Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[lunartears]

[4/5]

- Extra concerns -

- 1. Au Ra - Scale textures -



Au Ra scales are still distorted like in the Benchmark and look worse than in 6.5, they look like they have been messily drawn or poorly cut out. I am using highest on pretty much all of the graphics settings for reference. I am unable to take a photo of it on the lower leg due to camera restrictions. They also feel flatter and more like plastic whereas they felt more defined in 6.5.

Other pictures that I unfortunately couldn't compare to 6.5:




- 2. Au Ra - Female Hair 9 flick transparency -



On Au Ra Female Hair 9 the insides of the backside hair flicks are now thin and transparent, this makes the hair feel less thick and does not match the outer side of the flick so please consider changing it back.

2a. I also forgot to mention that there's a another issue with white hair on Hair 9 right now where it looks appears really bright sometimes (especially when lit up), I noticed this same problem in both benchmarks too. I caught a screenshot of it during a cutscene.



- 3. Au Ra forehead scale using expressions -

I noticed an effect on the forehead scale raising high when using expressions like /scoff /ouch or /sneer, but I don't have any comparisons from 6.5 so I am unable to tell if this is intended or not. I would like to bring it up as I don't recall it being as noticeable in 6.5

- 4. Eye glow at night -



There is a subtle glow to the character eyes in dark lighting in both 6.5 and 7.0. In 6.5 the glow appeared gentle. In 7.0 the way that eyes are handled in dark lighting feels uncanny. I believe that this is mostly related to the way that eye colour is spread in the new eye texture, so I am unsure on how to provide a solution. But, I believe it is made worse by the previously mentioned enlarged pupil.

- 5. New fingernails appear too bright -



I would like it if the fingernails could be muted a bit or even better given the option to change the colour as they appear too bright on paler skin.

- 6. Portraits - How the character is lit and appears -


(I unfortunately forgot to take photos of my other portraits before 7.0)

Characters appear lifeless and notably darkened in portraits now, even if the lighting setting was bright before. Eyes are especially dark and are barely noticeable on Au Ra.
Please consider looking into the lighting system on portraits.

[lunartears]

[5/5]

To conclude my post I would like to share some general photos of my character to help show the changes in appearance. Thank you for reading until the end and I hope that things can improve in the near future so that I and many others can enjoy Dawntrail the way that we were hoping to. It might be impossible considering the restrictions, but I hope that things can change in a way where those affected by the update are able to be happy and have their character's personality back to the way they intended it and people who are pleased with the changes are able to equally choose to have their character the way they would like it as well.

I would also like to say that I feel that the graphics update is uncanny and that realism is not the way to go for this game, I feel that the artistic/aesthetic appeal of the game has been diminished. I think that if things returned to a more stylized appearance then many would benefit.

And an edit I made like other people have done, mixing my old features on top of a Dawntrail screenshot:

[TheDustyOne]

I'm also a fem highlander (same face and hair as yours even) who frequently uses the shorter skirts and dresses, but one thing I'll also add is that older gear has been untouched, including the body pieces attached to that gear, so it's highly unlikely that the legs are slimmer than before. It's only the skin textures that got changed, which was more of a necessity, but otherwise geometry is unchanged from what I understand. I'm sure someone who's tinkered with the game files can probably correct me if I'm wrong though.

Just a quick follow-up from this; I put together a couple of comparisons between the Eastern Errant Skirt and the Faire Kohakama. I did my best to line up as close to my original screenshots as possible, you'll have to forgive the use of reshade in the older comparisons as well, but the primary concern is over geometry, which I'm very certain remains unchanged. Also forgive the heavy colour crunch in the second comparison.

[HyoMinPark]

Personally, I’m very happy with the graphical update to my character. My complaints are very mild, and I’ve gotten used to the changes since early access started.

The biggest changes I’ve noticed are the eyes and the mouth. My character’s eye color looks a bit darker, but I’m considering using the free Fantasia to lighten the color a shade to see if that fixes it. The pupils are also a little bit large, so I was going to see what she would look like with the small iris size versus the large. The mouth is just, in general, a different shape (Moon Miqo’te, Face 3, Mouth 4) — but I don’t dislike it. I originally chose this face 1.) because of the cheek whiskers, and 2.) it looked like my character’s resting face was a subtle smile/upturned lips, which I felt suited her. I still have this with the new graphical update, just the upper lip is slightly different in shape. But not jarringly so.

Lastly, I worried that not every hairstyle would get some kind of upscale, and I wondered if the Lightning hair would fall into that category. The old graphics were poor, pixelated, and blurry — but I loved the style enough that I dealt with it. However, the developers upscaled the hair and redrew the texture of it; and I honestly couldn’t be happier that my character did not go into Dawntrail with an upscaled model but a pixelated JPEG mess on her head.

I will need to tweak my male Midlander alt — I couldn’t get him to a state I preferred with the benchmarks, but maybe I can seeing him in-game during the Fantasia grace period. If I cannot, it will be disappointing; but I also liked the male Viera style I had for him, so I will just change to that if I cannot be satisfied with his male Hyur appearance.

My Seeker of the Sun looked fine as is, in my opinion.

[Plushy]

[1/5]snip

Going to be honest with you luna...outside some minor changes..Your au ra looks pretty much identical to the 6.58 only better and cleaned up; your 4th example...yeah I don't know how you can say the 7.0 looks more creepy than the 6.58. The endwalker one looks so much worse.
This is going to sound harsh but I have no idea why you're complaining.
Your au ra pretty much looks almost 1:1. Your complaints are extremely minor and not sure why you're so detailed when its the basically the same picture only more HD. The only thing that I'll say needs improvement is the scales but that's it. Other than that...yeah harsh but I think your au ra looks pretty much the same, its odd youre so upset...I'll even say your au ra made it out looking the same more than others.

[Anneliese_Lev]

I will upload a screenshot later, but I really dislike the emotes where my character shows her teeth. It's the most trollish grin I've ever seen. I can't compare right now, but I don't remember this being the case before. She's way better when she smiles without showing her teeth.

Oh, and sometimes the lighting plays really bad around her mouth. Sometimes it looks like she's harelipped or has a dumb expression (although in this case it's an optical illusion casted by the light and shadows)

[3/5]

The new teeth are really frightening as well, I would like if they could be made less realistic.

Ok, so I'm not the only one who noticed. Yes, the new teeth create very uncomfortable smiles and other expressions. Also, they look less detailed somehow (in my case, it was as if she only had a solid mass of bright white color)

[noumen0nn]

Going to be honest with you luna...outside some minor changes..Your au ra looks pretty much identical to the 6.58 only better and cleaned up; your 4th example...yeah I don't know how you can say the 7.0 looks more creepy than the 6.58. The endwalker one looks so much worse.
This is going to sound harsh but I have no idea why you're complaining.
Your au ra pretty much looks almost 1:1. Your complaints are extremely minor and not sure why you're so detailed when its the basically the same picture only more HD. The only thing that I'll say needs improvement is the scales but that's it. Other than that...yeah harsh but I think your au ra looks pretty much the same, its odd youre so upset...I'll even say your au ra made it out looking the same more than others.

How are you still doing this. None of us are going to agree with you. Lunar's feedback was incredibly detailed and well thought out, and the things she pointed out are plain if you give them more than a cursory glance. Stop making it our problem that you don't have an eye for detail.

[RemieLSliver]

Sorry I usually use Japanese. My English is poor.
but I think my picture can saw that so easy.

At Endwalker, Duskwight's eyes is different from wildwood. But so sad they used same model at Dawntrail.




That's why almost Duskwight is not feel good for Dawntrail,beacause our Wol is not like Duskwight

[Anneliese_Lev]

So, were playing and got to meet Merlwyb again during the main story. Had to take a photo because she now too looks super off from her usual self with the changes to roegadyn.
I don't know if it is the angle of the cut-scene or what but.. just the eyes in particular is more crazy and wider than usual now.. and her smiling earlier in that scene got even more of that crazy "i'm gonna murder you" feel over the actual happy scene.



Again i don't have a before.. but most should know how Merlwyb looks right? So it isn't just player character that looks waaay different... but important npcs too.

O M G

She really looks like crazy

I have to pay more attention to Kan-E-Senna to see if I notice something off. She's my favorite. It would be sad if she ended looking worse

[Fiorentine]

If you want a stocking without changing your leg shape, go with bridesmaid thigh or quintelle skirt.
I recall a lot skirt glam usually goes with your default leg.

That's exactly the one bottom I use for my glam. :P And it is the one where I realized the change. (Quaintrelle Skirt) Which is what promted me to write the post. I just wanted to exemplify the difference while commenting of a short-er skirt in the Faire Kohakama since it's way more noticeable cause of the lenght of the skirt.