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CK2 Dev Diary #61: The Dragon Throne

Hello folks!

The Swedish summer vacations are drawing to a close and I’m back and eager to talk some more Crusader Kings! What better way to kick off the end of summer than by revealing the theme of the next expansion? Yes my friends, it’s China! Now, before you get all emotional one way or the other, we’re not actually going to expand the map farther east. We considered doing that, long and hard, but eventually decided on a different approach that would not strain performance and stability beyond reason. As I mentioned in Dev Diary #51, it bothers me that the eastern edge of the map just cuts off in such an unnatural way. Playing in the Orient, you should always feel like you’re in the shadow of the Dragon. It should be an interesting and dynamic region right in the center of the Old World. So, we came up with the idea of adding China as a political entity even though you cannot actually see most of its territory.

The Dragon Throne.png


There is a new screen you can open up, which, if you’re within range of China, allows you to interact with the Emperor in various interesting ways. China can grant many wonderful boons if you’re in the emperor’s good graces, but, depending on the current status and policy of the Dragon Throne, the emperor can also decide you’d better show some respect and become a tributary state. When there is turmoil in China, displaced or fleeing armies can arrive on the map and cause all kinds of trouble. China can even seize and rule actual provinces, but the emperor leaves the governing of such areas to the Governor of the Western Protectorate (or, to be a stickler, the “Protectorate General to Pacify the West”.) Potentially, this on-map part of China can grow enormously powerful, but you should not have to worry too much as long as you enjoy the emperor’s grace…

That’s going to be all for now. I’m sure you have a million questions, but you’ll have to wait for the upcoming dev diaries. :)

Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our CK2 livestreams between 16 to 18:00 CET!
 
I think the ideal solution is to make use of the Papal naming mechanic to have it so that the ruling monarch gets a new name (temple name maybe?) upon succession to the throne. Can even have it so that the title uses the empire name, thus presenting the ruler as, for example: Tang Daizong. That would also allow the other members of the Imperial family to retain their family name (in this example: Li) as well as preventing them from having awkward given names. I imagine, though, this could perhaps already be in place.

That still wouldn't be right because the Temple Name was a posthumous appellation. People who addressed the emperor irl while he was alive would have used a number of honorifics such as "your highness" or other formal name. It would make more sense to just use their personal names instead and this is already the case in other parts of the game world.
 
That still wouldn't be right because the Temple Name was a posthumous appellation. People who addressed the emperor irl while he was alive would have used a number of honorifics such as "your highness" or other formal name. It would make more sense to just use their personal names instead and this is already the case in other parts of the game world.
Yes, well aware of both the nature of posthumous/temple names (not always the same) as well as the reigning emperor being referred to through titles rather than any direct address. That being said, I find myself in agreement with Meneth's post. It's best to use names that are recognizable and clear, which temple names are in comparison to given names (which also occasionally had the bad habit of being changed through various circumstances). That, and unless they were to add an event or mechanic to posthumously give the emperor his temple name, I don't see how having the emperor addressed by his personal name is that much better. Using the temple name is easier and can be handwaved as being a latter appellation posthumously given to the emperor, as was the case in history.
 
Will a proper bureaucratic government be implemented and, if so, will the ERE also have it? i see this being a lot interesting and helpful for mods like WTWSMS and Project Augustus.
 
I don't mean to be a pest, but... while you guys are adding the new provinces to the eastern half of the map, could you see about adding Lake Qinghai and the Tibetan lakes?
 
I'm really excited for this but China done this time Was very unstable. The Tang themselves for another client losing much of their authority to the Governor General's. Leading to the five Dynasties and 10 kingdoms. Then you had Song who only hold onto for so long until broken into war again shattering and losing it all the mongols. Other words it really messy and most with hundred year of stability. Between very long wars.
Which honestly, makes it perfect for Crusader Kings. Unstable empires, numerous successor states fighting over land? It's a culmination of everything that makes the game fun.

I hope China proper does get added in a future expansion, or at least a mod. Because it seems like such a fun area to play in!
 
I hope China proper does get added in a future expansion, or at least a mod. Because it seems like such a fun area to play in!
Check out Tianxia mod.
 
Will a proper bureaucratic government be implemented and, if so, will the ERE also have it? i see this being a lot interesting and helpful for mods like WTWSMS and Project Augustus.

THIS! we badly need a bureaucratic government for large non feudal empires like the ERE and now western China
 
It just says what the Emperor likes/dislikes. I'm not saying you're wrong (I don't know anything about this nursery rhyme), but it could just be coincidental.
It's not really a nursery rhyme as much as a phrase that is said at the beginning of every round of the game, the phrase is.
"Kejsaren av kina tycker inte om te, men han tycker om...?"
"The emperor of china does not like tea (actually the letter t) but he likes...?"
And then the person is supposed to guess nouns that the emperor likes. And if the word does not contain the letter in question (t is first round other rounds it kept secret) the person who asks says "The emperor likes [noun]" or if it contains the letter then he said "the emperor dislikes [noun]".
I have a hard time thinking that it's a coincidence. Generally the guessers win if they can get an entire round without anyone saying something the emperor dislikes then the next person is the asker.

Because CK2 could never represent the extent of colonization that occurred in the 16th-18th centuries.
Not with it's current mechanics no but with added mechanics I don't see why not, it's not like EU4 is particularly good at it. Got to say Vic2s colonial mechanic is way better.
 
Wow.
 
Pretty nice!

How moddable will this feature be? Will we be able to add new titles accessible through such an interface? Is it possible to add other conditions than diplomatic range for interacting with China?
There will be a separate window for the Aztec empire for those running the Sunset Invasion DLC :p .
 
This is exciting! While I have never hidden that I would like to see the whole Euroasia added to the game on the long-term, on the short-term this is far better than the current setup. Immersion, historicity and balance all added at once. New government types are always a bonus, and a new fully moddable option of off-map entities is something I would never have even have imagined given the far-reaching possibilities it adds. Maybe some additional new religions will also come?

What I'd like is to be able to play said China though, even though it would only by off-map. Probably not something which the CK2 team plan on adding, but I think it would be interesting.

As this is the first diary on the expansion though, I'm not surprised that it creates more questions than it provides answers.
 
China was not united for most of CK2's time period. I wonder how this will be portrayed if at all.
Yeah I certainly hope China won't be much more powerful than it was in much of this period. Especially if you start in a period where it was collapsed.
 
Will there be new religions, cultures and government forms?
Since China can be on the map, it seems like this woule be neccessary.
Well we can already see a new portrait for the Chinese emperor, and two new portrait borders, so there's your cultures and government types right there. We also know that Chinese emperors can dislike Buddhism, which means they aren't Buddhist, so there's at least one new religion introduced for China (along with Bon for Tibet, confirmed in previous DDs).
 
This is an excellent point.



Donald's favourite words. Fake and China.
Donald, is that you?

It's really not an excellent point, since the DLC will undoubtedly have a miriad of accompanying features interesting to the majority of players. This has been a pattern across Pdox DLC, one theme for the expansion with smaller general features to appeal to a larger audience.

Some people *cough* just don't seem to realize this DD isn't the entire expansion.
 
So could China become Catholic? Specifically wondering if that would then lead to Chinese cardinals (and eventually a Chinese pope).