Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

[azaleai]

I was super excited for the graphics update, particularly for the better hair textures, but... the Benchmark was... not kind.



I feel like most of my face's unique features have been muddied, if not straight up erased. I liked the Hellsguard smudge and I'm not fond of it being paler. I liked the subtle blend of the lip colour and texture on the lower lip, it looks rather painted on now. The eyes look completely different with the pupils are darker and the irises are brighter - I can't even go darker to get the same contrast back because I'm already on the darkest red available. And of course, the dead-eyed stare from the main catchlight only being visibile with the camera pointed practically up your character's nostrils aren't doing anybody any favours... We all look like those clones Vanhudi wanted to make, lol.

But most importantly, the brows have gone from having nice, cleanly defined creases giving it shape and more personality to a completely smooth surface with just a shadow painted on that looks more like a bad eyebrow tattoo than an actual shadow - you can see in the bottom right picture how the light doesn't behave any differently on the darker patch, the shine just gets plastered over it like nothing's there. I'm a 3D artist myself and I can tell there's no definition on the normal map there, and if it were me I would even be modelling in that crease because normals alone wont do it justice.

All in all it feels very... smoothed, air-brushy and undefined. Like a barbie doll face being smooshed outwards, or like someone got a little too photoshop-happy with a magazine cover. It feels as if the 3D team went a little too hard on the subdivide and smooth modifiers and didn't sculpt high poly meshes to bake normals down either...

But, in the interest of not being all doom and gloom. I do love the new hair definition for both hair and brows. The skin does look lovely (though I think the shine is cranked up just a tad too far) and the scar texture looks fantastic. Gear (+environment!) textures are incredible and breathe new life into the game, and the lighting engine is very pretty. I like that the whites of her eyes are actually white now and the slightly less frowny mouth suits her a lot more. The eyeshadow actually looks like makeup now... which will take some getting used to, but I'm not mad about it.

In the end I think the faces need to be given the definition of their features back, skin shine needs to be turned down somewhat, colours need to be tweaked to match better, and the eye catchlight needs to be adjusted to make characters look less... dead.

Oh and, please keep the Hellsguard nose smudge make it a toggle for people who don't like it, but I think most of us would want to keep it!

[GrizzlyTank]

I was super excited for the graphics update, particularly for the better hair textures, but... the Benchmark was... not kind.

For some reason they have made a lot of the stern eye looks into sultry ones...