for me. :P

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Somewhere, there's the story of the game where someone conquered the whole planet minus about 12 provinces with I think the Iroquois.

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • Kris_xKKris_xK Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    For EU3, I`m trying to explore some islands in the Atlantic to use as a stepping stone for the new world. Problem is, they remain Terra Incongnita even with ships in the zone. How do I get the islands to be colonization?

    Kris_xK on
    calvinhobbessleddingsig2.gif
  • Zoku GojiraZoku Gojira Monster IslandRegistered User regular
    edited July 2010
    I haven't played EU3, but I loved EU1 and 2, and credit the latter's soundtrack for my interest in exceptional classical music, the highlight being Fumiko Shiraga's sublime chamber music arrangements of Beethoven. I've learned a great deal about the history of continental Europe as a result of playing these games, and had a lot of fun doing it.

    The only tiresome thing about them is the trade/CoT model. For the most part, if you're not at war, you can keep building your savings for a manufactory, preparing for war, or waiting to adjust a policy slider. But there are constant interruptions to send merchants to CoTs to compete for trade revenues and monopolies. Micromanage this aspect of the game, and you can easily alter the map of Europe beyond recognition. Leave it to the AI, and your empire will instead be terminally impovershed.

    Zoku Gojira on
    "Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." - Bertolt Brecht
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Kris_xK wrote: »
    For EU3, I`m trying to explore some islands in the Atlantic to use as a stepping stone for the new world. Problem is, they remain Terra Incongnita even with ships in the zone. How do I get the islands to be colonization?

    IIRC you need to have a Conquistidor unit on the ship and have them make landfall.

    But it has been awhile since I played, so I may be mistaken.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • President RexPresident Rex Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    For the HOI2/HOI3 debate, I think I'd recommend Arsenal of Democracy instead (it's essentially a supported HOI2). Although it's more for the historical reenactor in you, than the world conqueror. HOI3 is much more of a sandbox with fewer scripted events (in this regard it is more similar to its predecessors). Arsenal of Democracy is HOI2 bulked up with more features and bug fixes; i.e. it's much more event driven.


    Paradox games are famous for their mods (even Mount+Blade which they picked up for publishing).

    I prefer my own proprietary mod in HOI2/AoD (the files transfer between them incredibly easily), but I used to use Historical Stony Road.

    Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun has the Victoria Improvement Project mod, which seems to be the universal adapter (unless you like taking your game to HOI2).

    EU3's big mod is Magna Mundi - whose manual will likely teach you more about history than all of the other games you've ever played...combined. Plus it'll probably give you the most historically confining game available if you've got Napoleon's Ambition.

    Crusader Kings has the Deus Vult Improvement Pack, which helps prevent weird things like France being ruled by the Muslim king of Egypt or Sweden having a bunch of Berber vassals (plus you can enact some cognatic primogeniture (of dubious usefulness to the player)). Although EU3 is on a different game system now, there are applications for going from CK->EU3 and EU3->Victoria (the original progression was CK->EU2->Victoria->HOI2, letting you play from 1066 to 1964...theoretically).

    President Rex on
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    So in vanilla Rome is there a way that my generals martial score would increase. Seems like I start with a ton of martial 7 generals but I find myself fighting against lv 9 generals a lot.

    Also I managed a war of total attrition against Carthage but they only appealed for a white peace over and over and lowered their stabillity down to -3 rejecting my pretty fair offers. Did that have something to do with Carthage itself being occupied or the fact we were both exhausted or were they just being stubborn for some random reason?

    lowlylowlycook on
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  • P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Axen wrote: »
    Kris_xK wrote: »
    For EU3, I`m trying to explore some islands in the Atlantic to use as a stepping stone for the new world. Problem is, they remain Terra Incognita even with ships in the zone. How do I get the islands to be colonization?

    IIRC you need to have a Conquistidor unit on the ship and have them make landfall.

    But it has been awhile since I played, so I may be mistaken.
    You can discover (un-Terra Incognita) coastal provinces/islands with your Explorer. Every time your Explorer's fleet enters a zone adjacent to an undiscovered coastal province/island there's a slight chance he will discover the province/island. You can use this to your advantage to discover coastlines without having to invest in a Conquistidor by setting your Explorer to patrol between 2 adjacent zones that are also next to the coastal provinces/islands you want to discover.

    The two normal 'stepping stone' routes to the New World that I frequently used are:
    Canaries -> Cape Verde -> any of the Caribbean Islands or the coast of Brazil
    Iceland -> Greenland -> Newfoundland

    Odds are for the Canaries/Iceland you'll have to get military access, but that's usually not too hard.

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    So in vanilla Rome is there a way that my generals martial score would increase. Seems like I start with a ton of martial 7 generals but I find myself fighting against lv 9 generals a lot.

    Also I managed a war of total attrition against Carthage but they only appealed for a white peace over and over and lowered their stabillity down to -3 rejecting my pretty fair offers. Did that have something to do with Carthage itself being occupied or the fact we were both exhausted or were they just being stubborn for some random reason?

    Just win battles, I think. It's been a little while since I played Rome, so I'm not certain.




    About exploring, as Ireland I tried to explore, but any ship I sent out seemed to be in terrible shape. By the time I was reaching the caribbean, I could only poke out one more sea zone a trip before I had to turn back if I wanted to keep the ship. I gave up on that and decided to focus on being a regional power. Micromanaging the merchants was a pain, so I just started invading things. I had most of Africa as my vassal for a while, but I sold the provinces for heaps of money. So now I just kind of sit, and occasionally England swings by to stomp my ass.


    I think we should start a multiplayer game. What game would everyone want, if you've got a preference?

    PolloDiablo on
  • The Fourth EstateThe Fourth Estate Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    EU3, as it's the only one I have :P

    The Fourth Estate on
  • zeenyzeeny Registered User regular
    edited July 2010
    Axen wrote: »
    I am a big fan of the Magna Mundi mod for EU3. It changes a lot, usally to make things harder, but one thing I really like is that it makes Japan not boring.


    edit- The very best thing about it is the new map.
    EU3_4-1.jpg

    It is the sex.

    Should also be mentioned that it's more for people prefering "realism" to empire building. Going from 2 to 50 provinces in MM and playing a viable game is pretty much fiction.
    Also, we're on page two and nobody has said it, so here goes:
    Fucking French and their land army....

    zeeny on
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