One thing that brings something new to Victoria 3, though, is interest groups. Victoria is all about managing your people and fulfilling their needs, and ensuring that when they get ideas you navigate those ideas successfully. They're core to the franchise, and it wouldn't be a Victoria game without the POPs. Mikael Andersson: So the the obvious answer here is the POPs. What will returning players find in Victoria 3 that still makes it feel like Victoria, but that brings something new to the experience? It's basically we had a champion, we had the design, and we had a pitch, it got approved, and then the game was put into production.Р вЂќР’В®ven though it's different in the sense of all the hype and expectation, and how it's sort of become this legendary thing, we didn't start it just to start Victoria 3 - we started it because we wanted to build this game, because we were excited to build this game. Someone comes and says, 'I want to do this, I want to do this game, I want the design to be like this.' It might be a little bit of a boring answer, but in actuality, there is no sort of special story in that sense. Martin Anward: Basically, whenever we start up a project at Paradox, what it always begin with is a champion. Why did now feel like the right time to revive the franchise? It's been over a decade since Victoria 2. It's a lot more about what's going on in your nation. You're supposed to be able to play the game entirely without ever going to war and still have a lot of fun, so everything isn't just about the preparation for the next conflict or necessarily about growing your political borders. That's not to say diplomacy and conflict and war aren't part of the game diplomacy, especially, is a big part of the era, but everything in the game is in context to what's going on inside your borders and with your people. So for instance, constructing industries, changing the priority of where your economy is passing laws, setting focusses, and just tweaking and guiding and building up the machinery of your state and your country.

So where Europa Universalis 4 is very much about clever diplomacy - like preparing for your next territorial acquisition and building strength for the next war - and Crusader Kings 3 is about managing your dynasty, preparing your heirs, and just generally interacting with other characters, Victoria is all about gardening your country.Р вЂќР вЂћnd by that, I mean making small changes and adjustments, but also bigger changes, to your nation and its people.

Martin Anward: I would say the big difference in terms of moment-to-moment play is about the main actions you're taking around core loop. You've touched on it a little there, but for players who're perhaps more familiar with Paradox games like Crusader Kings 3 or Europa Universalis 4, how does Victoria feel different in terms of moment-by-moment play? It's set in the Victorian era, and it is about this incredible change that is happening during this period. That gives you political challenges you have to deal with, as well diplomatic challenges on the world stage. Victoria is primarily about building up your economic strength and then feeling your way through this industrialisation process of the 19th century - the changes that occur as you do that, both in terms of your own personal power and of the changing politics of your country. For Victoria, though, it's more like a management game. All our grand strategy games have some sort of niche and the historical period they're in, but they also have a specific slant.

Mikael Andersson: So Victoria is our society builder franchise. It's still early days for this newest entry in the sprawling Industrial-Revolution-era grand strategy series, but we recently had the opportunity to chat with Victoria 3's game director Martin Anward and game designer Mikael Andersson to find out a little more.Р вЂќР вЂЎor those players who might not be familiar with the Victoria franchise, given the previous game is nearly a decade old, let's start simply. Fans have been waiting almost a decade for word on a new instalment in Paradox Interactive's much-loved society building series, Victoria, but that day has finally arrived with the announcement of Victoria 3.

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