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CK2 Dev Diary - The Rules of the Game

Well people, what do you know? I needed a break from the Stellaris crunch, so here’s an unscheduled dev diary! All the hubbub about Defensive Pacts and Shattered Retreats got me thinking about an old ambition I’ve had to improve the game set-up screens in order to allow players to customize their experience without having to resort to modding. The idea is inspired by games like Civilization and the Second Wave DLC for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which allow players to change various advanced options and settings for a different experience in the game. I really like such options and typically make good use of them myself.

Now, of course there is such a thing as “the way the game was meant to be played”. That is, how the designers made the game and like to play it themselves. However, variety is the spice of life, and after 11 Crusader Kings II expansions things are not as clear-cut anymore. It’s actually pretty funny that I’ve been using a small personal mod for CK2 for awhile myself. There are some downsides to modding and using mods though:
  • It requires awareness that it’s possible, and where to find existing mods. The modding scene is a jungle.
  • It takes a modicum of extra effort and skill.
  • It might not feel quite legitimate (it can feel a bit like cheating) and you might not get any Achievements.
  • Mods typically do not have the same level of support as the base game. Many become fossilized or are otherwise problematic.
For these reasons especially, I think that adding a bunch of Paradox-approved, fully supported in-game rule variations is a good idea. Thus, when you start a new game, you are now presented with several interesting options. Most of them are simple flavor variations, but some are more fundamental and will disable Achievements in Ironman mode. Here’s the list of options we are currently showing in the new screen (still a work in progress though):
  • Sandbox vs Ironman
  • Shattered Retreats: On/Off
  • Defensive Pacts: On/Off
  • Gender Equality: Default/Historical/All/Players
  • Sunset Invasion: 13th Century/Random/Off
  • Mongol Invasion: Historical/Random/Off
  • Raiding: Historical/Unrestricted/None
  • Epidemics: Dynamic/Historical/Deadly
  • “Supernatural” Events: On/Off
  • Adventurers: Normal/Rare/None
  • Provincial Revolts: Normal/Rare/None
  • Regencies: On/Off
  • De Jure Drift: Default/Restricted/Off
  • Dynamic Kingdoms and Empires: On/Off
  • Diplomatic Range: On/Off
Red options disable Achievements.

Crusader Kings II - Rules 01.jpg


Our new rule system is itself fully moddable, so that modders can use the same system with pretty much any options they might want!

Crusader Kings II - Rules 02.jpg


I look forward to your thoughts and comments. Are there any rule variations you think we’ve missed, or that you would really like to see?
 
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I really like the new game rules coming out but I think there are still some more than can be added before release:

Nomads: On/Off
Tribal: On/Off
Provincial Revolts: Normal/Rare/None/Powerful
De Jure CB: Default/Global/Off
Tribal Becomes Republic: Never/Occasionally/Often
River Navigation: Historical/Global
Multiplayer Assassinations: Default/AI targets only
Grant Independence: Default/Unrestricted (I don't even understand why it's restricted in the first place)
Global Wealth: Default/Low/High
Global Levy: Default/Low/High
Vassal limit: Default/Half/None

I tried to pick game rules that shouldn't take too much dev time to throw in.

River navigation is the best one! Really liked your list.
 
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I think I was fairly even handed. You cannot describe these features as "well received" when at least half the players don't like them. To describe them as well received you would need a clear majority in favour. This is why the "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 60%, not 50%. The DLC is currently rated 43% on Steam, and it hasn't risen above 46% in at least four months. Most of that is down to opinions on the patch, though, rather than the DLC.

As far as performing their intended function, it's arguable that Shattered Retreat more-or-less prevents stack wipes, but at the same time it can do strange and annoying things. In reality the AI tends to "yo-yo" back into battle, so the end result is the same. Only the player is smart enough to flee back home when beaten. Defensive Pacts flat out don't prevent blobbing or really slow it down.
I kind of agree with that actually; It was just formulated a too negatively ("admit that they were not well received") and there were some more neutral ways to express it.
 
I want an a public apology
You want a public apology, from a three hundred million euro company, because they, after years of adding more free content every few months to a four year old game, now added something that was not universally valued among the fanbase?

Good luck, with that.
 
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You want a public apology, from a three hundred million euro company, because they, after years of adding more free content every few months to a four year old game, now added something that was not universally valued among the fanbase?

Good luck, with that.
Nice post snipping, you forgot the rest of it where I actually stated why I wanted an apology. I like that they add new features, what I don't like is how they tried to tell the people who buy their content and keep them in business that their opinion on the patch is wrong :) They even had the one bs post about the correct version of the game is how the devs want it to played or some crap like that. When you're a business that makes products for consumers, you listen to them instead of telling them they're wrong...
 
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Yeah, but I disagree with that. You cannot tell someone their opinion is wrong, and they never did so. One dev explained why he enjoyed playing with coalitions, that's all. There's no need to take that as a personal insult.
 
Nice post snipping, you forgot the rest of it where I actually stated why I wanted an apology. I like that they add new features, what I don't like is how they tried to tell the people who buy their content and keep them in business that their opinion on the patch is wrong :) They even had the one bs post about the correct version of the game is how the devs want it to played or some crap like that. When you're a business that makes products for consumers, you listen to them instead of telling them they're wrong...
Hey, you know what is worse than an inbred lunatic heir?
Real life people having ravaging butthurts because their ignorance&biases-based opinions does not really matter.
My advice - stop seeing CK2 as a product and try an approach that it is an result of bursting creativity in which you, at the cost of a small fee, can participate to some extent.
 
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Some suggestions:
India on/off
Europe (inkl. Africa) on/off
Steppes on/off
Northkorea mode alowed/not allowed
Vassal Limit none/high/low
 
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Some suggestions:
India on/off
Europe (inkl. Africa) on/off
Steppes on/off
Northkorea mode alowed/not allowed
Vassal Limit none/high/low

Removing regions is not possible in the game options. The map is loaded with start of the game and can't be changed in the options or midgame.
 
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A lot of the people in the posts the devs made sure did.
If you are to discuss this matter, I recommend that you take contact with forum moderation through PM, as personal insults are to be discussed with them.
 
I want a public apology because of the crap they tried to pull in the very beginning. How they blatantly told their customers that they were wrong about not liking the features. They also basically said that their customers were lying about the patch and tried to show us magic ways to enjoy the patch that the majority did not like.

Nice post snipping, you forgot the rest of it where I actually stated why I wanted an apology. I like that they add new features, what I don't like is how they tried to tell the people who buy their content and keep them in business that their opinion on the patch is wrong :) They even had the one bs post about the correct version of the game is how the devs want it to played or some crap like that. When you're a business that makes products for consumers, you listen to them instead of telling them they're wrong...
Produce evidence and maybe we'll take you seriously.
 
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Produce evidence and maybe we'll take you seriously.
I don't remember the dev diary, thread, post, etc to produce the evidence. Yes, yes, I know "how convenient". I haven't the time to look for it either again I know "how convenient". Tell ya what, in 6 years when I'm finally done with all the school I'd like to take and I have time after whatever job I'm working, I'll look for the evidence just for you. To be honest though, I'm rather tired of this pointless debate that's been going on as they already added options to the game and I'm happy now. When I said I wanted an apology I knew they'd never give one nor do I ever expect it to happen. In fact I didn't even think anyone would reply to it. Have a wonderful rest of your life.
 
I don't remember the dev diary, thread, post, etc to produce the evidence. Yes, yes, I know "how convenient". I haven't the time to look for it either again I know "how convenient". Tell ya what, in 6 years when I'm finally done with all the school I'd like to take and I have time after whatever job I'm working, I'll look for the evidence just for you. To be honest though, I'm rather tired of this pointless debate that's been going on as they already added options to the game and I'm happy now. When I said I wanted an apology I knew they'd never give one nor do I ever expect it to happen. In fact I didn't even think anyone would reply to it. Have a wonderful rest of your life.
Oh yes, when someone actually calls you on your claims you back down and spill some of your doublethink to try to convince the other person that they were the zealous one. However, I agree with you that we should not continue this silly debate.

P.S. In 6 years? Why don't "ya" just use Google?
 
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Few other ideas:

1. Retinues
Default (one kind of special retinue per culture)/unrestricted (all the existing kinds of retinues available for every culture, welcome Sir John, the camelrider)/restricted (every culture's rulers have access to retinues from a broad group, e.g. Western Europe culture group, Eastern Europe culture group, etc)

2. Tyranny modifier
Off/on/double (hell fucking yeah)

3. Event troops
Unaffected by attrition / affected by attrition / extra prone to platypus

4. Prosperity / depopulation
Default/faster/slower

5. Trade posts
Need sea connection / does not need sea connection
 
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Few other ideas:

1. Retinues
Default (one kind of special retinue per culture)/unrestricted (all the existing kinds of retinues available for every culture, welcome Sir John, the camelrider)/restricted (every culture's rulers have access to retinues from a broad group, e.g. Western Europe culture group, Eastern Europe culture group, etc)

2. Tyranny modifier
Off/on/double (hell fucking yeah)

3. Event troops
Unaffected by attrition / affected by attrition / extra prone to platypus

4. Prosperity / depopulation
Default/faster/slower

5. Trade posts
Need sea connection / does not need sea connection
6. Holy Wars
Regular / Need land connection
 
Few other ideas:

1. Retinues
Default (one kind of special retinue per culture)/unrestricted (all the existing kinds of retinues available for every culture, welcome Sir John, the camelrider)/restricted (every culture's rulers have access to retinues from a broad group, e.g. Western Europe culture group, Eastern Europe culture group, etc)

2. Tyranny modifier
Off/on/double (hell fucking yeah)

3. Event troops
Unaffected by attrition / affected by attrition / extra prone to platypus

4. Prosperity / depopulation
Default/faster/slower

5. Trade posts
Need sea connection / does not need sea connection
For tyranny decay it could be the regular 30 years or the old 10 too.