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Shaytana

Sol Invictus
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Mar 4, 2001
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This mod attempts to improve the look of characters making them more realistic and historical. The vast majority of playable landed characters from the 1066 scenario have been given individualized dna. Random characters will be generated according to cultural rules in order to improve their look. This mod also adds new cultural skins, new cultural clothes sets and a variety of other improvements in order to provide the best looking character portraits possible.

LATEST VERSION: 8D(Altaic cultures and Alans require mongol DLC to display correctly) for 1.06b -and 8C-lite -8C Lite needs to be adapted to patch 1.06b to work (cuting graphics for memory)

Features:
-gives individualized dna to most playable 1066 characters from Iceland to Georgia! (except mostly some nobles in HRE/France area)
-better eye/hair color distribution throughout Europe. Northern blondes ahoy!
-beards for Byzantines vs cleanshaven Normans, Saxon moustaches etc...
-better looking random characters generated according to cultural rules
-historical characters made to resemble their real selves where information is available
-adds more realistic looking graphical cultures
-adds regional/cultural clothes sets
-implements a tiered martial system for characters in command
-implements a 20 frames system
-integrated Little Portrait Mod by Peuri
-integrated parts of Enhanced Portraits Mod courtesy of Trovador and thrashing mad
-using parts of Crackdtoothgrin's Graphical Goodies P.S. He is awesome!
-A BIG THANK YOU to Trashed who ported the dna from 8C to make it compatible with the new patch!

changes in version 8 and 8A/B/C/D: (screenshot shows some new clothes)
bI5Ea.png

-8D is adapted for 1.06b -minor fixes, added a lamelar armor template, dna to a Paradox dev.
-8c-lite cuts dna skins out - andalusian skin instead of all my other "darker" mediterranean/muslim skins
-v8c makes some more cuts, use of layers from other cultures /might notice some minor imperfections
-v8a and v8b further trims down on memory load
-memory load triming rework - new attempt at solving memory load issue
-renounced the loading of many layers
-added a new royal outfit and a new landed noble outfit for the Christian cultures -WIP!!!
-Catholic bishops now use their religious headgear when going to war
-switched muslim cultures using western female skin to byzantine female skin
-some tweaks to layers - such as correcting minor mismatches with clothes behind layer
-bohemian gfx now uses catalan clothes and german headgear
-various other changes/fixes /thanks to Federalist Girl for Tyrian purple recolor of ERE royal cloak.

changes in version 7: (screenshot shows some new clothes)
uBvtH.png

-reworked the mod and its file system
-implemented a 20 frames system for layers instead of 27
-implemented a new Egyptian gfx culture, differentiated sets for Egyptians, Levantines and Turks
-tweaks to Muslim clothing in general
-implemented a Bohemian graphical culture to solve some issues
-switched Egyptians to Levantine skin
-changed nordic to ugric gfx
-various other changes

changes in version 6D:
-implemented new clothes/headgear for cumangfx -the set is mostly using/based on CrackdToothGrin's cuman work + muslim stuff
-implemented a modified version of CrackdToothGrin's Cuman female clothes/headgear +some muslim stuff
-vesion 6D NO DLC -a compromise version - should work without mongol DLC - added a file to it for minimal instructions to make future versions that do not require mongol DLC (following those instructions to the letter might result in future changes to Altaics/Alans not displaying in your game but they would at least display properly using the current files)
-no DLC version uses Andalusian skin for Altaics, Levantine skin for Turks, and Muslim females.

changes in version 6C:
-version posted because of 100% lack of issues on my computer, hopefully will work for some people having issues
-implemented WIP!!! Alan and Andalusian clothes and some other tweaks (such as added a new Catalan royal outfit)

changes in version 6B:(screenshot shows some of the changes)
l9m5j.png

-implemented Persian, Catalan, and Croatian gfx cultures (so BLC can become easily compatible with cultural cities mod)
-added WIP differentiated Berber clothes and headgear
-changed Frankish tabards colors somewhat
-added a culturegfxtags.txt file in BLC folder so modders can easily see what culture uses what gfx culture

changes in version 6: (screenshot shows some of the new martial stuff)
kQaKB.png

-implemented WIP differentiated martial gear per culture group
-implemented a new tiered in command martial system (I believe the original idea for an in_command system was seen in the Suited for War mod)
-implemented a 27 frames system for the 6 clothing and headgear layers per gfx culture, hope those files can help other modders in the future to easily add stuff in a working 27 system for all cultures.
-reworked some things
-version 6a fixes an issue with Africans, and one with Franks

changes in version 5c: (screenshot shows some clothes and new Byzantine female skin)
rGrjL.png

-added a new female skin for Byzantine gfx culture
-added a clothes set for Byzantine women(no more decolletage, 100% Orthodox approved, well except for all the gold)
-reworked hair colors -better hair color distribution for generated characters
-gave Turks more hair colors and eye colors

changes in version 5b: (screenshot shows some clothes and a tanned Italian last)
hH0F3.png

-added Norse, Saxon, Celtic and Gaelic graphical cultures -split them from Nordic- nordicgfx is now used for European pagans
-added WIP differentiated clothes for them
-implemented a new tanned skin set for Italian males.
-implemented some clothes/changes elsewhere. Slavs got some new stuff.

changes in version 5a: (screenshot shows new Iberian skin vs standard European skin 1 by 1 comparison)
DzfCp.png

-added a new Iberian tanned skin, that Mediterranean sun effect needed representing.

changes in version 5: (some changes shown here)
eIlrP.png-scr

-implemented 4 new gfx cultures: Norman, Frankish, Eastern Slavic and Western Slavic
-added 4 alpha WIP differentiated clothing sets for them to make the landed characters look different.
-now using some parts of Crackdtoothgrin's excellent goodies!

changes in version 4d:(skipped 4c cuz I'm awesome) (see screenshot for some changes)
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=9a4r0znwukcyrcw
-added German, Iberian, Italian and Occitan differentiated clothes set, implemented respective gfx cultures
-the new sets are a WIP first pass, they focus on replacing landed characters clothes so the map doesn't look like attack of the fashion clones.

changes in version 4b:
-added christian priestly clothes and headger to muslim cultures' sets
-An Arab/Turkish etc Pope/Orthodox bishop etc will now wear the proper religious clothing - no more naked priests!

changes in version 4a: (screenshot shows some of the clothes)
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=y8hzkhjxuz85l9z
-added a clothes set for Northern Europe. uses nordicgfx tag - currently used for Scandinavia, Celts, Saxons, European pagans.

changes in version 4: (screenshot shows new sunburnt skin)
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?ifm0h3xy7e3dpq7
-added a new Mediterranean sunburnt skin - currently used for the Byzantine culture group
-fixed an issue with a placeholder related to dna/culture clothes uncoupling

changes in version 3d: (screenshot shows 4 levantine, 4 andalusians and 3 westerners for comparison)
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?jcc911z60tropeo
-added 2 new skins for muslim males - used for my Levantine, Maghrebi, Andalusian, and Persian characters

changes in version 3c:
-uncoupled clothes from dna. A character with Swedish dna should now wear Arab clothes if his culture is Arabic (retaining Swedish looks)
-fixed dna/culture clothing miscouplings -the new feature should work for all cultures correctly.

changes in version 3b:
byznewclothes.png
-added a new Byzantine clothes set

changes in version 3a: (only changes to history files)
-ported dna to the latest paradox history files
-some minor tweaks to said dna

changes in version 3:
View attachment 53424
-2 new graphical cultures added for Levantine and Maghreb. (they do not require mongol DLC)
-dna added for Maghrebi
-dna added for Levantines
-further tweaks

changes in 2aculturesB
View attachment 53351
-new graphical culture for Andalusians and Persians, less Arabic looking (does not require mongol DLC to display correctly)
-dna added for Andalusians
-dna added for some Persians
-tweaks to portrait_properties.gfx

changes in 2aculturesA (requires mongol dlc to display properly) -see screnshot of Alans from it below:

View attachment 53231
-inspired by Peuri's work I added a custom Alan culture
-Alan culture is using elements from various graphical culture sets. Consider it a test of potential future customizations.

changes in 2a
-implemented new rules for better looking random characters based on culture
-random generated characters should now look better than ever
-reworked portrait_properties.gfx

changes in 1f
-integrated parts of Enhanced Portraits Mod
-Orthodox bishop headgear has arrived (thanks again Trovador and thrashing mad#
-re-added portrait_properties.gfx
-added dna to Alans

changes in 1e
-added dna for Norse pagans
-added dna for the rest of Northern European pagans
-added dna for Baltic pagans
-added some dna for Cumans and Pechenegs
-added and tweaked some dna elsewhere most notably HRE/France

changes in 1d
-added dna for Norman landed characters for the 1066 William the Conqueror start
-some dna tweaks
-temporarily removed portrait_properties.gfx file until I find a solution for the automatic randomization of cleanshaven characters due to beard generation parameters. #the mod should work perfectly without it#
bugfixes:
-corrected an issue making Duke Vahram I of Mesopotamia unplayable

Mod changes dna in history\character\ files and files related to portraits generation. It works with 1.05e.

Preview screenshot and mod links found below. Unzip in mod folder and enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE LATEST MOD VERSION: 8D from mediafire

http://www.mediafire.com/?7orhx7z0w4ec1bh

VERSION 8C-lite: (not compatible with patch 1.06b)

http://www.mediafire.com/?0y3k2cw9zi8h962

IMPORTANT FIX FOR THOSE EXPERIENCING INTERFACE/MISMATCH OTHER GRAPHICAL ISSUES:

A solution kindly provided by idib816:

Download cff explorer. Make a backup of ck2.exe (location of file can vary depending on where the game was bought - for steam it is in C:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\crusader kings ii). open ck2.exe with cff explorer (right click on it and it shows up), click on "file header", click on characteristics where it says "click here" and tick the option "app can handle >2gb addresset". click ok. save the file. do the same with the ck2 launcher. Play the game.

Some version of BLC was integrated in these mods:

CK2Plus

The Prince and the Thane

SoH

North African Expansion
 
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This mod was born out of my dissatisfaction with the original look of characters as seen in vanilla CK2. I remember seeing William the Conqueror sporting Harold's mustache before they were switched... I had been rereading one of my history books from my university days at the time, and that book happened to have several depictions of William that obviously conflicted quite nicely to the CK2 version. I later started a game as Eustache de Boulogne and noticed that my character lacked his mustache. A few minutes later, after perusing another book to make sure I remembered correctly (the historical Eustache did indeed sport a mustache), I decided that it was time to start editing the appearence of CK2 characters. My goal was/is to make all characters look as they should within the limits of our knowledge of the period, as such I started to edit them with that goal in mind. Some characters were done after some historical ilustration/description while those without any such information pertaining to them were mostly brought in line with cultural historical stereotypes – aka bearded darker haired Byzantines, blonde blue eyed Northerners, cleanshaven Normans etc.

I greatly appreciate all feedback and information! If you have any interesting knowledge pertaining to hairstyles etc, or information about how a particular character looked in real life, feel free to post it here!(this is a work in progress)
 
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Do you mind if I integrate this mod into mine? Credit will be given of course :)

Not at all. Go ahead and integrate it, I believe the current version is 100% bug free. (the original version I posted had a bug with an Armenian character) I will continue to update it - as this is a WIP - and you can use whatever the newest version is whenever you like...
 
Not at all. Go ahead and integrate it, I believe the current version is 100% bug free. (the original version I posted had a bug with an Armenian character) I will continue to update it - as this is a WIP - and you can use whatever the newest version is whenever you like...

Cheers mate :)
 
You should add the Orthodox head-dresses from THIS mod: you both seem to have similar approaches, with yours being thus far the more complete mod: just the addition of the head-dresses and possibly the addition of THIS OTHER mod would make the perfect portrait mod, imho.

I'll look into it tomorrow (getting late here now), correct Orthodox priestly head-dresses would be good for sure. Going to check that Little Portrait Mod out as well, I've been thinking of starting work on pagans so that might be useful. If I like those mods I'll ask the authors for permission to use some of their stuff, hopefully they'll give it.
 
As many of us who hang out / troll the user mods forum use CK2+ do you imagine there would be any issues in using both mods?

And I hope you have done something about the crazy amount of mustache that Robert Guiscard (Apulia) wears!

EDIT: Yes you have, thankyouthankyouthankyou!
 
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As many of us who hang out / troll the user mods forum use CK2+ do you imagine there would be any issues in using both mods?

And I hope you have done something about the crazy amount of mustache that Robert Guiscard (Apulia) wears!

EDIT: Yes you have, thankyouthankyouthankyou!

:D I've looked at a ton of images of early siculo-normans from various texts I have around here, and the common pattern always seemed to be cleanshaven faces. I'll probably work on them some more, but for 1066 they will most likely all be cleanshaven unless I find some descriptions of particular characters saying otherwise.

Sadly I think CK+ changes the history files so the mods are not compatible, I'm unsure at the exact changes CK+ makes but it would probably require quite some work to make them compatible given the amount of dna this mod contains... although I guess porting the dna from my files to the CK+ files is doable, or just select parts.

EDIT: also the more I work on it and add stuff, customize cultures etc, the less compatible it will be in all likelyhood.
 
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I'm having issues uploading version 1c(did work on beard distribution for random characters, integrated stuff from Little Portrait Mod, etc)... it should work it's a zip and only around 2mbs... but it won't upload it. Anyone know what could be wrong? Or any idea where I can upload it?

EDIT: Nevermind managed to attach it via firefox, i guess it was an issue with internet explorer... so 1c is posted now.
 
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I have encountered a strange issue I can't yet find a workaround for. Using a modified portrait_properties file to modify facial hair generation for random characters also randomizes the facial hair slot for cleanshaven characters with dna... so a cleanshaven norman (specified so in his dna) suddenly sports a beard when you load the game.

Even cutting the code to its bare minimum has this effect(I had started to remove code in the vain hope of finding what was wrong)...for example the code below is the barebones stuff you can add to beard slot, yet adding this somehow randomizes cleanshaven characters.

# p4 beard
4 = {
0 = {
factor = 1
}

1 = {
factor = 1
}

2 = {
factor = 1
}

3 = {
factor = 1
}

4 = {
factor = 1
}

5 = {
factor = 1
}

6 = {
factor = 1
}

7 = {
factor = 1
}
}

I am going to post 1d soon and temporarily remove the portrait_properties file till i figure out what's wrong with it. Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated!
 
I have encountered a strange issue I can't yet find a workaround for. Using a modified portrait_properties file to modify facial hair generation for random characters also randomizes the facial hair slot for cleanshaven characters with dna... so a cleanshaven norman (specified so in his dna) suddenly sports a beard when you load the game.

Even cutting the code to its bare minimum has this effect(I had started to remove code in the vain hope of finding what was wrong)...for example the code below is the barebones stuff you can add to beard slot, yet adding this somehow randomizes cleanshaven characters.

# p4 beard
4 = {
0 = {
factor = 1
}

1 = {
factor = 1
}

2 = {
factor = 1
}

3 = {
factor = 1
}

4 = {
factor = 1
}

5 = {
factor = 1
}

6 = {
factor = 1
}

7 = {
factor = 1
}
}

I am going to post 1d soon and temporarily remove the portrait_properties file till i figure out what's wrong with it. Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated!

i´ve missed at your .gfx-file "culture = { }"-lines for a lot of parts. can it be, that the game will be confused, which part it should pick from?
 
Well it can't hurt to edit that to see if it conflicts somehow, although I don't think that is the issue. Going to try that now, you never know with this game. :D Thanks for the suggestion mate! :)
 
I removed the culture parts and no luck... the issue persists. :( I can tell a Norman count he should be cleanshaven via dna, yet his facial hair gets randomized...(I noticed the issue while working on the dna of post conquest England Norman counts) on the other hand if I put a beard on someone via dna the correct beard shows up. It's only the cleanshaven graphic that is messed up somehow, I still have a few ideas I can try, but if all else fails I can maybe provide two versions of the mod... one were dna-ed characters display 100% correctly and one where the cleanshaven ones can get a beard if the beard gods decree it, but the random characters are generated better...
 
Posted 1e which should make pagans better looking overall... Blonde Finns, darker haired Sami etc. I'm still tweaking/working on France/HRE (it's the mod's weakest part atm) and I would gladly welcome any feedback/information for this area.

I'm also starting to believe that the resulting randomization of facial hair after putting beard code in portrait_properties file is a core game issue rather than a mod issue... maybe it's just not supported properly atm and any code there results in randomizing that slot for dna-ed characters.
 
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Haven't tried it yet (not at my game computer) but this mod seems really interresting :)
I wonder is it save game compatible?

A savegame won't load the new dna found in history files etc. To see the changes you need to start a new game, otherwise you only get some graphical tweaks. This mod should be perfectly compatible with the regular 1.05c client, (I'm editing this mod using a clean version of CK2 1.05c + this stuff) so if you're playing a regular game it probably will not have any bad side effects in anycase. (the only wierd side effect would probably be the fact that South European characters will have new eye colors/hair colors and given it's going to be loading the dna in your savegame those won't necessarily be ideal -your black haired, dark eyed lord might suddenly sport blondish hair and green eyes)
 
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So if i load a savegame from before activating this mod, will the characters born after activating it follow the rules like for example that Normans are cleanshaven?

I will shortly post 1f which should once again contain the portrait_properties.gfx file, so yes, newly generated characters should follow rules... normans will be cleanshaven, byzantines, pagans etc will be bearded and so on. The downside of this will be that some of the dna-ed characters for a new game will get their facial hair randomized, but I gather it's probably worth it to have cultures sport their proper characteristics in the longer term...
 
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Version 1f posted!

After getting permission from Trovador and thrashing mad, I've implemented parts of the Enhanced Portraits Mod, so for one Orthodox bishops will look puuuurtyyyy. I've also decided to test a new portrait_properties.gfx so I've added one based on Trovador's work to this version to see if this works better. I still think there's some issues with randomizing dna-ed characters but it should be better now. Some scenario start dna-ed characters might not appear 100% as intended by me but at least the random characters will be better.
 
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