how can I make the game challenging?

[Veratic]

Right now I'm kinda losing interest because even if I start as a super weak nation with only 1 county it ends up in a quick snowball conquest with barely anyone trying to stop me.

So does anyone have ideas on how to make the game more difficult and challenging? Actions that makes the AI more aggressive towards you maybe? I have no idea

Any tip would be helpful.

[Dante_Deepdarkness]

There is a mod that it's supposed to increase the difficulty. I know (because someone told me) that it makes the AI super aggressive in terms of going to war, but other than that I can't tell anything.
I’m not a friend of doing it or suggesting it, but the “restrain yourself just because” is the other way I know, if you are eager of course.

[Wolfsun]

So does anyone have ideas on how to make the game more difficult and challenging? Actions that makes the AI more aggressive towards you maybe? I have no idea

Must be nice being a CK3 savant.

Maybe playing Chess at the Master level would be a bit more challenging for you.

Nahhh...

Seriously - on new game start select rules at the bottom of your screen. Lots of ways to make the game more difficult in there. Lots.

[RodHull]

Aside from the above the obvious answer is well no not really. These sorts of GS games usually have a core DNA that once figured out means you will nearly always know how to steamroll the AI, and the sad part is once you learn this its difficult to unlearn this.

These games are always more fun when you set yourself an internal goal something a bit RP based, rather than just trying to win.

So I dunno trying to turn Scandinavia Islamic or something like that (bad example but you get the idea) or making nude Christianity the dominant form of Christianity in the world.

[Ashling]

You could try playing in different scenarios. Like, be a loyal vassal and help your king expand, he'll probably end up screwing you some way. Or set different goals like try to have the biggest dynasty rather than the biggest realm or a dynasty on many thrones (don't give up confederate partition and have a religion made for war or something). Do eugenics but this time go for bad traits and try to make the biggest waste of a heir to play as. Or inbreed to oblivion.

Focusing purely on conquest isn't really this game's strongest suit. Not until they have a way for the AI to keep up with player's expansion.

Originally posted by Wolfsun:

Must be nice being a CK3 savant.

Maybe playing Chess at the Master level would be a bit more challenging for you.

Comparing CK3, in any way, to chess is like comparing a casual card game of higher or lower with optional betting to the grand math competition HMMT. Like, seriously, CK3 doesn't have the hardest rule-set to get your head around or that many moving parts when it comes to war compared to other games in the genre.

Not to insinuate that you're new or anything, but I think a large reason as to why there's this gap in thinking on the steam forums is because CK3 might be some people's first foot into tabletop war gaming. And Paradox is, debatably, the masters of computerizing that genre which is a genre some of us have put multiple of thousands of hours into learning and enjoying. (I say debatebly because I'm sure some people don't even consider Paradox games to be true war games. More like war game-adjacent, but I think they've taken enough from the genre to count). If you are new, then welcome! You have a long journey ahead of you and I wish you the best of luck!

If you aren't new, then saying CK3 is complex will only harm people's interest in the game and genre in general. If this is the peak complexity then CK must not be a good entry point and all the other games must be downhill from here and let me tell you they are not. Sure, they might have different troubles with different systems, but if the player wants a medieval war game then it's better to give them what they want than to say "only the highest level of chess is harder than this game"

[Æthelwulf]

control yourself and don't abuse game mechanics, pretty simple

[RodHull]

Originally posted by Triangle:

snip

TBF I don't they were actually comparing CK and chess in any way, they were just using hyperbole in a sarcastic way to suggest the OP was bragging.

Granted that was not very productive but that was, I believe, the intent.

[Veratic]

Originally posted by Æthelwulf:

control yourself and don't abuse game mechanics, pretty simple

Abusing game mechanics how? I attack weak opponents early game and expand fast, is that abusing the mechanics? It's the only logical thing to do when there are almost no consequences.

If I could turn on an "AI will punish aggressive behaviour" option then I would.

Or convert to a religion that makes everyone hate my guts...I haven't really found anything in the game that makes the AI become aggressive towards me, that's why I'm asking for tips to make it difficult to snowball.

[RodHull]

As others have said its cause your playing it like a conquest game, and that's fine but you have essentially mastered it on that level and no amount of trying to make the AI better will make your playstyle not optimal. Which again is fine its what you enjoy, more power to you. But the reality is at this point it won't be more challenging barring deliberately handicapping your own playstyle or adopting new targets (not just conquest)

So try to spread cultures, dynasties, try to reform old nations etc etc whatever interests you beyond just conquest.

[Flickmann]

Originally posted by Æthelwulf:

control yourself and don't abuse game mechanics, pretty simple

"Deliberately play poorly"

[Uhrenkerl]

Its funny to me that whenever someone asks for an idea to make the game more challenging, someone else is just like "well just dont do X" or "do RP" even tho these are not good tips and even more shows that the game isnt that well designed if you need to restrict yourself to make it a tiny bit challenging. Its even funnier that it almost always comes from people who played the game for like 50h or so and (probably) barely get how this shallow game works

I have no idea what you can do to make it harder, I cant even touch this game anymore without a harder difficulty mod (even tho that makes it maybe only like 10% harder, got declared on by 4 different dudes once which was ok they were weak anyway) and I even lost the fun in that like half a year ago. The only real thing I can recommend maybe is speedrunning or using a mod for difficulty, otherwise you need to wait until PDX stops to milk the plebs and riding the "haha funny incest" meme train

Mod I usually used:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2609741647

[garthurbrown]

Not that this is something you can do, but it would be nice if they brought back aggressive expansion penalties and allowed the formation of defensive pacts like CK2.

[RodHull]

Originally posted by Uhrenkerl:

Its funny to me that whenever someone asks for an idea to make the game more challenging, someone else is just like "well just dont do X" or "do RP" even tho these are not good tips and even more shows that the game isnt that well designed if you need to restrict yourself to make it a tiny bit challenging. Its even funnier that it almost always comes from people who played the game for like 50h or so and (probably) barely get how this shallow game works

This logic is so contradictory its hard to unpick.

You berate people for saying basically there is no way of making it harder citing their lack of experience as proof they know nothing, then admit there is basically no way to make the game more challenging once you master some very basic core concepts.

What's more any strategy player will soon learn how to beat ANY ai in any game if they are experienced in the genre and just want to 'win'

Which is why most of us have suggested changing up the parameters of why you play not how you play. So rather than just trying to dominate or stomp on the AI you are trying to say disseminate a religion around the world instead.

[Machiavelli]

Paradox is too lazy to balance their the sims wannabe game. They rather have it be a reddit meme simulator with no challenge for sales. Us fans who like having some pushback or challenge in strategy games are left in the dirt.

And the balance of the game is only going to get worse, as they have shown to not address any of the overpowered stuff in this game and instead add stuff like royal court which is just a 3d gimmick with culture modifer stacking nonsense.

[garthurbrown]

Originally posted by My Lord of Fellington:

Paradox is too lazy to balance their the sims wannabe game. They rather have it be a reddit meme simulator with no challenge for sales. Us fans who like having some pushback or challenge in strategy games are left in the dirt.

And the balance of the game is only going to get worse, as they have shown to not address any of the overpowered stuff in this game and instead add stuff like royal court which is just a 3d gimmick with culture modifer stacking nonsense.

Show us on the doll where CK3 hurt you

[Aeternum]

Try completing the Beta Israel and Turkish Eagle achievements.