Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Daralii]

Not surprising. The graphics update was needed badly. And despite most complaints here it is a massive improvement for the game.

It needed an update, especially texture resolution, but it shipped with a lot of absolutely bizarre mistakes, broke a lot of stylistic cohesion and atmospheric lighting, and completely resculpted some faces to the point that they're unrecognizable even after a second benchmark and two patches. I know this thread is about the characters, but a lot of the environmental changes are absolutely abysmal and highlight what a mess the update as a whole is.

As an example, here's the Fury's Gaze(Halone's prayer rock) in EW:


and now in DT:


Credit: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6616796

[Zofian]

That cave is pretty wild. And if you stand right among the bright crystalling, your character is still dark/unlit on whichever side is facing the crystal walls, as though there's no light coming from it at all.

[Iscah]

It's not even meant to be crystal, it's just standard ice.

[Loggos]

That's really bad enviromental storytelling on top of everything else then because that is THE signature colour they use for crystals. Suddenly using it for something else is communicating a completey wrong and confusing message regarding the environment/worldbuilding to players because we've been conditioned to immediately associate it with this one thing. Ice should be visualised differently for the sake of consistency.

[Sairaag]

Aw, another one... I've been seeing these examples of the update not being thought all the way through when it comes to the environmental graphics as well. Makes me wonder what on earth happened with the whole project, and also slightly dread my next replay.


By the way, did they do this Praetorium change in 7.1?

It's the part where Gaius asks you to join him. The WoL's expression has changed.

I must say this is probably the only improvement my catboy has had so far during these updates. As you can see, the graphics change made him look incredibly derpy in that scene (with the old graphics he had a great offended expression), so the new animation is definitely better for him.

[QWQ-]

Give me back my character
The whole face including the mouth and nose is a mess. If it was going to be like this, you shouldn't have patched it. It's too hasty and I'm angry. Why are you ruining my old memories? I wish there was an on/off function for people who don't want the graphics. I hate improving the character graphics. How can I see everything in the benchmark? Videos alone are not enough. We are the users who pay and play the game. I think you should make a test server so that users can see it in advance. I was really angry because I couldn't wear a hat, but I didn't object. But why am I losing my favorite character? Isn't that too greedy? If you're going to change the graphics, you should have adjusted the brightness a little. Why are you ruining my character? You shouldn't have touched the face, I'm so disappointed.

[JokoCGN]

don't mind, but Ur Bunny's looking better than before xD

[Loggos]

Those posts aren't helpful because the character looks better to you (which is fine of course). That doesn't mean he looks objectively better. Personally I prefer the EW look. But that doesn't matter either. Because it's OP's char and what matters is how they feel about him.

[programcanaan]

"Some tweaks will not be ready for 7.1" paraphrased from recent live letter transcript.

I can only hope that this means that they are going to brush up some actual character issues. First and foremost the issues plaguing 3 and 4 faces as they were probably last to be "updated" and probably spent the least time on them. Most 1 and 2 face issues are probably the result of overthinking changes rather than rushing (which still wasn't the assignment).

[Iscah]

A quick comparison of my Duskwight in original / 7.0 / 7.1. This shot is from the late 5.3 scene where you enter the Crystal Tower. (I had to photoshop off text in the old image so the collar is a bit wonky-looking and there's still a dark haze over it from the text, but I haven't done anything to the face.)



I don't have time to go in-depth right now but I mostly wanted to say I am grateful for the 7.1 edits to the eyes and he no longer looks deathly ill, but he still looks harsher before and the new lighting is casting this very cold light on him.