Is this game like tw?

[Orkunion]

I think of buying this game when I have money how much is this? And graphics good as TW? :hmmm:

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Which game are you talking about now ??
But when it comes to paradox games in general, no it's not like TW.
It's campaign map only but it's alot more deeper and complex then TW.
But you have no control over your battles tho.
You just select the army and click where it should go and hope for the best.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

It's a lot more complicated as well, but arguably more rewarding once you get the basics down.

[El Brujo]

Paradox games have more realistic diplomacy and economy systems than TW, and also are played in real time instead of turns. As a rule, all countries in Paradox games are playable.

I recommend getting Victoria. It's like EU, but better in every way. You may have to take classes just to learn how to play it, but that's a small price to pay for quality entertainment, no?

[John I Tzimisces]

Victoria, save that for after you've played a paradox game or two first. It's very complicated, with a steep learning curve.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend Victoria for a first timer.
Even I can hardly figure that game out.
I think EU3 or HOI2 would probably be the best to start with.

[LSJ]

EU is nothing like TW games. There are no flashy graphics, no battle mode... when you fight battles everything is decided by "die rolls", influenced by the quality and number of your troops. The thing that is similar is that you run your economy, build armies, conquer provinces, etc. But the system is very different, and much more complex. Its focused on diplomacy and government, whereas TW games are focused on the battles (but that is of course what people buy TW games for).

[Kanaric]

EU is BETTER than Total War, play it with giving it a chance in mind and you will see.

I can't even play EB, I tried playing the new version but got bored and once again loaded up a Paradox game (in this case Victoria since i'm in VIP beta).

[LSJ]

I must agree... I cannot make myself play TW campaigns now. When Empire comes out, sure, but they have freakin naval battles! Until then I am too obsessed with the EU campaigns.

[Metellus]

How do Paradox's games work in terms of realtime instead of turns? After all we're not talking about RTS type games here...

[Gavmundo]

Paradox games are a lot deeper than total War but the joy of total war is controlling your troops in Battle. The xix between the campaign map and control of the battles is the highlight. EU and other Paradox games are all about the campaign and the strategy surrounding the campaign and there are so many options for a player and it's the only game that (realistically) has the whole world to play for. Even with MTW2 you don't have access to every country in the world whereas you do with most of the Paradox titles (Not Crusader Kings for obvious reasons). I love em both to be honest.

How do Paradox's games work in terms of realtime instead of turns? After all we're not talking about RTS type games here...

Very well. You can select the speed of time passing and it passes on a daily basis. The speed of each day depends on your speed setting. You can also pause the game so you can move around the map, make decisions etc. Sometimes you may want to go slow and each day can take several seconds or you may want to speed things up in terms of wanting to research, recruit, allow your armies to move to a new province quickly etc and several days can pass in a second or two. I was always more into turn based strategy games before EU arrived but it handles things perfectly.

Infact I remember when the first EU came out. It was the sort of game I'd seen be attempted before and usually one that would end up some terrible failure so I totally ignored the game for several months but kept hearing so many good things about it so decided to get it and was shocked how well done it was and how addictive! What other game lets you play just about any country in the world? And we're not just talking about a dozen of the better known countries but ANY country!

[Metellus]

Great, thanks for the info, makes me want to give it a try. However it looks like I'll have to order it via Amazon or something since I haven't seen it in my country

How would you rate the differences between EU2 and EU3?

[Kanaric]

Great, thanks for the info, makes me want to give it a try. However it looks like I'll have to order it via Amazon or something since I haven't seen it in my country

How would you rate the differences between EU2 and EU3?

EU3 obviously since its the newer game has better graphics and a more refined engine.

EU2, since its been around longer, has far better mods.

Really the only difference.

http://www.gamersgate.com/
If you can't find a place to buy the box game you can buy it on this site and then download it. When you buy it the site saves that your account has the game so you can do it any time in the future again if you need to.

[Gavmundo]

Yea the fanbase would be split between EUII and EUIII to be honest. When I first got EUIII the graphics put me off, and then the fact that events and rulers aren't historical making a game with many more options but an ahistorical experience isn't for me but I slowly came to terms with it and started to enjoy EUIII. Now the expansion (Napoleon's Ambition) is out that gives you the option of switching on historical leaders, events, commanders etc as well as giving you the option to make a lot of rules changes (inflation etc) but the fact is EUII and it's mods already give this experience so it's all down to personal preference.

[Metellus]

http://www.gamersgate.com/
If you can't find a place to buy the box game you can buy it on this site and then download it. When you buy it the site saves that your account has the game so you can do it any time in the future again if you need to.

Thanks that should save on P&P.

Yeah it seems the main difference between the two is historical vs. ahistorical, at least that's what I'm getting from most sources I've checked out. Strictly historical games have limited replayability so I'm tending to lean toward EU3. I've played Gary Grigsby's World at War which was very strictly historical; its a nice little game but also lacks replayability, the basic events of the war are more or less inevitable.

[Gavmundo]

Thanks that should save on P&P.

Yeah it seems the main difference between the two is historical vs. ahistorical, at least that's what I'm getting from most sources I've checked out. Strictly historical games have limited replayability so I'm tending to lean toward EU3. I've played Gary Grigsby's World at War which was very strictly historical; its a nice little game but also lacks replayability, the basic events of the war are more or less inevitable.

Well EUII was historical and it certainly didn't lack replayability. For me the main problem was the lack of historical rulers. I just couldn't stand having a random ruler added each time one died. NA fixes this but it's still an option so upto the player whether that select the option or not. If you're not bothered about the game being historical you might want to check out the Magna Mundi mod. It's very popular and the Gold edition was just released recently although it uses NA (there is an option to download a non NA version though). If you've never played EUIII before though it's worth having a game with Vanilla first otherwise you don't appreciate what MM improves....

[Metellus]

^^ You mean both Magna Mundi and NA are for EU3? How can MM have gone Gold on a game quite recently released (i.e. EU3)?

I see this ahistorical rulers thing is an annoyance for most people. I don't think it would matter too much to me but not sure. How is the issue of succession and the royal family line handled? Like M2, or is it not really a factor in the game?

[Gavmundo]

^^ You mean both Magna Mundi and NA are for EU3? How can MM have gone Gold on a game quite recently released (i.e. EU3)?

I see this ahistorical rulers thing is an annoyance for most people. I don't think it would matter too much to me but not sure. How is the issue of succession and the royal family line handled? Like M2, or is it not really a factor in the game?

Well NA is the offical expansion and MM is the player made mod and not a lot of changes needed to be made with the release of the expansion to incorporate it. You can play it with or without NA of course. Paradox have also just released a patch for NA and it has a lot of game improvements in it apparently.

Well the EU genre is a lot different to most games in replayability. There are so many kingdoms to rule that there's massive replay value and historical events don't force you to follow the historical outcome of that part of history you are given choices and it doesn't affect your own expansion goals and you can manipulate them to your own style of play so don't think it limits you at all.

As for historical rulers (or ahistoical rulers) it's nothing like TW. Historical rulers rise to the throne on their historical date and non historical rulers rise at random times. There's no line of succession to choose from you just get the ruler and each one has different stats that effect a host of areas of your Empire. A good ruler gives you great advantages in economy, war etc and a poor ruler can bring it all down around your knees

[Metellus]

Okay great, thanks Gavmundo. Definitely going to look into ordering it, end of month coming soon, yay!!

[Gavmundo]

Just remember NA is download only from gamersgate.com (may be other download sites but this seems the most popular - Think's it's 20 euro's of there where is virtually nothing You can also get EUIII ther eof course but I'd be inclined to find it in the shops as it's probably quite cheap and I'd prefer to have the boxed version anyway but with NA there is no boxed version.