I gotta be honest I have a whole slew of things I didn't like about CK2 BUT some of the easiest to fix are in settlement menus. Honestly, building fiefdoms is very very boring. It's like watching an excel sheet, and frankly, that's a real design flaw you guys have.
Now, I was a BIG player of Civ 2, especially the scenarios and micromanaging those cities were a LOT of fun, or a lot MORE fun than CK2.
First, the buildings in the settlements need icons. Things that light up what the building would look like, like so:
https://www.zompist.com/civ2.gif
They don't have to be very detailed, just enough to light up the eye and remind the player, yeah.....I built that. Good on me. And have multiple pictures. Actually, takle a look at this screenshot of a Civ 2 scenario:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/attachments/tot_fadlights_scene1_h61-png.437296/
One of the things that keeps disappointing me about Paradox games is....you guys make visually boring games.
In this map, you can easily see which cities belong to whom, at a glace, their relative importance by size and all kinds of infrastructure to build, roads, monasteries, mines, irrigation. When you have built up an area to maximum development, and every tile around the city is as improved as it goes, the money is and the power this confers is nice. But it's the feeling of accomplishment you can see with your own eyes that really makes the heart sing.
And if you can fit it in, even by DLC, take a look here:
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/ste...13c434d925fa87a6c1.1920x1080.jpg?t=1481191254
THis is Master of Orion 2 planet screen, and while I DON'T like the looks of the buildings because they aren't distinct enough from a glance BUT, a screen like this does a lot fo reinforce accomplishment.
Now, the thing about holdings is they should be more dynamic. In the first place, they should grow and decline over time base on prosperity and plague and sackings and such. You don't need exact numbers and only need four or five levels, but they'd mean a lot a give constant feeling of there's stuff going on. It's not as good as winning a crushing battle, but when there's more of it, it a good hook.
And if you can have a city screen, you can decide when you build a new city if i'f gonna be planned or not. Planned, based on Roman colonies is more expensive but buildings should cost less and/or city is less vulnerable to plague or more.....and not planned is more like Rome itself. And you CAN turn unplanned to planned at any time but.....it costs a lot and destroys buildings.
Ideally, you could take the important buildings and decide the style, depending on region. AND....you can give tax holidays. You can with a click of the botton declare a tax holiday of half or all taxes not going to the crown in favor of development AND quicker increase in size and prosperity.....unless your mayor is corrupt or arbitrary. then the effect is lowered. And if you don't mind ROYALLY pissing off the mayor you can make the tax holiday apply to HIS take, for even faster development.
Ideally, you could build monasteries, specialized agriculture plots in the hinterland and have room for one special king abuilding per holding. You know the inn and tower and hedge maze event chains? Well.....you actually build them. And as a holding increases in size, other faiths will come and ask to build houses of worship, up to three depending on trade nodes: Jews, and for most Europeans other Christians and Muslims. And you get money and learning he more you allow tolerance and can even put money into their houses of worship, but you lose piety and the revolt risk can tick up if you are especially tolerant. And you can close down those houses at any time for.....usualy pogrom/expel bonuses, only much smaller.
I will say there are two holding types desperately needed, maybe three more icons, one for the Orthodox cultures, which was sorely missed in CK2 and really delightful in EU2, Christian Middle Eastern cultures, which may or may not include Armenians, and possibly Zoroastirans, unless Monques and Fire Temples look alike
This is an area I found really tedious and with some minor investments in graphics, it could be one of the best parts of the game and a practical solution to bloobing.
Now, I was a BIG player of Civ 2, especially the scenarios and micromanaging those cities were a LOT of fun, or a lot MORE fun than CK2.
First, the buildings in the settlements need icons. Things that light up what the building would look like, like so:
https://www.zompist.com/civ2.gif
They don't have to be very detailed, just enough to light up the eye and remind the player, yeah.....I built that. Good on me. And have multiple pictures. Actually, takle a look at this screenshot of a Civ 2 scenario:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/attachments/tot_fadlights_scene1_h61-png.437296/
One of the things that keeps disappointing me about Paradox games is....you guys make visually boring games.
In this map, you can easily see which cities belong to whom, at a glace, their relative importance by size and all kinds of infrastructure to build, roads, monasteries, mines, irrigation. When you have built up an area to maximum development, and every tile around the city is as improved as it goes, the money is and the power this confers is nice. But it's the feeling of accomplishment you can see with your own eyes that really makes the heart sing.
And if you can fit it in, even by DLC, take a look here:
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/ste...13c434d925fa87a6c1.1920x1080.jpg?t=1481191254
THis is Master of Orion 2 planet screen, and while I DON'T like the looks of the buildings because they aren't distinct enough from a glance BUT, a screen like this does a lot fo reinforce accomplishment.
Now, the thing about holdings is they should be more dynamic. In the first place, they should grow and decline over time base on prosperity and plague and sackings and such. You don't need exact numbers and only need four or five levels, but they'd mean a lot a give constant feeling of there's stuff going on. It's not as good as winning a crushing battle, but when there's more of it, it a good hook.
And if you can have a city screen, you can decide when you build a new city if i'f gonna be planned or not. Planned, based on Roman colonies is more expensive but buildings should cost less and/or city is less vulnerable to plague or more.....and not planned is more like Rome itself. And you CAN turn unplanned to planned at any time but.....it costs a lot and destroys buildings.
Ideally, you could take the important buildings and decide the style, depending on region. AND....you can give tax holidays. You can with a click of the botton declare a tax holiday of half or all taxes not going to the crown in favor of development AND quicker increase in size and prosperity.....unless your mayor is corrupt or arbitrary. then the effect is lowered. And if you don't mind ROYALLY pissing off the mayor you can make the tax holiday apply to HIS take, for even faster development.
Ideally, you could build monasteries, specialized agriculture plots in the hinterland and have room for one special king abuilding per holding. You know the inn and tower and hedge maze event chains? Well.....you actually build them. And as a holding increases in size, other faiths will come and ask to build houses of worship, up to three depending on trade nodes: Jews, and for most Europeans other Christians and Muslims. And you get money and learning he more you allow tolerance and can even put money into their houses of worship, but you lose piety and the revolt risk can tick up if you are especially tolerant. And you can close down those houses at any time for.....usualy pogrom/expel bonuses, only much smaller.
I will say there are two holding types desperately needed, maybe three more icons, one for the Orthodox cultures, which was sorely missed in CK2 and really delightful in EU2, Christian Middle Eastern cultures, which may or may not include Armenians, and possibly Zoroastirans, unless Monques and Fire Temples look alike
This is an area I found really tedious and with some minor investments in graphics, it could be one of the best parts of the game and a practical solution to bloobing.