[ Graphical Update Feedback ] Examples of Darker Skinned Characters/Darker Lighting

[PinkSorrel]

My char is pale af, but adding support. These screenshots are horrible TT

[Mecia]

Some of the examples in this thread arent even bad? OPs examples are clearly visible and lit how i would expect them to be. I have to wonder what kind of settings people have in game and on monitors.

Now dont get me wrong, the lighting is really bad in places and shading especially needs the updates. I would expect to see more skin tones being showed off since theyve been listening to feedback.

[XIV_Puerh]

Hello I just wanted to share my screenshots as well! Playing as a dark skinned character is simply pain to exist...




An example of my roe in costa del sol at midday. Though her hat is casting a sharp shadow, it's still wild how much her face disappears under it.


However there are some cutscenes where the lighting is great!


I think the devs specifically need be careful how they back light the player characters, especially if there is no direct source of ambient light. For cutscenes specifically I can imagine using artificial light sources to light the characters without the light being in frame would be relatively easy to accomplish. In general though it would be nice to see the dev team show more samples of their graphical updates with default models of varying skin colors (turn on that character randomizer!). Of even just do it for Erenville if they want to use an NPC.

Thank you for creating this thread! Hope more people share pics of their wols, fail screenshot of them disappearing into the void or not fail screenshot of them shining in all their glory~

[ValkyrieL]

I expect dawntrail to be released as the very last day of summer because of how many things people want change with graphics update

[Rudje]

I expect dawntrail to be released as the very last day of summer because of how many things people want change with graphics update

"Actually test on a wide range of player options" is not, in fact, a wild ask, especially when we have examples of decent lighting in places (and honestly? even with a pale character, Ultima Thule is just really badly lit). A lot of these samples could just be solved by use of more indirect lighting, which is something they've already stated they're adding to the engine, so asking that all options are actually kept in mind during testing not only isn't unreasonable, it's the expected baseline of testing in a game with heavy character customization.

[reginleif-]

It's great that the different races offer such a variety of skin tones to choose from, but we really shouldn't be having major cutscenes where main characters are so difficult to see. It's not just WoLs either - Erichthonios is a very expressive character but is difficult to see for most of the Pandaemonium raids due to how dark his surroundings are.

[...] Pandaemonium was just as bad for dark-skinned characters, and that whole questline featured dark-skinned NPCs!

Thanks for mentioning Pandaemonium! I sometimes had to turn off the lights to see faces there: the dark-skinned characters were strongly backlit and invisible against the light, or they were posed against dark surroundings and blended with them. I dug though my screenshots to illustrate the matter.

The images below show characters from the Pandaemonium raid story. Please look only if you have completed it or are fine with spoilers.
Dark-skinned NPCs in Pandaemonium-1
Dark-skinned NPCs in Pandaemonium-2

And a word about screen quality. I have a calibrated monitor with dark stabilizer and other gaming fancies. Dark locations like Ultima Thule, the Fell Court of Troia, and the Lunar Subterrane are bright and full of rich hues. But dark-skinned characters are flat dim spots.

So the topic is not a case of screen deficiency—a good screen only emphasizes the issue. Full support.

[Averax]

Here's hoping dark skinned characters are no longer banished to the void in less-optimal lighting. The new lighting/shading in general looks really good so far, so here's hoping.

I think the main issue is that character models don't reflect any ambient lighting, and i think that was a problem they mentioned addressing?

[Doragan]

Having (more) lighting options in the character creator would be nice to have, too!

[Sourcy]

I do believe they already confirmed there would be a layer of "internal" character lighting on the new models. Specifically when discussing how they made the illusion of Elezen ears appearing a bit see through. While actual confirmation would be nice, I don't think there's too much to worry about based on what they have said about how the new models will work on a technical aspect.

[Rudje]

I do believe they already confirmed there would be a layer of "internal" character lighting on the new models. Specifically when discussing how they made the illusion of Elezen ears appearing a bit see through. While actual confirmation would be nice, I don't think there's too much to worry about based on what they have said about how the new models will work on a technical aspect.

They've historically been really bad at considering how things look on anyone who isn't both pale and a normal human skin tone, even as recently as Endwalker, so forgive me for actually wanting to see examples of how the reworks look on those previously neglected skin tones instead of taking it on their word.