CK2Plus - Balance improvements, more kingdoms and empires, more ambitions and plots

[uleslaw]

I tried making a Plunder casus belli before. In all my test runs, the AI really likes to spam it while ignoring claim or holy wars. After the plunder truce expires, it immediately goes for plunder CB again.

Yep, this is the issue. It doesn't work with the AI.

Thanks for answers. I wonder if it could be somhow workarounded. Is to possible to set a priority for choosing CBs for AI? Or maybe you could constrain this CB to dishonourable characters and let it works only for neighbours? Another idea, if one uses this CB, he (with his band of thugs) is hostile to everyone (or everyone within dejure or de facto kingdom). Maybe that could prevent from unrealistic long-distance pillaging.

Declaring war without claims with possibility to capture prisoners would allow us to play very adventurously

 

[bmullins0118]

You can't change ship speeds. Changing movement speed on ocean doesn't work (believe me, I've tried).

Ouch

 

[Battle bunny]

I assumed. But why?

Also, I play CK2+ when I want a change from the heavy blobbing of Vanilla. CK2+, however, seems to think the cure to that is massive amounts of fracturing. It's nearly 1080 and France and the HRE have totally fallen apart, and show no signs of reforming. This is a silly solution.

If only I had a game like that. The HRE, even with the latest patch, seems to be an invincible, unbreakable monster. I've seen only one separatist revolt that succeeded, and that was not in the HRE either, but in a massive Kingdom of Jerusalem that probably covered a landmass larger than the HRE before several small duchies broke out of it (Bulgarian Empire game, late 1300s). Even those were weak and I'm sure that in a decade most of them could be reabsorbed.

Which brings me to the question I've already asked twice...

How do I get people to join my faction? I've been leading a Separatist faction for ages now with my HRE character and it seems that for decades nobody's even considered joining. The Emperor isn't all that popular either. Still, nobody wants to separate, and apparently the spymaster's "Scheme" option doesn't do it anymore. What does, then?

 

[Wizzington]

You can't directly control people wanting Separatism, its event driven by angry factions. I had planned to expand more on the internal politics of factions, but not sure I'll have time for it.

 

[Wizzington]

Some minor fixes.

1.32.27:
- Removed a test decision that was accidentally left in 1.32.26.
- Fixed some bugs with the Shattered World scenario.

Download CK2Plus 1.32.27 (mirror) (mirror 2)

 

[Hiems]

Some minor fixes.



Download CK2Plus 1.32.26 (mirror) (mirror 2)

You posted the link to 1.36.26 or mistyped the file name. Also, I want to thank you for the awesome mod, it's the only reason I keep playing CK2.

 

[Wizzington]

You posted the link to 1.36.26 or mistyped the ile name. Also, I want to thank you for the awesome, it's the only reason I keep playing CK2.

Fixed.

 

[Communard]

Perhaps. Granted it is just 1080 in this new version. I guess I'll play wait and see. I felt like CK2+ was in a good place some time ago. I suppose the change to plots/factions has shifted the earth somewhat.

Edit: AI Kingdoms can reform, yes? Meaning if an AI vassal is a de jure vassal of a given liege they will be compelled to rejoin with that liege eventually, yes?

Double Edit: Part of the problem seems to be the starting set up in 1066. Henry the Old, Duke of Burgundy, makes France very unstable due to his claim on the throne in 1066. And Kaiser Heinrich IV often gets excommunicated early in the game, making an HRE implosion a fait accompli.

Also, the "Dying on Abdicating" bug still exists.

France should be very unstable in 1066, the king had next to no authority over the powerful dukes, it was kind of like the later HRE.

 

[Encadi]

Wiz ! =( Any idea about being able to make kiev a kingdom again or how can i do it myself? thanks

 

[Wizzington]

Wiz ! =( Any idea about being able to make kiev a kingdom again or how can i do it myself? thanks

Edit k_rus in history files, give it a holder.

 

[Brannart]

France should be very unstable in 1066, the king had next to no authority over the powerful dukes, it was kind of like the later HRE.

I'm not questioning the historical accuracy. I'm questioning how much fun of a game it makes.

This instability, in CK2+, often results in France not existing, or being a tiny shell of itself surrounded by totally independent former vassals. Is that also something that "should" happen, based on history?

Edit: Also, think I'm still seeing a few non-Byzantine AI blindings here and there.

Double Edit: I'll repeat, though, that a good solution for France in the early game is to remove Robert the Old's claim. In my tests this does miracles for France's early stability, and if their is a revolt Philippe has a chance to survive it. Still trying to figure out a way to help out the HRE in the early game.

 

[Gnawer]

Honestly, the latest updates have just annoyed me. I don't play this mod anymore, since I really can't stand some of the recent changes. :/
You can give out regions, and they'll hate you for it. You can be hated, die, play a new and liked character, and everyone will hate you once you become regent for some reason.. Just because you're new I guess? It doesn't seem to matter that you're a nice guy replacing your tyrant father. If a vassal is humble, he will hate you forever if you're proud and/or ambitious. Having different personalities is fine and everything, but a vassal with 1 region really shouldn't want to go to war because you're ambitious and he isn't. It's just ridiculous. Too many -30 personality differences.
There are plenty of people in this world that I don't like.. Or even dislike. That doesn't mean I want them dead though.. I just tend to avoid spending time with them and everything's fine.

The huge personality difference penalties also makes it nearly impossible to change to elective for example, even though you'd assume they'd prefer elective to primogeniture. You can't have any vassal with a negative opinion, which is pretty much impossible to avoid once you have 10+ vassals.

The only thing I really like about this mod now is the change to Crown Authority and Holy Wars. In Vanilla it's just way too easy to keep HRE etc. happy and functioning no matter what kind of stats your leader has and how horrible you treat your vassals. CK2+ is much better in that aspect, but the recent changes just aren't worth it to me.

Oh, and a small minor thing.. Are children completely random in the latest updates? You can be a genius and only marry geniuses, and you'll end up with tall kids, stuttering kids, hunchbacks, strong kids etc. and hardly ever get a genius from that marriage..?

 

[Rabid]

Hereditary traits still work, they're just a bit less likely to be passed down than in vanilla. Try being a muslim with 3 or 4 genius etc. wives and you'll have a whole raft of blessed heirs to choose from

 

[Kainser]

France should be very unstable in 1066, the king had next to no authority over the powerful dukes, it was kind of like the later HRE.

Sure, but Robert the Old should not be a pretender that everyone in France instantly rallies around when you start the game. The guy was an asshole and pretty terrible. King Philip should not be overthrown in most games, which is what happens to me currently (really anecdotal obviously). Removing Roberts claim is an option (ahistorical obviously, but gameplay first like in the Aragon/Barcelona case) but simply adding some more negative traits to him might help and also be historical.

e; equally anecdotally so does separatism seem to work pretty well right now. Some places collapse, some blob. My only problem with it is how long it can take for some places to 'reunite'. Ideally so would a great ruler be able to pick up the pieces even after a terrible ruler have shattered the realm.

Oh, and a small minor thing.. Are children completely random in the latest updates? You can be a genius and only marry geniuses, and you'll end up with tall kids, stuttering kids, hunchbacks, strong kids etc. and hardly ever get a genius from that marriage..?

The inherit chances are in traits.txt, genius is very unlikely to be passed down (10%), attractive/strong/tall and their opposites are much more likely (25-33%) which makes sense.

 

[Brannart]

Sure, but Robert the Old should not be a pretender that everyone in France instantly rallies around when you start the game. The guy was an asshole and pretty terrible. King Philip should not be overthrown in most games, which is what happens to me currently (really anecdotal obviously). Removing Roberts claim is an option (ahistorical obviously, but gameplay first like in the Aragon/Barcelona case) but simply adding some more negative traits to him might help and also be historical.

e; equally anecdotally so does separatism seem to work pretty well right now. Some places collapse, some blob. My only problem with it is how long it can take for some places to 'reunite'. Ideally so would a great ruler be able to pick up the pieces even after a terrible ruler have shattered the realm.

Making Robert the Old really detestable would be an excellent solution, I think. Perhaps if also accompanied by Philippe being a bit more likable.

On the subject of France, the AI French monarch seems really keen to hand out land, so in most play throughs the monarch usually has no more than one, or two (at best) counties to rely on. Any way this can be fixed?

Finally, I agree totally with Kainser's thought that an AI ruler should be able to rebuild a bit better. As it seems to go now in most plays, a realm that shatters stays shattered.

 

[Battle bunny]

I don't think we need to make it easier for fractured realms to reunite. The way the game works, someone who is even slightly more powerful than their neighbors has an easy time reuniting everything. It's often too easy to divide & conquer, and duchies are easily reclaimed wholesale.

 

[ZhugeKongming]

Making Robert the Old really detestable would be an excellent solution, I think. Perhaps if also accompanied by Philippe being a bit more likable.

He should definitely be more likeable, and maybe get a bit of a stat boost. He has truly awful stats, and that's kind of odd for a king that ruled almost fifty years and left the royal demesne much larger than he found it. I'm not trying to argue that Philip I was a great king, but he certainly wasn't the worst.

 

[Hibernian]

Hey Wiz, I just have a comment about the Plague in the mod. I just had it happen in my playthrough and it was kind of scary at first, but it quickly just went away and turned out to be nothing really to worry about.

To do a comparison of the casualty rates I suffered, there were about 410 living members in my dynasty when the Plague started and after it was finished there were about 380, so 30 dynasty members died. That's a casualty rate of about 7%, according to Wikipedia (Black Death) the actual death rate of the Plague was 30% to 60% of the population. So I really think it should be made more deadly.

I remember playing a version you put out a few months back which had what were described as "Apocalyptic" Plagues, now that version was scary! Nearly wiped out everyone... I think that you should aim for the plague to kill about half the characters in the game, that would be realistic and interesting, at the moment its not much worse then a bad outbreak of any other disease (Typhoid or Pneumonia, etc).

 

[ZhugeKongming]

That's a little misleading. It's more accurate to look at mortality rates among the high nobility specifically, and AFAIK that was really low compared to the overall mortality rate.

 

[eranam]

Wiz I miss the old civil war system, where all the rebels were united under one banner, because as of now they really don't work together and the loyalist can just squash them one by one even if the combined number of the rebelling armies outnumber them by 2... Sadly it seems that you won't have time to dwell on this mod much more, but I'm still optimistic, that, since you are going to join the AI department you can work on these issues. I think the AI is the biggest flaw in this otherwise great game.