[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

[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.

[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.

[Saraide]

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

[Genbe197]

I am not a fan of this change, right now you can achieve the contrast subtley of the second after photo by making the limbal ring a darker color. They also ruined Dunesfolk lalafell eyes, they went from a kind of otherworldy pale shade to puppy dog eyes...It really irritates me.

[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.

[LianaThorne]

Model on the Elezen is the same, the textures are very different and that's why it looks like model changes. If you look closely, the eye shape and chin haven't changed shape, just been smoothed out with the upgraded skin textures.

The nose also looks like its been given more highlight and smoothing around the tip so it doesn't look as dark/shadowy as the before model.

It's just makeup 101 here basically.

[Yencat]

For some reason Elezen have always looked extra scuffed when it comes to how the light and shadows hit the face so I'm not surprised the upgrade looks more drastic on them.

It's good to raise concerns early on though so they can potentially tinker with it more like they did with the shiny Au Ra scales and horns.

[Larirawiel]

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

Yep. Maybe one of the graphical designers has still a RROD trauma and they removed everything, which looks like a LED ring. xD


Cheers