Europa Universalis IV
- Thread starter ceemuk
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Spent most of last night playing.
In the past I've tried playing EU3 and CK2 but I never quite got it. This time around with EU4 I'm loving it. Watched a few videos to get a general idea of what to do at the start and a lot seemed to go with the Ottomans so I've done the same for my first game. I also enabled Ironman so that I can't reload on bad mistakes - I have a habit of doing that in other games and whilst it might seem crazy for my first playthrough, it's actually quite fun knowing that decisions you make can't be undone.
In the past I've tried playing EU3 and CK2 but I never quite got it. This time around with EU4 I'm loving it. Watched a few videos to get a general idea of what to do at the start and a lot seemed to go with the Ottomans so I've done the same for my first game. I also enabled Ironman so that I can't reload on bad mistakes - I have a habit of doing that in other games and whilst it might seem crazy for my first playthrough, it's actually quite fun knowing that decisions you make can't be undone.
They need to get the Multiplayer side of things up-to-scratch with the rest of the game sooner rather than later - but it is Paradox so it probably will be later, if at all - running dedicated instances of the game to host it as a server isn't exactly easy with a lot of commands missing in order to be able to manage it properly.
Other than that though, thoroughly enjoying it!
Other than that though, thoroughly enjoying it!
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So after 2 days of playing the game has screwed me over. My ironman save was on the cloud - mid game it displays an error saying 8kb needed to save, boots me to the main menu without giving me any option to save. File is now corrupt!
Not amused
Not amused
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Hi folks,
Having shelved Rome 2 for a few months to give them a chance to sort it out, I have taken the plunge with EU4, my first Universalis game (but I have dabbled with CK2).
I was hoping a Europa Universalis expert could give me a few tips on how to make money in this game.
I seem to be doing ok, started in 1444 as Portugal, and I have secured a handful of territories in Africa (stolen from Morocco). I have also colonized a few territories in south America, as well as Barbados.
In Europe, I am regularly at war with France (in support of my English and Spanish allies).
My economy seems to be dire however, I am always having to fiddle about with the maintenance sliders etc to keep a positive cashflow.
I have been building markets and ports around the place, what am I missing? I don't really know what to do with merchants (haven't touched them since the start).
Any advice on what I should be doing would be much appreciated.
Having shelved Rome 2 for a few months to give them a chance to sort it out, I have taken the plunge with EU4, my first Universalis game (but I have dabbled with CK2).
I was hoping a Europa Universalis expert could give me a few tips on how to make money in this game.
I seem to be doing ok, started in 1444 as Portugal, and I have secured a handful of territories in Africa (stolen from Morocco). I have also colonized a few territories in south America, as well as Barbados.
In Europe, I am regularly at war with France (in support of my English and Spanish allies).
My economy seems to be dire however, I am always having to fiddle about with the maintenance sliders etc to keep a positive cashflow.
I have been building markets and ports around the place, what am I missing? I don't really know what to do with merchants (haven't touched them since the start).
Any advice on what I should be doing would be much appreciated.
If your navy is not in danger try having your light ships protect trade in Sevilla. This will give you a bigger slice of the money from there. I think you might be better off moving your merchant from Mauritanian Coast to somewhere else also, Genoa or Tunis could help transfer more money into Sevilla for you to collect.
The general consensus seems to be that buildings tend to be a waste of monarch points, they are better saved for tech and ideas and only buildings when you are ahead in tech.
The general consensus seems to be that buildings tend to be a waste of monarch points, they are better saved for tech and ideas and only buildings when you are ahead in tech.
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Good advice, thank you. I will give that a try
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Hmmm can't say I really understand the merchant/trade node system at the moment...
I recalled my merchant from Mauritanian Coast and sent him to Tunis:
Seems to be generating very little cash :/
I recalled my merchant from Mauritanian Coast and sent him to Tunis:
Seems to be generating very little cash :/
That's because your merchant at Tunis will only be transferring trade power. What this means, is that your merchant is at that trade node and actually steering some of that trade along your chosen trade path (the dotted lines with arrows). But as the Tunis trade node is further away from you, and you likely do not own any provinces within it's trade area (click the trade view on the map to see this, the little box to the right side of politcal view [the flag you have selected above]) you will have very little trade power so you won't actually be able to steer much traffic.
You can increase your power in each node by either owning provinces within the trade area and then building certain buildings which will increase your local trade power (marketplace and docks spring to mind); or you can build light ships (which are Barques at the start of the game), group them into a fleet and then ordering them to Protect Trade where you need to select what trade node you wish protect. This will result in your ships going up and down the trade lines, it's nothing more than a visual effect in the Mediterranean really, but when you start doing it across the Atlantic you can run into pirates which is why it's very necessary to protect your trade routes.
One further thing:
I have been testing with placements of my merchants the last few days. The trade node that is in the same province as your capital city will always collect, regardless of whether there is a merchant there or not. Get your trade nodes set up and have a look at your trade values after a month or so. Once you get a good idea of what they are at, try moving your merchant at your "home" node to a different one to try and steer - look to see if you lose much/any trade power and can capitalise on this by steering more trade towards you.
Hope that wasn't too hard to read and gets the ideas across
You can increase your power in each node by either owning provinces within the trade area and then building certain buildings which will increase your local trade power (marketplace and docks spring to mind); or you can build light ships (which are Barques at the start of the game), group them into a fleet and then ordering them to Protect Trade where you need to select what trade node you wish protect. This will result in your ships going up and down the trade lines, it's nothing more than a visual effect in the Mediterranean really, but when you start doing it across the Atlantic you can run into pirates which is why it's very necessary to protect your trade routes.
One further thing:
I have been testing with placements of my merchants the last few days. The trade node that is in the same province as your capital city will always collect, regardless of whether there is a merchant there or not. Get your trade nodes set up and have a look at your trade values after a month or so. Once you get a good idea of what they are at, try moving your merchant at your "home" node to a different one to try and steer - look to see if you lose much/any trade power and can capitalise on this by steering more trade towards you.
Hope that wasn't too hard to read and gets the ideas across
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Thank you very much for taking the time the post, any help is most welcome!
I am thoroughly enjoying the game, but as a new player I just don't understand the mechanics enough yet.
I will try what you suggested when I next play. Aside from merchants, how else can I be making cash? I notice my income from gold for example is at zero, can I establish gold mines in South America at some point?
Attacking a faction and suing for peace and making demands seemed pretty good when I was fighting Morocco.
I am thoroughly enjoying the game, but as a new player I just don't understand the mechanics enough yet.
I will try what you suggested when I next play. Aside from merchants, how else can I be making cash? I notice my income from gold for example is at zero, can I establish gold mines in South America at some point?
Attacking a faction and suing for peace and making demands seemed pretty good when I was fighting Morocco.
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There is a gold producing province in Morocco so look to take it in the next war. Gold is a province good like any other and it can be lucrative but too much will start to cause inflation.
If you are Portugal then trade is the best way to make money. When you get the chance to choose ideas consider trade first and then maybe exploration/colonisation.
If you are Portugal then trade is the best way to make money. When you get the chance to choose ideas consider trade first and then maybe exploration/colonisation.
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I pre-ordered this game but it doesn't grip me the same way its predecessor did.
Love the gold provinces in Spain they really help with income, but inflation can be a pain though.
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If it is like EU3 turn your army maintenance down all the way unless you are in war.
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Economic ideas are brilliant as well, they were the first one I took before defensive.
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I've been doing this, seems to work ok. Morale drops a bit so have to make sure to push the slider back up before attacking/defending anywhere. The troops take a bit of a kicking if you forget, I've done it a few times
Managed to get my monthly income to around 60 per month (without altering maintenance) so the cash is starting to stockpile. Probably weak by most peoples standards but its my first proper playthrough of a Paradox game like this.
60 hours in and loving it.
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There are two problems with this from experience in my current Portugal game.
Firstly, when colonising, natives can stage an uprising randomly, and in territories with large numbers, a more advanced western army with low morale can still be defeated.
Second, reducing fleet maintenance reduces the effectiveness of protecting trade. I haven't done the maths, but I'd imagine in a powerful node that the difference in power would outweigh the money spent on upkeep.
Actually, there is no yearly income now, it's all monthly. Far easier to deal with than EU3.
This is the current state of affairs of a new game I started on Friday evening (playing as Aragon). Both The Papal State and Croatia are my vassals.
Certainly playing it differently to other countries I've played before, and learnt a lot about the trade system because of it. Now at the stage of colonising further south in Africa and across the pond in the Caribbean, although France seems to have a head-start over me!
Spent probably 75-85% of the entire playing time at war in one form or another - the joys of being allied to Austria when they control the HRE. In the few wars I've had with France, who are by far my closest rival, it has been very costly but I have managed to muscle them all the way back to Northern France. Now starting to begin a period of "peace" by dissolving most of my alliances and trying to sort out my economy a bit more - the over-extension from the Moroccan/Algierian provinces has been costly, especially coupled with the rise of protestants and reformants starting to sprout in my mainland... Rebels galore!
Certainly playing it differently to other countries I've played before, and learnt a lot about the trade system because of it. Now at the stage of colonising further south in Africa and across the pond in the Caribbean, although France seems to have a head-start over me!
Spent probably 75-85% of the entire playing time at war in one form or another - the joys of being allied to Austria when they control the HRE. In the few wars I've had with France, who are by far my closest rival, it has been very costly but I have managed to muscle them all the way back to Northern France. Now starting to begin a period of "peace" by dissolving most of my alliances and trying to sort out my economy a bit more - the over-extension from the Moroccan/Algierian provinces has been costly, especially coupled with the rise of protestants and reformants starting to sprout in my mainland... Rebels galore!