Updated benchmark

[programcanaan]

It's a nice improvement over the first benchmark, but my Viera (face 4) still looks odd compared to the original.

I absolutely love her original lips, but now the soft cupid's bow is quite harsh and the lipstick looks too filled in the corners. The nose is also too wide compared to before but at least I can fix that with the fantasia.

Thank you for the very honest comparison.
When I first heard about the graphical update I have to admit i was already initially concerned with how the character team was going to interpret Viera face 4. It's very hard for me to believe the team is earnestly going for 1:1 translation with the graphical update (Like Yoshi claimed they were... but he claims a lot). If the team wanted to add new flavor to races they should've added more eyes, noses, mouths, and even faces (Highlander Male Eyebrows/Eyebrow Color as well...).

I've been patient, no more.

[BeoCat]

Here's my 2 bits of observations i guess, i'm generally fine with what they've done.


Pros:

• overall lip shape improved
• eye-shape and reflections improved
• skintones and skin-textures are better.
• neck shape improved.

Cons:

• Global illumination decreased and more natural looking soft shadows replaced with harder more EW type shadows because people were complaining about flat looking scenes.
• Certain hairstyles that used to have a self casted shadow, no longer have it as a byproduct of the above change
• Visible neck seams on some race/face combos

I'm sure stuff will get finetuned until the end, so again thank you dev team for your efforts.

[Reinha]

This is my main in the old version of the benchmark and in the live game's character creation mode.


And here is the new benchmark version.


+ The lighting and shadows have been greatly improved compared to both the live game and the old benchmark
+ Eyes have a shine to them again and they look alive
+ The lips look three dimensional again
+ A smaller portion of the ear turns pink, giving a more natural look
+ Eye liner makeup has been made closer to the original and not so heavy
+ Hair quality is better
+ The skin doesn't have a green undertone like in the first benchmark

- Nostril shape / side of the nose has changed?
- Lip shape is still different and smaller compared to the original
- Lips are less glossy than in the live game
- Eyebrows are still light and not black

I'm too lazy to post my alts but they feel mostly the same to me compared to the first benchmark. My male Hroth is manlier (+), my female Roe is prettier (+), and my male Duskwight Elezen has tired eye bags (-). I don't play those characters much so it's all the same to me. My female Elezen undeniably has better graphics but she still doesn't look quite like herself, regardless of lighting conditions. I think it boils down to the eyebrow color and lip shape being different from the original.

My overall thoughts about the update are that the changes in the new benchmark had the intended effect: to improve the graphical quality of the game. This was not achieved in the first benchmark, so I'm very thankful to the devs for making these adjustments. They addressed a lot of concerns people had about their characters and fixed some unintended bugs too. This new version actually looks like it is ready for launch. Additionally, the changes made to character creation lighting conditions and fantasia potions are excellent!

[Mecia]

Further improvements but very subtle this time and in this lighting. Mouth corners are still pulled up.
EW>BM1>BM1.1

[PaulusHamsteru]

My midlander still looks weird. His eyebrows are also a lot thinner. I'll post some comparison pics later, but I definitely prefer the older model.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

See the thing is, they basically "fixed" the cheeks on face 5 now which makes him look even younger. Funnily enough, the face 5 in the og bench was the closest to the current which is gone now lol. I honestly cannot even tell why he looks like his personality changed... I feel like it's the eyes but I cannot point it out. Maybe it's the added realism to the style.

It's especially visible on the wide shot[...]

Few parts that immediately stands out to my eyes whether or not this may be relevant to your interpretation:

1. His ala (aka nose's 'wings'; the side of his nose that connects to his cheeks) are larger on 6.58 compared to DT 2.0.
2. Nasolabial folds (his cheeks folds) are more profound in DT 2.0.
3. His eye shapes went from somewhat rounded almond to thinner almond eyes.

Those same parts happen to be similar issues on my WoL. Face paint is applied to get a better look on the shapes. He comes with Face 7 - Eyebrows #2 - Eye Shape #5 - Nose #6:


On top of that list, his eyebrow shape has been altered as well. Looking at how Face 5 got reverted makes me wanting to consider going back to Face 5... but for now I'll see whether I vibe with new Face 7 If not, well it's been a good ride since 6.0... At this point I doubt they'll change anything about it.

Either add age slider or give Face 5 the option to use same stubble that Face 7 has.. that's all I want at this point lol.

[SpiritMuse]

I think for the most part it's an improvement. The eyes looks less dark and empty and "evil", and the waxiness of the skin is pretty much completely removed by the new lighting.


However, when put in certain lighting... we do get a permafrown revealed that he did not used to have. Although to some extent Elezen have always looked a little wonky in certain types of lighting, so I can live with this, probably.


His lips are still slightly the wrong shape, and that does not matter much to me personally but I can imagine others might have more issues with it.


The one thing that absolutely still needs to be fixed is that Duskwight Elezen still have an incorrect face texture for face 2, 3 and possibly 4, taken from Wildwood, that gives them dark circles under the eyes that they never used to have. I think that will make a lot of difference in the "friendliness" of the face, too.

[strawberrywine]

never thought I'll be complaining about the most basic male miqo and here I am

hoped this minor feature will be fixed in the new benchmark, but alas. type 3 mouth got flattened as hell in the first bench, it got better in the second one... well, a bit. upper lip is still nonexistent. I wish there was a fuller mouth option, but there just isn't!

(pardon my hand drawn paintover, i tried)





this isn't MUCH, my character looks nice overall, and still I'm kinda sad. his funny lips are somewhat like a defining face feature for me. guess my catto ran out of money for lip botox idk lmao

[Kindred008]

Much more happy with the new benchmark! It's not perfect but so much better and many of my issues have been addressed. My character looks like her old self again, instead of what she looked like in the original benchmark. Thankyou for listening Square Enix!!

Current:


Old benchmark:


New benchmark:

[Fourbestintoner]

They didn't fix the issues with face 1-2 femras horns.