Update log
Full Crusader Kings III update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Repeated intro
Greetings!
Extracted changes
- Maps
- Gameplay
2024 is coming to a close, and with it the conclusion of Chapter III and everything we’ve done this year - we’ve hit some big-ticket milestones, including one I’ve been dreaming of since I started working on Crusader Kings way back in 2015! In fact, back in 2017-2018, when we were planning the features for the CK2 expansion Holy Fury, I had a design for a rudimentary ‘Adventurer’ mechanic that we ultimately decided not to go with because ‘it’d fit CK3 much better’! Interestingly enough, some elements of that design survived to this day, such as the concept of officers, mercenary work, and contracts on the map.
► Discuss Dev Diary #161 on our forums!
Some of the heavy-hitting features we’ve managed to tackle this year include having the Black Death (and other plagues) ravage the world, a bespoke and truly unique Administrative government for Byzantium, and, of course, the aforementioned Adventurers roaming the map in search of fame and glory. For Chapter III we’ve focused a lot on making the map more interesting; with disease and legends spreading bloody tendrils and beams of light over the world, estates and camps representing the seat of power of powerful families or ambitious travelers, contracts and issues denoting local opportunities and disruptions, and more reasons than ever to travel with new activities ranging from chariot races to local inspections. This focus on tying features to the map is something that we’ll definitely be bringing with us in the future!
We’ve also changed and improved how we gather and work with feedback from you in the community, making sure that we’re working on the right things in the right way going forward. We moved from small and aspirational Dev Diaries (LotD) to chunky and very ‘matter-of-fact’ and ‘this-is-what-the-feature-is’ diaries (RtP, WN) over the course of the year - this allowed us to collect as much useful feedback as we could from your discussions during a time where there was still time to make changes.
But the most important thing we’ve done this year is to lay the foundation for the future, as we’re not slowing down any time soon! We’re already working on what's to come next year, and while we won’t go into what it is yet, it’s going to be big.
Chapter III
Let's take a look at Chapter III, what it was, and which learnings we’re taking with us!
Legends of the Dead
Legends of the Dead and the accompanying update introduced a new system for spreading things on the map - deadly plagues that ravage development and family trees alike, and glorious legends to bolster your legitimacy and make sure your name is known across the world. We knew that you in the community had been asking for plagues for a long time, therefore we wanted to introduce them sooner rather than later - and it’d also introduce some very CK-appropriate challenge, as the perfect heir suddenly dying from an illness and leaving everything to the less talented younger brother makes for a good story. At large, we’ve hit the goal of making plagues feel immersive and dynamic, with names taken from the state of the map (Kaiser Heinrich’s Plague, French Boils, etc.) and varying levels of intensity - of course, it took a while to get the balancing right, but we now feel like they’re in a good spot (and of course, we’re always open for further feedback on this).
From the start, we knew that we wanted the plague feature to be free. We
Source