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CK2 Dev Diary #61: The Dragon Throne

Hello folks!

The Swedish summer vacations are drawing to a close and I’m back and eager to talk some more Crusader Kings! What better way to kick off the end of summer than by revealing the theme of the next expansion? Yes my friends, it’s China! Now, before you get all emotional one way or the other, we’re not actually going to expand the map farther east. We considered doing that, long and hard, but eventually decided on a different approach that would not strain performance and stability beyond reason. As I mentioned in Dev Diary #51, it bothers me that the eastern edge of the map just cuts off in such an unnatural way. Playing in the Orient, you should always feel like you’re in the shadow of the Dragon. It should be an interesting and dynamic region right in the center of the Old World. So, we came up with the idea of adding China as a political entity even though you cannot actually see most of its territory.

The Dragon Throne.png


There is a new screen you can open up, which, if you’re within range of China, allows you to interact with the Emperor in various interesting ways. China can grant many wonderful boons if you’re in the emperor’s good graces, but, depending on the current status and policy of the Dragon Throne, the emperor can also decide you’d better show some respect and become a tributary state. When there is turmoil in China, displaced or fleeing armies can arrive on the map and cause all kinds of trouble. China can even seize and rule actual provinces, but the emperor leaves the governing of such areas to the Governor of the Western Protectorate (or, to be a stickler, the “Protectorate General to Pacify the West”.) Potentially, this on-map part of China can grow enormously powerful, but you should not have to worry too much as long as you enjoy the emperor’s grace…

That’s going to be all for now. I’m sure you have a million questions, but you’ll have to wait for the upcoming dev diaries. :)

Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our CK2 livestreams between 16 to 18:00 CET!
 
Wow, interesting idea... Will China be able to launch invasions too, like the Mongols - Or is the plan that they are just a buffer to the east?

EDIT - And how are the forces of China decided? Will they always be a major power, or will their forces reflect upon the defending realm size?
 
Will there be events for the mongol emperors to "conquer" China and found the Yuan dynasty?
 
Awesome!
 
While I'd personally prefer an actual China (with the caveats that it should be reasonably accurate, not kill performance, and fun to play), being able to interact with an off-map China is better than having no interaction with China save through rare events.

How will this mechanic work with the Mongols (or another hypothetical emperor holding land on the map itself)? Will it only mean that China will be perpetually happy with the on-map emperor, or will you get some special benefits?

It is possible to have multiple off-map entities, or just the one? For example, could we mod in the Aztec Empire's homeland while keeping China, or would we have to choose one?
 
And the plague of special interfaces from EU4 has reached ck2... Can this please be a game rule?

Oh and I disliked, you either add china or you don't, I thought the ck2 team were better than this crap.

You know what I wouldn't mind so much if the emperor of china was simply a character holding a title with a capital of screen but why a special interface? the character interactions menu could have handled it, and a freaking button on the minimap? :confused:

Honestly you saw the interface bloat of eu4 and thought: "We should do that too"?

Edit: That said I enjoyed the joke "Kejsaren av Kina tycker inte om te" (The emperor of china does not like tea, it's a children game/pun), does that game even exist outside of sweden? But basing a mechanic on a joke is not a respectful way of treating an ancient culture.
 
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Will the state of China carry over to EUIV when using the converter? :)
Also (because it is obligatory):
 
The hat of the emperor looks kinda weird, but otherwise love that China is finally included in the game on some capacity.
Is it possible to play as the Chinese western expedition ?
 
That's great!

However, I have another suggestion:
In fact, "Daizong" is just his posthumous title (yes, that means nobody knows who is "Daizong" when he is still alive!). His real name is Li Yu (李豫).
 
That's great!

However, I have another suggestion:

In fact, "Daizong" is just his posthumous title (yes, that means nobody knows who is "Daizong" when he is still alive!). His real name is Li Yu (李豫).
While I wholeheartedly agree with that I'm guessing the game's naming system might not be able to handle the intricacies of Chinese naming conventions with ease... Look at the mess with Temüjin! :D But here's hoping!
 
Pretty nice!

How moddable will this feature be? Will we be able to add new titles accessible through such an interface? Is it possible to add other conditions than diplomatic range for interacting with China?