Crusader Kings II

[Nodscouterr]

So why don't you think it will ever come? Don't think that the original CK sold enough to warrant a sequel? If that's the case, the developers could always take the idea behind CK and re-wrap it with a different name, additional features, and basically a newer experience.

Well basically that. I think that the reason Ck sold so badly was because it was rather hard to understand. Managing your dynasty, making sure you population is loyal, keeping your coffers full, making sure you prestigious and pious, in the end it was just too much for the casual gamers. And also, Paradox isn't that big a company, so few have even heard of the game.

Anyway, I wouldn't say we get CK2 sooneek:) because Paradox is busy with Victoria 2 and HttT

 

[LordofSaxony]

Do you think it would be a good game.. if..

The developers took EU3, ripped out a portion of it that doesn't match up well with CK's dynasty system, and just put the DNA dynasty system into it? I was thinking about that last night while playing.

 

[Nodscouterr]

No, I don't.

 

[truth is life]

One nice thing would be making patronymics work properly. Really nice if they add the ability to play Muslims, and for Russians, Scandinavians, etc. Minor, but cool.

Also, better logic for AI use of PC powers. Just today I was playing Norway and my ~500 piety, former PC, crusading against the Pagans king got excommunicated by his ally and friend the king of Sweden. Why? Because Norway borders Sweden! That is obviously unrealistic and wrong, and I'm sure a fix (in a new game) would be relatively easy.

EDIT: Another thing: The idea of claims connected to people instead of country is great, but there is something lacking. Namely, going to war on behalf of any claims-holders you might have in your court. It would be great if you could declare war on behalf of your courtiers or vassals, and then demand that the provinces in question go to them and either force your claims-holders to become your vassals or allow them to go free in the peace.

 

[Nick B II]

You can force vassal and courtier claims under rare circumstances. You can't have started the war, and you can't have a claim to the title.

But it would be great if they expanded that in CK2.

Nick

 

[truth is life]

You can force vassal and courtier claims under rare circumstances. You can't have started the war, and you can't have a claim to the title.

But it would be great if they expanded that in CK2.

Nick

Yep.

And another thing! This is pure eye candy, but it would be nice if character portraits could age or change over the years, perhaps partially in response to traits (eg., if a character gets lustful or indulgent, their portrait slowly becomes more and more rotund). It's always a bit bizarre seeing your 16-year old son or daughter for the first time as not a silhouette, and realizing they look like they've been around the block a few (dozen) times. Also, your 60-year old king having a full head of full-color hair and generally looking absolutely marvelous.

 

[LordofSaxony]

Yep.

And another thing! This is pure eye candy, but it would be nice if character portraits could age or change over the years, perhaps partially in response to traits (eg., if a character gets lustful or indulgent, their portrait slowly becomes more and more rotund). It's always a bit bizarre seeing your 16-year old son or daughter for the first time as not a silhouette, and realizing they look like they've been around the block a few (dozen) times. Also, your 60-year old king having a full head of full-color hair and generally looking absolutely marvelous.

I was thinking about that, but in retrospect I think I'd just look the other way and have them focus on bigger gameplay issues.

Perhaps they can do something simple like making an overlay of gray streaks on a portrait for the hair, so it looks like the person is getting older at least in that fashion. Also make an overlay of wrinkles of the skin, the older they get the less transparent the wrinkles are, so the more they show up. That combined with the gray hair overlay I think would do wonders. The entire aging process can be done with overlays, even something like gif/png graphics and just reduce the transparency level as the years go by.

 

[Fookison]

I would like to see more ledgers with relevant information about family and perhaps a family tree. Included could be a list of who arrived or left the court and when and who got which appointment or when it was terminated. Also, on the army sprites, information like EU3 that tells where they are travelling to and when they will arrive. BTW: I like the idea of the overlays to provide an aging process for portraits. Good idea. Does that currently happen in EU Rome?

 

[LordofSaxony]

I would like to see more ledgers with relevant information about family and perhaps a family tree. Included could be a list of who arrived or left the court and when and who got which appointment or when it was terminated. Also, on the army sprites, information like EU3 that tells where they are travelling to and when they will arrive. BTW: I like the idea of the overlays to provide an aging process for portraits. Good idea. Does that currently happen in EU Rome?

If they did a description of the character, that would be cool. It could be based on the character scores and traits.

=========================================

Alexea of Leon
A member of the Leon family, she is a socialite with a charming smile, lacks common sense, and never touched a weapon in her life. She is eager to make something of her life by any means, she is also a devout Christian, and she is well known in the world.

[1] Diplomacy Rating: 12
[2] Stewardship Rating: 2
[3] Martial Rating: 0
[4] Intrigue Rating: 15
[5] Piety Rating: 124
[6] Prestige Rating: 312
[7] Faith: Christian
[8] Family Name: Leon

=========================================

The breakdown..

A member of the Leon[8] family, she is a socialite with a charming smile[1], lacks common sense[2], and never touched a weapon in her life[3]. make something of[4], she is also a devout[5] Christian[7], and she is well known in the world[6].

Basically, those sentences come from the scores. For example..

"....she is a socialite with a charming smile...." is because she has a score of 12 in diplomacy.

If she didn't have a 12 in diplomacy, and she had an 11 it would read as..

"....she is skilled in the arts of conversation..."

If she only had a 2 in diplomacy...

"....she doesn't like talking to people she doesn't know..."

=========================================

I guess it's really nice in the roleplay aspect, and it also gives the person an idea of what the character is like other than just looking raw scores. This could be expanded on to make it a bit more deep, such as adding marriages/divorces, personal attractiveness, widowed, etc.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

If they did a description of the character, that would be cool. It could be based on the character scores and traits.

=========================================

Alexea of Leon
A member of the Leon family, she is a socialite with a charming smile, lacks common sense, and never touched a weapon in her life. She is eager to make something of her life by any means, she is also a devout Christian, and she is well known in the world.

[1] Diplomacy Rating: 12
[2] Stewardship Rating: 2
[3] Martial Rating: 0
[4] Intrigue Rating: 15
[5] Piety Rating: 124
[6] Prestige Rating: 312
[7] Faith: Christian
[8] Family Name: Leon

=========================================

The breakdown..

A member of the Leon[8] family, she is a socialite with a charming smile[1], lacks common sense[2], and never touched a weapon in her life[3]. make something of[4], she is also a devout[5] Christian[7], and she is well known in the world[6].

Basically, those sentences come from the scores. For example..

"....she is a socialite with a charming smile...." is because she has a score of 12 in diplomacy.

If she didn't have a 12 in diplomacy, and she had an 11 it would read as..

"....she is skilled in the arts of conversation..."

If she only had a 2 in diplomacy...

"....she doesn't like talking to people she doesn't know..."

=========================================

I guess it's really nice in the roleplay aspect, and it also gives the person an idea of what the character is like other than just looking raw scores. This could be expanded on to make it a bit more deep, such as adding marriages/divorces, personal attractiveness, widowed, etc.

More of it it's possible:

3.4.1067 - Got married with Guy d'Albret
7.11.1069 - Gave birth to Robert d'Albret
8.2.1069 - Was named Chamberlain in the County of Albret

... and so on. Like in EU:Rome.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

And I was always lacking in courtmen. I had tons of women, but I didn't want women to fill my provinces as countesses. Mainly, because it's not very historical, and secondly, because they got married and took my lands away with their husband. That's not nice.

We need a way to "generate" courtmen, like advisors or generals in EUIII. A pool full of knights and gentlemen from your provinces, in which you can give court titles (lots of them, like in actual Medieval courts), like cupbearer, etc. In the Byzantine Empire (which should be redefined, because it worked in a different way than Western Europe), many other titles, with actual power and more implications, would be avaliable (Logothetes, Protovestiarios, Protospatharios, Megas Konostaulos, Megas Doux, Logothetes tou Dromou, Megas Domestikos...)

A hypothetical CK2 can be really awesome if the leap is so great and good as the one they did between EU2 and EUIII: Heir to the Throne.

 

[performer]

And I was always lacking in courtmen. I had tons of women, but I didn't want women to fill my provinces as countesses. Mainly, because it's not very historical, and secondly, because they got married and took my lands away with their husband. That's not nice.

Mary them first ... to your sons, to yourself, or to old farts without heirs at all.

 

[Count of Reval]

It would make a game even more slower, and it isn't probably economically rational for a game developer to invest resources into polishing such a small detail from the game's point of view... but I'd love to see a default AAR or history-book in CK2. It doesn't have to be a fluent read, just some important facts (and pictures), with a text search, and sorting function (sorting by an event-type, and ruler's name (who ruled at particular period)). Similarly to message settings, you as a player should be able to predefine a level and orientation of details you are interested in. AutoAAR would document important events like marriages, births, title granting, crusades, wars, maybe some bigger battles (and giving them a name), conquests (dates when you acquired some province and from whom) etc. AutoAAR would include snapshots of key characters with a title or position in court (and might be also described like LordofSaxony suggested above). After each, say, 50 years, AAR would present a brief overview of a situation in the known world, with political map snapshots... who dominate some particular regions, what is a military balance between some important competitors, who are the most glorious rulers (with short descriptions of the characters), which dynasties are the most influential, overview of the spread of technologies/advances, and plague etc.

If CK2 ever comes, family tree is a necessity, I think. It is so often mentioned as a wish. And some more advanced built-in dynasties' scoring system would be nice.

 

[Yakman]

Mary them first ... to your sons, to yourself, or to old farts without heirs at all.

seriously.

it's not hard to eliminate a gender imbalance in a court. it just takes a little time.

 

[unmerged(76802)]

In the Byzantine Empire (which should be redefined, because it worked in a different way than Western Europe), many other titles, with actual power and more implications, would be avaliable (Logothetes, Protovestiarios, Protospatharios, Megas Konostaulos, Megas Doux, Logothetes tou Dromou, Megas Domestikos...)

I would actually be fine without the vast array of titles Byzantium bestowed (the game does have to find a baseline that simulates all these kingdoms adequately after all), except for one - Kaisar/Sebastokrator, for designating the heir to the purple in Elective Law, cause Elective Law best simulates the ad hoc nature of Byzantine succession.

The way I see it working is Sebastokrator counts as a very powerful title, but not so powerful the holder is always the heir. For example, if you crown a child Sebastokrator, then his low stats mean he'll fall behind a skilled and powerful prince. Give the title to even a decent son, though, and he'll be the immediate heir.

 

[LordofSaxony]

Oh, and adding XI or whatever to your characters name if possible would be nice. If I have a fifth Richard ruling the Kingdom, it would be nice if he was Richard V.

 

[Yakman]

Oh, and adding XI or whatever to your characters name if possible would be nice. If I have a fifth Richard ruling the Kingdom, it would be nice if he was Richard V.

But CK is not a Kingdom simulation--it is a dynasty simulation.

As such, you might skip from Kingdom to Kingdom from Duchy to County again and again. Numbering your rulers then... perhaps not the most sensible system.

 

[LordofSaxony]

But CK is not a Kingdom simulation--it is a dynasty simulation.

As such, you might skip from Kingdom to Kingdom from Duchy to County again and again. Numbering your rulers then... perhaps not the most sensible system.

I wouldn't think it would be too hard to code, it would basically just be checking a few conditions. Is the parent's name William? Yes. Is the son inheriting the same kingdom? Yes. Is the son's name William? Yes. Then it would produce William IV, if the father was William III.

Or It could just keep a simple Kingdom list of names, and it would just run a short check. As an example, the King of England list would be..

James I
James II
Henry I
Henry II
Henry III
William I
William II
William III

If the AI views this list of the past Kingdom leaders, and it sees that your heir is becoming King of a particular title, and your heir's name is William, once he takes the throne he's William IV. Technically it wouldn't even matter if he comes from a different family, if there's already been a ruler by that name, to differentiate from past and present rulers of the same name, it would still add the roman numeral suffix at the end (aka, III, IV, etc).

This may not be strictly a kingdom simulation game, but on the same context aside from the dynasty aspect, it IS a kingdom simulation game. From what I've been reading about Dukes who are in charge of their kingdoms, such as the Duke of Modena, his father Duke Francis IV was before him. So when the Duke took the throne of the dukedom, he was named Francis V (link). Perhaps the AI could just keep track of either (A) Dukes who get that title, and/or (B) only Kings of that title.

 

[Yakman]

I wouldn't think it would be too hard to code, it would basically just be checking a few conditions. Is the parent's name William? Yes. Is the son inheriting the same kingdom? Yes. Is the son's name William? Yes. Then it would produce William IV, if the father was William III.

Or It could just keep a simple Kingdom list of names, and it would just run a short check. As an example, the King of England list would be..

James I
James II
Henry I
Henry II
Henry III
William I
William II
William III

If the AI views this list of the past Kingdom leaders, and it sees that your heir is becoming King of a particular title, and your heir's name is William, once he takes the throne he's William IV. Technically it wouldn't even matter if he comes from a different family, if there's already been a ruler by that name, to differentiate from past and present rulers of the same name, it would still add the roman numeral suffix at the end (aka, III, IV, etc).

This may not be strictly a kingdom simulation game, but on the same context aside from the dynasty aspect, it IS a kingdom simulation game. From what I've been reading about Dukes who are in charge of their kingdoms, such as the Duke of Modena, his father Duke Francis IV was before him. So when the Duke took the throne of the dukedom, he was named Francis V (link). Perhaps the AI could just keep track of either (A) Dukes who get that title, and/or (B) only Kings of that title.

yes, but what about if the name list is:

Henry
William
Henry

under your logic chain, you'd have TWO men styled Henry I

 

[LordofSaxony]

yes, but what about if the name list is:

Henry
William
Henry

under your logic chain, you'd have TWO men styled Henry I

If the game started with King Henry, then had King William, then following that even if it's from a different family, if the new King is named Henry, it would be King Henry II.

That's what I meant by it, I just showed a list of how the AI might keep track of it, so in your case it would be

Henry I
Henry II
William I

If we went ahead a hundred years or more, and there was Henry, William, Henry, Henry, James, John, Jean, William, Henry, the list would look like..

Henry I
Henry II
Henry III
Henry IV
William I
William II
James I
John I
Jean I