Sure the Guard’s and soldier’s armor and weapons were realistic for the time, but the cities were far out of date. Outside of Rattay and Talmberg (castles), every other town looked like a Pre-Norman Anglo-Saxon village. All these wooden shacks made me feel like I was playing in the 900’s and not the 1400’s. Of course I assume that a city like Prague would definitely fit the timeframe if they were to put it in another game. Most 1400s cities were big and made out of stone. It would be rare to have a ton of wooden buildings inside of a castle and there would be tons of banners and rich cathedrals, but that’s only for cities like Prague and Paris and not the countryside of Bohemia
You have weird sense of humour.
I didn’t mean “tons of cathedrals” I just meant that a large city in the 1400s would have a ton of banners and have a cathedral. Sasau is the only town with a cathedral and only the monks get to access it unfortunately.
But the thing is, the 1400s were actually a pretty advanced time for Europe when compared to the dark ages (500s-1000)
Just think about the great fire of London in 1666 when you talk about “made out of stone”.
Also all the churches are historical in KCD. WH won´t put some cathedral just because of wow effect, if it is a bullshit…
Here is part of the Prague from around 1600 and that is the biggest city in the kingdom. Notice the buildings on the left. Mostly wooden houses.
In fact, it was Maria Therezia that had to order that houses in the kingdom should have chimney and made it out of stone (not wood with a clay layer inside as was common). That was 1751.
At the age you refer as “the dark age” villages (because except from Sasau and Ratay those are villages) would look a bit different, mainly consist of one room buildings, more of them sinked into the terrain:
In 1400, there is the three part house as standard (and pretty much stays few hundreds years at countryside). That consist of entering room in the middle, granary/storage/space for animals on the one side and living room on the other (also chimney starts being developed). As is in the game.
Here is a village from the start of the 15. century of about over 100 people. There was a miller that was probably also the bailiff and that was probably it (no tailor… just saying). Rest worked on fields. No reason to roll out the banners. And building a cathedral was something still extremely rare. I mean… hundred time less common than building a castle.
Also where you came that castles did not have wooden buildings? It was so much cheaper and the lord usually had to save somewhere, if he wanted to have strong walls and/or representative main buildings (in late 14th century, it was often sadly just the latter). So some buildings for servants, animals, storage and such could be made of wood.
1 Like
I kind of get your point BUT, first of all there is no really large city in the game comparable to prague or sth like e.g Konstanz. The cities in the game are mostly settlements around castles and monasteries filled mostly with farmers and craftsmen, that again are not a lot more wealthier than the farmers.
And farmers and craftsmen lived usually in wooden houses at the time in bohemia. Meanwhile the building surrounding the Marketplace in rattay, churches, the monastery a.o, structures that were made for eternity were made out of expensive stone.
SPOILER:
Summary
The value of bricks and stone is also the central topic of a side quest, in connection to the sasau monastery
1 Like
It’s weird because the Romans never used wood inside their large cities. They would only use wood for temporary fortifications. At the time, cities like Rome were mostly concrete or stone. But I guess I got the wrong idea because at the time, Bohemia didn’t have the money or resources of the Italians, Spaniards, or Byzantines
It’s crazy how Sigismund’s army is like this massive unstoppable force in the game, but still is just a spec when compared to the Ottoman Empire. Although I definitely don’t believe the Ottoman Empire would be able to invade the heart of the Holy Roman Empire without getting absolutely thrashed
If I am not mistaken, there was an army accumulated elsewhere. So they probably avoided it on purpose and raided unprotected areas.