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This Development Diary, the last one before the release of The Old Gods, will elaborate a bit on the new technology system we are introducing to the game. We are including it for free in a patch, so you'll be able to make use of it even if you don't own TOG.

The original technology system in CK2 was not very rewarding or interactive, and thus the majority of people mostly or completely ignored it.

So since for The Old Gods we would need 200 more years of technological development we figured instead of trying to shoehorn that into the old system we could just as well throw most of it out and build something more interesting from the ground up.

View attachment CKII_ToG_DD_07_Technology_Spread.jpg

Now all rulers of duke rank and above generate technology points in three categories based on their stats: martial gives military, stewardship gives economic and diplomacy gives cultural technology points. The ruler can then spend these to increase the technologies of their choosing in their capital. In addition to the stats, combat gives military points, universities give economy points and religious schools cultural points.

This means however that technology will only grow in the capitals of dukes and above, and for the rest of the world it will spread as usual.

View attachment CKII_ToG_DD_07_Steppe_Buildings.jpg

The Old Gods and its accompanying patch has a few new buildings as well. Any holding by the coast can now build shipyards that produce galleys.

The horse lords of the Altaic and Magyar peoples will also have access to two special buildings in any castles they own in a Steppe province. This is a new terrain type that now covers most of the Eastern European plains. The Steppe Warrior Lodge and the Steppe Riding Grounds will take the place of the normal Barracks and Stables buildings in these holdings. They provide more cavalry at the expense of foot soldiers, to better reflect the tradition of mounted warfare the steppe cultures had mastered.

View attachment CKII_ToG_DD_07_Amalfi.jpg

There are two merchant republics active at the start of the new 867 bookmark. The first is Venice, which should be familiar to most of you, and the second is Amalfi, a growing trading hub on the western shores of Southern Italy ruled by a collection of Greek and Italian Patrician families. As you can see from the screenshot, we have added a new province for this republic. It has an interesting if somewhat challenging starting position, given its close proximity to the Karling realms of Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire which still maintains a tenuous hold on the southern tip of Italy, and the Muslim lords using Sicily as a springboard from which to carry their conquests further into Europe.

That should cover most of it. The rest you will have to see for yourselves when The Old Gods is released on May 28th! :)

Bonus: Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods Video Dev Diary 3 - Technology
[video=youtube;QngSrHke4u8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngSrHke4u8[/video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngSrHke4u8
 
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This means however that technology will only grow in the capitals of dukes and above, and for the rest of the world it will spread as usual.

a minor curiosity - can this be modded, or is it hard-coded to be ducal-tier and higher? - then again, it doesn't really change much in the long run since a county will rarely stay independent and/or as a county anyway

also, another question/idea - can terrain-attrition be culturally-tied? so for example steppe-cultures have less attrition on steppes but suffer normal attrition elsewhere? (it could also help make stuff like muslims suffering less attrition on the desert as compared to west europeans)

So learning doesn't come into the equation at all?
doesn't learning increase general/overall tech-points gain by default already? I'm assuming it'll stay the same -ie. learning increases the rest generally like it does now
 
In my opinion it doesn't make sense for technology growth and spread to be linked to the ruler's states. It's not realistic. But it's a minor issue, for me. Looking forward to The Old Gods.
 
1) Will the Amalfi be playable in the 1066 start, to finally counter Pisa? Otherwise when do they "expire", also will we still see Genoa and Pisa arise, like the Hanseatic League? Or will it be more random like Anacona?

No, Amalfi is not playable in 1066. There are no events for the rise of Genoa and Pisa as merchant republics, but it often tends to happen over the course of the game, especially in the case of Genoa.
 
When counting the stats that give tech points, does it consider only the ruler's personal stat, ruler + spouse bonus or ruler + spouse + councilor?
 
Why is it diplomacy and not learning that gives you Technologypoints? That's not logically is it?

Check the page before. A Dev answered that learning gives points for ALL three groups.
 
Is tech still semi-randomly generated at the start of the game? Can we define the starting tech(or approximate tech level) of an arbitrary group of provinces when modding?
 
Wait a minute! Have you split Verdun into Verdun and Bar? Am I seeing things?

If I'm correct then that's great! That would mean that my research was not for nothing then. ^^
 
Anyway i can't see any logical connection between diplomacy and the tech advance. only me maybe?..
 
Is tech still semi-randomly generated at the start of the game? Can we define the starting tech(or approximate tech level) of an arbitrary group of provinces when modding?

Now it works that way that you accumulate points and then spend them on any tech you want so it ain't random anymore.

A good diplomat hat bether connections to other cultures = cultural tech boost. Or something similar...

Diplomats also like reading a lot, hanging with others, spend on cultural events to hang more with others and leave an impression, etc.
 
Diplomats also like reading a lot, hanging with others, spend on cultural events to hang more with others and leave an impression, etc.

too factitious. reading a lot - that's Learning:) my point is that diplomatic skills should stay away from tech improvement otherwise it's too OP