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Sud's Gameplay Overhaul - Beta for 1.5.1 in description

Sud's Gameplay Overhaul

Beta for patch 1.5.1 can be found on the PDX site here[mods.paradoxplaza.com]

The amount of code changes in Royal Court were massive, so I had to rewrite a lot. The way factions are handled was completely redone, so there will likely be some balancing required there. I'm also testing a few new companion mods for compatibility.

The aim of this mod is to both iron out some of the more glaring launch-day issues with the game and make gameplay more interesting and historical. Steam Workshop has a character limit, so please refer to the pinned post in the discussion section for a full description of changes. This mod will be updated frequently for the time being, so check out the change notes from time to time if you’ve been subscribed for a while. If something seems out of whack, please leave a comment and check back in a few days. One person can only test so much so I really appreciate the feedback from others.


One of the aims of the mod is to address some of the immersion-breaking phenomena of vanilla: The Byzantine blob, Mega Millionaire Pope and his Mercs, The Swedish Colonial Empire. These have all been addressed. The Byzantine rework was designed with checking the Byzantine AI, not making an enjoyable player experience, in mind though I think it could pose a fun challenge. Heresies are less common. They do occasionally pop up and rarely do still take hold of big chunks of the map, but that’s the exception, not the rule. A small number of starts in 1066 have been edited to increase the odds of starting the game in a more historical direction. Christian Spain, especially in the 876 start, should be a little better at hanging on (though it’s still hard). The Muslims should be able to push back against the Crusades without relying on getting lucky catching the main stack disembarking. The HRE is relatively stable, but it’s not as easy to become a juggernaut.

The largest aim is to make gameplay more interesting and realistic. There are lots of changes here that you can check out in the full details, but: Men-at-Arms and mercenaries become more relevant as the game progresses, to mirror the professionalization of soldiering throughout the age. Development affects the economy more. Large empires are much harder to maintain as Independence factions are far more likely to form, especially from kings and rulers of different cultures/religions (combining those two is dangerous). Cultural heads have a larger influence on a culture’s tech progression. Many innovations have been added, as well as a new era. Combined with other changes, this should slow down tech growth overall. The effect of advantage is a little higher and terrain and supply are more impactful in combat. In general, war is a little slower and winning/losing battles matters more. Inheritable traits are less common, but more impactful. Crown Authority is much more impactful both in good and bad ways. Many traits/stats/perks have been updated to be a little more interesting/meaningful.


Another aim of the mod is to fix bugs/gaps in the base game. Men-at-Arms buffs are now percentage-based, to avoid the ludicrous stacking of flat modifiers. The AI should now create and upgrade holy orders. Knight deaths have been reduced vs. being injured/captured and the AI should no longer make low-prowess characters knights, thus preventing the genocide that seems to occur most games. Dynasties no longer get renown for having a million drunken losers loafing about. AI Feudal lords should both have more money to use, and use it a little better. Great Holy Wars shouldn’t begin before 1000 (though there are exceptions), to stop crazy things from happening too early in the 876 start.

I recommend playing this with the (Legacy) More Unique Buildings Mod. Just be sure to make sure that Sud’s Overhaul loads last!

Note that I tend to play/test on slowest religion/culture conversion. It’s still pretty speedy on those settings IMO and religion/culture are meant to influence the game more in this mod.

Some of these are pretty big changes and this is an extremely complex game, so I’d really appreciate any feedback from your playthroughs and would love to hear any suggestions/requests.


There have been issues with both Workshop and the PDX Mod DB, so every update I make, I change the lifestyle xp bonus of the Genius trait a little as an easy “tag” to check. It is currently: 65. If (after reinstalling the mod) you don’t see that, let me know.

Again, feedback really helps make things better and don’t forget to check for an update/reply after you leave some!

The mod is also available on the PDX Mod DB[mods.paradoxplaza.com]