So, I've heard some great things about CK2, the Game of Thrones mod looks amazing, and it's 75% off on Amazon. However, I bought EU3 and HOI3, and found them incredibly complex and difficult to get into, and I didn't have any fun playing them. Is Crusader Kings 2 going to be a waste of $10 for me? How hard is it to play?
(Also, I assume that now that it's steamplay, the steam code from Amazon will give me a version that will work for Mac. Is this the case?)
Mac user. Yeah, I know.
CK2 is a lot more accessible and easy to understand, but that is coming from someone who managed understanding EU3. CK2 is also the best Paradox title I have played so far.
I know nothing of MAC compatibility though.
EU3 is a lot easier and much more fun than CK2. I thought CK2 was extremely boring compared to other Paradox Interactive games, even EU:Rome was much better.
99.9999999% sure that's the case. I bought CK2 a while back and then they added the Steamplay bit the other day and I can access it on my Mac (won't run though as it's just an Air).Originally Posted by TheTedinator
All my games that have Steamplay anywhere near them are downloadable on the Mac. KOTOR is another recent example of a game that added it after purchase and is accessible on the Mac.
Definitely worth 10 dollars too. Kind of makes you understand people's disappointment in their children much more acutely.
The good thing about CK2 is that you can more or less muddle through it on your first couple of tries and only bother to learn stuff when it becomes necessary. You'll still have fun with the characters and family feuds that you encounter and can go years without having to worry about certain mechanics if you choose not to. EU3, on the other hand, more or less demands an understanding of everything from the get-go, and can be a lot less forgiving in the long run.
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Totes worth it, and the mac version came out recently. If you buy it, you have access to both the pc and the mac versions. It might have been fixed, but I was having an issue with the mac version where I had to click above icons for the click to register. It runs pretty well through Wine though. Also, patch 1.06 is coming out soon with some pretty big changes, and the Sword of Islam expansion is coming out at the same time that will make muslims playable
As someone who hadn't played a Paradox grand strategy type game until CK2, I can certainly vouch for it both being great fun and that you can muddle your way through.
One thing that was weird for me at first was not being able to declare war without a Cassus Belli. Knowing that you can always go to war against Pagans and Muslims 'for free' is good to know when you start
One issue I have with the game now after I've had a few attempts is its a bit too easy. Largely because the AI seems fairly dumb
Apologies I'm now going to go off on a slight tangent to bring up two things that have been bugging me
1) how do you pronounced 'Demesne' - I'm going with it almost as Duh-monce, but that doesnt really fit the spelling. I guess its french so is it something like De-mez-nay but then I think it would have an accent on the last e.
2) Opinion needs to be broken down into Fear and Respect. This would prevent idiot vassals with a few hundred men rebelling against my 50k+ army. To counterbalance this though if a lot of vassals feared you but perhaps respected one of your other vassals then they could do a much better job of coordinating a 'super rebellion'
I thing it's really close, but not exactly like domain, de-main
Like "domain" but with a french accent.
Edit: I guess I actually have to write something more than that now!
Like with all Paradox games, there is a demo for CK2. You should download that. The full game isn't that much different.
Last edited by Malawi Frontier Guard; 30-05-2012 at 12:34 AM.
Intriguing, thanks guys. I hadn't really seen it before but now I absolutely do. It'd almost be something along the lines of de-mayne
Is there a Mac demo? Because I'm not sure my graphics card is up to par- I have a GeForce 8600M, and it says it requires a 9600 or better :(
Mac user. Yeah, I know.
Hmm, not sure. I know there was a windows demo prior to release, and I was able to run it in Wine on my Hackintosh with the Integrated Intel HD 3000 I was using at the time. Political boundaries and rivers didn't show up, but it ran fine on the realm map mode. Just don't use the terrain map mode, those trees will give your gpu a beating, especially if you hover over NE Europe
Edit: where did my first edit go?
No mac demo that I could find. Download the wrapper that VonSensburg put together, or make your own it's not that hard, put the demo in that wrapper, and assuming your card is better than HD 3000, it should work, though not as well as native
Last edited by Bhagan; 30-05-2012 at 01:56 AM. Reason: more info!
If you think the game is too easy and simple, check out the mod CK2Plus. I cannot play without it, because vanilla simply is too easy now that I know all the ropes and the mod adds some nice mechanics and features.
Also, if you are new, start in Ireland as that is newbie island.
Last edited by Duckee; 30-05-2012 at 02:31 AM.
Yep. I've only played through it three times, but I actually got to have a long game playing in Ireland. People seem to leave you alone longer.
Starting out the game is a lot of fun if you don't try to do anything... just let it happen and respond to whatever is going on. You probably won't do to well, but it will be enjoyable and you start to learn the workings of the game.
Cheers, will check it out
Agree, Ireland is a great place to start out. Although my heart shall always be with Siciliy and the addition of the Kingdom of Trinacria. Perfectly placed, boats in every county, quick to traverse, excellent size for your Demesne. <3 you Sicily
Yeah, it's like Jim's post about how fun it is to sometime watch the AI play, I do think more games could make use of that. In CK2 its especially fun watching massive kingdoms disintegrate.
France and England are good ones, sometimes they just manage to hold it together, but in our most recent game France completely broke down and succeeded in rebellion - ahh, all those pitiful Duchies ripe for the taking Bwuahahaha.
I also strongly recommend CK2Plus. Fantastic mod which adds a huge number of excellent features and is very regularly updated.
Not actually sure that it really makes the game that much more difficult though, it does in some areas, but in others it actually makes things easier. For example the relation bonuses for close family members and AI plotting being tweaked downwards.
Although actually I think the latest version changed how the difficulty levels worked, which is I think intended to make Hard considerably harder, but I haven't played with that yet.
Although for me one of the great things about CK2 is that I don't feel the need to powergame. I'm quite happy pottering around doing things that feel right, rather than grabbing king titles as fast as I can.
Look on the steam store. If it says [Windows symbol] + [Apple symbol] it works on both.
There isn't a steam demo that I can see.
Mac user. Yeah, I know.
I haven't played the others but CK2 really sucked me in. It's unlike anything I've played before and was really refreshing. I could spend an hour playing and actually do very little but still be totally enthralled. I believe there is a demo on steam.
Funnily enough, buying the Paradox package which includes CK2 at 75% off gives you vouchers for $23 off EU3 and HOI3.
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