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Old November 12, 2003, 13:01   #1
Nikolai
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Victoria review!
The first English language Victoria review has been posted!

Graphics: 8 - The graphics are good, but there are opportunities missed in making them a little more indicative.

Sound: 8 - A great soundtrack, otherwise a good assortment of function sounds.

Interface: 9 - Generally outstanding; deep tooltips save a lot of manual-searching. Everything in the info windows is hot-clickable, leading to multiple control layers and a nice combination of utilitarian and esthetically pleasing UI.

Play Issues
Solo Play: 10 - Hail to the Queen! As world-conquest games go, there is no equal.

Replayability: 10 - You can play every state on Earth in the 19th Century. A deep list of events keeps even the same country's play from becoming repetitive.

Multiplay: 9 - The best in the series, but the nature of the game is such that it's hard to find a game speed that is not too slow while things are developing, and too fast when things are happening, despite a clever multiplay pause feature that helps a lot.
Documentation: 6 - Instructions are adequate if skimpy, and the game could definitely use an extensive tutorial.

Learning Curve: 6 - If you've played EU, EU2 or HoI, this would probably be a 9; for anyone else sometimes the nearly-limitless courses of action can be paralyzing.

Other: +0.5 for the period, a game like this is so long overdue.

Pro: Everything, but particularly flexible and powerful diplomatic and tech systems. The novel inclusion of POPS adds a needed dynamic to the domestic aspect of the game.

Con: The richness can seem like complexity, and even for very experienced players there is no "quick" game of Victoria. Make sure you buy your significant other something nice before you install it.

Thew reviewer also mentions that Paradox will make a EU2-->Vickie converter, but no date is set.
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Old November 12, 2003, 20:45   #2
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A big to everything. I hope that converter isn't too far off.
That soundtrack had better include "Rule Britainnia" though.

Now I just have to stop drooling on my keyboard.
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Old November 12, 2003, 20:53   #3
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I think he's being a little generous in the graphics, multiplayer, and learning curve department.

Not that I've played it, of course... but I've seen the screen shots to know the graphics aren't the greatest (I'm really not a fan of the terrain map). And I've played the other paradox games enough to know that they aren't that suited to multiplayer (regardless of their stability) - certainly not enough to warrant a 9, in any case. And I've also played enough of the others to knowthat their learning curve warrants 'more' (less) than a 6 - particularily since Victoria is bringing in so much new stuff.
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Old November 12, 2003, 23:30   #4
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Re: Victoria review!
Quote:
Originally posted by Johan
NO

NO

NO
Mutters something about ideas brought public without asking ME!
Hmmm ... something tells me that the 'converter' may not be quite so close ...
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Old November 19, 2003, 20:24   #5
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Re: Re: Victoria review!
Quote:
Originally posted by ravagon


Hmmm ... something tells me that the 'converter' may not be quite so close ...
methinks never
i think the reviewer got confused with CK
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Old November 20, 2003, 13:52   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld
I think he's being a little generous in the graphics, multiplayer, and learning curve department.

And I've played the other paradox games enough to know that they aren't that suited to multiplayer (regardless of their stability) - certainly not enough to warrant a 9, in any case.
No offense but thats ignorant Cr*ap.

There are literally thousands of people who have been playing EU MP and hundreds are still playing 2 years after the game was released.

Many of the games have 20+ people in them at the same time and go on for months without flagging.

EU2 has 59,011 posts for MP alone and we have deleted around 10,000 on top of that.

Now. In comparison I look at Civ II, Civ III and Call to Power MP sites here and they have a grand total of
only 38,387 posts. Thats from a game that has a history that simply dwarfs EU and has infinitely greater publicity.

I've personally spent hundreds of hours playing EU MP and nothing I've ever seen comes close in terms of depth, skill or sheer fun.

Its just not even a competition in comparison. Even if you dont compare the two EU1 & 2 have been massive sucesses for MP play. You may not like paradox’s MP but you cant say that they are not suited to MP. Its just incorrect, otherwise what on earth have thousands of us all been doing for two years?

Paradox took MP to a new level, taking up the baton where the civ series left off and revolutionised MP.
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Old November 20, 2003, 15:15   #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by mowers
EU2 has 59,011 posts for MP alone and we have deleted around 10,000 on top of that.
I agree with most of your post mowers.

But the 'we' part had me rolling on the floor.
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Old November 21, 2003, 00:52   #8
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Quote:
Originally posted by mowers

EU2 has 59,011 posts for MP alone and we have deleted around 10,000 on top of that.

Now. In comparison I look at Civ II, Civ III and Call to Power MP sites here and they have a grand total of
only 38,387 posts. Thats from a game that has a history that simply dwarfs EU and has infinitely greater publicity.
That may be a little misleading as most of the on-topic fora here are archived fairly often.
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Old November 21, 2003, 04:50   #9
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Its more about Concentration paradoxplaza is the Official well supplied Board. There are few other EU [b]Boards[b/] arround.
Civ is more divided. Civfanatics CGN etc.

Nevertheless are the Paradox Games pretty nifty at MP.
My First Vix Game will 'prolly be MP ;=)
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Old November 21, 2003, 05:49   #10
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My post account analysis isnt a good indicator or measure of success as pointed out. But that we managed to get that far indicates that MP was a success.

Where the games have traditionally been weak is in SP. Paradox have created such complex models that an accompanying level of AI is impossible short of a major injection of resources which this tiny team of swedes dont have.

I think what is amazing about paradox is that they are still releasing patches for their games 18 months down the line, not bug fixes but game play improvement patches. There is great commitment to this game and its wonderful to be part of it.

Whether Victoria is a success or not in MP we will see. I've my doubts but I still have high hopes, its a big old game and easily the most ambitious to date. It drastically moves away from the traditional wargame, but I know that paradox will do their best to ensure that its a top notch MP game.
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Old November 21, 2003, 19:57   #11
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Quote:
Originally posted by mowers

Many of the games have 20+ people in them at the same time and go on for months...

Exactly.


It takes an immense amount of time and co-ordination to play it multiplayer, hence why it does not lend it self to it.
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Old November 22, 2003, 18:12   #12
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Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld



Exactly.


It takes an immense amount of time and co-ordination to play it multiplayer, hence why it does not lend it self to it.
..but that's enough complaining about Civ 3, lets talk about Victoria!
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Old November 22, 2003, 22:32   #13
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Why compare it to civ 3? (rotten) apples and (rotten) oranges.


TBS games aren't anymore suited to multiplayer then Victoria, but they do atleast have the advantage of being able to play PBEM games, which are nice for a leisurely (and very long) game - It's also more appealing for the roleplayer types like me, since you can take your time making diplomatic messages and communications.
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Old November 23, 2003, 05:18   #14
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Well a lot of people on the paradox forums would disagree that you can't be diplomatic or play long campaigns in the paradox games in multiplayer.
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Old November 23, 2003, 14:26   #15
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Quote:
Originally posted by adi321
Well a lot of people on the paradox forums would disagree that you can't be diplomatic or play long campaigns in the paradox games in multiplayer.
Of course you can play long games. That's all you can play. But not leisurely, atleast not like you can in PBEM. First of all, EU is a realtime game, and you can't keep pausing it like you might in singleplayer, because there's a dozen other people there and the game wouldn't go anywhere if it was constantly paused. And then when you're not playing it, you're trying to organize a time when everyone can be on at the same time, or looking for people who didn't show up. It's a sort of long, drawn out, franticness.

And yes, you can roleplay aswell, but really only between sessions. otherwise you have to do it all in realtime which I personally think is awkward for that kind of roleplaying.
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Old November 23, 2003, 16:57   #16
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Quote:
Originally posted by Nikolai

The reviewer also mentions that Paradox will make a EU2-->Vickie converter, but no date is set.


As in a converter that converts your saved game from EU2 to Victoria

That would be a truly astonishing feature

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Old November 23, 2003, 17:24   #17
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Yeah, but there is a possibility that he confused CK and Vickie.
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Old November 23, 2003, 21:29   #18
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I'm still hoping that Johans post just meant that it shouldn't have been made public yet.
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Old November 23, 2003, 23:59   #19
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Just bought it, and have played it all day. ****ing awesome game.
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Old November 24, 2003, 05:50   #20
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Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld
Of course you can play long games. That's all you can play. But not leisurely, atleast not like you can in PBEM.
You just cant compare RT with PBEM.

Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld
First of all, EU is a realtime game, and you can't keep pausing it like you might in singleplayer, because there's a dozen other people there and the game wouldn't go anywhere if it was constantly paused.
But in MP you dont play at 4:1 speeds, you dont need to pause apart from in lengthy peace negiotations.

Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld
And then when you're not playing it, you're trying to organize a time when everyone can be on at the same time, or looking for people who didn't show up. It's a sort of long, drawn out, franticness.
This isnt counter strike. You want a big intellectual challenge then you have to put some brain power in. You want a big game then there is going to be that corresponding effort.

Quote:
Originally posted by Osweld
And yes, you can roleplay aswell, but really only between sessions. otherwise you have to do it all in realtime which I personally think is awkward for that kind of roleplaying.
Then just play at a slower speed. There is a plenty of time for role playing, unless you want to renact the countesses ball or something.

The chat logs from my games are just full of dramatic and deep diplomacy, its not like the old snail mail diplomacy games but its not exactly risk.

To put it into perspective the board game needed 7 people and it tooks months. Nothing comes close in complexity for a similar game.

I mean the sort of games that dont take time and effort are things like Age of Empires which is either beer and pretzels level play or for children.

It comes down to what you are looking for. But you cant say it doesnt lend its self to MP when it clearly does, whether you like it or not is a different matter and I can understand why some people may not like it - afterall- its quite niche.
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Old November 24, 2003, 09:57   #21
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's no good at all for multiplayer. Just that it doesn't come easy. Like you said, it's a niche. And I really don't think it's dserving of a 9. Maybe when compared strictly to other paradox games, but not as a general score.

And it does appeal to me, by the way, I just don't really have the time for it.
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Old November 24, 2003, 13:10   #22
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Well to be honest, its a virtual full time occupation, I dont get to play any other games when I am EU-ing and with Victoria out I can see life getting difficult again.

Yeah, I guess 9 isnt perhaps totally warrented, after all its not a pick and play solutionl.
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Old December 2, 2003, 05:44   #23
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postponed to 17.12 here..
arggh
So anyone got it? How is it?
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Old December 2, 2003, 09:16   #24
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I've had it for a while now, very good game. It's alot more polished then the other ones where at initial release, but still has a few things, major and minor, that need to be patched or worked on.

I've put off playing it any more untill 1.02, partly for an excuse to be playing Civ3 conquests and KOTOR.
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Old December 2, 2003, 11:33   #25
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I think that Vic is very good! As Osweld said, it's quite finished to be so early after release, and I must say that this game could be the game that made me set EU2 aside for some time.
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Old December 3, 2003, 03:58   #26
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Sounds awesome.

If I get this for Christmas, that would make it 3 years in a row that I get a Paradox game (2001 - EU2, 2002 - HoI)
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Old December 3, 2003, 11:23   #27
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All good things are three...
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Old December 3, 2003, 19:09   #28
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Nikolai: Can you do a short review with pros and cons. I am trying to decide whether to wish this one for Xmas or no.

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Old December 4, 2003, 15:34   #29
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Some of the features sound pretty unhistorical to me. A world market in 1836? Meaningful healthcare in the 19th century? No proto-industrialisation cottage industries?
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Old December 4, 2003, 19:49   #30
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Quote:
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All good things are three...
Does that mean he shouldn't buy whatever they release next year?


5 Days to go. Hurry up Games Warehouse!
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