Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[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.

[Router]

Sooo they basically made limbal rings brighter and toned down the philtrums a little bit? Did I miss anything?

[Cheapshot]

Sooo they basically made limbal rings brighter and toned down the philtrums a little bit? Did I miss anything?

They added back some of the harder edges to Roe features thankfully. Very minor tweaks around mouths. They fixed some stuff with lighting intensity. That's about it though.

[Turnintino]

I haven't taken comparison shots yet, but I can tell at a glance that neither of my biggest concerns about male Miqo'te's 'face 4' have been changed, for better or worse. My main issues being the shape of the nose and upper lip sculpts (not the textures, in this case, though they have their problems).

Not necessarily surprised, since this isn't the most popular catboy face (though probably second most), but still disappointed. And I suppose there's no guarantee that my issues will be addressed at all, since critiques of this face tend to focus more on the eyes and bump maps (which I do agree should be adjusted, but they're lower on my list).

Still, very happy to see the dark circles removed from male Duskwights' diffuse maps, and the other positive changes y'all have shared. I hope they keep coming.

[CuteBucket]

Checking out my female au ra (face 3) as she's the one I've had the most issues with.

Photos taken in Gpose indoors in a studio. I tried to replicate the lighting as exactly as I could, though the temperature may be slightly different. 7.0 pictures were also taken before any changes they made to indoor lighting.




So...I'm not seeing much change. Not really surprised, I didn't have my hopes up at all, but yeesh.

Here's her old model next to the new ones for good measure. There has been a very slight improvement, but she still looks very different from her old self.


Pros:
- Her eye color is much closer to what it used to be now. This came with the downside of messing up every Au Ra with darker limbal rings though. The old graphics didn't struggle with light and dark limbal rings...so why does this one?
- Her eyes are maaaaybe a little bit smaller. This is good, they made her eyes noticeably larger than her old model which made her look too young and baby faced to me.
- The way light falls on the face seems a bit better. Less eyebags and harsh nose shadows. Not sure how much of that is 7.1 or the indoor lighting changes they did.

Cons:
- Pupil size is still WAY too big.
- Scales still look dirty.
- Eyes are still too rounded.
- Eye makeup is still much lighter than it used to be.
- Lips are still completely wrong and off-model compared to the old face. You cannot tell me this flat, deflated lips are "spec." I've seen other races and NPCs that still have something similar to her old lip shape. It is absolutely doable in the new graphics engine. PLEASE give us back the adorable :} lips instead of these flat :| lips.

I've already taken matters into my own hands and am in talks with a 3D modeler to fix face 3 myself, because I've been in the forums since the launch of the first Benchmark PLEADING the team to fix my favorite Au Ra face, I literally joined the forums just to give feedback on the benchmark because the changes were so egregiously bad, and we're still here. I broke down sobbing when 7.0 came out and I saw that was really what I had to look at now. It's clear to me that Square Enix does not care about these character models nearly as much as I and many other players do, so I guess it's up to us in the community to fix it and do their work for them.