1. Gameplay
    Expansion packs 

2. Release and reception

3. Modding

4. References

5. External links

Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings. It was released for Microsoft Windows on February 14, 2012. An OS X version, Paradox Interactive's first in-house development for the operating system, was released on May 24, 2012. A Linux version was also released on January 14, 2013.

It has sold over 1 million copies, which made it Paradox's most successful release before Europa Universalis IV.^[1]

Gameplay

The game is a dynasty simulator where the player controls a Medieval dynasty from 1066 to 1453, though the DLC The Old Gods and Charlemagne allow for earlier start dates of 867 and 769, respectively. Through the strategic use of war, marriages and assassinations among many other things, the player works to achieve success for their dynasty. The game contains numerous historical figures such as William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, Genghis Khan, Harold Godwinson, Robert Guiscard, Robert the Bruce, Harald Hardrada, El Cid, Constantine X Doukas, Harun al-Rashid, Alexios I Komnenos, Richard the Lionheart, Ivar the Boneless, Alfred the Great, Baldwin I of Jerusalem, and Saladin, but allows for the player to choose less significant figures such as minor dukes and counts, and creation of entirely new characters with the use of the "Ruler Designer" DLC.

Success is defined solely by the player. The only in-game objective is to obtain as many prestige and piety points as possible in order to surpass the various historically relevant European dynasties in a fictional prestige ranking (the three most prestigious ones being the Capetian, the Rurikovich and the Habsburg dynasties). The game ends when the player's current character dies without an heir of the same dynasty to succeed him/her, when all landed titles of the count rank or above are stripped from all members of the player's dynasty (including themselves), or when the game reaches its end in 1453.

The game employs a genetics and education system where children will inherit many traits, culture, religion and skills from their parents and guardian. This adds an additional layer of strategy to marriages, such that a player will attempt not only to form beneficial alliances, but also to select marriage partners with strong heritable traits to maximise the quality of offspring and thus strengthen the dynasty. This requires balancing sometimes conflicting interests. For example, while one possible marriage might allow some desirable alliance to be formed with another ruler, it may also require marrying a Spouse with some undesirable traits. Such a trade-off can occur in the reverse as well: one possible spouse could possess highly desirable traits but yield no new alliances for the player's dynasty.^[2]

While the player can choose any noble with at least a county in their possession to play as, there are some Government types that are unplayable without modding the game. These include Theocracies (such as The Papacy), holy orders, mercenaries, and republics. The merchant republic government type, however, is playable with The Republic expansion. In addition, all non-Christian characters are unplayable without the purchase of the DLC that unlocks them, including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Zoroastrians, Jains, Zunists and various Pagans.

Expansion packs

Release and reception

A demo was released on February 4, 2012, which featured four playable characters over a 20-year span.^[12] A marketing campaign for the game featured light comedy videos on the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins.^[13]

The game was met with generally positive Reviews and has attained a metascore of 82 at Metacritic.^[14] GameSpot reviewer Shaun McInnis stated "Through a complex system of diplomacy and backstabbing, Crusader Kings II makes every power struggle an engrossing one" and he lauded the gameplay while noting the "lackluster tutorials".^[9] IGN summed up their review by saying "An intense learning curve, but a unique strategy experience".^[10] IGN rated the gameplay and "lasting appeal" a 9/10.^[10] A reviewer for Rock, Paper, Shotgun stated that Crusader Kings II was "probably the most human strategy game" he ever played.^[15] Rob Zacny of PC PowerPlay, who gave the game a 7/10 score, called it a "brilliant treatment of feudalism in terms of strategy and story" but also stated it "requires major investment to overcome information overload".^[11] Kotaku named the game as one of their game of the year nominees.^[16]

By September 2014, Crusader Kings II had sold more than 1 million copies, with the expansion pack and DLC sales totaling over 7 million units. According to Paradox Interactive, the game was played by an average of 12,500 players every day, with an average playtime of 99 hours per player.^[17]

Modding

When a Crusader Kings II (CK2) game is launched, Paradox servers collect information about the game setup such as game version, single player or multiplayer, and what mods are in use.^[18] Data collected on 23 April 2017 showed that at least 42% of users on that day had activated at least one mod.^[18] Data also reveals that multiplayer "cheat mods" are popular too, as are graphics or GUI mods. A number of realism mods have been produced by fans such as Historical Immersion Project and CK2+.^[19][20]

A number of total conversion mods are available:

• A Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels, released in May 2012,^[21][22][23] which "has long been the most popular CK2 mod."^[18]
• Elder Kings, based on Bethesda Softworks's The Elder Scrolls video game series, released on April 1, 2013.
• Middle Earth Project,^[19] based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, released 2014.^[24]
• Witcher Kings, based on Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series of novels, as well as CD Projekt Red's video game series.
• After the End, which is set in the 27th century in a post-apocalyptic North America.
• The Winter King, based on The Warlord Chronicles trilogy by Bernard Cornwell.
• When the World Stopped Making Sense,Which is set in the Dark Ages and adds Pre-Schism Christian Denominations such as Nicene Christianity, Arianism, and Insular Christianity along with other religions such as Celtic Polytheism and Ancient Egyptian religion.

Paradox actively encourages such modding, and the company is "constantly considering how we can ensure new additions to the game are moddable, and we often go back and tweak existing functionality to open it further to modding."^[18]

References

External links

• {{official website|http://www.crusaderkings.com}}
• Official wiki for Crusader Kings II

• Trine Christiansen
• Trine: Enchanted Edition
• Trine Gjesti Bentzen
• Trinematidae
• Trinemeia
• Trinemophora
• Trine Pilskog
• Trinervitermes
• Trinervitermes biformis
• Trinervitermes rubidus
• Trine Strand
• Trineuragrion
• Trine Villadsen
• Trine Østergaard Jensen
• Tring-a-Ling
• Tringalwadi
• Tringa pugnax
• Tringgus-Sembaan Bidayuh
• Tringham, David
• Tring (hundred)
• Tringle
• Tring Market Town
• Tring Market Town England
• Trinh Linh Giang
• Trinh Nhu Khue