Hello all, once again I am here to tell you about the horrors wonders of <Secret DLC>! Today the subject is our new narrative events. We have added two new chains of events, the first being the titular End of Days chain(s).

The concept behind the EoD events are that your people have become scared and uncertain and this has given rise to various doomsayers and general unrest. Possible results of this include:

• The rise of a Prophet of Doom, who is convinced the world will end if he doesn’t overthrow your rule.
  
• A general belief that the dead have returned to walk the earth and attack the living.
  
• Panic based on a solar eclipse, which is surely the herald of the End Times.

These events are somewhat rare, and each possible doom has several ways to resolve it, for better or for worse, so we hope you will find them rather interesting should they appear.





The other chain we have added is The quest for Eternal Life. Much as I encouraged you to do in an earlier DD, characters in CK may find themselves contemplating their mortality, and as rulers of realms they have rather more resources available to them than you or I. The quest for Eternal Life is long, dangerous, and prone to failure, but when the possible reward is the ability to defy Death… well, you can see why people may undertake it anyway.



That’s all for now, next week I will go into detail about our new Maimed traits.

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Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hello all, once again I am here to tell you about the horrors wonders of <Secret DLC>! Today the subject is our new narrative events. We have added two new chains of events, the first being the titular End of Days chain(s).

The concept behind the EoD events are that your people have become scared and uncertain and this has given rise to various doomsayers and general unrest. Possible results of this include:

• The rise of a Prophet of Doom, who is convinced the world will end if he doesn’t overthrow your rule.
  
• A general belief that the dead have returned to walk the earth and attack the living.
  
• Panic based on a solar eclipse, which is surely the herald of the End Times.

These events are somewhat rare, and each possible doom has several ways to resolve it, for better or for worse, so we hope you will find them rather interesting should they appear.





The other chain we have added is The quest for Eternal Life. Much as I encouraged you to do in an earlier DD, characters in CK may find themselves contemplating their mortality, and as rulers of realms they have rather more resources available to them than you or I. The quest for Eternal Life is long, dangerous, and prone to failure, but when the possible reward is the ability to defy Death… well, you can see why people may undertake it anyway.



That’s all for now, next week I will go into detail about our new Maimed traits.

Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hello again. Last week I told you about the horrors of the Plague and your inevitable death, but so you don’t fall into total despair I’ll tell you some steps you can take to delay giving the Reaper his due.


The first and most immediate defense against Epidemics is to go into Seclusion. This is somewhat similar to going into Hiding, but in this case you Seclude your entire court in your castle (or capital holding of your choice). Seclusion is a very effective way to stop disease getting into your castle… provided, of course, that you don’t bring in anyone who is already infected. While in Seclusion there are unique events which deal with such things as; interpersonal conflict or bonding, angry people outside who want in, food shortages, murder, and maybe even a little cannibalism. Only a little! Happy DD, happy DD…



Another, longer term defense is to build Hospitals. Hospitals are a new holding type, built in the same way as Trade posts or Forts. Their primary effect is to make the chance of an Epidemic breaking out or spreading to the province less likely. Hospitals can have several buildings built within them, which mostly serve to increase the Disease Defense level, but Leper Colonies can also lower revolt risk.


Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hello again. Last week I told you about the horrors of the Plague and your inevitable death, but so you don’t fall into total despair I’ll tell you some steps you can take to delay giving the Reaper his due.


The first and most immediate defense against Epidemics is to go into Seclusion. This is somewhat similar to going into Hiding, but in this case you Seclude your entire court in your castle (or capital holding of your choice). Seclusion is a very effective way to stop disease getting into your castle… provided, of course, that you don’t bring in anyone who is already infected. While in Seclusion there are unique events which deal with such things as; interpersonal conflict or bonding, angry people outside who want in, food shortages, murder, and maybe even a little cannibalism. Only a little! Happy DD, happy DD…



Another, longer term defense is to build Hospitals. Hospitals are a new holding type, built in the same way as Trade posts or Forts. Their primary effect is to make the chance of an Epidemic breaking out or spreading to the province less likely. Hospitals can have several buildings built within them, which mostly serve to increase the Disease Defense level, but Leper Colonies can also lower revolt risk.


Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hello and welcome to another Developer Diary about getting sick and dying! Previously I talked about this in the personal sense, but today I will tell you what we have done to Epidemics.

In our upcoming but still unannounced DLC, we have added many more scriptable values to Epidemic diseases which allows us to do many more interesting things with them. I’ll skip the technical details here, but Epidemics can now spread along the Silk road when present, and are more likely to spread to rich and coastal provinces while being less likely to spread to poorer inland areas. Different Epidemics can have different speeds and likelihoods of spreading, as well as different maximum provinces they can spread to and durations to last for.

Epidemics also have another effect now, they can cause Depopulation in a province. Depopulation is a modifier on the province which reduces tax incomes, levy/garrison sizes, and supply limits. Different diseases have different chances of causing Depopulation, and the effects can remain long after the diseases have died out.

Of course, I can’t talk about Epidemics without mentioning The Black Death, since it was a somewhat notable event in the CK2 period. In the past, the Plague hasn’t been too impressive, but now… well now we have made some changes:

while it's possible for the Plague to come from central asia and bypass India, in this instance it arrived in the North-east of the subcontinent and spread throughout it and outwards. Meanwhile, England has Smallpox.

As well as making The Black Death larger and more deadly, we felt it was a shame you’d have to play until 1300 to experience it. So, in our generosity we made The Black Death more dynamic and there is now a chance for a major outbreak to occur 200 years into any game, regardless of startpoint (and the 1300 outbreak of course remains possible too). After a major outbreak has happened the disease becomes endemic and may break out again, but likely on a smaller scale. I should note that the dynamic Plague is a Game Rule, so if you want to restrict the first outbreak to 1300+ it’s still possible.

Is it all doom and gloom in this DLC? Well no, not entirely. As I mentioned previously, Court Physicians will try to treat your illnesses, and you will also be able to build Hospitals, and/or go into Seclusion to attempt to avoid infection - but those are topics for a future DD. Until then, contemplate your mortality.


Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hello and welcome to another Developer Diary about getting sick and dying! Previously I talked about this in the personal sense, but today I will tell you what we have done to Epidemics.

In our upcoming but still unannounced DLC, we have added many more scriptable values to Epidemic diseases which allows us to do many more interesting things with them. I’ll skip the technical details here, but Epidemics can now spread along the Silk road when present, and are more likely to spread to rich and coastal provinces while being less likely to spread to poorer inland areas. Different Epidemics can have different speeds and likelihoods of spreading, as well as different maximum provinces they can spread to and durations to last for.

Epidemics also have another effect now, they can cause Depopulation in a province. Depopulation is a modifier on the province which reduces tax incomes, levy/garrison sizes, and supply limits. Different diseases have different chances of causing Depopulation, and the effects can remain long after the diseases have died out.

Of course, I can’t talk about Epidemics without mentioning The Black Death, since it was a somewhat notable event in the CK2 period. In the past, the Plague hasn’t been too impressive, but now… well now we have made some changes:

while it's possible for the Plague to come from central asia and bypass India, in this instance it arrived in the North-east of the subcontinent and spread throughout it and outwards. Meanwhile, England has Smallpox.

As well as making The Black Death larger and more deadly, we felt it was a shame you’d have to play until 1300 to experience it. So, in our generosity we made The Black Death more dynamic and there is now a chance for a major outbreak to occur 200 years into any game, regardless of startpoint (and the 1300 outbreak of course remains possible too). After a major outbreak has happened the disease becomes endemic and may break out again, but likely on a smaller scale. I should note that the dynamic Plague is a Game Rule, so if you want to restrict the first outbreak to 1300+ it’s still possible.

Is it all doom and gloom in this DLC? Well no, not entirely. As I mentioned previously, Court Physicians will try to treat your illnesses, and you will also be able to build Hospitals, and/or go into Seclusion to attempt to avoid infection - but those are topics for a future DD. Until then, contemplate your mortality.


Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hi!

It is my turn to write a DD for CK2 and it is about something that perhaps we don’t mention that often: Audio.

Or more specific for this entry; Death Screams & SFX.

For the new expansion I got an important task, it was to create new sound effects for executing characters and also create assets for other ways different characters can die in the game such as falling off a balcony or being mauled by a bear.

So basically for this task I did a bunch of research to see how cruel people were back in the days and how “creative” they could be when executing people.

I needed to create a lot of “gore” sound effects so to achieve this I went out and did some grocery shopping.


The leek and celery were to recreate some “sweet” and intense bone cracking sound effects while the pepper and salad were to create a “slow crushing” sound effect.

The big problem for this task was a major one; Screams. And a lot of them.

So I took the opportunity to do some internal auditions and invited co-workers to the torture chamber aka sound studio.

Another challenge was to get people to sound like they are… dying? I got to do a lot of “dummy” recordings where you could hear me die in different ways, and some of these recordings made their way into the expansion as well, so my co-workers could get to “dub” me or have some kind of a reference.

I’ll not tell you who is dying, that is up to you to guess. \m/

Here we have a female version of being impaled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Tdun5nhUo
Here is a version from the Spanish method of garroting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L37MOstNKIM
There could be a few hunting accidents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79_YnsBioGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNB9J_TLnAs
Or sometimes people went kind of extreme with burning people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0fHNZm4BTk
Few causes when people were thrown down into a nasty pit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebJ0PtimBw

Or just want people to suffer really hard before dying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smzvpm5YBeA
A bonus video of our dear CEO trying out for a role:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBgfkrMGWvw

Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

Hi!

It is my turn to write a DD for CK2 and it is about something that perhaps we don’t mention that often: Audio.

Or more specific for this entry; Death Screams & SFX.

For the new expansion I got an important task, it was to create new sound effects for executing characters and also create assets for other ways different characters can die in the game such as falling off a balcony or being mauled by a bear.

So basically for this task I did a bunch of research to see how cruel people were back in the days and how “creative” they could be when executing people.

I needed to create a lot of “gore” sound effects so to achieve this I went out and did some grocery shopping.


The leek and celery were to recreate some “sweet” and intense bone cracking sound effects while the pepper and salad were to create a “slow crushing” sound effect.

The big problem for this task was a major one; Screams. And a lot of them.

So I took the opportunity to do some internal auditions and invited co-workers to the torture chamber aka sound studio.

Another challenge was to get people to sound like they are… dying? I got to do a lot of “dummy” recordings where you could hear me die in different ways, and some of these recordings made their way into the expansion as well, so my co-workers could get to “dub” me or have some kind of a reference.

I’ll not tell you who is dying, that is up to you to guess. \m/

Here we have a female version of being impaled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Tdun5nhUo
Here is a version from the Spanish method of garroting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L37MOstNKIM
There could be a few hunting accidents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79_YnsBioGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNB9J_TLnAs
Or sometimes people went kind of extreme with burning people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0fHNZm4BTk
Few causes when people were thrown down into a nasty pit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebJ0PtimBw

Or just want people to suffer really hard before dying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smzvpm5YBeA
A bonus video of our dear CEO trying out for a role:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBgfkrMGWvw

Read the original post

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

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/AllPlayers
  
• 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

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



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?

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives

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/AllPlayers
  
• 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

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



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?

Useful links
Official Website
Crusader Kings II Wiki
Developer Diary Archives