Europa Universalis II

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Europa Universalis II
Europa Universalis II game box
Developer(s) Paradox Interactive
Publisher(s) Strategy First
MacPlay
Engine Europa Universalis engine
Release date(s) NA November 12, 2001
Genre(s) Strategy
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: E (Everyone)
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X
Media 1 CD-ROM
System 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

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

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

In the game, the player controls a single nation across many centuries, managing their nation's 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 events based on historical events make for a great deal of gameplay challenge and variety.

EU2 differs from many similar, turn-based strategy games in that time flows continuously during gameplay, rather than taking place in discreet turns. The player can always 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. There is also a Grand Campaign that 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, Poland, Holy Roman Empire and Spain, the game is unique in that players can choose to play as one of more than a hundred minor, obscure or no longer extant nations, in locations as diverse as the Indian subcontinent or Southeast Asia.

[edit] 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, the game is easy to modify and customize, yielding a large and thriving mod community. Players have been able to create new flags, maps, units, historical events, leaders, and entire scenarios, too.

[edit] 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 Virtual Programming and published by MacPlay.

A version of the game, called Europa Universalis II: Asian Chapters, was released for Asian markets, adding new graphics and scenarios that centered around Asian history instead.


[edit] External links

Official Sites

Reference

Mod Sites

Editing Guides

Paradox Interactive games
EU line Europa Universalis | Europa Universalis II | Europa Universalis II: Asian Chapters | Europa Universalis III
HOI line Hearts of Iron | Hearts of Iron II | Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday
Victoria line Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun | Victoria: Revolutions
Other Crusader Kings | Crown of the North | Two Thrones
Third party titles Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (Europe) | Knights of Honor | Rush for Berlin | Heart of Empire - Rome | Take Command: 2nd Manassas | Perimeter: Emperor’s Testament | Silent Heroes | Sword of the Stars