Hello again folks!

This diary will be a bit on the short side due to the frenzy at the office this week, but since it recently came up on the forum, I thought I'd say a little bit about regnal numbers. One of the nice little touches in Europa Universalis III (and its predecessors) is that kings have proper regnal numbers. This feature was missing from the original Crusader Kings, but I am pleased to announce that it will be fully implemented in Crusader Kings II. The way it works is that the first names of actual scripted holders in the character database are counted for each landed title at game start. Regnal numbers are only displayed for Dukes and above, which includes the Pope (a kingdom tier title.) The Holy Father, however, is a bit special in that he changes name on accession. So, a character named, say, Étienne Aubert could get the name Innocent VI if he became Pope.



Somewhat related to regnal numbers is the state of a character at the time of death. In Crusader Kings II, you can browse back through dead characters and see exactly which titles they held and what regnal number they had. I'll leave you with some extra screenshots while you're waiting for the next dev diary, which will be about our beautiful new map. Failing unexpected delays, it should be posted on february 4.




Henrik Fåhraeus, Associate Producer and CKII Project Lead

 

[LordofSaxony]

Agreed. Who cares about pretty visuals of rain falling on a 3D map? Let the provinces be the focus.

I've always been a sucker for pointless fluff. But then again, what's pointless to one person may not be to another. I've always liked aesthetics in games, complexity, depth, and all of that. Anyways, I highly doubt a rain animation would impact performance on any scale. They don't have to make it that advanced in terms of providing rain boundaries and all of that. Anyhow, I like playing in terrain view a lot and I think this would be kinda cool for that purpose.

 

[Kaleidoscope]

Anyways, I highly doubt a rain animation would impact performance on any scale.

If it were any other developer I would agree, but these guys somehow managed to make clouds/fog of war in DW lag even monster PCs. Paradox never fails to disappoint me with their technical incompetence.

That said, I also think that a game simulating medieval period would be enhanced by including some simple weather/seasonal simulation to reflect the realities of waging war in that time period. If that kind of thing is in the game then some visual indication (such as rain) would not be unwelcome.

 

[exenter]

Am I the only one who thinks that the map in those screenshots looks terrible?

 

[Kaleidoscope]

Am I the only one who thinks that the map in those screenshots looks terrible?

pre-alpha

 

[LaIsHeR]

Anyways, I highly doubt a rain animation would impact performance on any scale. They don't have to make it that advanced in terms of providing rain boundaries and all of that. Anyhow, I like playing in terrain view a lot and I think this would be kinda cool for that purpose.

I don't think rain alone would be a problem but realistic and moving rain would be really hard on processor, think about it you would need to calculate every day where rains move it there, and remember this game could have tens of thousands of characters.

Am I the only one who thinks that the map in those screenshots looks terrible?

It is pre-alpha or so they have said on every page

 

[Kaleidoscope]

Weather simulation could be as simple as splitting the year up into four seasons and then applyng certain bonuses/penalties to various parameters based on the season. Decrease levy sizes in the Spring and Autumn (sowing and harvesting requires men for the fields), increase levy sizes and reduce upkeep costs in the Summer (men are free for fighting, and armies can support themselves by foraging) and apply a big upkeep cost and a penalty to movement speed in Winter to simulate the requirements for extra provisions, clothing, etc... and harsh conditions.
Represent each season with a graphical overlay (see King Arthur for a game which did this well) and job's a good'un.

 

[unmerged(80814)]

Edward III!! <3

 

[unmerged(150945)]

SNIP

Agreed. A hundred times agreed.

 

[tobier]

This looks really promising. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

 

[podcat]

Nice update! They shouldn't all be allowed to be on the same plane.


I think it would be really cool if the faces were designed so that a certain facial setup looked like Johan, one looked like Doomdark, one like Kallocain and so on...

we werent. devteam was split over 2 planes the pictures you see of characters are really really pre-alpha though. I think yonaz has only done 2 base portraits and not a lot of variation bits yet so there will be a ton more. also about the devteam faces... look carefully around when you see the final game, there might potentially be some stuff like that

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

Let the raids on Wikipedia Commons commence!

My personal favorite: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Très_Riches_Heures_du_Duc_de_Berry

I prefer the Maciejowski Bible. I've never been such beautiful Medieval illuminated iniatures:

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings

 

[Morboth]

That is the (currently randomly generated) Dynasty CoA. Important dynasties like the Plantagenets will get proper pre-scripted ones eventually.

*proposes to CK II*

 

[SirGrotius]

I like the sound of this. It's good to follow characters and it's great that we'll be able to access deceased characters' histories. At the end of the day, lots of us Paradox fans are closet historians.

 

[RedRooster81]

I prefer the Maciejowski Bible. I've never been such beautiful Medieval illuminated iniatures:

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings

Very nice. There is plenty of material out there in public domain, but I think that whatever the devs or modders pick, there should be some consistency or theme between the various images.

 

[Caranorn]

I prefer the Maciejowski Bible. I've never been such beautiful Medieval illuminated iniatures:

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings

Thanks for the link, hadn't seen it complete yet :-D ...

 

[Caranorn]

Weather simulation could be as simple as splitting the year up into four seasons and then applyng certain bonuses/penalties to various parameters based on the season. Decrease levy sizes in the Spring and Autumn (sowing and harvesting requires men for the fields), increase levy sizes and reduce upkeep costs in the Summer (men are free for fighting, and armies can support themselves by foraging) and apply a big upkeep cost and a penalty to movement speed in Winter to simulate the requirements for extra provisions, clothing, etc... and harsh conditions.
Represent each season with a graphical overlay (see King Arthur for a game which did this well) and job's a good'un.

Note that spring/fall would only negatively influence non professional (peasant based) levies. I just read how the early Carolingians purpousely delayed their mobilisations into late summer to catch their enemies during harvest times (fewer defenders and much easier to wreak damage by destroying the harvest). Professional troops like knights and sergeants did not have to tend to such farm related tasks (though some would probably have had to stay back to carry out taxation, but those could be be the same ones garrisoning castles and cities anyhow)...

But seasons influenced warfare in many other ways. Namely how easy or difficult movement was, how much forage there was for horses, increased risks of illness etc. All those factors made summer and fall the best campaigning seasons, good roads and river navigation until the rains of late fall, good forage until harvest was complete, risk of fevers in swampy areas but otherwise healthy campaigning. Of course in some places the best campaign season was winter, notably in East Prussia and beyond where swampy terrain would freeze and permit easier movement, were illness due to swamp flies and the like were reduced, though of course otherwise weather was very harsh and little forage available (requiring good supplies in garrisons and carrying along any food needed for men and animals). In some places of course organised movement by large forces should be at all impossible during winter, notably across the alpine passes, or across certain seas (more due to storm than ice) or most rivers...

So I think weather should factor into the game, but not necessarily a realistic weather simulator like you might see in naval simulator (the modified screenshot with rain reminded me of a sub simulator, looks great, but we don't really need 24 hour realistic weather)...

 

[Woody Man]

Climate and wheather which has a meaningful impact on gameplay =/= pointless fluff

Assuming that either are actually in the game of course, which I hope, but doubt.

Climate yes, I'm all for that, actual rain falling on the map? No; it would genuinely irritate me.

 

[the_hdk]

the weather thing seems a bit too far fetched IMO and wouldn't add that much. I'd rather they focus more about characters and gameplay.

 

[unmerged(9481)]

I pray to God that the last one with the two tiny people represents a family tree of some sorts.

I'm very happy that we can now see the titles of dead characters! (Reminds me of the comment by Sir Francis Walsingham in the film "Elizabeth", where he says to the Duke of Norfolk while pointing to his death sentence: "The dead have no titles").

I would love a family tree of anscestors and descendants giving an overview of the dynasty. I'm in a state of suspended motion and baited breath until this point is confirmed or not by Doomdark.

 

[Johan11]

Ooooh......

I can't wait!