###################
# Balance
###################
- When a Secret Religious Cult reveals itself, all members will join in the conversion instead of just the ones in the same realm
- The AI is now more often unsuccessful in recruiting new members to Secret Religious Cults
- Priests, Zealous characters and Paranoid characters are now much less likely to join a secret cult
- Characters accused of Apostasy (with the modifier) can no longer Induce Sympathy, Induct or Invite characters to Secret Cults
- The cooldown between inviting/inducting characters into Secret Cults increased to 10 years from 5
- The AI is now less likely to recruit/induct characters into cults if they are in a realm without a player
- Lowered the maximum amount of members the AI can recruit into Secret Religious Cults to a more modest number (from 370 to 91)
- Characters in Secret Religious Cults can now only use Prepare Grounds in counties they or their vassals own
- The AI is now much less inclined to create a secret religious cult just because their liege is a player
- Diplomatic immunity now also prevents release from prison, banishment, and execution

###################
# AI Improvements
###################
- When one AI tells another "get your ass over here" the other AI is now willing to cancel a siege it only just started to actually get "over here"
- The AI will no longer think that just because going back to Rome with its army briefly seemed like a good idea, it should continue going there even if it becomes apparent going to Rome is a terrible idea
- The AI will no longer decide that gathering up to join its allies is a terrible idea just because there's nothing to siege in that friendly province

###################
# Bugfixes
###################
- Fixed an issue where targets of Tainted Touch would get the effects of Soul Corruption rather than the caster
- Fixed giving someone multiple gifts on the same day causing the opinion bonus to stack, then disappear entirely on the next day
- Fixed one way government type could switch away from Tribal on succession for no apparent reason
- Fixed epidemics in some cases never ending due to being stuck on islands
- Fixed the Black Death in some cases never ending due to the end date not working
- If a Secret Religious Cult ends up without a Grandmaster, they will now disband
- Characters not in a society can low lose suspicion level
- When revealing your Secret Cults your suspicion level is reset
- No longer possible to sacrifice the same person to Satan multiple times
- Fixed councillor modifiers not being applied on the very first day of a campaign

###################
# Balance
###################
- When a Secret Religious Cult reveals itself, all members will join in the conversion instead of just the ones in the same realm
- The AI is now more often unsuccessful in recruiting new members to Secret Religious Cults
- Priests, Zealous characters and Paranoid characters are now much less likely to join a secret cult
- Characters accused of Apostasy (with the modifier) can no longer Induce Sympathy, Induct or Invite characters to Secret Cults
- The cooldown between inviting/inducting characters into Secret Cults increased to 10 years from 5
- The AI is now less likely to recruit/induct characters into cults if they are in a realm without a player
- Lowered the maximum amount of members the AI can recruit into Secret Religious Cults to a more modest number (from 370 to 91)
- Characters in Secret Religious Cults can now only use Prepare Grounds in counties they or their vassals own
- The AI is now much less inclined to create a secret religious cult just because their liege is a player
- Diplomatic immunity now also prevents release from prison, banishment, and execution

###################
# AI Improvements
###################
- When one AI tells another "get your ass over here" the other AI is now willing to cancel a siege it only just started to actually get "over here"
- The AI will no longer think that just because going back to Rome with its army briefly seemed like a good idea, it should continue going there even if it becomes apparent going to Rome is a terrible idea
- The AI will no longer decide that gathering up to join its allies is a terrible idea just because there's nothing to siege in that friendly province

###################
# Bugfixes
###################
- Fixed an issue where targets of Tainted Touch would get the effects of Soul Corruption rather than the caster
- Fixed giving someone multiple gifts on the same day causing the opinion bonus to stack, then disappear entirely on the next day
- Fixed one way government type could switch away from Tribal on succession for no apparent reason
- Fixed epidemics in some cases never ending due to being stuck on islands
- Fixed the Black Death in some cases never ending due to the end date not working
- If a Secret Religious Cult ends up without a Grandmaster, they will now disband
- Characters not in a society can low lose suspicion level
- When revealing your Secret Cults your suspicion level is reset
- No longer possible to sacrifice the same person to Satan multiple times
- Fixed councillor modifiers not being applied on the very first day of a campaign

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.



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!

Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Crusader Kings II Development Diary Archive

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.



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!

Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Crusader Kings II Development Diary Archive

Hello everyone!

I am Trin Tragula and this is the first of the post-vacation Europa Universalis Developer Diaries. As I type this most of the team has begun coming back from vacation (though I am still enjoying the mild climate of southern Sweden for another week) and continued work has begun on the 1.23 patch.

So what have we been up to before and during the summer?

Well, we have for a long time felt that the Near East could do with a bit of a facelift.

In Art of War we gave Arabia and Egypt a much needed overhaul, increasing the number of provinces and expanding the number of countries. As you might remember, if you followed the developed diaries of Art of War, this is something we had great help with from the map modder CanOmer.

1.8 was a long time ago however, and the general level of detail in many regions have changed since then. Over time we have come to feel that the setup could be much more detailed than we wanted back then and that some of the decisions we had taken in terms of how to portray things could be revisited.

Today I will be talking about what was going on in Arabia and Egypt in 1444 and how patch 1.23 will cover this differently from previous versions.


Yemen:

In 1444 Yemen is still ruled by the Rasulid dynasty from Taiz, but the Rasulid rule has been growing weaker. The populous Upper Yemen is under the control of the Shiite Rassid Imams from their capital in Sana’a and to many they would be a more fitting leader for a united Yemen. The Rassids are however in the middle of a civil war of their own, with many different relatives vying for the leadership of the Imamate.
In south-eastern Yemen the Tahirid dynasty has achieved independence, in all but name, from the Rasulids. As they expand their rule towards the coast they seem very likely to soon overthrow their old overlords. Like the Rasulids they are Sunni however, and lack support from the Shia in the mountains.

Compared to the rest of Arabia, Yemen is actually somewhat densely populated and was, in the 15th century, also the source of most of the world's exported coffee. While Coffee is grown throughout Yemen and the Horn of Africa the port of Mocha in southern Yemen is by far the most important port for the export of the roasted beans. This was to become one of the main sources of income for the Yemeni rulers, as well as other powers that came to control the region.

In patch 1.23 Mocha will have a goods produced modifier for Coffee to signify the great importance of this port in the history of the Coffee trade. Yemeni coffee merchants will have to be careful however, as the modifier may be lost if someone manages to export their secret plants to other parts of the world.

To the east the development of the Yemeni struggles are watched with interest by the independent Kathiri dynasty of Hadhramaut and the maritime Sultanate of Mahra. In the north the Sharifates of the Hejaz and Asir as well the Shiite Emirate of Najran bide their time while the Yemenis fight pretenders and eachother.


New Playable Countries in 1444:

• Aden: In 1444 this tag represents the Tahirids. It starts as independent.
  
• Rassids: This is tag represents the Shia Rassid Imams of the Yemen upland.
  
• Hadramut: The Kathiri dynasty rules the sparsely populated desert coast to the east of Yemen.
  
• Mahra: The Mahra sultanate rules the southern coastline of Arabia as well as the island of Socotra.
  
• Mikhlaf: Shiite Sharifate in the Asir mountains and the adjoining coast.
  
• Najran: A small Shiite tribal state in the region just north of the Yemen Highlands.

Yemen can now be formed by a country controlling the important provinces of Yemen (to do this in 1444 you will have to destroy the Rasulid Sultanate).


The Hejaz & Central Arabia:

In 1444 the Hejaz was not a united region. The Sharifate of Mecca, ruled by the Hawashim family, is the strongest state but by no means entirely dominant. Their main contenders are the Husaynid Sharifs, who rule the holy city of Medina.
To the north and across the Red Sea the Mamluk Sultanate is a constant factor in Hejazi politics, and claim to be the protector of both of the Sharifates, often intervening in their conflicts against each other as well as in the appointment of new Sharifs. Historically the Mamluks under Qa'itbay would eventually appoint the Sharif of Mecca as the viceroy of Hejaz, uniting the states by military force.

While know far less of what was going on in detail in 1444 specifically for the inner parts of the peninsula we have taken the opportunity to break up the land into more provinces, making sure that they match the caravan routes used throughout the era. Rather than divide the country in a number of easily conquered one province countries we have decided to keep it under fewer and bigger conglomerate tags.
Najd, with its capital in Diriyah (the future core of the Saudi state), and Shammar, with its capital in Ha’il, remains in control of a wider area in which they represent a number of minor tribes. In the south Dawasir controls a number of the inland oasis and caravan routes.

New Playable Countries in 1444:

• Medina, representing the Husaynid Sharifs of Medina.
  
• Dawasir, representing the Dawasir as well as other tribes controlling the southern routes between Yemen and the eastern coastline.

Oman & Bahrain - Eastern Arabia

In 1444 the Omani interior was ruled by the Ibadi Imamate (sometimes called Sultanate) of Oman while the coastal cities of Oman and the Pirate Coast are under the overlordship of the kingdom of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. This would eventually make the Sultanate a very tempting target for the Portuguese when they arrived in the region, who would choose to attack Hormuz directly to take control over its network of coastal cities.

Further east the Jabrids of Haasa have conquered the coastline, and most importantly the rich pearl fishing ports of Qatar and Awal.

New Playable countries in 1444:

• Jas - The tribe that would eventually found Dubai exists in 1444, controlling the inland Liwa oasis.

Egypt & Northern Arabia


Throughout the history of the Islamic world, and the history of the Mediterranean itself, Egypt has remained one of the most important regions to control. Egypt was a major entrepôt for cloth, cotton and spices but it was also the greatest exporter of grain and rice in the region and many great cities depended on the harvests of the Nile Delta.
The great dependency on the Nile in an otherwise arid and inhospitable land also means that Egypt has many interesting geographic features.

Both of these are things we felt the game did not properly model so we have taken this opportunity to redraw and re-imagine Egypt in patch 1.23:

More provinces have been added along the Nile and in the Nile Delta and wastelands have been added to limit access between the Red Sea Coastline and the Nile, as well as between the Mediterranean coast and the Nile (you can probably spot the Qattara depression in the screenshot above now).

In order to better show the great importance of the Egyptian grain trade we have added special goods produced modifiers for grain in the provinces of the Delta.
We have also added in more Arab federations in the Syrian Interior and northern Arabia.

New playable countries:

• Anizah: A tribal federation controlling the inner caravan route between the Hejaz and Syria.
  
• Fadl: A tribal federation and a Mamluk vassal with its capital in Palmyra/Tadmor.

That was all for the map and historical setup changes of Arabia and Egypt!

It is our hope that these changes will make the region come alive more and in general be more interesting to play in, with a greater diversity of playable states and a more accurate setup in general.

Next week I will be back to talk a bit about Anatolia and the Caucasus... :)

Read the original post by Trin Tragula

Useful links
Official Website
Europa Universalis IV Wiki
Europa Universalis IV Development Diary Archive

Hello everyone!

I am Trin Tragula and this is the first of the post-vacation Europa Universalis Developer Diaries. As I type this most of the team has begun coming back from vacation (though I am still enjoying the mild climate of southern Sweden for another week) and continued work has begun on the 1.23 patch.

So what have we been up to before and during the summer?

Well, we have for a long time felt that the Near East could do with a bit of a facelift.

In Art of War we gave Arabia and Egypt a much needed overhaul, increasing the number of provinces and expanding the number of countries. As you might remember, if you followed the developed diaries of Art of War, this is something we had great help with from the map modder CanOmer.

1.8 was a long time ago however, and the general level of detail in many regions have changed since then. Over time we have come to feel that the setup could be much more detailed than we wanted back then and that some of the decisions we had taken in terms of how to portray things could be revisited.

Today I will be talking about what was going on in Arabia and Egypt in 1444 and how patch 1.23 will cover this differently from previous versions.


Yemen:

In 1444 Yemen is still ruled by the Rasulid dynasty from Taiz, but the Rasulid rule has been growing weaker. The populous Upper Yemen is under the control of the Shiite Rassid Imams from their capital in Sana’a and to many they would be a more fitting leader for a united Yemen. The Rassids are however in the middle of a civil war of their own, with many different relatives vying for the leadership of the Imamate.
In south-eastern Yemen the Tahirid dynasty has achieved independence, in all but name, from the Rasulids. As they expand their rule towards the coast they seem very likely to soon overthrow their old overlords. Like the Rasulids they are Sunni however, and lack support from the Shia in the mountains.

Compared to the rest of Arabia, Yemen is actually somewhat densely populated and was, in the 15th century, also the source of most of the world's exported coffee. While Coffee is grown throughout Yemen and the Horn of Africa the port of Mocha in southern Yemen is by far the most important port for the export of the roasted beans. This was to become one of the main sources of income for the Yemeni rulers, as well as other powers that came to control the region.

In patch 1.23 Mocha will have a goods produced modifier for Coffee to signify the great importance of this port in the history of the Coffee trade. Yemeni coffee merchants will have to be careful however, as the modifier may be lost if someone manages to export their secret plants to other parts of the world.

To the east the development of the Yemeni struggles are watched with interest by the independent Kathiri dynasty of Hadhramaut and the maritime Sultanate of Mahra. In the north the Sharifates of the Hejaz and Asir as well the Shiite Emirate of Najran bide their time while the Yemenis fight pretenders and eachother.


New Playable Countries in 1444:

• Aden: In 1444 this tag represents the Tahirids. It starts as independent.
  
• Rassids: This is tag represents the Shia Rassid Imams of the Yemen upland.
  
• Hadramut: The Kathiri dynasty rules the sparsely populated desert coast to the east of Yemen.
  
• Mahra: The Mahra sultanate rules the southern coastline of Arabia as well as the island of Socotra.
  
• Mikhlaf: Shiite Sharifate in the Asir mountains and the adjoining coast.
  
• Najran: A small Shiite tribal state in the region just north of the Yemen Highlands.

Yemen can now be formed by a country controlling the important provinces of Yemen (to do this in 1444 you will have to destroy the Rasulid Sultanate).


The Hejaz & Central Arabia:

In 1444 the Hejaz was not a united region. The Sharifate of Mecca, ruled by the Hawashim family, is the strongest state but by no means entirely dominant. Their main contenders are the Husaynid Sharifs, who rule the holy city of Medina.
To the north and across the Red Sea the Mamluk Sultanate is a constant factor in Hejazi politics, and claim to be the protector of both of the Sharifates, often intervening in their conflicts against each other as well as in the appointment of new Sharifs. Historically the Mamluks under Qa'itbay would eventually appoint the Sharif of Mecca as the viceroy of Hejaz, uniting the states by military force.

While know far less of what was going on in detail in 1444 specifically for the inner parts of the peninsula we have taken the opportunity to break up the land into more provinces, making sure that they match the caravan routes used throughout the era. Rather than divide the country in a number of easily conquered one province countries we have decided to keep it under fewer and bigger conglomerate tags.
Najd, with its capital in Diriyah (the future core of the Saudi state), and Shammar, with its capital in Ha’il, remains in control of a wider area in which they represent a number of minor tribes. In the south Dawasir controls a number of the inland oasis and caravan routes.

New Playable Countries in 1444:

• Medina, representing the Husaynid Sharifs of Medina.
  
• Dawasir, representing the Dawasir as well as other tribes controlling the southern routes between Yemen and the eastern coastline.

Oman & Bahrain - Eastern Arabia

In 1444 the Omani interior was ruled by the Ibadi Imamate (sometimes called Sultanate) of Oman while the coastal cities of Oman and the Pirate Coast are under the overlordship of the kingdom of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. This would eventually make the Sultanate a very tempting target for the Portuguese when they arrived in the region, who would choose to attack Hormuz directly to take control over its network of coastal cities.

Further east the Jabrids of Haasa have conquered the coastline, and most importantly the rich pearl fishing ports of Qatar and Awal.

New Playable countries in 1444:

• Jas - The tribe that would eventually found Dubai exists in 1444, controlling the inland Liwa oasis.

Egypt & Northern Arabia


Throughout the history of the Islamic world, and the history of the Mediterranean itself, Egypt has remained one of the most important regions to control. Egypt was a major entrepôt for cloth, cotton and spices but it was also the greatest exporter of grain and rice in the region and many great cities depended on the harvests of the Nile Delta.
The great dependency on the Nile in an otherwise arid and inhospitable land also means that Egypt has many interesting geographic features.

Both of these are things we felt the game did not properly model so we have taken this opportunity to redraw and re-imagine Egypt in patch 1.23:

More provinces have been added along the Nile and in the Nile Delta and wastelands have been added to limit access between the Red Sea Coastline and the Nile, as well as between the Mediterranean coast and the Nile (you can probably spot the Qattara depression in the screenshot above now).

In order to better show the great importance of the Egyptian grain trade we have added special goods produced modifiers for grain in the provinces of the Delta.
We have also added in more Arab federations in the Syrian Interior and northern Arabia.

New playable countries:

• Anizah: A tribal federation controlling the inner caravan route between the Hejaz and Syria.
  
• Fadl: A tribal federation and a Mamluk vassal with its capital in Palmyra/Tadmor.

That was all for the map and historical setup changes of Arabia and Egypt!

It is our hope that these changes will make the region come alive more and in general be more interesting to play in, with a greater diversity of playable states and a more accurate setup in general.

Next week I will be back to talk a bit about Anatolia and the Caucasus... :)

Read the original post by Trin Tragula

Useful links
Official Website
Europa Universalis IV Wiki
Europa Universalis IV Development Diary Archive

Hi all. We have released a hotfix to address the issues following v1.22 Russia Update.

Changelog 1.22.1
- Siberian Frontier Custom Idea now has a cost.
- Fixed large Colonial nation bonus to Land Force Limit not being given
- Fixed unlocalized variable for Russian Powers
- Fixed Tributary request spam
- Nations are now deranked when vassalized
- Fixed Mac Checksum issues
- Blocked new achievements for nation designer countries or if there's any nation designer country in the world.
- Fixed that Tributaries became independent when getting their own subjects.
- AI now only gets -20 acceptance per relation over limit for alliance and support independence actions.
- Fixed so when you hover over a non-existent great power entry that it doesn't crash
- Fixed crash caused by bad timing where province is unselected in same frame that user clicks "open siege" button
- Fixed crash in macro builder if you hovered over something with no rebel faction
- Fixed huge performance hit / freeze when trying to build large army template in large country.
- Transferring occupation of a province now properly cancels all mercenary constructions there.
- Fixed getting additional subjects as junior partners when you form Union with a nation
- Fixed countries releasing primitive countries in peace deals becoming primitive
- Fixed rare CTD when selecting fleet right after winning battle.

You can always revert your game to a previous version by following these instructions .

Please do not report any bugs in this thread. If you encounter any issues, then make a proper bug report in our bug report forum. Thank you!

Hi all. We have released a hotfix to address the issues following v1.22 Russia Update.

Changelog 1.22.1
- Siberian Frontier Custom Idea now has a cost.
- Fixed large Colonial nation bonus to Land Force Limit not being given
- Fixed unlocalized variable for Russian Powers
- Fixed Tributary request spam
- Nations are now deranked when vassalized
- Fixed Mac Checksum issues
- Blocked new achievements for nation designer countries or if there's any nation designer country in the world.
- Fixed that Tributaries became independent when getting their own subjects.
- AI now only gets -20 acceptance per relation over limit for alliance and support independence actions.
- Fixed so when you hover over a non-existent great power entry that it doesn't crash
- Fixed crash caused by bad timing where province is unselected in same frame that user clicks "open siege" button
- Fixed crash in macro builder if you hovered over something with no rebel faction
- Fixed huge performance hit / freeze when trying to build large army template in large country.
- Transferring occupation of a province now properly cancels all mercenary constructions there.
- Fixed getting additional subjects as junior partners when you form Union with a nation
- Fixed countries releasing primitive countries in peace deals becoming primitive
- Fixed rare CTD when selecting fleet right after winning battle.

You can always revert your game to a previous version by following these instructions .

Please do not report any bugs in this thread. If you encounter any issues, then make a proper bug report in our bug report forum. Thank you!

Third Rome is a new immersion pack for Europa Universalis IV, that adds new gameplay features for the Russian empire and is available for $9.99.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q9EKpy7cCI
In Third Rome, players will find new means to wield spiritual, political, and military control in the Russian empire, with new ranks of government and unique military units.

The road to Tsardom is yours to walk.

Get EUIV: Third Rome RIGHT HERE

Third Rome is a new immersion pack for Europa Universalis IV, that adds new gameplay features for the Russian empire and is available for $9.99.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q9EKpy7cCI
In Third Rome, players will find new means to wield spiritual, political, and military control in the Russian empire, with new ranks of government and unique military units.

The road to Tsardom is yours to walk.

Get EUIV: Third Rome RIGHT HERE