Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Daralii]

The biggest insult will be if the lip shapes in Mobile end up looking more like what we actually wanted compared to what we were cursed with in DT and have been begging for ever since the start of this expansion...

The fact that the CN and JP versions of the announcement site have a passage about how they went about faithfully recreating the original models(that is strangely absent from the EN version) makes me think that Lightspeed did a better job than CS3.

[BigCheez]

I'm feeling this pretty strongly today too. I don't really care about the rest of the general graphics, most things look worse and some things look better, but that doesn't effect me the way my characters face does, I still struggle with it. I just miss my old miqo and au ra, they look so lifeless and sometimes just kinda gross like plastic now. so yeah I'm still not over it either and probably will never be. I definitely play a lot less and this is why.

I'll link my original comparison of my miqo, which is outdated now but I do feel like it still accurately showcases the plastic look. It just bothers me, makes me feel ick.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6566320

lmao, what? The new version looks so much better.

[Gaddes]

Has anyone seen screenshots of FFXIV Mobile? Just released in China recently but some are managing to access it regardless. It looks like a middle ground between EW and DT, like the character graphics update we never had. Maybe I am being too optimistic based on the little I have seen though. Also it currently only has ARR races so I can't look at anything Au Ra-related.

The biggest insult will be if the lip shapes in Mobile end up looking more like what we actually wanted compared to what we were cursed with in DT and have been begging for ever since the start of this expansion...

Well, I had to see for myself and... well... now I almost wish I hadn't.
Here's the comparison, with me copying the same settings for ALL versions of my character to each. I think objectively the mobile game did a BETTER job of sprucing up the original elements. The eyebrows and scars are definitely more like the original than DT. The eyes, while a little different, have more of the leaner shape of the original than the wide DT ones.
And to add insult to injury, the lips are DEFINITELY based off of the original ones, with more volume in the upper lip and without the awful generic tapered-ends and giant lower lip shape of DT. (I couldn't see where to remove the glossiness on the lips, but the shape alone should be obvious here)



link to larger full-res image

And on top of that, the haircut looks better and fuller in the mobile version!?
C'mon devs, wtf is happening here... the mobile folks can make a closer version, why can't CB3??

[Peachyyyy]

lmao, what? The new version looks so much better.

I'm sure there's no point arguing with you, the same point can only be said so many times. but I'll say it anyway. Yes, it looks generally better because they improved the lighting. It would still look better if they kept the face shape and features the same, which they didn't.

edit: It's also irrelevant to me if you think the new face features look better. It's my character, not yours.

[mallleable]

why does cloth, and jiggle physics become worse with higher framerates? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

[Doopliss]

Has anybody else still been really, really bummed out with the limbal ring changes for Au Ra? Of course, I still don't think they should go back to how they looked in 7.0, because that version of limbal rings ruined characters who specifically did go for the bright, glowing look, but the way they've looked for the past...nearly 8 months now(?) has in turn felt character-ruining for those who intentionally chose the darkest color options for a duller, two-tone look.

For example, this color,

consistently looked like this pre-Dawntrail under basically all lighting, since it wasn't a color that was supposed to emit much glow:


But ever since 7.1, this color now glows to the point it looks white instead of grey under far too many lighting conditions. This image was cropped during clear weather in Ul'dah at 12pm Eorzea time:


The humongous new pupil size obviously doesn't help either, since it basically eats up the entire main color for female Auri eyes, but I feel like I'd get over that more easily if the darker limbal ring options were still accurate to their previous versions...

It just sucks to see this issue under "working as intended" when this level of glow for duller colors looks like ass for a lot of characters and NPCs (Yugiri comes to mind). I promise, to this day, I've been genuinely trying to get over it, but I just...can't, especially when I see old screenshots.

My character's eyes don't look right with or without limbal rings anymore, and I just think it remains incredible that, in spite of all of their reassurance, there is ultimately no in-game fix for people who intentionally chose colors with less of a glow.

I know it's not a hot topic anymore specifically, but I seriously miss the consistency from the old drawn-on limbal rings... I've basically given up hope but I wanted to post just in case this might still get looked into.

[Hatsuoki]

Has anyone seen screenshots of FFXIV Mobile? Just released in China recently but some are managing to access it regardless. It looks like a middle ground between EW and DT, like the character graphics update we never had. Maybe I am being too optimistic based on the little I have seen though. Also it currently only has ARR races so I can't look at anything Au Ra-related.

I also did a comparison and the mobile version is basically the update that we didn't get. Keep in mind the mobile character creator also doesn't have the strange fish eye camera warping that the pc version does. The lighting is generally better with less of that green/gray tint or intense brightness in some places.

Edit 2: Please check another post for an updated comparison

Similarities:
Most notably here, his mouth, eyebrows, jaw shape, and eyebags are faithfully recreated. The slightly pursed lips are literally perfect. Even the eye color is more accurate because in the pc version, it looks like a pale lavender in a lot of lighting despite picking the dark purple. The eyes are perfect, the camera warping in the cc isn't helping the pc version. The skin does not have the uncanny plastic sheen in any lighting that I've been able to check so far.

Differences: None of the nose options were exactly the same but it would have been a change I could have lived with (the side profile looks quite similar). Please excuse the hair since the usual hair isn't available yet.

It's been heartbreaking to see the characters I miss on the tiny screen and and where none of the history that I've built up is in.

Edit: Just kidding! There is a nose option that is closer to the original. The mobile version is better in pretty much every way.
Edit 2: Please check another post for an updated comparison

[Jaltaer]

I can't help but wonder if the mobile build was using the pre-DT models as a base to work off of, vs the DT ones we're stuck with now. It would certainly explain why the mobile game seems to be closer to the alleged vision of "not changing your characters" that we were promised. I generally don't agree with most of the stuff people are saying the mobile version does better, but in this case I certainly do.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

I never gave the mobile ff14 a try myself but I did asked a friend out of curiosity to show me some screenies - most of male midlanders looks are about what I imagined to be the upgrades I was hoping to see after they had shown us the first update demo from one and a half year ago. Most noticeable would be the pouty lips that I sorely missed. or rather, 'would have', for reasons one must not spout freely on this board

Has anybody else still been really, really bummed out with the limbal ring changes for Au Ra?[...]

[...]I know it's not a hot topic anymore specifically, but I seriously miss the consistency from the old drawn-on limbal rings... I've basically given up hope but I wanted to post just in case this might still get looked into.

I may not play Au Ra, but I believe the general sentiment is shared by many, silent or not. I do too, on my main middies.

Only outright admittance of design choice, or reversal will get me to stop b!tching once & for all.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Wow, even the little UV warp on the scar (the edge that doesn't go in a straight line) is identical. I thought "ok, this has to mean that they're using the exact same models as 6.X with better textures" but no, the chin on mobile has more polygons (it might even have more polygons than the 7.X one...).
(Glossiness aside, the normal map on the lips looks off, though, not sure what happened there.)

Has anybody else still been really, really bummed out with the limbal ring changes for Au Ra?

I'm just gonna re-link to what is basically an extensive debug report I wrote on the Japanese forums on that matter.