Folks, the Bengal tiger has been out of the bag for a week now, so I think it's time for the first dev diary on Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India! In this first entry, I will just give you a quick overview of what this new expansion to Crusader Kings II is and what it is not. In the weeks to come, I will cover each feature in detail.

First of all, why India? Well, it's always been a long-term goal of mine, and we have gone through the obvious stuff by now. The old eastern edge of the map is suboptimal, both politically and geographically. Many powerful states that interacted with Europe are cut in half, not to mention that the southeastern corner of the map is unhistorically dull. In general, adding India will make the whole Middle East more interesting to play. Most importantly though, India is such a dynamic and fascinating region!



Now, there has been some speculation about how the map will be handled exactly, and the answer is simply that we are extending it far to the east. It's not a separate map or anything like that. This means that everyone who owns the game will be able to interact with, (and conquer!) India, whether they own Rajas of India or not.

In order to extend the map and try keep the wasteland areas to a minimum while at the same time making sure India was big enough, we had to twist the entire eastern part of the old map. While the new map projection is no more realistic per se, we did seize this opportunity to correct some fairly major problems with the old map, especially around the Caspian and Aral seas. The addition of all this new territory also meant we could finally put many provinces in their correct place (we had tended to crowd the eastern edge of the old map with provinces that were actually off map, due to their importance.) Apart from all the new Indian provinces, we have also added provinces in central Siberia, Transoxania and Afghanistan. So far, I think we're at about 330 new provinces, bringing the total count up to 1442 (including all sea zones), and it's likely we'll add some more before we're done.



Best of all, none of this will cost you a dime. However, if you wish to play as a Hindu, Buddhist or Jain ruler - with all the associated mechanics, graphics and events - you will have to buy the expansion. You really don't want to miss out on things like reincarnation, holy cows, levitating monks, Thuggees and tiger hunts! Oh, and there will be a unique set of Indian portraits included in Rajas of India.

Can the game really handle all these new characters and provinces without slowing to a crawl? Yes. Actually, memory usage was the bigger issue, but we've comfortably reduced that by more than 300Mb, which allows us to add all the extra characters. We've also optimized the game for speed, but it might end up running a bit slower than before (though it should only be noticeable on speed 5 unless you have an ancient rig.) I should also mention that due to the drastic changes we are making to the game, old save games will not remain compatible with version 2.1! However, version 2.0.4 will remain available as a beta branch on Steam.

That's all for today folks! Peace.



[video=youtube;TBQmY4TKUrc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQmY4TKUrc[/video]

 

[DominusNovus]

No assumptions. If you read the thread you will see that I am stating my preferences and expressing my interests. I would recommend you do the same, it's probably more effective than picking my posts apart.

But far less fun.

 

[DominusNovus]

Many powerful states that interacted with Europe are cut in half, not to mention that the southeastern corner of the map is unhistorically dull.

So, Crusader Mings confirmed for the undetermined future. After all, the Mongols are still going to be a powerful state that interacted with Europe and cut in half, and what fun are the Mongols without China?

However, if you wish to play as a Hindu, Buddhist or Jain ruler - with all the associated mechanics, graphics and events - you will have to buy the expansion.

Quick question: as far as graphics, are you referring to just the interface, or are you incorporating the traditional 'mini'-DLC material into the main expansion (portraits, units)?

 

[TheChronoMaster]

Thuggee as a Hindu holy order seems most likely to me, especially if Europeans or Muslims get a strong foothold on the subcontinent. You're just accelerating history a few hundred years.


EDIT: And for the record, yes, Thuggee as a Kali-worshipping Hindu death cult is a spurious idea at best. But this is a game where the Zoroastrians can welcome a Sayoshant, where the Mongols can sack Rome, where the Jomsvikings and Hashashin can become major powers, etc. It wouldn't be out of place as a Holy Order, especially if a Hindu realm starts making gains in Europe, or vice versa.

 

[DesNibelungen]

I'm passing on this expansion, but it looks like I also won't have much of a choice with further patches. What an abortion this is.

I didn't think the whining could reach a new low, but it just did.

 

[turnad]

Thuggee as a Hindu holy order seems most likely to me, especially if Europeans or Muslims get a strong foothold on the subcontinent. You're just accelerating history a few hundred years.


EDIT: And for the record, yes, Thuggee as a Kali-worshipping Hindu death cult is a spurious idea at best. But this is a game where the Zoroastrians can welcome a Sayoshant, where the Mongols can sack Rome, where the Jomsvikings and Hashashin can become major powers, etc.

Reading into the Thuggee thing, it seems there are a lot of hypothesis on them. The idea that they were fabricated by colonialists isn't the only revisionism about them.

 

[ggggtotalwarrio]

Thanks for the Dev Diary. I was initially very hostile to the idea of this expansion, but seeing that you're making improvements to game performance, I feel much more confident.

However, I'd really like to hear some more on how this affects the CKII-EU4 converter in the future. Is info on that being held back for a future Dev Diary?

 

[Marcion]

Reading into the Thuggee thing, it seems there are a lot of hypothesis on them. The idea that they were fabricated by colonialists isn't the only revisionism about them.

Everything I've seen points to them being pretty standard brigands with no real religious dimension. I wonder if they were conflated at some point with older stories about kapalikas (an actual death cult).

 

[thekinguter]

So, Crusader Mings confirmed for the undetermined future.

He almost certainly meant eastern Persia, as he was referring to the current map as of the latest patch.

An art related question: Are the duchies in India color-coded like they are in Europe/the Middle-East or are they random colours like in EU3?

 

[prane.fuji]

Hi, I was wondering if this DLC will allow South Eastern coastal areas to create trade posts.

 

[dulahan]

I just hope it isn't called Crusader Mings... Seriously, they were in power for less than 100 years of the entire era. Late part too.

 

[DominusNovus]

He almost certainly meant eastern Persia, as he was referring to the current map as of the latest patch.

Of course he was. My point is that his point is equally valid for Central Asia.

 

[Spartanlemur]

Is it wrong that I'm ever so slightly more excited by the prospect of a China/Japan expansion than for this?

I would be equally excited, but all that wasteland is going to be just as frustrating as the previously ahistorical Eastern border. China/Japan will be the final piece of the puzzle, and that prospect is quite exciting indeed.

Nonetheless, this looks awesome, and I'm looking forward to the next dev diary!

 

[CatKnight]

Holy cows? Count me in!

 

[DominusNovus]

I would be equally excited, but all that wasteland is going to be just as frustrating as the previously ahistorical Eastern border. China/Japan will be the final piece of the puzzle, and that prospect is quite exciting indeed.

That, and extending the map down to include more of Subsaharan Africa. Not all the way to the Cape, but perhaps as far south as Kongo and Zanzibar (for some Swahili Merchant Republic fun!), or, at minimum, the southern coast of West Africa.

PS, February is going to be a long month; these announcements always rekindle my interest in the game, but simultaneously make it less fun to play, while I keep thinking about all the features I could be playing with in the near future.

 

[Spartanlemur]

That, and extending the map down to include more of Subsaharan Africa. Not all the way to the Cape, but perhaps as far south as Kongo and Zanzibar (for some Swahili Merchant Republic fun!), or, at minimum, the southern coast of West Africa.

Yeah I suppose they could extend the map a little further south so we get Indonesia; that would also lead to us finally getting the Gulf of Guinea in game as well.

 

[Sholmegaard]

Fun to se how much drama an expansion of the map can bring!
Anyway I'm exited, eventhoug i have stayed far away from the easten egde and don't have SoI I still have ideas about who to play in the traditional "west".
With the expansion Im now tempted not just to buy RoI but also SoI(and SoA, im doing a world travel so the budget is low) because the whole middle east is going to be so interesting to play region.
Im not THAT exited about holy cows and the oppertunety to play as an indian ruler, but im so exited about the mecanis it will give to the game.
It will be tempting to se the Byzantine re do alexanders huge empire.

but a question: how did you solve the two oceans problem? and a little wish. If you manege to get your "ship" techonolgy high enough i think you should be able to travel between the two oceans but i think the trip from Hispanis to "yemen" should take like 4-6 years each way..

Keep up the good work, im pretty sure ill be doing 1000hours of this game before i grew tired of it.!

 

[Scott1964]

holy cows, levitating monks, Thuggees and tiger hunts....:blink::happy:

 

[Tempestra]

Well-put, federalist girl.

To those who say to me, 'FFS', or that I'm over-reacting, I disagree. I take the time to punch out a few sentences on a forum to let PDS know what kind of content I would appreciate and to let the developers be aware of my expectations on the topic. It's perfectly fine, just agree to disagree. If you want to come in and say why you want the game to reinforce colonialist stereotypes, go right ahead, but you're wasting your time if you think you can make me stop letting my preferences be known.

This is one of the most common conceits of this (and other) discussion forums - 'those who agree with me are calmly stating a point, those who disagree are consumed with rage and fuming at their keyboards'.

 

[Tempestra]

I'm not familiar with Indian history, so I have to ask - were there any rulers who were considered to be reincarnations of their ancestors? I know that Hinduism and Buddhism generally hold that reincarnation happens, but I was under the impression that they didn't really see it as working along family lines?

 

[tnick0225]

Question regarding the 2.0.4 beta patch...

When I load up steam is it automatically going to download 2.1 killing my two games? Or will it give me an option of which to download for right now? Because I'm going to be a tad unhappy losing two AARs due to an auto download, and will probably rage quit PI due to it. Just sayin, it'd be the motherload of all frustrations having that happen.

So hope you guys make it pop up with an option, because I only turn steam on when I feel like playing, which triggers all the damn downloads. Unless ya'll are claiming it won't be save-game compatible when it really will be. I remember there were a few patches that was said and it worked out fine.