Paradox Games

Victoria 3 when!

Every time somebody asks, the release gets delayed by another year.

So, we'll get it when Stellaris is happening.

First real look into CK 3 in action was posted this week on Youtube.

It is very meme worthy right from the start, with the character they picked starting with an incestuous relationship with his sister.

The game focused mostly on showcasing plot and intrigue. Their character, Alfonso of León starts with huge intrigue stats, a very competent spymaster and 2 heirless brother kings who are ready to be assassinated.

Well, that shows that they definitely understand their player base.

They released a new dev diary on modding today. From what I can tell it's going to make it a very great deal easier.

To be fair, they were surprised by the incest. The apparently picked that start because of the intrigue potential, but didn't seem aware the character already started with an incestuous relationship. Also, the RNG seemed particularly dedicated into showing events out of that relationship, which is pure luck.

They streamed again today (not on Youtube yet) and it was a very different experience. A lot less incest events and overall they lost a lot of steam, which showed the limitations of a pure intrigue character (and of rushing through a game to demonstrate to the audience). Of note, their lack of piety prevented them from declaring a holy war and a good opportunity showed. And their vassals started becoming dangerously angry.

Edited by Heatth on Aug 12th 2020 at 1:54:18 PM

That's overall a pretty good impression of the game, though. Sometimes you have bad luck and nothing interesting seems to happen, and sometimes the stars align and you find yourself in crazy Game of Thrones shenanigans.

Indeed, the amusing and interesting crazy things that can happen are a major strength of the series. It's nice to see CK 3 continuing that trend.

Definitively. I still want to see someone who is not a developer playing the game, before deciding to buy myself, preferably someone who is actually paying attention in what is happening instead of being distracted by the chat and each other all the time.

But, still, it is a good showing. A lot of crazy interesting stuff happening. And stuff that actually puts you in a real danger, despite an otherwise strong position. All in all it is seeming like a fun game. I am particularly enjoying the events. Maybe it is just because it is all new to me, but they seem more involved than CK 2's.

Edited by Heatth on Aug 12th 2020 at 2:09:14 PM

I was surprised by how impactful the new character presentation was, killing children never shook me before in CK 2 but the writing coupled with the fact that the kid actually looked like a real kid instead of a pseudo-portrait made their brutal murder actually distressing. It was wonderful.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 12th 2020 at 10:15:42 AM

Yeah, livestreams are never great environments to experience gameplay second hand.

I watched a Lets Play of Horizon Zero Dawn recently where the main game was a regular Lets Play, and the DLC was an extended livestream, and the difference was night and day.

How did they kill him?

Edited by Redmess on Aug 12th 2020 at 7:17:35 PM

Yeah. Just having the character there does wonders to make you more invested, I think, and not just the kids. Some people were complaining that the event screens are bland, which I think it is fair, so far the character poses seems very uninspiring. But even then, just having the characters there, front and center makes them feel a lot more real. The head only portraits couldn't achieve anything close to that.

Abandoned him in the forest. Then found the corpse mangled by (probably) animals. If you mean mechanically, they used their stupid high intrigue to make a murder scheme.

Edited by Heatth on Aug 12th 2020 at 2:21:38 PM

So, I found out today that the Crusader Kings 2 After The End mod has a version that takes place in Europe in the same universe. I want to try it out tonight and see how it is XD

Are they doing death noises too, like in II? That would really cinch it for horror.

Can't wait for MATN to start his series.

I'm wondering what I should try and do first. Should I do Noob Island, or start on the Continent somewhere?

I never liked the Ireland start, to be honest. Like, yeah, it is a safe way to learn mechanics. But in part because you don't have to deal with the most interesting aspect of CK gameplay: vassals. Furthermore, when you get to build your kingdom from ground up, vassal management is a lot easier and, thus, more boring. Much more interesting to have to deal with an already established power base.

My first game will be as Scottland, same as my first CK 2 game. Starting in 1066 it is a safe enough start, as your biggest rival is dealing with a lot of shit, unless the Saxons win, will likely have to deal with internal strife for a while. The realm has a messy vassal structure, but it is also small enough you don't get too overwhelmed. There is also space to expand, both integrating the rest of dejure Scottland and invading Ireland. It is a good start, I feel. Also, in CK 3 there is apparently some cultural strife going on, as the king is Scottish but many of the vassals are Gaels.

Alternatively, I will play as a Gael vassal of Scottland to see how it is playing as a vassal. I imagine I would try to become king soon, though.

Sorry the double post, but here the CK 3 gameplay for this week.

I'm kind of thinking of doing a Tall game as Britanny myself.

Sounds challenging, everyone from Wales to France will stake a claim on your lands if I remember correctly.

I imagine so.

Brittany will be its own kingdom (as it is currently in CK 2, I believe), so an unified Wales won't have much reason to go after it. It is still part of the Francia empire, though, so the larger threat should still be there.

This may be a bit of a niche question, but does anyone know of a good Modern Day mod for Hearts of Iron?

There's Millennium Dawn, which I have a personal distaste for (besides the devs really obviously being of a certain political viewpoint that I can't agree with, its almost the anti-TNO in how politics work. You can become Communist as the USA after like, three foci), and when I last played it it was unfun and incomplete. Novus Vexilum seems to just be a MD spinoff, Modern Day 4 for the longest time had its start date in 2017, too late to make any meaningful changes, but now its merged with MD...

I can't find any right now, and I need something to scratch that modern day geopolitical itch. So, if anyone knows of a good suggestion, please let me know!

Not really. Closest to Modern Day currently available is TNO, and that’s in the late 60s