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Hello again! Last week I asked you all what nation you’d like me to focus on today, and the two most popular answers were Ayutthaya and Majapahit. Today I’ll focus on Ayutthaya, with Majapahit coming up next week.
Ayutthaya is the nation that would eventually become known to the West as Siam. It is named after its massive capital city, so large and so bustling with activity that even its canals were filled with floating markets. By 1700 it may have had 1 million inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities on the planet. In 1444 Ayutthaya is a nation on the rise. In 1378 it subjugated Sukhothai, taking its place as the dominant Thai kingdom. In 1431, Ayutthaya sacked the great city of Angkor, capital of the Khmer Empire. The devastation wrought by the Thai armies was so great that the following centuries are known as the Dark Age of Cambodia - more on that in a later dev diary. Ayutthaya also rules the vassal kingdom of Ligor on the Malay Peninsula, and would go on to launch a narrowly unsuccessful invasion of Malacca and a more successful subjugation of its smaller kingdoms like Pattani.
By 1444 Sukhothai is barely even a subject kingdom. Taking advantage of the political situation, Ayutthaya appointed Prince Trailok as King of Sukhothai. Upon the death of his father, Trailok would inherit both kingdoms and rule from Ayutthaya. This will now happen in EU4.
In 1.30 Ayutthaya’s national ideas are both a little on the weak side and not especially supportive of a South-East Asian playstyle. I’ve made some changes to their national ideas to better reflect the flavor of the nation, focusing on vassal-play and diplomacy:
AYU_ideas = {
start = {
cavalry_power = 0.15
liberty_desire_from_subject_development = -0.2
}
bonus = {
diplomatic_annexation_cost = -0.15
}
trigger = {
tag = AYU
}
free = yes
white_elephant = {
vassal_income = 0.2
}
corvee_system = {
global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
}
trading_links = {
diplomatic_reputation = 1
}
ayu_foreign_mercenaries = {
merc_maintenance_modifier = -0.15
}
ayu_embassies = {
improve_relation_modifier = 0.3
}
phrai_luang = {
development_cost = -0.1
}
personal_executions = {
harsh_treatment_cost = -0.2
}
}
Of course it wouldn't be a South-East Asia update without new mission trees. Below is the new mission tree for Ayutthaya, which it shares with the formable nation of Siam:
Ayutthaya’s mission tree rewards very few permanent claims. Instead, many missions award Subjugation CB’s, allowing Ayutthaya to vassalize large nations in a single war. Originally it was enough to simply have the required states owned by you or your subjects, but after some playtesting in both single player and multiplayer I judged these missions a little too powerful. So most subjugation missions additionally require reducing the liberty desire of relevant subjects. It’s not enough to have vassals in name, your subjects must be truly loyal to your will. Your National Ideas have an opportunity to shine here, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to complement them with Influence Ideas.
Some other interesting highlights:
- Completing the Embassy to Japan mission rewards you with the renowned Japanese adventurer Yamada Nagamasa as a general, as well as access to the Japanese Volunteers mercenary company (highly disciplined soldiers) based in Ayutthaya itself.
- Completing the Devaraja mission grants a new estate privilege that causes Dharmic faith provinces to have no Religious Unity penalty. We’ll talk about Estate Privileges in more depth in a later dev diary, probably one focussing on the Khmer Empire.
- Completing the Royal Absolutism mission awards the Chakravarti tier 1 government reform, which will have the (as yet unrevealed) new features of the Mandala reform without the penalties, as well as +10 Maximum Absolutism and +1 Monarch Administrative Power. It also raises your government rank to Empire. If you are playing as Ayutthaya, completing this mission is the only way to form Siam.
- There are several elements of the leftmost branch of the mission tree that I can’t talk about yet, but the general idea is that you’re using various means to develop your nation, especially your capital, and ultimately making your capital into the most glorious city on earth.
- The rightmost branch deals with Ayutthaya’s ambitions in Maritime SEA. Preparing an invasion of Malacca can severely harm Malacca’s relationship with the Ming, resulting in the loss of their tributary status. Further missions grant claims only on Centers of Trade in the region and require establishing trade power in the node.
- The final missions of the central branch (not pictured) have you taking on East Asia’s only superpower - the mighty Ming dynasty - and claiming the Mandate of Heaven.
Ayutthaya can now experience a new Disaster, the Siamese Revolution. In 1688 a rebellion broke out in reaction to the increased European (especially French) imperial presence in Siam and the King’s perceived complicity in the influence these powers were exerting over the country. The stage is set for this Disaster when Ayutthaya has decent (~50) relations with a European power active in South-East Asia. When the Disaster begins, a series of events lead you towards either Openness or Reactionary options each with their own benefits and drawbacks. These events deal with the military, religious, commercial, and diplomatic power that Europeans attempted to impose on Ayutthaya. The disaster can end once you pursue one path to its conclusion.
There are two possible endings to the Siamese Revolution, depending on whether you choose the Openness or Reactionary paths. The historical Reactionary path ends with the Siamese noble Phetracha launching a palace coup and seizing the throne, which historically led to an isolationist period for Ayutthaya - and was perhaps also a factor in Siam becoming the only power in SEA to avoid becoming part of a European colonial empire. This grants a permanent Foreign Spy Detection and Tolerance of the True Faith bonus, but will also destroy your relations with all European powers active in SEA. Following the alt history Openness path results in Phetracha’s arrest and execution, and instead instantly adds a large amount of institution progress in the capital for any institution that is not fully present in your capital but which have been embraced by any European power active in SEA. You’ll also get a permanent bonus to Institution Spread, but a permanent penalty to Foreign Spy Detection.
That’s all for today! Next week by popular demand we’ll focus on Majapahit and the disastrous situation they’ve found themselves in by 1444. Until then, have a good week!
edit: I just noticed the typo in the title. Well, too late. It's the twenty-firth now. :D
Moderator note:
As a reminder, @neondt is a content designer, not a programmer, therefore cannot reply on the programming side of the patch.
This development diary is about content design. Remain on topic.