[Graphical Update Feedback] Eyes and Limbal Rings on Au ra

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

EDIT: BENCHMARK UPDATE HERE

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the graphical update since it was first revealed, partly excited, partly anxious because, like most people, I’m really attached to my character.

For me eyes add a lot of personality and individuality to a character. You can express a lot through the shape of the eyelids, the color and size of the iris, the direction they look towards, etc. It’s what makes the character feel alive.

So I was a bit concerned when I noticed that, while the eyes of the new models were a lot more realistic, they seemed to lose a lot of their personality too. Eyelashes were less full, the shine that made M’iqote, Roegadyn and Au Ra irises interesting was gone, and when I compared screenshots of only the eyes of each model I was sometimes confusing myself between the old models and the new ones, because I found the old ones just more appealing.

The screenshots shown during the Keynote today were a lot better, and so I was more reassured that my character would remain roughly the same.

But then I watched the Technical Art section of the Development Panel, and I am once again swaying between excitement and worry. I am really looking forward to the improved textures and materials, and, even if it was not shown explicitly, I did see a pretty detailed teeth texture (!).

However, the Elezen head that was first shown in that panel confirmed my observations from the Las Vegas Keynote video: some facial features have changed.



On this specific model, the mouth corners are less pronounced, erasing the slight frown it used to have. The cheekbones seem to be a bit lower, and the chin is missing that curved shadow, which really used to give a stern, serious expression to this character. That expression was reflected in the brightness of the irises, that contrasted with the shadows around it. But with the new model, the eyelashes are longer and that spark in the irises is gone, and it feels like that severe expression is not as present. To me, it feels like another character.

But it’s with the update on the Au ra limbal rings that I became very concerned. It just looks completely different, even the color is rendered differently.




Limbal rings feel like a unique trait of the Au ras, and the way they were contrasting so much against their irises really gave them an otherworldly look that I think many of us enjoy as it is currently, especially when they give the impression of glowing in the dark.

After the lore details revealed during the Korean Producer Live Letter last May, it made even more sense that they looked the way they did, and I started thinking of them as magical “circle lenses”.

And so, I understand the drive towards more realism, but as someone who plays an Au ra I feel like I can’t really trust the promise of “maintaining the game’s aesthetic” and “your characters will still look the same” anymore…

[Larirawiel]

However, the Elezen head that was first shown in that panel confirmed my observations from the Las Vegas Keynote video: some facial features have changed.

No, they did not really change the facial features. It seems, that the character model will stay the same. So the polygon count will not increase after the change. But they clearly replaced the old textures with new ones. The new textures are more detailed and have a higher resolution. And it seems, they fixed some broken textures. And it can look different.


Cheers

[Jeeqbit]

I see what you mean by the Elezen change. A lot of Elezens give off a no-nonsense look that immediately makes you think of them as being like Inspector Briardien or really annoying like Alphinaud is in ARR. The new look takes away from that quite a lot. Not entirely but it does significantly. The old pointy, polygon face is what makes it like that.

It seems, that the character model will stay the same. So the polygon count will not increase after the change.

It is hard for me to look at those pictures and believe that the model didn't change. Look how rounded the Elezen chin becomes and how rounded the nose becomes.

Anyway, I don't care. For the same reason I don't care about glamour that much, I don't care about these little details very much. I would go crazy if I allowed myself to care about all these little details and patterns on character models and clothes, so I just pick something that generally looks kinda cool, leave it at that for years and don't look too deeply into it.

[Akonyl]

The limbal rings seem like a huge downgrade + basically remove a part of what made au ra unique, imo. Hopefully they revert that change like they did with the scales.

No, they did not really change the facial features. It seems, that the character model will stay the same. So the polygon count will not increase after the change. But they clearly replaced the old textures with new ones. The new textures are more detailed and have a higher resolution. And it seems, they fixed some broken textures. And it can look different.


Cheers

The textures changed, but one of those includes the normal maps (which they talked a ton about here), which are used to approximate high-poly model detail onto a lower poly model. So the fact that they're updating the normal maps + how the shading looks means that the model may as well have changed, because changing normal maps can *drastically* change how a model works, even if you're not technically changing the polys you actually see (because they changed the original high-definition polys the normal maps are baked from).

[Zeastria]

I fear the graphical update isn't gonna be an upgrade but downgrade.
Because a lot of the contrasts we have gets blurred out.

[Saraide]

Limbal rings are no longer going to look like LEDs it seems.

[Catwho]

Limbal rings are no longer going to look like LEDs it seems.

This. I think they're doing a better job of blending the limbal ring. Combined with the improved lighting, it looks like it's darker, but it's still a distinct outline.

Edit: For me the real improvement is the scales. They look crisp instead of muddy on the improved textures.

[Naple]

This. I think they're doing a better job of blending the limbal ring. Combined with the improved lighting, it looks like it's darker, but it's still a distinct outline.

Edit: For me the real improvement is the scales. They look crisp instead of muddy on the improved textures.

Why do you think Au Ra picked limbal rings to begin with? Because they want them to be bright LED rings! They want the eyes to look unnatural compared to other eyes. To me, the change makes Au Ra eyes look less distinctive, and I am not a fan. If you don't like the LED rings, just take them off.

[Ath192]

Why do you think Au Ra picked limbal rings to begin with? Because they want them to be bright LED rings! They want the eyes to look unnatural compared to other eyes. To me, the change makes Au Ra eyes look less distinctive, and I am not a fan. If you don't like the LED rings, just take them off.

This is easily solved by a luminosity slider. All they need to do is add that and you can make any color dull or neon.

[Naple]

This is easily solved by a luminosity slider. All they need to do is add that and you can make any color dull or neon.

It sounds easy to implement, but knowing SE they might have to go through x1000 spaghetti land mines to add such a feature to the character creator. If it's a decision between the new eyes or old eyes /w limbal rings, they will obviously just pick new eyes and not spend the effort implementing glow.