Paradox Interactive

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Paradox Interactive

Type	Public
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Stockholm, Sweden
Industry	Interactive entertainment
Website	www.paradoxplaza.com

Paradox Interactive (formerly^{[citation needed]} a division of Paradox Entertainment) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm that is known for producing historical strategy computer games. It is also a video game publisher, publishing its own games as well as others through retail channels as well as with their proprietary digital distribution service, GamersGate. The lead game programmer is Johan Andersson.

1 Game characteristics
2 Forums
3 GamersGate
4 Games
- 4.1 Upcoming Games
  - 4.1.1 2008
  - 4.1.2 2009
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Game characteristics

Each game is marked by the use of standard real-time elements but with an ability to make any and all changes while paused, which provides realism while remaining true to the traditional format of strategy games. The games also demonstrate a commitment to historical accuracy which results in a highly detailed playing experience.

Each game also has a loosely based set of "Victory Conditions" which defines the game winner as accumulating the most "points" by the closing date of the game. These points are abstracted from meeting certain goals during gameplay. Due to the wide-open nature of the game engine, however, it is easy to ignore these victory conditions. The games are notable not in the sense of winning by a predefined set of conditions (like a traditional board game) but in being an open game engine (sandbox-style game) in which the player can define their own victory, or even play without victory in mind. A single game from start to finish represents hundreds of hours of gameplay. For example, it may take a week or more to complete the "Grand Campaign" in Europa Universalis II, to get from 1419-1820. The games all feature shorter scenarios for more focused and shorter game play.

Their games are characteristically complex, with steep learning curves and highly detailed gameplay models. Though they superficially resemble a "conquer the world" game much like Risk, in reality the game models so many aspects of running a nation that conquering the world is, while not impossible, tedious at best. The focus of each game is different, but generally a player must manage the economy, commerce, internal politics, diplomacy, technological development, and military forces of a nation. The careful balance between long-term planning and the ability to react to emergent conditions is what makes these games so complex, but is also part of their appeal.

On the support side, Paradox continues to release patches to their games years after a game's initial release. While they often only fix small problems or tweak the game initially, some games have required patches shortly after release to make them playable.^[1] Later patches may contain large changes to the game and the way the game is played, meeting the demands and requests of fans. Should the fan's demands and requests be too large for a patch, Paradox will release supplemental expansion packs, as is the case with Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun and Europa Universalis III.

Additionally, Paradox games are open and easy to edit. Whether tweaking a saved game or creating an entirely new scenario, Paradox has made the game open to all users. For those modders that cannot figure out how to edit the game on their own, the Paradox forums provide a library of "how to" advice. If modding is not the user's desire, they can download scenarios created by other users, a practice encouraged by Paradox. However, while they do link to scenarios on the forums, Paradox does not endorse these modified game scenarios. Users download and modify games at their own risk.

[edit] Forums

One of the key features of the Paradox gaming experience is participation in the active Paradox forums. The complex nature of the games encourage players to collaborate to improve gameplay. The forums allow players to learn from the experiences of other players. The open-ended nature of Paradox games allows for players to develop unique strategies and approaches to widely different styles of gameplay. The forum provides a means to share these experiences with other players. Besides strategy discussions, the forums feature active modding and fan fiction communities.

Much of the gameplay information used by the engine is contained in uncompressed text and bitmap graphic files. The ability to freely edit these files has allowed an active modding community to develop. The Paradox forum is highly active and provides a way for players and modders alike to collaborate and improve gameplay and develop complex new scenarios for each title. The Paradox game developers are also active in the forums, and incorporate ideas and even contributions from the gameplaying community in ways that many larger gaming companies do not. Europa Universalis: Crown of the North included two user created scenarios (the unhistorical "Independent Europe Scenario", and the expanded "Alternative Grand Campaign") that came directly from forum contributors, rather than by game developers. Also, the recently released Europa Universalis III was developed in close collaboration with experienced players of the earlier titles through discussions on the forum.

Fan-fiction (called After Action Reports on the forum) provides a way for players to discuss their own gameplay in unique ways with other players. Unlike standard fan fiction, After Action Reports are creative embellishments on actual gameplay. The open-ended engines of these games encourages creativity and the goal of writing compelling After Action Reports often allows players to use the game engine in unique and often unusual ways. Impossibly difficult gameplay situations (such as playing as an extremely weak minor nation) or continued play in the face of horrendous setbacks (such as losing over half of one's nation in a single war) are enhanced by the creative outlet of After Action Reports. This outlet has kept the players involved in the game in unique ways and serves to expand the replayability of these games.

[edit] GamersGate

GamersGate AB is a digital distribution service operated by Paradox Interactive. In addition to Paradox Interactive titles, GamersGate distributes games from third party publishers, including distribution partnerships with THQ and Atari. GamersGate commenced trial operations in April 2006 and officially launched (entitled "Gamer's Gate") on November 20, 2006.^[2]