Any guides for replacing leaderheads with portraits?

[Mental_Gear]

Playing Fall From Heaven, and I'm dissatisfied with a few of the portraits myself. I can find many leaderhead tutorials, but none for replacing them with static images. Can somebody point me in the right direction?

 

[Baldyr]

I wasn't even aware of the option to use static images, even if this approach was something I already thinking about with Civ3. The talking heads only serve to make to modding/scenario making complicated, as far as I'm concerned.

Is there perhaps a mod that replaces all the default "leader heads" with images? Or better yet, some other image symbolizing that Civilization. Because the idea of playing against the likes of Genghis Khan and Elizabeth got old already with Civ1. (Sure, each Civ can still have their own flavor and "personality", but I don't need to deal with Montezuma as a person for 6 millennia, do I?)

 

[MephistoLV]

Playing Fall From Heaven, and I'm dissatisfied with a few of the portraits myself. I can find many leaderhead tutorials, but none for replacing them with static images. Can somebody point me in the right direction?

In CIV4ArtDefines_Leaderhead.xml find the <NIF> tag and point it to a .dds of your choice instead of a .nif .
You should also do the same thing with the <NoShaderNIF> tag. (Use the same .dds).

Note: Leaderhead .dds files should be 512x512 pixels. Also, the game squeezes the image in the horizontal direction by a little bit, so when you make your leaderhead image, you will want it horizontally stretched to about 125% visually in order for it to look right in the game.

 

[Baldyr]

This is way cool... I only wish I could take out all the 3D elements of the game and be able to do whatever I want with it.

 

[Thunderbrd]

I've been thinking about a mod that makes the game force you to choose a new leader every so often at a rate based on a civic selection to mimic real world leadership changes... I wonder if such an approach would make the leaders much lighter on memory enough to include nearly every historical leader and more.

 

[Baldyr]

The gam's time scale isn't very good for changing leaders historically, but why not dynasties? So you would have an image for each dynasty, with its own "leader head" values and settings and personalities. Like the Russians would start with the Rurikid dynasty and later change to the Romanov dynasty. The Bolsheviks would be their own "dynasty" I guess... So it could also be religious authorities or political systems then, with civics settings that wouldn't be compatible with royal dynasties.

 

[The_J]

This is way cool... I only wish I could take out all the 3D elements of the game and be able to do whatever I want with it.

Do you know that you can't ?
Didn't bother with it yet, but it could be that you could do the same things for units and buildings.

I've been thinking about a mod that makes the game force you to choose a new leader every so often at a rate based on a civic selection to mimic real world leadership changes... I wonder if such an approach would make the leaders much lighter on memory enough to include nearly every historical leader and more.

You might be interested in this mod component.

 

[Baldyr]

Do you know that you can't ?
Didn't bother with it yet, but it could be that you could do the same things for units and buildings.

Yeah, sure. And you will flatten the map also?

I still miss Civ2 modding because it allowed me to make my own units, terrain and other graphics. (I never did figure out how to change the background images though, although I now realize that it could be done also.) I don't think I will have the time to learn any 3D modeling in this lifetime. Its doubtful that I will ever even try to install someone else's 3D artwork. How many new skills do I need and how many new applications do have have to master?

So I much rather view the whole modding phenomenon as a collaborative thing. All I really wanna learn how to do myself is programming, so someone else can handle the XML and artwork. And yet another person will probably be compiling my DLL files.

 

[The_J]

Yeah, sure. And you will flatten the map also?

You can .

I still miss Civ2 modding because it allowed me to make my own units, terrain and other graphics. (I never did figure out how to change the background images though, although I now realize that it could be done also.) I don't think I will have the time to learn any 3D modeling in this lifetime. Its doubtful that I will ever even try to install someone else's 3D artwork. How many new skills do I need and how many new applications do have have to master?

Life long learning .
Come on, these are only a few programs, a real computer guy just laughs about that .

So I much rather view the whole modding phenomenon as a collaborative thing. All I really wanna learn how to do myself is programming, so someone else can handle the XML and artwork. And yet another person will probably be compiling my DLL files.

Teamwork , no one says that it's bad, it's even very nice here, but it's always the best when you have some experience in the field yourself.

 

[Baldyr]

You can .

No way. Stop pulling my leg already!

I mean changing the whole graphics engine into a 2D interface.

Life long learning .
Come on, these are only a few programs, a real computer guy just laughs about that .

I think that the key word here is long.

Since I'm no kind of computer dude, I merely cringe. Anytime I need to learn how to do something new on the computer its like going to the dentist or something. I don't even know how to properly use Windows. (I tried to use Python scripting outside of CivIV once... I'm not sure I wanna revisit that experience.)

Teamwork , no one says that it's bad, it's even very nice here, but it's always the best when you have some experience in the field yourself.

I happen to think that it would be optimal to have specialized knowledge in some field(s) - and a good overview of all the rest. Because then you can effectively manage any project while you're able take care of your own portion of the work. But that specialization can be very valuable since it will take your project into another level altogether - especially if you're working with other specialized modders.

But what do I know... All I know is that I will always need help from talented/experienced CG people, no matter how much I try to learn the 3D modeling stuff myself.

 

[The_J]

No way. Stop pulling my leg already!

Hey, i don't . Height information is stored separatly into a height map (ask Deliverator about it, if you want to know more), so theoretically you can totally flatten the whole terrain (not sure about features).

I mean changing the whole graphics engine into a 2D interface.

Hack into Firaxis HQ to get the source code .
Okay, completely 2D is a bit complicated with a 3D engine.

I think that the key word here is long.

Since I'm no kind of computer dude, I merely cringe. Anytime I need to learn how to do something new on the computer its like going to the dentist or something. I don't even know how to properly use Windows. (I tried to use Python scripting outside of CivIV once... I'm not sure I wanna revisit that experience.)

Should i give you a link to a book which covers all needed parts ?

Either you want to do a thing...or you don't, easy decission .

I happen to think that it would be optimal to have specialized knowledge in some field(s) - and a good overview of all the rest. Because then you can effectively manage any project while you're able take care of your own portion of the work. But that specialization can be very valuable since it will take your project into another level altogether - especially if you're working with other specialized modders.

But what do I know... All I know is that I will always need help from talented/experienced CG people, no matter how much I try to learn the 3D modeling stuff myself.

I have to agree .

 

[Thunderbrd]

Thanks for the link, J. Thats... sortof like what I had in mind.

@Baldyr: Dynasties would have to be a leaderhead in and of themselves and would be perfect for getting a longer term of play out of a leader. I'm thinking it would have to be one of the settings for this new civic class. Still, hadn't thought through enough yet to have considered the inclusion of dynasties so thanks for that feedback.