Things are getting busy at the office with the upcoming release of Europa Universalis IV, but as has been said before, we're still very much committed to the continued support and further expansion of Crusader Kings II. With Doomdark currently Down Under, Johan asked me to put together a short dev diary highlighting some of the current stuff we've been working on.

Patch 1.11:
1.11 will be deployed next week, and the new patch will include a few features that should make dealing with plots a bit easier. After hatching a plot, you can now tell the game to automatically invite all plotters who are willing to join your scheme. No more having to browse through the Potential Plotters list and individually sending requests to every single character who wants to join!

Also, you can now set the game to always demand that characters end their plots as soon as they come to your attention. Another handy addition is that you can now see at a glance which potential plotters can be won over to your side if they are bribed.

Among the other things added is a new Siege Leader trait (finally), a favorite IP table for the multiplayer menu and some additional support for modders.

Crusader Kings II to Europa Universalis IV Converter:
Johan already posted a dev diary about the Converter last week in the Europa Universalis IV forum, and there is an interview with Groogy here that goes into some more detail. I don't have much to add except that we're pretty pleased with the result and it actually works better than we had anticipated when development began.

Customizer:
This is a smaller DLC on the scale of the Ruler Designer, but it's something that many have asked for. It will give players an easy way to customize several items in their games when they are already well underway.

You can have your character pay a visit to the barber, where their hairstyle or facial hair can be altered... within reason (no bearded women, sorry). Below you can see the new look I gave King Charles II the Not-So-Bald:

View attachment CKII_111_DD_The_Bald.jpg

You can rename any title held by you or your vassals:

View attachment CKII_111_DD_Northwest_Francia.jpg

Finally, if you feel the need to shake things up a bit, you can alter the name and shield of your dynasty:

View attachment CKII_111_DD_de_Poher.jpg

Hopefully this will tide you over for a while, until we're ready to tell you more about what the future will bring to Crusader Kings II.


Here are the highlights from the Crusader Kings II to Europa Universalis IV Converter livestream with Johan & Doomdark!
[video=youtube;FWqQgp1Vh9U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWqQgp1Vh9U[/video]

You can find the full live-stream for the CK2 to EU4 converter here:
http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive/b/438261345

ps. And you can pre-order Europa Universalis IV here:
http://www.europauniversalis4.com/buy

 

[Lakedaimon]

My guess would be a price similar to ruler designer, since it's stated that it is on the same scale.

 

[unmerged(751237)]

My guess would be a price similar to ruler designer, since it's stated that it is on the same scale.

It's not. It just allows you to change your beard and hair ingame. Amazing...

 

[balmung60]

It's not. It just allows you to change your beard and hair ingame. Amazing...

It also lets you rename duchies, kingdoms, and empires, and presumably have their names carry over to EU IV.

 

[Thure]

It's not. It just allows you to change your beard and hair ingame. Amazing...

And the name of your state... And your Dynasty name and CoA... Every time you want.

And the ruler designer? Creat a character at the start... Wow. That's much more!

 

[unmerged(751237)]

And the name of your state... And your Dynasty name and CoA... Every time you want.

And the ruler designer? Creat a character at the start... Wow. That's much more!

You can choose your name, dynastic name and dynastic COA with Ruler Designer. You can also change the appearance with Ruler Designer. All this adds is the ability to change the name of your country in a way that'll probably break EUIV ports.

 

[VolitionNewlove]

No information on decadence fixes or infidel marriage, sadly.

Still, at least we have our own personal barber. (We are the bloody king, after all.)

 

[balmung60]

You can choose your name, dynastic name and dynastic COA with Ruler Designer. You can also change the appearance with Ruler Designer. All this adds is the ability to change the name of your country in a way that'll probably break EUIV ports.

Do you really think that the converter wouldn't be able to copy-paste a name into the port file? I mean, it sounds pretty simple (even from a coding perspective (just take the name associated with a given title, such as k_germany, and apply it to its EUIV equivalent)) to me, and like a way to handle the existing cases (like East Francia vs Germany) while minimizing the work added by future cases of doing much the same thing with other titles.

 

[Lakedaimon]

I don't understand all the negativity. I want to be able to change the names of my titles so I buy the dlc. Someone else doesn't want to be able to so he doesn't. I also like the idea of being able to change the CoA for current rulers. Ruler with a Lion on it's CoA ruling the Dutch Empire here we come!

 

[unmerged(751237)]

Do you really think that the converter wouldn't be able to copy-paste a name into the port file? I mean, it sounds pretty simple (even from a coding perspective (just take the name associated with a given title, such as k_germany, and apply it to its EUIV equivalent)) to me, and like a way to handle the existing cases (like East Francia vs Germany) while minimizing the work added by future cases of doing much the same thing with other titles.

It means you won't get your national ideas(not sure if you would anyway, West Francia doesn't become France for example).

 

[SBolshevik]

It means you won't get your national ideas(not sure if you would anyway, West Francia doesn't become France for example).

It likely wouldn't change the tag.

 

[Nyrael]

It means you won't get your national ideas(not sure if you would anyway, West Francia doesn't become France for example).

The game doesn't read the name of the realm but of the tag. And you don't change the name of the tag, just the realm's.

 

[unmerged(751237)]

The game doesn't read the name of the realm but of the tag. And you don't change the name of the tag, just the realm's.

If it didn't, the name of the realm in your save(West Francia) wouldn't convert.

 

[Lakedaimon]

If it didn't, the name of the realm in your save(West Francia) wouldn't convert.

It might just do both. EU3 worked with both names and tags too. All you have to do is add a dynamic name to a fixed tag in both CK2 and EU4 and there should be no problem.

But even if there is, the save game converter shouldn't hold back CK2's development. It may be a bit disappointing to lose your custom name in EU4 but it's not gamebreaking.

 

[OrdepNM]

If it didn't, the name of the realm in your save(West Francia) wouldn't convert.

It will. The mechanic is exactly the same as the one for the muslim dynastic naming, which the devs already comfirmed will be respected by the converter.

 

[Andreasqiao]

since this patch release at next week, could it be along with the announcement or even release time of the new DLC as well ?

 

[unmerged(590765)]

Not sure i quiet getting it. The Customizer, just changes the name right? It does not change the de jure claims or anything?

Os if i hold Kingdom of Denmark, England and mali, and create the Empire of whatever, they don't become de jure Empire of whatever?

 

[Vindahl]

When I first looked at these new features, I thought "Great"!
But then I came to think of it... And I don't think I would use any of it... It seems Paradox makes a "decent try" but they are just not quite there yet...

The Ruler Customization Tool is neat, but I really don't think I would use it! I like the randomness of how people look. I don't need to change my rulers beard from one type, to another. What I need, and many need, is to be able to name your grandchildren and so on, or have a random name generator, when babies are born.
I don't know if baldness in this game is genetic, but if it is, it would be strange to suddenly give the guy hair I think...

The ability to change titles, is just weird I think... I can't think of ANY reason I should change a perfectly fine historically correct title! I don't personally get a kick out of naming my Kingdom, The Kingdom of Awesome, and then have a King called Super of the Duper Dynasty. I understand some people having the time of their lives doing this, I will not judge them, all I say is that I don't find it useful. Paradox have even been so cool to let the correct titles change according to Culture. I don't need anymore than that...

And last, but not least, the Dynasty Cusomization Tool. Again, not quite there Paradox. It doesn't really matter for me to change name of the dynasty, or crest, that I have been playing for 100 years - why would I? What I do want, it the ability to "break free" from a Dynasty and create your own new branch/dynasty. I currently play as a Rurikid, and I think the Dynasty is growing too complex, so I would like to make it simpler for me, forming my own Branch/Dynasty.

But all in all, I think it is ok, these new features. Some will buy them, some might not. I am just a little worried that Paradox is spending a lot of time making superficial changes and wasting that time and energy, from much more gamebreaking aspect, which people also have craved for...

 

[Lakedaimon]

Well people can use the title name changer however they want, but I think the most useful way to use it is for example if you want to make the Empire of Germany rather than the Holy Roman Empire. If you are king of England and manage to get your hands on wales maybe make a single Duke of Wales by editing the name of one of the duchies, same for Ireland. You could try to get your hands on the kingdom of Hungary as duke of Austria and rename it to the Kingdom of Austria. There are tons of applications far beyond just giving your realms random weird names. It's just a shame you can't edit the color on the map.

 

[Danasher]

Can't read 16 pages of stuff so forgive me if it's been covered, but does the customiser allow for changing of character names? So we no longer have to worry about your AI controlled characters naming your future heir "Gerald", or something equally unkingly?

Don't think so, but I sure wish so, had enough of 5 generations worth of King Henry of England, only for my beautiful chain to be broken by a bloody King Borris... Maybe there should be a way to name your grandkids, or at least a way to change a characters regal name, not their actual name.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

+1

Females did not ever carry on the dynasty. They and their descendants would take the name of the husband and father, no matter what class of nobility they held (and queens would not marry lowborns under any circumstances).

This is actually how Plantagenet replaced de Normandie.

Mostly dynasty names are a construct from modern historians. A lot of royal families don't have, or until recently didn't have, family names, and thus they and their descendents couldn't take the name of the father, because there was no real concept of surnames. Queen Victoria had to specially investigate what her "correct" surname should be. Since this is the case and "traditionally" surnames descend by the male line, when various dynasties were being retroactively constructed by historians, the male line dynasties were written in. More realistically you'd have agreements that the children of a given marriage were or were not able to inherit titles from the mother's family, the father's family, both, or in some cases neither - this last could come up if both parties to the marriage were minor relatives, and hadn't acquired proper permission.

The closest most nobles got to surnames were territorial - "Duke of X", "Count of Y", and these "title surnames" were mobile with the titles. Thus you'd have Richard (of York), Duke of York, and William (of Durham), Count of Durham; when Richard was stripped of titles and executed, and the title of Duke of York was instead given to William, he'd now be considered William of York.

Definitely out of era, but it appears Queen Elizabeth II of the UK matrilinearly married Philip of Greece since the acknowledged family name for the British Royals is "Windsor" not Mountbatten.

On a slightly technical note, Plantagenet replaced de Blois, after de Blois had won England by conquest upon the death of the last relevant de Normandie male.