Europa Universalis II

Infobox VG
title = Europa Universalis II


developer = Paradox Interactive
publisher = Strategy First
MacPlay
engine = Europa Universalis engine
released = ^NA November 12, 2001
genre = Real-time strategy, Grand strategy
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: E (Everyone)
platforms = Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X
media = 1 CD-ROM
requirements = Windows:
266 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 2 MB video card RAM, DirectX 8.0, Windows 95
Mac OS:
333 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM
preceded by = Europa Universalis
followed by = Europa Universalis III

"Europa Universalis II" is an empire-building, computer strategy game based on European and world history spanning a timeline between 1419 through 1820.

Gameplay

In the game, the player controls a single nation across many centuries, managing its economy, military, political alliances, scientific development, exploration and colonization, religious affairs, and internal stability. In addition, yearly random events, as well as hundreds of pre-scripted ones based on the historical record, make for a great deal of gameplay challenge and variety.

Europa Universalis II differs from many similar turn-based strategy games in that time flows continuously during gameplay, rather than taking place in discrete turns. The player is able to pause the action to ponder the situation and give orders, then speed up or slow down time to let events take their course.

The game ships with several historical scenarios, including games that take place during the Age of Exploration, the American Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. The Grand Campaign lets players choose one world power and guide it from the end of the Middle Ages and into the 19th Century. There is also a Fantasy Scenario in which starting positions are more or less equal.

While the Grand Campaign is geared primarily towards the major European powers of the time, such as Russia, England, France, Turkey, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Lithuania the game is unique in that players can choose to play as one of more than a hundred obscure, no longer existing nations, from the Indian subcontinent to the Balkans.

Game Modding

The game goes into a great deal of granular detail, including urban populations for each of the hundreds of provinces, thousands of historical monarchs, generals, and explorers, as well as names for colonies, armies, and fleets.

In addition, with almost all of the game data stored in easy-to-edit text files, Europa Universalis II is easy to modify and customize, which has yielded a large and thriving mod community. Players have been able to create new flags, maps, units, historical events, leaders, and even entire scenarios.

Its also possible to play a campaign (begining with Crusader Kings) that then translates into Europa Universalis II, followed by Victoria and finished with Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday, allowing for campaigns to range from 1066 - 1954. This is by using the in-built features of these games allowing for a saved campaign to be 'converted' to the chronologically-next paradox title.

Publishing History

The game was developed by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Europa Universalis, and was first released for the PC in 2001 by Strategy First, with a Macintosh port created by [http://www.vpltd.com Virtual Programming] and published by MacPlay.

Asia Chapters

A version of the game, called "Europa Universalis II: Asia Chapters", was released for Asian markets, adding new graphics and scenarios that center around Asian history instead. It featured an updated map with greater detail and added provinces in Japan, Korea, and China.

External links

"Official Sites"
* [http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64 EU2 Gameplay FAQs]
* [http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/ Official EU2 forums]
* [http://www.paradoxplaza.com/ Paradox Interactive]

"Reference"
*moby game|id=/europa-universalis-ii|name= Europa Universalis II
*Dmoz|Games/Video_Games/Strategy/Real-Time/Europa_Universalis_Series/Europa_Universalis_II|Europa Universalis II
* [http://www.paradoxian.org/eu2wiki/index.php/Main_Page Europa Universalis II Wiki]
* [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/529304.asp?q=Europa%20Universalis%202 Game Rankings.com] (avg. 85%, 63 reviews)

"Mod Sites"
(Scenarios, events, map other graphic modifications, game mods)
* [http://www.agceep.net/introduction.htm AGCEEP mod] - Alternative Grand Campaign / Event Exchange Project Mod
* [http://www.vojska.net/eng/games/europa-universalis-2/ Crazy Ivan's Europa Universalis 2 website] - MyMAP New Provinces Mod
* [http://medlem.spray.se/kaigon/ Kaigon's Flagsite for Europa Universalis 2] Over 650 flags, shields for the countries all over the world.
* [http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=63 Mod Directory] Paradox Forums

"Editing Guides"
* [http://www.lhjworld.sa-net.dk/ Builder's Paradise]
* [http://home.broadpark.no/~havmoe/EU/ Havard's EU2 Editing Pages]