Update log
Full Crusader Kings III update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Repeated intro
Hello, Chop here again! Today we’ll be taking a closer look at one of the new Situations coming in All Under Heaven, so load up your camels because we’re exploring the Silk Road!
Extracted changes
- Gameplay
- Maps
- Performance
The Silk Road
Our aim with the Silk Road feature is to represent the movement of ideas and interconnectedness of the East and West. The Silk Road touches on commerce thematically, but it isn’t a trade system, even if it brings wealth and other benefits to participants.
Though certain routes were more or less prevalent at different times, the famed Silk Road was in fact a myriad of routes that snaked across Asia, with the Hexi Corridor and the Tarim Basin among the best known. These routes carried goods, travelers, and innovations, and many adjacent regions benefitted from this flow indirectly.
THE SILK ROAD SITUATION AND ITS ASSOCIATED MAP MODE
In All Under Heaven, the Silk Road Situation is split into six Regions: China, Central Asia, Tibet, Transcaspia, India, and the Occident. Each Region has a Phase, a Hub that serves as its regional center, and an active Silk Road Innovation. Let’s explore each of these in turn.
Phases
Regions within the Silk Road Situation fluctuate between three separate Phases: Exceptional Bounty, Steady Trading, and Hardship. As with the Great Steppe Situation, the Phase of each Region within the Silk Road Situation is tracked separately, with different passive effects for all Participants and counties in the region determined by the Phase. The active Phase determines the benefits received by Participants in the Situation, as well as the passive modifiers which apply to the regions as a whole.
[Steady Trading Phase modifiers for Lands Under Heaven Participants]
[Hardship Phase modifiers for Silk Road Domains Participants]
[Exceptional Bounty modifiers for Silk Road Realms Participants]
So, how do Phases change? As with some other Situations, actions and events can trigger Catalysts that push the Situation towards a new active Phase. Unique to the Silk Road Situation however, is that these Catalysts are applied to each Region separately. One region may be enjoying a boom even while another is hampered by constant war.
AN IMAGE OF NEGATIVE SILK ROAD REGION PHASE CATALYSTS
Catalysts can be local, or wider-reaching. Because the Silk Road generally flows westward, upstream events (especially those in China) can impact regions downstream. A local conflict may be directly damaging to the Occident, but the collapse of the ruling Chinese dynasty will also be felt there indirectly.
The Dynastic Cycle is a key driver of prosperity along the Silk Road: as long as it remains in a Stable phase, the prosperity of all regions will grow towards Exceptional Bounty. For this reason, the status of the Cycle is always shown at the bottom of the Silk Road window. In short, the benefits felt by those further west depends on the stability of all regions further east.
[The Silk Road routes around the Hub of Lahur in the India Region, and its active Silk Road Innovation]
The routes of the Silk Road in-game are marked by red arrows within the Situation map mode. These aren’t just for show; hostile acts such as raids along these routes reduce the affected region’s prosperity. This map mode also shows the Region’s active Innovation, as well as the progress towards its next movement.
So, what are these Silk Road Innovations?
Silk Road Innovations
Silk Road Innovations are a new set of Innovations that exist alongside the existing base sets.. Each represents a different technology that was discovered in China earlier than elsewhere in the world and can be spread to other Cultures, usually via the Silk Road.
THE FIRE MEDICINE SILK ROAD INNOVATION
Although there are six Regions, only four Innovations are active at any time: China holds one, Tibet shares one with Central Asia, India shares one
Source