Paradox Studio Thread - 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷 Türkiye respecters only 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷

[Lonjil]

Stellaris started out interesting and fun, but flawed. But rather than refine it over time, they have been constantly fucking with its systems ever since, overhauling the entire game every 18 months.

They have utterly ruined stellaris so many times its genuinely depressing. I have zero hope for any future paradox game since I have a huge feeling the next Stellaris game/version will just have those same god awful 3d portraits and art style from ck3/vic3/eu5. I wish they would stop only making games for tiktok zoomers but oh well people keep buying it

Anyhow, speaking of EU5 I still find it funny that most times (including right now when I am making this comment) EU4 has more players.

 

[Karakhalkin-Gol]

Finally dipping my toes back into EU5. It's 1378 in my Castille run, and while I've retaken Granada, I still don't have control of Aragon. Is there any way I can nudge them into a PU, or do I have to kill them with wars?

 

[Super Hans v2]

Finally dipping my toes back into EU5. It's 1378 in my Castille run, and while I've retaken Granada, I still don't have control of Aragon. Is there any way I can nudge them into a PU, or do I have to kill them with wars?
View attachment 9325447View attachment 9325448

To do it peacefully, last I looked you have to have a female, unmarried heir and Aragon an unmarried dynasty member. It can trigger the same way with Portugal. It also can't fire until 1450 at the earliest, so enjoy sitting there.

 

[30+GameOvers]

sadly, no. you'd think that, but the games have gotten worse over time. at some point paradox stopped being able to release good, complete games. HOI2, CK2, EU2 (For The Glory is a version of EU2 that is still being maintained today), Victoria 3 are the last good historical games.

Stellaris started out interesting and fun, but flawed. But rather than refine it over time, they have been constantly fucking with its systems ever since, overhauling the entire game every 18 months. AI is broken, and they don't know where to take it. but people keep buying the DLC so they don't really have an incentive to fix it. Imperator:Rome suffered from the same problem of being live service slurry, and failed at launch. Their recent games are effectively busy box for autists. lots of knobs to adjust but they don't really represent meaningful decisions. it's meant to keep you constantly fiddling with things to think you're in charge while the model does what it does. a lot of the time modifiers or mechanics are broken and nobody realizes b/c it's not at all clear how things are supposed to work.

that said if you happen to like any of the later games by all means enjoy them, they just tend to have a specific kind of fan who is already into them

I'm vaguely aware of what's going on within the Paradox community, but I don't really play the games all that much so I can't say I am an expert on the subject. Funny that you mention EU2, I actually have a disc copy of that, must be nearly 30 years old by now. Outside of CK2/3, what are some other good Paradox games for outsiders? I heard that EU3 is actually better than 4 because there is less DLC and the game is a more complete package without any, for example.

 

[WardTrangler]

I think City Skylines 1 is still the premier sim city game available right now.

Age of wonders 3/4 are also relatively popular 4x games (Pretty sure they’re heavy on dlc. Haven’t played them myself as I thought AoW2:SM was already the peak and don’t want to sour my opinion of the series)

They also published Majesty the Fantasy Kingdom Sim apparently.

 

[Computer God Autism]

Outside of CK2/3, what are some other good Paradox games for outsiders? I heard that EU3 is actually better than 4 because there is less DLC and the game is a more complete package without any, for example.

It depends on what you want.

EU4 is a better game for outsiders than 3 just by virtue of catering to any sort of historical power fantasy you want. It's also horribly bloated and many of the mechanics fail to properly interconnect but it becomes so easy and abusable that the only real difficulty is the first hundred years. EU3 modded still holds up but I wouldn't recommend it unmodded.

HoI4 is babby's first grand strategy. The game can play itself if you let it and it's functionally a platform for visual novels (it even has its own dedicated thread discussing the antics of said VN community here). If you want an actual WWII grand strategy, Darkest Hour is old but gold. There are still mods for it that are semi-updated as well.

Victoria 2 is probably the best if you're looking for a serious grand strategy, as it tries (emphasis on tries) to fully simulate the industrial revolution and the century of imperialism surrounding it. It and its dlc are well worth the price, but playing it modded is virtually mandatory after like one or two games, and fortunately for that it still has one of the most active modding scenes of any Paradox game, arguably more active than CK2 at this point despite having a fraction of the playerbase.

Imperator Rome is, allegedly, good now, but like Vicky 2 requires modding to be worthwhile.

EU5 development is ongoing and has been tumultuous, but the past patch has been pretty well received and I think most people were expecting it to take a year or two for Paradox to get their act together anyways. I'm still cautiously optimistic for it, but don't play it expecting a sequel to EU4, play it expecting a hybrid of EU2 and Vicky 2.

 

[Karakhalkin-Gol]

for it, but don't play it expecting a sequel to EU4, play it expecting a hybrid of EU2 and Vicky 2.

And what was EU2 like?

 

[Oilspill Battery]

Stellaris started out interesting and fun, but flawed. But rather than refine it over time, they have been constantly fucking with its systems ever since, overhauling the entire game every 18 months. AI is broken, and they don't know where to take it. but people keep buying the DLC so they don't really have an incentive to fix it.

Tbh stellaris is less grand strategy and more space opera, they do keep fucking with it but in general I think most of the changes they make are improvements and appart from changes they also do make relatively meaningful additions. For better or worse the game is moving forward which is imo preferable to the game remaining stagnant.

Stellaris in general makes more sense if you view it as an RPG rather than an RTS. I can see why someone who wants to play an RTS might think stellaris is dogshit, because yeah, it is kind of a dogshit RTS, I don't think its possible to argue otherwise.

Gameplay wise its closer to a sandbox where the goal is to try and break it and the appeal is to the type of autist that enjoys star trek and the star wars prequels for the lore but also likes city management and number going up.

Its unbelievably niche which is why it has such a dedicated fanbase that buys every expansion and if you don't fall into the exact niche its carved out you'll probably abandon it pissed off at how many things it fucks up outside that niche.

Ironically the new upcoming roguelike mode for nomads where you jump from galaxy to galaxy exploring might tie everything toogether far better than anything that came before it because they realized exploring is the one thing stellaris does well.

 

[Suspicious Clothes]

I remember the debut of Stellaris where you could choose the three mode of FTL travel. I hate that they removed this mechanic, and just smoothed out the game experience since.

 

[dame dudi jench]

Tbh stellaris is less grand strategy and more space opera, they do keep fucking with it but in general I think most of the changes they make are improvements and appart from changes they also do make relatively meaningful additions. For better or worse the game is moving forward which is imo preferable to the game remaining stagnant.

Stellaris in general makes more sense if you view it as an RPG rather than an RTS. I can see why someone who wants to play an RTS might think stellaris is dogshit, because yeah, it is kind of a dogshit RTS, I don't think its possible to argue otherwise.

Gameplay wise its closer to a sandbox where the goal is to try and break it and the appeal is to the type of autist that enjoys star trek and the star wars prequels for the lore but also likes city management and number going up.

Its unbelievably niche which is why it has such a dedicated fanbase that buys every expansion and if you don't fall into the exact niche its carved out you'll probably abandon it pissed off at how many things it fucks up outside that niche.

Ironically the new upcoming roguelike mode for nomads where you jump from galaxy to galaxy exploring might tie everything toogether far better than anything that came before it because they realized exploring is the one thing stellaris does well.

You're spot on that it's a mix of the two. IMO it is woefully underbaked for either genre, the AI and econ have been broken for over a year, literally broke the game hasn't had a working AI. I'm not sure which version was the last working one but Paradox lets you roll back to prior versions so you gotta look up which one is good. If you like the idea of a space opera empire RPG, check out Star Dynasties. It's complete and has a finite amount of content, probably 2-3 victories worth, but for me those 2-3 playthroughs were better than any stellaris playthrough. It gives you a small number of meaningful decisions to make and resources to manage instead of the paradox model of having a million knobs to fiddle but none of them do much.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1194590/Star_Dynasties/

Stellar Monarch 2 is more grand strategy than RPG but follows the same philosophy of giving you a smaller number of more meaningful decisions to make. Its genius is that it starts you at the head of a mature star empire and it doesn't try to model enemies as symmetrical agents to the player empire, which is why Paradox AI is so rough, they need to teach it how to play more or less the same game as humans.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1437750/Stellar_Monarch_2/

 

[Kane Lives]

It's woefully underbaked for either game, the AI and Econ have been broken for over a year, literally broke the game hasn't had a working AI. If you like the idea of space opera RPG, check out Star Dynasties. It's complete and has a finite amount of content, probably 2-3 playthroughs, but those 2-3 playthroughs were better than any stellaris playthrough

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1194590/Star_Dynasties/
Stellar Monarch 2 is more grand strategy than RPG. It's genius is that it starts you at the head of a mature star empire, unlike Stellaris which refused to have EU or HOI-style mature empire starts.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1437750/Stellar_Monarch_2/

I'll be keeping an eye on both. Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[TheArtilleryman]

I retried at least 4 times before realising I just gotta roll with the inevitable catastrophic failures that keep befalling my realm. CK3 has spoiled me, it is a much easier game, you can easily stay alive with any character if you prioritise it. CK2 just kills me and my next 2 successors within a couple of months via unrelated acts of God just because it do be like that sometimes. The upside of still only holding weak-ass 1 county Gotland was that succession was easy, so long as there was still at least one baby of a concubine left to take over. That concubines baby is the now the king of Denmark, baby, and my Saxon pals to the south are on a warpath though France.

Edit: My heir has been blinded and now has -64 personal combat skill. This worries me. He is however married to a lady by the name of Ragnarrsdohter, so as long as they make me a grandchild of legendary blood, I think I can work it. I'm still only 34, surely it won't be that bad.

 

[Computer God Autism]

And what was EU2 like?

The opposite of EU3 basically, very history-driven (to the point of being detrimental) with probably more historical content in any Paradox game until modern EU4.

 

[TheArtilleryman]

Is there an easy way to subdivide armies smaller than the "split new unit" option? For example, I have a single port that can provide 18 ships (1800 capacity), but I have an army of 2400 that can only be divided up as small as 300 retinue troops and 2100 levies, the latter of which can't be transported because I can't divide them up any further to fit on 18 ships. So I had 2400 troops but could only go do viking things with 300 of them. I've since gained more ports, but just for future reference.

 

[TheArtilleryman]

Oh, I got land.



Feat. BIG Poland



Edit: Poland has become Noland

 

[Scale Smerch]

Not directly Paradox related, but in grand strategy land Terra Invicta released its first DLC this week. The discussion and reviews on it have been fun seeing because you can tell how many people are sick of Paradox. DLC cost? Not $30, not $20, not even $15 - it's $10, not regionally priced either, and also 10% off to start. The content is comparable to a HOI IV regional focus tree DLC, except with more to do, far less bugs, and no DLC exclusive mechanics. Oh and you get a pair of ship sets included that Paradox would charge a similar $8-10 for separately.

Paradox is screwed the moment suitable competitors emerge for Hearts of Iron and Stellaris, the market clearly has a void and their publicly traded status will kill them when they cannot properly respond to the next latest and greatest.

 

[Snekposter]

Not directly Paradox related, but in grand strategy land Terra Invicta released its first DLC this week. The discussion and reviews on it have been fun seeing because you can tell how many people are sick of Paradox. DLC cost? Not $30, not $20, not even $15 - it's $10, not regionally priced either, and also 10% off to start. The content is comparable to a HOI IV regional focus tree DLC, except with more to do, far less bugs, and no DLC exclusive mechanics. Oh and you get a pair of ship sets included that Paradox would charge a similar $8-10 for separately.

The balance is complete untested dogshit as bad as anything Paradox has made and the scenarios come with a few exclusive mechanics, like I think the 2003 one lets you probe asteroids without letting anyone else get access to the sites.

 

[Tri-Tachyon'sClown]

Not directly Paradox related, but in grand strategy land Terra Invicta released its first DLC this week. The discussion and reviews on it have been fun seeing because you can tell how many people are sick of Paradox.

Shame TI is just a headache to play, Paradox needs real competitors.

 

[East_Clintwood]

The balance is complete untested dogshit as bad as anything Paradox has made

I've been playing a bit of 2003 and while it's definitely harder than normal, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be like that, and it doesn;t feel anywhere near as bad as most Paradox releases so far.

like I think the 2003 one lets you probe asteroids without letting anyone else get access to the sites.

2003 lets you probe some asteroids (although I don't think they're exclusive) and gives you automated mines, and for some reason T2 station cores, long before you can do basically anything else in space.

 

[Scale Smerch]

The balance is complete untested dogshit as bad as anything Paradox has made and the scenarios come with a few exclusive mechanics, like I think the 2003 one lets you probe asteroids without letting anyone else get access to the sites.

Cannot comment much on balance since I only just started a Broken Earth campaign, but the mechanics are largely tied up in engineering project techs which for the 2003 scenario let you get early asteroid mining and space stations set up and unlock nation unifications ahead of time. Everything new mechanics-wise is scenario-specific which IMO makes sense and doesn't lead to breaks with the base 2020s/2070 scenarios. Compare that with how HOI in particular has handled new DLC mechanics and supported them post-release.

TI has its problems, but this is the sort of DLC design and price point which attracts people.

I've been playing a bit of 2003 and while it's definitely harder than normal, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be like that, and it doesn;t feel anywhere near as bad as most Paradox releases so far.

Looking forward to trying 2003 out later because I've seen the Servants snowball hard in it and have the Alien Nation spawn within 4-5 years even on milder difficulties.