Paradox Studio Thread

[Dr. Geronimo]

I have no prior experience with strategy games other than old flash games like bloons TD so maybe the genre just isnt for me but Stellaris is really fucking boring even with the speed turned up to max. There are a ton of little things the devs could do to make the game smoother but instead they seem more interested in making the game more "deep" by adding stupid restrictions. Its a shame because it has the potential to be an amazing game. Anyone else feel this way?

Did you play with the expansions? That's how Paradox gets ya.

 

[Super Hans]

I have no prior experience with strategy games other than old flash games like bloons TD so maybe the genre just isnt for me but Stellaris is really fucking boring even with the speed turned up to max. There are a ton of little things the devs could do to make the game smoother but instead they seem more interested in making the game more "deep" by adding stupid restrictions. Its a shame because it has the potential to be an amazing game. Anyone else feel this way?

You might want to try out Total War. The grand strategy side isn't that in-depth (or tedious, if you look at it that way) but has real time battles instead of you just smashing your army with the enemy's. The series has had a rough history, though. The last entry that was universally liked was Shogun 2.

 

[TwinkLover6969]

Did you play with the expansions? That's how Paradox gets ya.

Paradox lately seems to love sucking the fun out of their games. The last few EU4 expansions have really started sucking the fun out of the game by nerfing mercs and religious conversions to name a few.

 

[wopirish]

I have no prior experience with strategy games other than old flash games like bloons TD so maybe the genre just isnt for me but Stellaris is really fucking boring even with the speed turned up to max. There are a ton of little things the devs could do to make the game smoother but instead they seem more interested in making the game more "deep" by adding stupid restrictions. Its a shame because it has the potential to be an amazing game. Anyone else feel this way?

That would require paradox to actually do something new and not just removing features and polishing graphics and calling it new and charging full price. while slowly selling you fixes. Mods are really the only reason any of these games have any longevity.

 

[gangweedfan]

Did you play with the expansions? That's how Paradox gets ya.

I played a pirated copy with all expansions and it still bored me to tears.

You might want to try out Total War. The grand strategy side isn't that in-depth (or tedious, if you look at it that way) but has real time battles instead of you just smashing your army with the enemy's. The series has had a rough history, though. The last entry that was universally liked was Shogun 2.

I like sci-fi better than historical stuff. The whole reason I tried out Stellaris is because I read the Enders Game series and thought some of the stuff in it would be amazing in real life.

That would require paradox to actually do something new and not just removing features and polishing graphics and calling it new and charging full price. while slowly selling you fixes. Mods are really the only reason any of these games have any longevity.

Yeah considering they dont have basic shit like being able to build bases in your allies systems or a way to build new hyperlanes to speed up the atrocious travel time between systems after like 7 DLCs mods are probably the only reason to have the game. They seem to have added nothing but more stupid timers. For example in order to form a proper alliance in the game you have to wait until you have enough tradition points to unlock the diplomacy tradition thing and THEN you have to wait AGAIN to have enough points to buy the upgrade to form alliances.

 

[Rebel Wilson]

Paradox games are only superficially deep. After a while the same events keep firing over and over, they are clueless a out economic systems so money is either impossible to get or bottomless. And warfare really isnt much deeper than smash army into smaller army to win.

When it comes down to it there are a handful of viable nations in each paradox game and the rest of the world is only playable through exploits.

 

[Snekposter]

You might want to try out Total War. The grand strategy side isn't that in-depth (or tedious, if you look at it that way) but has real time battles instead of you just smashing your army with the enemy's. The series has had a rough history, though. The last entry that was universally liked was Shogun 2.

If you like the line battles of Empire and Napoleon, Fall of the Samurai polishes those up nicely. Still annoyed that CA slapped the Total War Saga branding on it so they could try and claim Thrones of Britannia and Troy aren't part of a series of total shit by pointing at that masterpiece.

 

[HeyYou]

So how is this shit? The stream reviews are the typical memes like "INCEST SIMULATOR 10/10" but there is one negative review that claims the game has a lot of removed features.

 

[Exterminatus]

Ok, so, turns out, the embargo was lifted today, and all the reviews came out at once, about 24 hours before release.

Redditors are creaming themselves because it has a 91 approval rating from critics on Metacritic and opencritic. IGN gave it 10/10, and PCgamer gave it a 94.

This is ignoring that Imperator: Rome got a 8/10 and a 92 from IGN and PCgamer, respectively. But redditors are too busy patting themselves on the back to think about that.

The worst criticism I've seen of it yet is that cultural and dynasty head mechanics related to technology and legacy are slightly bugged when the character dies. The worst worst criticism I saw was one review that deducted points because it was 'confusing to quickly tell how distant relatives are related to you without looking at the dynasty chart'. Heaven forbid they have to, gasp, click a button. That's too much work for the mushy mind of a journalist.

I've heard from some that the UI in CK3 is kinda crappy compared to the one in CK2, I'll probably try to watch some gameplay later from people now that it's not solely being controlled by Paradox. Also apparently the game was released with no DRM so there's that too.

 

[iRON-mAn]

So how is this shit? The stream reviews are the typical memes like "INCEST SIMULATOR 10/10" but there is one negative review that claims the game has a lot of removed features.

It's been known for some time that both Republics and Nomads aren't in the base game. There's talk of Republics being added later along with some kind of Trade mechanic, but that hasn't been confirmed by the devs, probably because they know it would fuel the greedy accusations.

Societies, Artifacts, bloodlines and a lot of smaller flavorful stuff is gone. I guess bloodlines kinda got merged into legacy but Bloodlines were something you could aim for with every character, whereas legacy takes decades and multiple characters to progress.

Probably the worst removal is the ability to direct the AI in wars. It was a midway addition to CK2, but being able to tell the AI when to siege and when to chase down armies was a godsend. But they took it out for the base game of CK3.

I've heard from some that the UI in CK3 is kinda crappy compared to the one in CK2, I'll probably try to watch some gameplay later from people now that it's not solely being controlled by Paradox. Also apparently the game was released with no DRM so there's that too.

The UI is probably the number one complaint on the Steam if you search the negative reviews.

 

[Stoneheart]

or a way to build new hyperlanes to speed up the atrocious travel time between systems

thats why you build gates and get jump drives...

Societies, Artifacts, bloodlines and a lot of smaller flavorful stuff is gone. I guess bloodlines kinda got merged into legacy but Bloodlines were something you could aim for with every character, whereas legacy takes decades and multiple characters to progress.

Lodbrok was just OP

 

[wopirish]

thats why you build gates and get jump drives...

Remember in 1.0 stellaris where there were the 3 different types of drives?

 

[Stoneheart]

Remember in 1.0 stellaris where there were the 3 different types of drives?

yeah but that didnt work well.

 

[The best and greatest]

I played with it a little bit yesterday. UI is alright but not great. I liked the portraits more. Also only two start dates if you care about that sort of thing.

The base game has the entire map and you can play seemingly everyone on it. Feels like a complete game without tons of DLC thrown into it
The hooks are a neat new feature that adds some depth to the diplomacy/intrigue game that wasn't there before.
Way of life got expanded on into a talent system
Stress was expanded on creating new cost/benefits for event choices depending on your traits
Retinues arent DLC locked
New map looks quite good for the most part but sometimes figuring out dejure boundaries can be a challenge. river crossings exist now though which adds to the strategic considerations one must make.

I was worried this was going to be the game that finally turns me off paradox but I'm pleasantly surprised at the game's completeness. Sure some of the DLC stuff is missing but whatever. I just hope they add the random map generator again.

 

[Just Some Other Guy]

Eh, might pirate and try. Idk, it always feels silly that every paradox release feels emptier compared to the last until they add a bunch of DLC. Like, just add in all the features from the last game as a start point.

Makes it hard to enjoy new releases from them.

 

[Jimjamflimflam]

How much deus vult is still in CK3?

 

[Extremist Frank]

CK3 sucks absolute ass. The 3d characters are kinda neat and innovative, but that's about it. The map is a combination of Imperator Rome's updated clausewitz engine combined with EU4, I dislike it compared to CK2's map. The paper map on a table is dumb. They've locked the console window behind the debug menu, and its typically still inaccessible even when debug mode is enable in my experience--this is a bug from Imperator Rome they didn't bother addressing and there is significant outrage over it on paradox plaza. They've stripped out many CK2 features such as societies, the college of cardinals, trade routes, and more. They'll probably be offering these as DLC in the feature which is scummy as fuck. The UI and familial parts of the game have been significantly dumbed down, both of which were renowned parts of CK2.

Also, as someone mentioned, they've only added two starting dates: viking era and 1066. You can't play as the plantagenets, you can't play during a specific Crusade or Jihad, etc. But hey, on the upside, you can start the game as a black female child ruler in africa (who is probably queer to round it off).

I expect they're facing financial pressure due to Imperator Rome being a complete flop and rushed CK3 out.

How much deus vult is still in CK3?

Zero, asides from Crusades being a thing. There is no mention of Deus Vult. In fact, Paradox has proactively banned the use of Deus Vult and Pepe the Frog on their official discords. I joined the CK3 discord to get some help and before I could even read their rules I was muted and kicked for having a Pepe in a Hazmat suit avatar. Nordcucks are real.

 

[Thefrogsaregay]

CK3 sucks absolute ass. The 3d characters are kinda neat and innovative, but that's about it. The map is a combination of Imperator Rome's updated clausewitz engine combined with EU4, I dislike it compared to CK2's map. The paper map on a table is dumb. They've locked the console window behind the debug menu, and its typically still inaccessible even when debug mode is enable in my experience--this is a bug from Imperator Rome they didn't bother addressing and there is significant outrage over it on paradox plaza. They've stripped out many CK2 features such as societies, the college of cardinals, trade routes, and more. They'll probably be offering these as DLC in the feature which is scummy as fuck. The UI and familial parts of the game have been significantly dumbed down, both of which were renowned parts of CK2.

Also, as someone mentioned, they've only added two starting dates: viking era and 1066. You can't play as the plantagenets, you can't play during a specific Crusade or Jihad, etc. But hey, on the upside, you can start the game as a black female child ruler in africa (who is probably queer to round it off).

I expect they're facing financial pressure due to Imperator Rome being a complete flop and rushed CK3 out.



Zero, asides from Crusades being a thing. There is no mention of Deus Vult. In fact, Paradox has proactively banned the use of Deus Vult and Pepe the Frog on their official discords. I joined the CK3 discord to get some help and before I could even read their rules I was muted and kicked for having a Pepe in a Hazmat suit avatar. Nordcucks are real.

Deus Vult is in the game

 

[iRON-mAn]

The UI and familial parts of the game have been significantly dumbed down, both of which were renowned parts of CK2.

The UI is a cluttered mess and for all the excessive tooltips, it's not particularly informative or easy to navigate. For instance, on your character page, when you hover over a child, it tells you that they're getting titles 1, 2 and 3 and then 'and 2 more'. But the only way to figure that out is to go to the domain screen and look under succession and hover over each individual title to find out. There's also no easy way to see who's feudal contract has been amended, which given the new mechanics you'd think would be one of the first things they'd want to show. I mean, you can go to the vassal page and see that you're getting 0.9 from one vassal and 1.2 from another, and you'd think that would mean that the lower number would mean lower tax contract, but county control and develop from different culture and religion screw it up, so it's a chore to figure out.

Speaking of culture and religion, prepare for things to go crazy fast. As soon as a heresy pops up, several random rulers will convert, and their counties will flip, fueling revolts. Having a bishop convert the province back will take several years. And you might think, imprison the vassal and put a good catholic of the right culture in place. Except no, they always end up flipping, even when my culture has higher technology progress than the backwards tribal one they're converting to. It doesn't make internal realm management more difficult, just frustrating.

The map is a combination of Imperator Rome's updated clausewitz engine combined with EU4, I dislike it compared to CK2's map. The paper map on a table is dumb

I don't mind the style of the map so much as hating when it flips automatically to direct vassal view or whatever map mode it thinks I want.

But hey, on the upside, you can start the game as a black female child ruler in africa (who is probably queer to round it off).

Aside from being heterosexual and homosexual, you can now also be bisexual and asexual. Although it's kinda pointless now, since they took away the fertility penalties for homosexual. All it does now, I think, is inform who you can and cannot seduce.

 

[the fall of man]

It took me a while to get into Stellaris but I now think of it as a pretty decent autistic space blobbing simulator. HOI4 is starting to get decent.

I’m afraid to touch CK3 because Imperator is still shit. Usually I only superficially play Paradox titles for the first couple years.