[v1.2.0] [2352] Elections reset leader appearance to defaults.

[Hayt]

Edit: Still present in 1.2.4 (b6dc)
Edit: Still present in 1.2.3 (deca)
Edit: Still present in 1.2.1.23501 (fb85)
Edit: Still present in 1.2.1 (20fe)

Previously reported this bug but went unacknowledged and is still present in 1.20.

Description:

Any character that is elected will change their appearance. They always change their clothes to the same type so I suspect this is the designated "ruler" outfit (although this begs the question why we can set our initial rulers outfit at all if it does not follow on for subsequent rulers). However the hair-style and colour also changes with this change. It is also very consistent which suggests to me that this is not a deliberate randomisation. It will always change to the same thing for a given phenotype. For example dark-skinned male characters always end up with no facial hair and a top knot haircut. I have attached a save file right before an election and you should be able to use influence to get different characters elected and observe how they change (. If the ruler is re-elected (as in, they are already ruler and win again) their appearance will not change. I have only reproduced this bug for humans as they have the clearest changes but I am almost certain this is happening to all species. I have also attached screenshots below.

Note: The save file attached is a save that started before the patch. The reason for this is that for whatever reason (maybe a different bug?) in 1.20 for the first election in a new game there are no other candidates which makes reproducing this bug tedious.

Before Election

After Election

Mods: None

DLC: Creatures of the Void

How to reproduce:

• Start a game
• Make a note of your leaders appearances
• Wait until an election
• Make sure a new ruler is elected
• Watch as that person totally changes their appearance

Personal note: I understand that this isn't a "show stopper" of a bug but it's really been a thorn in my side for a long time. I love the way you can spin stories with Paradox strategy games where people have grand arcs and stories but having them basically change into another person when they are elected (and the way Stellaris creates its portraits means that changing haircuts and facial hair is pretty big change) really takes me out of the moment a lot. It's hard to care about a character if he changes appearance like lizardman shape-shifter.

 

[RogerWilco]

I wondered why I ended up with so many similar looking people. This explains it.

 

[Hayt]

I wondered why I ended up with so many similar looking people. This explains it.

Yeah I feel like this is a underreported bug. I'd love to hear anything from the devs. It seems like it might have been in since release but hasn't been mentioned. At least no where I have seen.

 

[Hayt]

With the hotfix I was able to test this bug out more easily with the newest version.

I have discovered there are basically 3-4 presets that a leader will change to when elected. The face always remains the same but otherwise it all changes. Presets are: "White" Male (seems to include anything that's not black or Asian) and Other male (with the topknot). For females I'm unsure if these are different presets or just the same one with the face remaining.

The picture below illustrates this. I was unable to get any leaders with looks other than these. I have also included a save seconds before an election so feel free to experiment yourself! I used firing/recruiting new leaders to get even more different candidates but they all come out looking more or less the same.

Really hoping we can get to the bottom of this one.

 

[Hayt]

This bug is still present after the hotfix 1.2.2. Both loading a save (I used king test.sav which is posted above) and starting a brand new game.

Here are screenshots that demonstrate it.



I will continue to post about this issue until it is at the very least acknowledged. This has been present since release and it is August now.

Edit: also still in 1.2.3

 

[Hayt]

Still in 1.2.4

Here are some screenshots to demonstrate it.

 

[Alexivan]

Not a bug, this happens because the leader changes class to ruler when elected and we expect that in the year 2200 people will be changing their haircut to match their current job.
This is completely moddable though, shouldn't be too hard for someone to mod so that leaders don't switch hair style depending on class. I've also added a pre_ruler_leader_class trigger for Heinlein.

 

[Soranya]

Not a bug, this happens because the leader changes class to ruler when elected and we expect that in the year 2200 people will be changing their haircut to match their current job.
This is completely moddable though, shouldn't be too hard for someone to mod so that leaders don't switch hair style depending on class. I've also added a pre_ruler_leader_class trigger for Heinlein.

So there is only one Haircut for Human leaders in the vanila game?

 

[Hayt]

Not a bug, this happens because the leader changes class to ruler when elected and we expect that in the year 2200 people will be changing their haircut to match their current job.
This is completely moddable though, shouldn't be too hard for someone to mod so that leaders don't switch hair style depending on class. I've also added a pre_ruler_leader_class trigger for Heinlein.

That seems very strange. That means there are 3 haircuts that you will ever see on rulers. One for women, one for white males and 1 for the Asian and black males. It also means that because of this despite the many parameters for appearance available there are only 6 possible appearances for the ruler. I understand having different haircut limits for say the army or navy but for the president? Still seems very weird that when you get the office they go "Okay, are you black or asian, top knot then". Even if you have limitations for the president why are they so consistent? You can never end up with combinations that aren't one of the following. If the ruler approved haircut is the "top knot" and "short side part" at least make it random between those two. No bald presidents either? Are they handed a toupee on the way in? I'm not against them changing haircut but it's that they always change to the same haircut. I understand denying a mo-hawk to positions of high office but there doesn't seem to be any sort of logic here.

Disappointing and confusing but thank you none the less for posting here and for the continued support of the game.

 

[Alexivan]

That seems very strange. That means there are 3 haircuts that you will ever see on rulers. One for women, one for white males and 1 for the Asian and black males. It also means that because of this despite the many parameters for appearance available there are only 6 possible appearances for the ruler. I understand having different haircut limits for say the army or navy but for the president? Still seems very weird that when you get the office they go "Okay, are you black or asian, top knot then". Even if you have limitations for the president why are they so consistent? You can never end up with combinations that aren't one of the following. If the ruler approved haircut is the "top knot" and "short side part" at least make it random between those two. No bald presidents either? Are they handed a toupee on the way in? I'm not against them changing haircut but it's that they always change to the same haircut. I understand denying a mo-hawk to positions of high office but there doesn't seem to be any sort of logic here.

Disappointing and confusing but thank you none the less for posting here and for the continued support of the game.

Looking in gfx/portraits/asset_selectors there seems to be 10 human hairstyles, 5 per gender. It looks like all of them are potential hair styles for rulers. But the government type is also a factor on which hair can be used.

 

[Soranya]

Looking in gfx/portraits/asset_selectors there seems to be 10 human hairstyles, 5 per gender. It looks like all of them are potential hair styles for rulers. But the government type is also a factor on which hair can be used.

Tbh when you only have 6 Hairstyles anyway maybe limiting them to specific occasions isn't the best idea