Having trouble with an ethnic unit swap

[Kahotep]

Someone on Steam asked me to help them with a mod that changes the Ottoman civilization's ethnicity from Middle Eastern to Asian (I presume they're trying to honor the Central/East Asian origin of Turkic peoples). So far they've been able to change the unit portraits in the UI, but not the unit models on the game map. Below is the text of their Cultures.artdef file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<AssetObjects..ArtDefSet>
    <m_Version>
        <major>1</major>
        <minor>0</minor>
        <build>0</build>
        <revision>0</revision>
    </m_Version>
    <m_TemplateName text="Cultures"/>
    <m_RootCollections>
        <Element>
            <m_CollectionName text="UnitCulture"/>
            <m_ReplaceMergedCollectionElements>false</m_ReplaceMergedCollectionElements>
            <Element>
                <m_Fields>
                    <m_Values>
                        <Element class="AssetObjects..CollectionValue">
                            <m_eObjectType>INVALID</m_eObjectType>
                            <m_eValueType>ARTDEF_REF</m_eValueType>
                            <m_Values>
                                <Element class="AssetObjects..ArtDefReferenceValue">
                                    <m_ElementName text="CIVILIZATION_OTTOMAN"/>
                                    <m_RootCollectionName text="Civilization"/>
                                    <m_ArtDefPath text="Civilizations.artdef"/>
                                    <m_CollectionIsLocked>true</m_CollectionIsLocked>
                                    <m_TemplateName text="Civilizations"/>
                                    <m_ParamName text="Civilizations001"/>
                                </Element>
                            </m_Values>
                            <m_ParamName text="Civilizations"/>
                        </Element>
                    </m_Values>
                </m_Fields>
                <m_ChildCollections/>
                <m_Name text="Asian"/>
                <m_AppendMergedParameterCollections>true</m_AppendMergedParameterCollections>
            </Element>
        </Element>
    </m_RootCollections>
</AssetObjects..ArtDefSet>

The really weird thing is, after doing some testing on the mod they sent me, I have been able to change the unit models if I replace "Asian" with any other unit culture (e.g. African or European). It seems to me that the problem is that the game isn't able to change a civilization's unit culture to Asian specifically. What exactly is wrong with the Asian unit culture that a unit culture swap to it?

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

I would double check if there actually is something called „Asian“… maybe it have to be „EastAsian“ or similar instead. I‘m not sure that would be the problem though.

 

[Kahotep]

I would double check if there actually is something called „Asian“… maybe it have to be „EastAsian“ or similar instead. I‘m not sure that would be the problem though.

The base game's Cultures.artdef does indeed use "Asian" for civilizations like China or Japan. Before GS, it was "EastAsian", but entering that into the mod's Cultures.artdef gives me "default" (i.e. European) unit models.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

That’s strange then. Is the code in their Cultures.artdef a result of editing it via AssetEditor or typing it manually?
But if it works for other cultures… then this is just really strange.

If nothing works, it could still be done, but in a more complicated way.
They could make a new culture group, calling it „Ottoman“ or whatever they like and then copy paste the entries from „Asian“, if that makes sense.

I could send you my updated Japan Unit Graphics mod, which is actually private, but it could serve as an example to look how it can be achieved… let me know.

 

[Kahotep]

I could send you my updated Japan Unit Graphics mod, which is actually private, but it could serve as an example to look how it can be achieved… let me know.

Sure, I'll give it a look. Please PM it to me.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

Okay, but tomorrow, it will be in the evening.

 

[Kahotep]

Good news, the guy I was helping got his mod to work by replacing "Asian" with "SouthEastAsian" in his Cultures.artdef file.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

Cool! I‘m glad it‘s solved now. Also this means i don‘t need to send my private mod.