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Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam DLC

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It’s turning out to be trailer day here at NHS (or perhaps trailer week), as Paradox announce the latest bit of DLC (and by far the biggest) for Crusader Kings 2 – Sword of Islam. Expect to see this one come out in June, along with the 1.06 patch and be priced at $9.99. Here’s the word from Paradox:

New York, May 30, 2012 – Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio today reveal that players will soon be able to play as the Muslim rulers in upcoming DLC “Sword of Islam” .

The DLC will release at the same time as the next hefty patch which adds new features to the game, such as an expansion of the map into Mali-Songhay, differentiation on strong and weak claims, new plot, expanded combat and more.

Sword of Islam enables players to rule as the Muslim lords, delivering a wealth of specific new mechanics distinctive to these rulers, creating a whole new gameplay experience. Laws, marriage, holding, traits , titles and more will work completely differently.

Crusader Kings 2 Gets Game of Thrones Mod

Back when I first got a look at Crusader Kings 2, my first thought was, “When will see a Game of Thrones mod?” All that plotting and conniving and court intrigue always seemed like it would make the two a natural fit. It turns out, it didn’t take very long at all as some enterprising modders obviously had the same thought and set to work. I, obviously, haven’t tried this yet; not sure if I’ll get around to it or not, but if any of you get a chance to play around with it, stop by the comments and let us know if it all comes together. (This is, technically, in beta.)

Who can I play?
You can play as any landed feudal noble in Westeros, as well as the Night’s Watch.

You can play as a holy order?
Yes. Although they’re not that interesting at the moment. No wildlings yet.

What are some of the new features?
Knights, Maesters, our new “Megawar” system for handling civil wars, the Night’s Watch, and a new system for plotting your assassinations are just a few among many.

What scenarios are available?
At the moment, our only available scenario is Robert’s Rebellion, when Robert Baratheon, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, Hoster Tully, and Tywin Lannister overthrew the Mad King and brought the Targaryen dynasty to an end. We are looking into other scenarios for future releases.

Hat tip to Rock, Paper, Shotgun for this one.

The Crusader Kings II No High Scores Giveaway Extravaganza!

It’s been a long time since we held a contest here at NoHS and I cannot think of a better game to kick off the new design than Crusader Kings II. I have written extensively about the game here and just published my take over at GameShark. Even with its faults and quirks I remain completely hooked on CK2 and I’d like to get more people on the Crusading bandwagon.

So here’s what I’ve got: 10 (ten) freshly baked Steam codes which I am more than happy to simply give away because I am such a great person.

To enter:

Method #1: Simply leave your Steam user ID in the comment section below. If you really want to be a peach you can leave a comment about the new design and any features you’d like us to implement. We have a lot of stuff “in the hopper” but we’re always open to feedback from you guys.

Method #2: Follow the link to Twitter and give us a retweet. Note that using the Twitter button on the left, handy though it may be, will not enter you in the contest.

Winners will be drawn at random.*

The contest will run until Sunday evening when I write this week’s Sunday Time Waster where I will announce the winners.

Good luck!

*As always, I accept bribes.

 

Paradox Shows Off Its 2012 Lineup

No High Scores

Note: I wrote this about six hours ago and, of course, the wireless here has been non-functional all the live-long day, so I’m only getting to post it now. It figures, the one time I’m timely with something…. sigh.  
 
I just got out of the Paradox Convention 2012 press conference, in which we heard from CEO/”Lord Protector,” Fred Wester as well as their business development specialist and producer/”Corporate Paladain” Shams Jorjani. Now, it’s imporatnt to note these sorts of things are built with the express agenda of getting people like me to say nice things about the company. This cannot be denied. That said, it’s really easy to like this company. 
 
There was a lot of talk about improved sales numbers (seriously, these guys are making money hand over fist), but it’s how they’re thriving –by focusing on publishing into niches that other larger publishers tend to ignore– that makes Paradox interesting. I’ll write more about this stuff later, when I’m not running out of time before dashing out to start a day-long stint of game demos. But for now, here’s the stuff they’ll be showing off this week, which includes three newly annonced titles (no, really, they were just announced for the first time in the last 30 minutes; for once, I’m timely):
 
The new three…