Crusader Kings III News

Hello everyone!

My name is Jens and this is my first appearance on this forum. I’ve got the opportunity to share some details with you on my probation project for CK3, which is making it all the way into the upcoming release (because that’s where I pushed my changes, lol)!

I’m happy at least one of you caught on to the subtle hint in the previous DD. I was like “Wokeg, did you use my new thing to set up the screenshots?” Well yes, because all of a sudden most assets and characters have become way more accessible. So what is it I’m talking about? At this point, most of you have probably guessed it - but yes, we have upgraded our old friend the Barbershop.

► Read more about Dev Diary #117 on our forums!



I’ve scrambled through the webs looking for feedback and wishes of what you would like and expect from such a tool. Heck, no mediocre fix would do: I want only the best for you! I distilled the info down, looking for the essence of how you’d want to use the tool, set up the tasks, prioritized them, and spent the last few weeks going through them all. Well, I’ll spare you the fluff. Let’s get into some details.

First off, we have expanded the Barbershop into two tabs. The first is focused on changing the appearance of your character. Additionally, I’ve added a fuzzy search box next to the drop downs, in case you already know the name of what you’re looking for.

[Image: Barbershop, tab for changing appearance]


In the second tab, we’ve added drag and drop support for the portraits, so you may click, drag and place them wherever you want. You can also rotate them 360 degrees and we’ve also got 4 different zoom levels for you to play around with. Every character has their own dropdown of poses and animations and we’ve also added a wide variety of backgrounds. The only limit now is your own imagination.

[Image: Barbershop, tab for placing characters in the scene]


One of the big reasons we play is to create stories and make memories. I took a deep dive into the forum history and found out some of you want to use the Barbershop to relive past events between characters, dress up a serious ruler in a funny outfit or take family photos. To support this I’ve added presets. The “Custom” preset lets you import characters simply by pinning them. Another preset I really wanted in (based on a comment) was an easy way to view your entire Council, so for that end I present to you:

[Image: Barbershop, easily view your council]


Also, note the council preset supports modding if that’s your thing.

[Image: Barbershop script]


With only a few polish tasks left, people have already begun discovering this tool in-house and started trolling and meme-ing each other. I hope you guys will enjoy the new Barbershop as much as we do. Let me know if you have any last minute requests and I will see what I can do. Now, our Game Director also has something in store for you.


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Greetings! In addition to the above we also want to show some additions to our collection of Map Modes - namely the introduction of the Control and Economy map modes! These two new tools are very useful in managing your realm… and planning your conquests.

[Image - New Map Mode Buttons]


The Control map mode is very straightforward, showing you exactly what you’d expect. It spans from a dark purple (denoting very low control) to a light yellow (showing just a slight lack of control), and a bright white shows where there’s Absolute Control.

[Image: Control Map mode Example]


The Economy map mode is a little bit less straightforward - but we aspired to make it as useful as possible. The nebulous concept of ‘economy’ is a bit harder to represent, but we decided to include what most of us thought were key factors in making informed decisions.


[Image: Economy Map mode Example, Southern France]


Similar to the Development Map mode, the color spans from dark purple to bright yellow; bright yellow indicates an area is quite rich. The area colors are based on Counties, including income from Cities, Bishoprics, and so on - for an overall approximation of the County’s use to the player (of course, Counties with more Castles might be better in the eyes of some, but we had to make a call and thought that this was the most useful overall). This coloring is relative to the state of the world, meaning that the most brilliant yellow County is the richest one in the world at that moment. This map mode doesn’t care about the current Control Level of the County, which makes it useful for planning conquest targets.

[Image: Economy map mode, showing India]


Something else that you no-doubt notice is that Special Buildings are shown on this map mode! They’ve been hidden away for much too long, and we decided that this was an excellent time to reveal them… and maybe add a handful of new ones. Getting Special Buildings in your domain was always a fun goal for the player to achieve, and now it’s not only possible to see where they are - but also whether you can use them, if they are already built, what they provide, and so on!

As an added bonus, we’ve added an absolute ton of new mines strewn around the map, and we’ve also revised the system for founding Universities - now it’s no longer a decision, but rather the institutions are constructed as normal special buildings (and in many more places than before!), with the same rewards on offer.

This means that there are many, many more great capital locations strewn across the world, and it’s now easier than ever to find them!

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That’s it for this time! But stay tuned… our spymaster sends word that what’s next for Crusader Kings III will soon be announced! Make sure to mark Monday next week, March 6th, in your calendars and visit this link!

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... Anyone watching? No? Good.

Ok, just you and me. Great, because I've only got a few wee lil morsels today and I don't want to share them with too many people. So let's all just keep this quiet and, if anyone asks, the dev diary was about how we research thirteenth century agrarian techniques in rural France. Got it? Good.

► Read more about Dev Diary #116 on our forums!



I want you to tell me what this historical character...


... this historical character...


... and this historical character all have in common.


Figured it out? Yes? No? Waiting for someone else to scan through every character in the game before you hazard a guess? Ok, well, to be a bit fairer, it's got something to do with this:


Hint 1: The list includes all the interactions in a particular category. You would not see all of them at the same time like this.
Hint 2: :D This has nothing to do with Wards & Wardens.

Finally, none of them are directly connected to this chap:



Alright, that's all I've got for you today, but I expect to be going over that list again soon. And in detail. If anyone asks, remember: rural France, agriculture, thirteenth century, yada yada.

Till next time!

Hello and welcome to this dev diary where we will be looking into some new map visuals that’ll be added in the future. As the team grows, we’ve had the opportunity for our new artists to warm up by sprucing up the map a little. Among the things we’ll show off today, chief is the Canterbury Cathedral and its evolution over time: made by our new Environment artist Joel, who’s written about his process and the research involved.

► Read more about Dev Diary #115 on our forums!



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[h2]The Original Church - Tier 1​[/h2]
When creating the first tier of the Canterbury Cathedral, which references the Anglo-Saxon church extant in the 867 & 1066 start dates, it was important to acknowledge the lack of available visual reference material. Historically speaking, the Anglo-Saxon church was burnt down in 1067, but we do have some conceptual renditions and blueprints of the estimated building layout to work from, courtesy of the archeologists (our heroes).

Sometimes luck strikes and blueprints or estimated ones can be found.

From this, I created a fairly basic interpretation of the church that serves well as the first/starting stage for the Canterbury Cathedral. Additional geometry, like pillars and an external house, was added to the building to create a more compelling in-game silhouette.

The original Anglo-Saxon church - Tier 1
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[h2]The Norman Cathedral - Tier 2​[/h2]
After the first fire, a second church was built in its place, distinctively making use of the Romanesque style. As we move forward in history, more references become available, and fortunately the church foundations are described as rather similar to the church of today. The more significant differences to modern Canterbury Cathedral are, for example, the front and main towers: they are still Romanesque.

Canterbury Cathedral - Tier 2

[h3]Romanesque and Gothic[/h3]
If this happens to be your first time coming across these terms, some explaining might be in order. Romanesque and Gothic are two styles of architecture which defined buildings and churches throughout the Medieval era. Romanesque, the older of the two, emerged sometime around the year 1000 and lasted until around 1150. It’s a style arising from and defined by Germanic, Byzantine and old Roman influences, favoring circular Roman arches and a more solid-looking facade compared to later churches.

Romanesque Abbaye de Lessay

From the Romanesque emerged the Gothic in the 12th-13th centuries. In Gothic architecture, Roman arches find themselves replaced by Gothic ones; we also see elaborate ribbed vaults, towering flying buttresses, and church interiors brightened by large stained glass windows.

Chartres Gothic Cathedral

[h3]Modeling[/h3]
I technically started with the third tier of the structure of the Canterbury Cathedral, rather than the second tier. Because we work with modular pieces and texture atlases, I find it easier to work from the complete cathedral, then remove any additional geometry. It also meant that the last tier would have most of the same layout as the modern cathedral, minus some of the later additions.

Modular pieces used for building the Cathedral

With the modular pieces ready, it was then just a question of assembling the cathedral.


[h2]The Gothic Cathedral - Tier 3​[/h2]
We could see in the final version of the Cathedral that a lot of areas had been raised since the time of the second, so I simply made minor tweaks to the height of some walls and roofs, while preserving the original UV. The back of the cathedral had also been extended and rebuilt, with the addition of two new structures. The south-west tower was rebuilt, but not the north-west tower as of yet: that happened later historically.


The cathedral with the towers in the front. The main tower however was a new construction past CK3’s timeline.

Canterbury Cathedral - Tier 3

The third tier takes on a Gothic style, with flying buttresses along the length of the cathedral, and it also puts a golden angel on the pinnacle of the main tower.


[h3]Basing and Decal[/h3]
In order for us to be certain that our holdings will be placed correctly on the map, we extend the ‘basement’ of the mesh into the ground to accommodate for the map’s height differences.
This ensures we have no areas free flying in the air. Usually this is a bigger issue for holdings than monuments, as monuments have a single specific place on the map where they exist.

Decal texture in Substance Painter

We also create decals that show a more interesting ground variation around the structure. In my case, I painted out some roads to give life to the area. Some color variation to the grass to better blend in with the rest of the map, and darker areas where the cathedral would be located. The decal plane is on average twice the size of our building.

Anglo-Saxon church , Romanesque Cathedral, Gothic Cathedral T1 - T2 - T3

After all the buildings were done and I was happy with the progression from tier 1 to tier 2 and tier 3, I could finalize the UV’s. We use two UV maps to layout the textures: one is for the ambient occlusion that we bake in, and the other for the texture atlas. The texture atlas lets us reuse textures to save on performance. I did the baking in marmoset with a low poly to low poly set up. Normally you have a high poly to bake down to the low poly mesh, but I was only after the ambient occlusion.
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A new set of cultural stone bridges will be added over the world, replacing some of the old wooden bridges and overall making it a bit clearer where the safer river crossings are. We will be adding a total of four standard bridge types, for Western Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Indian regions.



These bridges have been based on historical examples sampled from these regions. The Western and Mediterranean bridges are based on arched bridges from Europe, with the appropriate local flairs. The Middle Eastern bridge is based upon Sassanid designs like the Marnan and Kohneh bridge, among others, and are mostly found in the regions around modern Iran and Iraq. The Indian bridges take their inspiration from the Athernala bridge in eastern India.

Greetings!

The polls are closed, and the winner is…

[h2]Wards and Wardens[/h2]

► Read more about Dev Diary #114 on our forums!



Which I’m very excited about! Not only because it was the theme I personally liked the best, but because there’s a lot of interesting history to explore! We’ll definitely aim to make both rearing and playing as children more historically immersive, while also adding timeless content such as the (sometimes tenuous, sometimes wholesome) relations between parent and child.

As mentioned in the previous Dev Diary, this event pack will be worked on later this year, after the next expansion is finished. For now, we will slowly start drawing out plans of content we’d like to make, and areas that’d be fun to explore - and here you can help!

If you have a specific topic you’d like to see made into an event, or a situation you’d like to see expanded upon, please reply in this thread!

For example, a specific topic might be 'I’d like to see an event about one of my foreign wards missing their home' or ‘I’d like an event where I as a child can become best friends with a vassal child’.

Examples of situations you’d like to see improved could be ‘I’d like to have the ability to impose a specific personality trait on a ward’, or ‘I’d like if educating another ruler’s child would have more diplomatic benefits/complications’.

Finally, I’d like to leave you with another small teaser for the expansion. Last time some of you came extremely close to the truth, to the point where we had the artist of the image giggling with excitement… we’re hoping this one will throw you off a bit.

Later this year, after our next big expansion is already released, the Dev Team will begin working on a new event pack… one chosen by you! Vote now on our official forums between three different event pack themes to determine which area will become more fleshed out in the game next.

► Read more about this poll and cast your vote on our forums!







[h2]Wards & Wardens[/h2]

Take a deep dive into what being a child in the Middle Ages was actually like, and explore what guardianship meant in practical terms. Wards & Wardens would feature events revolving around childhood, being a guardian, children at court, and more.





[h2]Love & Lust[/h2]

Let your love life take the reins! While lovers and spouses take on a larger role in Love & Lust, explore events related to more intimate relationships, expanded seduction, married life, and more.





[h2]Villains & Vagabonds[/h2]

Leverage your fearsome reputation and learn what it truly means to be dreaded. Villains & Vagabonds will feature events embracing the consequences and opportunities of being a tyrant, while considering contrasting themes of fairness and honor.



Have ideas for how these themes could be thoroughly explored in CK3? Share them with us and the rest of the community—we’d love to hear what you think! Not yet sure which theme to choose? Feel free to discuss the pros and cons you see for each choice, just remember to cast your vote by January 27, 8am CET when the poll closes.


The choice is yours, so vote now on our official forums!