Portraits

VIET does many things to enhance portraits. This includes new portrait sets, tweaks to existing portraits, and other miscellany. Note that almost all if not all of these features are found in the Immersion module.

Most if not all of the changes and additions found in VIET are also in my Cultures and Portraits Revamp mod, which focuses exclusively on portraits. If you don't want to play with Immersion, but still want the portrait enhacements, I suggest trying CPR. Additionally, for those who played Shaytana's BLC in earlier patches and want BLC's features in VIET, you can try the Better Looking Garbs mod, which is the "unofficial" update of BLC to more recent versions of CKII.

Portrait Fix
Before I discuss anything else pertaining to portraits, I have to mention something very important that a number of people unfortunately miss while installing VIET:

If you DO NOT have ALL of the Portrait DLCs, you  MUST install the portrait fix.

Even if you're only missing one portrait DLC, you have to apply the portrait fix. If you don't have all the portrait DLCs and don't apply the portrait fix, you will end up with blank or black circles for portraits and possibly even experience CTDs.

Additionally, if you do have all the portrait DLCs, but are for some reason are experiencing issues with portraits, you can safely install the portrait fix to see if it helps.

Installation Instructions
The portrait fix is located in the customization options folder. While there are instructions there, I will reproduce them here:
 * 1) Go to "[PB] VIET Immersion/common" and replace the folder named "cultures" with the one included in the portrait fix folder (note that there are separate versions for vanilla and PB users).
 * 2) Remember to DELETE THE OLD FOLDER FIRST, then put the new one in. This will ensure nothing weird happens when the old files are not properly removed.
 * 3) Go to "[PB] VIET Immersion/Interface" and delete the following files.
 * portrait_sprites_DLC.gfx
 * portraits_mediterranean.gfx
 * portraits_norse.gfx
 * portraits_persian.gfx
 * portraits_saxon.gfx
 * portraits_turkish.gfx
 * portraits_ugric.gfx
 * portraits_westernslavic.gfx

If you have the steam version of CKII and run the game off of steam (i.e. you directly click the launcher instead of going through steam), the portrait fix may not work. I don't know why this happens, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

Lastly, make sure you delete every file as indicated above. Missing one will result in the portrait fix not working.

Please make sure you follow these instructions carefully! Not applying the portrait fix is one of if not the top cause of issues in VIET.

General Additions and Changes to Portraits
VIET includes a myriad of improvements and enhancements to portraits, even without the new portrait sets. These include:
 * Improved Mediterranean portraits, courtesy of GeorgAfLuckba's Portrait Packs Beautified and Velorian's Modified Mediterranean GFX mini-mods.
 * New backgrounds for various cultures and religions.
 * Tweaks to the prerequisites of getting various backgrounds so they now factor in culture and not just religion (so Arabs can still get deserts even if they're not Muslim, for instance)
 * Tweaks to the changes of getting beards. In particular, Orthodox priests always have beards, and Byzantines in general also have a high chance of getting them.
 * More hair color variation among Mediterranean characters.
 * Customization options to change or alter some of the portraits if you don't like them. For instance, you can make all the Mediterranean portraits use the Western or Muslim defaults, or make the Western Slavs use the Bohemian portrait set instead of the default Western Slavic one.

New Portrait Sets
Currently, new portrait sets include the ones listed below. Screenshots can be found in the first post of the Cultures and Portraits Revamp thread.


 * Balticgfx: for Balts; combining a Western appearance with Russian/Norse hair and Norse clothes
 * Berbergfx: for Muslim East Africans; combining an African appearance with Muslim clothing
 * Bohemiangfx: for Bohemians and Croatians; combining a Western appearance with Russian clothes and beards and Christian Norse hair
 * Bretongfx: for Bretons and Welsh; combining a Celtic appearance and clothes with Christian Norse hair and Western beards and headgear
 * Ethiopiangfx: for Christian East Africans; combining an African appearance with Byzantine clothes and Muslim beards
 * Persiangfx: for Iranians and Levantine Arabs; combining a Mediterranean appearance and Muslim hair/clothes
 * Saxongfx: for Saxons; combining a Western appearance with Christian Norse hair and clothes and Celtic beards and headgear
 * Siberiangfx: for Komi and Samoyeds; combining a Mongol appearance with Norse clothes
 * Steppegfx: for Cumans, Pechenegs, Khazars, and Bolghars; combining a Mongol-Western appearance with Mongol clothes and hair
 * Turkishgfx: Turks and Avars; combining a Mediterranean appearance, Mongol hair, and Muslim clothes if non-Pagan, and Mediterranean appearance, Russian hair, Mongol beards and clothes if Pagan
 * Ugricgfx: for Finno-Ugrics (except Samoyeds and Komi); combining a Russian appearance with Mongol hair and Norse clothes
 * Westernslavicgfx: for West Slavs, South Slavs, and Magyars (except Bohemians); combining a Russian appearance with Western clothing