Character improvements revealed in the upcoming expansion Vae Victis

October 15, 2008

Character improvements revealed
in the upcoming expansion for Europa Universalis: Rome – Vae Victis

Paradox Interactive are excited to
announce the upcoming expansion for their Grand Strategy title Europa
Universalis: Rome in Vae Victis, scheduled for release via digital download on
GamersGate during the latter half of Q4 2008.

Vae Victis depicts the golden age of
the Roman Republic where everything gets decided via the Senate Not only does
the Senate assign the player more or less difficult tasks, it can also block
diplomatic actions outright depending on the current power of the five political
parties.

Monarchies will get a council
consisting of nine characters. The Council does not have the power of the
Senate, but the councillors can cause trouble if the line of succession is not
to their taste.

Character improvement features in
Vae Victis:

  • A new character overview screen
    containing anumber of filters for browsing your characters including employed,
    unemployed and imprisoned characters.

  • Characters have ambitions (think
    character missions.) Fulfilling them will yield different types of bonuses,
    and some ambitions will even influence character loyalty, political
    affiliation and behaviour.

  • Governors are now in charge of
    whole regions rather than individual provinces. This both reduces
    micromanagement and makes the existing governors a lot more powerful and
    interesting.

  • Characters now have a Prominence
    value that increases by holding prestigious offices, winning battles, etc. The
    most prominent characters will tend to marry and have children, which allows
    players to follow the fates of their favourite families throughout the game.

  • Players can imprison, banish, or
    even execute characters. However, being too heavy-handed in getting rid of the
    opposition will increase the state Tyranny which has various detrimental
    effects.

Vae Victis will get a vastly
improved interface and introduce a lot of handy shortcuts. For example, the
Province view will be bigger, more informative and more interactive, allowing
you to quickly peruse the diplomatic status of – and easily set up trade routes
with – other countries. There is also the much-needed new character overview
screen mentioned above, and a greatly expanded and interactive dynastic view.

Read the developer diary for Vae
Victis at
www.paradoxplaza.com/Rome