The open beta of the Victoria 3 1.2 update is now live, and even after the ongoing series of developer diaries for the grand strategy game, it already looks like a surprisingly transformative patch. The latest update covers the changes the development team is making to the user interface, including all the menus, tooltips, and other interface features that keep you up to date with what’s happening in the 19th century complex.
Patch 1.2 addresses some of the specific issues I pointed out in our Victoria 3 review, such as clarity on population needs, radicalization, and exploitation of trade routes. It also allows players to control the warning messages that appear in the bottom right corner of the screen, which can quickly become overwhelming as the game speeds up.
The trade routes dashboard now allows you to see a list of all trade routes in a specific market, and you can filter it to only show the routes you own. You can also sort this list by country or product, just like it works in vanilla.
The 1.2 update also allows you to see at a glance what your people want, what they spend the most money on, and what pushes them toward the loyalist or radical side of the political spectrum. The new population screen shows how much they pay in income, dividend, and excise taxes, and makes it easy to see what items they’re buying above or below the median price.
There’s also more information available in the Victoria 3 build panel, and some clever reordering made for less intrusive tooltip placement. There’s also a new interaction that allows you to reset all of your production methods to a basic level, which UX designer Henrik Hansson says is especially useful when absorbing new states.
Another impressive addition to the Victoria 3 UX in the 1.2 patch are input and output indicators for each production method. Hansson says he was inspired by FUN’s Visual Methods mod, which the Victoria 3 team loved so much they ported a version into the main game.
You can select Beta 1.2 right now by right-clicking on Victoria 3 in your Steam Library, clicking Properties, and selecting the 1.2-beta – Open Beta for 1.2 branch from the dropdown under Betas.
Check out our beginner’s guide to Victory 3 if you need help getting started with Paradox’s latest historical strategy game.
Source : PC Gamesn
