EU vs EUII

[MrWhereItsAt]

I am looking to get at least one of these in the near future. My question is just exactly what is different about EUII to make it 'better'? My flatmate used to have it and vaguely specified it WAS the better, but how so?

Also, does anyone have the whole lot of them and can tell me which really are the best of these to look at first and why?

[Nikolai]

EU2:
*Much more stable.
*More provinces.
*New and better parts of the game, i.e. missionaries, domestic policy sliders etc.
*Events(major one)
*and lots more that I don't remember right now, being tired and all.

BTW, when I got EU1, I thought it was a very good game. It was, but when I got EU2, it was no way back. But some very few persons have it the other way around. Very few mind you.

[Grumbold]

Yep, never touched EU1 again after EU2 appeared.

[ravagon]

Never managed to get the original EU but I find it hard to imagine playing without the EU2 DP sliders.
Being able to pick and play any nation right out of the box is another BIG plus.

[Jonny]

Having played both, I can say that EU2 is definitely the better game, pretty much for the same reasons as Nikolai said. Not only is it much more stable, it offers a much more ''complete'' gaming experience than EU1.

Not that there's anything wrong with EU1. It's a great game too, but it's still vastly inferior to EU2.

[MrWhereItsAt]

So I take it this is like comparing CtP with CtP2, expect the EUs are WAY better?

And is there a good explanatory manual (I love those)?

[Nikolai]

The manuals are not very good, but the main problem for them are the fact that the patches are more of a DEM; Developer Enhancement Module, ie they change the game to a great extent sometimes and gives new possibilities. But actually the Paradox EU2 forum is all you need, with helpful people, FAQs, strategy threads etc.

[Micha]

To be more exact:

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=51

There you´ll find anything you need
The tutorial is... well, screw it. Just play some games until you get the hang of it. Reviews always say Paradox games are very complex and hard to understand, but as a gamer I can´t agree with that. Going from HoI to EU2 the latter appears to me as a simple solitaire game

[hexagonian]

But if you have never played any games from Paradox in the first place, the manual and tutorial are useful. The game mechanics are a lot different than a normal TBS game.

Actually, I found the manual/tutorial to be helpful in that they both helped me understand the very basic concepts of the game - specifically the interface, and what the designers were trying to impliment. It was worth the hour or two I devoted to them

Having said that, you need to go to the official forums to understand just how it all ties together.

And EU2 is an incredible game

[MrWhereItsAt]

A game where the official forum is actually useful? CRAZY! :LOL:

And I'm STILL searching for the dratted thing.

[hexagonian]

Check and see if you can find 'Crown of the North' I believe EU2 is bundled with it, (though don't quote me on that)

[Dale]

Oh, and when you buy it, BE SLOW in your expansion, methods. Don't be scared to let 5-10 years go by and not touch the mouse.

For your first game I'd suggest France: 1496 (Age of Exploration). I see France with two goals in the first half of the game (till about 1650).

1. Ally with Spain to beat up on England.
2. Ally Russia (or Turkey if you can get it) and beat up on Austria-Hungary.

In 1650 the tactic changes:

1. Ally Holland to beat up on Spain (and by getting Castille you get Spain's maps of the world too ).
2. Colonise wherever you can till the end of the game.

Endgame process (1750 on):

1. Ally with Sweden, Austria-Hungary & Turkey (if you can manage), and at a massive long shot China, and beat the crap out of Russia, culminating in Napolean in Moscow.

That should pretty much do it for you to win.

And remember, BE SLOW! I don't want to hear "it's 1510, I've conquered 20 provinces and 4 countries and now the whole world declared war on me! Help!"

[ravagon]

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt

And I'm STILL searching for the dratted thing.

In case you can't find it locally

http://www.gameswarehouse.com.au/longpage.asp?gameid=8433

or

http://www.gameswarehouse.com.au/longpage.asp?gameid=9806

They do accept payment in $NZ.

[Heresson]

I bought EU, but had cd player broken, and lent my cd to someone. I don't remember who, so I never played EU 1