Show "Nation Overview" when selecting it in "Control Nation" Mission?

[ARTOL]

So i'm just getting into Terra Invicta, still in the very early stage.

When selecting what nation to target in the drop down (pull up?) menu, i can't seem to find any way to see some kind of nation overview. Only way i can do it right now is to set the mission, then go to the councilor, and inspect the nation i set him to. If i don't like it, reassign him to the next best chance and repeat.

I'm probably missing something, because it seems weird that i need to select a target based on success chance alone. I'd like some info on the nation I'm targeting.
I tried to hover over the list, randomly press buttons when selecting, did the tutorials, searched online, watched game starter guides, and couldn't find anything.

Would also appreciate any tips to make this process less tedious, if no such option exists.

[cswiger]

The UI could use some polishing, certainly.

You can click on a country, click on a councilor, and then choose a mission to run there if you like. That's helpful when you already know where you want to do something. Also works with the F5 / Nation view, if you want to reduce unrest in the countries with the greatest unrest, for example.

[gimmethegepgun]

You can also just click the nation or region on the map that you want to target, after selecting the mission. That will both show the nation overview and change the target to the place you selected.

[ARTOL]

Originally posted by cswiger:

The UI could use some polishing, certainly.

You can click on a country, click on a councilor, and then choose a mission to run there if you like. That's helpful when you already know where you want to do something. Also works with the F5 / Nation view, if you want to reduce unrest in the countries with the greatest unrest, for example.

I hope they will improve it, because a bad UI can kill an otherwise good game.
I have several potentially great in development games in my library, that iv'e given up on, because of bad UI that never got updated.

Thanks, that helps a little.

Also found just now that when selecting control nation mission, you can cycle target nations using Tab button, but only in alphabetic order. Any idea how to make it cycle by success chance or other parameters?

[ARTOL]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

You can also just click the nation or region on the map that you want to target, after selecting the mission. That will both show the nation overview and change the target to the place you selected.

Thanks.
Iv'e been doing that also, but rotating the globe hoping to spot a nation i might want that also has a good success chance is better, but also not great considering that different counselors have different success chances, so i have to do it for each one.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by ART0L:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

You can also just click the nation or region on the map that you want to target, after selecting the mission. That will both show the nation overview and change the target to the place you selected.

Thanks.
Iv'e been doing that also, but rotating the globe hoping to spot a nation i might want that also has a good success chance is better, but also not great considering that different counselors have different success chances, so i have to do it for each one.

You shouldn't really be scattering around the globe looking for high success chances. You should generally try to make a coherent plan with nations, which may mean trying for low-success missions. Like, for instance, trying to control India, or the US. Those are difficult, but worth it, and positioning your control properly improves your chances, because adjacent nations increase the odds of Control, Purge, and Public Campaign.

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by ART0L:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

You can also just click the nation or region on the map that you want to target, after selecting the mission. That will both show the nation overview and change the target to the place you selected.

Thanks.
Iv'e been doing that also, but rotating the globe hoping to spot a nation i might want that also has a good success chance is better, but also not great considering that different counselors have different success chances, so i have to do it for each one.

Like gimme said, you should not be gathering up small scattered nations, if the nation's GDP is below 2 trillion, their economy can't sustain itself even with 100% economic investments. You need to go for the "big countries" like the tutorial said. The targets are usually the US, France (to turn into the EU), India, China and Russia. The small countries will just suck you dry without giving much in return in the early game. The small countries can only work mid game when you get unification movements where you can patch together enough of the small countries to get over the 2 trillion dollar hump.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

if the nation's GDP is below 2 trillion, their economy can't sustain itself even with 100% economic investments.

Uh... no? Most countries can easily sustain their GDP with 100% economy if they aren't hobbled by unrest.
Like, right now, in my game, looking at the Central African Republic. It has a GDP of ~$5 billion and a population of 5.9 million. It lost $1.2 GDP per capita in the last month with no Economy spending. If its IPs weren't reduced by unrest, it would have 1.64. It gains $4.3 GDP per capita from completing Economy once, so it would easily sustain itself.

Now, CAP is just an objectively awful nation in the game, basically only good for running Funding or Spoils, but it would be plenty capable of sustaining its economy.
There are some nations that have very high GDP per capita but not much population, like Singapore and Ireland, who can't sustain themselves, but most countries aren't in that situation.

[ARTOL]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Originally posted by ART0L:

Thanks.
Iv'e been doing that also, but rotating the globe hoping to spot a nation i might want that also has a good success chance is better, but also not great considering that different counselors have different success chances, so i have to do it for each one.

You shouldn't really be scattering around the globe looking for high success chances. You should generally try to make a coherent plan with nations, which may mean trying for low-success missions. Like, for instance, trying to control India, or the US. Those are difficult, but worth it, and positioning your control properly improves your chances, because adjacent nations increase the odds of Control, Purge, and Public Campaign.

OK, that makes sense.
So basically, try to control say 1 stronger / larger economy, and the smaller nations around it, to form a sort of block? (like what Mistfox said about France and EU)
The nations in that block will benefit from the proximity in missions, and maybe other stuff i don't know about yet?

I did see down the research line that there are unification projects for when you control certain blocks like a part of Africa or Western / Eastern Europe. So i'm talking about something like that i guess.

[ARTOL]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Originally posted by ART0L:

Thanks.
Iv'e been doing that also, but rotating the globe hoping to spot a nation i might want that also has a good success chance is better, but also not great considering that different counselors have different success chances, so i have to do it for each one.

Like gimme said, you should not be gathering up small scattered nations, if the nation's GDP is below 2 trillion, their economy can't sustain itself even with 100% economic investments. You need to go for the "big countries" like the tutorial said. The targets are usually the US, France (to turn into the EU), India, China and Russia. The small countries will just suck you dry without giving much in return in the early game. The small countries can only work mid game when you get unification movements where you can patch together enough of the small countries to get over the 2 trillion dollar hump.

The thing is, i can't even get close to the larger nations. i have around 1% chance to take a point from the start in places like USA / China / Russia, so i'm forced to go for the small ones that i can take, meanwhile the AI (Academy specifically in my case) manages to grab all of Russia and some points in smaller nations, in around 5-6 assignment turns.

Best i got so far is to form a semi block out of Egypt / Israel / Jordan / Syria / Iran, or any combination of African nations. And it's kind of meh compared to what the AI controls by that (early) point.
But I'm still playing on tutorial, so maybe i'll get it later.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by ART0L:

The thing is, i can't even get close to the larger nations. i have around 1% chance to take a point from the start in places like USA / China / Russia, so i'm forced to go for the small ones that i can take, meanwhile the AI (Academy specifically in my case) manages to grab all of Russia and some points in smaller nations, in around 5-6 assignment turns.

There's a few important things in play here:
Firstly, the main reason the Academy was able to grab what they wanted is because the Academy starts the game with a large amount of popular opinion in many nations. Their worldwide opinion will evaporate and half of their controlled CPs will get Cracked Down for a year after Deep System Skywatch is researched, as everyone suddenly realizes that peace isn't on the table right now.
Secondly, councilors are not all the same, and sometimes a generated councilor may be particularly good at taking certain nations due to traits such as Media Darling, Firebrand, or National Hero.
Third, if you want good chances you're likely going to need to work at it by using Public Campaigns to improve your odds.
Fourth, controlling CPs adjacent to the country gives up to +6 bonus towards Control Nation, Purge, and Public Campaign, so taking for instance the US is generally a process of taking control of Mexico and Canada first to make things easier to do.

[ARTOL]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

There's a few important things in play here:
Firstly, the main reason the Academy was able to grab what they wanted is because the Academy starts the game with a large amount of popular opinion in many nations. Their worldwide opinion will evaporate and half of their controlled CPs will get Cracked Down for a year after Deep System Skywatch is researched, as everyone suddenly realizes that peace isn't on the table right now.
Secondly, councilors are not all the same, and sometimes a generated councilor may be particularly good at taking certain nations due to traits such as Media Darling, Firebrand, or National Hero.
Third, if you want good chances you're likely going to need to work at it by using Public Campaigns to improve your odds.
Fourth, controlling CPs adjacent to the country gives up to +6 bonus towards Control Nation, Purge, and Public Campaign, so taking for instance the US is generally a process of taking control of Mexico and Canada first to make things easier to do.

OK so that explains a lot, i think i get at least this part now. I'll give it a try in a new game.
Thanks for the help!

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

There are some nations that have very high GDP per capita but not much population, like Singapore and Ireland, who can't sustain themselves, but most countries aren't in that situation.

That might be why. I was running my test case on Singapore and Australia. Australia with 100% investment was more or less just threading water so I took that as the benchmark.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

There are some nations that have very high GDP per capita but not much population, like Singapore and Ireland, who can't sustain themselves, but most countries aren't in that situation.

That might be why. I was running my test case on Singapore and Australia. Australia with 100% investment was more or less just threading water so I took that as the benchmark.

To be fair to Singapore, its economy is largely due to trade, granted to them by their position near the Strait of Malacca. They're not going to be able to keep that up when their island sinks from global warming lol