Beginner's Guide

While VIET tries to stay as close to vanilla as possible, gameplay is somewhat different nevertheless. This page is meant to be a guide for newcomers (and even veterans, perhaps) and discuss changes from vanilla as well as provide tips on what to do in a VIET game.

This guide assumes that you are playing with the full VIET suite. Note that the PB version of the full VIET suite does play differently than the vanilla version due to PB's changes and additions.

Changes and Additions

 * There are more restrictions on CBs compared to vanilla, and expansion will thus be slower. It's difficult to simply steamroll people like in vanilla, so plan out your wars carefully.
 * Newborns and their mothers can die in childbirth. Additionally, young children and the elderly receive maluses to their health via modifiers.
 * Many character traits have both bonuses and maluses now, so there are not as many obvious choices when it comes to traits.
 * There are many new ambitions and plots, many of them courtesy of the Additional Objectives mod. These range from kidnapping to the fabrication of treason. Thus there are more ways for you to get what you want, but watch out - your enemies and vassals might be trying the same on you!
 * New features and mechanics have been added to several cultures and religions, ranging from the Turks to the Finnish Pagans. See Culture/Religion-specific Mechanics for more information.
 * Illnesses are more deadly.
 * If the Seljuks win against the Byzantines in the initial 1066-1071 war, this will spark off a series of events that allow them the possibility of seizing Anatolia and forming the Sultanate of Rum, as historically happened.
 * Empires, particularly the ERE and HRE, are more unstable and have to deal with more rebellious vassals. HRE vassals tend to prefer lowering crown authority or independence factions, while ERE vassals can lay claim to the imperial throne and form claimant factions for themselves.
 * Several new religions and religious groups have been added. Besides new heresies for most existing religions, new religions include Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and East African paganism.

General Tips

 * VIET has a whole selection of customization options available. If you don't like a feature or change in VIET, consider looking to see whether there's a customization option available.
 * Most CBs now have new restrictions, and it will generally take more time to declare wars. Plan out your wars carefully! In particular, watch out for your traits. Trait restrictions now apply to many CBs. In general, content and slothful are not good traits to have if you're interested in declaring wars, while ambitious and diligent are (though there are many others, depending on the CB in question).
 * VIET adds many new flavor decisions similar to vanilla's feasts or hunts (many culture or religion-specific) that often provide nice bonuses, such as prestige or piety. These decisions also tend to have timers, meaning you can only hold them every few years or so (varying from decision to decision); as such, if you want to take full advantage of these decisions, hold them as often as you can.
 * Childbirth mortality is dependent on the mother's health. To ensure better chances of survival, marry your male characters to females who have higher health, such as those who have the strong trait.
 * A lot of VIET's generic flavor events are just that - generic: they provide tiny, insignificant rewards or penalties (with a few exceptions). This, along with the fact that most traits have both maluses and bonuses (unlike in vanilla) means you can take the time to roleplay a bit and choose outcomes that suit you or your characters best as there oftentimes isn't a "correct" or "best" choice like in vanilla's flavor events.
 * Don't count on you or your heirs to live long, healthy lives like in vanilla, so always prepare for sudden changes! The increased deadliness of diseases, childbirth, and more will reduce your chances of lasting to old age - even if you do manage to make it then, the old age modifier means you probably won't live as long as you would in vanilla. On average in my games my characters tend to live to an average of about 60 - that is, if they survive illnesses, battle wounds, and other dangers.
 * On a related note, don't try to kill off or remove your less desirable heirs. Due to the increased dangers around you, you never know whether your "healthy" genius-fair-strong heir will make it. Your undesirable idiot heir might end up being your only surviving heir and thus the key to your dynasty's survival.