Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Aurumis]

I can see it. The jaw does look more angular in Endwalker, and more like a smooth curve in Dawntrail. The new lips + the new shading and shape of the eye create a really different resting expression. It even seems like the eye might be positioned lower in relation to the eyebrow than it was before. The eyebrows, in addition to being thinner, are also a bit grayer/darker, so they no longer match the color of the hair and contrast differently with the skin than they did originally. This specific change has happened to other faces, too, to varying degrees. I’ve pointed out a similar change on one of my characters (female miqo’te face 4), who has been given very unnatural-looking gray eyebrows.

One of the most notable issues is probably the fact that the catchlights in your character’s eyes are hidden under his now-droopier eyelids. This could contribute a lot to the appearance of dull eyes, especially when other characters in the game have a visible shine to their eyes. It’s even a visual trope in anime/manga to draw eyes without catchlights to make a character look zoned-out, hopeless, or just “off”, so this seems like a particularly strange choice.

You have good reason to complain. Male miqo’te face 4 seems to be one of the most altered faces after the update.

Yes the face 4 of male and female miqo'te have big real problems

yeah, that's why people saying we shouldn't complain or that the graphics now are an upgrade makes me angry, like, I have reasons to be sad for this? It is very obvious they changed models too much. NPCs looking exactly the same but WoL models all changed why? Imagine now if Alphinaud and Alisaie changed, their eyes looking dead, bigger lips, bigger noses. Will that make them the same characters? Will people be happy that their fav characters changed and they don't look the same? Imagine Y'shtola a fan favorite of the fandom, having now an square jaw and very thick eyebrows, and the eyes very tiny, Would people be happy??? Will they say that is an upgrade??? (btw Ascians eyes are fucked up too. They no longer shine)

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[SongOfTheWind]

Yes the face 4 of male and female miqo'te have big real problems

yeah, that's why people saying we shouldn't complain or that the graphics now are an upgrade makes me angry, like, I have reasons to be sad for this? It is very obvious they changed models too much. NPCs looking exactly the same but WoL models all changed why? Imagine now if Alphinaud and Alisaie changed, their eyes looking dead, bigger lips, bigger noses. Will that make them the same characters? Will people be happy that their fav characters changed and they don't look the same? Imagine Y'shtola a fan favorite of the fandom, having now an square jaw and very thick eyebrows, and the eyes very tiny, Would people be happy??? Will they say that is an upgrade??? (btw Ascians eyes are fucked up too. They no longer shine)

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NPCs updates were promised to be made in the upcoming patches, please look forward to it.

[SongOfTheWind]

I made this gif to add it to that post and you can clearly see the difference in the eyes and in lips and eyebrows too.

I really don't understand what they were thinking making so many unnecessary changes... And I'm pretty annoyed they've addressed the issue with the housing lighting but not a word about our characters' faces.

Edit: I was referring to this post in the bug report forum https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...82#post6533282

Apparently housing is what truly keeps the players subbed (or why would they take people hostage over demolition?), not the characters.

[Einnecy]

Imagine now if Alphinaud and Alisaie changed, their eyes looking dead, bigger lips, bigger noses. Will that make them the same characters? Will people be happy that their fav characters changed and they don't look the same? Imagine Y'shtola a fan favorite of the fandom, having now an square jaw and very thick eyebrows, and the eyes very tiny, Would people be happy???

[Aurumis]

NPCs updates were promised to be made in the upcoming patches, please look forward to it.

then I really hope they change the character models of the people too

I really didn't want to say it but the only thing that is worse is Thancred's skin texture that looks like acné and it's not noticeable here. (I reported it as a bug, so that probably will be fixed, it's the only skin texture looking different). The rest are the same and perfect so I don't see your issues. It's called mostly ilumination you know?

[Einnecy]

I really didn't want to say it but the only thing that is worse is Thancred's skin texture that looks like acné and it's not noticeable here. (I reported it as a bug, so that probably will be fixed, it's the only skin texture looking different). The rest are the same and perfect so I don't see your issues. It's called mostly ilumination you know?

Fair point, though if it truly is only the lighting they still look different and are thus affected. At least that's what I think.
To add another example, an NPC which actually has an entirely unique face unlike Urianger and Thancred, Ryne looks very much like herself.

[juicybug]

i made a thread that was quickly buried, but I hope it fits within this!

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...87#post6531487

But basically TLDR: The character customization after the update really drives home how far behind the creator & options available are atm.
Before anyone jumps saying that it's fine as is, just take a quick read if it's not too much trouble!

One thing I've noticed is the characters (the males) really have no complexion & are very pallid. No flush, no lip color, no real detail to their skin what-so-ever. Like, look at the ff12 models & compare them to the characters now.
The 12 models still look a bit better than they do in XIV bc of they were given shadows & highlights on their skin without the use of ingame light, even though they were graphically limited. I don't see why they can't have the same sort of skin coloring/style. It would help in game models a lot.

[lunartears]

Fair point, though if it truly is only the lighting they still look different and are thus affected. At least that's what I think.

Apologies for chiming in, but I found these two sticking out to me when I was playing the MSQ.

Here's what I noticed:

- Thancred's lips are flatter (except for the bottom lip which is notably more plump)
- Thancred's upper lip is thinner
- Thancred's lip corners are downturned and wider (bottom lip looks more detached from the corners)
- Thancred's eyebrows are darker (but his hair is brighter?)
- Thancred's irises are positioned slightly higher (he looks a little scary)
- Urianger's eye colour is darker (new eye texture)
- Urianger's bottom lip is thinner
- Urianger's eyelids look less defined
- Both of their eyes look bigger but not sure if that's my own eyes playing tricks on me

On the other hand, NPCs with unique faces mostly look the same.

[Turnintino]

Fair point, though if it truly is only the lighting they still look different and are thus affected. At least that's what I think.
To add another example, an NPC which actually has an entirely unique face unlike Urianger and Thancred, Ryne looks very much like herself.

At first glance, I don't think she's been updated extensively. At most, it looks like they might have increased the resolution of her hair texture and nothing else. They most certainly haven't touched her face mesh, which looks just as low poly as before -- or her normal map, which looks just as flat. But I believe the devs have said that past unique NPCs would not be high priority, so I'm not really surprised. Ryne, in particular, doesn't call for it as much as, say, an NPC like Varis, who has all the facial nuance and articulation of an ARR-era Primal. So, it may be a while before we can start using these characters as basis for comparison.

[Einnecy]

At first glance, I don't think she's been updated extensively. At most, it looks like they might have increased the resolution of her hair texture and nothing else. They most certainly haven't touched her face mesh, which looks just as low poly as before -- or her normal map, which looks just as flat. But I believe the devs have said that past unique NPCs would not be high priority, so I'm not really surprised. Ryne, in particular, doesn't call for it as much as, say, an NPC like Varis, who has all the facial nuance and articulation of an ARR-era Primal. So, it may be a while before we can start using these characters as basis for comparison.

Aye, that's basically why I am sending these comparisons to begin with. Whereas small tweaks would have sufficed, the changes on the NPCs are noticeable and they are pretty bad.

Apologies for chiming in, but I found these two sticking out to me when I was playing the MSQ.Here's what I noticed:<snip>

Thanks for taking the time to write this out! I appreciate it a lot because I had intended to edit in the differences I have observed with the NPCs but sleep deprivation is kicking in pretty hard and I don't wanna mess too much up. Besides Urianger's missing eyebags, I struggle to pinpoint what exactly is going on with the eyes and why it bothers me so much but all I can say for sure is that it doesn't quite look like them, even if you change the lighting.