We need to compromise as a player base

[Embran]

Personally, I think the super legitimate concerns are the different lip shapes and some minor, peculiar details like Hellsguard noses, umbral rings, etc., being not *quite* right. The waxxy skin could use another pass, but it looks fine in most lighting and just kinda off in some. Net positive overall imo. The character creator does admittedly do a horrible job of showing off the character. Benchmark is much better, but problems still remain for a lot of people.

tbh, this was kind of always going to be inevitable. It happened from 1.0 to ARR, and if we lived in some alternate reality where we were going from DT to ARR graphics, all the threads would be about how bad the textures are and how the pixels can be counted lol. Yoshida and the team are CERTAINLY taking feedback, tho. They want people laying out their issues and concerns. I have no doubt the plan was to always monitor the situation, and I would be shocked if they don't address it during the upcoming live letters and media tour.

[Ath192]

Not the original person you were replying to, but I showed my character to my husband with the before and after and he said it looked like she was constantly holding air in her cheeks. So sure, same character, but also not looking the same. And I'll be walking through DT with her looking like she's holding her breath with these round cheeks and dimpled mouth corners.
https://imgur.com/a/ne2RiCu

It's hard to know if the light is reflecting like that because in both pics 2 and 3 you have a light source shining directly on your character (sun and the CC studio light) and picture 1 doesn't. Try changing the skin color one tone down in the character creation. It may make it a lot close to the OG. The problem too is the hair isn't the same, and where the hairline starts/recedes does changing the perceived facial structure of an individual so this one is harder because there are more variables to take into account.

Confronted with this situation I would definitely try a darker skin tone and make a comment about how the lighting is reflecting the skin as others have, but I would still feel the update was a net benefit and not asking for rollbacks and delays as some people seem to be.

Even in the current game I can make my character look downright awful in really bright lighting conditions.

[CStrife912]

I suppose for me I care more about gear then my face and hair so if I am changed il just alter it or fantasia its no Biggy for myself. However some people here are clearly very attached to that characters and some have validity to their statements and some I think are being way beyond nitpicky. The big one I know that won’t be addressed is the eyes because they’ve now put in a dynamic shine which means they will only have that old look when they look near the sun or light source.

I think what they’ve done for the most part is actually upgrade things and yes they are upgraded, more polygons on the face hand and feet. Shaders and textures have increased clearly it’s just how those said shaders react with the new lighting. There is room for improvement of course and that will happen but there is going to be some understanding needed from the community I think. They said they want to keep them as close as possible… which a lot are but we shall see

[Fuyume]

It's hard to know if the light is reflecting like that because in both pics 2 and 3 you have a light source shining directly on your character (sun and the CC studio light) and picture 1 doesn't. Try changing the skin color one tone down in the character creation. It may make it a lot close to the OG. The problem too is the hair isn't the same, and where the hairline starts/recedes does changing the perceived facial structure of an individual so this one is harder because there are more variables to take into account.

Confronted with this situation I would definitely try a darker skin tone and make a comment about how the lighting is reflecting the skin as others have, but I would still feel the update was a net benefit and not asking for rollbacks and delays as some people seem to be.

Even in the current game I can make my character look downright awful in really bright lighting conditions.

Okay, I have recreated the screenshot of the CC as closely as possible in the live game (unfortunately doing the same for the mid trailer screen is more difficult).
Live

Benchmark


Her face is undeniably more round and less angular than in live and it completely changes her visual personality. And her cheeks are still puffed out and she still has unnecessary dimples added when compared to live where there are no dimples and no puffy cheeks. She looks like a softer character, but she's a DRK. I designed her originally to reflect that. And she still looks like she's holding air in her cheeks.

ETA the two images edited right next to each other for easy comparison:

[GoatOfWar]

It's hard to know if the light is reflecting like that because in both pics 2 and 3 you have a light source shining directly on your character (sun and the CC studio light) and picture 1 doesn't. Try changing the skin color one tone down in the character creation. It may make it a lot close to the OG. The problem too is the hair isn't the same, and where the hairline starts/recedes does changing the perceived facial structure of an individual so this one is harder because there are more variables to take into account.

Confronted with this situation I would definitely try a darker skin tone and make a comment about how the lighting is reflecting the skin as others have, but I would still feel the update was a net benefit and not asking for rollbacks and delays as some people seem to be.

Even in the current game I can make my character look downright awful in really bright lighting conditions.

I'd take a delay if it means i can still play as the same character tbh.
Just look at what they did to my baby.

https://imgur.com/a/6gAKOP7

It's a completely different character.

[NanaWiloh]

It is completely untrue that in-order to improve graphics, characters have to look unrecognisable.

This isn't an issue with lighting. Sure, it may have to be re-baked, but characters look completely different because in many cases their facial structure and features have been changed.

There have been so many video game remasters in the past where the graphics have been vastly improved, but characters have still looked like themselves, just an improved version of themselves. You can't tell me that for some reason that isn't possible in this case.

Hehe HD remasters. Prime example of devs changing more then they reveal.

[Ath192]

Okay, I have recreated the screenshot of the CC as closely as possible in the live game (unfortunately doing the same for the mid trailer screen is more difficult).
Live

Benchmark


Her face is undeniably more round and less angular than in live and it completely changes her visual personality. And her cheeks are still puffed out and she still has unnecessary dimples added when compared to live where there are no dimples and no puffy cheeks. She looks like a softer character, but she's a DRK. I designed her originally to reflect that. And she still looks like she's holding air in her cheeks.

ETA the two images edited right next to each other for easy comparison:

Here you go, I plugged into photoshop and boosted the brightness by 50% and sharpened the picture to mimic more HDness feel free to recreate if you need to verify this.



While the changes are there and subtle the mouth mainly, I see the same softness come out in the photoshopped picture than the graphics update, her cheeks, because they are brighter now, seem more puffed out too. The original picture is just darker so it gives it a more edgy vibe/makes the face look slimmer.

Adding even more brightness = even more puffed cheeks

[Fuyume]

Here you go, I plugged into photoshop and boosted the brightness by 50% and sharpened the picture to mimic more HDness feel free to recreate if you need to verify this.



While the changes are there and subtle the mouth mainly, I see the same softness come out in the photoshopped picture than the graphics update, her cheeks, because they are brighter now, seem more puffed out too. The original picture is just darker so it gives it a more edgy vibe/makes the face look slimmer.

Even more brightness = more puffed cheeks

And as I've said in several places now, I could maybe live with the weirdly round face (it is in fact more round which is shown when she looks over her shoulder on the chocobo in the original comparisons), maybe even the super pout (yes I am in fact attached to her current mouth shape considering I've had it since HW launch), but the dimples are honestly too far. It makes her feel like an entirely different character. And I've already hamfisted an excuse for her to change races once for her lore, I can't do it again without invalidating everything I've ever written for her, so a free fantasia isn't going to help me. They changed the entire vibe of the face just by changing the mouth.

Edit because I hit the post limit and can't reply, her face does not look round and puffy like that in ANY of the hairstyles I actually use; I haven't used this hair since HW but I had to use a base hair to get a comparable shot or else not being exactly the same would be used as the excuse. I've used Early to Rise, Styles for Hire, this one in my profile picture (my friends call it the Duran-Duran hair because Durante so I don't actually remember its name), and Gyr Abanian Plait. And in none of them did her face look this extremely round.

[LilyEmber]

The people who create this game are artists. And critique is essential to art. Otherwise they won't improve or expand. Sure, they don't have to listen to us at all, but they should be open to critique. They understand what this game and the characters mean to a lot of the players. A lot of us are roleplayers and identify greatly with our characters little quirks and unique physical features. ie. miqo'te. Seekers get cat like eyes, Keepers got cat like teeth, but then they went and filed them down. The fangs were a Keeper unique physical feature.

[RhaesDaenys]

And as I've said in several places now, I could maybe live with the weirdly round face (it is in fact more round which is shown when she looks over her shoulder on the chocobo in the original comparisons), maybe even the super pout (yes I am in fact attached to her current mouth shape considering I've had it since HW launch), but the dimples are honestly too far. It makes her feel like an entirely different character. And I've already hamfisted an excuse for her to change races once for her lore, I can't do it again without invalidating everything I've ever written for her, so a free fantasia isn't going to help me. They changed the entire vibe of the face just by changing the mouth.

The other guy beat me to it, but Au Ra face 4 has always, and I mean ALWAYS been round and puffy like that. Your hairstyle masks it a lot. The only change that looks odd is the lips. I hope they fix that.