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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Communist21 on 2025-07-14 21:08:43+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/SnowletTV on 2025-07-14 17:26:05+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Ouralian on 2025-07-14 07:20:34+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Electatx on 2025-07-11 23:23:26+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Aerportz on 2025-07-11 18:43:45+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/RaidersofLostArkFord on 2025-07-12 08:26:40+00:00.

Hello guys. I am a huge EU4 player at more than 1K hours.

I used to play EU2 something like 15 years ago, when I was 7-11 years old. However, I honestly did not comprehend much about it, plus I did not speak English at the time.

I was wondering if anyone remembered that game and what you thought about it? How does ir compare to EU4?

I have EU2 on GOG but damn is it unwelcoming

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/ironthrownaways on 2025-07-12 02:49:49+00:00.

https://preview.redd.it/5cyg9vj9xccf1.png?width=356&format=png&auto=webp&s=769ad3066dbd71b2622559e74b6df972723cf124

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/FFJimbob on 2025-07-10 14:46:16+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/NSh4d0w on 2025-07-09 01:45:16+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/sarah_herself on 2025-07-08 21:15:49+00:00.

I dont have any experience in any other paradox strategy games. I dont expect this game to be easy of course, but im worried it'll be TOO hard for me where for the first 50 hours I have 0 clue what im doing and have no fun with it, and end up wasting my money.

I often see people saying its very difficult. I simply want to understand and learn the basics in a few hours, is that even possible? The layout is a bit stressful looking aswell since it seems the screen has tons of different things you can click to change your game.

So please, how hard is HOI4 for someone with no experience of paradox games?

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Conny_and_Theo on 2025-07-04 19:12:57+00:00.

https://preview.redd.it/yrzxlzp09taf1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd7ac62c4f21e39d25ea4070b0338fd7df668e90

The Nubians are Christians whose country is larger and richer than Ethiopia. The Nile of Egypt runs through their cities and regions. Their villages are prosperous and they have fertile land.

- Ibn Hawqal, 10th century Muslim traveler

I'm Cybrxkhan, creator of the Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment (RICE) mod, which adds simple "Flavor Packs'' to different parts of the world!

Today, I want to share with you some info about RICE’s next flagship flavor pack, Nubia: Heirs of Kush! I officially revealed this update with a trailer and showcase video several weeks ago at ModCon 2025, the 4th iteration of a fan-made online event to promote and show off mods for Paradox Games.

This dev diary, the first of at least three for Nubia, will set the stage for this update and touch on one of its two new situations, the Nile River, and the new cultures and faiths in Sudan.

Before I start, I want to give a shout-out to two great mods I’m collaborating with for this update:

• Ibn Battuta’s Legacy, a map mod by fellow veteran modder Elvain that focuses on careful map changes that keep vanilla’s feel, and includes plenty of improvements to Africa, including in Nubia
• Africa Plus, an African flavor mod I’ve worked with before, created by BlackEmperor but is currently maintained by iFrunx.

Now, let’s move onto the dev diary! Feel free to also check my mods' website, discord, and twitter for more info, previews, and updates!

Credits also to Ethnicities and Portraits Expanded (EPE) and Community Flavor Pack (CFP) for some of the character assets used in the screenshots below.

What are Situations?

Before we dive into the meat of this dev diary, we need to understand what a Situation is. Situations are a new gameplay system the PI devs added back in Khans of the Steppe. Like struggles, they let devs and modders create special gameplay rules and a stronger narrative thrust in a region, but whereas struggles focus on broader narrative, situations can be more flexible. For instance, struggles require you to have a capital in a region to be involved, but modders can define unique requirements for involvement in a Situation – I could theoretically make a Situation where you need to be a Han culture Zoroastrian faith with the eccentric trait and one adult child to be involved, as an example.

Despite this, I think it’s best to see Situations as similar to Struggles: they’re tools for providing a stronger narrative to a region, to make a player feel like they’re part of a greater whole (rather than the sole driving force of events a la Great Man Theory), and to depict the ebb and flow of history in ways that normal mechanics can’t do as easily.

Nile River

Now, let’s move onto the actual content related to Nubia (and Egypt)!

The Nubia Flavor Pack adds two new situations – the Nile River and the Baqt – which cover much of Egypt and Nubia. You’ll get a relevant notification event when involved in either or both, like for struggles and vanilla’s steppe situation; today we’ll mainly talk about the Nile River. 

https://preview.redd.it/tsq1l7289taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd27c5c2f222f34989bcd92db982b346a72271b2

If you’ve played RICE in Egypt before, you may have encountered my old Nile flooding system. If you don’t know what that is, every year, counties along the Nile river in Egypt get a modifier indicating whether the Nile flood is high (good), or too low or too high (bad), which gives corresponding modifier buffs and debuffs. With the right tradition, you can unlock decisions and activities to interact with the flood, some depending on if the flood is good or bad. If you want more info, you can read my old dev diary for my Upper Egypt flavor pack here; it’s a little outdated but should give you an idea of what the old system is.

https://preview.redd.it/pajjzz399taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e016af5d30fbbe66ba60820006f488e956f49612

The Nile River situation is an adaptation of this old system. Though it works similarly, instead of receiving new county modifiers each year, the Nile river valley will annually go through phases representing the types of flood which apply the bonuses/maluses automatically.

There is additional content for this system, however. First, and most importantly, the system now extends down the entire Nile – from the delta all the way down south, so many rulers in Egypt, Nubia, and even Ethiopia are involved. Secondly, the bonuses/maluses also account for fertility, which is important if you’ve enabled the game rule for nomads in this region.

https://preview.redd.it/cwhx0h0a9taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d37676b4ad27f141d7f56a3153dbda36b1b79190

Lastly, the chances of each flood type/phase were recalibrated. At the start of each year, one randomly chosen phase gets a catalyst adding “points” to it to make it much likelier next year, represented in-game as the Nile flood forecast. The points vary to simulate forecasts’ reliability; obviously, you might still get a different phase each year than what was “predicted”. The likelihood of each phase getting this boost is 40% for a normal flood, 15% each for a low or high flood, and 10% each for the rest of the flood types.

Agrarian and Agro-Pastoralist Rulers

There is new flavor related to the interactions between the settled farmers of the Nile and their less sedentary neighbors. In fact, rulers involved in the Nile River situation are divided into two groups: Agrarian Rulers and Agro-Pastoralist Rulers. The latter consist of those with tribal or nomadic government types, while the former is everyone else.

https://preview.redd.it/nrtde3sa9taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1bf0169727654151f1ec1fed08f3f1de82c49c3

Agrarian rulers have two decisions to Welcome or Ward Off Nile Pastoralists. Both options give county modifiers with bonuses and maluses. The first option lets you get a small, random amount of event troops, including men-at-arms, if you are willing to pay extra money. The first option also improves the opinion of nearby tribal or nomadic rulers, while the latter decreases it.

https://preview.redd.it/1uepbysc9taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=950fa5574a54a2845b7df1cecd461121c89eff62

Agro-Pastoralist rulers, meanwhile, represent a more mixed group; often, pastoralists in this region still engaged in some agriculture, and weren’t always pure nomads. They have two similar decisions: to Protect or Plunder Nile Farmers. Both give county modifiers with bonuses and maluses too. The former increases the opinion of nearby sedentary rulers, while the latter decreases it, but gives you a random amount of gold.

https://preview.redd.it/ti1i0vhd9taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c33f3489fab9b4a1d7350461eff29358ff01e5e5

In both cases, if you do one decision, you can’t do the other for 20 years, so choose carefully! Also, note the cost of these decisions fluctuate based on what flood type or phases the Nile River situation is currently in.

These decisions represent the complex relationship between more settled and pastoralist communities in this region. While we often think of the Nile in the context of agriculture, and rightly so, pastoralists made great use of the Nile river, and as a result played a major role in Egypt and Sudan’s economy and politics – certain nomadic Arab or Beja tribes subjected Coptic monasteries in Egypt to frequent raiding for example, yet other tribes would staunchly ally to these monasteries and protect them to the death, despite not being Christian oftentimes!

Nubian Culture

Nubian culture has undergone some major changes. First, it now has a unique tradition called Heirs of Kush to replace Agrarian, as the Nubians’ counterpart to the Egyptians’ Children of the Nile tradition added a while back. Heirs of Kush has several bonuses; one is that decisions to interact with local farmer or pastoralist communities give bonus prestige based on your rank. Another bonus is that it unlocks the decision to Engage in Nubian Agricultural Practices.

https://preview.redd.it/4mjm0eme9taf1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82fcbeb653f5f958edb268f416478082fb4f27b2

This decision has four options:

• Expand Nile Irrigation Networks
• Maintain Hafirs
• Import Cattle
• Breed Cattle

Each option grants a county modifier on counties you own along the Nile that can counteract specific maluses of bad Nile floods or enhance specific bonuses of good Nile floods. The Hafir option, uniquely, also...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/paradoxplaza/comments/1lrqw2m/rice_mod_dev_diary_54_nubia_flavor_pack_part_1/

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/ElVoid1 on 2025-07-09 02:10:29+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/RaidersofLostArkFord on 2025-07-07 20:27:49+00:00.

Hello. I am an EU4 player. I have never played HOI4. I have a couple of questions regarding this game

First off, do you think that this game is good for EU4 players? Or do they appeal to completely different types of player? Do you think that I might be able to comprehend HOI4, having learn EU4? Which is more complesm

Secondly, I want to know whether this game contains anything regarding resources and logistics. During WW2, the main reason Hitler wanted to take Stalingrad was to take over Russia's oil fields, which would basically allow the Nazis to steamroll. Is this aspect of warfare covered in this game? Like, can I attack the USSR as the Nazis and take over the oil fields in Baku to fuel my war machine? Similarly, will Japan experience a lack of resources, causing it to attack the US, like in real life?

World War 2 was essentially a total war everyone within the society. Do you think this game replicates that well? Like, everything was dedicated to the war effort.

Also, do you think that this game could be used to represent like a WW3 type of war between Russia, China and Iran on one side, and NATO on the other side? Like are there any mods or anything that offer somethinf liek this

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/4rolyat on 2025-07-07 00:28:10+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Texasgamer250 on 2025-07-04 12:59:53+00:00.

Border gore

Don’t like you/ you don’t like that person

I want your family/they want yours

Inheritance issues

Religious issues

Resource wanted

Quirky characters(hello Poland randomly invading England)

Title disputes and so on What do you all think

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/RaidersofLostArkFord on 2025-07-02 19:38:45+00:00.

My country has recently recovered from a period of feudal fragmentation. It's at odds with two powerful neighbours, our only friends are a Pagan country and a significantly larger kingdom to the south, ruled by our king's brother in law and later his nephew.

We have lost chunks of our territory to the west and our sea access to the north. However, my country is ruled by arguably the greatest king in our history, so we should be able to get out of this predicament.

What country is this, can you guess? About your country?

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/hallcha on 2025-07-01 21:18:24+00:00.

As a disclaimer, my experience is with Victoria 2&3, Europa Universalis 4, Crusader Kings (all 3), Stellaris, Hearts of Iron IV, and Imperator: Rome. Not everything I say here may hold true for earlier games by Paradox.

"States" will be used to refer to discrete and rigid groupings of territory above the smallest represented map tile, which have high-impact mechanical purpose. This includes all the things named "States" like in Victoria, HoI, EU, etc, but also things like de jure titles of Crusader Kings and even up to the "Strategic Regions" of Victoria 3.

As the maps are getting more and more granular over time, there's been a general, opposite push of mechanical control to a higher-level system. For example, in EU4, provinces were previously very independently-managed and had few systems tying them to specific groupings. In practice, that meant that you could theoretically conquer any single province, on its own, without notably reducing that province's value. With the addition of the States and Territories system, however, you are actively hindered if you do not take the entire "State" region. This highly encourages you to follow specific borders when taking territory. This trend continues even in series that previously already had states; Victoria 3 was largely managed at that "state" level, but had distinct provinces that had their own level of management. Now all management is at State level, and while the map is much more complex at the province level, it seemingly only exists as a way represent borders at game start, with no way to further split them as the game progresses. This means, in practice, the map is actually even less detailed.

Let's also look at Crusader Kings, or perhaps Imperator. Both of these games have all the territory in the world divided in tiered states with static borders (with some limited exceptions). This, once again, means that the world will be roughly divided into the same arbitrary territories over time, sometimes completely separated from the context of the game's timeline. These borders are usually defined by IRL historical context, leading to situations where you are actively hindered from, or perhaps even totally unable to, define your own borders to suit the context of the map as it stands. It would be nearly impossible in Crusader Kings to adjust which territories go to a particular Duke without heavy penalties, even if it was quite common for internal borders to be adjusted in the period, often drastically. (Looking at you, Saxony.)

Now, this is just observation. I am not taking a side one way or the other as to whether this is the correct path. Instead, I'm hoping to see others' opinions on it. Are there major cons beyond roleplay, or is it overall mechanically superior to previous systems? Would the trend of shrinking provinces lead to too much micro without moving things to states, or would you prefer that granularity?

TL;DR: Paradox are finding ways to put "States" into every game and replace provinces as the baseline unit of territory. Is it good or bad? Discuss.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Beginning_Winter_292 on 2025-07-01 21:02:14+00:00.

I'm looking for a gameplay experience where i can play as a small but strategically located state

The idea is to:

• hold important naval choke points (like gibraltar, the dardanelles)
• dominate the region through a powerful navy and economy
• avoid large scale expansion
• get involved in global conflicts by supporting one side, using puppets, or diplomatic influence
• i want to affect the world from the sidelines being a scheming city stateish thing rather than brute force.

i've played most paradox games over 2K hours in HOI4 and some surface level experience in EU and CK.

but i've always played in a more conquer everything style so im not sure which series would the best at small scale regional city state playstyle like this.

please drop any nation suggestions for this style

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Ouralian on 2025-07-01 19:21:43+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/No-Process-5464 on 2025-07-01 01:20:03+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Total-Poet4386 on 2025-06-30 05:30:01+00:00.

Grew up playing Risk and Axis and Allies against myself as a kid due to living in a geriatric neighborhood without siblings and was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience as a child that led them to paradox games or if I just had a... unique adolescence.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/RaidersofLostArkFord on 2025-06-29 14:43:35+00:00.

EU5 should have an achievement literally just called "Europa Universalis"

So just today, I read one of the dev diaries suggesting that there will be a couple of settings available regarding the formation of new countries.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/tinto-talks-50-12th-february-2025.1728609/

As you can read, Europa is a formable country.

So just now, I have been struck by the realization - there HAS to be an achievement called, "Europa Universalis" - Form Europe and own the entire world as your core province (subjects not allowed).

I mean, the entire franchise has been building up to this since EU1! We have to be able to get this achievement! All has been leading up to this!

What do you think about this? Would you like to see this achievement?

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Safe-Article-4994 on 2025-06-27 21:19:19+00:00.

As much as we complain about bugs or something missing, when you try other strategy game they all feel barebones.

I tried Ara : history untold recently and immediately felt stuck on the lack of freedom and agency I had on the diplomacy of my country, it's not just that, but the lack of UI elements that simplify interaction and knowing when you can propose something and if it will work out or not. The treaties mechanics in victoria 3 is really something that I wouldn't think I wanted until I tried it.

Even the economics, the game is micro-intensive it's awful, and the fact that it was worse before their 1.4 update only reinforce this, I never know If I build enough ressources, sometimes production stopped because of shortage but it's not written, you have to manually set each building productions method all the time it's ridiculous. Victoria 3 made it so much simple I cannot play anything else anymore.

Even before 1.9 it was good.

I also tried Memoriapolis, which is city-building game that promise meaningful faction interactions, and it was basically just a side bonus if you satisfy a factions and a closed neighborhood if you anger them, but you just need to put low taxes to forget about them, even if you do this in Victoria 3 this doesn't solve everything, pops can still be angered in many different way and the game didn't translate the historical realities of faction politics really well.

Fortunately the devs made a poll and are aware of it so hopefully they do something but right now it's just chill city building game with ressources management. (Which is nice, but it wasn't marketed that way).

Even the Anno series has become uninteresting for me, Cities Skyline doesn't even have factions politics, Imagine if you just couldn't destroy a whole neighborhood like this, that you actually need to convince a a municipal council to properly buy/seize the land before razing it. That people could oppose your airport project in your town of 1 000 inhabitants.

Paradox games are so nice that I can't play anything now, The laziness of some developers and the tendency to make clones of other popular license didn't help either. Fortunately Paradox Developers saw this and chose to innovate instead of just making HD version or remake. EU5 is very promising on that aspect, even with their horrendous DLCs policy it's still worth it in the end, I'm almost never disappointed.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/Battlefleet_Sol on 2025-06-24 08:13:46+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/paradoxplaza by /u/LogicalAd8685 on 2025-06-27 00:20:15+00:00.