Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Doopliss]

The settings can never be exactly the same, because Dawntrail changed the lighting in the entire game. It's very likely that people who had portraits they liked in EW will need to adjust them in DT because of this, to take better advantage of those changes.

I actually think a problem with the portrait system is that the lighting hasn't been adjusted for Dawntrail. A lot--if not all?--of the "eye texture flatness" tends to be shown via portrait screenshots, versus the overworld. It's possible to make them look okay in certain poses, but in some others it's actually not possible to get the portrait lighting to hit the eyes just right. I haven't had problems personally on my Elezen, but I have experienced it on some other characters and haven't been able to fix it at all without limiting the poses I can take their portraits in. Overall, this is a wordy way of me saying I think (well, I hope) it is something that should be easy to fix without actually displeasing anyone.

Of course, I think this is a different issue from them messing with the color balance on some races' eye options, and don't mean to dismiss anyone concerned about that.

I do think her expression looks a little different, perhaps moving the light source a smidge would help with that.

Sorry, I'm also just taking this quote to give some more spotlight to that user's face option because it is an unpopular one. This is nothing against you, lol.

I just wanted to say that her expression looks a little different because they fundamentally changed how ♀ Highlander Face 2's eyes are to a degree that feels a little too extreme to me, and I don't even use the face. I really do hope that is something that gets fixed.

Another user--Aimed--posted this image as a really good example to show how drastically that face specifically got hit:

In fairness, they did raise the upper eyelid a little bit since the initial benchmark release, but the eye shapes on this face are still pretty fundamentally different... They took away the rounded, friendly feeling they used to have.

[Astronis]

The comparison between you two is crazy because the dullness/darkness that Astronis had in his eyes in EW is something that Kryseis ended up receiving POST update - he got the clearer view of the eyes that she had in EW lmao. Just these two posts alone show the absolute lack of quality control across the board to make everyone get a good update evenly.
I genuinely have no clue how you look at the picture of Kryseis' character in DT and say its clearer when it literally carries all the things you disliked about your character in EW.

I don't think it's *clearer*, and I can see why, in the portraits, it would be an issue. Those things are *small*. The readability is certainly better in the EW version of Khryseis's portrait, but I prefer the look in the DW version, mostly because I know that the portraits are very small and limited and I'm thinking of how it would look outside it. If the whole game was just the portraits, my opinion might be different.

I actually think a problem with the portrait system is that the lighting hasn't been adjusted for Dawntrail. A lot--if not all?--of the "eye texture flatness" tends to be shown via portrait screenshots, versus the overworld. It's possible to make them look okay in certain poses, but in some others it's actually not possible to get the portrait lighting to hit the eyes just right. I haven't had problems personally on my Elezen, but I have experienced it on some other characters and haven't been able to fix it at all without limiting the poses I can take their portraits in. Overall, this is a wordy way of me saying I think (well, I hope) it is something that should be easy to fix without actually displeasing anyone.

Partly, yeah probably. It looks to be a pretty limited system, and it's entirely possible I'm wrong and the lighting didn't change in the portrait system, which could cause problems, too. In any event, it's not the eye materials that need to be changed if there is an issue that pretty much only shows itself in the portrait system.

That's quite a lot of difference in those comparisons! You know what's really interesting about them, though--the amount and shape of the actual visible eyeball looks almost the same from before and after, but the outside of the eyelids are so very different that it changes our perceptions of how open the eyes are. Subtle things making a big difference. I do hope people get options for things like that--some of the "after" eye are quite pretty, but I wouldn't have wanted to lose the original shape for them.

[Iscah]

That's quite a lot of difference in those comparisons! You know what's really interesting about them, though--the amount and shape of the actual visible eyeball looks almost the same from before and after, but the outside of the eyelids are so very different that it changes our perceptions of how open the eyes are. Subtle things making a big difference. I do hope people get options for things like that--some of the "after" eye are quite pretty, but I wouldn't have wanted to lose the original shape for them.

I've been saying this all along, about all of the faces.

They seem to have been redesigned with the mindset that keeping the eye surface the same equates to keeping the look of the eyes the same, and have restructured the surrounding face quite freely – and the changes to eyelids change the shape of the eye itself.

Additionally, these alterations largely seem to tend towards lowered eyelids and increased rims on the eyelids, which is probably blocking out light from reflecting on the eyes.

As for the colour of the whites of the eyes, some of them are a bit overly white in the old designs but it probably didn't need to be toned down as much as it did.

[Hatsuoki]

Additionally, these alterations largely seem to tend towards lowered eyelids and increased rims on the eyelids, which is probably blocking out light from reflecting on the eyes.

I agree. This is exactly why I'd ask for people with complaints or the people who like the update provide their character creation settings when posting. It could very well be some niche lighting/graphical glitch or it could be due to eyelid/eye shape. For the ones commenting on how they haven't seen a comparison where the old one looks better, that is an opinion on other people's characters that isn't a helpful comment to make.