The new feature offers some impressive possibilities

Mar 5, 2015 01:14 GMT  ·  By

When the El Dorado expansion for Europa Universalis IV was first announced, I was a little underwhelmed, mostly because I tend to play European powers most of the time and I did not envision too many moments when I wanted to lead the Inca to world domination.

Then the company offered more details about the Nation Designer that was included in the new content drop and I became suddenly more interested because the tool seemed like a great way of modifying the game map in interesting ways.

I am happy to report that for the first two hours of actually playing El Dorado, I did nothing but spend time looking at the technological level and the provinces included trying to decide which of them is more important to the budding nation of Dacia, which I aimed to turn into a power in Eastern Europe at first and then into a rival of the HRE and the Russians.

The Nation Designer makes it easy for gamers to choose whatever advantage they want for their country, but the 200 point limit means that it's impossible to create a juggernaut that's difficult for others to deal with.

Dacia lies between the Ottoman Empire, Poland and Hungary

I live in Romania and naturally my first instinct was to try and create a powerful entity where my country currently exists and lead it to a great future.

So I chose to place my capital just north of the Danube, in Muntenia, and chose a few provinces around to give me a solid power base and some good income early on to support my development and military.

I then selected the Western tech group, aiming to get an advantage over my powerful neighbors, and I also went full feudal with my government.

I finally decided to focus on military and administration ideas for my country, again in order to have the means to defend myself when the inevitable invasion comes, especially from the Ottomans.

The Nation Designer introduced in El Dorado for Europa Universalis IV kept me occupied for close to one hour, weighing every choice against the points it deducts from my stash, trying to find the perfect balance for my new nation.

Finally, Dacia was complete and I launched the game, ready to try and deal with my troublesome neighbors in order to become at least a medium European power.

Europa Universalis IV - El Dorado Diary Images (5 Images)

Europa Universalis IV - El Dorado Nation Designer
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