New Benchmark (June): Au Ra Feedback

[Blutkatze]

Facial Lighting (already there in 6.58)

Another lighting issue I found on the face are these lighting patches at the eyebrows - which have now also appeared on some other parts of the face.


(https://imgur.com/WHGBnMq)

Especially the lighting patch on the eyebrows is very prominent in 6.58, and it seemed to be fixed in BM1. It has now returned, or is more prominent then before.

Papertowel skin texture - again

This was something I had hoped to see resolved or tuned down, since the skin looks a bit more natural in CC. Once I switched to gameplay though and the camera zoomed in, I realised that the papertowel skin texture is still there.


(https://imgur.com/GbL9x8J)

It looks less grainy then before, but the dimples and effect of having 3 layers of makeup on his face still remains. I know and appeciate the efforts to give a more natural skin to characters, but the papertowel texture might be a bit too much. As mentioned it is more prominent in the gameplay state, and less in CC. So idk, maybe it will be resolved with Dawntrail release and it is a remnant of the BM1 cutscene.

Missing Lipgloss

Yeah I know, strange for a guy, but I had it on him since day 1, and honestly I miss it a bit.
The new "unglossy" version doesn't look bad though. It gives a more natural "darker" tone to the lips which I aimed for when I first added lipcolor to him.


(https://imgur.com/1551ZCn)

My ultimate wish would be that in future there would be a toggle for both lip options - have a glossy darker/lighter color or a matte one. More customisation in CC would be amazing, but that is a topic for another time.

Hair Issues

This might become a Thread of his own since I fear that is not only an Au Ra issue, but I want to mention it here as well. Some hairstyles [U]do not connect to the head.[U] They seem to float in the air, and there are some hairstyles that have lighting, texture and fitting issues.


(https://imgur.com/Nx1EFjv)


(https://imgur.com/s6SPlpz)


(https://imgur.com/M5SJTk2)

I found issues with 25+ hairtstyles, so it is a bigger issue - especially since many Male Au Ra only hairstyles are floating.

Neck Seam

Something that is not as prominent but still there: The Neck Seam.


(https://imgur.com/CG09P0g)

I hope feedback will still be seen, and that there will be more updates once Dawntrail has released. Maybe it is also a case of "getting used to it", but knowing that there are still issues (e.g. complete different morphs of the face or lips) I hope there will be an update in the future.

[MediocreIndigo]

I'm still disappointed that the mouth on Face 2 for female Au Ra still has upturned corners. It just doesn't look right.

[Irishfae]

As much as I like the idea of authentic shadows, having the horns cast shadows has the potential to ruin screenshots and overall enjoyment of your character (at least it would for me) with having an ever present dark spot on your face.

https://imgur.com/a/Hw1AkIW

Trash Horn Shadows

[lunartears]

Hello, new Au Ra thread. As opposed to complete distain in the initial benchmark, I now have some mixed feelings on the way my WoL is presented in the new graphics engine - but still not enough to warrant positive feelings over negative ones. I will highlight both my good and bad points and draw attention to some points in particular.

I will have to split this reply into two posts as I have hit the character limit.

A few photos for reference points, as usual following the Old vs New layout:







Comparisons onward are between 6.5 and Benchmark 1.1

The good:

- The way the lips blend with the skin is notably better than the original Benchmark, but only in the lighting settings shown in character creation.
- The mouth line is more prominent
- The facial structure is triangular and defined again instead of looking more like a round potato
- The benchmark felt a lot more "right" or "at home" as opposed to the half-baked version.

The bad:

Lips/Hair/Body

- The lips still appear too duck-like and plump (specifically the bottom lip)
- The lips are still too matte, but this is a point that refers to my WoL in particular (who is using light lips with white lipstick) - something that I stressed in the first benchmark threads was that my character heavily relies upon the gloss - I feel like the addition of some gloss is good, but it's still too natural looking - appearing pinkish in the entire benchmark test.
- White hair is still illuminous on certain hairstyles in aether screen and certain lighting. I have not researched fully but noticed the same problem on my Lalafell character who is using a similarly "thick face covering bangs" hairstyle.

- Au Ra scales still feel "distorted" and "simplified" as opposed to the sharp appearance in current game, this seems to be a result of an attempt to upscale the texture but has left us with messy lines and placement of shapes/patterns outright appearing differently to the current version. Notably, in the face on Face 1 (have also seen it on Face 4) the cheek and forehead scales are egregious.







* Also a good photo to show the lip changes

Eyes/Eyebrows/Eyelashes

- Eyebrows are unchanged and still too dark for my character's white hair (appearing more gray than white) - Reminds me of an attempt at turning them white as opposed to being white. This looks to be a result of eyebrows becoming visually thicker, there is no way to thin them out as all eyebrow options appear solidified.



(1/2)

[lunartears]

- Eyes generally feel too shiny and reflective, extending outside of the iris/pupil
- The new iris texture feels too "solid" and glowy as opposed to the current texture (I prefer the way eyes are "lit up" in the current game, the new one looks too bright)
- Eye colours are notably different to their appearance in 6.5, I consider this to be a downgrade.
- Like other people have said, the pupil is much larger than the current game's, this is on the "small" setting as well.



- Eyes appear to be rounded or shaped differently (extends beyond Au Ra), more noticeable on the sharper settings - to me this sticks out like a sore thumb on my WoL because I like the slight angular look of the current ones, it appears to look "squished down" in my case.
*I am using the sharpest eyes possible for Face 1, so if I wanted a rounder appearance I would choose something else. Of course, this is most likely caused by the polygon increase like most of the criticism.
- Eyelashes are shortened in some places giving off the feeling that something "isn't quite right" - noticed this on my own WoL as the eyelash flick feels much longer than it should be and the eyelid feels different in a way I can't find the words to describe.
You can however see that the angle of the upper eyelashes is upwards in 6.5 and going downwards in the Benchmark.



- To add onto the eyelashes/eyes, I also feel that the eyeliner/shadow(?) settings are not making as much as a visual difference as before - the ashy fade on the eyelid is notably missing.

(These settings)



I have also observed that my character still looks worse in the Benchmark test than in the character creation screen, if the benchmark is a representation of what to expect our character models looking like in the new zones then I can't say I am particularly excited.





Again, one of my main points of contention like the original Benchmark - is the lips in the test. I don't know if this is a result of creating animations that are more suited to Hyur rigs and therefore come off looking strange on more stylized races, but it's unfortunate.

I would like to iterate that I fully understand the hard work and sleepless nights that have gone into adjusting the benchmark as necessary, but as things stand right now I can see a wave 2 of issues (some of which that are seemingly not touched at all) like in the April benchmark. With Dawntrail on the horizon, I cannot imagine all of the dissatisfaction that people are still experiencing is going to be resolved in time to enjoy the new MSQ on release day - where our character is going to be seen quite a lot. I felt a bit of hope restored seeing the new benchmark but my overall feelings don't feel too heavily swayed and I continue to hope that somehow, some way - we can get closer to what we have right now in 6.5.

(2/2)

[Spiegelmeister]

My main issue is the larger pupil size. While some may like it, I'd prefer the at least the option for the smaller size as you lose so much of the eye color. This becomes even worse with night lighting as the limbal rings now glow, and while a neat effect, I'd really prefer having that extra 'blend space' between the limbal ring color and the pupil where it's the actual eye color. What was a soft, light color eye now looks like it's a dark one with a ring. Screencaps aren't one to one, but current game to 1.1 benchmark.

Need more iris color to blend between limbal ring and pupil. (I.e. smaller pupil.)
https://ibb.co/SyW7wsm

Again, just pupil size, but in daylight instead.
https://ibb.co/3W7WpX1

[Taranok]

I would like to iterate that I fully understand the hard work and sleepless nights that have gone into adjusting the benchmark as necessary, but as things stand right now I can see a wave 2 of issues (some of which that are seemingly not touched at all) like in the April benchmark. With Dawntrail on the horizon, I cannot imagine all of the dissatisfaction that people are still experiencing is going to be resolved in time to enjoy the new MSQ on release day - where our character is going to be seen quite a lot. I felt a bit of hope restored seeing the new benchmark but my overall feelings don't feel too heavily swayed and I continue to hope that somehow, some way - we can get closer to what we have right now in 6.5.

(2/2)

At this point, I've already decided to change my character. The update to dawntrail is more or less killing the identity of my old face and it's just not worth it to me to accept the changes. So, out with the old, time to swap to some of the new. There's not enough time to fix the core underlying issues of the new face, and it feels like the devs want the retcon to the new face, either due to tech issues or just plain not understanding the problem we consumers might have. In the absence of knowing, it's better to just plan for something I'll enjoy more.

[LoveCervere]

Hi again my fellow Au Ra! Have a slidey image between Vanilla and the new Benchmark
Link

It isn't lighting, its the shape of everything. It's all been rounded and smoothed out way too much. The eyes went from quite angular to being more almond shape, the cheeks are way puffier and almost like jowls where they connect to the corners of the mouth. And the mouth... it's been way too plumped out and the bottom line of the upper lip reduced to a straight line instead of the more realistic peaked shape? This goes for every mouth option on face 4.

Admittedly, the cheek scales are much better defined and pointed than the first benchmark! Though the forehead scales are still very blunt?

Vanilla


Benchmark 1


Benchmark 1.1


Zzzz time to main my Hyur alt ig since she got all the love apparently.

[Kikosho]

I noticed that for Face 3 Female Au Ra, the new lighting techniques have introduced "bags" under the eyes. Now that I noticed it though, I can't unsee even during low light situations.

https://imgsli.com/MjY5NjUy

[Lorielthy]

I was planning to switch from Viera to AuRa Face 3 but they apparently decided to add eyebags to that face out of nowhere. The eyebags didnt exist in Endwalker and didnt exist in the first Benchmark either, at least it was not that noticeable