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These events can be either helpful or harmful. Gameplay is influenced by random events that arise every so often for the player. Military technology unlocks advancements such as new types of land units, improved unit morale, combat tactics, and new buildings.Diplomatic technology unlocks advancements such as naval units, improvements in trade, new buildings, and improved colonial expansion.
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Administrative technology unlocks advancements such as increased productivity, new forms of government, new buildings, and the national idea system.They provide benefits to the nation as detailed below: Technological advancements are invested in over time, and require the expense of monarch points. An embracement gives an institution-specific nation bonus, as well as purging any technological maluses that the lack of institution may have incurred. Once reaching requirements, usually consisting of a ducat cost and a certain amount of institutions present in the player's provinces, the player can embrace the institution. The institution coincides with increasing the price of technology, as the lack of an embraced institution increases the cost of corresponding technological levels. The rate of institution spread and where the institution spawns are malleable to player actions. Institutions normally begin around a certain year, and begin spreading through provinces. Native American and Aboriginal religions are also present in the game, most commonly utilizing a system of selecting a bonus for the lifetime of the present monarch.įurthermore, many of the world's institutions, from feudalism to industrialization, are also present in the game. For example, the Catholic faith makes use of the Papacy, which can allow a nation to have control over the Pope or to use its influence for other rewards. Players can employ missionaries to convert their provinces or can engage in policies of universal religious freedom. Many major religions, such as Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Sunni, and Shia, are present in the game and can provide distinct bonuses to their practitioners. Trade is also an important part of the game, where the world is divided into many trade nodes, and trade flows through each of the nodes and can be collected by merchants. Combat can be waged on both land and sea, during which the game attempts to simulate real-world factors such as morale, discipline, varying unit types with associated strengths and weaknesses, competency of leaders, terrain, and supply lines. Espionage can also be employed against enemy states to claim their territory or incite rebellion in their provinces, along with other dubious ends. Diplomacy is a large aspect of the game, as creating alliances (or vassal states and tributaries), improving opinions, and preventing defensive coalitions are vital to a player's survival. The game is a sandbox environment while there is no strict rule on winning the game, the game of the player is over when the player's nation is removed, or annexed, from the map or the date reaches the year 1821. These nations range alphabetically from Aachen to Zuni. Players can choose to conquer the world by military might, become a colonial superpower, establish trade dominance, etc. The player does so through their choices as sovereign of their nation, and the spending of resources available to them: prestige, power projection, stability, gold (ducats), manpower, legitimacy for monarchies, republican tradition for republics, devotion for theocracies, horde unity for steppe nomads, meritocracy for celestial empires, and monarch power (administrative, diplomatic, and military). The gameplay requires the player to lead a nation by finding a balance of military, diplomacy, and economy. Each of these provinces contribute to their country either positively or negatively, as provinces can both provide resources to a nation and serve as a point of unrest and rebellion. The game itself is an interactive map of Earth divided into the provinces that compose nations. The game has been formed to begin historically, with events occurring when they did in history. It is a strategy game where players can control a nation from the Late Middle Ages through the early modern period (1444–1821), conducting trade, administration, diplomacy, colonization, and warfare. Europa Universalis IV is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the Europa Universalis series, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Europa Universalis III (2007).
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