Benchmark 1.1 Feedback: Lalafell

Loving the updated benchmark but I figure i'd share my opinions about the changes for my character.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...81452a9f14077&

While I love a lot about it (the flush and the eyeshine are very nice) my biggest complaint so far is the lips are still the same from the last benchmark. The original lalafell mouth uses texture to give an illusion of depth, with the center part being a darker color that fades as it moves outward. Now its all one solid line and that depth is gone.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...a49c0ef2a9a0d&

You can see from the side that the upper lip in the benchmark curves downward more, when before it had a slight upward point, once again making it look flatter and adding that "pursed lips" look to the new version. Personally I dont like it and I hope its changed.

So I was already a fan back with the original benchmark update and the new 1.1 version is even better! But I have the slightest of nitpicks.

The Eyes: They're not bad but they do feel off? They took out the gradient-like color and put in these blurry light spots. The bottom half of the eye also used to feel a bit brighter/slight glow but it's nothing too bad. Kind of a nothing issue but it certainly feels a different way.
https://i.imgur.com/1BXjDOT.png
https://i.imgur.com/5hT7osv.png
https://i.imgur.com/KNC6mFj.png

The Neck Seam: Speaks for itself. My head not attached on right/you can see a clear ugly line.
https://i.imgur.com/7ssGJtH.png

Missing Belly Button: No seriously Yoshi P, why did you take away our belly buttons!? Put them back!
https://i.imgur.com/sgMQesp.png

The lighting and colors are definitely better but my lalafell looks somewhat off. :( Especially the eyes and nose I feel. Something about it makes my lalafell less doll/chibi-like and more uncanny valley.

https://i.imgur.com/ev7xGYp.png

Current:
https://i.imgur.com/UVfrEF2.jpg

1.1 Benchmark:
https://i.imgur.com/w0A9r7D.jpg


My Lala was the one I had the biggest issue with from the original benchmark, and sadly she's still at it with the 1.1 update. :(

A few things I've noticed:

-Eyes: I use eye 6, and the shape is now different. The inner corners now slant inward towards the nose, where as before it was more vertical. The outer corner also now has a different shape (maybe due to the change of the lashline?). They no longer look as 'bright-eyed' and open. The irises now also have lines.

-Nose: Her cute little button nose is gone. :( Now it just looks flat. At least it's a lot more visible now vs. the original benchmark....

-Mouth: I use mouth 3, and her upper lip is still MIA and the mouth looks pretty much like a flat line. TBF, I feel like mouths across the board took a hit with the update.

With everything combined, her face looks like it's just sorta been...dragged down? She lost her cuteness, imo.

I did run her through the actual benchmark, and from the few shots I snagged it's........fine. As of now I don't think I'll be switching to her as often, but we'll see how she actually looks once the update is live.

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...f3c04c99cf.jpg
https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...670e184153.jpg

Left: Endwalker Right: Benchmark v. 1.1

The luminescent quality of my lala's eyes is gone and it is replaced with the lifeless one. The blue color is a different shade now. The eyebrows and the lips look different. In the bright light, the plastic looking skin makes my lala look like a doll in a toy store. The overall cuteness is gone. I prefer my Endwalker lala.

Just ran the bench mark and the Dunesfolk eye textures seem really different from the 1.0 benchmark. In the original benchmark, they were very clear and vivid. The hard lines from the live game seemed to have been removed which I liked.

https://i.imgur.com/H49obi7.jpeg

Now with the benchmark the lines are back, and for some reason her eye colour is just dull and dark. More than even the live game. It looks like someone threw dirt into her eyes. I imagine this has something to do with how they added the permanent catchlights back.

I also agree that mouth 3 is still nerfed in the upper lip department. Mouth 1 and 2 have nicer top lips, but I prefer the way the wider mouth 3 fills out my character's face.

Yeah I think the more I see of the new eyes especially on dunesfolk the new style appears to be very muddled like someone put a dirty filter over. I think the first benchmark had it right just needed to fix the eyelashes and eye highlights honestly. One example I've seen is this one and it's so... oddly murky. I need a proper anime shine like how it is in endwalker

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GPMM7UTa...pg&name=medium

Somethings definitely gone wrong with the luminosity of Dunesfolk eyes.
https://i.imgur.com/A8taB5q_d.webp?m...fidelity=grand

Left OLD benchmark. Right NEW benchmark.

For me its mostly the eyes that feels off. It almost feels like they are a bit further apart. Also not really a fan of the color change on the 3rd facial feature

https://i.imgur.com/9XkfYyU.png
https://i.imgur.com/6GUCCfO.png

They gave the Dunesfolk cataracts.

https://i.imgur.com/sg8Dw9C.png

Oh, forgot to mention, I am thrilled that they fixed the mouth-shape/teeth issue!

This will only be a thing of our nightmares now....
https://i.imgur.com/I1B9fil.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jQu8eik.png
Link to full size

I think the update is amazing! I can see the difference lighting makes looking at the before and after.

Now my issue is her lips. Does the updated version make them look smaller somehow? I can't put my finger on it but they look like completely different lips which is a shame. Also color could be off because of the map as it looked the same in different lighting.

Overall this benchmark is much better than the last… it’s much closer to my current Lala than the last one. There are a few minor issues though.

https://i.imgur.com/0iPWFt9.jpeg

The lips aren’t quite right… it looks like the bottom is better, but the top is still half gone. When they’re so tiny to begin with, it’s really noticeable that the upper lip has been reduced. And changing the lip color doesn’t seem to help any.

I also noticed the luminosity issue with the eyes. It’s not as prominent on mine, since I use such a dark eye color anyway, but going through the other races, eyes seem duller, almost hazy, across the board.

The noses definitely got better defined, so that’s a plus. And the eyelids seem fixed too. All in all, I know some things are going to be different, and if the two things I noticed don’t get fixed, it’s not going to bother me too badly. But if it’s part of a bug or glitch that needs fixing, I thought I’d at least mention it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NascentDeft

Now my issue is her lips. Does the updated version make them look smaller somehow? I can't put my finger on it but they look like completely different lips which is a shame. Also color could be off because of the map as it looked the same in different lighting.

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From what I can tell, the color part of the bottom lip is wider, being a single matte color, and the top lip is fully arced downwards on seemingly all the mouths, deleting the upper lip. You can see it a bit better in the side view on my first post. It's quite weird

Okay, after going back and reanalyzing my lalafell, I have some problems:

Minor problem/can get used to it:
1) The nose lacks the shading above it, which causes it to look less button and more pointed/sharp. I might just need to get used to this one. It's not too bad of a change overall.

Major problems:
1) The upper lip is basically nonexistent now, making my lalafell's lips look more pursed.

2) The eyes are not the same. BT 1.1's eyes are more rounded, while my OG lala's eyes are more almond-shaped. The lash line is a lot thinner, hugs the eye shape more, and extends downwards on the inner corner than outwards like in the OG. Also the eyelashes are shorter for both the top and bottom lashes.

The lash line change makes the eyes look farther apart. Also, there's a weird dent in the left eye's pupil and I don't know why lol. I could just be nit-picky.

https://i.imgur.com/NM6X4W1.jpeg

I think the overall changes are nice. I would just like my lalafell to look as close as possible to the original. Not sure how things work behind the scenes, but I didn't think a graphic/lighting change would also change the shape of a character's features.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Budew

Okay, after going back and reanalyzing my lalafell, I have some problems

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Agree with all your points. The missing upper lip and the shorter lash shape are effectively universal issues across all Lala eyes and mouths, too. Which means it simply isn't possible to fix with a Fantasia, either.

Reposting into this thread to help with lalafell feedback:

The lighting is a clear improvement to the first benchmark - someone not familiar with my character wouldn't notice anything different at all, especially from a distance.

This benchmark does show however that the current eye shape has been slightly changed so that the thickness of the upper eyelid is now thinner while the outer edges became noticeably thicker like a raccoon eyeliner makeup style. I'm not sure why it seems that the geometry was inverted as such, but the devs clearly put a lot of work into the changes and my character looks better overall: her lips were changed to reflect their current look and her teeth are not cursed anymore. I'll take it!

(Still, it would be nice to have the upper eyelid/outer edge thicknesses reflect their current look too though!)

https://i.imgur.com/s4M6LP6.gif
https://i.imgur.com/Qpnt0l4.gif https://i.imgur.com/lryNIdl.gif

I do wish to share that I do notice the awkward neckline on my character now, which for some might be difficult to notice, but is something I've seen before with specific gear pieces, only now it's part of the model itself (no gear impacting it).

https://i.imgur.com/1DJ6bfw.png

I'm adding a second image to line where I see it, to help. It's 100% easier to see on the right side of the neck vs the left due to my lighting.
https://i.imgur.com/iH9d5bx.png

The problem is not the eyes. It's 100% the mouth. Currently, by default, lalas have the tiniest of smiles on their face created by the small depths around it.
In the benchmark, that is gone. And now, when in default expression, we have a soulless puppet.

There's a change in the eyeshape for face 3 males, they have a slightly rounded appearance now rather than looking more squared and flat on top, I think it's mostly due to cleaning up the old eyelash(?) textures, the original shape is lost. It's subtle but I feel it gives a very different look to what it was originally, with no alternative.

Before/After:

https://i.imgur.com/HyrQstv.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/XpJTgh6.png

The dark nose seems less prominent as well, with a larger light spot in the middle, and the mouth shape is different and less defined, with less expression.

Before/After:

https://i.imgur.com/FKXB4xi.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/ggboUWk.png

Yes I think something about the eyes is wrong but it's hard to describe. The overall feel is not the same.

The 6th eyebrow option is now longer/more rounded and looks almost identical to type 1. :-( I miss my tiny pointed eyebrows. (I noticed this the most on male dunesfolk, haven't checked female)

see before/current game: https://imgur.com/UjXqt2C
vs
improved benchmark: https://imgur.com/HUPboDJ

The darker gradient on noses is also much more subtle, and since dunesfolk don't have the additional facial feature to darken it, the color gets lost in my darker skintone :-/ it feels like the shade was left the same across all skin colors and doesn't scale to blend with darker ones as well.

Their lip sizes have been reduced which I don't like- I chose mouth 2 on Lalafell but in the benchmark, any uniqueness that mouth 2 had isn't present.
I hope the designers fix this & give lalas back their top lips & lip fullness they originally had.

You can also see the differences in the Eyes- the eyeshadow in the benchmark has been lightened but it also doesn't look great- Imo it needs to be better blended & less patchy

Here is my thread detailing those issues, but I'll also post here
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-still-reduced



https://i.imgur.com/zVTK2Nb.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Razzlings

From what I can tell, the color part of the bottom lip is wider, being a single matte color, and the top lip is fully arced downwards on seemingly all the mouths, deleting the upper lip. You can see it a bit better in the side view on my first post. It's quite weird

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Thank you for this.

I did some comparisons yesterday and found that it is the same size as the current lips. Current lips are fuller on top whereas the newer model is fuller on the bottom. Current lips also lack a cupid's bow and are more oval-shaped. Not to mention we went from matte lips to gloss which will also change the appearance of the lips. I still prefer the older lips model without the cupid's bow. I thought it was a unique trait of Lalafell's.

So I believe most of users talk for other features, I'd like to talk about the eye shape and eyelash, I think it should be obtain the original characteristic shape...
Actually, people might not feel it is weird who chose girls or other boys use no 1,3,4... But anyway I believe that I need to write about this.
Sorry for my lack of proficiency in the language.

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


Here's a capture from the forum that I totally agreed:
https://i.imgur.com/JgeD0Ao.png

The lighting/ highlight in their eyes is hazy & not as crisp as it was in the 1st DT benchmark & their lashes appear shorter(?) - So, I hope that's something looked into & fixed;
-amongst lip size adjustments, body/skin seams & other things

Things I hope to see fixed:
- Lip sizes made fuller as original
- Eyelashes extended
- Eye highlight made more crisp
- Belly button, please give this back lol

With that being said, I don't expect an exact 1 to 1 comparison; as it's meant to be an upgrade.
I do like some things but removing, toning down or "nerfing" certain features just takes away any uniqueness.
While some things that were toned back are good, shrinking lip sizes & eyelashes isn't one of them.

To add to the other posts, there is also a notable flickering issue on certain faces and ears.

Due to it being a flickering issue, I have captured a video and have included a slowed version of it.

This was recorded on maximum settings on PC in the 1.1 Benchmark, the flickering was not present in the 1.0 Benchmark. This is of my Dunesfolk, with the Face type 1.

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To add onto this, I did also post on the JP thread but certain hairstyles have not been fully updated and they look jarring, the meshes have not been resculpted to fit the new head models, or texture and/or materials have not been updated on them or fully. With a particular hairstyle as an example: the fringe is updated, but the main body on that and the version without the fringe have not been updated.

https://i.imgur.com/I3oyygT.png

One of the worst offenders though, is certain racial hair looking SO blurry!

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

Absolutely shocking. Would prefer a delay for the graphics update if it is to be completed to this current particular standard. I also particularly dislike how flat the Dunesfolk eyes are currently looking, regardless of whatever specular or reflections they're using at the moment, the eyes just look horrid and matte.

Hope they do fix the eyes on release, my Nanako's eyes look too dark ; u ;

https://i.imgur.com/gWS7u8x.png