Victoria 1.03 - Your opinion?

Cookie Monster · February 23, 2004, 11:59

Paradox has recently released patch 1.03 for Victoria. With that said I'd like to hear feedback from our players here at 'Poly before making the decision to buy or not.

From what I've read on the Paradox boards people generally seem happy with the new patch. What say you?

Maniac · February 23, 2004, 12:06

Good question. What are Polytubbies' opinion about especially the economy in the new patch?

General Ludd · February 23, 2004, 21:39

Wow, didn't know it was released. I'll probably be playing it all day tommorow...

JCG · February 24, 2004, 00:10

Was wondering why this thread hadn't appeared yet...IMHO, 1.03's better than 1.02 overall...

Partisans are now ok, the WM is improved (though machine tools and a couple of other things might still be hard to find early on, most stuff is more abundant now), the AI seems better at doing amphibious invasions, Spain won't get free manpower from reconquering the Americas (thanks to the implementation of new cultures), the liberal / 1848 revolutions are more of a threat, and other misc. fixes.....

...but there are still a few economic quirks / small bugs left in the game, which could make people uneasy if they can't figure them out or adapt to them (a couple of Prussia players, for example, have complained of increased difficulty at making a profit, though I can't relate at all...I've united Germany historically a couple of times with little previous trouble, military or economics-wise, even if the BB's a bit high afterwards...).
The game can still use some balancing, yes, but there's nothing gamebreaking as far as I'm concerned.

Still, if you found the game too slow / boring / not worth your patience before, that probably won't change too much....if you had mixed feelings, perhaps you'll like it, perhaps not.

Grumbold · February 24, 2004, 09:48

Its got decidedly better AI and is certainly a worthy game as it stands. I've played a lot since 1.00 and I think ultimately it just has a bit too much stuff I don't consider 'fun' to be worth recommending to anyone who isn't an enthusiast.

With easier starting economics, ways of automating basic stuff like revolt suppression and other tweaks it could be great fun. Unfortunately those are the sort of changes that seem likely to get made.

Cookie Monster · February 24, 2004, 11:18

Interesting. Glad to see there has been some economic improvements. I know that was/is? a glaring issue.

So before I rush out to buy the game would someone be kind enough to answer this question? If I liked EU1 and HOI would I like Victoria as it stands now with 1.03?

General Ludd · February 24, 2004, 21:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Cookie Monster
So before I rush out to buy the game would someone be kind enough to answer this question? If I liked EU1 and HOI would I like Victoria as it stands now with 1.03?

I would liken it to HOI 1.05 quality wise.

... Atleast, I think. I can't really keep track of how good all the patches where - but basically, it's good and playable, and has that "finished" feel to it, but I expect atleast one more patch before they can start taking a more leisurely aproach to it.

(Disclamer: I haven't actually played a full game of 1.03 - only a very short game as the United States of Central America - but it left a good impression)

Grumbold · February 25, 2004, 04:23

If you wish EU2/HoI had more economic depth and are willing to micromanage more to get it, you will love Victoria.

JCG · February 25, 2004, 21:03

I'd say it's a small step behind HoI 1.05 (especially since there are no public betapatches for Victoria yet), but good enough for the game to work (there are still bugs, like a couple regarding POP cash for example, but not any gamebreaking ones).

Btw, VIP 0.1 (a MOD for Victoria with many extra events, like CORE for HoI and EEP for EU2) has just been released, some people here might want to give it a try (even if it's just the first release, evidently).

Quote:

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Did they fix the pop unit things that always merged?

They seem to have limited merging to POPs under 10k or so..

Nikolai · February 26, 2004, 05:19

If you liked EU2 and HoI there is a good chance you'll like Vickie.

I didn't like HoI very much, but totally loved EU1/2, and although Vickie is a whole other game, with much more complexity, I like it very well!

In 1.02 it was just partly fun, but with 1.03 the game is absolutely entertaining.

General Ludd · February 26, 2004, 08:42

I like all the paradox games, personally. I don't get how someone can like one and not the others.

Grumbold · February 26, 2004, 12:48

Well they all have their small differences. I'd love HoI if it was possible to automate the aircraft. Plotting every mission they do by hand is just tedious beyond belief. The more they patch, the harder it is to win while largely ignoring the planes and the more irritating this becomes.

Vicky is like EU2 but when you get revolts a colonial empire can get dozens and dozens. They were pretty tedious in EU2 and downright hair tearing in Vic. If I could automate revolt suppression that would disappear....

That is my problem. Micromanagement is fine if you can automate it when its not important, like moving your colonial troops to suppress riots. When you can't automate it I get frustrated. Civ III managed to notice this and patched in automated workers and group movement. Paradox needs to do the same.

General Ludd · February 26, 2004, 13:40

You want an AI strategist?

Automating that would reduce the player's input to slider managment. You might aswell take it another step further and just play 'observation' games and watch the computers do their thing.

Grumbold · February 26, 2004, 17:31

How does setting the odd colonial defence force to 'suppress riots' so you can concentrate on the major war front affect what we have to do with sliders?

Or for that matter telling a naval air group on the channel to bomb likely targets while you play with the bloodbath on the Eastern Front?

You have totally lost me there!

JCG · February 26, 2004, 19:41

Quote:

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Is it just me, or is Prussia broken?

It's not just you, but it's not totally broken either...it just requires some more initial attention and balancing than other countries, due to its starting situation. I've probably got the hang of it by now, with some trial and error and some Paradox forum reading, but it may be hard to get it right the first couple of times....

Grumbold · February 26, 2004, 20:03

The single biggest mistake i think they made with Vic is not setting up the GC so that every country has its parameters set to make at least a 1g profit and let you mess from there. Plunging you into the hardest part of the game instantly is bad news for anyone, especially those who may be trying a Paradox game for the first time.

mactbone · February 28, 2004, 15:35

The one thing that I find odd is the end point. I understand that the game has to end sometime, but right when WW1 traditionally ended seems a little abrupt since the war can take longer depending on who gets involved.

BTW, I finally finished a GC as the US (had Civil War, but not reconstruction) and I hate the Spanish and French so much. I had the Lusitania (wasn't that the ship that sank?) and declared war to start the Spanish-American war (of which I know little to nothing about except that it was over quickly) and the Spaniards would not let go. I kept taking one province in Cuba and they reinforced the middle province with ~260,000 soldiers. Why? I'm not sure. Then, when I had Cuba I tried white peace, I made sure I controlled all of my provinces and was at +3% but no go. I tried attacking Spain proper but they kept attacking my ships as the troops were unloading and bedat up the troops that landed. So, I finally got peace by giving them Hawaii - I couldn't even give them money, which I was rolling in. Stupid Spaniards.

I'm trying to think of a nice land based country to be next - I hate navies and don't want to mess with them very much.

Grumbold · March 7, 2004, 16:11

One notable thing about this game is that if a war is declared a "Great War" then no way will major AI powers cave in easily. There is even a 200 prestige penalty for accepting a white peace unless there has been years of inactivity. This is designed to make the 1914-18 war more than a damp squib but it seems to kick in all too often in smaller conflicts too.

I played China recently and GB refused to make peace for decades. It was on 39% war exhaustion and had revolts worldwide before it finally agreed on a white peace. Some tweaking still needed there

Pax · April 2, 2004, 06:52

My problem with EU2 was that the type was too small for me to see well. Is the type in Victoria or HOI bigger?

Cookie Monster · April 8, 2004, 08:25

I've decided not to get Vicky. Don't have the time to play much anymore. You have all helped me though to decide that when/if I get the extra funds and time I might add this one to my library.

Odin · April 13, 2005, 14:27

I like playing the US, but it seems I am allways too short on materials to improve my RRs, and my new factories are allways empty.