With the last developer diary of the year upon us, Paradox are gracing us with examples of what our courts will look like once the expansion launches next year.
Being worked alongside the prototype was the vision developers had for the Royal Court-rooms. They began by looking at the four main cultural areas that would be covered in the expansion. The west European, Mediterranean, Middle-eastern, and Indian courts.
As they should, developers wanted each of these areas to be distinct, having their own visual style through architecture and lighting so as to give off their own unique feeling.
The west European court draws much of its inspiration from courtly interiors of England, Germany, France, and neighboring areas. Darker rooms lit by fiery hearths, candles, and chandeliers. In the Mediterranean, more inspiration comes from the Byzantine courts and those found in Italy and other heirs of Rome. The rooms hint back at this grander past with larger roofs, domes, and columns supporting the walls and arches.
In the Middle-eastern courts, we have a wider spread geographically, as these courts draw inspiration and cues from the courts all the way from Arabia to the architecture of Andalusia.
In India, though, there is an interesting split, as influences in architecture were pushing in from the west while there were still distinctly Indian courts.
This was one of the reasons behind adding more court variants so that the expansion could cover more of these visual flairs.