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

[ConantSivrha]

The graphics update is definitely going to make characters look different. I think it's an improvement overall, though---the characters, though they look different, also look more like living beings. The best thing they can do, in my opinion, is give everyone a fantasia with the update.

On the limbal rings, specifically: my prediction is that limbal rings that are white or almost white (on the color selector) will stay mostly the same (on the character) before and after the graphics update. Meanwhile, limbal rings of darker and more saturated colors (on the color selector) will change (on the character) to look more like the color shown on the color selector. Right now, a lot of limbal ring colors look near-white on the character (especially yellows and oranges) even if they look saturated on the color selector. Effectively, players have been without the option to give their au ra characters rich yellow and orange limbal rings, and now we might finally be getting that option. Admittedly, it's an optimistic prediction, but it's the choice that makes the most sense to me.

In general, it seems like characters' eyes are getting the riskiest changes. It's most obvious with au ra, but the eyes of other races look different too. They look good, when considered on their own, but they all seem to have changed color (compared to the before picture) in some noticeable way. Some that look light in the "before" pictures look dark in the "after" pictures, and some seem to have changed the other way, going from dark to light. Some seem more muted and others seem to have more intense colors. Even I think it's a bit concerning...the apparent randomness is what bugs me, more than anything.

[Iscah]

In general, it seems like characters' eyes are getting the riskiest changes. It's most obvious with au ra, but the eyes of other races look different too. They look good, when considered on their own, but they all seem to have changed color (compared to the before picture) in some noticeable way. Some that look light in the "before" pictures look dark in the "after" pictures, and some seem to have changed the other way, going from dark to light. Some seem more muted and others seem to have more intense colors. Even I think it's a bit concerning...the apparent randomness is what bugs me, more than anything.

I hope the overall movement will be towards more eye colours that look "right" for eyes. There seems to be very little middle ground between "too pale" and "too intense" for any given colour.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Hello it's benchmark day and I'm bringing this thread back from the dead ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

Once again I'm mostly focusing on eyes (mainly Au ra ones), I see there is another thread where people seem to be talking about Au ra lips and faces, so I wanted to keep the two matters separate.

So. Here are my comparisons.



As you can see, importing directly the character presets I currently have in 6.58 was a huge change, and my first impression was honestly shock and disappointment. The glowing limbal ring is barely visible with this color combination, and all contrast has been lost. I thought I would never be able to get my character again past 7.0.

By picking the next shade in the color palette, however, I was able to get something relatively similar, but it still feels like the light has gone from the limbal ring (even if, yes, technically, it glows in the dark, I checked).

It looks a little better in the benchmark itself, so it might be affected by the environment and lighting, but I'm a little sad that this means that the glowing limbal ring will look more or less visible in cutscenes, gpose and such, when until now it was always visible, sharp and striking, even from a distance.

Then comes another problem: I am aware that the shader used on the 6.58 limbal ring does not perfectly follow the color palette that is assigned to it, but that allows us to use colors that are not currently provided by the color palette, in this case a turquoise/cyan.

That shade of cyan also happens to be a color that is widely used in FFXIV (the Hydaelyn crystal, aetherytes, the eyes of several important NPCs, etc), and that is exactly why I had chosen these color settings when I made this character... (Warrior of Light etc, you get it)

So having them "upgraded" to a greenish teal is honestly disappointing. It respectfully follows the shade selected on the color palette, which I guess makes it less frustrating for some new players, but it does not respect the promise of "we won't change your character".

I think it's also high time that the color palette gets an upgrade too.



As you can see, there is very little diversity in the blue-green area, especially compared to yellow and orange. Pink is also not very well represented here, it quickly goes from purple to desaturated red. It would be nice to get more options there.

Hair color wise, I think we're also crucially missing more shades of brown, as well as more saturated colors. If you take the reddest shade of red, red hair will still look faded. If I remember correctly, the All Saints' Wake NPCs (the clown and his wife) have more saturated hair colors that are not currently available to players, so it would be nice if we too could be allowed to have more colorful hair.

I know the trend nowadays is to put RGB sliders and HEX codes in character creators, but I don't think it's necessary here (and I imagine these presets exist due to technical limitations and memory issues). So I would only like to request that we keep using the existing color palette, but that we get more options (and preferably colors that mimic the ones that used to be available on limbal rings).

I think this would both fix this issue, as well as satisfy all players, especially with a free Fantasia on the way. More options to choose from is always better. (also, it's Hyadelyn blue, come on, how can we not have the Hydaelyn blue)

I know this might seem like a very niche issue, and the dev team probably has a lot of other things on their plate already, but I wanted to bring it up nonetheless. I'm also curious to see what everyone's limbal rings look like in the benchmark, so please share comparative screenshots if you can!

[chizLemons]

I have to disagree with you about the benchmark. I feel like they listened to the feedback and it's glowing much more than before, and the colors don't look all that different. The one thing I noticed is that it just blends with the rest of the eye more than before, but I can get used to that. I'm very happy with the changes personally. Besides, you can change the limbal ring color as much as you want without a fantasia, so tweaking until you find the perfect color for you wouldn't be an issue. The glow IS there, and it's very noticeable during the Benchmark cutscenes!

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

tweaking until you find the perfect color for you wouldn't be an issue

well I've just explained why it is an issue and why the color palette should be improved, the perfect color simply isn't available in the character creator anymore...

I've been looking at other threads and I'm starting to think this is something that's affecting blue-green eyed Au ras the most.

Blue-green eyed Au ras examples:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Other colored eyes examples:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4

It could also be, as I said, because we simply have less shades to choose from so we're not able to tweak it as much as other eye colors.

If I take chizLemon's Au ra for example, you have red eyes:



... You have to admit that you have more range to find "the perfect color" in the red hues than in the cyan ones. If you want an actual blue it's the same story, you only have 2-3 rows before it goes into full purple or full green. And then if you want glowing limbal rings of that color you really only have 6 choices (and I'm being generous, the lightest shades are both very white and barely distinguishable from one another).

[GTK0HLK]

I guess i mostly lucked out on the Pink/Purple-Iris/slight red range.

(or im just slowly trying to convince myself/cope that everything is alright.)

depends on how much lighting hits, since Purples are blue/red.

in my case some are brighter and darker depending on the angle/zone/light angle.

mixed with the changes of how shadow works on the face. (the shadow from character noses being more obvious. i really need to check my alts, not out of worry, but more of curiosity.)

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