Updated benchmark

[Khryseis_Astra]

Other than a couple minor things, my Lala definitely looks more like herself in the new benchmark.



And my Highlander got even better! Everything that changed on her was a plus.

[Sjofn]

So generally speaking, I think my characters look great. I only have one complaint about my elezen dude:



Now grant you, this neck seam/surprisingly sharp adam's apple is still miles better than the current elezen neck seam, but ideally there'd not be a seam at all, you know? Still, that feels pretty minor overall.

I am much more concerned about my face 4 hyur dude's problem:



So his facial hair is much lighter/thinner than in the current game, and I don't love it. I could live with it, though, if it didn't ... turn black at certain angles, in certain lighting:



That straight up looks bugged to me. Especially since other times he's close up and in shadow, it looks like how I think it's supposed to:



Right now I'm crossing my fingers that it's just that one specific scene and that one specific set of lighting messing it up, but since it looks so, so unintended, I really needed to wave my arms about it somewhere.

[moodud]

I am much more concerned about my face 4 hyur dude's problem:



So his facial hair is much lighter/thinner than in the current game, and I don't love it. I could live with it, though, if it didn't ... turn black at certain angles, in certain lighting:

I think the beard is broken, it hasn't been updated like the rest so it's acting weird. I have the same problem too for my character, and some other faces.

Some updated beards for reference:

Hope we get the fixes before launch

[Tahli]

Some pros in my opinion: Visible upgrade from current ingame graphics, more HD than previous benchmark, Mooncat fangs returned!! Improved mouth shape using emotes compared to current ingame, my character's face (Moon Miqo face 2) has nostril textures now! Less "waxy" in some lightings like Thanalan compared to previous benchmark. Lip gloss reacquired.

Some cons in my opinion: I liked the softer eyebrow shading of the previous benchmark better. I preferred the darker upper eyelid makeup of the previous benchmark and wish it was an option to toggle on in the new one. The pupils seemed a little darker in the previous version too, and I felt it gave a nice "black cat with big round void eyes" sort of look (and I actually liked less eye shine). Not sure if it was intentional or just missing shading, but I also liked how the iris colors popped more in the previous benchmark, like they were faintly glowing -- the new irises are a bit dulled from shading at some angles, and have uncannily distinct "lines".


Current ingame -- Benchmark 1 (April) -- Benchmark 1.1 (June)

[Huntress]

There are a few good things about the benchmark and some bad... for me the bad is my girl just doesn't look the same. Her face doesn't give the same expression, The first image is Currently how she looks in game the other is the benchmark, the expression mainly THE EYES are just wrong, before she looked relaxed and now well looks like she scared (or been through some stuff which yeah warrior of light and all but ugh I hate it) I feel the makeup/eyeliner we can toggle on is lighter and caused her to lose a great deal of look to the eyes, as darker liner really can make white eyes stand out, with it more muted looking a bit gray in the eyeliner/makeup it loses the effect it had.

Also even turning gamma down my hair still isn't jet black like it use to be it drives me nuts, years and years of playing and now I might just have to completely make a new character as I just can't take the look of her eyes.

[aph]

I did not get to compare with 1.0 but I compared 1.1 vs live; https://imgsli.com/MjY5Nzcw/0/1



I think his eyes look a bit dead.. eyes lips and nose are different shapes as well. I explained it in another thread but eh. i suppose it's a work in progress (I hope). It's an improvement from 1.0 so that's good.

[BeoCat]

I did not get to compare with 1.0 but I compared 1.1 vs live; https://imgsli.com/MjY5Nzcw/0/1



I think his eyes look a bit dead.. eyes lips and nose are different shapes as well. I explained it in another thread but eh. i suppose it's a work in progress (I hope). It's an improvement from 1.0 so that's good.

The eye reflections are lightsource dependant. Your lightsource is on his left which is why on the frontal shot there's no glow but on the side shot there's significantly more glowing.

[CecMiller]

Just in case the SE team only see this thread due to the billion of other threads:

Thank you for the Benchmark changes.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are still existing issues in the design of Au Ra. It seems Au Ra changes were largely ignored.

1. The pupils are too big/dilated. They were small originally. This changes the look of the character. It also blends in too well with the base colour of the iris which is a bigger problem for male Au Ra than female. Please change this back or add an option for the pupils to be big or small.

2. The colours of the umbral ring are more darked and cannot be easily replaced. My character was directly imported, and the colour is significantly darker. This colour can no longer be replicated as there are not many colours for blue. This blue was important as it represented the colour we’ve seen come up in the story multiple times with significant story relevance.

3. The lips are no longer upturned at the corners. This makes the characters expression change from slightly happy to neutral or expressionless.

4. The eye liner is less harsh. The eye liner above the eye lids has been reduced and changes the look of the eyes for many faces.

There are more issues, but I feel these are most pressing for my own Au Ra.

Before and after Slider: https://imgsli.com/MjY5Mzcx



If you're interested in the story relevance I'm pointing at in point #2 (posted in another thread by SchwarzwaelderTorte):

[Domina]

Posted this in another thread but just adding mine to the pile in the hopes the feedback will actually be passed on.
Far away:


Close up:


The main gripes being the eyes shapes being more rounded rather than angular/sharper.

The eyebrows being less defined on lighter hair tones when mixed with certain hairstyles makes it look like you have no eyebrows.

The upper eyelashes being trimmed, I would like to see it similar to how it is in the current game as the change makes the eyes look rounder as well.

I think these issues might seem miniscule up close but as soon as you zoom out they become more pronounced. This is Viera face 1

[kikovoras]

I like the benchmark update - the lighting, especially, is 100 times better and more pleasing to the eye. I play a male Viera (Rava). My main issues with the 1st benchmark were the flatness of the face, the dead eyes, and the weird lip colour/lipstick. Thankfully, these aspects have been updated. However, one thing I actually *enjoyed* in the 1st benchmark was that for the face I use (male Viera face nr 3) they darkened the nose shading. But in the updated benchmark, I was disappointed to see that it's practically gone now. It's barely visible on pale characters, let alone on darker-skinned ones.

BASE GAME/NO BENCHMARK



BENCHMARK 1



BENCHMARK 2



Nose shading is practically gone. And not only on dark skin. Here's my friend's Viera, same face:



Here is my female Viera character for comparison (note how much lighter the nostril area is):



I am aware of the fact that some people complained about the nose shading being "too dark" in benchmark 1 - however, getting rid of it/making it barely visible is not the way to go. I love how Viera are designed as a race and their noses are a unique racial trait - if one wishes to remove that trait, then they are no longer Viera, but simply a Hyur with bunny ears. To me, it's the equivalent of getting rid of the scales on Au'Ra or removing fangs from Miqo'te.

There is a nose shading toggle for face 1 - I think the solution for this nose fiasco would be adding a nose shading toggle for ALL faces, both Rava and Veena.

I think it's imperative to take into consideration how character-building shows on darker skin. A lot of details disappear or are barely visible once you choose anything that's not pale skin.