Gaming Crusader Kings III (PC, Linux/2020)

Mr Pigeon

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Since there's only three or four people on the Caf that are cultured and intelligent I imagine not many people will care but I don't go on any other forums so I thought I would post this here.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1158310/Crusader_Kings_III/

I personally can't fecking wait even though it'll be pretty bare bones and you'll need to spend a couple of hundred quid buying DLC with all the content. There's something beautiful about hugging my kids in real life and then seconds later sending my computer generated ones to their fiery dooms because they didn't inherit my wife's attractive or genius traits.

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Strange decision over Victoria in my opinion. CK2 has had pretty recent updates.
 
altodevil said:
Strange decision over Victoria in my opinion. CK2 has had pretty recent updates.
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Yeah, especially since they've said they weren't going to forget about Victoria. Still, if this is the new engine that there going to be using for their new games then I'm looking forward to the next batch of games. Hopefully V will be one of them.
 
Not played 2 for a few years so will keep an eye on this though not quite into grand strategy these days.
 
I pretty much only play the AGOT mod, but it’s one of my favs regardless. The modders have announced that they will continue in this release so kinda excited.

One thing I hope they improve on is the battle mechanics. It’s too easy to intercept armies and too heavily tilted in favour of numbers. Of course we play it mostly for the court intrigues and all the lovely customs like adultery/incest/mutilation/torture/demonic possession, but painting the map too easily reduce the immersion quite a bit.
 
altodevil said:
Strange decision over Victoria in my opinion. CK2 has had pretty recent updates.
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I'm fairly certain they are working on Victoria 3 but just not announced it yet, apparently this has been in development for 4 years now and we are only just hearing about it.
 
I feckin love this game. It's absolutely brilliant, and some fantastic mods available for it. Can't wait for this.
 
Bloody love CK2. Hope they don’t deviate too much but expand on it!
 
My whore of a daughter, who was betrothed to an Irish prince, went and got herself pregnant, the father being one of my crappy generals who was twice her age. Ruined my plans. But yeah I’m psyched for 3.
 
Not long to go. Bohemia will have its king back.
I was worried that the game might sacrifice depth for the sake of accessibility, but from the (admittedly brief) reading up I've done it looks like they've made an effort to highlight the game mechanics and the effects they have rather than simplifying things. Which is great because 2 was designed so poorly in that aspect.
 
Cascarino said:
Not long to go. Bohemia will have its king back.
I was worried that the game might sacrifice depth for the sake of accessibility, but from the (admittedly brief) reading up I've done it looks like they've made an effort to highlight the game mechanics and the effects they have rather than simplifying things. Which is great because 2 was designed so poorly in that aspect.
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With Paradox, I'm much more worried about them releasing a skeleton game that won't be close to the complete article until 3 years and 8 DLC packs later.
 
V.O. said:
With Paradox, I'm much more worried about them releasing a skeleton game that won't be close to the complete article until 3 years and 8 DLC packs later.
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Well we all know that'll be a dead cert.
I often play a multiplayer campaign with two others when it comes to paradox games, and one of them tends to keep up to date with the major expansion packs so I often get away without paying. Still the way they handle their expansions is infuriating, and any developer with day 1 content should be sent straight to the gulag. And having to pay for the character designer still makes me angry after all these years.
 
Cascarino said:
Well we all know that'll be a dead cert.
I often play a multiplayer campaign with two others when it comes to paradox games, and one of them tends to keep up to date with the major expansion packs so I often get away without paying. Still the way they handle their expansions is infuriating, and any developer with day 1 content should be sent straight to the gulag. And having to pay for the character designer still makes me angry after all these years.
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I'm sure the buggers will end up with my money somehow, even if I do try and limit it through steam sales and dodgy CD key sites. They're pretty much the only game in town for grand strategy, sadly.

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't also have the front to charge 40-odd quid for the base game alone. :lol:
 
Would definitely try them ( I've mastered EU4 but somehow can't get my head around CK)

But as with every other titles in the series, it will be a long time before the game is fun with all the DLCs coming every few months.
 
2 weeks until release...

...power supply blew up and absolutely fried everything. Yay.
 
Wait wot, there is a Crusader Kings 3?! Someone take my money.
 
IGN gave it a perfect 10.

Personally, I'm waiting for a couple of expansions to come before getting it. Still having fun with CK2 and it's expansions.
 
Fired it up now (no hitches with the £1 gamepass thing). Pleasantly surprised to see a startdate of 867 available, I figured they'd do anything pre-1066 as DLC again.

The map stretches far enough east to play as a couple of Han Chinese rulers as well.
 
God fecking dammit. I hate you right now.
V.O. said:
Fired it up now (no hitches with the £1 gamepass thing). Pleasantly surprised to see a startdate of 867 available, I figured they'd do anything pre-1066 as DLC again.

The map stretches far enough east to play as a couple of Han Chinese rulers as well.
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Is it worth getting right now? Or better to wait for a couple of DLCs? Never played too much CK2, but spent many hours on EU4. I had thought of pre-ordering this but not sure how it will be without any DLC expansions.
 
Never tried this series but just bought a gaming laptop.

What is the learning curve to enjoy this? I don't mind putting in a few hours but if I'm clueless after 2 days I probably wouldn't want to bother.
 
King7Eric said:
Is it worth getting right now? Or better to wait for a couple of DLCs? Never played too much CK2, but spent many hours on EU4. I had thought of pre-ordering this but not sure how it will be without any DLC expansions.
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A reviewer who has a couple of thousand hours in CK2 gave it a 10/10. I've played an hour or so of it, and it seems well worth it. Obviously it's going to get even better, but that's just the way of Paradox games. And it's not usually because they release unfinished games (though Imperator definitely qualifies), it's mostly just because they spend many years on post-release development (paid for with the slightly controversial DLC policy).
 
V.O. said:
Fired it up now (no hitches with the £1 gamepass thing). Pleasantly surprised to see a startdate of 867 available, I figured they'd do anything pre-1066 as DLC again.

The map stretches far enough east to play as a couple of Han Chinese rulers as well.
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It's unlikely they'll even have more start dates. If I remember correctly, their stats have shown that nearly everyone starts in 867 or 1066, and probably some in the Charlemagne date. I don't think they could have just had a 1066 start, with the Viking/raid mechanics being such an important part of CK2 once it arrived.
 
V.O. said:
Fired it up now (no hitches with the £1 gamepass thing). Pleasantly surprised to see a startdate of 867 available, I figured they'd do anything pre-1066 as DLC again.

The map stretches far enough east to play as a couple of Han Chinese rulers as well.
Click to expand...
Apologies for perhaps a stupid question but once you pay the quid and download it is that it? Do you need to keep the subscription going? Or how will it work with expansions?

Ta.
 
nimic said:
A reviewer who has a couple of thousand hours in CK2 gave it a 10/10. I've played an hour or so of it, and it seems well worth it. Obviously it's going to get even better, but that's just the way of Paradox games. And it's not usually because they release unfinished games (though Imperator definitely qualifies), it's mostly just because they spend many years on post-release development (paid for with the slightly controversial DLC policy).
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This is why I am hesitating. I had initially planned on buying Imperator when it released but it was panned left, right and center for being worthless without the addition of DLCs, that I am now hesitant about CK3 as well. But yeah, the critics are lauding it unanimously so it may well be worth a punt.
 
The Cat said:
Never tried this series but just bought a gaming laptop.

What is the learning curve to enjoy this? I don't mind putting in a few hours but if I'm clueless after 2 days I probably wouldn't want to bother.
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CK2 had a notoriously steep learning curve because the game did a bad job of explaining the mechanics. From what I’ve heard they’ve definitely tried to make the game more accessible this time around.


The Cat said:
Apologies for perhaps a stupid question but once you pay the quid and download it is that it? Do you need to keep the subscription going? Or how will it work with expansions?

Ta.
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That will get you the base game (or if you pay an extra £20 the first three dlcs) so there’s no need for a subscription. The creators behind it have a strategy of releasing expansion packs every so often, as well as fluff like cosmetics etc. They can be pretty steep price wise but if you’re willing to wait they usually do bundle deals and the like after a while. They’re not essential but they usually expand on or add game mechanics.
 
King7Eric said:
This is why I am hesitating. I had initially planned on buying Imperator when it released but it was panned left, right and center for being worthless without the addition of DLCs, that I am now hesitant about CK3 as well. But yeah, the critics are lauding it unanimously so it may well be worth a punt.
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Just from my initial attempt at it, it seems like much more competently released than Imperator. For what it's worth, Paradox stuck with Imperator even though it had (and has) a very low player count, and it's a pretty good game these days, no DLC required. They probably realize they really fecked up with Imperator, so I wouldn't expect CK3 to suddenly turn out to be an empty shell. It also builds on CK2 which built on CK, so it's got a good base. Imperator built on EU: Rome, which I liked but which was deeply flawed.

Check out some more reviews, then if it seems like a safe bet I'd just give it a go. You can always refund it on Steam if you hate it immediately.
 
Cascarino said:
CK2 had a notoriously steep learning curve because the game did a bad job of explaining the mechanics. From what I’ve heard they’ve definitely tried to make the game more accessible this time around.
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They did. I skipped the tutorial because I've played thousands of ours of Paradox games, but even so I found their in-game hints (probably for first time players) very helpful and well done. There's also a sort of game mechanic search function, which is new to the Paradox games (though the Civ games have had it for ages).
 
Cascarino said:
CK2 had a notoriously steep learning curve because the game did a bad job of explaining the mechanics. From what I’ve heard they’ve definitely tried to make the game more accessible this time around.




That will get you the base game (or if you pay an extra £20 the first three dlcs) so there’s no need for a subscription. The creators behind it have a strategy of releasing expansion packs every so often, as well as fluff like cosmetics etc. They can be pretty steep price wise but if you’re willing to wait they usually do bundle deals and the like after a while. They’re not essential but they usually expand on or add game mechanics.
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Thanks man I think I'll do the base game and see how it goes - it does sound intriguing.
 
nimic said:
Just from my initial attempt at it, it seems like much more competently released than Imperator. For what it's worth, Paradox stuck with Imperator even though it had (and has) a very low player count, and it's a pretty good game these days, no DLC required. They probably realize they really fecked up with Imperator, so I wouldn't expect CK3 to suddenly turn out to be an empty shell. It also builds on CK2 which built on CK, so it's got a good base. Imperator built on EU: Rome, which I liked but which was deeply flawed.

Check out some more reviews, then if it seems like a safe bet I'd just give it a go. You can always refund it on Steam if you hate it immediately.
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Cheers mate!! Having gone through the reviews, I think I'm gonna give it a shot.
 
The Cat said:
Apologies for perhaps a stupid question but once you pay the quid and download it is that it? Do you need to keep the subscription going? Or how will it work with expansions?

Ta.
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Only just found out about this Gamepass thing today myself, but from what I can tell you'd need to continue the sub to keep access (the first month is £1 and currently for the PC only sub, £4 a month afterwards).

I'd hazard a guess that the DLC when it comes probably won't be included in the sub, so when that's released it might be a case of working out what's cheaper then between carrying on with Gamepass and paying full whack for the DLC or finding a Steam key for the base game (which should be a lot cheaper by then) and get the DLC that way.
 
V.O. said:
Only just found out about this Gamepass thing today myself, but from what I can tell you'd need to continue the sub to keep access (the first month is £1 and currently for the PC only sub, £4 a month afterwards).

I'd hazard a guess that the DLC when it comes probably won't be included in the sub, so when that's released it might be a case of working out what's cheaper then between carrying on with Gamepass and paying full whack for the DLC or finding a Steam key for the base game (which should be a lot cheaper by then) and get the DLC that way.
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If you have to continue playing to play it I'll just use the month and then buy it on Steam if I like it.
 
Here are my first impressions after a couple of hours of playing the Irish petty king tutorial yesterday. I guess some of the cons might be easy to solve if I dive into the menus.

Pros:
  • I enjoy the new features they've added to the interaction between characters, all these events, and especially how you now can sway vassals or others with low opinions of you. This is a big improvement, in CK2 this was very one dimensional. It also means, at least so far, that you don't have to worry too much about a massive amounts of factions plotting against you all the time.
  • The way they've split the map into more units, and the fact that you can see where the baronies, bishops etc actually are situated inside counties.
  • Better solution with the progress bars on things like fabricate claims, supress unrest and related actions.
Cons:
  • Not sure if it's just my laptop, but it doesn't seem very laptop friendly so far, I think a lot of the text and details are too small. I've played around with the resolution with no effect.
  • Expanding on the point above, the new interface and dark theme is not very good. At the moment I find it too hard to properly see essential things like traits of a character. It needs way more contrast, preferably other colour combinations.
  • The battle, movement of troops and even number of troops is kinda difficult to see properly.
  • A couple of times another character has declared war on me without me noticing it. Both times during an ongoing war, so I might have missed something in the chaos of war.
  • I might be missing something, but I really miss the option of CK2 where you could remove all terrain and just see a simple clear map with clear border and with a minimum of disturbances. So far I haven't been able to locate this feature.
  • Those mouseover text things which are good for explaining various features is a good idea, but it also makes me furious since it means that small and large text boxes are popping up everywhere all the time as you move the cursor around. I need to figure out if it's possible to disable this.
Overall I think the list of cons is a bit too long to be honest, and they outweigh the stuff I enjoy. So far I miss too many of the features of CK2, which I would say is not positive. I'd compare it to the way I find Civ 4 way better than Civ 5 even after quite a few hours on the latter. It might just be me, but I enjoy strategy games which cultivate simplicity when it comes to colours, interface and menus. I don't need fancy graphics and effects. Hopefully they'll roll out some improvements over the next months.
 
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