Benchmark/Graphics Update - Lip shape concern and eyes

[arianami]

I think everyone is experiencing some growing pains with the differences of their wols, especially some of us who have been playing for a decade now, I lucked out with my wols and for the most part they look great I think I just wanted to share a few of my issues since it seems like the best time to do so now that I can see my character in detail with the update.

I think one of the main issues I have is the mouth shape seeming too altered, I don't know if the shadow is just lesser in general but I would love to see more definition in the mouth via the textures/normals, I drew out an example here of how I feel like a lot of the lips look before and after.



Here's my bunny in the benchmark, at some angles you can see the mouth definition but head on I feel like its lost (I think that little bump on the center of the upperlip is called a tubercule?)



and here is another users bunny who i felt showed a more extreme version of the difference



My second issue is the eyes, I think the real time eye catchlights work well in some case but others the eyes look a bit dead, I am not sure if there is a way to find a middle ground with the eyes to make sure they look alive without it simply returning to the original appearance.

My third issue again is the saturation of the tones in the game, I find there is some colour lost in the hair/skin that I miss especially with deep tones that I feel should be more saturated or deeper. I think also maybe some faces should have more defined features in general, I think the new shadows are great but I think the loss of definition in some aspects of the faces is what people are having an issue with.

I think a lot of the updates are great and definitely breath life into the models a lot more, I appreciate the removal of the black/stark shadows that often swallowed characters faces a lot and I love the updates to the tongue/teeth (though the moon miqo'tes fangs should be longer I feel) keep up the good work team I hope you see this and listen to our feedback because while I love the move towards the graphics update people don't want to lose their wols.

Lalafells look pretty great though also no notes

[SpiritMuse]

My main issue with the eyes, and this seems to be happening on Viera and Elezen the most, is that the top half is way too dark compared to the bottom half, which makes pupils indistinct and makes eyes look half closed which gives the character a very different expression.

Like left and right here does not have the same energy/personality, even though all the settings are exactly the same. And there is no setting that can change this, because all eyes look like this. If this is not adjusted, my character that I've been for almost 10 years is effectively dead.

[Evergrey]

Not going to say that what you've mentioned is wrong.
Googling "lips" more than not are more similar to the straight line instead of the curvy one.
So I can only guess that they were looking for a more realistic shape?
Not that all lips are straight, ofc.
It's just my guess from the top of my head.

[arianami]

My main issue with the eyes, and this seems to be happening on Viera and Elezen the most, is that the top half is way too dark compared to the bottom half, which makes pupils indistinct and makes eyes look half closed which gives the character a very different expression.

Like left and right here does not have the same energy/personality, even though all the settings are exactly the same. And there is no setting that can change this, because all eyes look like this. If this is not adjusted, my character that I've been for almost 10 years is effectively dead.

I can see what you mean but I think it would be fixed with the catchlight being enhanced a bit and maybe the shadow being lightened slightly, i think the original is what we're used to but I do think in retrospect the original is very, very flat, so i think striking a balance here is what's needed.

[Zeastria]

MY biggest issue lies with the eyebrows , yes there are more..
but the eyebrows bother me the most (at least on Viera).. just look how bright they are!!!!.
I managed to fix the mouth issue, by using lighter lip colour..to hide it

[SpiritMuse]

I can see what you mean but I think it would be fixed with the catchlight being enhanced a bit and maybe the shadow being lightened slightly, i think the original is what we're used to but I do think in retrospect the original is very, very flat, so i think striking a balance here is what's needed.

Definitely, the highlight needs to be reintroduced and the shadow needs to be lightened significantly. Right now it's so dark it blends right into the eyelashes, which is what is making the eyes look half closed instead of open. Even in real life eyeballs don't get shade that dark, unless lighting is really extreme.

[arianami]

I agree I think the eyebrows in default should be a shade or two darker than the actual hair colour, because blonde eyebrows now look even crazier than dark brows

[arianami]

Just a quick edit of what I mean for Viera, I think the brows should be more defined too for the record but didn't edit that in this lol


BEFORE:


AFTER:

[suikka]

I noticed this on my viera too and thought I was just going crazy; I'm lucky that he otherwise looks great and not all that different from his old self but I'm gonna be a little sad if he loses his beautiful mouth shape

[arianami]

Not going to say that what you've mentioned is wrong.
Googling "lips" more than not are more similar to the straight line instead of the curvy one.
So I can only guess that they were looking for a more realistic shape?
Not that all lips are straight, ofc.
It's just my guess from the top of my head.

some people do have a straighter mouth line even in the original graphics in ffxiv but viera specifically have that part of the mouth defined so it being removed/lessened pretty drastically changes the mouth shape