[MOD] Crackdtoothgrin's Graphical Goodies

[CrackdToothGrin]

Well, I'd love to see a Byzantine set as awesome as this one. Their clothing styles were pretty unique. Would be nice to see them looking more Mediterranean/Greek too. But I'm sure that'd take quite a bit of time... for now, I'd be happy if the emperor/empress had proper Byzantine crowns instead of using Catholic ones. Should be a simple request.

Making the clothes and darkening the skin is pretty easy. Time-consuming, but easy. The difficulty will lie in choosing clothing and equipment that is somewhat "time-neutral." Styles and equipment changed rapidly in some places, and in others, not so much.

Byzantine would definitely be good but I'm still a hardcore Saxon fan so that has to be a priority for sure! hmy:

My initial 'mod' for myself was adding the shaven-back hairstyle for the Normans, when I noticed it was missing. But, despite having a partially English lineage, I don't know much about the hair/clothing styles for the Saxons in the time period. My knowledge of English history is primarily late-12th Century onwards, and geopolitical/military as opposed to anthropological.

 

[RedRooster81]

It looks very nice.

 

[Federalist girl]

Making the clothes and darkening the skin is pretty easy. Time-consuming, but easy. The difficulty will lie in choosing clothing and equipment that is somewhat "time-neutral." Styles and equipment changed rapidly in some places, and in others, not so much.

Hm. True, very true. Worst come to worst, clothing could be modular for time periods I guess. I would imagine the emperor/empress garbs would be the ones that changed least, but outfits for nobility or the priesthoods may have changed a lot. I have very little clue about Byzantine sartorial habits, sadly, though of course I'd love to see it in action.

 

[Sleight of Hand]

Any news buddy?

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

Any news buddy?

Check the first and second posts. The mod has been released in beta. As of right now, only the males are finished. Western females are used as placeholders.

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

The first public release is available (Updates, description, and releases on the first two posts)!!!! I'm working on the female faces right now, and should be done with them a lot faster. If anyone has any trouble downloading, please let me know.

 

[Shaytana]

CrackdToothGrin, I wanted to ask you wether I can get your permission to use some of your work in my mod BLC? I'm currently in the process of implementing culture specific clothes and some of your clothes might be great to use in some fashion. If you agree to give permission I will of course give you proeminent credit if I use any of your work. You can check what BLC is about here:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...ng-Characters-(more-realistic-and-historical)

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

CrackdToothGrin, I wanted to ask you wether I can get your permission to use some of your work in my mod BLC? I'm currently in the process of implementing culture specific clothes and some of your clothes might be great to use in some fashion. If you agree to give permission I will of course give you proeminent credit if I use any of your work. You can check what BLC is about here:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...ng-Characters-(more-realistic-and-historical)

Sure. Just let me know what pieces you use. I would also prefer if you didn't take the entirety of the Cuman set as-is and import it into a Cuman set for distribution, since I haven't released a full version of my own yet, haha. I should have the Cuman females finished sometime soon, and then the Mordvins, Bolgars, Pechenegs, etc. We're essentially duplicating efforts here, but my work tends to take a really long time (about 300 hours combined so far, including research).

Also, if you are reimporting clothing pieces, be very careful to line up the alpha maps. There is a lot of fur trim with handpainted alpha maps that match excellently. It's very easy to misalign them.

You should easily find everything for download on the second post of the first page.

 

[Shaytana]

Sure. Just let me know what pieces you use. I would also prefer if you didn't take the entirety of the Cuman set as-is and import it into a Cuman set for distribution, since I haven't released a full version of my own yet, haha. I should have the Cuman females finished sometime soon, and then the Mordvins, Bolgars, Pechenegs, etc. We're essentially duplicating efforts here, but my work tends to take a really long time (about 300 hours combined so far, including research).

Also, if you are reimporting clothing pieces, be very careful to line up the alpha maps. There is a lot of fur trim with handpainted alpha maps that match excellently. It's very easy to misalign them.

You should easily find everything for download on the second post of the first page.

Oi! Thanks a lot mate! I know what you mean about time investment hehehehe, I don't even want to add up the man hours that went into BLC... just doing individual dna for all the landed characters...was painful. :blink: I am unsure what I'm going to use yet, but no I will not import the set wholesale as is. I'll tell you what I do, when I do it. I'm gonna figure out what I'm going to do as I get there. -currently pushing to add some alpha stuff for Normans and Franks I guess.

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

currently pushing to add some alpha stuff for Normans and Franks I guess.

I'll be doing stuff for them eventually, myself.

 

[Shaytana]

I'll be doing stuff for them eventually, myself.

Can't wait!!!

I've been looking at your dds... damn that chainmail is sexy. :wub: So is the fur. :blush: I'm going to start figuring out what I can use and how - will tell you here once I do.

 

[nitroholic]

CrackdToothGrin, i just wanted to thank you for all the time you've obviously put into this. The Cuman marshal helmet looks absolutely amazing. Im actually having a hard time deciding whether to have the visor open or closed because i want to see the characters face, but the helmet looks so cool haha

 

[Shaytana]

Crackd, as you wanted to know, I implemented 3 of your clothes and the chainmail in new clothing sets for western and eastern slavs. You can see in the screenshot below, the first 4 are based on your stuff edited somewhat. (next 3 are something else)

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

CrackdToothGrin, i just wanted to thank you for all the time you've obviously put into this. The Cuman marshal helmet looks absolutely amazing. Im actually having a hard time deciding whether to have the visor open or closed because i want to see the characters face, but the helmet looks so cool haha

I was toying around with the idea of including both in the set and having an in_command requirement for the helmet. The problem about putting entirely new entries in the portrait-properties file is that you have to consider that the entries are applied globally. That would mean I would have to include entries eventually for the following things:

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Coptic Pope
Tribal Shamans/Priests (for African Animists, Ugric-Baltic Pagans, Romuva, etc.)

Including an in_command martial headgear will leave me with only five extra slots, and that could get filled up quick as I need new requirements.

Crackd, as you wanted to know, I implemented 3 of your clothes and the chainmail in new clothing sets for western and eastern slavs. You can see in the screenshot below, the first 4 are based on your stuff edited somewhat. (next 3 are something else)

They look nice! I may have to send you a modified chainmail set that gets rid of the dark band by the ear. That was initially shaded for being under the helmet, but since your helmet is higher, it looks out of place.


As for everyone else, I should be able to finish the females soon, and then, with modifications, have separate sets for the Volga Bulgars, Pechenegs, and Magyar/Hungarians, as well.

 

[Shaytana]

I was toying around with the idea of including both in the set and having an in_command requirement for the helmet. The problem about putting entirely new entries in the portrait-properties file is that you have to consider that the entries are applied globally. That would mean I would have to include entries eventually for the following things:

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Coptic Pope
Tribal Shamans/Priests (for African Animists, Ugric-Baltic Pagans, Romuva, etc.)

Including an in_command martial headgear will leave me with only five extra slots, and that could get filled up quick as I need new requirements.



They look nice! I may have to send you a modified chainmail set that gets rid of the dark band by the ear. That was initially shaded for being under the helmet, but since your helmet is higher, it looks out of place.


As for everyone else, I should be able to finish the females soon, and then, with modifications, have separate sets for the Volga Bulgars, Pechenegs, and Magyar/Hungarians, as well.

Thanks mate! Yah, I noticed that stain on the mail, but I'm working at breackneck pace to get more flavor to all cultures and decided it can go in as it was...there's just an insane amount of stuff to do to worry about minor corrections on first pass. I put about 18 hours into modding yesterday alone,(uhoh I admit that:blush trying to individualize stuff more... I also think I'm going to put in some more of your stuff in the slavic area...not sure yet. I'll pm you if I do with whatever I do...now back to work, I MUST GET NEXT VERSION OUT TODAY!!! /dies.

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

Thanks mate! Yah, I noticed that stain on the mail, but I'm working at breackneck pace to get more flavor to all cultures and decided it can go in as it was...there's just an insane amount of stuff to do to worry about minor corrections on first pass. I put about 18 hours into modding yesterday alone,(uhoh I admit that:blush trying to individualize stuff more... I also think I'm going to put in some more of your stuff in the slavic area...not sure yet. I'll pm you if I do with whatever I do...now back to work, I MUST GET NEXT VERSION OUT TODAY!!! /dies.

I understand the rush to get content out. Posts move so much faster than they used to when the forum was smaller. But, stay on the grind and I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

In case anyone was still interested, I have a big update that completely finishes the Cumans, followed by another for the Pechenegs and the Bolgars. More details tomorrow, and screenshots.

 

[Sleight of Hand]

Totally interested. :happy:

 

[Meneth]

In case anyone was still interested, I have a big update that completely finishes the Cumans, followed by another for the Pechenegs and the Bolgars. More details tomorrow, and screenshots.

Of course we're still interested, your Cuman portraits are fantastic.
BTW, you should check out the CKII modding IRC, link in my signature

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

Okay. Here's what I can show today:

​

The females are done, physiologically, but I have to create their clothing. Unfortunately, my IRL work takes precedence and I have to push back the revelation of the combined headgear/clothing shots until a little later. The hair incorporates some westerngfx elements (I have a limited time budget, haha).

And, to forestall this particular question: All portraits so far have age progression, including the females. I should be able to get the full version out soon, and then I plan on expanding it out to include micro-packs for the Pechenegs (Really, hard to find things on), the Bolgars, the Russians, and the Hungarians.

However, the next 'big' pack will deal with the Oghuz Turks. I think I will stray away from hand-creation of entire facial portrait sets for a little while, at least until after my vacation. My wife is absolutely toast on the idea of listening to me talk about Cumans, Kipchaks, Kimeks, Oghuzz, Bolgars, etc.

Of course we're still interested, your Cuman portraits are fantastic.
BTW, you should check out the CKII modding IRC, link in my signature

If I get the opportunity, I might. I have to study and do other things tonight, but I've definitely kept my eye on the original thread.