Gamers will be able to to explore more gameplay options

Apr 11, 2014 23:13 GMT  ·  By

The team at the Paradox Development Studio is in the final stretch of the development process for the Wealth of Nations expansion for Europa Universalis IV and the company is ready to offer more details on some of the core new mechanics that gamers will be able to experience.

In an official diary the studio explains that Trade Companies will play a major role in the game, as they did during the real world period of history on which the grand strategy title is based.

Paradox states, “when we add Trade Companies to Africa and Asia in Wealth of Nations we wanted to give them a very different feel. While colonization in the west is about sprawling empires with a lack of control, trade empires in the east is a bit more specialized affair.”

A Trade Company get receive provinces from a player, which means that it will deliver a much smaller tax income and will offer reduced manpower but at the same time will deliver a massive boost in Trade Power and add to the number of ships that gamers can field.

The team is still tweaking the numbers but the core idea is to have a way for trade focused nations and for far away home nations to obtain benefits from provinces that would otherwise have little value.

A Trade Company that dominates a region will also deliver an extra merchant for the player and the company is looking to create a new layer of conflict between the major powers of Europa Universalis IV that does not focus on armies but on traders.

Wealth of Nations will also introduce events and choices linked to Trade Companies that are designed to show how their power can be used against the state that created them by their own leaders.

The Paradox Development Studio is also announcing that three buildable canals, located in Suez, Kiel and Panama will be added to Europa Universalis IV.

The team explains, “Canals will allow ships to sail through them, can be blocked by fleets and will also grant a substantial province Trade Power bonus to the owner so that you can use the canal to redirect the flow of trade (and no, it doesn't alter the trade routes but on the other had you already have trade routes across the canal routes).”

The addition might be slightly ahistorical but the company believes it will improve the game experience.

Wealth of Nations for EU IV will be launched before the end of spring.