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General discussionSummer Sale special: release of classics from Paradox Interactive up to -75% and Crusader Kings II available to grab for free!(119 posts)(119 posts)
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Posted June 14, 2023
We all have a soft spot for excellent games provided to us by Paradox Interactive – absolute titans of the strategy genre, who are responsible for thousands of hours that we’ve spent having fun in their titles.

That’s why it is an absolute pleasure that 4 Paradox games (with 3 of them being beloved classics) are joining our catalog today with awesome Summer Sale discounts! Next adventures await you in: Crusader Kings II, Knights of Honor, Arsenal of Democracy, and Academia: School Simulator. Let’s take a look at them.

Pssst! Come join us on our Twitch Channel on June 14th (Today) at 7 PM UTC to see DarkSaber2k tackle Crusader Kings II and on June 17th (Saturday) at 1 AM UTC to help Lovelust in Academia: School Simulator. See you in the chat!



Crusader Kings II (available to grab for free)
Historical, medieval grand strategy that captured the hearts of players all over the world since its initial release in 2012. Become a ruler of a medieval dynasty, engaging in politics, warfare, and diplomacy. With its deep gameplay mechanics, character-driven storytelling, historical authenticity, and open-ended nature, it offers a unique and immersive experience in shaping the course of history.

Moreover, 31 of the game’s DLCs are also now available on GOG, all with -50% Summer Sale discounts (and -66% for Crusader Kings II Tales of Treachery e-book).

And if you’d like to go with the bigger packages, you’ll also find Dynasty Starter Pack (-55%), Royal Collection (-58%), Imperial Collection (-60%) with their discounts available throughout the whole Summer Sale.

Find all the DLCs, packs, as well as other discounted Paradox Interactive games HERE.



Knights of Honor (-75%)
2005’s RTS masterpiece known for its immersive gameplay and historical setting. You lead a medieval kingdom, making strategic decisions to expand your influence through diplomacy and warfare. The game offers a blend of real-time and grand strategy elements, allowing you to manage your economy, engage in battles, and navigate diplomatic relationships. Its historical accuracy, strategic depth, and diverse playstyles make it a compelling choice for every strategy enthusiast.



Arsenal of Democracy (-75%)
Now with this historical strategy we are shifting into the era of World War II. Taking place in 1936-64, Arsenal of Democracy lets you play as any nation during WW2, complete with detailed models for economics, diplomacy, research, and intelligence. Historical accuracy, complex gameplay mechanics, and the ability to control and shape the outcome of the war will let you immerse yourself while rewriting history and experiencing the challenges of the world’s most influential military conflict.



Academia: School Simulator (-40%)
Unleash your creativity in this managerial tycoon game. Design and manage your own school with freedom to customize and build a functioning educational institution. Construct classrooms, hire staff, and oversee daily operations. You can expect strategic challenges, personalization options, and a sandbox mode for endless creativity. An immersive experience of building and managing a school while nurturing student success.



These Paradox Interactive titles could be crown jewels to the strategic side of your gaming library. Make full use of their discounts, check out all the Paradox deals HERE, and browse through more than 5400 bargains packed within Summer Sale. Enjoy!
Posted June 14, 2023
Thanks, GOG!

I've played and liked CK1 (not owned here, only CD/DVD edition).
Not sure if I have enough spare time to enjoy CK2 :D, but – nice addition to game library, thanks!
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EB4BDB971676: CK2 for free! All DLCs 50% off! Is it my birthday today or something? :D Thank you GOG and Paradox, that's the best news all week!
Why not just take it and enjoy the base game?
If it lacks anything important – you can always drop it with no cost.
Posted June 14, 2023
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GOG.com: Moreover, 31 of the game’s DLCs are also now available on GOG...
*cough* *cough* *CHOKE*
Posted June 14, 2023
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ciemnogrodzianin: Thanks, GOG!

I've played and liked CK1 (not owned here, only CD/DVD edition).
Not sure if I have enough spare time to enjoy CK2 :D, but – nice addition to game library, thanks!
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EB4BDB971676: CK2 for free! All DLCs 50% off! Is it my birthday today or something? :D Thank you GOG and Paradox, that's the best news all week!
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ciemnogrodzianin: Why not just take it and enjoy the base game?
If it lacks anything important – you can always drop it with no cost.
I spent over 100 hours on the base game, with only the ruler design dlc. You really do not need every dlc to enjoy the game.
Post edited June 14, 2023 by Syphon72
Posted June 14, 2023
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Ancient-Red-Dragon: As someone who has never followed CK 2, my questions are:

1. How come you can only play to 1453? Seems like it would be a better game if it let you play longer too.

2. What DLCs, exactly, does one need in order to make it be the best version of the game?
The time limit is partly arbitrary, but I guess it's to avoid modeling more and more countries and technologies. They also allowed you to export data from CK2 to on of the Europa Universalis games, so you could in theory keep it going, even if with different mechanics, if I remember correctly.

All the DLCs marked as expansions arguably add interesting mechanics that improve the game and/or make certain starting cultures/religions more unique. Personally, I would avoid "Sunset Invasion" and "Jade Dragon", but all the others have at least some merit to them, in my opinion.

The other DLCs are extra music, or visuals (which might be avoided if you don't care). The "Ruler Designer" is also probably worth it, although I hate the very idea that it was a DLC.

This should cover all the basics.
Posted June 14, 2023
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Syphon72: I spent over 100 hours on the base game, with only the ruler design dlc. You really do not need every dlc to enjoy the game.
100h base game eh, added to the library! It's the middle ages, it's not like they would sell superweapons separately like they did in stellaris anyway...
Posted June 14, 2023
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Syphon72: I spent over 100 hours on the base game, with only the ruler design dlc. You really do not need every dlc to enjoy the game.
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00063: 100h base game eh, added to the library! It's the middle ages, it's not like they would sell superweapons separately like they did in stellaris anyway...
"how do you turn this on"
Posted June 14, 2023
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ciemnogrodzianin: Thanks, GOG!

I've played and liked CK1 (not owned here, only CD/DVD edition).
Not sure if I have enough spare time to enjoy CK2 :D, but – nice addition to game library, thanks!
avatar
EB4BDB971676: CK2 for free! All DLCs 50% off! Is it my birthday today or something? :D Thank you GOG and Paradox, that's the best news all week!
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ciemnogrodzianin: Why not just take it and enjoy the base game?
If it lacks anything important – you can always drop it with no cost.
In ye olden days I had all DLCs through less than reputable means, so it would be reeeally hard to get used to playing just the base game. But this sale right here might just be enough to make an honest player out of me ;)

If anyone's interested in trying CK2, there is plenty of mods that completely change the game, I'd highly recommend The Game of Thrones mod that lets you play in Westeros or Essos. Why conquer France or England when you can take over the Iron Throne as Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow :D
Post edited June 14, 2023 by EB4BDB971676
Posted June 14, 2023
high rated
Crusader Kings II has a bunch of versions but not a lot of info on any of them, so here's what I found:


The Dynasty Bundle has:
- Ruler Designer
- Legacy of Rome
- Sword of Islam
- The Old Gods
- Way of Life

The Royal Collection has:
- Sword of Islam
- Legacy of Rome
- Sunset Invasion
- The Republic
- The Old Gods
- Sons of Abraham
- Rajas of India
- Charlemagne
- Way of Life
- Horse Lords
- Conclave
- The Reaper's Due
- Monks and Mystics
- Jade Dragon
- Holy Fury

The Imperial Collection has all of the DLCs as far as I can tell.
Post edited June 14, 2023 by Catventurer
Posted June 14, 2023
The vast majority of the DLCs are music, ambiance, specific graphics for specific civilizations etc, interesting and are worth for those spending a lot of time in this game and liking it.

The DLC main expansions are neither something critical unavoidable or needed to have a complete game experience, they are not 30 either. Crusader Kings II barebones is enough and complete for any new user from scratch. They add deeper mechanics and or flavour and realism to countries, zones, civilizations or change the starting and end date (vikings, Charlemagne, etc...) Excepting a couple of expansions they add deepness and realism.
Some or them are more "a must" than others. For example one of the first big expansions added the muslim cultures as playable. Others added the peculiar government system of venetian republic in middle ages etc... If there are something more must have than others, they are the DLC expansions and they should be added depending the user's preference and discretion. That is how it works and how it was intended.
Post edited June 14, 2023 by Gudadantza
Posted June 14, 2023
high rated
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Ancient-Red-Dragon: As someone who has never followed CK 2, my questions are:

1. How come you can only play to 1453? Seems like it would be a better game if it let you play longer too.
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mdqp: The time limit is partly arbitrary, but I guess it's to avoid modeling more and more countries and technologies. They also allowed you to export data from CK2 to on of the Europa Universalis games, so you could in theory keep it going, even if with different mechanics, if I remember correctly.
The official converter from CK2 to EU4 is...paid DLC. (rolls eyes)

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Ancient-Red-Dragon: 2. What DLCs, exactly, does one need in order to make it be the best version of the game?
Strongly recommended:
Legacy of Rome (for retinues), Old Gods (for 867 start, and interesting pagan mechanics), Sons of Abraham (for Abrahamic religion mechanics), Way of Life (for character progression mechanics and education mechanics and events)

Recommended:
Holy Fury (for improved crusades and a lot of smaller but well done mechanics improvements), Sword of Islam (for playing as Muslim characters, not as interesting as Christian or pagan characters imo), Conclave (for council mechanics which make the game a bit more challenging in a good way)

Avoid:
Sunset Invasion (waste of money, you don't get much except an ahistorical wave of aztec invaders invading western Europe like the Mongols to the east, plus a new religion type and some new weird casus belli)

Others are good to have but missable.

Also this thread from Paradox CK2 forums:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/which-dlc-s-whould-you-recommend-to-start-with.1578438/
Post edited June 14, 2023 by lupineshadow
Posted June 14, 2023
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sergeant_citrus: Should probably update the store card for the Royal collection. Almost $60 and I have no clue which DLC is included ,,,
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/6208/Crusader_Kings_II_Royal_Collection/
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/3096/Crusader_Kings_II_Imperial_Collection/
Posted June 14, 2023
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Catventurer: Crusader Kings II has a bunch of versions but not a lot of info on any of them, so here's what I found:

The Dynasty Bundle has:
- Ruler Designer
- Legacy of Rome
- Sword of Islam
- The Old Gods
- Way of Life

The Royal Collection has:
- Sword of Islam
- Legacy of Rome
- Sunset Invasion
- The Republic
- The Old Gods
- Sons of Abraham
- Rajas of India
- Charlemagne
- Way of Life
- Horse Lords
- Conclave
- The Reaper's Due
- Monks and Mystics
- Jade Dragon
- Holy Fury

The Imperial Collection has all of the DLCs as far as I can tell.
doing gog's work.
Posted June 14, 2023
Great news! Cheers to all who made possible—at last!—to have CKII here.
Posted June 14, 2023
high rated
Royal Collection seems to be all the DLC that add events/mechanics.

Imperial Collection is those plus the unit model/shields/music packs that add flavour.

It's all still overpriced here and elsewhere, would like it to come down to $20/$40 level.

Also the lack of Linux for CK2 is just bizarre.

Nobody seems to care about this release, not Paradox, not GOG. It's just to milk extra money from those who have more money than sense.

If GOG want to show they care about this release:
Fix the game store pages to show which versions have which DLC. (fixed now)
Give the game its own forum (it needs it)
Provide native Linux versions.
Post edited June 14, 2023 by lupineshadow
Posted June 14, 2023
So awesome!

Waited for a long time for CKII to show up, a game I've been interested in for YEARS! Didn't ever want to jump into the first game because I was holding out for the "newer" version (and of course now there's 3).

QUESTION - can anyone recommend DLCs? Are there any that are "must play" or that add features / UI improvements etc to the base game that when they came out, people just HAD to have them?

I know the base game is enormous and I could (should?) just sink my time in that and see what I'd like to have added as I play, but figured I'd ask first if there are a few stand out DLCs that just overall improve the game features that you wish you played with them from the get go.

Also - Knights of Honor - never really heard of it - looks fantastic! Like Total War and some of the old crunch 4E / RTS / Wargames (Cossacks and such) had a baby. How is it, how's it play?

Tempted but curious about impressions first.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionSummer Sale special: release of classics from Paradox Interactive up to -75% and Crusader Kings II available to grab for free!(119 posts)(119 posts)
(119 posts)