Europa Universalis, best game since Civ - Page 3

ravagon · February 21, 2001, 20:18

Um. Question for anyone who already has EU (Europeans and, I guess, as of today, any North Americans).
In one of the threads about an EU forum in the Apolyton section, MarkG kinda agreed to post an EU review if we could find anybody interested in doing one.

Any takers?

I was thinking of something along the lines of a brief description of how it plays, maybe a few screenshots and a section going through maybe a small part of the Grand Campaign...

What does everyone think?

It would increase EU's profile around here and may spark more interest in those who don't really know about it yet or who are thinking of getting it.

Grumbold · February 23, 2001, 07:00

I'll be happy to talk about it once I have played it (estimated delivery - due today

), but it would make more sense to look at the posts from some of our continental friends who have had the game for longer. The EU "After Action Reports" on the home website are simply stunning. If that doesn't wean you off Civ/CtP and eager to try EU then nothing will. Having seen the early CtP2 reviews I'm reluctant to make the same mistake myself and assume after one days play I know everything. Reading the AAR's from good players who are editing the files to allow them to play tiny minor nations is inspiring.

weird god · February 23, 2001, 10:05

this game is awesome! i can´t stop playing it and it made me taking a civ2-break for more then a month now, a new record. my first game as portugal took me about 3 weeks to finish.
you ask for a small glimpse into the game. well, AARs far better then mine can be found at www.europa-universalis.com

actually i´m playing austria on very hard/agressive level and have taken half of france, whole italy except for venice and genua, hungary, bohemia and lots of the small german nations. austria is a reformed state and it´s my self-set goal to wipe out the catholic nations from europe (heading especially for spain, hehe). i also want to go for the balkanies but the different religions down there (orthodox, protestant, catholic, moslmes, reformed) can´t be pleased and would cuase revolts. plus they can´t support large armies (rough terrain, small population)which makes them excellent to set up a good defence against the turks which are heading for hungary. for those reasons i will only conquer (if possible) those countries which are either reformed,protestant or catholic and outbuild my defences while concnetrating on spain, eastern and northern europe.
austria is not a big oversea-empire and esp. portugal and spain got a headstart, but i could establish some good running colonies in deleware, isle royal, havanna, guadeloupe, hudson bay, java, philipines and last but not least in sibir where unexplored riches still wait for my expansion.

this is the current situation, and it eats me up all day, all night...

------------------
god made weed.....you don´t really think he fails sometimes?

weird god, chief of EUROPA
visit us: www.multispieler.de

Imran Siddiqui · February 23, 2001, 15:51

YAY! I got it... playing Poland, kicking ass! Annexed Courtland and Pskov along with taking Tuva and Novgorod. I also got Silesia, Moldavia, and 2 Austrian provinces as well as 2 Crimean provinces. And only Courtland was an aggressive war on my part

.

Henrik · February 24, 2001, 08:48

Are you sure it isn't courland (as opposed to courtland)

February 24, 2001, 10:19

Hey, I only know it as Kurland. I'm sure you do too.

Henrik · February 24, 2001, 10:49

Yes, thats the swedish name, it is courland in english though.

Ramo's DL · February 24, 2001, 23:48

WOOHOO, I HAVE IT!!!

Just started la grande campagne with France.

I have a question for y'all:

I just crushed Alsace-Lorraine, and have huge armies occupying both provinces, but the game still says that the provinces "belong" to Lorraine (which shouldn't be autonomous any longer). What do I need to do to annex them?

Kyle · February 25, 2001, 01:00

You do not gain control of a province by conquering it. That is, in the Civ2/Imperialism way. You must either annex them completely (absolutely destroying them, controlling all or most of their territory/capital) or get a province via diplomatic negotiation.

Select the province, then right click and pick Offer Peace. If you've destroyed them, it will allow you to annex them. If not, you can demand tribute, which in your case would be the province of your desire.

Can be annoying sometimes, but it can also be advantageous to you if you're getting thrashed.
[This message has been edited by Kyle (edited February 25, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Kyle (edited February 25, 2001).]

Chow Yun Fat · February 25, 2001, 04:51

Any players caring to post a brief review? Just about a page will do. And please open a new topic for that.

I know that I can go to CGN or EU forum to look at the review. But a review and the spawned discussion will be the best chance to get a EU forum here.
I like to know whether it looks more like Imperialism or more like Civilization. And which is the most important aspect in the game, Military, Geopolitics, Economic, and/or Science?
One more question is on its replayability. Will you be playing it after two months?
Please remember to open a new topic for the answer!

Imran Siddiqui · February 25, 2001, 06:07

Ramo, reading the manual would be nice

Chow, after some test I have on Monday, I'll probably write a review for CGN (where I run the EU part) and I'll make a new topic here.

Carolus Rex · February 26, 2001, 04:25

quote:

Originally posted by Henrik on 02-20-2001 03:33 PM
EU simply must be an accurate gamne even historians plays it! ( www.peterenglund.com/nu.htm , the site is in swedish but still!).

Geez, even Peter Englund plays it?! It's gotta be good! A word of warning, though, for all those not lucky enough to be born Swedes (

). He says it's buggy and that you must download the latest patch to enjoy the game.

Carolus

Henrik · February 26, 2001, 11:06

Have you read his books Carolus? IMHO they are simply superb.
[This message has been edited by Henrik (edited February 26, 2001).]

Kyle · February 26, 2001, 12:43

Who's Peter Englund?

Henrik · February 27, 2001, 01:23

Swedish historian, writes wonderfull books mainly about the 17th century (he writes essays and collumns as well), he is a great writer as well as a historian though, which makes his books wonderfull reading.
I think his books are translated to most languages (atleast all the scandinavian ones plus german and Polish, Im not sure about english, though).

Carolus Rex · February 27, 2001, 02:51

Yes, I have. They are very good and I like them a lot.

At his site he also says that he hasn't had this much fun playing a computer game since Civilization was released 10 years ago... Obviously, Peter is not in to MP...

Carolus

Imran Siddiqui · February 27, 2001, 03:09

Carolus Rex, you know there is ANOTHER Carolus Rex at the EU forums... I was confused

.

Carolus Rex · February 27, 2001, 03:51

Hm, an impostor...

I bet there is only one Imran Siddiqui...

Carolus

Imran Siddiqui · February 27, 2001, 04:14

I hope so!

*Imran runs off to patent his name*

Hey, do you think for my location, I should put 'Europa Universalis Pusher'?

Cousin Jakob · February 27, 2001, 21:22

No. That would be confusing. You cannot actually be on "Europa Universalis Pusher" unless you're very buggery. Go for "Europa Universalis Map of Europe" or somesuch.

Dr Strangelove · February 27, 2001, 22:04

Rats! Because this game does not involve the killing of deer, turkey, bass, or any other fish or game animal the local Babbage's doesn't plan to stock it. I guess I'll have to take a chance that my hard drive won't reject it and buy it on-line.

Has anyone had any problems getting the game to run? I have a very finiky system, particularily with respect to the installation process. I have a PII 300mhz, 64meg RAM, and about 2 Gigs left on my first drive.

Fintilgin · February 27, 2001, 22:16

It installed fine on my machine, but I noticed it crashes at least once a playing session. Often when I quit after playing a while it will crash my desktop. Hopefully they'll patch it soon.

But, it was WELL worth getting. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Joe

Savant · February 27, 2001, 23:00

Dr. - I have it running on 4 systems that are quite different from each other. I would suggest though that 128mb may be better as the saved game file expands as you get deeper in the game and some have reported slow downs with 64 mb.

The game is great BTW and well worth the price. First game I can say I bought since Civ2 & AOE that is a bargain price. Ig you are into strategy games, you definitely will get that "one more turn" feeling that will keep you going into the wee hours.

------------------
'Blood will run'

Leonidas · February 28, 2001, 12:27

I have PII 350, 128 MB RAM, 8.4 GB hard drive.

The game installed flawlessly, and I have not encountered a single problem. Just make sure you have all the latest drivers for your sound, video and CD-ROM applications. Also install DirectX 8.0 (which can be found on the game's CD). I have not encountered a single crash either.

This is a fantastic game - A true rival to Civ II, that easily surpasses it in many ways. It is full of depth, strategy, and history. It encompasses the whole world.

The sheer breath and depth of this game is amazing. The manual is beautiful. You other game companies take note!

How did Paradox ever create such a game? This is THE game to get while you are waiting for Civ III - even then - you will still be playing it.

It is a complex game that will mean that you need to read and study the manual. That in itself is a joy - really massages the 'ol brain cells LOL. You will also learn a great deal of European and world history - who woulda thunk it?

While I'm playing the game I'm also going to be reading Paul Kennedy's "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers".

I highly recommend this game

------------------
Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

Seneca · March 2, 2001, 11:05

Do I have the slightest chance of finding it in a British shop, or is it just flying off the shelves as soon as it hits them?
Wasn't in Virgin Bristol

Dr Strangelove · March 2, 2001, 12:01

You have a special part of town for virgins? Cool! I think that's wonderful. How big is this area?

Seneca · March 5, 2001, 11:52

Can you believe it? I went to a specialist game store and asked for it - they said they had one copy, but someone bought it (no sh*t!)

They really anticipated the demand there

Dr Strangelove · March 5, 2001, 12:30

quote:

Originally posted by Seneca on 03-05-2001 10:52 AM
Can you believe it? I went to a specialist game store and asked for it - they said they had one copy, but someone bought it (no sh*t!)

They really anticipated the demand there

Well, maybe they think that Europa Universalis isn't the sort of game that virgins would like to play.

Dr Strangelove · March 5, 2001, 12:32

quote:

Originally posted by Seneca on 03-05-2001 10:52 AM
Can you believe it? I went to a specialist game store and asked for it - they said they had one copy, but someone bought it (no sh*t!)

They really anticipated the demand there

Well, maybe they think that Europa Universalis isn't the sort of game that virgins would like to play.

------------------
"I say shoot'em all and let God sort it out in the end!

Seneca · March 8, 2001, 01:26

Virgin, as in records, games, airlines...
Also applicable to jokes virgin' on the pathetic...