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Grand Strategy Crusader Kings III

Bliblablubb

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Codexia went into a fey mood.
Codexia created a plywood Holy Lance. The carving is of the highest quality and depicts the events of 2. November 922, showing Codexia carving a plywood Holy Lance.

:obviously:
 

cyborgboy95

News Cyborg
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https://www.crusaderkings.com/en/ne...t=post&utm_campaign=crki3_ck_20210817_cawe_dd

Dev Diary #69: Nice, Throne Room Artifacts!
NEWS / 2021-08-17
social-fb_twitter-etc-dd69-throne-room-artifacts.png

Hello everyone!

In this dev diary it is time for us to have a look at some of the artifacts that you may come across, steal or create yourself for your Royal Court. With the introduction of the new throne room scenes we are for the first time in Crusader Kings taking a step into the interiors of our courts. This has given us an opportunity to move artifacts from only being seen as 2D icons in an inventory screen like in CKII, to being visual 3D objects you can show off to increase the grandeur of your court, or give it your own flair.

Also, as always, the pictures in this dev diary are of work in progress.

Artifacts presented in your court
Within your court you will be able to show off the artifacts in your possession, from the smaller artifacts on pedestals and reliquaries holding the venerated remains of saints, to fine martial weapons forged or taken, to grand statues or fine furniture. These artifacts can be equipped in a number of slots around your court rooms for viewing of the ruler and his guests. Below is a small selection of the smaller artifacts, usually presented on different pedestals befitting your court.
DD69_tome.jpg

A Pratiharan volume about revelry.
DD69_reliquary.jpg

A reliquary containing a piece of the crown of thorns, you think.

DD69_urn.jpg

A fine urn taken from the Abbasid court.

DD69_ivory_box.jpg

A chest of valuables made in the finest of ivory


Designing artifacts of the middle ages
The artifacts we’ve added to the game cover a variety of different categories, small and large, and even to adorn your walls. The creation of these artifacts have gone through a few stages of development before making it into the Royal Court.

Research
As in all our games we go through a stage of historical reference hunting to find artifacts relevant to the time period and within the cultures we are depicting. This can be both easy at times and complicated at others depending on the amount of material that has survived the decay or been documented since the middle ages.

Carved and painted Ivory chests.

During this stage we both look at the aesthetics and historical references we can find and verify. When reference poor areas are worked on, we still try to extrapolate good looking and aesthetically plausible designs. However in some cases like in the Middle East and other areas there is for example close to no and at best sparse levels of statues or paintings of people. Depending on where this can be for religious or cultural reasons and in those cases where other cultures would show human statues, we’ve instead shifted to area appropriate symbolisms, patterns and art.
DD69_ivory_chest_references.jpg

DD69_statue.jpg

A marble statue from southern Europe, and an Islamic golden falcon.

Creation
While using reference images is an easy task to do, we must also consider the original state of the artifact, since a reference from today could be of a possibly 800 years or more old object. So grime, damage and aging needs to be reconsidered and balanced, while still keeping the object in a used looking state. An artifact could still be owned by a ruling family for long enough to become an antique in its own time.

DD69_cabinet.jpg

An icon clad cabinet, don’t tell the iconoclasts!

Dynamic objects
Banners and some other items in the court have shader support to show the ruler’s own flair, since they would be made to the ruler’s specifications. The banners below for example read in the primary title held by the ruler to show off your heraldry.
DD69_banners_a.jpg

DD69_banners_b.jpg

What is a lord without his banner to display his Coat of Arms?

There are also tapestries, where we use a similar system to the clothing shaders to generate interesting patterns and designs to adorn those stone walls in your great halls.
DD69_tapestry_a.jpg

DD69_tapestry_b.jpg

Bringing some color to the hard stone walls in your halls.

And that brings this dev diary to an end, we will be showing off more of the courts in the future!
 

Bliblablubb

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I for one would already be happy if they would let you properly pick your banner, from a list of backgrounds/symbol/color combinations.

Instead of having to press on "randomize" for at least 700 times, wondering if the game has made it it's life purpose now to show you every imaginable variation of Potatoland's coat of arms, and if you even live long enough to endure it...
:negative:
 

IDtenT

Menace to sobriety!
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Divinity: Original Sin
I for one would already be happy if they would let you properly pick your banner, from a list of backgrounds/symbol/color combinations.

Instead of having to press on "randomize" for at least 700 times, wondering if the game has made it it's life purpose now to show you every imaginable variation of Potatoland's coat of arms, and if you even live long enough to endure it...
:negative:
I have no idea why they don't allow you to pick. The only viable answer is that it's to prevent people from hoisting the Nazi flag.
 

Bliblablubb

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Also on the topic of interesting flags:
While playing inside the premises of the HRE, I came across the county of Coburg, who's coat of arms is the silhouette of a... sterotypical big lip black man.
OMGRACIST!
And, while slightly changed, it's still the offical flag. Surprised nobody went apeshit about it yet. :hahano:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coburg
To my surprise tho, it turns out that the proud and upstanding catholics of old acknowledged that black people are actually humans and can even be saints, Saint Maurice of Egypt in this case.
#MedievalBlackLivesMattered


He is also known for his... "holy lance". Yeah...a yuge black "lance" most likely. :hahano:
 

Rieser

Scholar
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Oct 10, 2018
Messages
285
I for one would already be happy if they would let you properly pick your banner, from a list of backgrounds/symbol/color combinations.

Instead of having to press on "randomize" for at least 700 times, wondering if the game has made it it's life purpose now to show you every imaginable variation of Potatoland's coat of arms, and if you even live long enough to endure it...
:negative:
I have no idea why they don't allow you to pick. The only viable answer is that it's to prevent people from hoisting the Nazi flag.


ACKSHUALLY they are buddhist swastikas. So they are Swastikas of Peace!

And we all know peace was never an option.
 

Fedora Master

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Edgy
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Messages
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Also on the topic of interesting flags:
While playing inside the premises of the HRE, I came across the county of Coburg, who's coat of arms is the silhouette of a... sterotypical big lip black man.
OMGRACIST!
And, while slightly changed, it's still the offical flag. Surprised nobody went apeshit about it yet. :hahano:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coburg
To my surprise tho, it turns out that the proud and upstanding catholics of old acknowledged that black people are actually humans and can even be saints, Saint Maurice of Egypt in this case.
#MedievalBlackLivesMattered


He is also known for his... "holy lance". Yeah...a yuge black "lance" most likely. :hahano:

Guess what happened after the usual suspects found out about him.
 

cyborgboy95

News Cyborg
Joined
Aug 24, 2019
Messages
2,735
Dev Diary #70 - The Facts about Artifacts ✨
Hello everyone!
We're back to talk about what is genuinely my favorite feature of The Royal Court — Artifact generation!
One of the goals we had for Artifacts in CK3 was to ensure that the artifacts your rulers acquire will feel truly distinct from another. No longer will you have a royal treasury filled with identical swords — now you will have a royal treasury filled with an assorted variety of different swords!

Artifact Features
All Artifacts in the game can have a set of Features that determine both how they were created as well as what they were made from. For example, ‘Oak’, ‘Ash’, and ‘Pine’ are all features of the ‘Wood’ type, which is used to make wooden furniture, spear shafts, book covers, etc., while ‘Engraved’, ‘Filigreed’, and ‘Painted’ are ‘Decoration’-type features which skilled craftspeople can use to decorate artifacts to make them more suitable for royalty.

The main use of Features is to create immersive descriptions for the artifact. Whenever a new artifact is created (such as from an Inspiration), it will gain a set of appropriate Features based on various factors including culture, geography, craftsmanship quality, wealth of the capital city, and event decisions made during the creation process. These Features are then used by the artifact’s description to emphasize any distinctive characteristics that it has! Note that that these Features will not be represented in the 2D and 3D art of the Artifact, as we have far more varieties of Feature than we could reasonably produce art for.

f127dff856bbba6f51099695336174f45a1bfa19.png

A screenshot containing 6 example Artifacts.
NOTE:Under active development. Values and content subject to change.

The thing I love about this system is not just that it will generate and display differences between two different axes your ruler commissions from a blacksmith — it is that those differences will be even more pronounced between Artifacts created in the different regions of the world. This means Artifacts that you loot from your defeated foes while on crusade or during overseas raids will be far more distinct from other Artifacts in your treasury, serving as a memento of the great distances you or your ancestors traveled on their journeys.

Of course, we have many types of Artifacts apart from weapons, and some of the material and craftsmanship differences become truly pronounced when you start looking at the type of Artifacts that are created explicitly for rulers to show off with! For example, a crown crafted in Afghanistan might feature pieces of its legendary lapis lazuli, while one made in the Baltic region could instead feature an impressive chunk of amber as a centerpiece. Different varieties of gemstones, cloth, lumber, shells, and animal horns… the range of possible combinations is truly vast!

45a84baa8b54b4c13d20405b16a028f551617c67.png

A screenshot containing 6 example Artifacts.
NOTE:Under active development. Values and content subject to change.

Artifact Modifiers
As you probably noticed in the above screenshots, every Artifact has a set of character modifiers which are applied to their owner while they have them equipped. Unlike in CK2, there are no ‘slotless’ Artifacts, so in order to gain any benefit from owning an Artifact at all you must have it equipped in one of your personal slots (Weapon, Armor, Regalia, Crown, Trinket) or court slots (Lectern, Throne, Wall Hanging, etc.). By ensuring you can only have a set number of artifacts benefiting a character at once, it becomes much easier for us to balance Artifacts and avoid the massive bonuses characters could gain in CK2 by accumulating vast libraries of forgotten lore, new inventions, and piles of statues.

One guiding principle we used while designing these Artifact Modifiers is the “no overtly supernatural effects” rule that guided us during the base game’s development. For example, a masterfully-forged weapon granting Prowess is straightforward and sensible, as characters fight better with a good weapon in hand. That same weapon boosting Advantage or Army Gold Maintenance is maybe less obvious, but can still be explained by serving as a symbol of hope and inspiration for the soldiers in an army and boosting their morale. Something like No Penalty For Crossing Rivers is nonsensical for an Artifact weapon though — we are not giving rulers access to the equivalent of a fully-functional Staff of Moses! Modders, of course, can add whatever modifiers they wish to an Artifact.


Historical Artifacts and Trinkets
Of course, not all Artifacts will be artisanal masterpieces! The important thing for Artifacts is that they are meaningful to their owner in some way — this meaning doesn’t need to be purely economic or functional!

Instead, some Artifacts may have great historical value despite a plain appearance, such as Charlemage’s Throne. Other Artifacts might only hold sentimental value, such as a good-luck charm or a locket given to you by a lover which reduces Stress. Finally, some Artifacts may instead be relics of a rather… dubious provenance, yet still useful for those who believe in their power (or at least claim to).

fe7172b5ade1b1f677a43433706c5c9b5e2f272a.png



Growing Pains
Work on the Royal Court expansion is progressing, and it's looking better each day that passes. Now, we want to be upfront and say that it's going to take longer than many of us expect for the expansion to be released. There are many reasons for this; the expansion is very technically challenging and we're doing things we've never done before from the ground up. We want a Royal Court that looks as grand as the mechanics that support it.

We've also had the recent organizational changes that affect how we work, as many of you know we've split into three studios - and with change comes a period of adaptation. The team has grown significantly in recent times. A lot of time has been spent onboarding new members to the team, and we've onboarded more people than we ever have before. While it may have a negative short-term impact, it's definitely going to be a solid investment for the future of CK3, not only for the release of Royal Court, but also our future expansions, and beyond. Of course the extended period of working from home makes things take longer than expected. This is something we have touched on before due to how the working conditions have been recently.

Rest assured that we're still working as hard as we can and things are progressing nicely, and are aiming for a release later this year. We will of course have more exciting details to share in upcoming dev diaries.

For now we’ll leave you with this little extra teaser:
9c240e295c383700bc3fe88b29c21c21e4c7fded.png

 

Sinilevä

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Strap Yourselves In
I would guess CK2 is still better than this, isn't it? I played it last time over a year ago and vanila + all dlcs feels really bloated.

Never felt it was bloated... What do you mean?
I turned on all the dlcs and got swarmed by constant events. After some time I stopped reading the text, because it was all rinse and repeat. I have around 700 hours in it, but most of it played in 2015-2016. The game feels different now. Do you play vanila or with mods?
 

HeroMarine

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I would guess CK2 is still better than this, isn't it? I played it last time over a year ago and vanila + all dlcs feels really bloated.

Never felt it was bloated... What do you mean?
I turned on all the dlcs and got swarmed by constant events. After some time I stopped reading the text, because it was all rinse and repeat. I have around 700 hours in it, but most of it played in 2015-2016. The game feels different now. Do you play vanila or with mods?

I play with all DLCs and my own balance mod, thus far called "my mod" but which I intend to release under the name "Iren's Mod" or something. aeternalis give me a suggestion of a better name.

Never felt it flooded with events or bloated but YMMV
 

Sinilevä

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Strap Yourselves In
I would guess CK2 is still better than this, isn't it? I played it last time over a year ago and vanila + all dlcs feels really bloated.

Never felt it was bloated... What do you mean?
I turned on all the dlcs and got swarmed by constant events. After some time I stopped reading the text, because it was all rinse and repeat. I have around 700 hours in it, but most of it played in 2015-2016. The game feels different now. Do you play vanila or with mods?

I play with all DLCs and my own balance mod, thus far called "my mod" but which I intend to release under the name "Iren's Mod" or something. aeternalis give me a suggestion of a better name.

Never felt it flooded with events or bloated but YMMV
I haven't played anything for a year, but now I feel like playing some grand strategy, so I might give it another go with all the dlcs, even though I kinda hated conclave, as it felt that the only job council has is to thwart your plans and oppose you in all ways possible even when it makes no sense. It's still the last good game paradox made. How exactly does your mod rebalance the game?
 

HeroMarine

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How exactly does your mod rebalance the game?

I have to check it again, but it changes more than 30 .txt files and the define.lua along with including more heraldry from other mods. The balance goes according to what I think are more realistic odds and consequences for random events, decisions, etc. Affects politics, battles, opinions, traits, almost everything. I'll write a better surmise some day.
 

Non-Edgy Gamer

Grand Dragon
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Strap Yourselves In
I would guess CK2 is still better than this, isn't it? I played it last time over a year ago and vanila + all dlcs feels really bloated.
I would say CK3 is a smoother experience. It has most of CK2's features, but less content.
I would guess CK2 is still better than this, isn't it? I played it last time over a year ago and vanila + all dlcs feels really bloated.

Never felt it was bloated... What do you mean?
The AI is broken and it's packed to the gills with broken or conflicting gameplay features.

Still a good game, and mods can come close to fixing it, but CK3 is simpler to just play.

~ t. boomer who doesn't have time anymore and just wants to play his games
 

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