Updated benchmark

[Irishfae]

It's so weird but across the races Face 4's seem to have taken the most dramatic changes. I can see it really clearly here on your au'ra that the whole head/face is squashed vertically by like 5%. My miqo has the same problem. T____T

I was seeing the exact same thing with female face 4s across races too. Very strange.

[riani]

Please forgive me quoting myself, but I was intrigued what changes have caused my character to be this different for me.

Current - Bench 1.0 - Bench 1.1:

Here are my investigations, which made me accept the changes more readily.






Anatomically I don't believe there is anything to pinpoint. Maybe there is a slight tilt of the head, maybe the shape of the forehead is a little different, or maybe the lips are more uniquely defined in the original or more plump in the new, but I believe it's mostly - if not entirely - the new lighting that is causing me to perceive the face to be different, shorter for example. (And the skin shade change doesn't help, but that's not an issue and could be easily adjusted, if I wanted.)

Otherwise, I believe there are 2 main differences and 1 minor in the textures:
- outer eye shape: on the original both the eyeliner line and the embedded shadow above it go upwards, and in the benchmark, downwards.
- inner eye texture (minor): on the original, the inner eye looks more open, as the texture lines there are a little bit farther away from the actual white of the eyes and they go more upwards there than out.
- mouth: (the mouth is open in the original and) both lips have a more unique shape. Also in the original the mouth is wider, because the texture didn't seem to end at the actual corner of the mouth. - I think it was the right choice to correct this last bit though.

So overall I do think it would approximate the original character (and personality) more if the texture around the eyes were tweaked - opening up the inner parts and lifting the outer. The mouth could be tweaked as well so that it would be more unique, but I don't think it would change the face as much as the eyes.

But otherwise, I do believe they made good and realistic choices to upgrade the character. Maybe all we have to do is to get used to those parts that seem different. (And maybe, just maybe hope the devs consider some little tweaks )

[Oizen]

I like going through this thread and playing spot the difference games with people's pictures only to conclude they're 99.99% the exact same image.

[Leon-Valeren]

definitely not a fan of the changed miqo faces, they all now smile by default which takes away the neutral or even grumpy expression. also male miqo have rather dead eyes, especially seeker have it bad with their eye slit not being visible anymore

male miqo comparison
https://imgur.com/gallery/benchmark-...face-4-9WVqYkt

fem miqo comparison
https://imgur.com/gallery/endwalker-benchmark-BZihhdB



my au'ra character got heavy eyebags now. i can see the charm of them but personally it makes me think she looks tired all the time and i wish it was a toggle or another option rather than the default for the droopy eyes

benchmark:
https://imgur.com/gallery/aura-eyebags-cyi54nf

endwalker:
https://imgur.com/gallery/aura-current-73Cr5zK



i personally do like how they treated elezen but i still noticed that with the current graphics they do look younger than before? and less mature

comparison endwalker vs benchmark
https://imgur.com/gallery/moisturuzed-XnMcoD6



overall the miqo'te got it worst. everything else i might get used to but i can't imagine playing my WOL with that current look anymore

[Fortecael]

I'm only here to say I love all the changes, Elezen especially are AMAZING, Midlanders are also very good. Au Ra, Miqotes and Viera finally started to look lore accurate.

To all the people complaining, y'all should stop treating this game as second life.

[asrali]

Please forgive me quoting myself, but I was intrigued what changes have caused my character to be this different for me.


Here are my investigations, which made me accept the changes more readily.






Anatomically I don't believe there is anything to pinpoint. Maybe there is a slight tilt of the head, maybe the shape of the forehead is a little different, or maybe the lips are more uniquely defined in the original or more plump in the new, but I believe it's mostly - if not entirely - the new lighting that is causing me to perceive the face to be different, shorter for example. (And the skin shade change doesn't help, but that's not an issue and could be easily adjusted, if I wanted.)

Otherwise, I believe there are 2 main differences and 1 minor in the textures:
- outer eye shape: on the original both the eyeliner line and the embedded shadow above it go upwards, and in the benchmark, downwards.
- inner eye texture (minor): on the original, the inner eye looks more open, as the texture lines there are a little bit farther away from the actual white of the eyes and they go more upwards there than out.
- mouth: (the mouth is open in the original and) both lips have a more unique shape. Also in the original the mouth is wider, because the texture didn't seem to end at the actual corner of the mouth. - I think it was the right choice to correct this last bit though.

So overall I do think it would approximate the original character (and personality) more if the texture around the eyes were tweaked - opening up the inner parts and lifting the outer. The mouth could be tweaked as well so that it would be more unique, but I don't think it would change the face as much as the eyes.

But otherwise, I do believe they made good and realistic choices to upgrade the character. Maybe all we have to do is to get used to those parts that seem different. (And maybe, just maybe hope the devs consider some little tweaks )

You detailled your post so well, I wholeheartedly agree!

[Reinha]

I like going through this thread and playing spot the difference games with people's pictures only to conclude they're 99.99% the exact same image.

I mean if you can't find the differences when they are outlined and drawn for you I'm glad you're not in charge of the graphical update. More competent people are handling that. We would've never gotten the second benchmark and fixes if the devs weren't able to spot what kind of changes people wanted.

[Doozer]

I like going through this thread and playing spot the difference games with people's pictures only to conclude they're 99.99% the exact same image.

And the 0.01% matters to people. Again, this is a feedback thread. People are giving their feedback, even if you think it's pointless.

[Irishfae]

At risk of feeding trolls, I would just like to say that some of us care. Some of us have spent years and thousands of hours looking at our characters (not implying that those who haven't have any less attachment to their characters) and some of these changes, while they may not seem like a lot to someone who hasn't spent all that time with a specific character model, to those of us who have (and who care) some of the differences (just small changes to the lines) completely change how the character looks. And those tiny changes make it feel like a completely different character.

There are some models I think look really nice now, but I don't play them and I know that those who do, are going to see all the things that were changed. I'm not going to go around telling them that they are wrong and that they should just deal with it. If you can't see the difference, that's fine, but don't complain that others are pointing out the changes that make their characters look and feel different.

[riani]

You detailled your post so well, I wholeheartedly agree!

Thank you!
I've posted it on the Japanese forum as well, giving us highlanders a little bit more exposure