I'm kind of disappointed by the African portraits DLC

[Vindahl]

Well, sound logically enough when you put it like that...
But still, though I think many players tend not to mix and match too much, I think that what annoys, is to see two brothers of the same parents, with different skin color...

Alas, perhaps there is not much to do, genetics are insane, and this is a just a game, so perhaps we just should deal with it, and enjoy what the game has to offers...
From what I heard from Paradox in the LiveStream, there is soon coming a meditaranean skin package, so perhaps we then get something in between..

 

[Gemberkoekje]

If nothing else, color could be a variable (caucasian, negroid, mongol and everything in between) and the features could be a mix between the 2. There are some problems to solve, but I don't think it'd be rocket science.

 

[Velorian]

Could we not just have the whole Mali/Nubia area taken out of the game? Does anybody play as them?
I personally dont, and though they add flavour, they also take some of the "medieval" feeling out of the game... I liked it better before these areas were added, and I would rather want other areas, where these free provinces could be used...

And if what I just wrote sound like BS to you, then at least there should be a restriction to how far away you can get your brides... As there is both + and - things when you do diplomacy, there should also be a - factor on distance... The longer away, the less likely are they to accept, unless there really is something prestigous about the marriage, that would add a + factor...

If Egypt is claimed by a European power it makes sense to have to deal with the Ethiopians, but the AI Muslims really shouldn't mess with them as that never happened historically, I believe they had some sort of non-aggression pact. I don't know why they still haven't fixed that for vanilla, but it's no longer a problem with the major mods.

As for marriage I've never seen European AIs marry African brides, so that's solved by restraining yourself and adding it to your house rules. Not that improved marriage logic would be a bad thing, I'm all for it, I just don't see them adding it.
I believe the logic should be about your ruler tier, as in: below duke only marry same realm or neighbors, dukes can take from surrounding cultures and kingdoms are unrestricted.

I'd also like some mixed kids, I know this isn't exactly a genetics simulator, but having 3 groups (regular European, mixed and African) doesn't seem like much to ask for. They could just recycle some of the graphics with different skin tones if they didn't wanna make new stuff.

Compared to how it was before I wouldn't say I'm disappointed at all (they had regular Arab graphic before, I mean really..), but I would have liked more content.

 

[Melnerag]

Overal DLC seems decent, just work on African females seems to be a bit lower-quality. Chin&neck are hard to distinguish too.

 

[unmerged(457435)]

ok, so recapitulating:

black & white (married) should produce arab/mediterranean children!
hmy:

 

[unmerged(75409)]

I'd also like some mixed kids, I know this isn't exactly a genetics simulator, but having 3 groups (regular European, mixed and African) doesn't seem like much to ask for. They could just recycle some of the graphics with different skin tones if they didn't wanna make new stuff.

Think about what that would mean... yet another full set of character graphics. Well they could re-tone the characters but then again what's supposed to happen when a mulatto (Obama skin tone) has kids with a white partner? Would they then be allowed to look like whites?

it's a bit weird but ... well... it's just a game and frankly I am surprised the turban wearing kings of England or emperors of the HRE with giant arab beards and dark eyes didn't upset anyone yet black faces will?

 

[TheGreatSnoop]

I swear this is the case, and I think it's something to do with the Prince and the Thane mod that I was using before 1.07 and the new DLC, but I swear I saw characters, such as half-European and half-Mongol, or half-European and half-Arab, who did indeed look like a mix of the two. I don't know whether this is something specific to that mod, but it honestly seemed to be working as intended. I remember seeing some Spanish kings who, after having one member wed an Arab noblewoman, produced future characters who were very middle eastern in appearance. I think it's to do with the P&tT having a mod in it that adds numerous ethnicity appearances that aren't in the vanilla game.

ok, so recapitulating:

black & white (married) should produce arab/mediterranean children!
hmy:

That wouldn't make any sense though. =/

 

[unmerged(75409)]

That wouldn't make any sense though. =/

Some of the Arab/Muslim portraits do have impressive Afro hair

 

[HobbesMkII]

After playing a bit, I don't find any major problem with the degree of variance. There appears to be just as much as any other ethnicity. It might be argued that it's subtler, but I don't really think so. Your mileage may vary.

In my experience, African/European marriages do result in the Arab/Turkish culture gfx for the children, under certain circumstances. I first noticed it when my Byzantine ruler's wife died and I married him to a displaced member of House Zagwe. Their children were culturally Greek, but graphically African. However, those children, then married to more Europeans, had children of their own who were graphically Turko-Arabic (but still culturally Greek). That makes sense to me. The first generation would be unlikely to pass for anything but African (although, it's not outside of the realm of genetic possibility in real life), but increased European DNA in subsequent generations would result in lighter-skinned children. I'm curious to see what happens when Asian culture graphics are introduced, though.

 

[unmerged(425486)]

My African/French pairing produced Black, White and Arab children.
The current King of Abyssinia is an Arab looking man with 3 African kids.
CK2 boggles the mind sometimes.

 

[ZechsMerquise73]

I think they put every other portrait in the game to shame (except maybe female Arabs - why did they put so much detail into people you never see?). Europeans look really bad in comparison. I'd like to see a new European portraits DLC now that the art quality has increased so dramatically. I've seen no problem with African females. I like them so much that I went Elective so I could appoint Queens-only >.<

Of all the things I've seen so far in the new update, the African portraits are by far my favorite.

ok, so recapitulating:

black & white (married) should produce arab/mediterranean children!
hmy:

They do.

 

[Voy]

It would be much better if the kids inherited the father's culture instead of being a random mix of both. I don't want to see mongol, or turkish, Rurikids.

 

[ZechsMerquise73]

BTW, what happens when black&white are married? do they have mulat children? (just curious)

This is going to sound weird, but they were so cute I had to force myself to marry them off. They ended up killing everyone I loved and giving my Kingdom to the Byzantine Emperor and splitting a province to Aragon (Eventually I had a Miaphysite Castillian Aragon OPM in Ethiopia O.O), though

The men look like regular Semitic characters, so that's part of the reason why I favor female rulers in this play-through.

 

[Daffius]

Think about what that would mean... yet another full set of character graphics. Well they could re-tone the characters but then again what's supposed to happen when a mulatto (Obama skin tone) has kids with a white partner? Would they then be allowed to look like whites?

Yes.
You don't need to go overboard with it, just add 1 generation. A black and a white couple would have a child with a brownish tone. If the child later weds a black, then baby = black, if they marry a white, then baby = white, if they marry a similar mulatt, then baby = brown. Basically 3/4 should warrant the full skin colour.

That's just 1 shade that needs to be added, as the races are already differentiated, it should be possible.

 

[Spartanlemur]

Mixed race portraits would be interesting.

Yes.
You don't need to go overboard with it, just add 1 generation. A black and a white couple would have a child with a brownish tone. If the child later weds a black, then baby = black, if they marry a white, then baby = white, if they marry a similar mulatt, then baby = brown. Basically 3/4 should warrant the full skin colour.

That's just 1 shade that needs to be added, as the races are already differentiated, it should be possible.

I agree with this. Make the mixed race child have the features/gfx group of one parent and use a mixed tone from both parents for the skin colour. Might not look amazing, but it's a great shortcut.

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

Does anyone know whether this DLC is compatible with 1.06? Or do I need to upgrade my game to use it?

It is compatible with patch 1.06

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

...As for mixed-marriage kids: Come on! The mixed-race thing with kids inheriting either 100% father's or 100% mother's looks has been there since the original game release. it works like that for Mongol-looking and for Muslim-looking characters. You just have to deal with it, the game is not a genetics simulator. Don't marry African brides if you dislike having black kids, mmmh kay?

Speaking from experience, if they even attempted mixing races, it would fail disastrously using the current portrait system. It would have to be rebuilt from the ground up, and would probably end up looking waaaay more generic than currently. This isn't a shot against the artists, but rather a commentary on the amount of time it takes to get this stuff working.

Just doing the Cumans, Pechenegs, Turks, and Africans (which I don't think I'm going to release/be able to release), I've put like 600 hours in. Paying someone to do that, even with the proper tools and not just handpainting them with a Wacom, would be pretty expensive.

In the mod subforum you can look into the thread "Crackedtoothgrin's graphical goodies" (or something like that) where mad king James posted a whole lot of photos from east-African women in tribal costumes. Basically, short hair isn't that far off, and the costumes vary considerably depending on what group you look at.

Yeah, he is the one that gave me the resource materials to do the African faces. Sadly, I wasn't able to devote enough time before they released their set. Such is life.

 

[brxbrx]

Did the Ethiopians really paint their faces?

As it turns out, they do!
https://www.google.com/search?num=2...urce=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=QCOAUJ-vIMWC2wXI5YC4Ag

 

[unmerged(75409)]

As it turns out, they do!
https://www.google.com/search?num=2...urce=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=QCOAUJ-vIMWC2wXI5YC4Ag

Thus sayeth Wikipedia:

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Ethiopia

See also: People of Ethiopia

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups. Most people in Ethiopia speak Afro-Asiatic languages, mainly of the Semitic or Cushitic branches. The latter include the Oromo, Amhara, Tigray and Somali, who together make up three-quarters of the population.

Ethiopians and Eritreans, especially Semitic-speaking ones, collectively refer to themselves as Habesha or Abesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities. The Arabic form of this term (Al-Habasha) is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages.

Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic minorities also inhabit the southern regions of the country, particularly in areas bordering South Sudan. Among these are the Mursi and Anuak.

You'd have to google for "face painting Amhara" or "face painting Oromo" to see the part that's represented as kings of Ethiopia in the game. I don't think those used tribal face paints, except for modern day football matches.

 

[KPJ]

I have a problem with this DLC as well, that nobody has mentioned yet. I think the Islamic or Christian Africans should wear Arabic or European/Eastern dress, respectively. At court these nobles did not dress like the faces in the DLC (which strikes me as very 'pagan-looking'), from what little I know (and I have done some research on the subject).

Much like the post-Roman aristocracy on the frontier (France, Germany), with their half-a-day in togas and half-a-day in furs, the African cultures of this timeframe were Islam-in-town, pagan-in-country. Perhaps they could be found looking like they do in the game, I guess we'll never know, but I feel that it brings them a step away from the immersion and makes them seem really quite alien and removed from the global world of which they are a part. I feel like if we're gonna have Irish counts with black faces (the original blue man group), they should at least dress like Europeans or Asians.

Edit, note: They do look really beautiful, though! Just, like really beautiful pagan Africans, not the worldly Malians this game should be portraying