Discussing the DLC

[cosmeIII]

Cosmetic changes like: different faces, different dynastic coats of arms, different hats for the portraits (sound familiar anyone??), possibly different icons for the towns/castles/churches of various cultures and religions, different sprites for units.
All things that *could* have been in the main game, but that don't fundamentally affect the game play. The game would be playable (if a little bland) if all men had one face, all women had another, and all children had the shadow placeholder; and dynastic shields could have been completely ignored - they aren't needed at all. Before anyone says it, I am glad we have the various portraits and shields, I merely use them as examples of things that are not necessary to the game... This is what I meant by cosmetic DLC.

Functionally, anything that merely changes how the game looks, rather than how it functions can reasonably be in the category of cheap DLC. Anything that impacts on the engine or ruleset should be a patch to repair non-functional mechanics/exploits, or an expansion if it introduces new things. The patch should be free, the expansion should not.

I know what you mean by cosmetic changes, what I'm saying is that there are some basic cosmetic characteristics that must be in the full game in order to make it appealing. Adding something as important as a Mongol race and historical dynastic shields (If you give us historical start dates, having historical shields should be a basic) as a cosmetic DLC doesn't seem good at all. If it was a cultural separation between Scandinavians and slavs/european, then a cosmetic DLC would be cool, but if it is about adding the Mongolian characteristics (which I believe hardly share any common looks with the eastern cultures present in the game) then I believe it should be in the full game.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

How far down should the historic shields go then? Should there be historic arms for every single historical dynasty in the game? How many do you think there are in game?
If it's only the important ones, how far down do you go before they aren't important any more?

If it's important to have the Mongolian faces, why is it not important to have faces for all the other cultures that potentially have an impact - Etheopia, possibly Egypt...

 

[Rabid Bogling]

I'm curious. Given the Mongols can be given their own portrait set, would it be theoretically possible to make one for each and every culture, unlike CK1 where you're limited to two? I'm not proposing that, though it would be nifty to be able to mod in, say, Norse-Celtic, Italo-Hispanic, Greco-Armenian, Franco-German, West-Slavic, East-Slavic, and Finno-Baltic sets.

 

[Jia Xu]

If it's important to have the Mongolian faces, why is it not important to have faces for all the other cultures that potentially have an impact - Etheopia, possibly Egypt...

Maybe they will release DLC for other groups. Just not right now. The way post-release content works (especially in the case of Paradox) is that you get it over time. It's almost never the case that you can all of the DLC that's ever going to be developed on day 1. I can think of maybe two examples where this wasn't the case. I believe the two Agarest games launched in North America with like 40+ DLC packs available on day 1. (But that might be because of the time lag between the English and original Japanese releases.)

If you're only going to have one portrait pack ready for day 1, I say it's much better to go with the Mongols than the Ethiopians or anyone else. The Mongols are a big deal in CK. They're the violent ocean wave coming to clean the shores of anything that isn't tied down. The Ethiopians on the other hand are limited to a handful of provinces in a remote section of the map, and if CK2 is anything like CK1, it probably won't take very long for them to be crushed by the Muslims anyway. No offence to any Ethiopians of course. I just think that because of the context of the game itself, some groups should be moved to the head of the line. Wait and see.

I'm curious. Given the Mongols can be given their own portrait set, would it be theoretically possible to make one for each and every culture, unlike CK1 where you're limited to two? I'm not proposing that, though it would be nifty to be able to mod in, say, Norse-Celtic, Italo-Hispanic, Greco-Armenian, Franco-German, West-Slavic, East-Slavic, and Finno-Baltic sets.

Sure, it's almost certainly moddable. But read the Mongol DLC description. The DLC adds thousands of portraits. Now go read developer diary #7. How many dozens of hours do you think it will take you to make that many portraits yourself?

 

[Rabid Bogling]

Given it took me about a fortnight (I exagerrate, though it certainly felt like it) to successfully make a portrait in the first game, I'd rather not think about it. Just wanted to know whether it'd be possible or not.

 

[Ruwaard]

How far down should the historic shields go then? Should there be historic arms for every single historical dynasty in the game? How many do you think there are in game?
If it's only the important ones, how far down do you go before they aren't important any more?

If it's important to have the Mongolian faces, why is it not important to have faces for all the other cultures that potentially have an impact - Etheopia, possibly Egypt...

Even the other used option for historic shields, important, is tricky, because there are very regional opinions about that. For instance for the Austrian region the house Von Babenberg was important.

 

[Tales23]

I missed the Preorder can you buy the DLC's somewhere else?

 

[nigo]

thanks for the DLCs Paradox.

 

[MelancholyRoar]

I missed the Preorder can you buy the DLC's somewhere else?

Doesnt seem like it at present

 

[birdboy2000]

I'm not fond of DLC as an idea, nor do I like any of the existing DLC enough to buy any.

 

[Caban]

neato

 

[Kyrus_Magnus]

I buyed the game from steam today and would like to have at least some historical coat of arms. But steam store says there are no dlcs. When will they become available to buy?
Here:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...-Crusader-Kings-II-Sales-DLC-amp-Patching-FAQ
It says that they can be bought from steam.

 

[AtreyuAtreides]

I'm hoping to find out the same tbh, looking for the DLC but can't find it on Steam.

 

[Belnor]

Time to download and get my DLCs!

Bel.

 

[OzWally]

I have pre ordered DVD box a month ago and I wont get it till this Friday or next week will I be able to get/buy any DLC?

 

[s1234567890m]

the retail version doesnt get DLC free

 

[OzWally]

the retail version doesnt get DLC free

will I be able to get/buy any DLC?

................

 

[Nick B II]

................

You should be able to buy them on Steam.

Nick

 

[Brent15]

It's cool that there are already two music dlcs but I would have liked to known before hand! I had to swing by the bank and deposit money so I could get them today.

 

[Pandadan]

I'm hoping to find out the same tbh, looking for the DLC but can't find it on Steam.

When I preordered on Gamersgate, I saw the DLC available separately... but I just looked again now, and no products are coming up. While it doesn't affect me personally, I was under the impression the DLC would be available for anybody and the preorders just got it bundled for free. Be disappointing if that's not the case.

OH! Does the Steam version of CK2 have an in-game store? Check there. I bet you'll find it.