Europa Universalis

[Skinner]

I just got around to picking up this game.

I'm running XP and experiencing sound stuttering and graphic jerkiness. Hesitates as well when you click on a province. All this 45 seconds into the tutorial. Anyone have the same problems with XP? Granted, I don't think XP was around when the game was intially released. I tried the windows 2000 compatibility mode but it doesn't seem to have helped. Have patched it to version 1.10 as well.

[Sharpe]

If you haven't, check out the Paradox site for patches. My recollection was that it was fairly buggy on initial release. Not sure if the version you have is patched or not.

If that fails, try searching the Paradox site for forums. My recollection is that the forum dwellers were pretty knowledgeable.

Dan

[RightWrong]

Yes, the version he patched to 1.10 may or may not be patched.

With the first Europa, I haven't had XP troubles, per se. On any version of windows, I believe there are sound problems ( endlessly repeating sounds, etc... ), but I haven't encountered jerkiness.

The Europa games are pretty buggy. They randomly crash, and for me, it's even worse in Europa Universalis 2.

[Mike Hussey]

I found the opposite, the original EU was fairly buggy for me, EUII with the latest patches doesn't appear to cause any problems.

[awdougherty]

I've only seen this game on the shelf in passing. Is it worth getting?

[Troy S Goodfellow]

I've only seen this game on the shelf in passing. Is it worth getting?

If you are going to get it, buy EU2. Much better and much more stable. The first one is good for easing you into the more complex second one.

Troy

[awdougherty]

I've heard talk of its learning curve, steep? Maybe I'll check out the sequel.

[Skinner]

I've only seen this game on the shelf in passing. Is it worth getting?

I thought so. I picked up EU I for $6.99 and EU II for $9.99.

But if it keeps running like shit it won't be worth it. I tried Hearts of Iron when it originally came out. Same company made it. More bugs than a Louisiana bayou.

[awdougherty]

This is probably a dumb question, but what is the game like? Is it actually fun? What does it do well to attract attention?

[Skinner]

I've only seen this game on the shelf in passing. Is it worth getting?

If you are going to get it, buy EU2. Much better and much more stable. The first one is good for easing you into the more complex second one.

Troy

I felt that I should play I before II. I guess I could skip it if it doesn't work well. Doesn't make sense though that a game that has been out for two years with such a big following doesn't run adequately from the get go. I mean, graphics and sound problems with nvidia and soundblaster cards?

The EU game I I bought was ver 1.07c and I went to the paradox website and downloaded and installed the ver 1.10 patch. Can't find much for sound and video problems in their forum, plus the search engine is broken.

[Troy S Goodfellow]

Hearts of Iron was a travesty best not spoken of.

The learning curve for EU2 is not as steep as it looks. It is a very intimidating game, but it uses rollover tips pretty efficiently. The best advice I got was to assume that whatever you did would have fairly predictable consequences. Long wars will upset your population, too many different cultures and religions will make your country inefficient, you can't always get everything you want in a peace deal.

The EU2 tutorials were a big leap over over the ones in EU, but your best bet is to go to the game's official forum and read the FAQ. The people there are zealots for the game, but very helpful.

Troy

[Nick Hyle]

Hearts of Iron was a travesty best not spoken of.



The game's fans over on Consimworld (a less fanboi-ish bunch than the official forumites) seem to think that with the current patches it's a decent game, if not what it could have been with better initial design.

[Troy S Goodfellow]

Hearts of Iron was a travesty best not spoken of.



The game's fans over on Consimworld (a less fanboi-ish bunch than the official forumites) seem to think that with the current patches it's a decent game, if not what it could have been with better initial design.


I hear the same thing from my friends who stuck it out.

It took five patches to fix some pretty rudimentary gameplay stuff, though. And the resource market still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It is apparently impossible to conqer Russia with one Japanese infantry guy now, thankfully.

Troy

[Rod Humble]

This is probably a dumb question, but what is the game like? Is it actually fun? What does it do well to attract attention?

Kind of like Risk crossed with Civilization.

I loved EU and EU2 although only when played with alternate nations. Just right click on the flags at the start to pick any nation in the game to play. Smaller nations keep the bookeeping down to a minimum.

If you find the idea of playing Sumatra or the Aztecs during the renaissance appealling then EU2 is for you. I do and absolutley LOVE playing my little tin pot country while the rest of the world advances around me. My petty vendetta's with my neighbours and the occasional need to lie low for a while when a powerful empire washes over me provide a constant delight.

Great game but very much an aquired taste.

[Lum]

Probably the best way to get a feel for what EU2 is like is by reading After Action Reports - basically "how I led Lichtenstein to global domination!" play-by-play. Here's a couple of good ones:

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=38013
http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=34402