When playing a Grand Strategy game it should be about immersion and suspension of disbelief. In all our games we aim to have believable mechanics. How well do they work with each other, which parts makes the game fun and which are more tedious. We have also taken a good look at most of the features, big and small. What we have done is that we have done a complete overhaul of the trade system, added a new monarch power system and a done a major rework of the diplomacy system. This flexibility has been a great benefit when it comes to designing the game. One such example is the complete removal of the old trade system with centers of trade, which was replaced with a new trade system with dynamic flow of trade. We could rewrite entire systems from scratch, and do some paradigm shifts. So we took a step back and looked at what Europa Universalis was and what we wanted to do, and since it’s a new game, we had quite a large amount of flexibility. And while improving the interface can reduce it a fair bit, it is a very fine balance when it comes to designing a game. We are happy with the level of complexity and want to keep it at this level. Europa Universalis has a complexity level that we do not want to dramatically increase. One important thing though, is that while we had lots of cool and interesting ideas for Europa Universalis we simply couldn’t just add them all in, as the game would become an unwieldy mass. The challenge in creating a sequel comes in keeping true to previous game and what it became, while giving all our fans enough that is new to make it feel that it is worth calling it a new game. With the new expansions the game really morphed into something that a lot of us came to see as the ultimate strategy game. For every office multiplayer game and every time we went to the pub over the years, we came up with new ideas that generated yet another expansion. It’s not only what the original game was but a huge part is also what Europa Universalis III grew into with all the expansions, from the first release to the fourth expansion. We wanted to reconquer Europa Universalis, because the most exciting thing about a sequel is for us truly the ability to go back and do more with a game with the goal of taking it to the next level.Ĭreating a sequel for this game is of course a great challenge.
We’ve come to understand what Europa Universalis is about for a lot of people, and what it means for ourselves.ĭuring 2010 we spent a lot of time working on the design concepts, and late in 2011, the core team for Europa Universalis IV was assembled, and actual development started. Originally Europa Universalis I started development in 1997, Europa Universalis II in 2001, Europa Universalis III started in 2005, so we were overdue a new take on the game series.ĭuring those years we’ve accumulated quite a lot of ideas, and discarded far more. Now several years later I get to stand here as the project lead for Europa Universalis IV, it’s been quite a ride.
After some other projects and moving office three times I got to work the sequel to my old favorite game, Europa Universalis III. Then later when I was looking for a job paradox was looking for a programmer and I started to work at a very cramped office in central Stockholm. Not sure if I reported that many bugs, but I was pestering the devs about my pet peeves and even managed to write an historical event that was actually taken into the game, I was very proud. Then I learned that a sequel was coming out I managed to sneak my way into the beta. This game was not like anything I’ve ever played before, I had played Civilization and Imperialism, but a game that actually had a historical world map and where even the smallest AI state played to win was something that fascinated me.
My personal history with the Europa Universalis series franchise started many years ago, namely when I was in university and found this game called Europa Universalis. We are a group who love playing Europa Universalis, both in singleplayer and in multiplayer together, so you could definitely say it is the favorite series for the people working on Europa Universalis IV.įor you unfamiliar with the series, Europa Universalis IV is a grand strategy game where you take on the role as the guiding hand behind a nation struggling for supremacy during 400 years of history. I do have a special love for our empire building series Europa Universalis and the team, we are all major fans of this series. Written by Thomas Johansson, project lead for Europa Universalis IV.