Victoria 2
Encyclopedia
Victoria II is a grand strategy wargame
by Paradox Interactive
, sequel to 2003's Victoria
. It was announced on 19 August 2009 and was released on 13 August 2010.
Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game on September 17, 2010.
Like its predecessor, Victoria II allows for the player to take control of and manage a 19th century nation-state including its political, diplomatic, economic, military, and technological aspects.
with over 50 types of goods and factories. While warfare is a component of the game it is not the primary focus as in other Paradox Interactive games such as the Hearts of Iron
series.
Nations' populations are divided into cultures, religions, and occupations
. There are several different population groups or "pops" including aristocrats, officers, clergy, capitalists, clerks, craftsmen, soldiers, laborers, and farmers. Victoria II introduces two new groups, artisan
s and bureaucrats. As in other Paradox titles, like Europa Universalis
, historical missions that are micro-objectives in the larger game have been added. There are thousands of historical events and decisions as well. These events and nationalist forces can lead to the creation or disintegration of nation states.
Victoria II contains a number of changes and improvements from its predecessor. The interface was streamlined when compared to the original game, which was described by producer Johan Andersson
as, "the interface God forgot". Automation of various tasks has been added, including trade and population promotion. The education system has been overhauled by having clergy educate people of the same religion, and each population group now has their own literacy levels. Education and literacy's importance is reflected in the vast technology system that contains thousands of inventions. Additionally, the functioning of ideology in the game was tweaked such that population groups are more sensitive to changes in their country's situation, as well as inclined to agitate for specific levels of political and social reforms.
, are demanded principally by your population. Other materials, like iron
, are consumed by industry, but are still tradeable.
The production and unemployment system from the original Victoria has been revised to better reflect market forces. Whereas, in the original the state provided the funds for resources and the player possessed a wide range of options with which to build their economy, provided they have access to the proper raw materials. All resources can be collected or produced by industry. The game also has a cottage production system simulating pre-industrial economies.
The diplomacy in Victoria II is similar to that of other Paradox titles. Each country has a relation value of –200 to +200 which represents how much they like each other. Diplomatic and in game actions shift this relationship around and it factors into the AI's decisions. However, Paradox Interactive has expanded parts of this system. War goals from Heir to the Throne, an expansion for Europa Universalis III
have been integrated though they function in a slightly different way. You can add more war goals as the war progresses, although this does affect your population's temperament. Failure to achieve a war goal will increase population's militancy, which can lead to revolts.
In the game controlling a Great Power
gives special diplomatic options not available to other countries. Great Powers do not just influence how a country sees them; they have the added ability to use their influence on other countries to change their perception of other Great Powers. The struggle for influence that the Great Powers wage around the world is not a simple bilateral basis but occurs with each other inside different countries, giving an added dimension to diplomacy which was not present in the original Victoria.
and Hearts of Iron 3. A key component to combat is "frontage": the number of units in an army at the front line
, which decreases as technology improves to simulate the change from roving armies to the continuous trench lines of World War I
.
Several aspects of the military have been changed from Victoria. The base unit has been reduced from a 10,000-unit division to a 3,000-unit brigade
, which is no longer raised from a national manpower pool but directly raised from a provincial soldier POP, to which the brigade remains connected. A new aspect to the military is reconnaissance
. This is a value that gives a bonus (or penalty, if low) to capturing provinces and defeating enemy armies; in prolonged combat, however, the reconnaissance value drops. Units such as cavalry and aeroplanes have high reconnaissance values and are intended to be used as scouts.
were confident it would be profitable. To this end Wester promised that if the game did indeed make a profit he would shave his head and post the pictures onto the forum. This belief stemmed from the first game's
lackluster sales numbers. It was revealed in a German interview with Frederik that 70,000 copies would need to be sold in order for Victoria II to be profitable. On 17 June, Jessica Chobot
from IGN
shaved it off for him.
as an expansion pack with an aim on "[improving the] political and economical aspects of the game, with focus on the American Civil War era". It will be released January 24, 2012. It includes:
.
Gamespot said that there was much less micromanagement than in its predecessor. The reviewer stated: "Thanks to a friendlier interface and tutorials, Victoria II is a lot more playable and enjoyable than its predecessor."
GameShark was less enthusiastic. The reviewer said: "As a strategy game, Victoria II frustrates me. It is an orgy of detail for detail's sake, yet the information I really want never seems to be at hand. The decisions I make seem mostly inconsequential, changing the game only by a slow process of accretion. Modeling has overtaken game design. Watching Victoria II is hypnotic and frequently awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, you only occasionally might want to play it."
The community has found the game to have some design problems pertaining to cpu core usage. Users with multi-core cpu's often experience unplayable lag by late game.
Grand strategy wargame
A grand strategy wargame is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire nation state or empire's resources.-Scope of games:...
by Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive
-External links:*...
, sequel to 2003's Victoria
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun is a real-time strategy game by Paradox Entertainment . It covers its namesake the Victorian period, specifically 1836-1920 and runs on a modified version of the Europa Universalis engine. The lead game programmer was Johan Andersson...
. It was announced on 19 August 2009 and was released on 13 August 2010.
Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game on September 17, 2010.
Like its predecessor, Victoria II allows for the player to take control of and manage a 19th century nation-state including its political, diplomatic, economic, military, and technological aspects.
Gameplay
Victoria II spans the globe from 1836 to the start of 1936 with over 200 playable nations. Like its predecessor, Victoria II focuses on internal management, covering the industrialization and social/political changes in a country with dozens of different government types. The game gives a lot of importance to the economy of a country by having a complex market systemMarket system
A market system is any systematic process enabling many market players to bid and ask: helping bidders and sellers interact and make deals. It is not just the price mechanism but the entire system of regulation, qualification, credentials, reputations and clearing that surrounds that mechanism and...
with over 50 types of goods and factories. While warfare is a component of the game it is not the primary focus as in other Paradox Interactive games such as the Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron is a grand strategy computer game developed by Paradox Interactive and published by Strategy First, set in the years 1936-1948. In the game you can control any one nation as World War II unfolds. It was released for Windows-compatible PCs in 2002. A Macintosh version was also...
series.
Nations' populations are divided into cultures, religions, and occupations
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
. There are several different population groups or "pops" including aristocrats, officers, clergy, capitalists, clerks, craftsmen, soldiers, laborers, and farmers. Victoria II introduces two new groups, artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s and bureaucrats. As in other Paradox titles, like Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis is a grand strategy video game released on March 14, 2000 by Paradox Interactive and distributed in North America by Strategy First...
, historical missions that are micro-objectives in the larger game have been added. There are thousands of historical events and decisions as well. These events and nationalist forces can lead to the creation or disintegration of nation states.
Victoria II contains a number of changes and improvements from its predecessor. The interface was streamlined when compared to the original game, which was described by producer Johan Andersson
Johan Andersson (game programmer)
Johan Andersson is the lead game programmer for Paradox Interactive, the Swedish-based game company which created Europa Universalis series, Victoria series, Crusader Kings, and the Hearts of Iron series...
as, "the interface God forgot". Automation of various tasks has been added, including trade and population promotion. The education system has been overhauled by having clergy educate people of the same religion, and each population group now has their own literacy levels. Education and literacy's importance is reflected in the vast technology system that contains thousands of inventions. Additionally, the functioning of ideology in the game was tweaked such that population groups are more sensitive to changes in their country's situation, as well as inclined to agitate for specific levels of political and social reforms.
Economy
The economic system in Victoria II attempts to simulate the flow of resources in a world market. Every province in the game produces a resource in resource gathering operations or RGO's. Some resources, such as wheatWheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, are demanded principally by your population. Other materials, like iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, are consumed by industry, but are still tradeable.
The production and unemployment system from the original Victoria has been revised to better reflect market forces. Whereas, in the original the state provided the funds for resources and the player possessed a wide range of options with which to build their economy, provided they have access to the proper raw materials. All resources can be collected or produced by industry. The game also has a cottage production system simulating pre-industrial economies.
Diplomacy
Victoria II contains a deep political simulation reflected in the dozens of different types of governments, a new sphere of influence system, gunboat diplomacy and a new election system with coalition governments and senate.The diplomacy in Victoria II is similar to that of other Paradox titles. Each country has a relation value of –200 to +200 which represents how much they like each other. Diplomatic and in game actions shift this relationship around and it factors into the AI's decisions. However, Paradox Interactive has expanded parts of this system. War goals from Heir to the Throne, an expansion for Europa Universalis III
Europa Universalis III
Europa Universalis III is a grand strategy computer game by Paradox Interactive. The main game was released for Windows on January 2007, and was later ported to Mac OS X by Virtual Programming on 2 November 2007....
have been integrated though they function in a slightly different way. You can add more war goals as the war progresses, although this does affect your population's temperament. Failure to achieve a war goal will increase population's militancy, which can lead to revolts.
In the game controlling a Great Power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
gives special diplomatic options not available to other countries. Great Powers do not just influence how a country sees them; they have the added ability to use their influence on other countries to change their perception of other Great Powers. The struggle for influence that the Great Powers wage around the world is not a simple bilateral basis but occurs with each other inside different countries, giving an added dimension to diplomacy which was not present in the original Victoria.
Warfare
Warfare is regarded as a lesser priority than politics and economics in Victoria II, though it follows the basic pattern used in other Paradox grand strategy games, with armies moving between provinces and engaging enemy armies and capturing enemy territory. The basic combat system is a combination of the systems used in Europa Universalis 3, Europa Universalis: RomeEuropa Universalis: Rome
Europa Universalis: Rome is a grand strategy game developed by Johan Andersson of Paradox Interactive. The game is set during the time of the Roman Republic, beginning in 280 BC, before the Punic Wars, and ending with the rise of the Roman Empire in 27 BC...
and Hearts of Iron 3. A key component to combat is "frontage": the number of units in an army at the front line
Front line
A front line is the farthest-most forward position of an armed force's personnel and equipment - generally in respect of maritime or land forces. Forward Line of Own Troops , or Forward Edge of Battle Area are technical terms used by all branches of the armed services...
, which decreases as technology improves to simulate the change from roving armies to the continuous trench lines of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Several aspects of the military have been changed from Victoria. The base unit has been reduced from a 10,000-unit division to a 3,000-unit brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
, which is no longer raised from a national manpower pool but directly raised from a provincial soldier POP, to which the brigade remains connected. A new aspect to the military is reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
. This is a value that gives a bonus (or penalty, if low) to capturing provinces and defeating enemy armies; in prolonged combat, however, the reconnaissance value drops. Units such as cavalry and aeroplanes have high reconnaissance values and are intended to be used as scouts.
Development
The decision to create Victoria II was influenced by voting on the Paradox Interactive forums and debate within the company. The CEO of Paradox Interactive, Fredrik Wester, publicly announced his belief that the game would never see a profit while other members of the company such as Johan AnderssonJohan Andersson (game programmer)
Johan Andersson is the lead game programmer for Paradox Interactive, the Swedish-based game company which created Europa Universalis series, Victoria series, Crusader Kings, and the Hearts of Iron series...
were confident it would be profitable. To this end Wester promised that if the game did indeed make a profit he would shave his head and post the pictures onto the forum. This belief stemmed from the first game's
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun is a real-time strategy game by Paradox Entertainment . It covers its namesake the Victorian period, specifically 1836-1920 and runs on a modified version of the Europa Universalis engine. The lead game programmer was Johan Andersson...
lackluster sales numbers. It was revealed in a German interview with Frederik that 70,000 copies would need to be sold in order for Victoria II to be profitable. On 17 June, Jessica Chobot
Jessica Chobot
Jessica Chobot is an American on-camera host and staff writer for IGN. She is best known for hosting the IGN shows IGN Strategize and Weekly Wood, which also runs on Xbox Live and used to present the IGN Daily Fix.-Biography:...
from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
shaved it off for him.
Expansion Pack
A House Divided (AHD) was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011, commonly known as E3 2011, was the 15th Electronic Entertainment Expo held. E3 is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association . The event took place June 7–9, 2011 at the Los Angeles...
as an expansion pack with an aim on "[improving the] political and economical aspects of the game, with focus on the American Civil War era". It will be released January 24, 2012. It includes:
- New starting point in 1861, allowing players to experience the US Civil War from the start.
- Manufacture reasons to go to war with other countries, all in the name of the great game of power.
- Civilize your country with various new reform paths to ultimately become equal to the western nations.
- Invest in building infrastructure and factories in other countries to strengthen their ties to you.
- Deeper political system with new national focus options and new types of reforms.
- A new system of popular movements that can be appeased or suppressed, but if ignored, will become the revolutionaries of tomorrow.
- Improved interface, with more information easily available and improving gameplay.
Reception
Victoria II received generally favourable reviews, achieving a 78% average on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Gamespot said that there was much less micromanagement than in its predecessor. The reviewer stated: "Thanks to a friendlier interface and tutorials, Victoria II is a lot more playable and enjoyable than its predecessor."
GameShark was less enthusiastic. The reviewer said: "As a strategy game, Victoria II frustrates me. It is an orgy of detail for detail's sake, yet the information I really want never seems to be at hand. The decisions I make seem mostly inconsequential, changing the game only by a slow process of accretion. Modeling has overtaken game design. Watching Victoria II is hypnotic and frequently awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, you only occasionally might want to play it."
The community has found the game to have some design problems pertaining to cpu core usage. Users with multi-core cpu's often experience unplayable lag by late game.