7.0 Graphic Update - Observation about Gamma Correction effect on the WoL

[Anthodev]

Today i read several threads about people commenting on how their characters from Endwalker look quite different on the Dawntrail Benchmark Character Creator.

While a part is absolutely right about the changes about the geometry changes/bugs and others apparently missing/bugged parts of the faces (and that several of the feedbacks may be fixed before the release), i think that few criticisms are not quite fair but that's also potentially the fault of Square Enix not communicating correctly about one thing.

I obviously talk about the color change on the character, on (potentially) both skin and hair, but the thing is that i can be often easily fixed by the player in these instances.

The issue that several players observed is that the skin color or/and hair are not the same from Endwalker. And after looking myself, it may be the result of three things:
- The subsurface scattering (SSS) which allow the light to penetrate the surfaces
- The gamma correction applied to the game
- The new lighting system/layout

About the first point, from Dawntrail, the light will behave differently on the WoL than before since it'll not stop on the barrier of the skin. It'll penetrate it and diffuse itself under the skin which will altering the colour range of the skin.

And the most interesting, is the convergeance between the gamma correction and the new light system. The skin color has not quite the same colour than in pre-DT:



Part of that is the light system in pre-DT that is way more delimited on the skin which has a big difference on how we perceive it. Also at default value (gamma correction at 50), the skin on DT seems a bit lighter than in pre-DT because of the mix of the SSS, new lighting system and the GC.

And when you scroll down to 0 for the GC, in DT it still seems a bit lighter than pre-DT on the same setting.

Yet on both settings, the lights are way more diffused naturally in DT than in EW on the face, so i would guess it'll be a net gain in most situation (either gameplay or cinematic). But it give the impression that the geometry of the head has changed (which is not really the case in my case)

The effect is even more noticeable up-close:



At the end, while DT at GC 50 is lighter than EW, it looks like that DT at GC 0 is like 80% of EW GC 0 (well on the skin color only).

So my advice would be that if you notice a change on your skin color/hair, you should tweak the gamma correction setting and/or move a step about the color you use. Also on a calibrated monitor/TV, you should put the GC at 0 (to get the true colors).

And for a more general feedback, after tweaking the GC, in my case, i find that the changes made give quite a glow up to my WoL

[Anthodev]

Also while the hair may not appear black (if black is the selected color) in the character creator, they look very dark if the gamma correction is set correctly during the benchmark:



The different between the benchmark and the character creator may be because of the lighing layout in the creator. It could also be a bug that may be fixed for the release