Melcher's Leaderheads

[melcher kürzer]

I uploaded my newest Leadehead, Zenobia.
She was a 3rd-century Syrian queen of the Palmyrene Empire. You can find the picture i used as reference in the post above.

I'm very pleased with the result, i think she is by far my best work. The proportions seem right, light/shadow, textures, etc. My other Leaderheads become rather decent by comparison. Still, i like them.

Shader version only, as always.

If you encounter any sort of problem with this LH, please let me know. Also let me know if you like the Leaderhead.

Screenshots:

Spoiler :

Credits: I used the pommel from the sword of the Megas Alexandros LH. That's it, rest Firaxis and myself.

 

[AbsintheRed]

Awesome LH
I just noticed her in the DB
This is more than superb work, your Zenobia is easly better quality than most of the original Firaxis LHs

 

[AbsintheRed]

Credits: I used the pommel from the sword of the Megas Alexandros LH. That's it, rest Firaxis and myself.

Uhh, so you did all the textures too?
Wow, please don't ever stop making LHs

PS: just wanted you to know:
Ekmek also made a Zenobia a couple years ago
http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=9979
I guess you made his LH obsolete

 

[Kathy]

Very nice, really. AbsintheRed said it, but I think, it was an understatement: You and Saibotlieh together make a larger number ob Leaderheads obsolete. It is good to see that there are more different models than only Catherine, Isabella and Boudicca in numbers of variants.

 

[melcher kürzer]

Awesome LH
I just noticed her in the DB
This is more than superb work, your Zenobia is easly better quality than most of the original Firaxis LHs

Thanks! This is really nice to hear.

Uhh, so you did all the textures too?
Wow, please don't ever stop making LHs

Nah, the head is only slightly modified by me (the mouth).
I have textured/retextured more or less the rest. The cloak is completly new (texture) and was the toughest part. Over the torso, the left breast and then falling behind joining the arm. And only black. Uagh. But finally it looks pretty good ingame.
And the background picture was a tough one too.

PS: just wanted you to know:
Ekmek also made a Zenobia a couple years ago
http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=9979
I guess you made his LH obsolete

Oh, didn't know that. I hope he don't mind.

Very nice, really. AbsintheRed said it, but I think, it was an understatement: You and Saibotlieh together make a larger number ob Leaderheads obsolete. It is good to see that there are more different models than only Catherine, Isabella and Boudicca in numbers of variants.

Thanks!
You forgot Elizabeth.
Personally i don't like it when you can see the LH base model. So i try to make them as unique as possible. Using a different head and an other animation set is the key.
But not everthing.
As an example, i used for all three female leaders the same head mesh from pirates.
Normally i start with something like that:

Spoiler :

 

[The_J]

...awesome....awesome...just awesome.

 

[The Capo]

She looks amazing, this is better than anything I have ever done. Good work.

 

[Kathy]

Thanks!
You forgot Elizabeth.

No, in facts, I forgot Hatshepsut. Elizabeth or Victorias variations are rare, while the others are used often. So I really like the artwort you do to make the leaders different.

 

[Ekmek]

Uhh, so you did all the textures too?
Wow, please don't ever stop making LHs

PS: just wanted you to know:
Ekmek also made a Zenobia a couple years ago
http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=9979
I guess you made his LH obsolete

Oh, didn't know that. I hope he don't mind.

I don't mind at all! In fact you just saved me the pain of upgrading my LH. The picture you posted for inspiration is what got me inspired to do it. Your LH looks great! Way better than mine!

EDIT: who's head did you use? the mesh has far less polys than normal but still looks smooth

 

[melcher kürzer]

I don't mind at all! In fact you just saved me the pain of upgrading my LH. The picture you posted for inspiration is what got me inspired to do it. Your LH looks great! Way better than mine!

EDIT: who's head did you use? the mesh has far less polys than normal but still looks smooth

Thanks and it's nice to hear your are fine with that. I'm just doing LHs i like to make and don't check if there is a version already out.
The head is from sid meier's pirates. I modifed the head a little, that's it. A high polycount isn't necessary for a good LH. Other things are way more important.

And i'm assure you my next LH is no one anybody at this site have done before. Well, unless you work for Firaxis.

 

[IgorS]

Thanks and it's nice to hear your are fine with that. I'm just doing LHs i like to make and don't check if there is a version already out.

I hope you've already visited my LHs database - here you can find all the LHs that were done, and maybe decide to improve on some very old ones.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=354960

 

[melcher kürzer]

I hope you've already visited my LHs database - here you can find all the LHs that were done, and maybe decide to improve on some very old ones.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=354960

Yes, sure i have visited your database. Good job by the way. I'm already working on improving (from my point of view) one of the very old ones. Mainly for myself. But naturally i will release this LH too.
Maybe my next LH will cause some tough decisions, maybe not. We will see.

 

[melcher kürzer]

Hey everyone,
i present you my next LH. This is a special one for me. I wanted to do a european queen since my first LH, but i couldn't find a good one. After my last LH i decided to just do Isabella because i don't really like the old one. I my opinion the firaxis version don't fit. The animation are way to overacting and she dosen't look very prideful like a queen. I can't take her serious.

Anyway, if you like my version please let me know what you think. If you like the old version better, fine, just stay with that one.
And don't use her as queen xyz, make a decision!

Screenshots:

Spoiler :

Credits: Only firaxis meshes used. Complete work done by myself.

 

[Vrenir]

Wow. Can we even place her next to our Firaxis leaderheads? She might make them look quite drab and amateurish.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

this is amazing work definitely going to replace original Isabella. I'm also wondering if I could make a request: Could you do Theodora of Byzantine?

 

[Highwayhoss]

My compliments on your magnificent leaderheads!

 

[Ekmek]

what animations did you use?

 

[AbsintheRed]

Melcher, I cannot find words. This is simply amazing

what animations did you use?

My guess is that the animations are also based on one of the governor's daughters from Pirates

 

[ripple01]

Wow. You are GOOD!!!

 

[melcher kürzer]

Thanks for all the nice comments. It's good to know that i'm on a good way with my work and that you like it. I think with my last two LHs i finally found a good style and that's the looking i'm going for.

Wow. Can we even place her next to our Firaxis leaderheads? She might make them look quite drab and amateurish.

The firaxis ones are fine, someones are actually more then amazing. Some of the older LHs are a bit boring, but the newer ones (Colonization) are pretty good.
Personally i just don't like the cartoonish style they used for most of their first LHs.
Generally i try to make my LHs look more realistic. It's a bit tough because the illumination calculation isn't that good.

... I'm also wondering if I could make a request: Could you do Theodora of Byzantine?

I have checked the download section. There are already 3 different Theodora versions out. Why do you need another one?

what animations did you use?

Elizabeth's animation. Full set, no changes here. I just didn't rigged all eyebrown verticals with the eyebrown bones because i wanted her to look really noble and think overacted face animations dosen't fit very well in that case.

Edit: Hm, i just saw the gold from her cloak is a bit to shiny. The screenshots are taken from Civ 4:Bts, but in Colonization (where i do all my LHs) it's lesser shiny.
Strange. What do you think, which one do you perfer? Also i forget the shadows under her hood!

Spoiler :