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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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chrnno said:
So the Mongols land on Iberia, France and the British Isles and the Aztecs plow through whoever is in the way west and south?
Click to expand...
No, the Mongols are the Eastern invasion, the Aztecs are the Western invasion. But if you can set it to "Random", you never know which, if any, will occur.

Right now, the triggered invasion is based on where the player is located. I love the idea of it being random. So I'm playing Poland and gearing up for Mongols and.... the Aztecs show up... in 1300.
 
chrnno said:
So the Mongols land on Iberia, France and the British Isles and the Aztecs plow through whoever is in the way west and south?
Click to expand...

The Aztecs will came from the North Pole and the Mongols will raid from Africa! Or the other way around.
 
Doomdark said:
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.

View attachment 173389

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

View attachment 173388

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?
Click to expand...

I am very, very pleased! This is a fabulous idea!!! Go Paradox!
 
Any chance we can have an option for restive vassals (Restive/Normal) that restores the impact of positive opinion modifiers to pre 2.5 levels when set to Normal? I don't have Conclave and found that without the Conclave council changes, the number of rebellions you get when running a large empire with anything higher than Low Crown Authority and Gavelkind or Elective Succession can be borderline ridiculous. It's a big part of why I went back a patch version to 2.4.1.
 
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Holy platypi Batman, this is great news!

Would it be possible to have a Realm Management option as well to cover things like unlimited republics/theocracies, transfer of vassal dukes to vassal kings that aren't their de jure, etc? I've been messsing around with the former, but I haven't found a mod option for the latter.
 
What about a Default/Broken World/Imperium Mundi option? The Broken World one would have everyone reduced to one county. The Imperium Mundi one would be just like the base game, but everyone is under one World Emperor.
 
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Not sure how feasible this one would be but what about:

Pagan Reformation: Default/Disabled/Pre-Reformed

Where Pre-Reformed means they start with all the bonuses of being a reformed religion, boosted MA, holy wars, etc. and the religious heads exist (except the Fylkir).
 
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Any chance of a setting for culture conversion speed? The widespread extermination of cultures is the single-most common reason for why I quit CKII games, so a setting for slower conversion would be much appreciated. (Ex. Default/Slow--maybe Fast if there's any demand.)
 
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Pagans Accept Conversion: Historical / 11th Century / Random
Cultural Religious Preference: Historical / Random
Kidnapping: On/Off

adding these in and I will start playing CK2 again after a thousand hours.
 
DominusNovus said:
Platypuses is also acceptable. But so much less penache. The importsnt part is that the endings of both octopus and platypus are derived from greek. So, if we're going to use any non-English grammatical convention, it should be the greek.

Saying platypi or octopi is like referring to a man whose last name is Fitzpatrick as 'ibn Patrick.' Its just meshing things around that don't fit.
Click to expand...

Octopus is actually latin. "Octo" is the latin root for eight.
 
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TheAtreides84 said:
Octopus is actually latin. "Octo" is the latin root for eight.
Click to expand...

No, its not. First of all, 'okto-' is both greek and latin for eight. Given that they're both Indo-European languages that developed on adjacent Mediterranean peninsulas, it should come as no surprise that there is a fair amount of overlap. Second, '-pus' comes from the greek for foot, '-pous'. Not the Latin, which is '-pes' (which, again, is derived from the same source).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/octopus

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/octopus
 
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