Included in Build Custom Pre-Defined Character Choices

[Pieter Boelen]

Any one with a skirt is probably not suited as player character, because you get terrible animation issues when characters like that sit down.

Caroline_K: one of the special characters for "Woodes Rogers", so definitely won't meet an identical twin during game play!

There is a check in place to prevent random characters being generated with the same model as the player or officers.

 

[Grey Roger]

Any one with a skirt is probably not suited as player character, because you get terrible animation issues when characters like that sit down.

Pity. I'd been concentrating on characters in dresses as they fit better with Milady de Winter's character.

In that case:

50_33Petra: "As skilled with the sword as she is beautiful, they call her Borinqueña" Although listed as Spanish, if you want a lady in trousers then this is definitely a good one.
Daniell2: "The kind of lady no sailor can fail to fall in love with upon first sight." Basically a trouser version of "liz1" with a different face.
Daniell3: "Looking real good in her hot red outfit."
Caroline_K: still worth getting some more use out of this model.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Pity. I'd been concentrating on characters in dresses as they fit better with Milady de Winter's character.

Indeed a skirt would have fitted better with the character, I agree.

50_33Petra: "As skilled with the sword as she is beautiful, they call her Borinqueña" Although listed as Spanish, if you want a lady in trousers then this is definitely a good one.
Daniell2: "The kind of lady no sailor can fail to fall in love with upon first sight." Basically a trouser version of "liz1" with a different face.
Daniell3: "Looking real good in her hot red outfit."

Isn't one of those two the "evil black leather" version of Danielle? That might be a fun one, though perhaps a little inappropriate.
That model is used in the Jack Sparrow storyline for "Miss Shaypen".

Caroline_K: still worth getting some more use out of this model.

This one would need @Jack Rackham's approval.

 

[Grey Roger]

Daniell1 is the evil black leather version. I discounted that, along with several red-headed girls, as not looking much like Milady de Winter. The Wikipedia article indicates that she should have fair hair, which didn't stop the BBC from casting a dark-haired actress for her in the recent TV series, which in turn is why I suggested 50_33Petra. If you're looking for someone beautiful but deadly, that would be my first choice.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Daniell1 is the evil black leather version. I discounted that, along with several red-headed girls, as not looking much like Milady de Winter. The Wikipedia article indicates that she should have fair hair, which didn't stop the BBC from casting a dark-haired actress for her in the recent TV series, which in turn is why I suggested 50_33Petra. If you're looking for someone beautiful but deadly, that would be my first choice.

Fine by me.

Shame we'll have to make her a French model instead of Spanish, but I suppose we could just make a copy with a more appropriate De Winter type portrait file.
At the moment I no longer have access to my usual TGA image editing software, so I wonder if perhaps @Jack Rackham could whip up some quick portraits for her?

 

[Jack Rackham]

Caroline K is a quest character and I think it's best she stays that way. The WoodesRogers quest isn't finished
yet so I don't want any limitations what to do with her.

Is it the milady1 version?
My favourite is milady2.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Caroline K is a quest character and I think it's best she stays that way. The WoodesRogers quest isn't finished
yet so I don't want any limitations what to do with her.

I figured as much.

Is it the milady1 version?
My favourite is milady2.

Here are my thoughts on the default settings for Milady de Winter:

What I was thinking to do is to make a copy of that character model for FRANCE with your custom portrait applied so we don't break the existing Petra one.
The portrait would then have to be whichever one matches the best with that model.
The first one you posted has got darker hair, which may match that model better than the more blonde version.
But since you'd be the one making the portrait, it is up to you.

 

[Grey Roger]

"milady2.jpg" has a big hat. Perhaps a modified version of "50_33_40Claire" could be made to look a bit like that?

Otherwise, if you imagine "milady1.jpg" wearing trousers instead of a skirt, she's a reasonable portrait for "Daniell2".

 

[Pieter Boelen]

"milady2.jpg" has a big hat. Perhaps a modified version of "50_33_40Claire" could be made to look a bit like that?

Otherwise, if you imagine "milady1.jpg" wearing trousers instead of a skirt, she's a reasonable portrait for "Daniell2".

Nice ideas. So that would make it:
- "50_33Petra" with "milady1.jpg" portrait
- "Daniell2" with "milady1.jpg" portrait
- Modified "50_33_40Claire" with "milady2.jpg" portrait

The last option depends on whether Jack wants to make a custom texture for her.
Would admittedly be nice, but either of the first two would be fine by me too.

 

[Jack Rackham]

I make portraits of the milady1 style, darker hair then. You can decide which model to go
wiht them. As I'm going for the GoldBug I don't want to take time trying to add big hats, retexture etc.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I make portraits of the milady1 style, darker hair then. You can decide which model to go
wiht them. As I'm going for the GoldBug I don't want to take time trying to add big hats, retexture etc.

Sounds good to me! Thanks a lot.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

So let me see if I remember what we would still want to do on this:
- French Navy Officer: TBD
- French non-navy character 1: Henri Caesar, Rebel in Napoleonic, TODO: Wish to make Port-au-Prince an independent colony at game start with appropriate flag
- French non-navy character 2: Milady de Winter, Agent in The Spanish Main, TODO: Copy "50_33Petra" or "Daniell2" (CHOOSE!) with Jack Rackham's portrait files
- Spanish Navy Officer: TBD
- Spanish non-navy character (optional): TBD
- Portuguese Navy Officer: TBD
- Portuguese non-navy character (optional): Jose Almeida, Corsair in Napoleonic, TODO: Currently an American character, edit to become Portuguese with alliance to America
- American Navy Officer: Josiah Peabody in Napoleonic, TODO: Should be OK, but would be nice to add some elements from the book it is based on
- American non-navy character: Jean Lafitte, French Agent in Napoleonic, TODO: Change to Smuggler with appropriate custom start
- American non-navy character: Robert Fulton, Engineer in Napoleonic, TODO: Whatever needs to be done to make the steam frigates work better
- Some characters to make use of the Revolutions time period

EDIT: Opening post updated to reflect the above list.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Thanks to @Jack Rackham, we have a Milady character now as French Agent:

This means @Levis is free to make Jean Lafitte a Smuggler instead.

EDIT: Mwuhahahaa!!! Milady will now start the game immediate as Femme Fatale!
Fits the character, but might be a curious challenge for players....

@pedrwyth: What do you think of this idea for your Jose Almeida character?

    case PLAYER_TYPE_CORSAIR:
       if (iNation != PIRATE)
       {
         if (GetMySimpleName(PChar) == "José Joaquín Almeida" && GetCurrentPeriod() >= PERIOD_REVOLUTIONS)
         {
           iNation = AMERICA;
           SetServedNation(iNation);
           SetActualRMRelation(iNation, REL_NEUTRAL);                     // Encourage play for America
           ReceiveLetterOfMarque(iNation);                           // Non-pirate corsairs get a Letter of Marque
         }
         else
         {
           ReceiveLetterOfMarque(iNation);                           // Non-pirate corsairs get a Letter of Marque
           SetActualRMRelation(PIRATE, REL_AFTERATTACK);                   // But are still neutral to the pirates
         }
       }
     break;

That way you get Portuguese relations, but a LoM from America.
If you agree, probably the storyline description should be updated to reflect that despite you appearing Portuguese, your loyalties lie with the USA.

And as per @Grey Roger's earlier suggestion:

 

[Grey Roger]

I can't believe nobody has thought of this already, including me!

If you want an American character in "Revolutions", the obvious one is John Paul Jones.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If I can't find a proper famous Spanish navy officers, I'll just make one up:

I found the character name on the Pirate Wikia and I like his last name because it matches with Zorro.

I can't believe nobody has thought of this already, including me!

If you want an American character in "Revolutions", the obvious one is John Paul Jones.

I did think about him, but added the fictional character of "Josiah Peabody" instead as I like the C.S. Forester book.
It didn't occur to me that John Paul Jones IS appropriate for "Revolutions".

I can't believe nobody has thought of this already, including me!

If you want an American character in "Revolutions", the obvious one is John Paul Jones.

There ya go:

Time to get a complete set done.... Here's a French naval officer:

And that should about do it:

I figured a Naval Officer in Early Explorers would be an interesting one too.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I also made some changes to the way the Select Storyline Interface works:
- Standard Storyline now starts with the filters set for "Male", "Named" characters only (as these make a bit more sense for the story)
- Free Play Storyline filters start the same at "Specific" for every gender
- Using the filter settings will no longer automatically set the fame level to "Any", so you can more easily filter the Specific characters, for example by nation
- You can still select ANY model in the game that isn't set to nation BROKEN for either of these two storylines by using the filters

EDIT: Opening post updated with the latest status.
The only thing that still NEEDS to be done is a custom Smuggler start for Jean Lafitte.
Otherwise, this is OK as far as I'm concerned, but of course feedback is always appreciated.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

All the above is now included in here: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-5-internal-wip-for-testing.24817

We now have a complete set of pre-defined characters for the "Free Play" storyline selection.
This means that each nation has at least one navy and non-navy character available with a reasonable spread of different periods and player types.
So now is the time to be VERY CRITICAL of all the customization in the Select Storyline Interface!

If you notice any obvious gaps in the line-up, please provide us with additional characters to add.
Also, if you have any (simple!) ideas to make the various pre-defined starts more unique, please mention those here.
Ideally each character should be worth playing for something a little bit different.

Of course players are always able to create whatever other character they want.
The "Free Play" storyline supports EVERYTHING, while on the Standard Storyline there is limited customization by default.
Please have a play with both interfaces and post her if anything still seems not good enough.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Attached file contains an Excel spreadsheet that contains ALL storyline and pre-defined Free Play characters we currently have in the game.
35 characters in total! They aren't spread entirely evenly, but at least there is a bit of everything in there.

Some extra wishes of mine:
- Custom start for Smuggler characters, to be applied to Jean Lafitte (@Levis?)
- Improved Curse of Davy Jones, see http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/the-curse-of-davy-jones.25022/
- Larger difference between player starting conditions; for example, what makes a sailor character a SAILOR? Other than the starting skills, that is....?
- EXPLORER PLAYER TYPE! Exploration can be a great thing for gameplay, but how do we make the best use of that? Especially in Early Explorers?
I honestly don't have a clue right now, but there must be options. So your ideas there would be appreciated too!

 

[Grey Roger]

Another possible candidate: Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral during "Napoleonic" and junior officer in "Revolutions". His main contributions to history were as Nelson's opponent during the battles of Trafalgar and, to a lesser extent, the Nile. He survived Trafalgar, as a British prisoner of war, and attended Nelson's funeral.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Another possible candidate: Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral during "Napoleonic" and junior officer in "Revolutions". His main contributions to history were as Nelson's opponent during the battles of Trafalgar and, to a lesser extent, the Nile. He survived Trafalgar, as a British prisoner of war, and attended Nelson's funeral.

At the moment I have set up Jean-Baptiste du Casse in Golden Age of Piracy as French Navy Officer. You're welcome to replace him with your suggestion though or add him in addition.
We could create a similar situation as for American navy officers. There John Paul Jones is the one shown under pre-defined characters, but Josiah Peabody also remains under the Named options.