14 DAY TRIAL // The Rajas of India expansion for Crusader Kings II is now out, which means that grand strategy fans have plenty of new content and mechanics to explore, but the team at the Paradox Development Studios is already hard at work on the Wealth of Nations expansion for their Europa Universalis IV.
In an official forum post the company explains exactly how it plans to improve the overall trade mechanics of the title, which have been one of the selling points for the experience since it was first revealed.
The change that will probably have the biggest impact on the Europa Universalis IV experience is the way Merchant Republics are being improved in order to make them more important for land empires and help them survive longer.
Basically Paradox is allowing all merchants coming from the likes of Venice or Hansa to improve production in the areas where they are trading, which means that it’s less likely for their neighbors to take them out early.
The team explains, “When a merchant republic trades in a region this will add value to the goods that are produced in the region (technically we are increasing the amount of goods produced) in proportion to how big a share the Merchant Republic is taking of trade in a region.”
Gamers who control a Merchant Republic will also have a better partnership with their AI rivals before they become clear military rivals.
The new main trade port mechanics also means that gamers will be able to decide where they want to collect money and gives big nations a chance to choose their strategy without having to actually move their capital.
The team working on Europa Universalis IV is also tweaking the way inland trading works, with the current design calling for merchants and for stability to become more important for nations who are aiming to get wealthy fast.
The developers are also mentioning one of the changes that will be offered for free, adding, “After you download the 1.6 patch you can now just change the trader from collecting to steering and he will just change what he is doing, no travel time involved. Thats just one example of all the little improvements and additions we are adding for free with the patch accompanying the expansion.”
Europa Universalis IV – Wealth of Nations will be launched before the end of spring on the PC via digital distribution services.