CK2 Dev Diary - The Rules of the Game

[Doomdark]

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/All/Players
• 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

Red options disable Achievements.

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?

 

[Doomdark]

What will the options for Flanders be ? HRE / France I guess ? or something else ?

Hehe, it's a joke we couldn't resist. Sorry.

 

[Darkrenown]

What will the options for Flanders be ? HRE / France I guess ? or something else ?

HRE/France/Random

 

[Moah]

What will the options for Flanders be ? HRE / France I guess ? or something else ?

HRE / Aquitaine.

 

[Moah]

Why Not HRE/Russia/Sweden/Britain?

That was our next choice.

 

[Moah]

I didn't know I needed this, but I do. Thank you!

I've got to say, this is the most unexpected and most welcome addition I've seen to CK2. Well done.

I'm assuming you're talking about platypi here.

 

[Moah]

No, platypuses, English uses English plurals. Spellcheck on here doesn't underline platypuses while it does underline platypodes and platypi.
Just like how it's octopuses, not octopi, because it's English, not Latin or Greek.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platypi

According to merriam-webster, "platypi" is a valid plural for "platypus" in english, and I personally find "platypuses" horrible, so I'll keep using platypi. I've also grown fond of Dominus Novus correcting me every time

 

[Moah]

• Flanders: Stupid/Sexy

Damn I wished I thought of that one.

 

[Doomdark]

As long as it disables the achievements, it doesn't interest me.

I would be okay for a compromise about disabling certain achievement for certain options though. But not for defensive pacts. They only slow the game down. I'm actually surprised that you would not deactivate the achievements for shattered retreats off, even though that is what makes the game REALLY harder.

What you could simply do is make "gold achievements", and "silver achievements". The same achievements, but with or without the mandatory options

We're still discussing this.

 

[Moah]

Oops apparently I spoke too fast, sorry.

 

[Doomdark]

Is that dlc?

If not I love ur paradox.

This will be a free update.

 

[Moah]

Just roll it around, see how it feels. Saying platypuses or platypi never starts a totally pointless and tangental conversation. But platypodes... why, you're in for an illuminating evening where you get to sound pretentious. And isn't that the point of it all?

As a french man, I sound pretentious by default.

 

[Moah]

However, when real biologists say "octopodes", they typically only refer to multiple species of octopus. Multiple individual specimens would be called octopuses. I propose we can extend that custom to platypus as well. Saying platypi or octopi in an attempt to sound more "correct" than your fellow speaker is just bad.

Obvious we now need a new entry to the game rules:
"Platypus Plural: Platypuses / Platypi / Platypodes / Random"

 

[Doomdark]

So the next question follows: When?

That, I cannot say, unfortunately.

 

[Moah]

You mention that these options will be fully moddable, but I have a question about modding from the other direction. How straightforward will this be to add into existing mods? Particularly, how will the game distinguish between elements turned on or off? Will it be a simple flag like "supernatural = yes" on an event or will it require checks in triggers or whatever to see which options are selected?

You will have a trigger of the form:
has_game_rule = {

name = supernatural
value = off​

}

This allows modders to create their own rules, and to have more values than just "yes / no."

The problem with having a simple flag is it doesn't work very well when your possibilities are a list such as "random" "historical" and "deadly"

 

[Doomdark]

Also, I too ask for an India on off option. Please make it so....

I don't think we can swing that. It's not a trivial matter.

 

[Servancour]

On a different note - I notice that your screenshot suggests that Ironman is disabled, but achievements are enabled?

"Sandbox" should disable achievements as well.

Oh, it will. It's just a work in progress.

Interesting, great addition.

One question springs to mind, though: does anybody know where we can read up on how dynamic kingdoms and empires work? It's the only feature in the list that doesn't ring any bells to me.

It's the decisions to "Form a Kingdom" or "Form an Empire" included in Charlemagne. It allows you to create a custom kingdom/empire based on your primary title.

What does 'restricted de jure drift' mean, exactly?

It's restricted to only allow de jure drift for bordering titles. So no horrible border gore on the de jure map.

 

[Doomdark]

Oh, indeed, it is not trivial, which is why we are asking for it. Ever since its implementation, the game has been much harder on systems. If there is anything that would make the game better for me , that would be it.

I hear you, but I think the time to implement that feature would be better spent optimizing the game instead.

 

[Moah]

It would probably make the Empressive achievement, to name one example, somewhat easier to get.

That's the exact reason why we set it up that way.

 

[Doomdark]

I've seen a lot of good suggestions already. Keep 'em coming.