Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

[GrizzlyTank]

Common mistake i see with the updates is that the lips and noses didn't only get more polygons, but have been overall made smaller or more rounded.

Also noticed that the changes seemed significantly less noticeable in the benchmark video than in the character creator.

[Aporis]

I do like some changes, like models and textures, material handling, fingers and toes! But others really do need more work for the final release. Here's my findings:

• Pale skin tones look even paler now and like others have stated the lighting has made a lot of the facial features, lips, hair look more flat.
  
• Shadows are more muted and don't create as strong contrasts for hair and other features, which leads to less readable shapes. Leading to the "flat" look.
  
• Most eyes have had the edge between pupil and iris blended, which results in a more "flat" and soulless eyes. The colour of the pupil is also more grey than black. Which reduces the contrast between the iris and the pupil and makes the eye less readable.
  
• Pupils no longer have the dot highlight.
  
• Darker skin tones especially look waxy in certain lighting conditions. The added skin gloss is just too much currently. (Visible in others examples, not mine)
  
• Some racial features like Miqote clan marks, moon cat fangs have been muted and filed down.
  
• Some features have outright been changed. Some races have larger or smaller pupils in eyes for example. In my example pictures my character should have identical features, but the eyebrows are clearly different angled and length, not reaching the superciliary arch of the brow bone.

[Amarys_Soreyna]

She does look a tiny bit different, but to me she still looks beautiful and like it's her. I might have to change her lip colour, but overall I'm pleased with the updated look

Current:


Benchmark:


And two of the automatically generated shots during the benchmark:




Edit: Sorry, don't know why the first two pics turned out so bit >.<

[Somnolence]

Weird graphics "update" - face looks more blurry/low res than before

[GrizzlyTank]

Weird graphics "update" - face looks more blurry/low res than before

Makes me wonder if there is some forced AA going on.

[Somnolence]

Makes me wonder if there is some forced AA going on.

My screenshots are with forced DLAA, but obviously its not the culprit given screenshots by other people.

I bet for this graphics update they upscaled all textures with AI. And since face texture has little variations the details were smoothed out so it looks flatter now.

Also the character creator has terrible lightning, it looks better in actual benchmark:

It seems when zoomed-in we can see skin has pores now ?

Too bad the characters seem to have same amount of polygons.

[GrizzlyTank]

[*]Pupils no longer have the dot highlight.

They removed the static highlight, but added a dynamic one you can see appear when staring towards the sun.

[SpiritMuse]

I do like some changes, like models and textures, material handling, fingers and toes! But others really do need more work for the final release. Here's my findings:

• Most eyes have had the edge between pupil and iris blended, which results in a more "flat" and soulless eyes. The colour of the pupil is also more grey than black. Which reduces the contrast between the iris and the pupil and makes the eye less readable.
  
• Pupils no longer have the dot highlight.

I think both of these put together are contributing to the "soulless" look. It's for a reason that the number one way to make eyes look dull and empty in anime is to remove highlights.

[sintea]

In a way I sort of like it even though the lips are quite different.

[Flay_wind]

Hm... I am not quite sold on the plastic doll skin texture, tbh.
Also face tatto color is way more muted for some reason. I.e. it is red currently and in the benchmark it looks very pale and washed out.