Melcher's Leaderheads

General question: Do you like the new direction i'm aiming for, make the Leaderheads smaller to show more from them? Or do you prefer the old style, where you basically see only the head and the upper body unto the chest? Or don't you care at all?
Would be kind of interesting to know for future LHs.

I really like your way. I find it more impressive that way, what with the details you put in

Any plans for a future LH?

melcher kürzer;10772299 said:

General question: Do you like the new direction i'm aiming for, make the Leaderheads smaller to show more from them? Or do you prefer the old style, where you basically see only the head and the upper body unto the chest? Or don't you care at all?
Would be kind of interesting to know for future LHs.

Click to expand...

It depends. It's very appropriate for characters like Catherine so you get a glance at their outfit. However, I've found that the typical Firaxis camera angle makes it easier to connect with the emotions the LH expresses. May only be my personal impression, though.

Your Catherine is impressive, by the way. We've almost become used to this by now

Edit: I've just noticed that this thread lacks the 5 star rating it deserves, so I decided to do something about it

Opera said:

I really like your way. I find it more impressive that way, what with the details you put in

Any plans for a future LH?

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Yes it's true. More space means more possibilities to put details on. That's why i prefer this perspective aswell.

And of course there are some plans for future Leaderheads. Nothing specific yet, only some ideas. Currently i make other stuff (like ships and such).

Leoreth said:

It depends. It's very appropriate for characters like Catherine so you get a glance at their outfit. However, I've found that the typical Firaxis camera angle makes it easier to connect with the emotions the LH expresses. May only be my personal impression, though.

Your Catherine is impressive, by the way. We've almost become used to this by now

Edit: I've just noticed that this thread lacks the 5 star rating it deserves, so I decided to do something about it

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Thanks!
Personally i don't mind much if they lose some expression. As long as you are still able to tell which attitude they have towards you. I think i have said this before, i really don't like these overacting animations they used in Civ4.

Anyways, i think i will just continue making stuff i like, the way i like. Should give the best result.

melcher kürzer;10786498 said:

Anyways, i think i will just continue making stuff i like, the way i like. Should give the best result.

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Exactly.

Well, if you follow the line of famous female rulers, your next one could be Elizabeth. Or you could change the lines and make Peter, Frederick, Louis, etc. Just a suggestion.

Also, you could work around Charlemagne and Boudica, I did some background research and, well, they're some of the most unaccurate ones in Civ IV.

Still, very nice leaderheads.

Well, actually i won't make any new Lhs for a while. I will only do some quick texture reworking on existing ones. I feel like most of them, well, could be much better without too many work involved.

I have already started with one of my own.
I felt like Isabella hasn't the quality of my newest LHs. So i will give it a shot.



What do you guys think? Do you want a new Version?

melcher kürzer;10799937 said:

I will only do some quick texture reworking on existing ones. I feel like most of them, well, could be much better without too many work involved.

I have already started with one of my own.
I felt like Isabella hasn't the quality of my newest LHs. So i will give it a shot.

What do you guys think? Do you want a new Version?

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Hmm, In my eyes all your LHs are almost perfect, but of course I can imagine that you are able to notice many little things on them, that the rest of us can't...


Definitely an improvement on the texturing, but I really liked the "old" one too

I think that the new face is much prettier, but the old one is more "Isabella-like".

AbsintheRed said:

Hmm, In my eyes all your LHs are almost perfect, but of course I can imagine that you are able to notice many little things on them, that the rest of us can't...

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Hehe, thanks!
Mainly i'm planning to rework some of the Colonization LHs.

AbsintheRed said:

Definitely an improvement on the texturing, but I really liked the "old" one too

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It's more a quick concept. I want to make her dress more noble and her face a bit more realistic. It's a bit tricky, because i like the old version too and think it fits her really well. I definitely want to keep that.

veBear said:

Personally, I like the old one better, but you should release a version where you can yourself decide which skin to use

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Yes, of course. I won't replace anything i have released so far. Most likely i will just release a pack with some reskinns, Isabella included.

Edit:

IgorS said:

I think that the new face is much prettier, but the old one is more "Isabella-like".

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I know what you mean and it's probably more important than a nicer look. But i'm sure i will find a solution to accomplish both. Hopefully.

I also like her old face better. More severe look.

Good point, thanks. The two screenshots shows different expressions (pleased <--> annoyed, it think), but the face is too soft. I should harden her more!

I definitely like the new dress better on the reworked Isabella. While I do agree that her face isn't what I think of when I picture her ("too soft"), who's really to say what is more accurate? It's not like we have photographs of her, just highly stylized paintings that vary wildly. I feel that the new face is of higher quality, and personally would use it over the original. Outstanding work, regardless of what the final version looks like!

Yesterday i was browsing through some old mod-resource folder of mine. I found a subfolder with old screenshots and my first LH ever. I got curious and checked the date, double-checked with the german forum and you know what? I have made my first LH exactly a year ago to the day.

To celebrate i will bore you with some history and stories (mainly only to show some old screenshots)!
Enjoy!


This is a screenshot of my first Version of Orkeke, born one year ago.




We needed a LH for a new native faction in our Colonization modification. Otherwise we would have to cut one out. So i though, okay, lets try this.
I studied Ekmeks excellent LH-making tutorial (thanks again for this) and just jumped in.
It was kind of fun, and i was planning to create two more LHs in the future which i though proper LHs-models are kind of lacking. One native female LH and a really fency looking european queen.

But nothing happened until december. I was getting really annoyed over the time with the first Orkeke model and started a completely new version. That's the version you know and i was very pleased with the result. Back then i started to take pleasure in creating LHs.

I have missed a little note. My actual first contact with making LHs was way earlier. Once i have messed around with Capos Dido.



But i wouldn't count that one. Not because it's bad, basically i just have thrown a bunch of meshes via nifscope together and pasted other textures above.
No nono, that's not the spirit!

With all Lhs i've done so far i learned more and although not everything worked quite well at the beginning, ...


(sorry i had to post this scary one, but that screenshot is just so hilarious)

... at the end i think we get some good results.

I will use this opportunity to thank all of you for your great support, your kind words and feedback. And especially i want to thank Ekmek, The_Coyote and SaibotLieh, without them i wouldn't be able to make LHs like this.

And of course there will be special goody the next few days!

Edit: The pictures are vanished! Hope they will stay this time.

Ha, that last one is a gem!

I can't see anything wrong in the last picture. The outfit implies she's British, so the state of her teeth fits

i like your texturing on capos dido. can you release it as is?

melcher kürzer;10807300 said:

Yesterday i was browsing through some old mod-resource folder of mine. I found a subfolder with old screenshots and my first LH ever. I got curious and checked the date, double-checked with the german forum and you know what? I have made my first LH exactly a year ago to the day.

Click to expand...

Hey!
Happy birthday!!

Opera said:

Ha, that last one is a gem!

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Leoreth said:

I can't see anything wrong in the last picture. The outfit implies she's British, so the state of her teeth fits

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veBear said:

And if you put one of those pirate eye-hiding things over the wierd eye, you could release her as some British Privateer. Looks just perfect
...

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I totally missed that connection.
Hope you aren't disappointed that there will be no british pirate. But the files are lost (or better fixed) as Maria Elenora.

Ekmek said:

i like your texturing on capos dido. can you release it as is?

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Luckly i have found her. Normally i don't keep old stuff like this. I'm happy you don't requested one of the other two. They are gone!
Unsupported LH
No official release/ modification resource/important note:
@ all: Keep in mind these files aren't supported by me. I haven't any idea what i was doing back than. Many textures, no shader. You can use this as a base for a new one, bake textures, shader the LH, release her or do everything you want. Just give Capo the credits he deserves.

Okay guys, i promised you a goody, here we go!


She was the first female ruler in recorded Maya history and was one of a very few female rulers known from Maya history to have borne a full royal title.
Wikipedia link.


Back to the roots, after one year. Thought it would be a good time to create a second native american female leader. This time much better. And i think i succeeded. Probably my most detailed by now and one of my best.
I used Saibotlieh's Mangammal as a base. Not much is left, added a lot of stuff, complete retexture, changed a lot, adjust the animations, you know me.
Still, saved me alot of work and time i could spend otherwise.
So thanks Saibotlieh!


Some more screenshots:


Hope you like her!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!