Dirty Little Secret?

[Xerxes77]

Honestly, old portraits have always looked a bit odd to me. The faces on those portraits just look weird and unnatural. Like, come on, do these graphics really look that much better than top down ones?

Top down graphics have at least streamlined it in my opinion. Unit counters look more crisp and map itself is obviously much better.

LOL -- even before clicking on your link I *knew* which specific example I was going to find

Yes, those stick out like a sore thumb, however I think the level of ugliness depends on the game. I've been working on restoring the Spanish Civil War portraits and they look much, much better. The game is also very benign when it comes to fixing oobs; it is quite consistent across scenarios as to which images are used to represent leaders, so editing the image sheets is enough for most scens.

I've kept the topdown view for the counters but the unit cards need a more distinct and personal representation of the units IMO: especially when blown up to a larger size, the stark topdown graphics look too much like a basic drawing (no disrespect to the modder and the clearly huge work of love he undertook).

Beyond personal tastes, I believe the main point of contention is that the new graphics were unleashed on veteran players without warning, consultation or option to go back. I don't think there's much disagreement in that such a broad move coulda, shoulda been handled better.