CK3 is now hardcoded to block same-sex concubinage

[chinkeeyong]

In CK3 1.2.2 and earlier, it was possible for mods to add same-sex consorts and concubines. For some reason, this functionality has been rolled back in CK3 1.3. All mods that add same-sex consorts or concubines now trigger the following error:

Error: make_concubine effect [ Illegal concubinage: <Character> is the same gender as their concubinist, so they can't become a concubine ]

As someone who enjoys CK3 as an escape from reality, this is a depressing and crushing step back. I play CK3 to experience the fantasy of being a medieval ruler who can change the course of history, not to be continually reminded of the things that cannot be changed in real life.

• All the character interactions to take consorts and concubines in base CK3 already check that the character is of the opposite gender, so allowing same-sex concubinage wouldn't cause any bugs in the base game.
• Concubinage isn't necessary to secure an heir, so same-sex concubinage wouldn't break the fundamental structure of the game.
• Many CK2 overhaul mods have societies that allow same-sex relations and adoption, and this change will prevent those mechanics from being implemented in CK3.
• Behavior that can be described as same-sex concubinage is attested historically, so it isn't even that much of a stretch for mods to include.

Ultimately, this comes off as a completely meaningless and unwarranted change. Why is it necessary to block same-sex consorts and concubines from appearing in the game at all? Why is CK3 1.3 a step back from 1.2.2 for modders, rather than a step forward?

 

[Foreign Alien]

Guess PDX wasn't as "woke" as I thought. Must be some weird Swedish Christian thing.

 

[johnty5]

My understanding is that same sex marriage is also hardcoded to be impossible.

Seems like a ridiculous decision to me. Hope they fix it in a future patch.

 

[Khezef]

My understanding is that same sex marriage is also hardcoded to be impossible.

Seems like a ridiculous decision to me. Hope they fix it in a future patch.

Medieval marriage was a business contract for mutual property and children, it would make sense that gay marriage wasn't really thought of in that time period. But I agree, why not add it for roleplaying purposes? It would add a lot of difficulty to the game in terms of heirs though.

 

[stratigo]

Medieval marriage was a business contract for mutual property and children, it would make sense that gay marriage wasn't really thought of in that time period. But I agree, why not add it for roleplaying purposes? It would add a lot of difficulty to the game in terms of heirs though.

the objection is the hard coding, meaning it is extremely difficult to mod in, as opposed to there being no gay marriege in medieval europe in the game's simulation. This doesn't have to be the case in mod settings.

 

[Khezef]

the objection is the hard coding, meaning it is extremely difficult to mod in, as opposed to there being no gay marriege in medieval europe in the game's simulation. This doesn't have to be the case in mod settings.

Yes I agree, there should be ways to mod most things into the game. I hope it's a case of overlooked code instead of an anti-gay stance from the developers

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Who did this! I demand answers!

Like, blocking main spouse being same-sex is kinda understandable so that dynasties won't die off and stuff, but a concubine? What's the justification here?

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Yes I agree, there should be ways to mod most things into the game. I hope it's a case of overlooked code instead of an anti-gay stance from the developers

Somebody made the time to write that error text. Totally intentional.

 

[Leyrann]

I'm assuming this is a mistake, considering Paradox has previously explicitly said they want this to be possible in modding.

 

[Torredebelem]

This is really a fringe issue of minor consequence in the great scheme of CK3 development but I agree that they should have left the option open for those who like to explore that gameplay path. Reducing the capabilities of the game to be modded is not a good way forward.

 

[chinkeeyong]

This is really a fringe issue of minor consequence in the great scheme of CK3 development

It isn't a "fringe issue" to me. And I think that many others feel the same way.

 

[Lord Ruby34]

I don't understand the logic for making this change. This is a needle that should be moving in the other direction, with gay marriage and concubinage becoming easier to mod in, not more difficult.

 

[Penguin Zero]

Even if you think this isn't important for 'realistic' medieval simulation (and honestly, the game still has options for widespread magic-using witch cults or reformed religions with entirely ahistorical social stances, and support for modding to take those even further), there have been numerous great total conversion mods for CK2 and CK3 over the years, some of which take the game into worlds where gay marriage and relationships would be much more normalized, like After the End or various fantasy world mods. Removing the ability to mod your game into supporting them is just awful, and doesn't even have a justifiable reason.

I was able to reluctantly accept the hardcoding for no gay marriage in the launch release because I hoped they'd be working on it and fix it in a future patch. This shows me that they're going in exactly the wrong direction. I'm unfortunately already locked in to getting the next few releases due to my pre-order, but I'm putting the game aside for now, and not buying any more expansions until they've fixed this. Probably not going to get the next Stellaris expansion either.

 

[Akaanir]

They added the option to offer concubines/consorts to other characters in 1.3 and I guess someone probably added an additional check to be sure you can't offer same-sex-concubines/consorts to other characters in the base-game while coding the feature. I don't think it was intended to also block mods.

 

[pevergreen]

Someone poked me that whilst we'd acknowledged this thread in other place and on other socials we'd not actually put a dev comment in it, so I thought I'd do that real quick.

Simple answer is that if it was just a quick change we’d have already done it, but it’d be a bit more involved than that and compared to other needs for the project it’s not been a high priority to look at since modding requests are always low in the prio list.

I know it’s something multiple of the team do want as well, so it will likely get a look at in time. But yeah its not that we don't support having something in the game, we definitely do, it is as always with these things a matter of priority and development time not any of the pretty wild speculations in this thread

Legalize Gay Modding!

CONTEXT: CK3 is set in a time that's not very accommodating to LGBT people. Reflecting that might make sense for the base game, but there's no reason modders shouldn't be able to do something about it. THE PROBLEM: The current modding features...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

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