Viera Changes

[RulerKelso]

The character creator has notoriously bad lighting. Predominate theory I've seen floating around is the chargen lighting hasn't been fully updated to be compatible with the new textures, which reflects what I've seen in my benchmark. Does she still seem blue in the benchmark trailer?

Ye, I hope so. Otherwise i will look like a Smurf in Limsa Lominsa

So perusing the JP megathread some posters over there have posted some really good feedback/breakdowns/edits of the changes that I think y'all might appreciate putting your eyes on.[

Lets hope that "sausage lips" and "dead eyes" are just temporal bugs and will be fixed until release. Did not found any nice lips in the benchmark CC fitting for this face (F Viera face1) which reminds the original lips shape im using now.
They would not just make such illogical changes unless neccessary.

[Cornet]

I've not had my bun alt for very long, so when I first loaded her I thought her eyes looked a bit odd, but largely looked okay. I moved the eye colour over a notch and swapped the lip colour (see the change from the 1st cap to the 2nd cap) which seemed to improve things. But then I saw the chatter about the bun changes, so I dove into comparing properly and oh. Oh. Oh. Ooph. The change is very noticeable on my bun. She's face 3 with type 4 eyes.





The changes have sure made her expression go from fairly bright looking to really rather apathetic/blank. The changes to the lips also feels kinda baffling.

Closer inspection reveals a dark stroke has been added to the underside of the upper eyelid... (And the lashes seem to have been made to be less perfect? From what it appears?) Could it cause, idk... some kinda dark cast on the eyeball or something? o.Oa 3d modelling isn't in my wheelhouse, so take my thought with a bucket of salt, but seems like it's involved. lol



Anyhoo, I can't imagine they aren't taking in the feedback, so I live in hope these will be things can and will addressed.

[boopadoop]

Sharing my character in all environments to show the difference the lighting makes. The update improves shadows and lighting in some environments but it's definitely lacking in others.

Gallery:
https://imgur.com/1nrWg1j

The Inn and La Noscea environments actually showcase beautiful new renderings--the lips definition is still there, I'm overall very happy except for the pupil size change!

The Aetherial Sea, Thanalan and Shroud environments show an entirely different character, imo. The lips lose definitely, the facial structure is flattened and the eyes look dull and harsh at the same time.

Makes me wonder if this is just a lighting issue? That said, I really do hope the devs see the feedback about Veena pupil size and fix this because I adore my original characters eyes! They really define her whole face and the new eyes give her a whole different vibe somehow.

Very interesting to see how drastically the lighting changes the whole look and feel of the face, especially when you can see in the original (current) graphics that facial structure isn't affected as much.

i do think the lightning in areas other than the blue aetherial sea is the biggest issue and that if they updated/changed/fixed/provided a better setting with updated lighting to previews a lot of things wouldn't look nearly as bad <3

[matthiolaincana]

I like the eye changes but I do not like how different the nose looks. It looks like the marking changed on it makes it look like a different shape.

[Etterna]

Aside from the lip gloss and maybe the nose, I think my bun turned out ok. Tho I wish for less eye shadow in the eye, and a bit more light shimmer in the eyes, just feels a bit weird.

[EBlaidd]

I am very, probably too much, in love with how my character looks currently. To me, he is perfect in every way. Most of the time I spend in game, outside of battle, I am simply enjoying and appreciating his beauty. It hit me very hard to see how different he looked. My favorite things about his dramatic eyes and lips are muted or ironed away.

All feedback here applies to Male Viera, Veena, Face 4

Main issues:

• Eye size/shape: eyes appear smaller in 7.0 benchmark vs 6.0. The key feature of a larger eye is now lost, because the prominent eyelid is gone, makeup is softened, and shape appears to have been changed slightly in the inner corner to a closer, more downward slanting shape.
• Lip shape: lips appear flatter and more rounded in 7.0 vs 6.0 which removes their unique character and distinct look. The shape of the lip color is also very different and much more opaque, the matte texture contributes to the flat appearance.
• Lower eyelash Facial Feature: lower eyelash feature is black in 6.0 and matches hair in 7.0, which changes the look of the eye very drastically on light-haired characters from what we are used to and contributes to the smaller look of the eye. Black lashes are what we are used to with this face.
• Eyeliner Tattoo: not as large nor as prominent in 7.0 vs 6.0. Eyeliner has become smaller and less noticeable. Contributes to the overall smaller and weaker appearance of the eyes.

As someone who likes extremes and dramatic visuals, who chose Face 4 for these Michael-angelo-esque details in the first place, I hope that these issues can be considered. I currently use all these features at max value, so there is no upward adjustment I can make to increase their intensity.

These features together as they are in Endwalker lend a classical beauty to male viera Face 4 that I hope can be preserved with some changes. Whoever designed this face did so lovingly and with amazing talent, and I hope that their artistic vision and hard work can be preserved.

Thank you to the Devs for your time and consideration.

[LathyrusLoon]

My boy's eyelashes aren't at all prominent anymore and his little smirk is gone. TxT

[MomoMaru]

Hi! It's my turn to contribute to constructive criticism here.

First: Though I do understand the numerous complaints about both genders of Viera, I really like how my female bun looks. I won't include a before/after of her because she's not my concern.
My concern lies within my male Viera, my main, my boy.

The primary concern is with the lips. It looks like he has lipstick on-- or as my friend put it, my character "actually has lips now". I honestly think this looks like an odd change for lighter skin toned Viera and could use a touch-up.
I'm not a 3D modeler so my only guess is the color of the lips and maybe the gloss? I wish I could give better suggestions other than that, but my experience with this topic is tiny. The best I can say is make the color of the lips closer to the skin tone so it doesn't look like lipstick
(Face 2 Male Viera, by the way)

(<-- Normal | Benchmark-->)


(Here's a picture of my boy within the benchmark cinematic so mayhap you'll have a better reference of what I mean by 'lipstick' -- This is with No lip color, by the way)


\|/ With Lip color adjusted (I attempted to make it more like what I expected no lip color to look like)


Even if changing lip color via the character creation fixes it a bit, I still feel like the lips in general could use a slight touch-up to maybe make it slight more natural appearing.

I'm sorry I can't give any specific advice. I hope this helps!

[Kouren]

Although the lips themselves have changed shape in many instances, part of the reason the "no lip color" setting looks so strange is because the gradient they used to have is almost entirely gone. It was especially prominent around the outer corners of the bottom lip. Losing the gradient in conjunction with the darker color, the difference is really stark.

[MomoMaru]

True, true. I hadn't considered the lack of gradient until now.