Hey everyone,

Firstly, a BIG thanks to everyone who has played the prologue. (Over 380 reviews at Very Positive!)
Your feedback has been so helpful and lovely to read, and it's really helped me know what to focus on.
Secondly, I wanted to take some time to show you a few of the newly announced Kādomon coming to the full game launching very soon. 🍌


There will be over 200 Kādomon in the full game, and we've been showcasing some of the quirky creatures you'll be able to battle in Early Access. 💚











I’ve noticed a couple questions popping up within the community, and I wanted to take some time to answer them:

In the prologue, Beleaf, Monku, and Creeze can all be hyper-evolved. All you need to do is equip them with a specific item once they’ve evolved into their third form, and then give them some XP (by either releasing a Kādomon into the wild, battling, or an event).

In the full game, EVERY Kādomon will have the ability to hyper-evolve and become even more powerful! There’s loads of cool Kādomon hyper-evolution designs that I can’t wait for you to discover.

Yep, in our 1.0 release. 🏆

There will be 12 types of Kādomon in the Early Access release of the game (if we include Gnock who has their own type!) with more planned to come in future updates. 🐛

A misprint is a rare color variant of a Kādomon! Every Kādomon has an additional 2 color variants that can randomly appear. The more common misprint has a 1/1000 chance of appearing in battle, whilst the rarer version has a 1/2000 chance. ✨

When you defeat a misprint in combat, you either need to complete the run with it, or go to the nearest camp to send it home to unlock it. Be wary, if you are defeated you will lose the misprint!

Thanks for all your continued support. You can wishlist the main game here.

Talk soon!

Pat

Hello commanders! Welcome to the Outpost intro video programme.

This video aims to showcase the various devices that can be deployed on the outpost, including some turrets and support devices, covering different stages of the gameplay. We hope you enjoy it.

[TRANSMISSION INCOMING]

Through the stars, we meet, astronauts! 🧑‍🚀

Do you remember last November when we introduced Cognition Method at the official showcase at DevGAMM Lisbon? 🎮 We had a blast! Unfortunately, we can't attend the onsite conference in beautiful Gdansk this year, starting on 28th February. We caught some virus and didn’t want to spread it among the game development experts 😷 But hey, we wouldn't miss it for the world! Being the Polish team with mostly Polish residences, we're absolutely delighted to participate in the digital segment of the Baltic Showcase by DevGAMM and DigitalVikings which is kicking off today! 🤩

The amazing DevGAMM conference hosts the event, in partnership with the Digital Vikings Award. 🏅 We didn't throw our hat in the ring for the Awards themselves, but we couldn't be happier to be included among the 280 incredible Baltic games on display!

So why not take this opportunity to check out the free Cognition Method Demo? Share it with your friends, let us know what you think! 👀 We can't wait to 'see' you virtually at DevGAMM Gdańsk!

[TRANSMISSION ENDED]

Tribe Leaders,

It's been great to see the reactions from all of you who have checked out our game so far. We do our best to read everything posted to both Steam and Discord, and are ready to give you the first patch addressing some of the bugs and feedback we have seen so far.

We'll keep working on improving the game leading up to the full release, so please keep sharing your thoughts and let us know what you'd like to see us address next!

• Fixed a bug where tribe members were not dying to "Shadow death"
  
• Fixed a bug where trade routes could break depending on passengers
  
• Technical performance improvements for large amounts of tribe members
  
• Attempted fix for incorrect localization characters being displayed in random places

We've addressed multiple edge-cases and bugs that could occur during the Cataclysm.

• The Nighthorn will stay on
  
• Added events to help balance the amount of "weird" tribe members
  
• Reduced Spirit Need Act Perk Values for Act 4/5
  
• Improved handling of finished monument districts
  
• Adjusted "Monument"-tasks behaviour scores that determine what the tribe members do

We're finally able to share this with you: Heading Out has a release date! Thanks for sticking with us over the years.

If you aren't familiar with Heading Out, it's about the journey, rather than the destination. Heading Out is an immersive driving game passionately inspired by cult classic road movies. Escape your fears by taking off down American highways on an emotional trip of discovery. Coming to Steam on May 7, 2024!

Wishlist Heading Out:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640630/Heading_Out__A_Narrative_Road_Movie_Racing_Game/

In the upcoming update, several countries will get new and long-awaited top tier equipment! The Japanese army will receive weapons and vehicles of Tier 5 - now they are on the same level as any other country! To Germany's King Tigers, the US Army will answer with their M26 Pershing. Furthermore, the USSR and Germany also received a couple of new equipment. Keep reading for more details.

One of the most powerful US tanks that took part in the Second World War. Surpassing the M4 Sherman in all aspects.
Excellent 90 mm gun and much more reliable armor - from the hull to the gun mantlet.
In the ammunition rack you will find APCBC and APCR shells, in case you don't want to target weak points, even on the "King Tiger".
You'll just need to adapt to the limited mobility: the engine is a leftover from the later variants of the Sherman, and the armor added an extra 10 tons - 10 tons of reliability.

An early modification of the legendary German Tiger I, although not inferior in power to the later model.
All the same 88 mm gun with APCBC and deadly HE shells, decent protection and very good mobility for a heavy tank.
The difference is in the small details: the early variant’s commander cupola will provide better visibility and at the same time better protection for the commander.
The Tiger H1 will be placed in a folder with the Tiger E and will not be required to research to progress along the branch. However, fans of the model will find it quite interesting.

Anti-tank rifles, of course, are effective in their own way - from a distance, or against enemy infantry. But the USSR clearly lacked a more serious tool against armored vehicles at the early tiers.
Lend-lease offers a solution. The American "Bazooka" M1 will be a serious argument in battles (but experienced commanders will definitely leave a couple of soldiers with rifles).

A modification of the legendary KV-1 heavy tank, equipped with the ZiS-5 cannon and more advanced 76 mm shells.
Better accuracy and penetration, plus the KV-1's armor was also improved in certain areas.
Despite the more powerful gun, the weight of the vehicle remained the same, so you won't notice any changes in performance.

An impressive experimental design based on the Type Hei rifle - a rifle caliber automatic weapon with a 30-round magazine, bipod and even a bayonet.
With this caliber, the stopping power is unbelievable. At the same time, it has excellent rate of fire and fast reload time.
This rifle will be available at tier 5 and will be classified as a semi-auto rifle, so most soldiers will be able to use it.

This machine gun came down to you straight from heaven.
Literally, since it was used by air gunners on large bombers. The Type 100 MG with its handy anti-aircraft sight will allow you to put two holes in your enemy with a single pull of the trigger.
Twice the barrel, twice the chance of hitting and twice the damage if both bullets reach the target!
The magazine holds 100 rounds, 50 for each barrel, so you won't have to worry about reloading.

It looks like a large barn - perhaps the enemy would derisively call it a coffin. Until they realize that it's very difficult to penetrate the Ho-Ri’s armor.
And when the Ho-Ri fires back with its 105mm gun, it’ll go right through your Sherman.
It comes with APHE shells against armored vehicles and the most powerful HE shells.
If you can handle the size of this monster on the cramped islands of the Pacific and accept the lack of a machine gun, you will have no equal on the battlefield.

By the fifth tier, Japanese fighters begin to become an increasing threat to Allied aircraft.
This modification of the interceptor already has a very serious weaponry: four 20 mm cannons with a total ammunition of 800 shells and a pair of 60 kg HE bombs. Good speed and maneuverability are the best answer to the American dominance in the sky.

The Mitsubishi J2M3's army counterpart, superior in maneuverability, speed and bomb load (250 kg). Pretty decent for a fighter!
Its weapons are a bit more modest: a pair of 20 mm cannons and 12.7 mm machine guns. But its ammunition capacity is just as large: 300 shells for the cannons and 700 rounds for the machine guns.

Lords & Ladies, our march to greatness continues with Update 72. This time we have prepared for you a brand new Historical Story Mission that follows the life of the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, a new Mercenary Faction Unit, new Paragon Skill for the Assist Trait Animal Companions, an extension of the Gemstones feature, a long list of balance changes and quality of life improvement and more!

[NEW FEATURES]

- New Historical Story Mission: “The Last Real Viking” – follow the steps of King Harald Hardrada from Norway. Take charge of his amazing life story starting when he was only 15 years old during the Battle of Stiklestad, all the way up to his demise in 1066 during the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Many modern historians refer to Harald’s death as “the end of the Viking Age”

- New Mercenary Faction Unit: Carthaginian War Elephant – this brand new Army Unit classifies as both Mercenary and Faction unit (just like the first unit of this type – the Kheshig). The Carthaginian War Elephant takes 65% less damage from enemy attacks and has an area of effect attack that can push back enemies. Having this unit in your Army Formation will also reduce the enemy player’s Army Defense by 5%

- New Paragon Skill: “Instant Hunt” – only available during the Age of Excellence. When activated this Paragon Skill allows you to perform the next 3 animal hunts instantaneously without reducing the hunting tile’s potency

- Gemstones extension – following the release of Update 72 the maximum level of Gemstones will be raised to level 9. Upgrading your Gems beyond level 8 will require a new resource called “Jeweler’s Chisels”

[SEASONAL CONTENT]

- Age of Excellence – shortly after the release of Update 72 we will march into the Age of Excellence. This age comes with a new set of Realm buffs and conditions like: 3 extra Mercenary squads can be added in Army Formations / all Paragon Points gains are increased by 5% and others

- World Encounters theme rotation – Ronins are about to invade the Realms! Get ready to smash their camps and retrieve the treasures they have stolen

[QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS]

- Added a new interface menu that allows you to automate your animal assists

- New hunting march animation added

[BALANCE CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS]

- Holy Site Regional Building – the Army Attack Boost will now provide Army Health as well. In addition, the Holy Site can now provide 2 new boosts: Champion XP and March Size VS Encounters

- All Regional Focuses except Mobilization have been greatly improved

- Alliance Mine Raid is getting buffed with decreased starting Keys cost of 750 (instead of 1000), increased resource cap for all resource types, 4 free marches (instead of 2) and Gathered Resource Bonus can be bought 5 more times

- Mercenary Den offers significantly improved

Hello and welcome to the 146th Dev Diary for Crusader Kings III! I’m Matthew, the Code Owner on Legends of the Dead. From the highly anticipated Epidemics feature to the Black Death itself—and what happens after your land is ravaged and your family taken to the grave—today we’re going to be covering all things Death!

► Discuss Dev Diary #146 on our forums!



As stated in the Vision Dev Diary, we’ve wanted to include Epidemics for a long time now—doing them bigger and better than CK2 ever did.

Plagues should be an impactful part of the game, ranging from a mild illness in a localized area to the sweeping spread of diseases across continents. Not only should they cause death in their wake, but those who survive should have their trust in your rulership tested.

Every barony with a holding is susceptible to an outbreak of disease, and many factors can influence the chance of an outbreak:

• The development of the county
  
• Terrain of the province
  
• Number of buildings
  
• Specific buildings such as trade posts and markets
  
• Cultural era
  
• If there is a nearby epidemic already
  
• Game rules

When an outbreak occurs, it will be one of three intensities: Minor, Major, and Apocalyptic.
The intensity impacts how much the disease can spread, how likely it is to spread to an uninfected province, and how long an infection in a province lasts.



Each disease will leave the infected with a specific associated trait, and any character located in an infected province is at risk of getting sick.

All outbreaks will get a dynamic name. Some will be named after the culture of the area, while others will claim the name of the region’s ruler…since if they were truly a legitimate ruler, the Gods would not punish them with such disease, right?

Every ongoing epidemic can be seen on the map too, both as an effect in normal map modes or in its own dedicated map mode.





If you zoom in closer, then we hide the epidemic pulsing blood and instead show the desolate gray land now haunted by death…



When there is an epidemic nearby or in your realm, you will be notified by the new HUD widget, which if you open (or switch to the map mode manually) will show you more info about ongoing epidemics.



If you click an epidemic on the map, or from the list, then you’ll be able to see an overview of the epidemic for every province in your domain it has infected, as well as the vassals in your realm and other independent rulers.

This also shows you which provinces are at risk of being infected by the epidemic and what the chance of it spreading is.



The chance of spreading to a neighboring province, as well as across two sea provinces, is influenced by many factors, such as how developed the provinces are, their buildings, cultural traditions, if they have immunity from prior infection, and more!

Speaking of province infection, you can see here that every province tracks how infected it is as a percentage. Different infection thresholds will cause different modifiers to be applied to the province and its holder.





The maximum infection rate is reduced by Plague Resistance, which can be increased through various means.

You can preemptively increase it by constructing buildings that raise it, such as the new Hospices building chain or the Burial Site duchy building.



You can also increase it by having your Court Physician work to Control Plagues using the new Court Position Tasks, or by taking the decisions to isolate in your capital or close the gates.



Legends of the Dead also features three new illnesses that can take the form of Plagues. Measles, the Bloody Flux (Dysentery), and Holy Fire (Ergotism).

As mentioned before, Measles is especially deadly to children, lowering their health even more than everyone else’s. This uses two new modifiers we’ve added for child and elderly health respectively, most diseases are more deadly to the elderly by default.



Of course, it wouldn’t be one of my dev diaries if I didn’t also point out that all of these things are very moddable: you can create custom epidemics, change how they spread, outbreak, infect characters, even how their blood splatter looks on the map!

Both Plagues and Legends come with a handful of game rules for controlling how they play, as well as specific rules for the Black Death.



Speaking of which, the Black Death holds a special place amongst the rest of the pantheon of epidemics, and as such, has some extra bells and whistles to go along with it.

---

Hello all, Noodle here to ask the old question: “ʟᴏʀᴅ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʀᴠᴇsᴛ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ꜰᴏʀ, ɪꜰ ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴘᴇʀ ᴍᴀɴ?”



No history of the medieval world is complete without reference to the Black Death.

Killing up to half of Europe’s population over the course of seven years, the Bubonic Plague that swept across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East in the 14th century altered the very fabric of society. Everyone - man, woman, adult, child, noble, pauper - found themselves at the mercy of the merciless pestilence. From the outset of development, we knew the Black Death had to be done proper justice.

This naturally involves a bit of a balancing act. On one hand, the Black Death should behave within the confines of the mechanics we’ve built, so that reaction to it is natural and swift. Presenting you, the player, with an unfamiliar new set of ways to deal with this unique event would be complicating matters for no real gain. After all, the plague itself is simply the scariest amongst a whole host of potential pandemics that could occur. On the other hand… It's the Black Death. Anyone should feel the fear of God and be reaching for their rosaries when they see that seeping dark mass wend its way on to their screen.



As such, the tack we took involved a deeper look at how the plague rolled out across the land. Like any good movie monster, half the fear is in the anticipation of the reveal rather than the monster itself, after all. It’s one thing to be dealing with the plague, but consider instead the stormy horizon: first come the missives of death and devastation, then the bedraggled and petrified refugees staggering to your borders, and then all of a sudden your armpit begins to swell…

That is the frame of mind we want the player to be in when the plague erupts. When the scythe starts swinging there’s not a whole lot anyone can do, but the precious moments before that wicked blade reaps its harvest are the ones worth investigating.



To move on from setting such an overly-elaborate scene, then, the actual mechanics of the Black Death follow the pattern laid out by other very large epidemics in-game. The notable difference is that - unless you’re incredibly unlucky (or have a truly massive empire, in which case I allow you no sympathy) and happen to have it take hold within your own realm - you’ll be getting fair warning of the coming storm.

As the panic mounts, you’ll be able to at very least begin to make provisions for protecting your realm, aided or hindered by a set of unique Black Death events that will give you opportunities to stock up some counties beforehand. These vary from calming panicking crowds right through to instructing your physician to dissect infected bodies to try and glean some meager information.

I won’t spoil those events any further here, but between them and the advanced warning a player can get, the Black Death becomes less strictly about waiting for the inevitable and more about a race against time. You will have to utilize all your options to the fullest to even withstand it, let alone escape relatively unscathed.

As with any Apocalyptic-level disease, the damage wrought by the plague can be mighty. More developed areas of your realm will suffer harder in comparison, and the sickness can wipe out entire branches of families. The issue with the Black Death in that case is its violent effects. Its modifiers are brutal, and its cocktail of lethality and infectiousness makes for the single greatest consistent threat to a realm in the entire game.

This is already getting rather lengthy, so I’ll leave it there. Hopefully you all have as much fun battling the Black Death as I did making it!

---

Of course, with Plague comes Death, and with that comes a time to mourn your lost friends and family:

And with all this desolation there also comes the opportunity to remember the dead. With Legends of the Dead, we're introducing a new type of Activity: Funerals.


[Image: Decision to host a Funeral]

You can hold a Funeral for any deceased member of your family in the past 5 years, and a new specific intent "Mourn" is available as default, allowing you to lose some stress after going through the process of grief.


[Image: Funeral planning]

The Activity Planner will suggest the best place in your realm to host a Funeral, prioritizing baronies with a temple, and high-level temples within that; if you choose one of them you will get extra Piety as a reward.


[Image: Selecting a place for your Funeral]

The different levels of the "Ceremonials" Activity Option also offer better final rewards for a higher gold cost, focused on Piety, Legitimacy and Stress loss.

The first phase of the Funeral is the Wake, the wait until the Burial, and it features all guests reminiscing about the life of the deceased, their memories together and their more characteristic traits. They may also interact with each other and even in these distressed times there will be someone waiting patiently just to get a hook… or increase the funeral numbers.



The "Burial" phase has different descriptions and general flavor depending on your faith's tenets, and will reflect your religious traditions, not always being a burial per se.

All throughout the celebration, Active Pulse Actions (or APAs) will also inform you of what the other guests are doing meanwhile, bringing the activity to life (pun not intended).



Funerals mainly reward your Piety and Legitimacy, as a moment to reflect on both the brevity of life and the legacy that we leave behind.

---

As part of this Core Expansion, we’ve also decided to implement more ways of showing the declining health of your ruler & their kin. Now, most of you might know the plague was already grotesquely displayed in the game prior to Legends of the Dead - and hopefully you’ll be excited to welcome two new diseases to the visual roster: Smallpox and Measles.


[Image: Now might be a good time to remind the good player that this box can be un-ticked in the settings]



And while we’ll mostly leave it up to you to figure out what to do with those diseases, as far as prevention and treatment is concerned, I think it’s safe to say you’ll definitely want to employ a court-physician. Fortunately, us from the character art team have been hard at work making that option as lucrative as possible - by adding some new sick physician clothes (along with a bunch of other new garments as well of course).

---

And last but not least we have the new achievements! As always, they are listed in order of difficulty.


Legendary! - Complete a Legend


You'll Never Take Me Alive! - Travel to a safe holding while your Capital is infected by an Epidemic


Pay Respects - Host a Funeral for your Legend Protagonist


Neverending Story - Complete your ancestor's Legend after their death


Divine Right - Reach the maximum level of Legitimacy


Canonized - Manage to make your Legend Protagonist a Saint


Upward Mobility - Successfully claim your Liege's title while having a higher Legitimacy Level than them


Local Legend - As a Count, complete a Mythical Legend


Not Today - Contract, and recover from, the Bubonic Plague


The Pharaoh Islands - As a Scottish character, complete a Legend claiming your descent from Ancient Egypt


Can't Touch This - Have an infected Barony at the maximum Epidemic Resistance



Thank you all for reading! We hope you’re as excited as we are for the release of Legends of the Dead next Monday to kick off Chapter 3!

---

Write glorious new sagas of military conquest and romantic adventures with Chapter III.
This Chapter includes two expansions, one event pack, and one cosmetic enhancement. Enjoy new mechanics, new events, and new historical flavor to add greater depth to Crusader Kings III!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/38036

It’s time to reveal winners of the “What's this map?” contest. The right answer is “Mountain lake”.

Congratulations to the lucky winners:

• 4ETKIY_CATBOY
  
• KotVanyaVYT
  
• Kubibuber
  
• Vuampheirl
  
• MrBigglesworth2
  
• _n0nam3_
  
• Adilkhan50956
  
• Dim4ik24Rus
  
• Guest5462
  
• 2_BIT

Each of the winners will receive 3 days of premium subscription. The reward will be added within 10 workdays.

---

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels:

• Twitter
  
• Instagram
  
• Youtube
  
• Facebook
  
• Discord

"In the abyss of time, I prevailed, sculpting the empire from the raw stone soaked in the slaughters I have made."



Greetings, fellow Vampires!

Remember that even if you are waiting for the night, there is always the day. And the day is not a time for relaxation, let alone slacking! It is a call for diligence, growth, and perseverance. After all, is not the mighty castle itself a testament to the greatness of the Vampire Lord?

In Vampire Clans, the castle is your stronghold; improving it becomes the first stone of your Vampire's development. There is room for expansion in every corner, reflecting endless possibilities to unravel.



Lately, in our graphic department, we have been primarily improving the player's experience in the base, as the quality of the interior has been enriched both in terms of the materials and the optimization. Also, we are constantly working on the gameplay mechanics within the castle. In the gif, you can see the function of building.



The User Interface has changed; the revamped version incorporates newly developed features and a visual style more aligned with the unique aesthetics of our game. So far, the new UI has been fully implemented in the castle, and partially in during Hunt.



And when the night comes, we hunt. But what would hunting be without the possibility of collecting all the treasures from your victims?
Together with the implementation of the stash system, we integrated our new UI with already programmed mechanics during Hunt. The new icons include combat skills, bat skills, and potions. The UI is already interactive.




Stay tuned and join our Discord channel. Feel free to share your ideas and suggestions.
discord.com/invite/Q7gQde9wR8