[Dev Request] body tattoos / body paints

[SilkaN]

Facial tattoos are nice and all, but where are the options for our characters' bodies?

So far, the only "tattoos" we got are linked to specific items, like the Arachne shirts and several male swimwear pieces.

Example:


(Thanks random German cat for letting me take a picture of you)

As for the Arachne stuff, Au Ra players (I was one of them in the past) always get the short end of the stick since the tattoos always overlap with their scales.

So why not give us some tattoo options for every race / gender? PS3 limitations?

What are your thoughts on this idea for a feature that, in my opinion, is long overdue?

[Enkidoh]

There is also the special 'Mark of the Twelve', also known as the 'Legacy Mark', that all characters created in the original version of FFXIV (1.0) have (which can be made to appear and disappear at will by typing the /lmark command), as seen on my character's back in this pic:



But I agree with you about adding body tattoo as an option in character creation (even though I dislike body art in real life, more creation options in game is only a good thing).

[SilkaN]

bonus for 1.0 players only

Yeah, I'd love to use that tattoo, but I am not even a 2.0 player, just a filthy 3.2 casual.

[Zojha]

Also note that the Arachne Tattoos "float" a bit over the skin, because they're not a texture but rather its own model with a flat black texture.

I think it's the same for all armor based tattoos, I haven't bothered to look at all of them all too closely :3

[Belhi]

I suspect the main issue is the resources it would take to implement it. From my understanding of how they do models, Each body part acts as a model component. As a result, with a chest piece that shows skin, the skin itself is part of the chest piece model. That means if you add tattoos, they need to account for all the tattoo variations in addition to skin variations when doing the models.

Probably doable I imagine but at the same time I suspect it would increase the amount of work it takes to add a single gear piece if a characters tattoos show.

[Serilda]

Also note that the Arachne Tattoos "float" a bit over the skin, because they're not a texture but rather its own model with a flat black texture.

I think it's the same for all armor based tattoos, I haven't bothered to look at all of them all too closely :3

It is. I used the Sohm Al caster top for a while and currently glamour the south seas talisman; both hover very slightly away from my actual skin. It would bother me more on the face but it's tolerable on an arm.

Since I don't have a PC I'm a filthy non-legacy casual too and would welcome some more body art options. Also, more scars.

[Zojha]

I suspect the main issue is the resources it would take to implement it.

Depends entirely on how they set themselves up.

In theory, it's simple: You have the partly transparent tattoo textures, you have the skin textures and just use the prior as overlay for the latter, merge the two and use the combined texture for the body model. Alternately, you assign the body (parts) two textures, the tattoo and skin texture.
They probably copy&paste the body model anyway for convenience sake, simply to keep texture mapping intact, so using body pieces directly in the armor model shouldn't be much of an issue.

UNLESS of course they have a dedicated model for every single skin color of every single race and each of them has its entirely own texture. In which case: RIP.

[Croweyes]

I'd love to have tattoos in character creation, hell make it a side-quest to unlock at 15 like the aesthetician, with some small bits of lore about the art and meaning of said tattoos.

By no means do I want the Legacy tattoo, thats for the 1.0 folks

[Belhi]

Depends entirely on how they set themselves up.

In theory, it's simple: You have the partly transparent tattoo textures, you have the skin textures and just use the prior as overlay for the latter, merge the two and use the combined texture for the body model. Alternately, you assign the body (parts) two textures, the tattoo and skin texture.
They probably copy&paste the body model anyway for convenience sake, simply to keep texture mapping intact, so using body pieces directly in the armor model shouldn't be much of an issue.

UNLESS of course they have a dedicated model for every single skin color of every single race and each of them has its entirely own texture. In which case: RIP.

Admittedly I could be wrong but considering they said that they had to trade off dyeable Savage sets for unique Savage sets, it suggests that setting up varying color palettes for various gear pieces is a resources intensive process.

[xbahax92]

One of the things I wish for our current character customization/creator. I do hope we will get more than tattoo's to be honest.

Currently just want things like,

• more FACES
• more race specific option (i.e. different ears for Miqo'te, different horns for Au'ra, different beards for Highlander/Roegadyn)
• more facial adds like piercings, eyelashes, beards
• more male hairstyles (kinda less compared to female)
• more muscle, body proportion sliders