New 7.1 hairstyle looks nothing like the winning hairstyle from the 2023 contest

[malkavcandy]

extremely disappointing. there's next to no textured hairstyles in the game to begin with, and this one would have been a very welcome addition if they had bothered to implement it properly. really hoping they'll do better and try to remake this one as it should be

[Peregondusoir]

Someone put their heart into submitting a vision from their life, culture, and body...

And we got a Moussed-up salon look out of it? This genuinely breaks my heart, and I hope that there's some sort of misunderstanding. Truly, it's still hard out there in Ala Mhigo...

[Nippows]

Please, please, I hope this thread is seen!!! It'll just be too sad if the feedback isn't listened to. Too many players were looking forward for the 'natural curls' hairstyle entry and it's a big shame--and disappointment if this isn't amended.

The game has desperately need tighter curl textures for too long. This is a really good time to make that change.

[ilikeyoshi]

Fully agree with OP here, and wanted to offer some counterpoints to various arguments I've seen in this thread (and outside of it) too—mainly regarding how "translatable" the original entry is into ingame. The short answer is, they absolutely COULD do something much, much, much better than what this screenshot showcases.

The longer answer is, they could do it because they've done it to a smaller scale before. The afro hairstyle, for all its faults, DOES at least have an easily identifiable, curly texture to it, and they achieve it mostly by the normal. I'm studying game development in school, so for those unfamiliar: a "normal" texture is basically a flat picture drawn in various shades of blues and purples, and these colors tell the game where on the texture it should appear "raised" and where it should appear "sunken". You know how au ra scales appear 3d, with various parts that look raised and react to light, but if you look closely there's no actual 3Dness to it, it's just flat against the skin? That's the normal texture at work (and the specular, but I'm mainly thinking about the normal here). Other hairstyles like the afro use the normal to make it "appear" to be curly, but it's actually just a smooth ball. This is a much less stressful method (both on the server and on whoever has to design the hairstyle) because texture files are smaller than 3D models, so Square (and many 3D artists) uses it frequently to add depth to models that, were you to peel the textures off, would just be flat shapes.

I say all that because I've seen sentiments that it might be hard to put a curly hair model into the game, but in fact most of the work could sufficiently be done with the normal, and has been done VERY poorly on this hairstyle, when talking about the winner's entry it's based on. They are more than capable of translating this extremely faithfully in-game, and the fact they haven't is genuinely disappointing as hell.

[ilikeyoshi]

I also wanted to add screenshots of very old highlander hairstyles that showcase sufficient curls in-game, provided by PudDraws on Bluesky.



The curls here are mostly achieved with a flat 3D model (were you to turn these hairstyles at the right angle in game, you'd see the curly strands 'disappear', because it's basically got the 3D shape of a piece of paper) and well-articulated normal texture. Several straight-haired styles in the game have lots of these features too, and much of the fluffiness of some shorter hairstyles is achieved through that same "flat 3D model with detailed normal" method. The bulk of the hair would be, without its textures, just a weird hair-shaped blob, and the normal would again add the curls and depth. Again, this is how all the hair is designed already: look at any model and you'll notice that, aside from some strands and such, the bulk of the hair is one 3D hunk, and it's the textures that make it appear more like a full head of hair.

Ultimately, making a faithful translation of the original entry winner's hairstyle would be completely within their ability, and the fact they thus chose not to is upsetting. I won't speculate on their reasoning, but I will say this: We do not need more hairstyles that can realistically be worn by straight-haired or vaguely wavy-haired people. We have tons of those, and those people can MORE than afford to be left out of a few hairstyles that black and brown people would be able to realistically and EASILY wear. The fact is, making a straight-haired or wavy-haired WoL is easy in this game, we have tons of options for this. What we DON'T have are almost ANY options for curly or textured hair, and that makes it really hard for anyone to make a WoL who is black, brown, or even just someone with very curly hair. Instead, these people have to compromise with hairstyles ill-suited to their visions, and that's unfortunately a reality in SO many games that pride themselves on letting the player design their very own character.

[ilikeyoshi]

So many people were ELATED to see this entry win, because they were under the impression the in-game hairstyle that would be made off it would be faithful to the entry, and understandably so. Lots of previous entries have been much more faithful than this. It's super disappointing to see how utterly unlike its winning entry this hairstyle is, especially when you KNOW this is within Square's ability and cannot be excused as "difficult to translate". This hairstyle could be improved DRAMATICALLY just with a rehaul of the normal texture (but it would also really benefit from a little more volume so it's not so "flat like it's wet" to the head). I really, really hope Square hears this and withholds the hairstyle until it's fixed; I don't think any of us mind waiting as long as it's faithful to what the winner (who I hear is quite personally upset by this as well) envisioned.

[HalNel]

I've been waiting for so long to have a hair style that reflects me and my preferences. Guess I just won't have it at this rate.

[Raikaiko]

Cosigning/+1 the bait and switch of it all feels really disheartening

I don't even hate the wavy hair that is included in the patch notes for implementation, honestly personally I'm more likely to use it, but as someone who likes straight to wavy styles for my character I have so many options when people who want curly and kinky hair have so few.

I was really excited for people who wanted these styles and feel seen by them to get this and another from the contest. Now a style that I otherwise might have enjoyed and used feels tainted because I know what ir wss meant to be/could have been

[Madqueenmomo]

Hello, I’m the original creator and artist and i just wanted to say thank you for fighting to fix the hair or at lest have SE do better for the other hairstyles that won.

I understood that the hair would not be an exact 1 to 1 to my design but , since i saw how to treated previous designs that won including my mch gun, i had assumed that would at lest find a way to make it somewhat recognizable.

The thing that really bothers me is the fact that I made this hair for my friends and for people who needed this representation.
All three of the hairs i submitted were made with them in mind while i specifically also toned it down enough that they could be used with non poc characters. Especially since curly hair is something that anyone of any skin color and ethnicity could have. (Which is why i even added the examples of non dark skinned characters using it)

When the hair won, i had so many heartfelt and emotional thank you messages from so many people around the world because their hair was finally going to be in game.
So many people who were just happy to finally be themselves.
Now i’m just here so angry and disappointed for them because not only does it look nothing like it while being of strange odd quality, it just also feels like they didn't even try and now all those players lost something they needed.

I would love to be wrong. I would love to learn that someone tried really hard, and even fought to have more curly hair in the game.
Cause atlest then it wouldn't be such a letdown or betrayal.


I want to end with, i know the dev team is probably overworked and overwhelmed. And i do not mean them any hate or bad words. I just wish they can take their time and get things right next time.

Sorry for the long post. And thank you.

[Yuri_Love]

looks like someone put one of these on their bald head