Leaderscreen Elimination Thread

[SnowKomodo]

Ashurbanipal - 25
Theodora - 14
Dido - 18
Boudicca - 9
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 23
Gajah Mada - 19
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 18
Askia - 17
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

MARIA I
Sure, it may not be the starry night sky that most CivFanatics like, and it may not be the big, grand leaderscreen that some other leaders have, but this leaderscreen is still one of the best. Everything in this leaderscreen just fits with everything else, from the colours, to the aesthetic, the music, the composition, the layers - everything just comes together so beautifully to create a delightfully charming leaderscreen which perfectly represents the Portugal Civ. It's not the shiniest Civ, nor is it the grandest, most overpowered, but all of it's elements just come together so smoothly, so seamlessly, and it creates a delightful Civ to play as. Truly, this is a leaderscreen which accurately represents the Civ it is attached to.

GAJAH MADA
An empty, foggy field, with some trees. Oh, and part of a building in the corner of the background. Wheeeee? It's like Napoleons, but with more leaves, more gloom, and no horse. Though, it would be funny to see Gajah on a horse.

You'd think that this far after Vanilla they'd have done away with the leaderscreens of leaders standing around in the middle of fields. It's like a combination of Oda's emptiness, and Napoleon's haziness. It's dark, and quite bland compared to the rest of the leaderscreens still up. Hopefully, Gajah Mada, the last entrant into the empty field club of leaders.

Hopefully we can eliminate the rest of the random fields leaders (Gajah and Boudica) before we get into the top 10.

Rice padi ≠ field

Two very different things son

 

[Talcove]

Rice padi ≠ field

Two very different things son

Okay, 'leaders in slightly whiter fields'. Can't really say I see the difference between Gajah's 'rice padi' and Oda's field. They both look like fields to me.

 

[truenarnian]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 14
Dido - 18
Boudicca - 6
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 23
Gajah Mada - 19
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 18
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

I'll go up with Askia today, though I'm tempted to shore up some support for Shaka. Askia's DOW is one of my favorites: he has this calm, brooding quality, and when you DOW, I love the way he "throws down" and glowers. And then you know: it's on. Also, beautiful language and I like the voice actor's vocal qualities.

I'll go down with Ashurbanipal, because I personally don't feel he is the best screen, and I find indoors screens to be generally weaker, though his is the best indoor screen around. I could have just as easily gone for Dido and her wild gesticulations though. William is actually my least favorite on this list, but I think he has enough hate now to get eliminated without my help.

I'm surprised to see Boudicca falling. Her voice acting is terrible, but otherwise I find it to be a good screen.

 

[Loucypher]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 14
Dido - 18
Boudicca - 6
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 23
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 15
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

Upping Gajah Mada because I really don't want to see it go down to someone who cannot see historical accuracy + significance of two civs at one post and keeps repeating that. Gajah's leaderscreen is simply put amazing, and if the people from the nation he's from agree, it means Firaxis done something RIGHT.

The constant repeat of Maria I's upvote however is NOT the reason I'm downvoting her. The historical inaccuracies is one, and to be honest, there seems to be something off to me about her screen. It just doesn't look as natural as I would've liked. It's certainly not a poor leaderscreen on its own, but given that the poor ones are already gone, this one is the poorest left.

 

[Quitzz]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 15 One of my favorites screens in the game. HS is amazing.
Dido - 15 I'm just can't find something special about this screen. I personally don't find her attractive but main reason why I dislike the is screen is that it just doesn't tell me anything about this nation. Even her dress looks like a typical dress of Roman women.
Boudicca - 6
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 23
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 15
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

 

[Talcove]

...I really don't want to see it go down to someone who cannot see historical accuracy + significance of two civs at one post and keeps repeating that.

The only historical accuracy I care about is a blatant mistake (Montezuma waving around a machine gun in one hand, and a flamethrower in the other). The 'significance' of a particular Civ IRL is irrelevant to me. When I vote, I do so based on how good the leaderscreen is. I vote based on the combination of all of the elements with (The animations, aesthetic, composition, music, voice acting, et cetera). By doing so, I can only come to the conclusion that Maria's is the superior leaderscreen, and that Gajah's is the worst of the current batch.

When I see Maria's, I see a multitude of great elements coming together to create a visually pleasing screen. The voice acting is charming, the composition is spot-on, the contrasts are eye-pleasing, the music fits the screen perfectly, the animations and monologue are nifty, and, best of all, all of this applies to all of her normal screen, war screen (That laugh at the end of her DoW, love it!), her victory, and her defeat. All of it just comes together so perfectly, and encapsulates the gameplay of the Civ so perfectly, that I cannot, in good conscience, vote for any other screen.

You may be able to identify exactly where he is standing, exactly what he did there, exactly which tree he carved his initials on, or whatever, but all I see is a near empty field (save for that one building in the corner). It doesn't matter the background significance of the leader-screen if what is presented is dull and gloomy.

 

[Doctor Doom]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 15
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 15
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16


Pachacuti's screen with the mountains in background is just gorgeous! And I don't really care for Boudicca's fort

 

[Loucypher]

The only historical accuracy I care about is a blatant mistake (Montezuma waving around a machine gun in one hand, and a flamethrower in the other). The 'significance' of a particular Civ IRL is irrelevant to me. When I vote, I do so based on how good the leaderscreen is. I vote based on the combination of all of the elements with (The animations, aesthetic, composition, music, voice acting, et cetera). By doing so, I can only come to the conclusion that Maria's is the superior leaderscreen, and that Gajah's is the worst of the current batch.

When I see Maria's, I see a multitude of great elements coming together to create a visually pleasing screen. The voice acting is charming, the composition is spot-on, the contrasts are eye-pleasing, the music fits the screen perfectly, the animations and monologue are nifty, and, best of all, all of this applies to all of her normal screen, war screen (That laugh at the end of her DoW, love it!), her victory, and her defeat. All of it just comes together so perfectly, and encapsulates the gameplay of the Civ so perfectly, that I cannot, in good conscience, vote for any other screen.

You may be able to identify exactly where he is standing, exactly what he did there, exactly which tree he carved his initials on, or whatever, but all I see is a near empty field (save for that one building in the corner). It doesn't matter the background significance of the leader-screen if what is presented is dull and gloomy.

Just to clarify, I did not mean the significance of the civ itself - we can all agree Portugal is pretty important historically speaking. I moreso mean the elements in a screen and their significance, which in Gajah's case is what makes the screen what it is. Gajah's screen has a lot of things going for it that seperate it from the other "Day in the field" screens like Oda's or Napoleon's.

 

[Teproc]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 15
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 17
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 15 - 3
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16 + 1

Maria : Innacuracies, the ships in the background look weird, I like the other screens more

Shaka : Very intimidating, my favorite.

Napoléon's screen has significance as well, it's supposed to be him on a military campaign (might even be a reference to Austerlitz, which I believe did had some fog going on ? Not sure on that one). It's not a success, but there is a reasoning behind it. Gajah Mada's screen is cool, but more because of the animation than the background, which is decent but not great. It's the one I'll be downvoting once we're done with Maria.

 

[truenarnian]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 15
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 14
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 15
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 17

Up with Shaka, whose hut and decor are both interesting aesthetically and (in the case of the elephants) region specific. I also like the understated but strong background environ.

Down with William. Probably the best of the office screens, but he's off-center as if he has not a lot of interest in engaging you, his animations are limited, and...well, he's in an office. I think the best civ screens are ones that are set outside, or with a view of outside, so that we get to see a better "snapshot" of their culture/setting.

 

[Biologist]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 15
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 14
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 18

truenarnian missed Teproc's last vote. Corrected the scores to what they should be at this point.

Edit: Now listing my own vote:
Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 12 Another downvote for Theodora. I've said this a couple of times already, but I find her too languid and static. They took the "decadent, indulgent courtesan" persona to the extreme for this screen, and it gets irritating after a while.
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 14
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 20
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 19 I still think Shaka has one of the better leaderscreens left in this thing. The various elements fit seamlessly together.

 

[truenarnian]

truenarnian missed Teproc's last vote. Corrected the scores to what they should be at this point.

Good catch, and thanks for the fix. When I do these votes, I click quote, delete formatting and vote. Never occured to me someone wouldn't put the new total.

 

[poom3619]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 12
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 14
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 21 - His leaderscreen and music created a kind of misty mystic which I love it
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16 - Some might like him. But I found his leaderscreen too bright for my liking and I found him hardly intimidating which he should deserve to be feared instead of "Whoa! Watch that spear, Don't swing that too far."

 

[SnowKomodo]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 12
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 3
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 11 Just another bland room civ to me. The only positive from it are his pants (which is literally the reason I didn't downvote him till now...) Also, I favor less 'modern' looking civs. I also favor civs with nature elements. All the remaining civs have some sort of cool nature component to their screen (except Ashurbanipal I think)
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 22 Been voting Harald and Askia lately but I gotta vote for my country civ once again. They captured the most important aspects without cluttering the screen: proper Majapahit attire, proper kris, excellent Old Javanese voice acting, music with gamelan elements, rice padis (most important aspect to Indonesia), Trowulan-specific candi, and of course you gotta have jungles. The mist is just an added unique bonus
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 19
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

 

[Krajzen]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 12
Dido - 15
Boudicca - 0
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 11
Pachacuti - 24
Gajah Mada - 23
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 16
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

Boudicca - boring for me.

Gajah Mada - I love this Majapahit atmosphere.

 

[Teproc]

Good catch, and thanks for the fix. When I do these votes, I click quote, delete formatting and vote. Never occured to me someone wouldn't put the new total.

I usually do, I just forgot that time.

 

[Biologist]

Good catch, and thanks for the fix. When I do these votes, I click quote, delete formatting and vote. Never occured to me someone wouldn't put the new total.

No problem. I usually just copy-paste the score list and then double-check the scores. It's easier than having to erase all the formatting.

Edit: I just noticed that the score summary on Page 1 lists "Elizabeth II" as an eliminated leader. I'm guessing that wasn't intentional.

 

[Sagax]

Now that Boudicca is out it's getting REALLY tough for me...

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 13 - Elizabeth, Nebuchadnezzar and Ramesses - these are the truly static leaderscreens. Theodora is much more lively because in her case the concept of a sitting leader is done right (though I think her concept would fit Cleopatra much more).
Dido - 15
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 11
Pachacuti - 21 - while the background is beautiful, I just feel that the weakest element of the screen is the leader himself. You could replace Pachacuti with Monty or even Gajah Mada and I wouldn't notice the difference.....just kidding, of course I would notice it. Because these two would actually make me pay attention to them.
Gajah Mada - 23
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 16
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

 

[ehecatzin]

Ashurbanipal - 22
Theodora - 10
Dido - 15
Harald Bluetooth - 19
William - 11
Pachacuti - 22
Gajah Mada - 23
Pacal - 21
Maria I - 12
Askia - 16
Enrico Dandolo - 22
Shaka - 16

I beg to differ that Theodora is a sitting leader done right, her animation lacks contrast, and that is really important, she's static to the point she seems paralized from the waist down. Her reactions dont help either in this regard either, they very much the same. If declaring war on her made her stand up it would be incredible, but right now she only makes a pouty face...really? an envoy just gave you a declaration of war and all you can do is a pouty face and look away? no please, dont stand up, dont let WAR bother you.

Im giving Pacha another vote, just as Theodora he has an incredible BG that could as be a postal card, however this one actually works animated, I like that he is not in your face, and can go from friendly to death stare if you declare war on him. Even more important, I rather like the composition on the scene, everything works together here, this is the scene that is "leader sit down done right".

@Sagax: complete oposite of your vote, please dont take it as trolling.

 

[Viregel]

Edit: I just noticed that the score summary on Page 1 lists "Elizabeth II" as an eliminated leader. I'm guessing that wasn't intentional.

No, it wasn't. Mind if I keep it anyway?