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Interview with Paradox’s Johan Andersson

	Author: Wargamer Staff Article Type: Interview Publication Date: 5/4/2008 Developer: Paradox Interactive Publisher: Paradox Interactive Related Categories: Roman Empire, Real-time, Strategic, Online or Multi-Player, Empire Building

The Wargamer (WG): The Europa Universalis series in all its forms now covers 75% of Western Civilization. Given this breadth, I wonder if you have a background in history? If so, what historiographical school do you subscribe to?

Johan Andersson (JA): I have no education in history past basic high school, only a huge love and interest of the topic. I love watching historical movies, reading books and playing computer games. However, we have people hired for historical research, and work with test groups of very highly educated people.

WG: A few gaps still exist in the series such as the Hellenistic Age. Do you plan to cover these gaps?

JA: That’s a good idea for a future game!

WG: All the other EU games have prosaic features for the economy and technology. With EU: Rome, you introduce some mysticism with “Omens” and “Sacrifices”. Why is that?

JA: We believe that adding mystical elements to a game in that era makes a more immersive gameplay. Religion was something much more involved in people’s daily lives in those days, and people actually believed in gods affecting their lives.

JA: There are several events dealing with internal politics not just for republics like Rome but also for monarchies and tribal governments. These events deal with everything from new law proposals to disagreements in the senate, senators bribing other members to increase their support, elections for different offices like military tribune or censor and lots of other political issues.

WG: Terrain affects combat in EU: Rome. An advantage for the Roman army was that its formations adapted to different terrain types. Do the Romans get any combat modifications for this flexibility?

JA: No, there is no simulation of such things.

WG: Events occur in EU: Rome. Are they random, scripted, or context driven?

JA: Everything is context driven, that’s our philosophy. Random would just be silly, and scripted purely is frustrating to players.

WG: Trade is simplified in EU: Rome. Is this a function of the period or a design decision based on player comments?

JA: I would not say that trade is simplified, as it involves a lot more strategic decisions than before. It is not only about maximizing profit, but also about handling which resource you need where.

WG: If the Principate is ever handled, will the Roman “Bread and Circuses” feature be explicitly introduced?

JA: We’ll see then ? I’d guess it would be a vital part, but we won’t know until we ever do such a thing.

WG: Inflation plays a part in many Paradox games. Rome often had inflation problems. Why isn’t inflation a factor in EU: Rome?

JA: Inflation would not have improved the gameplay of Rome, so that is why it was not included. We feel that the game works better without an inflation model.

WG: We can easily enumerate the differences between the games in the Paradox series. What would you consider the constants in the series other than the “real time’ aspects?

JA: You play the soul behind a country, you control armies/units on a map, and you play a fun and deep game!

WG: Thank you, Johan, for your time and consideration in responding to these questions.