Last updated 20 Sep 2021
I'm new to the mod, what nations should I play as first?
It is recommended to start in the 1054 date for the best experience, and to pick from either Normandy, Leon or Apulia to familiarize yourself with the mod's new mechanics and flavour.
The bookmark also suggests 7 other nations that are affected by interesting events early on, but there are many others to try out and enjoy. See the List of Unique Mission Trees for all countries that have missions.

How do I improve the performance of the mod?
Use Fast Universalis, which is 100% compatible with this mod; make sure to lower your settings and follow the instructions on that page to optimise your game for the best performance. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=820151246

How can I help or contribute to the mod?
It depends on what you want to contribute. Either way, please contact ShyGuy13 first or use #vn-support in the Discord server. We do have some contributor resources that can be made available on request. The priority right now is on adding mission trees for important tags that don't currently have them.

When is the next update?
It will come when it is ready. Please do not keep asking us, as that will not make us work faster.

Are any DLC required to play Voltaire's Nightmare?
No DLC are required, though Mandate of Heaven is greatly recommended to enhance gameplay in the Russian region and unlock the new Ages that have been added for earlier dates. Emperor is also recommended for the Imperial Incidents and Reforms as well as enhanced Papacy and Revolution mechanics.

Is Voltaire's Nightmare compatible with any other mods?
We can't guarantee that Voltaire's Nightmare will be compatible with any other mods, including graphics and font mods, and they may crash your game, so use them with care. However, here are some recommended graphics mods that shouldn't cause issues:
Black Borders https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199636797
Small Graphics Fix https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2197446650

What does "Karrjaga" mean?
"Karrjaga" is an Old Prussian word that translates to "military campaign". It's also the name of our mod team for Paradox games, with the VN team as its main subdivision.

Why is the mod called Voltaire's Nightmare?
Back when the mod originally released, it only contained the HRE. The Enlightenment writer Voltaire once famously quipped that "The Holy Roman Empire is neither holy, Roman, nor an empire", which is why it's his nightmare. Since then the map has vastly expanded, but we've kept the original name. Also, the mod name predates the vanilla achievement that was added a few months afterwards.

Why can't the Emperor demand Unlawful Territory?
That's intentional as the AI would waste its entire Imperial Authority otherwise, resulting in no reforms getting passed, as well as avoiding making conquests in the HRE impossible as the Emperor would always demand conquered provinces back. However, when you pass the Hofgericht reform, you gain the ability to demand it from anyone.

Are any off-map nations invading the map at some point?
There are invasion events for Morocco, Rûm, the Seljuks, Turkish Beyliks, the Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate to name the main ones.

Are there any new gameplay mechanics like an automatic population system?
No, we want to make the access to Voltaire's Nightmare easy for new players so we keep the mod as vanillish as possible, relinquishing any new mechanics (but you are free to create submods yourself for sure).

Will Persia be added in a future map expansion?
Currently there are no plans to add Persia into VN2.0. That's not only because the lack of proper sources of that region but more because we want to keep VN still in a runnable and playable state (as VN already consumes much RAM). Powers in Persia like the Seljuks or Mongols will still affect the existent map by starting invasions into Mesopotamia. However, we might reconsider this decision on a future day.

Why is development completely static during the timeline?
In short, this is being worked on, but because balance would be broken if we tried implementing only part of it, no development changes are currently present. A future update will add development values in their entirety to the rest of the timeline.

Is there a list of new formables?
Reformable tags:
Württemberg, Mecklenburg, Holstein, Palatinate, Brunswick, East Frisia, West Frisia, Switzerland, Wales, Sardinia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Serbia, Albania, Hungary, England, Lithuania, Circassia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Mazovia, Brittany

New formable tags:
Yugolsavia, Arles, Lombardo-Venetia, Lombardy, Sicily, Romagna, Belgium, Slovenia, Süddeutscher Bund, Norddeutscher Bund, Aquitaine, Francia, Macedonia, Austrian Empire, Ifrîqya, Iraq, Syria, Assyria, Piedmont

Is there a list of countries that have mission trees?
Yes, check this list here: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/workshop/filedetails/discussion/684459310/4098792306726662316/

Why do some major countries lack mission trees, while others that are far less significant do have them?
Over the course of many months we have added dozens of unique mission trees and are continuing to add more. The bigger the country is, the more time that is needed to make a tree for them, so we have not covered all of them yet. In comparison, it is relatively easy to make small mission trees for smaller countries, so our contributors from the community tend to make those. This doesn't mean we're not working on adding bigger mission trees however.

Will the map continue to be expanded even further?
In EU4 at least, this is as far as the map will go. The engine is just not powerful enough to handle a map with such massive scope, tags and provinces if it was expanded to the whole world. We would have to sacrifice detail to the extent that it just becomes another vanilla map.

Can you add X culture?
The main consideration for adding a culture is whether there is a primary tag for that culture or not. If there is not, we don't add it. Also, we have decided for now against splitting the cultures up even more. This is due to the accepted culture mechanic which would cause negative modifiers everywhere if you had to accept loads of cultures. No cultures from VN1 were removed, infact we actually added a few in Europe.

Why were some countries removed in VN2?
Practically all of the removed countries were either small, irrelevant, revolter only, or had dubious reasons to exist. About 50 tags in total were removed, mostly in France and the HRE. This was necessary to even out performance as >230 more tags were added in their place.

Is there a list of National Idea sets?
List forthcoming

Why is there an uncolonised patch in Iberia?
This represents the "no-man's land" that was created due to constant warfare between Christians and Muslims in that area. It can be repopulated however.

Why do many mission trees lack flavor text?
These are work in progress currently and may not be finished for all mission trees.

Why is there a Roman culture province in Djerid in 1054?
This represents the last remaining enclaves of African Romance peoples. We thought it would be a nice easter egg and give players the opportunity to culture shift to Roman and even form Rome if they are good enough.

How can I play as Muscovy in the 1054 start?
Start as Vladimir and release Muscovy as a vassal, checking the box to switch to playing as them.

Why are the physically present rivers on the map not navigable?
The engine's inability to lock river navigation behind triggers like CK2 makes this impossible to do, so everybody would be having massive fleets inside of rivers which would be completely unrealistic.