Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[RedLolly]

Any expansion to it is still going to be limited by the homogenized meshes and rigging. They simplified their workload, and enough people that are left are happy with the upscaled textures, so I don't see them ever going back on that.

True, but I sort of hope I can trick my brain with new stuff to play with.

The only thing left to try for me is Au Ra or Lalafell.

[RedLolly]

I still find it ironic that in homogenising said meshes they utterly broke a number of emotes. In fact, it's hilarious that after they had a number of them pointed out across multiple languages of feedback they did absolutely nothing to fix them, or if they did it was the culprit for breaking the eyelid ridding.

Given it's so simplified it should be an easy fix, right?

Right...?



(Listen I'm OK with suspending belief in a world of magic for most things but being able to rip the entire frontalis and procerus off the frontal bone do that is just. Yikes. This is across multiple races because of said unified mesh. It even extends the bridge of the nose like what the hell is that even doing? I'm also aware this is the most egregious emote issue shown but it is one of many and it has been present since 7.0 base with no fix.)

Oh my god. Seeing it in action is TOTALLY different. Noses and brows don't do that!

[Argantaelle]

In WoW, it's generally not such a big deal to change your main or make drastic changes to the one you have if you like the other options. To me and a lot of people, FFXIV is the opposite of that. Man, I tried to get used to the alt I made in FFXIV, but he's just not the WoL whose story I've been following all these years. This game has a way of making a lot of people very attached to a single character. I used to love that about FFXIV, but right now it's not so fun.

Also, let's not forget that most of the MTX costumes, weapon skins, and pets aren't account-wide, so changing the main character also hurts the player's wallet. I'm not even talking about lack of account-wide achievements, glamour, pets, and mount collections…

[Sui-Kune]

I keep thinking, hope beyond hopes, that the polygon standardisation at least opens up the possibility for a feature slider. (Including pupil opacity! Please!) I'm not a programmer so I'm a complete layperson on the subject, but my brain's logic is 'if the polygons are now "all the same" across all races, wouldn't it mean tweaking those same said polygons with a feature slider take up the same amount of memory, as opposed to the bespoke different presets'?

This is me in a lot of pain, fatigue, and copium, so forgive my ignorance on the subject matter. I just keep wandering back to this in my head and wondering. (And praying. *Praying*.) And of course, this wouldn't necessarily guarantee we could even get lost features back using sliders, but hells, even if we could get a little closer.

Also obligatory 'someone please look at the broken eyelids bug', and Faiarrow's perfect example of how emotes got completely borked.

[Luluna]

I am going to give this a bump. I just cannot feel happy with my character atm the changes to Midlander females really shows and although some of the update is nice there is still a lot left to be desired.

I had a play around with other races and Viera have their noses always been that bad? they look so snout like and not nice at all. Miqo'te have become even more plastic looking and Midlander's have one face which is the best but everyone is using it lol so it feels like we have lost the other faces as they have been ruined.

I do love the Au ra but you really have to mess around and face one is bad and their eyes look bug like which is a shame. I use face 3 with the big horns as that face is really lovely but the horns need to be able to be swapped and they also messed the mouths up on them.

I had a play on a Highlander female they seem to have been improved as their skin looks a bit cleaner but they are so masculine it is a shame they stand the way they do and they look like they want to knock you out lol which I find a little off putting.

I just wish they would have a look at what they messed up as I really want my old face back on my Midlander >.<

[slowpeach]

well, apparently that ugly V shaped/triangular lighting on the face is "working as intended":
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...le-faces-races


so disappointed.

[Pyrrhica]

After I took a break for 6 months, I returned to the game and noticed something on my character. Her face was different from what I've remembered. The most noticeable parts are the eyes, the mouth and the nose bridge.



7.2 brought one of the most unexpected and unnecessary face changes. Having changed male Au Ra faces (who had a glow up at DT's release) to female Highlanders to a point they don't look natural as they used to back to 7.0.

The face looks more balanced and symmetrical in 7.0. The midface appears slightly shorter, improving proportion. Jawline is softer and more natural, giving a more harmonious look. Although, the eyebrows on the 7.2 look better and consistent, the rest remains to be desired.

Skin tone appears lighter and smoother, with less natural complexions that added a feel to it.





1. Eyes

This is one of the most noticeable changes.

Left (7.0):

Eyes appear larger and clearer.

The eyelids are slightly lifted.

The eyes are hooded and mysterious.

The upper eyelid has a dark, heavy shadow that creates a smoky, serious, and perhaps even sleepy or dangerous look depending on the rest of the character's composition.
It's a deliberate choice of eye shape that I personally love.

The shadow depth that defines the face. The catchlights are tiny and slight, focusing the eye and adding to the intensity. This is a unique look.

Right (7.2):

The face is wider-awake and "kinder." The deep hooding of the upper eyelid is entirely gone, smoothed out to a more generic, open eye shape.

The lights are much larger and more diffuse, which gives the eyes a soft, glassy, but also "vacant" or "expressionless" look to some viewers.
This update altered the character's emotional state to me.

Many players feel that the soul of their character was lost in the changes to the eyes.

Here's front face picture, showcasing 7.0 (on the left) and 7.2 (on the right):





2. Lips

Lips didn't seem to change much, however, the philtrum looks off and not centered with the Cupid's bow, giving an asymmetric and uneven face.

3. Eyebrows

Giving credit when credit is due, eyebrows look a bit better in 7.2, being fuller and homogeneous.



Hopefully Square Enix will look into this and keep it once for good, until they rewamp the character creation at some point. The other face options aren't satisfying, as they change the model's face entirely.

I wish they could revert it back to 7.0.

[Anarnee]

I still find it ironic that in homogenising said meshes they utterly broke a number of emotes. In fact, it's hilarious that after they had a number of them pointed out across multiple languages of feedback they did absolutely nothing to fix them, or if they did it was the culprit for breaking the eyelid rigging.

Given it's so simplified it should be an easy fix, right?

Right...?



(Listen I'm OK with suspending belief in a world of magic for most things but being able to rip the entire frontalis and procerus off the frontal bone do that is just. Yikes. This is across multiple races because of said unified mesh. It even extends the bridge of the nose like what the hell is that even doing? I'm also aware this is the most egregious emote issue shown but it is one of many and it has been present since 7.0 base with no fix.)

People talk about "beautiful subtle expressions" in scenes but I get to watch my characters nose defy physics in EVERY cutscene in 7.x.

[Merlseastorm]

Bumping this. Many mouth shapes are still quite different than the pre-Dawntrail designs and nothing is being mentioned regarding character models anymore. Take female viera face 4, the mouth is currently just an oval. Are we supposed to just accept and forget?

[KihyiFelhede]

seriously... sorry but I just do not understand what their thought process is. idk how miqo eyebrows can be considered a "bug" (that is NOT what bug means) but we've heard a big fat goose egg about viera lips.