Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

I love general textures update so much, they look fantastic to say the least.
But as far as I noticed, elezen folk, especially male, have pretty dead eyes now. This unfortunately affected my character really much. He didn't even go through HW to be that dead inside bruh
He does look like a dead fish now, and he isn't the only one - my favourite npc elezen face this problem as well.
Elezens became older, they've got lots of wrinkles under their eyes, these features do not suit them well if they have youngish features. Please, fix that
[IMG]ibb.co/XLgbDNJ[/IMG]
[IMG]ibb.co/12b1DSn[/IMG]

Maybe we should all just go post on the JP megathread with google translate after all. At least over there, you don't have a bunch of clowns chanting the chorus of "but I can't see the difference so it's fine and you're complaining about nothing!!" after every post.

Actually, you know what? Feel free to follow us over and tell the JP community the same thing. Would love to see some of you run up against the JP moderators.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbelEngelgardt

I love general textures update so much, they look fantastic to say the least.
But as far as I noticed, elezen folk, especially male, have pretty dead eyes now. This unfortunately affected my character really much. He didn't even go through HW to be that dead inside bruh
He does look like a dead fish now, and he isn't the only one - my favourite npc elezen face this problem as well.
Elezens became older, they've got lots of wrinkles under their eyes, these features do not suit them well if they have youngish features. Please, fix that
[IMG]ibb.co/XLgbDNJ[/IMG]
[IMG]ibb.co/12b1DSn[/IMG]

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https://i.ibb.co/GpL09BP/11.png
https://i.ibb.co/KymdM1G/12.png

I hate looking at my Dunesfolk lala in the cutscenes. The reason I chose a Dunesfolk lala was their luminous eyes, but now the eyes lost the luminosity and the iris looks concave in certain angle and lighting. Also the difference in the light reflection from one eye to another is so jarringly different that you would think one eye is a mile apart from the other. The eye brow is crooked and the lips have no upper lip at all. Someone pointed out that each end of the lips are downward now whereas they were upward before. I agree and I think it makes a huge difference. My lala looks like she is in a bad or serious mood all the time now. Also, the new roundness of the lala's jaw makes it look like she has a mouth full of water whenever the lighting comes downward from the top. My lala is no longer cute in the cutscenes and it really ruins the immersive experience. I really hate continuing the story now. I want my Endwalker lala back.


As of 7/1/24, I changed the race to Hyur. I could not watch the cutscenes without wincing and have reached my limit.

Just tried out a bunch of facial expressions and it's so bad. Because the new Fem Au Ra Face 2 mouth had its corners turned up unnaturally, all the smiles look uneven, with the corners going up way too far rather than a natural curve like before. If they were going to alter the mouth then why didn't they adjust the facial expressions to match? If that would've taken too long then why change the mouth in the first place? The facial expressions are the dealbreaker because my character's smile just looks so weird now. I used to love taking screenshots in gpose but I can't even recreate any of the expressions I remember.

I don't know if this the same for other races (it seems to be as I've seen it a bit) but the textures on the face look SO different to the body and its kind of jarring, especially when you wear clothes that don't cover the neck and is also a lot more noticeable from a distance. I have my graphics set to the max so i dont think it could be related. But this is really my only problem with the graphics besides from some areas needing softer lighting
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...425&height=385
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...320&height=286

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nebty

Just tried out a bunch of facial expressions and it's so bad. Because the new Fem Au Ra Face 2 mouth had its corners turned up unnaturally, all the smiles look uneven, with the corners going up way too far rather than a natural curve like before. If they were going to alter the mouth then why didn't they adjust the facial expressions to match? If that would've taken too long then why change the mouth in the first place? The facial expressions are the dealbreaker because my character's smile just looks so weird now. I used to love taking screenshots in gpose but I can't even recreate any of the expressions I remember.

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I noticed that too with some emotes, a weird belle delphine lip curl now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Plasmaspy

The changes are much more obvious to people that have been familiarized with their character for many years.
The only people that hand wave or complain that people are wrong for reporting their personal feedback either;
don't care,
like the changes,
their character wasnt impacted,
use fantasia often,
or use mods to alter their appearance anyway.

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My character looks the same. Even when I zoom WAAAAAYYYYY in do I see the tiniest of changes. His armour looks the same too. With how much the system requirements increased (I was easily running on maximum settings before the change and I'm still on maximum settings), I expected a big change. Instead, all I got were minute changes that can only be seen under a magnifying glass.

My point is, this update could have been completely undocumented and I would have never noticed.

My character used to look beautiful, lively, and otherwise alive.
Now she has become some hideous uncanny valley alien in broad daylight.
Even in perfectly even lighting (character creator), a flat and lifeless wax doll.

https://i.imgur.com/drHvfaS.png

https://i.imgur.com/FfQn7RQ.gif

https://i.imgur.com/5WtCeeS.gif

For the record, my Miqo'te alt looks fine, and even upgraded. My main, though...

I'm going to put Dawntrail content on hold, because seeing this uncanny valley wax doll in cutscenes would ruin all immersion.
Actually, my monthly subscription renews soon. Housing demolition timer just got paused too, so I'll just take a break for now.

Edit: Sigh, this post has caught the attention of the "but I can't see the difference!" trolls.
Is it really so hard to acknowledge how "graphics update" inherently means a change to the graphics?

Edit 2: Image links broke. Fixed.

Not expecting any actual changes, just shooting my shot in the event there are any. ^^

TDLR, mainly concerned about Face 2 for Male Viera:

1. Lost baby face (full/squishy cheeks) and is too similar to face 3, while unfortunately failing to be attractive. Widening the face to how the EW face was modeled would restore the cheek plumpness and remove the gaunt/triangular oval shape.

2. Nose is dark at sides/much narrower in width. Takes away from face 2 softness/androgyny. Please lighten.

3. Lack of form shadow/cast shadow in eyes(from top eye lid especially + outer edges of eyes changed too much; they used to have a gentle slant downward). Lashes are way too short/thin and lose that 'doe eyed' look. Adding thicker lashes much like the female vieran counterpart could return the attractiveness of the eyes given the new lighting.

4. Lip option 4 (the smallest lips) are now quite wide and rival lip option 1. The top lip is also incredibly small and doesn't stretch across the mouth while the bottom one is very wide. They do not match up... It is more notable if side by side comparison from EW to DT. The corners of the mouth are also too dark and extends pass the actual lip.

5. Chin is much pointier and nose is longer in length, which makes the face look elongated. The rounded/flatter chin added to the unique look it had previously.

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The graphical update was well done in my opinion, it's just that there are some very obvious changes I'm not too fond of. More specifically the fact some faces appeared to have received more love and care in the update then less used faces. Almost to the point they look a tad unfinished.

It may in part have to do with the light looking different in game (again, in my opinion) as opposed to how characters look in character creation. Or, if we're to look a little further:
1) The updated normal maps reflect light off the mesh way too differently.
2) The diffuse maps are painted too harshly in some areas or lack any shading at all.
3) The face models being remade as a whole. While they are made to look almost exactly like the original, the 'copy' is never going to look 100% 1 to 1 with the originally, which will lose the 'feeling' the original had. To remedy that, it may be nice to just focus on the 'feel' the faces gave in the first place and make adjustments based off that, since again, it will never look like the original 1:1, so it's best to capture the key appeal. There can probably be a compromise found with the player base by doing that. ^^

https://i.imgur.com/ZE5LNt7.jpg

They really need to fix the quality of scales.

Begging for a limbal ring glow toggle... I adjusted my au'ra's limbal rings to match the color it was previously, but at night or in darker places she looks like a completely different character because of the glow and its intensity.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GRStToXb...jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GRawiZJa...g&name=900x900
(old pic has character lighting at 0, newer at 33)

I think, to a certain extent, the new lighting is a big reason why characters look so different. Certain contours of the face becoming way more exaggerated, or far less emphasized. There's other issues for sure, depending on race/face/etc, but a common theme I keep seeing in this feedback is that characters look less "spirited" or "lively" than they did before, and I think characters expressions look more grim when any shadows are cast on their face at all. They took steps to fix this in the second iteration of the benchmark, but unfortunately the character creation menu doesn't really match 1 to 1 with any lighting in the game.

Does your character have bangs? Wear a brimmed hat? Suddenly their eyes look more sunken in, their lashes blur over their pupils, and their eyebrows are less contrasted to their skin. I posted it a few pages ago, my face1 female highlander definitely looks worse in game than in the dressing room, where there's no shading, or in the aesthetician/character creation menu, where the lighting is... just different, I guess? More direct sunlight? I was content with how she looked in the benchmark, only to be disappointed logging in that there's not really any lighting in game that resembles it, and as a result, she looks pretty tired and angry. (I think her eye shape, shape 1, is different than the original as well, but that's a slightly different topic.)

Don't really know where I'm going with this, I don't know enough about modeling or lighting to suggest any real solution besides "durr fix the normal maps or something, I dunno" but yeah. Hopefully it's something that can be addressed, even if it takes a while. Adjustments the lighting won't fix everyone's problems, but it would be a step in the right direction probably.

I tried to report this issue about it on the Japanese forum and I did my best to be kind and respectful but my post got deleted and I don't understand why and what said or did wrong.

I noticed on Dunesfolk and Plainsfolk face 1 that the inners of the eyelashes are not attached to the eye and I wanted to report this.

https://prnt.sc/tBCa97lrUcdY

Here you can see on the last benchmark the eyelashes are more attached.

https://prnt.sc/4gkyD5kKfmXj

I'm actually satisfied with my character even though she is a little different and Im glad they improved the eyes but I just really wanted to report about the eyelashes not being attached.

Sorry Im not sure how to upload photos

Hi, just adding my voice to the choir. I appreciate the work that went into the graphics overhaul and the new textures look amazing in the overworld. My main grievance are the significant changes made to the faces. I tried giving it a few days to see if I would warm up to my WOL's makeover but three days on and I still can barely bring myself to look at her in cutscenes.

I have three main issues with my WOL's new face: 1) Darkening of her upper eyelid to the point where she looks like she's in a perpetual ಠ_ಠ face, 2) complete lack of depth on the eyebrows, and 3) entirely new shape of lips and smile. Here's a before pic:

https://i.imgur.com/53YSi02.png

... and after pic (both taken on PS5--not sure why the antialiasing is so bad in gpose):

https://i.imgur.com/zTlbEaX.png

Her eyes were heavily shaded before, but there was still a softness to the irises that made her eyes bright and open. Without that softness, it just looks like her eyes are half-shut in every cutscene:

https://i.imgur.com/gwZ3kgV.png https://i.imgur.com/DrPvTe6.png

The lack of shading on her eyebrows makes them blend into her skin. It's visible everywhere but it's especially bad in low lighting. And her upper lip is shaped completely differently than the same set of lips pre-7.0. Instead of having a soft smile with a full upper lip, the combination of a differently shaped upper lip with only the corners turning up in a smile gives her a C: smile rather than a (:

https://i.imgur.com/hTh0tOg.png


All in all, she used to have such a soft, lovely face. I was prepared for some differences but this is such a drastic change and I feel the end results are much more severe than I was expecting. Different lighting/shaders giving different effects I could understand, but I'm not sure why an entire reshaping of certain facial features (like lips) was necessary. One last before pic for good measure:

https://i.imgur.com/GooBI8D.png

Thanks for hearing me out. I really did try to give the graphics upgrade a fair shake but the faces just aren't sitting right with me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freyja_Hyskaris

Hi, just adding my voice to the choir. I appreciate the work that went into the graphics overhaul and the new textures look amazing in the overworld. My main grievance are the significant changes made to the faces. I tried giving it a few days to see if I would warm up to my WOL's makeover but three days on and I still can barely bring myself to look at her in cutscenes.

I have three main issues with my WOL's new face: 1) Darkening of her upper eyelid to the point where she looks like she's in a perpetual ಠ_ಠ face, 2) complete lack of depth on the eyebrows, and 3) entirely new shape of lips and smile. Here's a before pic:

https://i.imgur.com/53YSi02.png

... and after pic (both taken on PS5--not sure why the antialiasing is so bad in gpose):

https://i.imgur.com/zTlbEaX.png

Her eyes were heavily shaded before, but there was still a softness to the irises that made her eyes bright and open. Without that softness, it just looks like her eyes are half-shut in every cutscene:

https://i.imgur.com/gwZ3kgV.png https://i.imgur.com/DrPvTe6.png

The lack of shading on her eyebrows makes them blend into her skin. It's visible everywhere but it's especially bad in low lighting. And her upper lip is shaped completely differently than the same set of lips pre-7.0. Instead of having a soft smile with a full upper lip, the combination of a differently shaped upper lip with only the corners turning up in a smile gives her a C: smile rather than a (:

https://i.imgur.com/hTh0tOg.png


All in all, she used to have such a soft, lovely face. I was prepared for some differences but this is such a drastic change and I feel the end results are much more severe than I was expecting. Different lighting/shaders giving different effects I could understand, but I'm not sure why an entire reshaping of certain facial features (like lips) was necessary. One last before pic for good measure:

https://i.imgur.com/GooBI8D.png

Thanks for hearing me out. I really did try to give the graphics upgrade a fair shake but the faces just aren't sitting right with me.

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You know what I'm noticing, looking at your photos? The cast-shadows on your eyes from your upper eyelids are still there, whereas a lot of races including midlanders have lost them, or had them lightened and blended so heavily that they essentially don't show up. I was ready to mourn them as a consequence of dynamic lighting, but clearly it's not an issue if the devs want them to still be there. Also, I agree with everything you've pointed out.

I am not sure if this has been asked or anyone knows what it would be but does it seems like there is always like two or three white lights wherever your camera is looking which add a sort of.... odd source of lighting?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aria_Nocturna

My character used to look beautiful, lively, and otherwise alive.
Now she has become some hideous uncanny valley alien in broad daylight.
Even in perfectly even lighting (character creator), a flat and lifeless wax doll.

https://i.imgur.com/xuzZlHo.png

I'm going to put Dawntrail content on hold, because seeing this uncanny valley wax doll in cutscenes would ruin all immersion.
Actually, my monthly subscription renews soon. Housing demolition timer just got paused too, so I'll just take a break for now.

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It's my opinion that your main looks dead and lifeless in the old screenshots before the update- Especially in the image I left included. Pale skin and a vacant stare. I hope I'm not offending, but I just don't see the zombies that people say the update brought anymore than I saw them before the update. They both look like zombies in the blue light.

It's noticeable in hair colour and eye colour but has anyone else noticed colour discrepancies on gear/npcs?

For example, I noticed that Alphinaud's clothes seem less blue and more like purple now (in the CG illustrations it's always been shown as a blue)

*I know that lighting can affect the colours but it looks purple even in the dark

https://i.imgur.com/26KozQQ.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/7kX5a2O.png

Would you be offended if someone said that about your character? Her femra doesn't look dead and lifeless to me in the first pic and her feelings about the changes are valid. I feel exactly the same about my femra and many others do as well. The point is, we all designed our characters to the aesthetics we wanted and enjoy. That is subjective. Now those things have been changed to where they don't look like the characters we chose, it's absolutely valid to be unhappy with that. Whether you like or dislike someones character design, or you like the new changes and think they look better, it doesn't negate the personal feelings of the people who are saddened by the changes to their own characters. Many of us clearly liked the way our characters looked and spent a lot of time creating them to be just so. It makes me sad to see people saying negative things about others characters and invalidating their feelings.

Man, sorry to complain, but I finally got my report about how weirdly some hair colors react to light now, along with how certain hair colors outright changed even between the 1.1 Benchmark and 7.0, to move to "Accepted Bugs". I felt so relieved because I've been trying to explain this forever...but then it got moved to "Working as Intended" and that relief got washed away.

https://i.imgur.com/wCukcXO.png
https://i.imgur.com/jT0Cafn.png
https://i.imgur.com/6YfeeW9.gif

Just...really? This is supposed to read as intentional? When none of the other reds literally all over my character react the same way? My Midlander's hair is straight up a cool tone instead now (the same hair color was literally lighter in the 1.1 Benchmark)? I can't even change to different colors because the other options get waaay too dark or light instead. Several others are noticing it, too, and lighting used to be way more consistent...

Black hair is constantly pointed out as being too glossy or washed out, but it's only on certain race/hairstyle combinations, when, again, it was consistent before. That's weird, right...?

I'm really trying to enjoy the game, but this did get me feeling even more down. Can't get my characters to look right, nor can I get my colors to look right. Very cool.

I've probably tried posting all I can, but, still, I hope people don't give up...this just got some (hopefully momentary) pessimism out of me...

It's hard to notice, but they did still make some changes between both Benchmarks and 7.0:

• Face 1 ♀ Au Ra's lips got a little wider, in attempt to match the previous width.
• Face 4 ♀ Au Ra's lips also got changed a little bit in attempt to be closer to their previous version.
• ♂ Au Ra's pupils thankfully got reduced significantly so you can see their main eye color with limbal rings again.
• Face 2 ♀ Highlander had the geometry of their eyes vertically widened a bit so they'd be closer to the original.
• Face 4 ♂ Miqo'te had lips adjusted slightly to make the new "smile" shape less noticeable.
• Face 4 ♀ Miqo'te had their lips edited in attempt to restore the lip gap.
• The entire disaster that was ♂ Viera in Benchmark 1.0 got corrected to be, at least, significantly less of a disaster in Benchmark 1.1
• Veena pupils were enlarged.

They're listening and trying, at least--even if their current attempts didn't quite reach the goal. So please continue giving voice to the changes you've noticed and don't let others get you down... I just needed to vent for a moment. Buh.

https://i.postimg.cc/d0zYw4xz/Dorion111.png

This is my character after the update. I'm quite pleased with him. The changes are very subtle. I don't have an identical screenshot for comparison, but I know him well enough to see the very small changes in him. I can honestly say that the changes don't diminish him in my eyes. This is the "straight face" expression and it's spot on. This is the same guy I've been saving Eorzea with for so long. I seem to be one of the very few people in the world who doesn't want to stick forks in my eyes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Leosphinx

Would you be offended if someone said that about your character? Her femra doesn't look dead and lifeless to me in the first pic and her feelings about the changes are valid. I feel exactly the same about my femra and many others do as well. The point is, we all designed our characters to the aesthetics we wanted and enjoy. That is subjective. Now those things have been changed to where they don't look like the characters we chose, it's absolutely valid to be unhappy with that. Whether you like or dislike someones character design, or you like the new changes and think they look better, it doesn't negate the personal feelings of the people who are saddened by the changes to their own characters. Many of us clearly liked the way our characters looked and spent a lot of time creating them to be just so. It makes me sad to see people saying negative things about others characters and invalidating their feelings.

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I was being honest. The character doesn't look anymore dead or alive in the before or after image. It wasn't my goal to walk on egg shells or spare feelings. It was my intent to be honest about a comparison that was being offered to everyone here.

On that note, this is a thread meant solely to tell EA games that their graphic changes are complete garbage. All of you are being honest in your complaints about something that some people worked really hard on. I did nothing different and I won't apologize for my comment. I offer only honestly as you all are doing. I promise that I will always give my honest opinions.

My fem Roe's hair doesnt reflect as much (looks less 'shiny', she's lost her upper lip (which is a complaint I'm also seeing for Elezen females), and her eyeshadow isn't as dark as before. Otherwise, the skin/eyes/pupils/hair texture have all improved.
I am noticing as many people have mentioned that the colors in general seem very different than before though. (on both gear and characters).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Strika23

My fem Roe's hair doesnt reflect as much (looks less 'shiny', she's lost her upper lip (which is a complaint I'm also seeing for Elezen females), and her eyeshadow isn't as dark as before. Otherwise, the skin/eyes/pupils/hair texture have all improved.
I am noticing as many people have mentioned that the colors in general seem very different than before though. (on both gear and characters).

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I have that same exact hairstyle on my Seawolf alt and the issue is the same as yours. It seems like the lighting and color issues are specific to certain hairstyles for some reason. That particular hairstyle now looks even flatter with lighter colors, too, because it hardly has any shadows anymore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stryd

I think, to a certain extent, the new lighting is a big reason why characters look so different. Certain contours of the face becoming way more exaggerated, or far less emphasized.

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This is correct. Besides specific changes like mouth shapes and such, characters do look a lot like before but only under specific lighting conditions.

This is easily seen when checking your character equipment window and then checking your character in the average cutscene. The difference in eye color, for instance, is striking.

Lip color also changes depending on this, which at the same time can also alter the way the expression of the character looks.

Of course, some of the face emotes have also been modified somewhat but it's clear that one of the main offenders for the changes are lighting and shadows.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freyja_Hyskaris

Hi, just adding my voice to the choir. I appreciate the work that went into the graphics overhaul and the new textures look amazing in the overworld. My main grievance are the significant changes made to the faces. I tried giving it a few days to see if I would warm up to my WOL's makeover but three days on and I still can barely bring myself to look at her in cutscenes.

I have three main issues with my WOL's new face: 1) Darkening of her upper eyelid to the point where she looks like she's in a perpetual ಠ_ಠ face, 2) complete lack of depth on the eyebrows, and 3) entirely new shape of lips and smile. Here's a before pic:

https://i.imgur.com/53YSi02.png

... and after pic (both taken on PS5--not sure why the antialiasing is so bad in gpose):

https://i.imgur.com/zTlbEaX.png

Her eyes were heavily shaded before, but there was still a softness to the irises that made her eyes bright and open. Without that softness, it just looks like her eyes are half-shut in every cutscene:

https://i.imgur.com/gwZ3kgV.png https://i.imgur.com/DrPvTe6.png

The lack of shading on her eyebrows makes them blend into her skin. It's visible everywhere but it's especially bad in low lighting. And her upper lip is shaped completely differently than the same set of lips pre-7.0. Instead of having a soft smile with a full upper lip, the combination of a differently shaped upper lip with only the corners turning up in a smile gives her a C: smile rather than a (:

https://i.imgur.com/hTh0tOg.png


All in all, she used to have such a soft, lovely face. I was prepared for some differences but this is such a drastic change and I feel the end results are much more severe than I was expecting. Different lighting/shaders giving different effects I could understand, but I'm not sure why an entire reshaping of certain facial features (like lips) was necessary. One last before pic for good measure:

https://i.imgur.com/GooBI8D.png

Thanks for hearing me out. I really did try to give the graphics upgrade a fair shake but the faces just aren't sitting right with me.

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I think I can see what people are getting at with this one. These characters look more like cousins or sisters than the same person.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FuwafuwaMii

Right. It won't turn you back into a blurry pixel mess.

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My character's face actually seems a bit more blurry now than it was before, especially in the lips. I've noticed it in some of the other screenshots in this thread, too. There's been a loss of clarity and depth somehow; The features don't pop individually anymore and seem out of focus. Maybe it's a hyur thing?

What happend to this guy, for example. Bro turned into a Sims 3 character. :/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by potatsdevourer

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...017f3e68d9.pnghttps://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...434cae4b4a.png

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These ones also come to mind:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by riani

original - DT
https://i.imgur.com/SolnK8p.png

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HawkeScream

left is DT, right is EW
https://i.imgur.com/3IwPu4m.jpeg

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Though I can't tell if it's because of the eyes, lighting, or a normal map problem as some have suggested. I assume it's a combination of things.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by noumen0nn

I'm biased of course, but I think F midlanders got it the worst. Whoever was in charge of our new sculpt just fundamentally missed the impression of our old faces. I'm right there with you, I'm feeling depressed and barely have the motivation to keep playing.

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Agreed. Some of the characters I've seen look improved by the update, but definitely not face 1 midlander women (I can't speak to the other faces as I'm not familiar with them). I've been away since Stormblood and recently resubbed, and though I'm going to give it a chance, I'm not sure how long I'll stick around. Had I known my character's aesthetic would be hit this hard I probably wouldn't have bothered coming back.

It sucks because part of the appeal of FFXIV for me was how nice the "human" characters looked. I've found a lot of other games tend to make human women look frumpy or plain, almost as if to make elves and other exotic races stand out more. It was really nice that SE managed to make all the races and clans look appealing in their own distinctive way. By contrast, I don't like the more generic and semi-realistic style they seem to be going for now. It reminds me of the kind of thing you might see in one of those dime a dozen pay-to-win MMOs. It's uncanny, and doesn't fit the bones of this game well.

Unfortunately, loss of charm and visual cohesion like this seems to be a really common pitfall of graphical updates to older games in general.

Just to add to the megathread, I acknowledge that plenty of characters look great, but clearly there are specific issues across multiple races where either the execution of the updated features feels off/strange or the quality that specific facial features previously conveyed is no longer there. In my case, the shared options between these face 2 F roegadyns completely lose the qualities that I chose them for. The heavy shadows on the eyelids make their eyes make them look tired or bored in cutscenes instead of like direct and commanding leaders and their lips have lost the unique interesting definition in place of their bottom-lip looking flat and over-pronounced. Recognizing that these are very small aspects of a character, together they personally change the feel of the characters significantly.

https://i.imgur.com/veYqR86.png

https://i.imgur.com/eWYP8S7.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nabril

I was being honest. The character doesn't look anymore dead or alive in the before or after image. It wasn't my goal to walk on egg shells or spare feelings. It was my intent to be honest about a comparison that was being offered to everyone here.

On that note, this is a thread meant solely to tell EA games that their graphic changes are complete garbage. All of you are being honest in your complaints about something that some people worked really hard on. I did nothing different and I won't apologize for my comment. I offer only honestly as you all are doing. I promise that I will always give my honest opinions.

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Far too many people hide behind "honesty" as a justification to be insensitive or rude. Wasn't expecting an apology and I, for one, never said it was complete garbage. There are specific things I dislike with the changes that I stated in my first reply on this thread. I'm happy for you that you like your updated character and I agree that he looks great. But you don't have to "walk on eggshells" to come off a bit more tactful when addressing someone elses character that they created. A little kindness goes a long way but if that's not your thing, you do you. I wont keep going on about it, just agree to disagree.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aco505

This is correct. Besides specific changes like mouth shapes and such, characters do look a lot like before but only under specific lighting conditions.

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Yeah, that's also where I'm placing my strongest suspicions.
The lighting in the character equipment window is also awful in my case, though (and probably using the same setup as portraits, which is not very limbal ring friendly).

But the light definitely has way too much influence on colors compared to before, and the only times where I'm "oh, my character is back" is in the shadows, at night, just before sunrise lol
(I'm also not sure about the glowing limbal rings personally, I thought I would like them but it's really distracting and making the gaze look unfocused... don't know how it could be better tweaked though)

I think something's off with the skin material too. I have legitimately no problem with the gear so far, I love the velvet shader, the high rez cloth textures are a little distracting but I could get used to it, but gear in general doesn't seem to be as blown up and overexposed when in direct light.
I had Ifrit in my Trial roulette yesterday, and if you remember the lighting there is very... unique and made the face look a little weird at times before, but now the same effect only applies on gear, and the skin material barely has that blue rim light effect... it looked kinda off tbh, but I'll have to properly compare it later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freyja_Hyskaris

Hi, just adding my voice to the choir. I appreciate the work that went into the graphics overhaul and the new textures look amazing in the overworld. My main grievance are the significant changes made to the faces. I tried giving it a few days to see if I would warm up to my WOL's makeover but three days on and I still can barely bring myself to look at her in cutscenes.

I have three main issues with my WOL's new face: 1) Darkening of her upper eyelid to the point where she looks like she's in a perpetual ಠ_ಠ face, 2) complete lack of depth on the eyebrows, and 3) entirely new shape of lips and smile. Here's a before pic:

https://i.imgur.com/53YSi02.png

... and after pic (both taken on PS5--not sure why the antialiasing is so bad in gpose):

https://i.imgur.com/zTlbEaX.png

Her eyes were heavily shaded before, but there was still a softness to the irises that made her eyes bright and open. Without that softness, it just looks like her eyes are half-shut in every cutscene:

https://i.imgur.com/gwZ3kgV.png https://i.imgur.com/DrPvTe6.png

The lack of shading on her eyebrows makes them blend into her skin. It's visible everywhere but it's especially bad in low lighting. And her upper lip is shaped completely differently than the same set of lips pre-7.0. Instead of having a soft smile with a full upper lip, the combination of a differently shaped upper lip with only the corners turning up in a smile gives her a C: smile rather than a (:

https://i.imgur.com/hTh0tOg.png


All in all, she used to have such a soft, lovely face. I was prepared for some differences but this is such a drastic change and I feel the end results are much more severe than I was expecting. Different lighting/shaders giving different effects I could understand, but I'm not sure why an entire reshaping of certain facial features (like lips) was necessary. One last before pic for good measure:

https://i.imgur.com/GooBI8D.png

Thanks for hearing me out. I really did try to give the graphics upgrade a fair shake but the faces just aren't sitting right with me.

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I apologize for potentially adding on to your woes, but I noticed this in the Benchmark too. Female Viera eyes were shaded so carefully and deliberately prior to the graphical update that I still can't believe this was allowed to pass...

It gives all of their stares a different feeling, and essentially changes most of their eye colors almost as drastically as limbal ring colors were changed.

I just cannot believe those eye colors are supposed to be the same, with or without the shaders.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freyja_Hyskaris

Hi, just adding my voice to the choir. I appreciate the work that went into the graphics overhaul and the new textures look amazing in the overworld. My main grievance are the significant changes made to the faces. I tried giving it a few days to see if I would warm up to my WOL's makeover but three days on and I still can barely bring myself to look at her in cutscenes.

I have three main issues with my WOL's new face: 1) Darkening of her upper eyelid to the point where she looks like she's in a perpetual ಠ_ಠ face, 2) complete lack of depth on the eyebrows, and 3) entirely new shape of lips and smile. Here's a before pic:

https://i.imgur.com/53YSi02.png

... and after pic (both taken on PS5--not sure why the antialiasing is so bad in gpose):

https://i.imgur.com/zTlbEaX.png

Her eyes were heavily shaded before, but there was still a softness to the irises that made her eyes bright and open. Without that softness, it just looks like her eyes are half-shut in every cutscene:

https://i.imgur.com/gwZ3kgV.png https://i.imgur.com/DrPvTe6.png

The lack of shading on her eyebrows makes them blend into her skin. It's visible everywhere but it's especially bad in low lighting. And her upper lip is shaped completely differently than the same set of lips pre-7.0. Instead of having a soft smile with a full upper lip, the combination of a differently shaped upper lip with only the corners turning up in a smile gives her a C: smile rather than a (:

https://i.imgur.com/hTh0tOg.png


All in all, she used to have such a soft, lovely face. I was prepared for some differences but this is such a drastic change and I feel the end results are much more severe than I was expecting. Different lighting/shaders giving different effects I could understand, but I'm not sure why an entire reshaping of certain facial features (like lips) was necessary. One last before pic for good measure:

https://i.imgur.com/GooBI8D.png

Thanks for hearing me out. I really did try to give the graphics upgrade a fair shake but the faces just aren't sitting right with me.

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Thank you for putting word right in the right place. This summaries why I feel I lost my girl…
I felt like plastic, all the gentle vibes gone.

Putting this here in the main discussion:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...59d6b000f5a94&

Here is a really clear example of the puffy face problem. This user goes through many of the super fine detail differences in the middle of this image, but the single factor that is contributing more than all of those is the loss of several really important shadows that were previously contouring their face and are now so diminished that they aren't doing the contouring job anymore.

In EW, the face almost always has 'edge shadowing' where, near the edges of the face's viewed dimension, contrasting tones were used. Sometimes these were bright reflections instead of shadow, but they all served the same purpose! They showed the depth of the face in the Z axis into the screen, and they functionally narrow the visual space that the facial features are arranged within.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...41e6ae755e100&

Look at the difference in shading along the jawline here. It's prominent from the sideburns down to the chin. The shadowing around the EW chin makes it clear that the chin is in front with the jawline smoothly tapering back. The loss of the chin's edge shading in particular has done a lot to make people's faces lose visual height, even if the model is dimensionally the same, as the chin blends into the neck and becomes indistinct.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...bf7325e0c171b&

Note the significant contouring work being done by the nose shadow. It really helps bring it forward from between the eyes, giving the face as a whole a distinct depth-read with the nose in front, the face in the middle, and the jawline receding backwards into shadow.

By contrast, when those shadows are missing or so faint they can't be discriminated, the face appears flattened and widened.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...f7d15672aaabe&

Here it is shown that the size and basic proportion of the face and jawline is identical. The DT face is not actually significantly rounder, but due to improper shading it appears severely rounder.

Use imgur or another hosting website to post your images, linking from Discord directly doesn't work in a lot of cases.

Well, I just discovered today that it's the increased light reflect/shiny effects from the "glare" setting that was tanking my FPS and making it choppy in places, and ever since I turned it to low I've been getting consistent performance again outside of high traffic areas.

It honestly makes things look too shiny sometimes, so I don't really mind its absence too much.

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Originally Posted by SchwarzwaelderTorte

The lighting in the character equipment window is also awful in my case, though (and probably using the same setup as portraits, which is not very limbal ring friendly).

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Yes, that's where my character looks the worst by far. The eyes are especially terrible in those. All my portraits look so different because of the eyes, the lighting and the skin's tone being washed out in them. The change to several facial emotes is definitely another factor for portraits.

After a few days I finally braced checking my WoL with the DT updates and , honestly my motivation to play just tanked entirely.
I can appreciate the increased fidelity of hair , clothes , backgrounds but I just don't feel like I'm logging in to the same character I was for the past 9 years unfortunately. :( And ultimately above else he was the tether that really kept me playing.
https://i.imgur.com/Tn6ZtcZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/KXne2ev.png
https://i.imgur.com/R36lCSY.png

Nose looks smaller/more narrow , lips look different ( corners of the mouth feel even more sunken in ) , the exagerrated philtrum is extremely distracting , the eyes are so much more dull , the scars are for whatever reason longer , etc...

I really wish I could enjoy the update to the fullest like I see some people do but its just not the companion I had accompany me on the journey thus far and I kinda don't care on continuing without him. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aco505

Yes, that's where my character looks the worst by far. The eyes are especially terrible in those. All my portraits look so different because of the eyes, the lighting and the skin's tone being washed out in them. The change to several facial emotes is definitely another factor for portraits.

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This is so strange to me because I feel like my Elezen actually looks more accurate in my equipment window... It's not 1-1, but it's helluva more close than any game lighting that isn't nighttime for her, and basically good enough for me.

I took screenshots of all my characters in the equipment window before the 7.0 maintenance, so, for reference, the ones with the Facewear tab are from 7.0.

https://i.imgur.com/TfGhbIL.png

On the other hand, I feel like in the equipment window, you can actually make out my Roegadyn getting less detailed in the 7.0 one, lol.
https://i.imgur.com/P8vjy8a.png

It seriously feels like the issue in the equipment/portrait window manifests differently for every race/character... It's so bizarre that I just don't understand it.

Sorry also that these are small, niche images. Sometimes it just actually helps me looking at certain details from far away. Opening them in a new tab might help, haha...sorry.

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Originally Posted by lunartears

It's noticeable in hair colour and eye colour but has anyone else noticed colour discrepancies on gear/npcs?

For example, I noticed that Alphinaud's clothes seem less blue and more like purple now (in the CG illustrations it's always been shown as a blue)

*I know that lighting can affect the colours but it looks purple even in the dark

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It's something I've noticed with a few NPCs while playing catchup on post-EW MSQ, but I haven't tested to see if the sets have the same issues on player characters. The gold trim on Estinien's armor turned orange and Urianger's gold jewelry turned green.