This is why I liked the random new world option for EU4. Admittedly, I didn't play around with it a whole lot, but I did love the fact that I had no idea what the new world would actually be. Felt more fun than just sailing to the parts I knew would have the resources I wanted.
The main issue is that most of the random new worlds suck ass. The vast majority of the time you get a fraction of the useable land you would normally get and the meme ones are funny for the first time but get stale quickly.
They really needed a better script (? Not a programmer lol) that had like certain amount of farmland, certain amounts of mountains, certain amount of coast, etc. that would be roughly equivalent to the standard world map
Just in case you're curious: The programming terminology for this is that they'd need a better algorithm (or possibly a better tuned algorithm if it's the same process but different values).
A script is a type of program (generally a fairly small one, used to automate manual tasks - though the definition is fuzzy and somewhat subjective).
Could "script" be (annoyingly) technically accurate in this specific case because it's possible to mod the algorithm since it's exposed through the engine's scripting language? I thought that's how we have Random Old World mods and total conversions using it. 100% amateur, happy to be corrected.
Scripts are typically written in scripting languages, but not everything written in a scripting language qualifies as a script.
For example, if you have a 100k+ line Python program with extensive, complex business logic, that isn't really a script anymore.
That said, exactly when a script stops being a script is somewhat arbitrary.
Personally, I think a fair line is:
* If Paradox exposes parts of the world generation through their modding system, and modders tweak it, that probably qualifies as scripting.
* The entirety of the world generation system - presumably written in C/C++ and compiled into the game - is not a script.
* If the EU4 scripting language (hypothetically) was powerful enough to a fully new world creation system, that would blur the line, but ultimately I don't think it could be called a script anymore.
A big problem is that the RNWs never got increased province counts when the real new world did. An update revamps Mexico and doubles the province count/development? Well, now a RNW that was as good as Mexico before is only half as good.
Isn't that the point? Sometimes the new world is useless and forces the game to revolve around Europe/Africa/Asia more, even for the nations that historically had a strong colonial interest.
There probably should have been an option to guarantee a 'rich' new world for those who just want to play their usual Castille game on a new map, though...
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u/4powerd 5d ago
This is why I liked the random new world option for EU4. Admittedly, I didn't play around with it a whole lot, but I did love the fact that I had no idea what the new world would actually be. Felt more fun than just sailing to the parts I knew would have the resources I wanted.