Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[AdairKiba]

I'm so upset with this change, my WoL's limbal ring has never been this bright even at night! Surely this is a bug?

I have always had the darkest green limbal ring on my WoL, because I wanted his brown eye to look like a brown-and-green hazel like my own eyes. Until now, it kind of read like that during the day. But as of 7.1, his limbal ring is neon bright! If I had wanted him to have glowing eyes and not just the color, I would have picked the brighter glow-like shades from the start.

Additionally, I noticed that the darker shades (right side of the color select column), glow brightly in the daylight but appear dim at night. It doesn't make any sense.

I would suggest that luminosity be put on a slider in addition to the color selection. Alternatively, a checkbox to have glow or not would also be a good option.

My WoL's eyes are relevant to his lore and personal to myself, I wish they would stop altering them so drastically. Let the players choose how their characters look.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Aww, I really liked the backlight scattering on the horns, was that really something that was being complained about enough for them to remove it? (or did they accidentally break it?)

(pics are from 7.0)

Yes.

But the announcement on Lodestone only said that it would be lessened, not removed entirely...
So I'm surprised that on Au ra F face 1 at least, it seems to have completely disappeared. (personally I don't mind, but I would have also been fine with horns that simply didn't glow bright red in an unnatural way)

Regarding limbal rings:




Personally I am very happy with the change, it's what I've been fighting for since... pretty much October 2023.

However.
I see exactly what problems other players like duckslap, Doopliss, sleepystaccato and especially Joralia have with the 7.1 limbal rings.
There's also something really weird going on with the conditions that make the rings glow or not glow (and potentially change their thickness too, not sure yet) depending on the lighting, weather, and environment (go see my post on the Japanese forum thread).

My personal opinion is that the method of rendering is wrong, and the way the Au ra eye shader is built is what is causing the limbal ring to appear thicker or brighter than necessary, and ultimately different than what dissatisfied people would like it to be.
I think applying the same method as 3.0-6.X (which was very simply a low poly donut slapped over the iris with its own material that was not affected by lighting as much as the rest of the eye), but with more polygons and a transparency gradient in vertex color for a smoother transition (and resulting in the same thickness for all colors) would be the better way to go.
It's very possible that they considered that already but decided against it for reasons ranging between memory issues (I doubt that adding a few polygons to a pair of donuts would have a huge impact, but who knows), depth rendering issues (it's difficult for 3D engines to guess which half transparent object to render in front of the other), or simply personal taste...

But the current solution, while making me very happy on a very individualistic level, is bound to create more conflict between users (and then who knows what 7.2 will look like as a result) and I would really like to get off this stressful emotional rollercoaster once and for all and just... you know... enjoy the game with the character I designed 7-8 years ago.

The better solution, of course, would be to expand the options of the character creator as soon as possible, and stop arbitrarily changing what already existed before the graphical update.

[Korynith]

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...49#post6623649

Looks like the issues are still there for female highlanders like I showed in my FOURTH feedback thread.

I was SO hoping I would log in today and be in love with my Highlander's face again but nope, no noticeable change. I don't care if it sounds dramatic, but it has literally made me stop playing. I'd completely unsub, but I have a house in my dream spot and I'm not yet willing to give it up.

I think our characters have similar faces except I'm using eye 6 instead of eye 3, and there is still a tilt issue with eye 6.

[wyrmbr4nd]

Agree, they completely changed my highlander's lip/eye/jaw shape and I do not understand why. Still seems to be an issue now and I'm just sad bc I miss my OC.

[Khryseis_Astra]

I’m really hoping that when they said “everything won’t be ready for 7.1,” that meant they might not get to all the faces, because any changes were very subtle… if there were any! Top screenshot is 6.5 vs. 7.0. Second is 7.0 vs. 7.1. I had changed the lighting on my portraits since then, so the 7.0 was taken last night and the 7.1 this afternoon, for a true comparison.




For settings, my Highlander is using:
Face 2, Jaw 4, Eyes 6, Eyebrows 1, Nose 5, Mouth 4, Facial Features 1 & 2 (Brows and Eyeshadow)

This is 6.5 vs. 7.1…


This just isn’t the same person. I was really hoping to log in today and see something noticeable! Just keeping that Fantasia until they say “ok we’re done” so I don’t waste another one trying to fix this. At this point, just fix the nose and lips and it would be fine. But the curve of the nose is off, and the upper lip is still wrong.

[Winyumi]

I can kind of see an improvement. Pupils are unchanged; still too big. Here's an update of my character. But what is seriously going on with the portrait lighting?




Here's a GIF:

[AdairKiba]

Regarding limbal rings:

Personally I am very happy with the change, it's what I've been fighting for since... pretty much October 2023.

However.
I see exactly what problems other players like duckslap, Doopliss, sleepystaccato and especially Joralia have with the 7.1 limbal rings.
There's also something really weird going on with the conditions that make the rings glow or not glow (and potentially change their thickness too, not sure yet) depending on the lighting, weather, and environment (go see my post on the Japanese forum thread).

My personal opinion is that the method of rendering is wrong, and the way the Au ra eye shader is built is what is causing the limbal ring to appear thicker or brighter than necessary, and ultimately different than what dissatisfied people would like it to be.

It looks like they restored your Au Ra's eyes to how they originally were before the 7.0 graphics update (with a little extra vibrancy on top of it), that's awesome! I remember your post from when the benchmark came out, and agree that it was a huge change for players who had picked the lighter/brighter limbal rings on purpose and am glad it's better for them now.

What I'm failing to understand is that suddenly my Au Ra's dark green limbal ring glows brightly during the day, when it has never looked like this before. I have had the same color settings since I made my character during Shadowbringers. Maybe the effect is slightly different for male and female characters? It's really upsetting, and I haven't been able to enjoy the patch content yet because I'm so put off by how my character looks now and being unable to fix it... Which I'm sure is exactly how many Au Ra players felt in 7.0.

[Solazz]

Alright I'm finally home from work and got a chance to upload a little side by side of a screenshot from the night before 7.1 and one from today after it went live regarding face 4 female au ra. (7.0 on the left, 7.1 on the right)



Now, obviously, the limbal rings are a bit different. In all honesty I would not mind them being brighter like they were pre-7.0, but this feels like an over-correction to the point I can barely see the rest of my iris under it. Aside from them, though, I noticed the general outline of the eyes is a little more sharp along the outer corner like they were before which is very appreciated. I also saw the bridge of the nose was widened a bit and the tip of the forehead scale going down the nose made more pointy like they used to be.

I made a post back when the updated benchmark was released pointing out the prominent lower eyelids that had been added to face 4. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...72#post6479872

Looking at her live now, that also appears to have been addressed.


Face 4 seems to have gotten several small changes that, for me at least, added up to a nice update. Nuclear limbal rings aside. At this point, I wish they'd just add some of these different features we've gone through as additional creation options like SchwarzwaelderTorte said. That way I wouldn't have to hold my breath with each new patch hoping the character I've been playing so long doesn't suddenly feel completely different again.

[Einnecy]

That these changes took 4 months to implement is honestly just insulting. I've lost all faith in the development team and this game's future. After 2 benchmarks and the expansion launch I should have known that a singular patch wasn't going to fix much no matter how much feedback everyone gave.
I knew, and yet I hoped. I hoped, and yet I am let down once again.

Reducing the philtrum has brought back some sense of style and stylized art direction to the game, but I guess the bleached ♀raen scales, strong shine and darkened colour of the lips, uncanny white eye texture, large pupils, new facial animations, etc. are all spec. lol

My subscription ends in 7 days and I will not be renewing. There's a lot of reasons for it. I already swore on it once, but 7.1 was the final nail on the coffin.

[Tsumdere]

Potentially unpopular opinion but they need to put the eyebags back onto male duskwight elezen face 2. or at least make it an option because I like my duskwight looking like a tired middle-aged man

They shouldn't make any major design changes for any races. It sucked major ass having my young-faced character of seven years (3.1) suddenly look like he aged ten years and lost the kids in the divorce.

Options are good though, but we don't have options currently so... no.