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Crusader Kings III has a release date

Bulletpoint

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It seems this game will be released September 1st. I'm actually looking forward to it. It looks like they improved many of the things that prevented me from really enjoying CK2. For example, the map looks much easier on the eyes.

I won't buy it on release though. Games are released with so many bugs these days, so I will wait a couple of months for them to find and fix the flaws. Maybe get a little discount too. But it seems interesting.

@Josey Wales are you watching this one too?
 
Pre purchased it. The shame XD. I have to realize those viking tribe fantasies.
 
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@Wellsonian the CK2 base game is now free so that'll give you an idea of what CK3 will be like although CK3 does look much nicer and the holdings are now shown on the map which appears to give more tactical depth (in CK2 they are just represented as icons in the region screen). I'm a latecomer to the series having only picked up the game last year but it's incredibly immersive and addictive.

In my current playthrough my time is split between subjugating smaller tribes in Northern Scandinavia and raiding as Vikings. My lands are poor and the only real way for me to make income at the moment is by looting Anglo Saxon counties for cash.
 
Ah, I forgot all about this one. Also I halfway assumed it would be delayed like many games are.

I'm still interested, but will let them patch it a bit and give me a discount before I jump in.
 
I dig it so far. Im following in this youtubers footsteps with Spain. Learning as I go:

 
I think I don't want to watch any videos beforehand.. will just see if I can figure things out as I go along
 
I think I don't want to watch any videos beforehand.. will just see if I can figure things out as I go along
Yep, a large part of the fun of a game is figuring out how to play. I try to be careful and not watch too much so that it removes the learning and exploration of the game.
 
Yep, a large part of the fun of a game is figuring out how to play. I try to be careful and not watch too much so that it removes the learning and exploration of the game.

Agreed. Did you completely shelf Combat Mission by the way?
 
@Bulletpoint no not completely but it's certainly taken a back seat since the start of 2020. I'd been making the vids since 2015 and they (alongside playing CM) took up a lot of my gaming time.

Because of my increasing audience, I began to get into the situation of making the vids because that was what was expected from my subscribers and it began to feel like a 2nd job. I couldn't just play a game of CM, I had to play the game with the intention of turning it into a video. My enjoyment of playing and learning the game started to diminish as in the back off my mind I was thinking that each decision I make, each plan I develop and every mistake I will inevitably make will need to be justified to my 2000+ subscribers. As you know some of them are pretty harsh critics and you have been on the receiving end of that. It has put a pressure on my CM gaming that I never really envisaged or wanted.

I am playing an ongoing CM single player game, but I'll play it for a few hours here and there. I'm still playing it though with the mindset that it will be shown to over 2000 people, I can't seem to play the game anymore without this mindset.

I can however play other games without having to worry about that and so I can just enjoy my gaming again in a more relaxed manner. I still love CM and the FGM community. I wouldn't say that there will never be a CM video from me again, however the next one is likely to be a way off and they're not likely to be as regular as before.
 
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If you dont watch the gameplay videos Id suggest you look at actual history. With the iberian campaign I checked up on wikipedia to get a feel for who is who. There was alot of plotting going on, real GoT style to be honest, and it pays off to play things historically. One of the characters, the infamous El Cid, you have to pay real good attention to in the character search engine to get a hold of. (did you know he actually fought FOR the muslims at one point?) There is alot of other stuff in the videos that made my enjoyment bigger than if I hadnt known about them.
 
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If you dont watch the gameplay videos Id suggest you look at actual history. With the iberian campaign I checked up on wikipedia to get a feel for who is who. There was alot of plotting going on, real GoT style to be honest, and it pays off to play things historically. One of the characters, the infamous El Cid, you have to pay real good attention to in the character search engine to get a hold of. (did you know he actually fought FOR the muslims at one point?)

Yep, I actually knew that.. I sometimes like to just read around on Wikipedia history pages in the evening :)
 
So I bought it the other day and I am really enjoying it. The game is great at drawing you into the characters and although it's the same system of traits and attributes as for the characters as in CK2, they do feel more 'alive' than in the previous version. This is probably due to the character portraits being replaced by the animated models which change as they age, get wounded, get pregnant etc.

The stress mechanic is a pretty nice addition which kind of encourages you to play your character as they would behave. I had my kindly old Jarl gain a lot of stress when I took the decision on his behalf to sack a rival tribal holding after we raided it. It was for the good of our people but the trauma may have been too much for him and I don't think he'll live for much longer after that.

Battles are easier to understand than in CK2 (at least for me) as the flanking system has been replaced. But this has been achieved whilst increasing the strategic involvement before the battle takes place. You have the option of bolstering your levies with specialist men at arms which are good at countering other specific units so you tend to build your army based on who you're likely to fight. Also as each holding is represented on the map, a county now has multiple terrain types within it allowing more scope for manoeuvre prior to engagement. Once joined though you have no real control over the battle but at least I understand why I'm losing. A battle system like the one in FOG Empires to opt to play in FOG 2 would have been good here but I don't think a system could have been devised which would please all CK3 fans.

Embarkation and disembarkation has been simplified but this actually improves things. The ai can now easily set to sea and whilst you're bearing down on their capital they then sail up the coast to siege your capital which adds more dynamic decision making in the midst of a war.

There's a couple of niggles. I really like that tribal characters are shown in a long house in their background but more needs to be done to add flavour. All of the councillors of a tribe are shown inside stone castles or churches in their backgrounds which reduces the immersion a bit. Also all levies and men at arms are depicted as feudal troop types both on the map and in the icon artwork. No doubt a flavour pack will be one of the first DLC's. I'd also like to see holdings change visually both on the map and in their icon artwork as new buildings are added and counties develop.

In short, Paradox have done an amazing job here. They've managed to keep and expand on what was great about CK2 and remove some of the things that were less fun. If they nurture this game the way they nurtured CK2, then I think we've got something really special here!
 
The stress mechanic is a pretty nice addition which kind of encourages you to play your character as they would behave. I had my kindly old Jarl gain a lot of stress when I took the decision on his behalf to sack a rival tribal holding after we raided it. It was for the good of our people but the trauma may have been too much for him and I don't think he'll live for much longer after that.

I really like the sound of that. Seems like characters behave more like characters than just collection of randomly combined traits.

Do cruel characters experience stress if they are forced to be nice to others?
 
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