Victoria 3

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jztemple2
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by jztemple2 »

I feel my resolve not to buy at this time weakening as I need a game to play :? . Any impressions to share?
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by Holman »

jztemple2 wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:26 pm I feel my resolve not to buy at this time weakening as I need a game to play :? . Any impressions to share?
I'm only about halfway through the tutorial, but here are my impressions:

--It's the most beautiful Paradox game ever released, but despite the graphical bells and whistles it runs just as smoothly as CK3.

--There's a huge amount going on under the hood. The interface is chock-full of tool tips within tool tips, but it will take a while to digest everything.

--I've had no lock ups or any other technical issues. Be aware, though, that your first game launch will feel like it takes forever. Presumably it's unpacking the map data and etc., but it will eventually (as in like four or five minutes) work. Later game starts are much faster.

--As with all things Paradox, the balancing and values will change with dozens of patches. My initial sense, however, is that they've put a ton of thought into the economic engine first and foremost.

--It plays out much more at the level of EU than CK, but there are still major characters with various traits: rulers, party leaders, opposition party leaders, etc. And of course the whole game is built around a multitude of "Pops" defined by specific characteristics such as class, religion, culture, education, party allegiance, etc.

--We're all going to need to watch a lot of tutorial videos.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by LordMortis »

Holman wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:43 pm --I've had no lock ups or any other technical issues. Be aware, though, that your first game launch will feel like it takes forever. Presumably it's unpacking the map data and etc., but it will eventually (as in like four or five minutes) work. Later game starts are much faster.

Only ran it once and yeah it took forever and there was no feedback. I've had that with first run paradox games before though, so I wait it out... And I wait it out to as I don't want to miss that new game cinematic smell... There wasn't an opening cinematic though...

--We're all going to need to watch a lot of tutorial videos.
Yep. And I didn't have the desire or focus today.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by jztemple2 »

Well, those posts weren't exactly the most convincing :wink:, but I suspect I really didn't need much convincing. Still, I'll give credit to the OO Effect, if two other OOers have the game I just have to jump in and give it a try. Downloading now... :roll:
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Re: Victoria 3

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I do have it, I just haven't put any time into it yet.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Holman wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:43 pm --I've had no lock ups or any other technical issues. Be aware, though, that your first game launch will feel like it takes forever. Presumably it's unpacking the map data and etc., but it will eventually (as in like four or five minutes) work. Later game starts are much faster.
I started up the game and it took about a minute for the initialization, but then with my rig I'd expect it to be pretty fast.

Yup, the map is very nice. I'm glad to see that they utilized the CK3 tooltip system. And as in CK3, I switched the tooltip locking from a time delay to the mouse middle button.
Holman wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:43 pm --We're all going to need to watch a lot of tutorial videos.
Unfortunately, I hate watching tutorial videos. So I'm just pressing on ahead with the Learning The Game category, playing Sweden. I've played 41 minutes and completed the three journal entry requests and now the game wants me to "Explore and play the game!" :shock:.
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Back in the old days (1970s and 1980s) when I was big into wargaming with paper maps and cardboard pieces, the advice often given when tackling a new game with lots of depth (like Campaign for North Africa :wink:) was to "set up the counters and push the pieces around". In other words, don't worry too much about what you should be doing and why and instead just make some moves and see what happens. I learned a lot in CK3 that way and so I'll approach V3 the same.
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Re: Victoria 3

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So I'm still paused after completing the last journal task. I've clicked on the Politics button on the side to check out the political situation. Sweden is a monarchy, whose king does most of the ruling. He is supported by the landowners, who only have 9.6% of the clout. There are other interest groups whose clout is much larger, like the Industrialists and the Armed Forces. So I'll have to explore further to see why an interest group will less clout is running the government.
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And this is mildly amusing. Below is the composition of the Landowners Interest Group. Thousands of Aristocrats and Clergy and hundreds of officers and farmers. And thirty-six Peasants! Those must be Peasants with thought of upward mobility.
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Re: Victoria 3

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LordMortis wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 1:31 pm Shouldn't have but I bought a discounted release. After the 8 tooltip tutorial I'm going to have to wait for a good player tutorial. That or maybe I just need to let the game play itself and watch it to try and learn what what's up.

Edit: I suppose I could watch a whole movie as a tutorial

They also have learning scenarios that are VERY good. Try a new game and select Belgium in the Learning Scenarios list. I am finding it pretty easy to follow.
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Re: Victoria 3

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baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:32 am They also have learning scenarios that are VERY good. Try a new game and select Belgium in the Learning Scenarios list. I am finding it pretty easy to follow.
Are they different for different nations? I tried my own and all I got was 8 pages of "this is the UI and these are buttons you can click. You will eventually discover they do things if you play around with them. Have fun."
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Re: Victoria 3

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It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Victoria 3

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LordMortis wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:34 am
baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:32 am They also have learning scenarios that are VERY good. Try a new game and select Belgium in the Learning Scenarios list. I am finding it pretty easy to follow.
Are they different for different nations? I tried my own and all I got was 8 pages of "this is the UI and these are buttons you can click. You will eventually discover they do things if you play around with them. Have fun."
You didn't go far enough. Eventually the journal starts to give you some missions. They have a "Tell me How" and "Tell my Why" button system that is really very good.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by LordMortis »

Maybe I'll give it a try again today. I'm paying for early adoption so I should take advantage. :oops:
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Re: Victoria 3

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baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:59 am
LordMortis wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:34 am
baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:32 am They also have learning scenarios that are VERY good. Try a new game and select Belgium in the Learning Scenarios list. I am finding it pretty easy to follow.
Are they different for different nations? I tried my own and all I got was 8 pages of "this is the UI and these are buttons you can click. You will eventually discover they do things if you play around with them. Have fun."
You didn't go far enough. Eventually the journal starts to give you some missions. They have a "Tell me How" and "Tell my Why" button system that is really very good.
For Belgium?? Is it mostly around how to choose which neighbor to surrender to? Or can you craftily build an express highway for French and German armies so that they proceed directly to each other without bothering you too much.
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Re: Victoria 3

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You are thinking about Hearts of Iron era.

This is the age of Imperialism. Let's just say that Belgium's history during the Age of Imperialism is less "speed bump" and more "stacks of skulls and human rights violations." In fact, I am pretty sure you start the scenario as King Leopold II... who isn't the most benevolent figure in history.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Re: Victoria 3

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:mrgreen:
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Well, here's why I'm not getting a lot of stuff done in Sweden, my production queue is backed up for the next two years :roll:
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By the way, Leopold Stokowski :wink:

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Re: Victoria 3

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I've just put in another hour and a half playing the Sweden tutorial mission. I'm still confused, but now I'm more knowledgeable about being confused. Well, as they say here in Sweden, "Fastnat med skägget i brevlådan" :D
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Re: Victoria 3

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baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:53 pm You are thinking about Hearts of Iron era.

This is the age of Imperialism. Let's just say that Belgium's history during the Age of Imperialism is less "speed bump" and more "stacks of skulls and human rights violations." In fact, I am pretty sure you start the scenario as King Leopold II... who isn't the most benevolent figure in history.
I think you begin as Leopold I. Your heir, Prince Leopold, will go on to be the monster Leopold II.

It might be fun to engineer a revolution before that happens.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by El Guapo »

Holman wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 3:57 pm
baelthazar wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:53 pm You are thinking about Hearts of Iron era.

This is the age of Imperialism. Let's just say that Belgium's history during the Age of Imperialism is less "speed bump" and more "stacks of skulls and human rights violations." In fact, I am pretty sure you start the scenario as King Leopold II... who isn't the most benevolent figure in history.
I think you begin as Leopold I. Your heir, Prince Leopold, will go on to be the monster Leopold II.

It might be fun to engineer a revolution before that happens.
Good points.

Could you maybe pick better childhood raising options for Leopold II? Maybe more diversity training?
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Re: Victoria 3

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Well, I decided to max out the University in Flanders and push for full male suffrage early on. Maybe a kinder and gentler Belgium?

That said I also instituted a police force. So maybe not.
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Re: Victoria 3

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El Guapo wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 4:01 pm Could you maybe pick better childhood raising options for Leopold II? Maybe more diversity training?
I'd encourage playing with matches or perhaps running with scissors :D

This raises some interesting morality questions. Thoughts run to slavery, colonialism, oppression of minorities, etc.
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Re: Victoria 3

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jztemple2 wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:28 pm
Holman wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:43 pm --I've had no lock ups or any other technical issues. Be aware, though, that your first game launch will feel like it takes forever. Presumably it's unpacking the map data and etc., but it will eventually (as in like four or five minutes) work. Later game starts are much faster.
I started up the game and it took about a minute for the initialization, but then with my rig I'd expect it to be pretty fast.

Yup, the map is very nice. I'm glad to see that they utilized the CK3 tooltip system. And as in CK3, I switched the tooltip locking from a time delay to the mouse middle button.
Now, after the first start up, it consistently loads to the main menu in about 45 seconds. Maybe my computer had something else going on at the time.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
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Re: Victoria 3

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From PCGamesN, How to use the Victoria 3 construction system
The Victoria 3 construction and building system is at the core of Paradox’s latest grand strategy game. With its heavy focus on industrialisation and expansion, any Victoria 3 campaign is going to involve a lot of building. First though, you need to know the basics on how to use that system to get your soon-to-be thriving economy off on the right foot. Understanding how the Victoria 3 trade mechanics work is also imperative.

Unlike many other strategy games, in Victoria 3, it’s best to think of things in terms of throughput rather than paying X amount for Y structure. The most important budget figure is your weekly surplus or deficit, and any building you queue up will have a cost over time that impacts that number. Throughput determines how your production buildings run, and it’s also the way your construction capacity is worked out.
Not a bad article, especially for those of us adverse to watching tutorial videos.

There is also this, How Victoria 3 trade works and how to start a new trade route
The Victoria 3 trade mechanic is a crucial component of your national economy. No matter which nation you choose to play in the historic grand strategy game, you’ll need to do business with others in order to provide for your pops – the people who live in your country and make it work.

Starting out in 1836, you’ll find that many of your pops’ basic needs can be taken care of by building up your domestic industries for staple products. Depending on the conditions in your nation, you’ll have different options for agriculture and basic development right away. However, as time marches inevitably on, you’ll find that you need to supplement your market with products from abroad so that your pops can provide for themselves and pursue more affluent lifestyles. That’s where trade comes in.
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Re: Victoria 3

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If ever a game (and genre) screamed out for a physical manual, this is it.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by jztemple2 »

"Staple Goods are Staple Goods" (near top left). Oh, that explains everything!
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Thankfully the VickyWiki :wink: has more info:
Staple goods are everyday goods that pops need to live, such as food to eat, wood to heat their homes, and clothes to wear. Staple goods tend to be purchased in vast quantities by poor and middle class pops, with richer pops generally avoid them in favor of their luxury variants.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by Holman »

Jolor wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 6:39 pm If ever a game (and genre) screamed out for a physical manual, this is it.
Given how much Paradox games tend to alter with every patch and DLC, I'd say living PDF rules are better.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Yeah, I think I'm putting this game aside for awhile. I was playing Sweden, pausing to look at the wiki, re-watch some of the videos I posted, review the in-game help, yet my economy spiraled out of control, the peasants revolted and a civil war started. All that I can tolerate. But then Norway, with whom my ruler had a personal relationship, started attacking Revolutionary Sweden, the rebels. Nowhere on any of the screens could I find my relationship between myself and Norway as far as the war was concerned. I thought they were my ally. Nope, because when I started to defeat the rebels myself, Norway attacked me. Again, no indication of some change in diplomatic status. Eventually Norway conquered Revolutionary Sweden and then regular Sweden, me. Or maybe it didn't, because Sweden still existed. Except I as the player was booted. I still have no idea of the mechanism.

So I'm going to step back and mull this over for awhile and maybe start a new game off in the middle of nowhere with a tiny country and just tinker with it without the game journal telling me to do this or that.
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Re: Victoria 3

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"Awhile" turned out to be about fifteen minutes :roll: . I've started a new Sandbox game, selecting Zulu as my country. A very simple starting country, with only one state (Zululand), practically no technology and few buildings. I'll try to tinker with it and so I can see why events occur as I select actions without a zillion other things going on. First up, build a Construction Sector, as there isn't one in Zulu.

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Re: Victoria 3

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I thought there wouldn't be any Journal entries for Zulu, but I do have one. Of course I have to wait thirty years for it to conclude :roll:. But it's what I want, an objective that wants me to maintain the status quo for those thirty years :clap:

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Re: Victoria 3

Post by malchior »

My favorite popup in the game so far is the message 'Interest Group Leader Retires' - 'Paul Stavely, the leader of the Anglican Church, has retired from political life'.

This is usually paired with another message, 'A Politician has died' - 'Former Politician Paul Stavely has died.'
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Re: Victoria 3

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jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:52 pm "Awhile" turned out to be about fifteen minutes :roll: . I've started a new Sandbox game, selecting Zulu as my country. A very simple starting country, with only one state (Zululand), practically no technology and few buildings. I'll try to tinker with it and so I can see why events occur as I select actions without a zillion other things going on. First up, build a Construction Sector, as there isn't one in Zulu.
That doesn't sound like a bad idea. With only one location to control maybe the UI won't seem so overwhelming.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Posted today over on the V3 Steam news feed was a link to a Paradox forum entry, Victoria 3 Player Resources. Sixty-three (count 'em, sixty-three!) links to developer diaries covering a number of subjects, links to the videos I've already posted above, a video of an "economics chat" with one of the developers, and finally "10 Victoria 3 tips for beginners"

In the spoiler tags is a copy/paste from that page of the "10 Victoria 3 tips for beginners"
Spoiler:
1. If you have a decent surplus income you are not investing enough into your nation. The game is all about snowballing your economy, so you want to funnel every last bit of extra money into construction industries & related resource suppliers to maximize country development. Most larger nations will have plenty of pops, so Construction Points will remain the main bottleneck for development throughout the game. Academies are very expensive and provide rather low research gain, so they are not recommended until you have established your basic industry.
2. Idle hands are the devil's work. Pops that are not employed will not contribute to your economy, neither will they produce goods nor will they create demand, instead you will have to deal with welfare payments and/or unrest. On top of that, unemployed pops can prevent other pops from leaving buildings when their work conditions are bad, which can cause additional unrest & economic trouble. People in subsistence farms are not great either, but at least they tend to be able to support themselves enough to not cause a lot of problems. When you get the chance later you want to make sure to use up arable land to reduce the size of the subsistence economy.
3. It's perfectly fine to run High or Very High taxes if you tax the correct things. Avoid basic needs like grain, instead go for higher SOL needs like Clothing, Services and whatever luxury goods your country can easily produce. It will push down average SOL, which means lower demand & pop growth, but that is fine since you can't employ most of your pops early game anyway and your biggest issue is to provide enough input & consumer goods.
4. In terms of laws the most important early game change should be to enable the investment pool by passing Agrarianism, Interventionism or Laissez-Faire. Passing per-capita tax will also help a lot to increase your early income. Private Health Care can help to improve pop growth and is particularly important for smaller nations with a limited worker pool. Make sure you don't push any significantly large IGs below -10 approval with your law changes, since that will make them plot a revolution.
5. In terms of techs, the most important early game techs are: Urban Planning (to enable tier II construction, which equalizes input good needs), Atmospheric Engine + Water Tube Boiler (to boost your early game mine output, so you need to spend less construction points on enabling your mining industry & create less INFRA load), Romanticism (for low-tier nations to enable Agrarianism), Colonization (if you want to colonize), Railroads (to provide INFRA for your expanding industries) and Pharmaceuticals (to enable Private Healthcare). Electricity & its related techs are another excellent early-to-mid game choice that allows you to establish highly profitable industries and boost GDP.
6. Early game targets of opportunity in terms of colonization are: Oceania (lots of islands that can host ports, great way to boost trade capacity & get access to goods like coffee, sugar, and fruit), Indonesia (requires Quinine, large territory with high pop, good resources and rubber later down the line) and Hokkaido + Sakhalin (low pop count, but excellent mining capacity). East Africa is also an excellent entry point, allowing you to avoid competition with other colonizer's, since you can lock down the coast pretty quickly.
7. Military & Wars are very expensive, and since Construction Points are the main bottleneck during the early game, early warfare doesn't really help with country development all that much. Better used later down the line to secure additional pops & resource deposits. To cut down on military expenses you can pass the National Militia law and rely on conscripts for country defense. This allows you to get rid of all peace time upkeep costs, without seriously reducing the capability to defend your nation. Just make sure that you have a large enough Military Industry to support the conscripts (can be left idle in peacetime), and also keep in mind that you cannot demobilize conscripts during war time - so if you draft too many pops you can end up wasting a lot of money on wages & supplies.
8. Use your own industry & the trade system to reduce the cost of input goods needed for the Construction Industries. Doing so will reduce the effective cost for each construction point you generate. Ideally you'd want all input goods to be in high supply/low price. Large nations usually want to import limited critical input resources like Oil, Sulphur, Rubber, Coal, Iron, Lead, Dye, Silk and the like, small nations that focus on one specific production type (e.g. Clothing) can use exports to boost the profits of their main industry by exporting the luxury products.
9. Make sure you maintain INFRA & Market Access in your states. Lack of Market Access tends to severely damage the local economy, and it will also impact your national market because less goods from low-access states arrive. On top of that it will increase the costs for the local construction industry. This is why establishing railroads early on is very important. Make sure you have a port in every overseas holding to connect it to your National Market. Also remember that every building in a state requires INFRA, even when it is not used. If you build too many factories in a low pop state you can end up in a situation where you have so high INFRA demand that the existing pops can't produce enough INFRA in the railway, which leads to a death spiral. You can solve this issue by removing local buildings until you can meet INFRA demand again (downsize Railway accordingly if it was overbuilt as well).
10. Don't be afraid of unprofitable industries, and try to avoid subsidies at all costs. The only building that you usually want subsidized is the Railway, because its INFRA output is critical for economic health. All other buildings can be made profitable by lowering input good costs or raising output good costs (e.g. exports, higher SOL). Even if a building has low profitability, it can still be a net benefit for your country - the workers in the Fruit Orchard might be starving, but everyone else can now buy cheap fruit and get a higher SOL more easily. Railway subsidies can pile up during the mid game, a good way to avoid this is to establish lots of Mines & Plantations that use Transportation PMs. High SOL pops will also consume a lot of Transportation, so easing up a bit on taxes during the mid game to boost average SOL in the country can be better than running high / very high taxes forever.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by jztemple2 »

For those who wish to tinker a bit, Victoria 3 cheats and console commands
The Victoria 3 cheats and console commands will allow you to get to the good stuff in a hurry, if you don’t want to build up your Victorian nation brick by painstaking brick. Like all of Paradox’s grand strategy games, Victoria 3 has a built-in set of commands you can use to quickly get the map set up the way you want, without any messing around with the trade system or diplomatic plays.

To access Victoria 3 cheats and console commands, you’ll need to enable debug mode. This is done through Steam prior to launching the game. All you need to do is right-click on Victoria 3 in your Steam library, and click on Properties. In the first panel that pops up, the General tab, find the box labelled Launch Options. Add this command to that box:

-debug_mode

Launch Victoria 3, and you’ll find that the developer debug mode has been enabled. You can pull up a console menu at any time by pressing the ~ (tilde) key.
There are also at least two mods right now you can download and use from the Steam Workshop that will simplify using the console commands.
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Re: Victoria 3

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Thu Oct 27, 2022 6:43 am
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:52 pm "Awhile" turned out to be about fifteen minutes :roll: . I've started a new Sandbox game, selecting Zulu as my country. A very simple starting country, with only one state (Zululand), practically no technology and few buildings. I'll try to tinker with it and so I can see why events occur as I select actions without a zillion other things going on. First up, build a Construction Sector, as there isn't one in Zulu.
That doesn't sound like a bad idea. With only one location to control maybe the UI won't seem so overwhelming.
Yup, I've been proceeding along in Zululand. We're at practically the top of the tech tree, so decision making is easier, especially using the ten beginner's tips I posted above. Right now my need is for cheaper wood. So I built a construction center and used that to make a logging camp. While the camp being built it drained my gold reserves but I used the very large amount of Authority I have, since Zulu is an Absolute Principality, to enable consumption taxes on a variety of luxury goods. Once the logging camp was built my cash flow returned to positive and now I can build back up my reserves. And the price of wood went down.
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I'm enjoying playing V3 more right now since there are so many fewer spinning plates then there were in Sweden. I'll post some more pics and updates this afternoon. Maybe not as obsessively as I did for CK3 :wink:
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: Victoria 3

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So let's see how things are going in Zululand. Uh oh, there's trouble brewing!
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The event wants me to lower the percentage of radicals to under five. Not so easy, as you can see in center towards the top, most everyone has been radicalized.
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Well, not much I can do about that, since I haven't gone very far down the tech tree at all I can't pass any laws that might help. But let's look at the tech tree. And what am I researching? Rationalism. Why? Because, as stated in the ten tips, "4. In terms of laws the most important early game change should be to enable the investment pool by passing Agrarianism, Interventionism or Laissez-Faire. Agrarianism is discovered by Romanticism which on the tech tree follows Academia which follows, you guessed it, Rationalism. A smart idea, or should I be pursuing something else? We'll find out. Remember, if other nations are researching a tech and you are somehow connected to them (I don't remember the details :roll:) you'll get points for that tech as well. However, since probably most of my neighbors are further down the tech tree I don't know how that will work.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Let's look at the Zulu budget. I'm maintaining a positive cash flow, but most of it comes from poll taxes. That's a head tax, in other words, you've got a head, you owe the government money. Otherwise you lose your head :lol:. The greatest expense, which is off the bottom of the image, is for the maintenance of the fourteen battalions I have. I did have fifteen but I disbanded one, which got a lot of people upset. So we'll keep spending money there.
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Still on the Budget menu, but with the Assets tab selected. At the top is still my cash flow per week, which is £1.34K. Towards the middle of the Assets screen is my Reserve, which is just over two weeks of income right now. When I select a building to be constructed, it will take away part of those earnings. In fact, look towards the bottom of the menu and you'll see the words "Resume All" on a button. That means that I've put my construction on hold, so money isn't being spent there.
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Now let's press the "Resume All" button and see what happens... £-566 now shows as the cost of construction of the millet farm I have in the construction queue. And my weekly earning have dropped to £+829. So I'm continuing to add to my reserve, but not as quickly.
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Re: Victoria 3

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Now let's look at the Buildings menu. There's nothing under the Urban tab right now, so let's go to the Rural tab. As you can see, I've got one Millet Farm building, with two Livestock Ranches and two Logging Camps already built. I didn't build the Subsistence Farms, they are created by the Pops who have no job and want to eat. In the Potential Rural Buildings area at the bottom you can see there are a few different types that can be built.
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So next we look at the Zulu Market. These are all the Goods being traded here. Much easier to understand than the many, many more I had in the Swedish Market.
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And here's a look at which of those goods are the Staple Goods. As mentioned above, "Staple goods are everyday goods that pops need to live, such as food to eat, wood to heat their homes, and clothes to wear. Staple goods tend to be purchased in vast quantities by poor and middle class pops, with richer pops generally avoid them in favor of their luxury variants." In other words, these are the goods you need to concentrate on. As you can see, the third (Wood) and fourth (Furniture) goods are the one with the largest ratio of Sell Orders (I have some of this good to sell) versus Buy Orders (I want to buy that good). This causes the price of the good to be higher than it could be if there was sufficient supply. And if people have to pay a higher price they will be Struggling more. And they will be unhappy and might revolt.
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So what to do? The tutorial suggests importing the good if you can get it for a better price outside of the nation, but Zulu has neither Ports nor Railways, so a trade route can't be used. So the only practical solution is to build Logging Camps and Furniture Manufactories. However, I don't have to the tech to build the latter and it is a more minor good anyway in terms of actual numbers needed, so best to concentrate on Logging Camps.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: Victoria 3

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Wait, what's this? My budget is running negative! What happened? Look below and notice the line item under National Expenses that says Construction Goods. Before it was£-566, now it is £-3.08K. We are spending a lot more for Construction Goods than we did a few days ago.
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And here's why. Our efforts to build a Millet Farm need Wood and Fabric. In the first image we can see that the Wood price has skyrocketed from five to thirty-five. And that's because the demand (Buy Orders) is 94 but the supply (Sell Orders) is 45. In the second image is the same look at Fabric. The demand is higher but there is still enough supply.
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So the solution is to halt construction, build up more of a reserve, then resume construction. And then be ready to halt construction at times to build back up that reserve. But is there a better solution? Yes, but that involves having investments which I haven't unlocked yet.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: Victoria 3

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Oops, something new has come up. An event which needs my attention, although after sixty days it will resolve itself by automatically selecting one of the two options. So let's see the problem and the two solutions. The bottom image is the default solution if I do nothing.
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Now in 2022 slavery is a pretty cut and dried topic (it's bad), but this is 1838 in a nation where slavery is an institution. But there is enlightenment among some of the Interest Groups about slavery and deducing from the upper solution, a general feeling that attacking the hidden communities would radicalized some more of the populace. But what about that lower solution? Let's look at the Interest Groups (IG):
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The Landowners is by far the largest IG with a +4 opinion of the government. So deducting two points won't hurt much. And the Intelligentsia has a -8 opinion so a +2 there would definitely help. So that's the choice.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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