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We've been kicking around some ideas about doing a livestream of one of Paradox's grand strategy games. There's a pretty big fan base among GOL readers, so it would be interesting to see how much interest there is and what people would want.

For anyone who has played the games, it's clear that there are some disadvantages to livestreaming them. The most obvious is just how long a game can be, meaning that it would either have to be cut short or split over a few streams. The other problem is that it might not be terribly exciting to watch for some people, but then assessing that is part of the point of this article.

Though nothing is set in stone, at the moment I see two options:

Firstly, a one off stream which most likely would focus on one of the newer titles (Hearts of Iron or Stellaris) since they would probably make more popular viewing. This would be the most straightforward thing to organise with a couple of contributors and members of the community.

The second option I see, which is way more ambitious and would only be up for if there's a lot of interest, is something that takes place once a week over a few weeks. This could potentially be really interesting, but finding people with time to commit would be difficult. That could be amended by doing something like rotating streamers so different people take over other people's empires.

Another thing could simply be to do the first, then if it has a good reception, consider doing the second at some point in the future. There might also be other possibilities, so please make sure they're heard.

Then there's obviously the question of which game. Everyone has their favourites, but it would be good to pick something that is appealing to a wider audience, fun to watch and on Linux (sorry Victoria). For those who aren't aware, the options would be: Stellaris, Europa Universalis IV, Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings II.

I personally have my reservations about Stellaris since, although it's an awesome game, with a multiplayer livestream it might be better to have one of the historical games given that all the streamers could play in the same area of the map and see what they're doing rather than being more limited to the player whose screen is being shared, particularly at the start of the game. Others might not feel this way, and if that's the case then we'll go with whatever people think would be best. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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After many years of floating through space on the back of a missile, following a successful career in beating people up for not playing Sega Saturn, the missile returned to earth. Upon returning, I discovered to my dismay that the once great console had been discontinued and Sega had abandoned the fight to dominate the world through 32-bit graphical capabilities.

After spending some years breaking breeze blocks with my head for money and being mocked by strangers, I have found a new purpose: to beat up people for not playing on Linux.
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12 comments
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Cmdr_Iras Jul 5, 2016
Im certainly ineterested in participating; though I only own Stellaris and my ability to play would be limited by times due to family comitments.

But once more people throw their oar in and a game is chosen I should know if I can join (If you want me :P)
lvlark Jul 5, 2016
Whoa, tough one. I don't know if there's rules you could implement to speed up things? Or maybe agree on playing only through a specific period?

The only one of those games I own is EUIV, which means I could only participate in that one. However don't count on it - I'm not a big fan of multiplayer in general. In fact, because I don't own any of the others, I'd like to see you go with one of them, might get me interested :)

Have you reached out to Paradox? They might have experience with livestreaming that can help you?
1mHfoksd1Z Jul 5, 2016
I would like to see CK2 series with mods:

"Historical Immersion Project (HIP)" <- a must have IMO, offers so much more than the vanilla and it's so well made it makes you wonder why isn't it included in the original game

"A Game of Thrones" <- this one's based on the books not the show

"Elder Kings" <- Elder Scrolls mod

I would also like to see Stellaris since I'm really interested in that game.


Last edited by 1mHfoksd1Z on 5 July 2016 at 11:11 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jul 5, 2016
For me it would be Stellaris, since I haven't gotten to grips with HOI yet as I just haven't had enough time to even complete the tutorial and wow the game is confusing.
tumocs Jul 5, 2016
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I'd prefer historical paradox games over Stellaris. Preferably HoI4 or EU4. I could join either, don't care to play CK2 that much.
sobkas Jul 5, 2016
Could that stream be after SGDQ?
Izberion Jul 5, 2016
I could join in if time allowed (weekends) and the game was EU4 or Stellaris. Maybe CK2 but I'm out of practice. Cool idea though. I love watching the dev multiplayer sessions on the paradoxextra youtube.
Philadelphus Jul 5, 2016
Oh, are we allowed to participate? That'd be cool. I've got EU IV and CK II, though I have about six times as much experience with the former. One possibility, like you mentioned, would be for everyone to play in the same general area of the map, and have some sort of themed challenge, like everyone play in the HRE, or everyone play in central Africa, or India, or something like that (I'm thinking of EU IV here, I don't know what something similar in CK II would be like).

I also wouldn't mind seeing a stream of Stellaris or HoI IV.

Also also, if you're thinking of going with the once-a-week-over-many-weeks thing, you might consider looking in the Paradox Multiplayer sub-forums for the game you choose. People there have a lot of little rules for dealing with situations like when one person can't make it one week (are you allowed to attack his or her computer-controlled country, or not?) that you might want to adapt as some ground rules. Just a thought.
archmage24601 Jul 5, 2016
Any chance of doing this with Civilization V? Maybe time it to wrap up right before the linux release of Civ VI.
Lakorta Jul 5, 2016
I would prefer HOI or EU4. I only own EU4 but I think HOI would be interesting to watch :)
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