All leader portraits

[ahte]

This is a really tough call. I *wanted* this to be a match, but I'm not convinced. First of, the shine on the breast plate definitely speaks for it a lot more than the Erik XIV image shown above. But, like also mentioned, the lack of shine on the arm is definitely an issue.

I tried to match them up, and a few things that speaks against this image:
1) The collar seems to be too short compared to the blurred image, making the distance between the collar and the sheen on the breast plate too big.
2) When I blur up the sharp image in an attempt to match it up, I don't get the shine on the arm, in contrary, the arm almost completely disappears. The collar region also seems to be too dark.
3) The lower end of the shine on the breast plate may or may not align, depending on where one puts the ending on the sharp image. I aligned to the lower part where it's faded in an attempt to match the shine on the hip to the shine seen in the bottom of E1, but I'm not convinced the shine on the hip is bright enough to match that. Part of it may be the dog head though, so again, it's inconclusive.

Spoiler :

I'm looking forward to see someone else try to match them up in detail!

It still doesn't look quite right... But the slightly darker spot at the bottom of E1 is in about the right position to be the dog's eye...

DEAR LORD, I appreciate it was the style of the time, but could portrait painters not have mixed things up a little?! We've found how many close matches to this picture now?

 

[kaspergm]

It still doesn't look quite right... But the slightly darker spot at the bottom of E1 is in about the right position to be the dog's eye...

Too far down compared to the end of the shine on the breastplate.

Look at the new version I did with Phillip II of Spain on the left. Much as I hate it, the match with Phillip II is many times better.

Spoiler :

 

[ferretbacon]

Much as I hate it, the match with Phillip II is many times better.

I wouldn't mind Phillip II for Spain (if that's who that is), but what would that mean with Isabella of Portugal? D5 is almost certainly her portrait and if Phillip II is Spain's leader (which is all he's qualified to be), that would seem to indicate that Isabella of Portugal is not a mix-up with Isabella of Castile. If Spain was going to have a two person leaderscreen, it would have been Isabella and Ferdinand.

So what is Isabella of Portugal doing there in D5? Assuming she's not Spain, then what? Portugal for some reason? HRE in lieu of her husband? It doesn't make sense.

I firmly believe that this "leak" was intentional. In addition, I'm beginning to think that some of these aren't totally accurate. I think it's a mixed bag. Trajan, Barbarossa, Saladin, etc. strike me as genuine, but Catherine de Medici and Isabella of Portugal seem off. And I know there's the opinion that Firaxis isn't known to mislead or troll, but there's always a first time for everything.

 

[Sikandar]

I think C5 is Numidia or Mauretania under Dihya/Kahina.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahena

I think C5 is Gajah Mada.

 

[h0nk0815]

New theory for B5:

Given that we probably have two potential leaders for Spain (Filip II. and the "wrong" Isabella) and not many civs fit alphabetically between Germany and Greece -> could it be that B5 is another potential German or Greek leader? Perhaps the board does contain some choices: they were unsure wether to take Isabella or Filip. Same could happen to Greece or Germany. Therefore the board doesn's show 22 civs, but only 20 (+civet)?

 

[kaspergm]

I wouldn't mind Phillip II for Spain (if that's who that is), but what would that mean with Isabella of Portugal? D5 is almost certainly her portrait and if Phillip II is Spain's leader (which is all he's qualified to be), that would seem to indicate that Isabella of Portugal is not a mix-up with Isabella of Castile. If Spain was going to have a two person leaderscreen, it would have been Isabella and Ferdinand.

So what is Isabella of Portugal doing there in D5? Assuming she's not Spain, then what? Portugal for some reason? HRE in lieu of her husband? It doesn't make sense.

Oh, I don't mind Phillip II leading Spain. In fact, I'd much rather see him than bloody Isabella (again). No, my objection is because I've been a firm disbeliever of the double-Spain theory so far, and if it IS Phillip II, that's the only meaningful interpretation I can get from the image.

 

[durfal]

I have to admit the blurration (Im inventing english now) of Phillip's image fits a bit better. I'm not 100% convinced but with this many portraits fitting more or less it is really hard too say. Got my hopes up for having the dutch earlier then expected. But we'll see them eventually I guess (at least I sincerely hope so). Still doesn't explain why only the Spanish have 2 leaders represented on that list. Though I have to admit if the Civ between Germany and Greece ends up being the Goths I'd be a bit disappointed. Rather have any Asian/African/Native American or if it has to be European the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria or Hungary before them.
Because of the growing gaming markets of Poland and Brazil I can understand them from a marketing point of view. But with that reasoning then also Korea should have been in.
I'm still amazed that according to this leaderhead poster from the classical Asian civs Mongolia, Ottomans and Persia probably only 1 will make it into vanilla.

 

[h0nk0815]

Oh, I don't mind Phillip II leading Spain. In fact, I'd much rather see him than bloody Isabella (again). No, my objection is because I've been a firm disbeliever of the double-Spain theory so far, and if it IS Phillip II, that's the only meaningful interpretation I can get from the image.

Double Spain makes sense, if both are on the board because FXS did not have decided which one to take for Spain at the time they created the leader board.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

If it is the case that there are 2 leaders for Spain, one is probably DLC.

 

[kaspergm]

Double Spain makes sense, if both are on the board because FXS did not have decided which one to take for Spain at the time they created the leader board.

Extremely unlikely. The game must be closing in on beta by now. Surely, they have made the decision on which leader will make the cut long ago!

 

[Pouakai]

Extremely unlikely. The game must be closing in on beta by now. Surely, they have made the decision on which leader will make the cut long ago!

Doesn't necessarily mean they would have taken the other one off the board. All that would mean is that they hadn't decided when the board went up.

 

[h0nk0815]

Extremely unlikely. The game must be closing in on beta by now. Surely, they have made the decision on which leader will make the cut long ago!

Sure, but we don't know:
-when the video was shot
-when this leader board was created
-how long it's hanging there


Could be from an early stage, still hanging there when the video was made...

 

[m15a]

Extremely unlikely. The game must be closing in on beta by now. Surely, they have made the decision on which leader will make the cut long ago!

But we don't know that the portraits reflect the current decisions. They may have been making the decisions at some point and printed the portrait out, and then kept it up after they knew they were discarding some (because why print out the same thing just with 4 fewer pictures?). Maybe they just kept it up because they thought the civet was funny.

An alternative possibility, that has probably been mentioned, is that one Spanish leader is for a specific scenario. Could be that this list doesn't even include DLC and instead is the 18 vanilla civs plus 4 leaders featured in vanilla scenarios (maybe with simplified leader screens).

 

[kaspergm]

Doesn't necessarily mean they would have taken the other one off the board. All that would mean is that they hadn't decided when the board went up.

That seems imo. very unlike what you'd want to do if you want to focus people on a specific task at hand. But whatever, anything is possible.

 

[Socrates99]

New theory for B5:

Given that we probably have two potential leaders for Spain (Filip II. and the "wrong" Isabella) and not many civs fit alphabetically between Germany and Greece -> could it be that B5 is another potential German or Greek leader? Perhaps the board does contain some choices: they were unsure wether to take Isabella or Filip. Same could happen to Greece or Germany. Therefore the board doesn's show 22 civs, but only 20 (+civet)?

Yeah, that'd actually make sense and even lines up with the fact that the picture really looks like a fifth century Frank or Goth queen.

I wonder if there's a HRE type scenario since Barbarossa was a Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella and Phillip II were Habsburgs.

Actually since Isabella was Phillip's mother maybe we should look into Barbarossa's mother/wife/daughters?

 

[m15a]

That seems imo. very unlike what you'd want to do if you want to focus people on a specific task at hand. But whatever, anything is possible.

We know from other parts of the video that they put all sorts of random stuff up on the wall (like Game of Thrones memes and stuff). I don't think this is the kind of formal office culture where they'd try to keep the walls clear of anything not serving the task at hand.

 

[Opera]

Regarding eurocentricism, I wonder if it's possible they're planning on dedicating expansion packs or dlcs to other regions. If native americans are indeed absent altogether (save for the Aztecs), maybe we'll see a pack with 3 or 4 of them, same for Africa, etc.

 

[dnoisette]

I find it unlikely that the board would be a work in progress, with some leaders still being discussed.
I'd be more inclined to believe it if we had 25 or something pictures to analyze but we only have 22, which coincidentally, matches the number of base civs (18) and upcoming DLCs (4).
I am convinced that this is the final draft for all civs. Some might have more than one leader (Spain, Germany), in which case one of the two for each pair is a DLC.

 

[El Castellano]

Yeah, that'd actually make sense and even lines up with the fact that the picture really looks like a fifth century Frank or Goth queen.

I wonder if there's a HRE type scenario since Barbarossa was a Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella and Phillip II were Habsburgs.

Actually since Isabella was Phillip's mother maybe we should look into Barbarossa's mother/wife/daughters?

Isabel of Portugal was de Avis (Portugal's ruling dynasty at that time), but it is true that she was married with Carlos I von Habsburg (de Austria in Spain)

 

[blackcatatonic]

Coming back to this thread and seeing the Philip comparison, I'm now back towards thinking it's him. No idea how that works with the board, though...