How about the older versions of the game? Can they be played sans Steam/internet connection?

Yup, EU, EU2 and EU3 at least all have DRM-free non-Steam versions. I'm not sure about For the Glory (which is based on EU2), but I'd imagine it's the same for that game as well.

I have the 3rd one on Steam...so yes you can.

:up:

Highly recommend it.

OK here I go. Installed.

I am rusty... Paradox game, time to lose!:D

Man, I cannot wait until the modders delve into this.

It seems to use the Clauswitz engine, which is very easily modded.

Rust knocked off!

In a way the UI is easier than eu3, the difference in research fom one game to the other threw me off for a bit.

A few herp derp moments.

So far, my campaign as the Kongo is not going well. For some reason the Spanish do not like being my neighbor.:k_confused:

So, I take it from the radio silence from Hunter, Arclight and Raptor in this thread that it's good? I hopefully might have a bash at it tonight, been putting in a lot of hours taking advantage of ancestry's free trial while I have access to it so I haven't really had the time.

I haven't heard from Raptor in days...and he's usually on IRC. :doh:

I guess EU4 is really good.

Have no particular interest in it so I'm on the fence yet, but considering the past 2 days nothing happened on TS but those 2 playing EU4, they must have done something right. :hmmm:

Oh, if you insist. I haven't actually played it that much yet, so these aren't much more than my first impressions, but here are my random and disjointed thoughts on it:

I'll start by saying that EU3 was by far my least favourite of the major Paradox grand strategy games. I don't think it's a bad game at all, but I didn't get into it nearly as much as HoI3, Vicky 2 or CK2. This was mostly because EU3 always seemed to lack focus to me. Each of the other Paradox games expands on the areas appropriate to its time frame (Vicky with politics and economics, HoI with warfare and CK with feudalism), but EU3 always seemed like just a generic grand strategy game which was set in the Renaissance and Early Modern periods rather than a true attempt to depict those eras properly.

Now, EUIV isn't a huge difference in mechanics from EU3, but it feels a lot better in this regard than the previous game. The thing I noticed most was the improved diplomacy, particularly other nations' relations changing based on your actions in war and coalitions, which not only helps counter some of the ridiculous blobbing of EU3 but also helps make international relations more like the sort that were actually prevalent in Europe during this time period. This, combined with improvements in other areas (trade, religion and so forth) make EUIV feel a lot more like a Renaissance/Early Modern grand strategy game than the conquer-the-world-simulator-set-in-the-14th-to-19th-centuries that EU3 always felt like to me.

So, in short, I like EUIV quite a bit more than EU3 so far. That's basically all I can say at the moment. So there.

:DWas it that obvious? :haha:

Yeah EUIV seems to have hit all the right spots so far, the UI is clear and easy to get your head around it, it seems you can steer the country by your hand rather then the game plays you and as what Raptor said it acts as the time period should.

HunterICX

Still fiddling around with the demo.

Anyone noticed that the ingame tooltip for the transport boat is:
''everyone knows that soldiers don't turn magically into boats''

A jab at civ V perhaps :D

The UI is vastly better. It is alot easier to manage all of the small intracacies the game offers.

Badboy is different, perhaps more forgiving.

My only gripe I found is the HRE emperor is a wuss.

I am playing as Bradenburg, and I am being a general warmongering turd.

Fabricating claims is kinda too easy here.

He threw me 2 warnings in 30 years (unlawful possession or something, I just cored them and giggled), I blew him off, he did nothing.
The Italians are keeping him busy, while I annex his princes.

I would have been wiped by a polish coalition against me if it wasn't for the Ottomans being an even bigger jack off than me, and my boosting relation on the Polish. HRE emporer goes to war against the Italians, I claim Brunswicks throne, Hansa jumps in, I curbstomp them too.

Another thing, diplomacy is great, the options are many, the nasty things you could do to people with diplomacy.

I am so impressed.

This game is easier to grasp by the Paradox layman, than any other using the clauswitz engine(EU3 HOI3 etc) Much easier of a learning curve.

It certainly does seem a bit easier to get into than other games, although still hard to master. In the game with Hunter and Raptor that I'm playing, or started playing the other day, I thought I'd try and do things peacefully as England whilst building up my economy and the Royal Navy (I took the mission to build thirty or so big ships). I thought I'd give Ireland a big hug and get them into the Empire* diplomatically...well...no. One of the Irish lot decided to declare war on the other, I got dragged in and Scotland has got dragged in and now my economy is going to go down the drain because I'm shaking down bankers for money to call up armies to repel the kilt wearing barbarians from the north.
Meanwhile Hunter (Castille) and Raptor (Lithuania or Poland) are busy declaring war against anyone who is next door to them, and most of Europe is fighting the other part of Europe because they are dotards.

*Current Empire consists of sixty-one counties, and some sheep.

EDIT: Oh yes, and I rewrote the plot of 'The White Queen' by completely failing to have the War of the Roses, and having Richard Neville die before 1471.

Raptor = Poland...but it'll Poland-Lithuania once he assimilated them.

and as for me declaring war on everyone...well Nobody expected the Spanish Reconquista! .... oh wait they did.

If you need help in our next online session with the Barbarian Kilt wearing horde my troops at the moment are holding a everlasting Siesta so I could send you some.

HunterICX

Very convinced that the HRE emperor is neutered.

I may as well be the Kaiser. He jumped into 2 core claims, and got stomped 2 times.

Austria held the last 3 HRE titles, and under three rulers, I made them look silly while I ate up the electorates. In EU3 I would have had 2 20k stacks in my heartland, not here. Austria is too busy playing with the Italians, and letting the pope lose Rome.

All the other electors hate me, but there is not many left...They end up in my bowels, due to claim fabrication and lucky events, Austria is so bogged down with the italians, he cannot enforce the unlawful blah blah blah on me.:D

Countries that hate me expend diplomats to increase relations with me. The only country that likes me (uninfluenced) is France, that will change in 50 years.:O:

Everyone else? Fat negative red numbers!:har: