The date widget arrows in the lobby no longer stay gone after you've looked at your save games
Added a separate set of Muslim feudal (Iqta) laws
Added a separate Muslim invasion CB with longer truce and no taking of all occupied provinces
The success chance for kill plots now increases drastically past 100% Plot Power
MP: Fixed an OOS issue between people with and without SoI. (Unfortunately, this means modders with SoI cannot just script in any number of wives in other religions.)
Fixed a serious but simple error messing up the Spanish localization text
Corrected a load of German text using ';' in the localization, corrupting the text database
Decadence revolter special troops now disband after the war
The game will no longer crash if you have the African Unit Pack DLC but not the Sword of Islam
Exported EMPIRE_CREATION_PIETY_COST to defines
Fixed a bug with 'replace_path' in mods
Empires now cost 400 Piety to create (up from 200)
Fixed a bug that would not actually detract the empire creation Piety cost
Fixed a problem with the event effects 'gain_settlements_under_title' and 'vassalize_or_take_under_title' where rebel or revolter occupied counties would not be taken in the peace
Muslim vassals can no longer declare Holy Wars on rulers of their top liege's religion
Corrected the English regnal numbers to exclude the Saxon Edwards
Fixed a bug where breaking a truce would not actually cost Prestige
Added 'creation_requires_capital' field to landed titles
Added harsher creation conditions for the Latin Empire
Added proper creation conditions for the Caliphates
Fixed a bug with historical scripted non-succession laws being overridden at start
Fixed a bug where landless religion heads could be succeeded by ones of the wrong religion
Added 'decadence' character history command
The Seljuks now start at 0% Decadence
Fixed a bug in some combat tactics that would immediately destroy all enemies of a certain unit type
MAJOR:
Muslim Decadence System
Muslim Polygamy
Added new provinces, titles and history for Mali, Songhay and Ghana
Added the province of Aprutium (split off from Spoleto)
Added the new creatable Empires of Russia, Britannia, Spain, Francia, Scandinavia, Persia and Arabia
Strong and Weak Claim System
Overhaul of game text for Muslims
Added plots to claim titles
Split up the former Kingdom of Khazaria into many de jure kingdoms
Split the Kingdom of Rus into the kingdoms of Rus and Ruthenia
Added the duchies of Susa and Latium
Revised murder plots completely. No decisions, just events.
Commander traits added
Heavily revised combat tactics
Loads of new events
MINOR:
AI: Much more eager to join Crusades/Jihads if it has de jure interests in the target kingdom
AI: Much more eager to join Crusades/Jihads if in the same realm as the religious head
AI: More stubborn about fighting decadence revolters
AI: Tweaked Crusade targetting - will no longer target kingdoms with 0 'holiness' value for that religion
AI: Non-Muslims will not accept marriages for female relatives with Muslims, unless they are vassals
AI: Now prefers giving baronies/counties to courtiers with static dynasties rather than creating random characters
AI: Vassals of vassals can now correctly revolt to depose their liege
AI: DoW now factors in the strength of enemies of enemies
AI: Willing to join another rebelling vassal's war for the crown only if they'd like them better as _liege_
AI: Vassals should no longer start wars (except for revolts) if the whole realm is under attack from outside
AI: Caliphs will now be more aggressive with calling Jihads
Army AI: Will now assault when appropriate
Army AI: Fixed a problem where you could trick AI armies into ping-ponging while it was trying to gather its forces
Army AI: Fixed some issues where it would not count attached units properly
Army AI: Better at moving across land without marching together with other armies, causing unnecessary attrition
Army AI: Improved attrition check in targetting calculations
Army AI: Fixed an issue where it would merge armies to huge sizes by not considering attached forces
Invasion AI: Fixed an issue where it would choose poor secondary targets if the target province was too heavily defended
No longer possible to call lieges to war against their own vassals
Fixed a bug with the succession message not being shown for the ones who inherit titles
Fixed an issue with the de jure law vote message not going away when trying to approve it
Slightly increased merc reinforcement rates
Fixed a memory leak with timed opinion modifiers that time out naturally
Moved the county of Chalons into Lower Burgundy and Grisons into Upper Burgundy
Fixed a bug with the depose liege CB sometimes making the new ruler independent (bug in the effect 'abdicate_to_most_liked_by').
Fixed a bug with the effect 'abdicate_to_most_liked_by' that would invalidate outside wars
Fixed a bug with the 'grant_title' effect which would assign the liege to the liege of the granter
Fixed a potential infinite loop in war name generation
Fixed a bug with the Feudal Elective law being tolerated for Republics
If the loser in a war is imprisoned, he is now automatically released on peace
Fixed a bug with created characters sometimes getting duplicate education traits
People who avoid imprisonment will now always flee to another realm
Added a whole bunch of cleaned up title coats of arms
Muslim coats of arms should now use better colors
No longer allowed to grant titles to prisoners
You can now correctly press the de jure claims of vassals of vassals
Fixed a bug with being able to call vassals of vassals of the enemy into wars within the same realm
When winning (enforce or reverse) a war, all prisoners from your realm held by the enemy are now released
Added opinion modifiers 'Imprisoned my Child' and 'Executed my Child'
No longer allowed to ask to join outsider wars against your liege
Fixed a bug with the depose liege CB in republics and bishoprics
Rulers deposed with the 'depose' casus belli no longer get any land from their old vassals to remain rulers
Fixed an issue where a ruler could not offer peace to a rebelling vassal if he had holdings occupied by another (loyal) vassal in a separate war
Fixed a bug with the hostility icons for loyal vassals in separate wars with rebelling vassals
If a vassal is at war with another vassal who is rebelling, the war no longer ends if the liege wins and the rebellion is crushed
Fixed a bug with lieges ending up in two wars if a vassal revolted while a revoke action was pending
Blocked excomm wars against revolters
Fixed some issues with succession not being recalculated after certain event effects
Peace Offers now make it clear whether it's a demand for surrender, white peace or surrender
Cleaned up all CB tooltips
The initial Seljuk-Byzantine war is now a full invasion of the de jure kingdom of Armenia
Added "Scarred" trait
Fixed a bug allowing rulers of a hostile religion to vote for de jure laws even when not de facto vassals
Toned down base attribute gain of children from guardians
Optimized the CPU heaviest events
Fixed a nasty old crash bug with the defection of the Victual Brothers
Fixed a hostility bug with allies helping to defend against a revolter
Fixed an issue with Gavelkind inheritance in baronies, where the youngest child would inherit first
Fixed an issue with the random seed in delayed events
Fixed a bug allowing you to usurp titles from your own vassals
Fixed an issue with vassals of vassals gaining independence when you pressed their claims
The titular kingdoms of Naples and Trinacria are no longer creatable in-game
The Ecumenical Patriarch will now refuse to excommunicate a character who has repented, even if the Emperor asks
Merc navies will now disband when not getting paid
Fixed an issue with the lower Crown Authority plot when the liege folds to the ultimatum of a vassal king
No longer possible to grant duchies to barons
The event effect 'destroy_landed_title' now gives the current holder a strong claim on the title
The events where the Mongols receive reinforcements no longer trigger if the titles are held by non-Tengri or non-Mongol rulers
Fixed an issue with attached units and siege outcomes
Fixed a bug with Revokation plot wars against vassals who lose the title to someone else
Fixed a bug where a vassal in revolt against his liege would sometimes have the war end inconclusively when the liege got a new liege
Fixed an issue where children would change guardian if they became landed
AI spouses of lower rank than you will now always accept education requests
In feudal elective titular realms, _all_ vassals of the appropriate tier are now electors
The death of a spouse no longer makes characters lose their jobs
Characters who end up leading the troops of their enemies should now automatically return home
The opinion penalties for revoking a title are now applied whether or not the target accepts or refuses
If a vassal refuses a title revokation and wins or achieves a white peace, the 'declared_war' opinion modifier is now cleared (meaning the liege does not get a 'free' title revokation)
There is no longer a cooldown for calling allies to war who _accepted_ a previous call
Primogeniture: more heirs should now be listed
Gavelkind: fixed a glitch with grandchildren
Removed impassable terrain between Kartli and Albania
Fixed unit position in the Irish Sea
Made Sviatopolk Rurikovich (count of Zaozerye in 1066) a legit bastard
Heretics and infidels are now barred from inheriting anything that the religious head holds
The portraits for undiscovered murderers should now be hidden in the event window
Mercs and Holy Order commanders should no longer be shown in the quick marriage window
Now always allowed to attach your units to your lieges' units
Added an event where a ruler converts to the native culture
Adjusted and improved the events where provinces change culture
Reactivated the lifting FoW for allies in wars
Doubled regular assassination costs
The "Arrange Marriage" button now shows random courtiers if there are too few interesting women around
There is now a slight chance of a random education outcome
Fixed some issues with war invalidation for banishment of landed characters
Can no longer banish mercs, holy order heads, or religious heads
Attached units that are not in the same province as the master unit are no longer hostile to the master unit's enemies
The spouse will now get a message on divorce
Fixed some historical issues with Chios and Lesbos
The liege should now get pressed claims on _all_ titles of characters who declare independence
If an ally could legally call you into a war, you should always be able to ask to join as well
Battle Death should now show the unit owner rather than the unit commander
Vassals of lieges who are fighting their liege will no longer revolt
Holy War CBs are now valid for Catholic vassals of Orthodox lieges, etc
Added automatic county conversion events for Muslims (35500 and 35501)
Pathfinding now prefers friendly territory to enemy territory
Vassal vs Liege wars should now end with a _mutual_ truce
FOR MODDERS:
Fixed a freeze issue with the copying of laws into usurped titles
The invasion cb can now be granted correctly again
The Pope now gets a significantly lower contribution score in Crusades
AI: The Pope/Caliph will now be more reluctant to accept a White Peace when Crusading/Jihading
The Metaserver should now work again
Fixed a rare crash with sieges
Changed the speed settings so they are all faster, except for max speed (level 2 is now level 1, etc)
Added missing message text for calls of allies
Added missing message text for offers to join wars
No longer possible to usurp religious head titles, even if they have de jure vassals
Tied together a few more cultural names
Fixed more typos and database errors
Fixed a bug where you could have duplicate laws due to the history scripts
Fixed a bug with the event effects 'prestige' and 'health'
Fixed a rare crash bug with very long war names (could also cause corrupt saves)
Fixed a rare de jure assimilation issue when one character holds multiple kingdoms/empires
Fixed an issue with de jure assimilation status not always being saved
When events in multiplayer time out, the first VALID event option is now automatically chosen (rather than just the first option)
Added some missing characters in Novgorod
Fixed numerous relatively rare bugs causing unintentional independences at the end of wars
No longer possible to declare wars while in revolt against your liege
No longer possible to revoke titles off or imprison lower vassals in revolt against their liege
No longer possible to ask for invasion against a liege or above
Fixed some bugs with Crusade outcomes
No longer possible to attach units to those owned by someone of a lower rank
Fixed an asymmetrical hostility issue between revolting vassals of revolting vassals and the top liege
No longer allowed to ask to join wars while in revolt
Can no longer ask to join a war against a liege above your liege
Fixed a bunch of event bugs
Broken savegames no longer crash the game when you open the savegame browser, they are now marked as broken and cannot be loaded by clicking on them.
MAJOR:
メッセージ設定システムを変更。
MINOR:
(誰か適当に追記よろしく)
The Sword of Islam - Dev Diary 1
Well, it's Friday and high time to spill the beans on the new expansion for Crusader Kings II; the Sword of Islam. Judging by the forum, playable Muslims is the most requested feature for CKII, and who are we to disagree? We always wanted to do it, provided we could do the Muslim world justice. That time is now (or, well, soon ). As with the Ruler Designer DLC, the Sword of Islam will be released together with a major content patch. What you get with the Sword of Islam is simply the ability to play as the Muslim rulers, but all the new mechanics will be there and running for the AI (or other players in multiplayer) even if you don't have the expansion.
I'll be doing three dev diaries on the Sword of Islam, each one dealing with some unique features for the Muslims as well as some free features that everyone will have access to simply by patching to 1.06.
One of the major hassles with making Muslims playable was the prevalence of text with obviously Christian or Western terminology. Therefore, we had to go through all text to make it fit the setting if you are playing a Muslim. Often, this required writing whole new events and decisions. For example, Muslims don't hold tournaments, they have the Furusiyya instead, which is an exhibition of martial arts and horsemanship. They don't hold Grand Feasts, they observe the Ramadan, etc. We also added some completely new decisions, like going on the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), which will initiate a cool little event driven story of what happens on the way to and from the holy city. Of course, there is also a whole slew of events dealing with various new gameplay features (more on that in later dev diaries.)
Another issue we needed to solve was the Gothic looking graphical interface of Crusader Kings II, which we felt did not really work when playing as a Muslim ruler. So we did a complete reskin with sand tones and green symbols and patterns instead of the church window graphics of Christian rulers. Yet another problem was that many event pictures looked distinctly Western/Christian, so we've added about 25 new ones to serve as Muslim equivalents. Then there are all the little things, like trait icons with crosses, the Crusade banner, etc. All of that has been changed to provide the right atmosphere. We've even changed the five councillor models for Muslims when they're out in the provinces performing jobs. It's all been a lot of work, but I think it turned out really well.
Muslims get a slightly different set of character traits; they don't get the Kinslayer, Crusader, Celibate and Chaste Traits. Instead, they get the Mujahid, Hajjaj, Faqih (Islamic law expert), Hafiz (has memorized the Koran), Sayyid (agnatic descendent of Fatima or one of Muhammad's uncles) and Mirza (child of a Sayyida mother) traits.
Lastly, Muslims get another set of honorary titles to hand out to their vassals. They all get a few special flavour events - especially the Chief Qadi - a position requiring an ecclesiastical education.
That's it for the Sword of Islam in this dev diary; next time I will go into the core dynamics of playing as a Muslim ruler.
Now then, here's some of the free stuff we're giving ya'll in the 1.06 patch...
First off, we thought the southwest corner of the map looked a bit dull, so we added a bunch of new provinces down there, representing the flourishing civilizations of the Manden people; Ghana, Mali and Songhay. The area comes with historical rulers (of course) and a new West African culture group. The region is rich but hard to reach.
For flavour, we have also made it so that duchy tier and above titles held by rulers of Iranian, Arabic and Turkish cultures are named after the ruling dynasty. For example, the Kingdom of Egypt automatically becomes the Fatimid Sultanate while the Fatimids are in power (though the original name is also used where appropriate.) In case the same dynasty holds several high rank titles, only the highest is named after the dynasty. Thus, we can have both a Seljuk Sultanate and a Sultanate of Rum, both ruled by the Seljuk dynasty. Randomly generated characters of these cultures automatically get a dynasty name suitable to name states after (ending with -id or -n, etc).
Lastly (for this dev diary), there are seven new creatable empires (the Arabian Empire, the Empire of Persia, Britannia, Scandinavia, Francia, Spain and Russia) and a whole slew of new de jure kingdoms, mostly to break up the old kingdom of Khazaria. Now, I know the addition of the new empires is controversial, but the creation conditions are designed to be fairly difficult to achieve, so the AI will very rarely do it. We want players to have the imperial option to strive for if they so desire - the Unions turned out to be a popular feature in Europa Universalis III.
Oh, and before anyone asks, patch 1.06 will be semi-compatible with old save games: you will be able to keep playing, but we're making no guarantees that the balance will not be completely upset, or that any added new provinces will be active and working.
That's it for now. Next week I'll talk about polygamy, decadence, and strong and weak claims!
The Sword of Islam - Dev Diary 2
It's time for the second of three dev diaries on the new expansion for Crusader Kings II; the Sword of Islam! Those who watched yesterday's live stream already know a bit of what I'll talk about today. Just like last time, I'll talk about both some unique Sword of Islam features and some free stuff that comes with patch 1.06.
Our intention was always that playing a Muslim should feel quite different from playing a Christian ruler. One of the major differences, of course, is the ease with which you can ensure the continuation of your line. Muslim men are allowed to marry up to four women, and bastardy does not carry the same stigma. This means that Muslim dynasties tend to be huge and sprawling; especially the powerful ones. Unfortunately, all these princelings will expect a share of your wealth, and unless you can give them enough land and responsibilities, they will grow decadent, or at least, your dynasty will be perceived as being decadent. Decadent dynasties risk being replaced by more dynamic and righteous ones, and also suffer penalties to troop morale and demesne income. To compensate for these problems, Muslims have an easier time conquering, through special Casus Bellis (more on those next dev diary.)
The way polygamy works is that only your first wife gives you a skill bonus, but you're allowed to marry up to four. They all give you alliances, and they can all provide you with heirs. Rulers are expected to marry a number of wives corresponding to their station, so a Sultan should have four, or he will take a monthly prestige hit, whereas an Emir is only expected to have three wives, etc. Having multiple wives means that you will produce a lot of offspring, many of them half-siblings. Ambitious mothers will tend to favour their own sons, which can lead to all kinds of nasty business through events...
Muslims have access to only one succession law: 'open', also known as 'Turkish'. The way it works is that your son with the most titles and vassals inherits. There is no "unlanded sons" Prestige penalty, but there is still pressure on you to land all of your sons, because adult men of your dynasty will accrue Decadence. In the Muslim world, brothers, especially half-brothers, dislike each other (negative opinion modifier.) This means that Muslims tend to suffer frequent succession crises.
Decadence lies at the heart of the Sword of Islam. It's what really separates Muslims from Christians; not that Christians could not be perceived as being individually decadent, but there was not the same type of friction between clans and tribes. Thus, decadence affects the whole dynasty. Dynasties start out with 25% decadence, which has no effect one way or the other. Decadence increases by having indolent, unlanded males of your dynasty kicking about, depending on their rank and the total rank of all titles held by members of your dynasty. Dynasty members who give decadence are listed in a new list in the Religion View (well, they are immoral.) You stop them from gaining decadence primarily by giving them enough land, imprisoning them or simply killing them off. You only lose decadence when dynasty members fight in battles and sieges, or through certain events. The decadence level affects the morale damage your demesne troops take and the tax income from your demesne. At 75% decadence or more, there is a very real risk of a more dynamic tribe riding in from the wastes to depose you and your whole House (this is one serious rebellion...)
On to the 1.06 patch!
There is a problem with the old claim system, in that some very remote relative can just declare war to supplant not just a perfectly legitimate ruler, but also the next five people in line to the throne. Therefore, we've reworked the system to differentiate between strong and weak claims. Strong claims work like before, but are only given to the second and third person in line to the throne when a ruler dies. Weak claims are given to children who are further down the line of succession. When a strong claimant dies (and the claim is "pressed"), it is inherited as a weak claim. Weak claims can only be pressed against women (if the claimant is male), regencies, titles currently in a succession crisis and titles that the claimant is second or third in line to inherit.
We've added and changed some things. Chiefly, we've added a plot to gain a claim on the title of a target character. Also, the murder plots have been completely reworked. You no longer get decisions that you can simply execute at various plot power levels. Instead, plotters can randomly find opportunities to strike depending on their contribution to the plot power.
We've made some changes to make event windows more appealing. You can now see the icon, with tooltips, of traits being added or removed in an event option. Also, event options that only appear if you have a high enough skill are now properly marked with a coloured border.
I believe that will do for now. Next week I'll talk about the Muslims CBs, vassal treatment, temple holdings and laws, as well as some more patch features. Until then!
The Sword of Islam - Dev Diary 3
Hello again folks! Stay a while, and listen. The highlights of today's third and last Sword of Islam developer diary are Muslim Casus Bellis, revised combat mechanics and cultural buildings. You know the drill by now; I'll talk about both some unique Sword of Islam features and some free stuff that comes with patch 1.06.
Our direction with the Sword of Islam expansion is that Muslims should have an easier time expanding, but have an additional layer of internal strife in the form of the Open Succession Law and the Decadence system.
Muslim rulers have three new options for conquest: They can declare Holy Wars on anyone not of their own exact brand of Islam They can use a form of the Invasion CB for the cost of 500 Piety They can conquer any province bordering one of their own for 50 Piety (vassalizing the current count if possible)
Pious Muslim rulers can thus easily expand, although they lose 2 Piety per month while attacking a brother of the faith (same exact religion.) The councillor job to fabricate a claim is thus less useful for Muslims, but can still be handy versus islands or juicy coastal counties.
Duchies (emirates) are not considered to be intrinsically hereditary, so Muslims are allowed to revoke duchy titles at no opinion penalty from other vassals. This is also a good way of properly landing your sons to avoid gaining Decadence. (Incidentally, the Byzantine Empire is now allowed to do the same thing, though it does not have the Decadence mechanics.)
Another Muslim exception to the normal rules is that they are allowed to freely imprison and execute men of their own dynasty, except for their own sons. Brothers and uncles are the usual targets for these Decadence reducing purges...
In the Muslim world, there is no proper equivalent to Bishoprics, so Temple Holdings are treated exactly like Castles, except for their different set of buildings. You gain Piety for having a Temple Holding in your demesne, but they are slightly poorer and provide smaller levies than their Catholic equivalents (in order to balance them against the investiture mechanics.)
Muslims do not need to bother with a voting process when passing laws; they just spend an amount of Piety. However, there is still a cooldown and Crown Laws can only be changed once per ruler. The vassals will also still get upset in the same way as Christians.
To represent the Jizya tax (a special tax that should, according to Sharia law, be levied on infidels), Muslims gain a 25% tax bonus from infidel counties and a 10% tax penalty in Muslim counties. This creates an interesting dynamic where it's not always obvious that you would want to convert an infidel province to Islam. However, there is a special event where this happens anyway, even if you don't send in your Court Imam to convert the populace.
That's pretty much it for the Sword of Islam expansion, although I'm sure to have forgotten about many minor little changes and tweaks.
Alright, so here are a few more freebies coming your way soon with the 1.06 patch...
We have added a bunch of more (and more decisive) combat tactics, to make combat less predictable and to tie in with the new Commander traits...
We have added a special type of trait called Commander traits. These are only available to characters with a Martial education, and give more specific bonuses to the character's ability to lead various troop types, and the choice of combat tactics. Characters gain one or two Commander traits when they finish their education. The effects of the Commander traits directly scale with the Martial skill of the character.
One thing that many people have requested is a broader range of culture specific buildings, and who are we to argue? We have added loads of these to give more variety and flavor.
You are now allowed to destroy ducal tier titles and above, at a hefty Prestige cost. This will greatly upset (-50 opinion) all vassals who are de jure part of the destroyed title. You cannot destroy your current primary title.
Apart from some minor improvements, the AI is now better at jumping on rulers who are already embroiled in dangerous wars (though it's still not excessively aggressive about this.) I've also spent a bit of time on attrition avoidance for AI armies, and the AI will now assault besieged holdings when appropriate.
That's it for dev diaries for now. Next week, we'll post a short AAR by a member of the dev team!