Suggestions for Improved Playability

[Enlil]

On the Modding forum, there is a suggestions page for things for improved moddability, so this is for game features and flavor and stuff that you would like to see. I'll even compile a list here, so Paradox can see what the people are currently asking for quickly and efficiently.

Things People want to add:

Feudal Mechanics

AI lords revoking or building bishopric and handing them to secondary sons to avoid the domain split.
Playable Unlanded Courtiers.
Better succession system for Russia
Regnal names
A Gavelkind overhaul
Cadet Branches
Transferable reignal number
Exclusive Religion Succession Laws
Appoint Regency Council
Prince/princess titles for spouses of princes and grandchildren of kings/emperors
Uterine Succession
Coronation event
Playable barons
Different map mods to show the vassals of dukes, kings, or emperors only.

Religious Mechanics

Schism-mending for Catholics.
The ability for Catholics and orthodox to work together
Religious head map mode that shows the religious head of rulers.
Working Jewish Great Holy Wars
Better functionality for Crusades
Three Petrine See for Nestorians and Miaphysites
Adamites
breakdowns for other religions' MA
Implement nicholas2000's Playable Theocracies suggestion (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...le-Theocracies)

City Mechanics

Playable inland republics

General Mechanics

trade along major rivers
Clickable plot and prison bars icons
New born name randomizer
bi-directional opinions of characters via the character finder
An in-game notepad
Limited character customization for our children if we own the right dlc. (While they're still kids let us pick what they'll look like within their culture).
Marriage and newborn name control for the heir apparent and heirs in waiting even when they're in another court.
Make it so that the release, execute/banish, and ransom buttons in the intrigue menu just do the action.
Allow us to change our kingdoms colour if we have the customization dlc.
Allow us to change dynasty names regardless of whether or not we're the head of our dynasty.
Previous marriages history for those that ended because of divorce or inheriting a bishopric
Make it easier to bring back the drop down notifications if we accidentally disable them.

Battle Mechanics

Add the current number of troops that a character has under their control to their character screen.
embark all button
Loot bar next to your units on the map besides or below your the amount of troops you have.

 

[Ashagar]

Another thing would be trade along major rivers like the Rhine river which was a major artery for trade back then and even today, nobles used to build castles on the river to tax and control the trade going up on down the Rhine river and some of the cities of the Hausa were inland along the Rhine as well and the Danube river was a another major river trade route.

Then there's major trade routes, like the amber road, the Grand Trunk Road, the Via Maris, the Incense Route, the silk road which interestingly had silk going both ways while there was demand for silk in Europe and the middle east, apparently the Chinese had a fascination with sea silk from Europe. Then there's the English wool trade to Flanders and the important salt trade routes from the mines of the HRE along which wealth was made selling salt.

 

[Jorlem]

The ability to see the breakdowns for other religions' MA via a tooltip in the ledger.

Edit:
Oh, also, the ability to bi-directional opinions of characters via the character finder. Not so much for seeing your character's opinion of everyone easily, but when using the subicon button that lets you see opinions from that character's perspective, it would be nice to easily be able to see the reverse opinions as well.

 

[Pte Baldrick]

Another thing would be trade along major rivers like the Rhine river which was a major artery for trade back then and even today, nobles used to build castles on the river to tax and control the trade going up on down the Rhine river and some of the cities of the Hausa were inland along the Rhine as well and the Danube river was a another major river trade route.

I'm pretty sure the Hausa were primarily along the Kaduna river...

 

[klopkr]

The ability for Catholics and orthodox to work together against a common enemy especially considering it was the major reason for the first crusade, the emperor asked the popes for troops and he delivered beyond expectations of the pope or the emperor, a pity about the whole treachery that lead to the crusaders believing the emperor betrayed them when in fact he had been mislead about their fate.
There's also the fact the Catholics and orthodox of the crusader states did often work together against the Muslim states.

I definitely agree with this. Orthodox and catholic should be able to join each others defensive holy wars, the byzantine emperor should be able to petition the pope for a crusade "And get the land if both the winner of the crusade and the pope like him", and miaphysites should be able to join catholic crusades.

The crusades involved pretty much all of Christendom and even the ethiopians/nubians played a roll.

 

[Anonymous01]

Oh, also, the ability to bi-directional opinions of characters via the character finder. Not so much for seeing your character's opinion of everyone easily, but when using the subicon button that lets you see opinions from that character's perspective, it would be nice to easily be able to see the reverse opinions as well.

This feature is already in the game. Right click any character's picture, then right click one of the buttons that pops up (I forget which one), then there's an icon (called 'relations' maybe? I think it's in the shape of a human bust) that brings up the character finder which lists each character's opinion of the character you originally right-clicked.

Maybe you're asking for a user interface change to make this feature more visible and accessible though.

EDIT: This thread discusses the double right-click interface: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...e-who-had-never-seen-this-before-I-just-can-t!

 

[Anonymous01]

Enlil, you left out Playable Unlanded Courtiers.

 

[LostTribeMember]

Three Petrine See for Nestorians and Miaphysites

I Do believe there is a mod on the workshop by Voltage for this. Check it out.

New born name randomizer
Regnal names
Transferable reignal number
Exclusive Religion Succession Laws
Appoint Regency Council
An in-game notepad
Prince/princess titles for spouses of princes and grandchildren of kings/emperors
Coronation event
Playable inland republics
Playable barons
Marriage and newborn name control for the heir apparent and heirs in waiting even when they're in another court.

All great Ideas, I would love to see them all.

 

[treedom]

I'd like to see a character's history be remembered somewhere, which would include major events in their life. Were they imprisoned? By whom and how long? Were they involved with any known assassination plots? Who did they kill/killed them? Did they gain/lose titles? When did they marry/become widowed? etc.

Also it would be nice if the game remembered the prestige of dead characters, so you could look back through a house and be able to tell which members were the heavies.

 

[Lord_P]

Enlil, you left out Playable Unlanded Courtiers.

But how exactly would you play them?

Decades of just sitting around is what they do...

 

[Jorlem]

This feature is already in the game. Right click any character's picture, then right click one of the buttons that pops up (I forget which one), then there's an icon (called 'relations' maybe? I think it's in the shape of a human bust) that brings up the character finder which lists each character's opinion of the character you originally right-clicked.

Maybe you're asking for a user interface change to make this feature more visible and accessible though.

EDIT: This thread discusses the double right-click interface: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...e-who-had-never-seen-this-before-I-just-can-t!

Yes, I know. You'll note that I was the one who brought this up in the thread you linked.

I was asking for an improvement to this feature, so you can see both directions of the relations. As you said, it currently shows every characters' opinion of the originally clicked character. I am asking for it also to display that character's opinion of everyone else.

 

[Steely Dwarf]

Ck iii

 

[james24eagle]

This!

1. Clickable plot and prison bars icons (clicking them should redirect to the plot target and 'imprisoner' respectively -- they should function like the red skulls hyperlinks)

2. New born name randomizer (paradox coders said this is a tricky problem -- all the more reason they should be working on it)

3. Regnal names (I should be able to change my name when succeeding to a kingdom or empire title)

4. Transferable reignal number (If Duke John Doe IV succeeds to a kingdom, he should be able to elect to be called King John Doe I or King John Doe IV)

5. Customizable Titles and Styles (e.g., Principalities and Princes instead of Duchies and Dukes; It would also be nice if we could grant and customize pre-nominal styles, e.g., royal highness, imperial majesty, etc.; Customizable honorary titles: players should be able to decide what the husband of a queen regnant is called -- 'king?' 'prince consort?' 'her majesty's consort?')

6. Exclusive Religion Succession Laws (Allow us to limit the succession to adherents of our current character's religion/denomination)

7. Appoint Regency Council (Adult rulers should be able to appoint at least 1 (preferably 3 to 5) courtier/vassal to act as regent in case of incapacitation, foreign travel, or succession by a minor; if more than one nominee is allowed, it should function like a succession list; if the ruler fails to nominate a regent, the game's current regency function would be applied)

8. An in-game notepad (preferably one for each character so the player can type notes specific to given characters)

9. Prince/princess titles for spouses of princes and grandchildren of kings/emperors (player should have an option to toggle this on and off, perhaps with a relations bonus if toggled on; if not, it should be universal)

10. Uterine Succession (uncle to nephew by the eldest sister)

11. Customizable Succession Laws

12. Coronation event (I'd prefer an animated short film, but an event chain will do if not)

13. Implement nicholas2000's Playable Theocracies suggestion (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...-Clergy-A-Suggestion-for-Playable-Theocracies)

14. Playable unlanded courtiers

15. Playable inland republics

16. Playable barons

17. Marriage and newborn name control for the heir apparent and heirs in waiting even when they're in another court.

 

[MysterX]

I'd like to be able to see previous marriages that ended because of divorce or inheriting a bishopric (or whatever other reasons the game has for such anullments), sort of like what we get when a previous spouse died, but with some other icon like a wedding ring with a red slashed circle around it.

 

[LumberKing]

I Do believe there is a mod on the workshop by Voltage for this. Check it out.

Which I integrated into mine. However, this really should be a vanilla thing, not a mod thing.

 

[Anonymous01]

Yes, I know. You'll note that I was the one who brought this up in the thread you linked.

I was asking for an improvement to this feature, so you can see both directions of the relations. As you said, it currently shows every characters' opinion of the originally clicked character. I am asking for it also to display that character's opinion of everyone else.

Ah, fewer clicks and viewable side-by-side. Good idea.

But how exactly would you play them?

Decades of just sitting around is what they do...

The same way you play landed characters. When their dynasty dies out, game over.

Basically, it'd just be an office politics game. Currying favor with this or that character to get permission to get married/borrow money/kill a rival/gain a title/etc.

I keep small courts, so my courtiers tend to be very involved. Some of my monarchs' minor noble or lowborn consorts went on to do pretty extraordinary things during and after their marriages. Some of them married two or more monarchs and wielded lots of power as field generals, spymasters, or assassins. I just notice unlanded courtiers doing some of the wildest shit in my games (murdering a distant count's pregnant wife so that their grandson can become third-in-line to the county title, for example), so I always thought it'd be great to play from their perspective. They're free from many opinion malus constraints since they don't have to keep vassals happy, so it's a very different game for those characters.

 

[Dominico]

1. Clickable plot and prison bars icons (clicking them should redirect to the plot target and 'imprisoner' respectively -- they should function like the red skulls hyperlinks)


8. An in-game notepad (preferably one for each character so the player can type notes specific to given characters)

Yes and yes please!!!

 

[Knightfall52]

Prisoner control 'panel':
A tickable box to 'exclude' a prisoner from mass commands,
and then a mass-command-box for:
'ransom after a month and after a year release'
'ransom after a month and after a year execute'
'release after a month'
'execute after a month'
'ransom after a month and check for ransom every month'
(the month is so you can exclude after capturing)

Guys this is a playability thing not an extra content/feature thing.
Focus on how the UI can be made easier to navigate or how and which 'mass commands' can be shortcutted.

 

[Pte Baldrick]

But how exactly would you play them?

Decades of just sitting around is what they do...

Well, the rags-to-riches idea does have a lot of appeal. Even if it's not quite rags...

The real problem, though, is whether or not it's mechanically possible to allow one to play as those characters, enginewise. Not having as much to do could be rectified with improved liege diplomacy (involving requesting titles) and featuring more events for playing as a member of a council (considering it tends to feel just like an Honorary title, although events for some Honorary titles such as Cupbearer would be very nice.) Baronies, for example, would be practically as unplayable; and barons their own courts would hurt performance (due to the added courtiers) to the point of difficulty playing the game even on high-end computers.

 

[klopkr]

Ah, fewer clicks and viewable side-by-side. Good idea.



The same way you play landed characters. When their dynasty dies out, game over.

Basically, it'd just be an office politics game. Currying favor with this or that character to get permission to get married/borrow money/kill a rival/gain a title/etc.

I keep small courts, so my courtiers tend to be very involved. Some of my monarchs' minor noble or lowborn consorts went on to do pretty extraordinary things during and after their marriages. Some of them married two or more monarchs and wielded lots of power as field generals, spymasters, or assassins. I just notice unlanded courtiers doing some of the wildest shit in my games (murdering a distant count's pregnant wife so that their grandson can become third-in-line to the county title, for example), so I always thought it'd be great to play from their perspective. They're free from many opinion malus constraints since they don't have to keep vassals happy, so it's a very different game for those characters.

The game can't run if courtiers or barons are playable simply because of how much more info it would need to track. Or at least that's the technical reason i've been told. It's why they have so much missing info.

 

[Anonymous01]

The game can't run if courtiers or barons are playable simply because of how much more info it would need to track. Or at least that's the technical reason i've been told. It's why they have so much missing info.

Told by who? And what information are courtiers and barons missing?