Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Tahli]

Again, thank you to the staff for taking feedback into consideration and being willing to make further adjustments. I'll repost my main thoughts from before and add on a few more. I use a Face 2 female Miqo'te, so most of my feedback will be based on that.

I have 2 bug reports in the Accepted Bugs subforum, this one regarding the eyebrows of Face 2 female Miqo'te, and this one regarding a shading error in the iris of all races, but most noticeable in large-eyed races like Miqo'te or Lalafell.


To add on to feedback on the eyes:

1. If I could edit my bug report on the iris bug, I would add this comparison picture as well:
Top pic: In Ul'dah at daytime with shadows over eyes, with one gold and one silver (RGB: 179, 179, 179) eye
vs
Bottom pic: Daytime with light shining on at least the silver eye


2. Miqo'te eyes also appear to have a grey overlay that gives the appearance of "cataracts" that wasn't as present in previous versions. It is fine for Moon Miqo'te to have the pupil be a much darker shade of whatever the iris color is, to give it a glowy moon-eye look, but it appears too white/grey toned in Dawntrail and makes it look cloudy instead of glowy. The sclera is also grey, and makes the eyes not stand out anymore.

3. Catchlights in the eyes since the 7.0 update, especially for Moon Miqo'te, are too numerous and make the eyes look dazed and unfocused. I strongly believe eyes can look "lively" with fewer white catchlights, but more colored highlights of the iris to make the color "pop". The catchlights on Miqo'te are also unevenly spaced, and aren't symmetrically showing up in the same place on each eye.

4. Add an option for Miqo'te facial features to include added eyeliner/mascara options, like what other races have. I saw how there was heavier eye makeup in the first Dawntrail benchmark that was toned down afterwards, and would like that option back.


To add on to feedback on the eyebrows:

While I included in my bug report that Face 2 female Miqo'te's eyebrows were made too dark, I think an overall beneficial update would be allow us to separately pick our eyebrow color in the character creator.


Additional thoughts on shading

I feel that the shading and lighting in Dawntrail is a bit too intense. Especially when in bright, direct lighting, pale characters suffer from bright light washing out parts of their skin in white, and shadows being too intense and making deep pockets in their facial features.

[Tahli]

I'd also like to add my voice to wanting adjustments in the facial emotes, and also draw attention to the lighting in portraits.

Here is a comparison of my dancer portrait; the first is Endwalker, the second is taken recently in Dawntrail.



As I mentioned in my post above, the sclera (of Miqo'te, at least) now appears grey, and the brightness of the eyes is dimmed as a result.
The emote used in this picture, /grin, also closes the eyes more than before, reducing visibility even more.


Separate from that is the lighting in portraits. I've tried making adjustments, but I keep noticing that the lighting isn't able to show up as bright as it used to, and there is a lack of contrast that makes it look flatter. The shadows, rather than multiplying the shade of the skin or whatever they're cast on, all look like grey/black semi-transparent tones added over it. Shadows naturally should have just a little more saturation to them.

(Posting this comparison also helped me notice that for some reason, a patch of ear hair in the newer version is semi-transparent.)

[Cheapshot]

I highlighted the difference in my big comparison post but I didn’t fully express my own opinion necessarily I want to say I way preferred the older eyelashes. The new ones seem to be the same resolution, so I don’t get why they changed them. They looked more fierce and enchanting. The new ones feel too unexciting and uniform.

[HeyMcFly]

I'd like every race to have more character customization options. The character customization is very outdated.
I'd like longer/ thicker eyelash options for my miqo'te and lalafell.
I really dislike how I can barely notice long eyelashes now unless I'm a viera or zoomed in to my character all the way.

[Lorika]

I'd like every race to have more character customization options. The character customization is very outdated.

It was already outdated when the game was released.... in fact, it's still Aion (released in 2009) which have the best caracter customization existing..
And no MMo, or even offline game, was able to top it off since then.... Which amaze me in a sense.

[Astronis]

Is anyone else experiencing a pixelated effect around the character models (and in general, like on the floors and such) now? I'm using NVIDIA DLSS for context.
It's especially noticeable when the camera is zoomed out, and I can really only see it in gpose/cutscenes. Is this a universal result of the update or is it just me?

I notice it when depth of field is on in gpose and cutscenes, but not otherwise. I don't recall seeing it before tbh.

[Jaltaer]

I didn't ever expect to post here but since there has been confirmation people's comments here regarding the update are actually being seen, I figure I will throw my 2c in. Sorry in advance for the length.

I play female Au Ra face 2, which as many others both here and elsewhere have pointed out, seems to have ended up with some of the worst results with the graphical changes.

For reference, I use the following features:
Eyebrows - 2
Eyes - 3
Nose - 5
Mouth - 3
Jaw - 2

I took comparison screenshots with various lighting from both the Endwalker and final Dawntrail benchmarks, and have tried to match the angle as best as possible.

The biggest point of contention for me, and many of the other Face 2 players I've talked to, is without a doubt the mouth.

Link to image slider comparison



Overall, the mouth seems to have been made much narrower. The definition between top and bottom lip has been softened, removing much of the cute cupid's bow appearance. The dimples have been completely obliterated, and the mouth corners overall seem to have been greatly softened. The transition from lip color to skin is far less gradual and now very sharp, which diminishes the mouth corners even further.
All of this contributes to the narrower appearance, and gives her resting expression a sharper, meaner look. I am sure I'm not the only face 2 player who chose their face because it had a softer appearance, so this change is very jarring.

And... the smiles. I used to love seeing her smile, it always had a very gentle but mischievous air to it. Now... I don't even really know how to describe it, but I genuinely flinch and try not to look whenever cutscenes have her smile. It has a very forced and uncanny look to it, likely a result of the narrower and sharper appearance of the mouth overall.

Dawntrail's creepy tiny-mouth smile vs Endwalker's softer one...



(sorry about the enormous differences in lighting, I had to dig very far back in my screenshots folder for the EW pic)

[Jaltaer]

Hit the character limit, oof...

Other, more minor gripes I have:

Eyes: While I understand why the false catchlights were removed, as a result her eyes still have that "dead inside" look that was previously addressed and promised to be fixed. Even when the new catchlights do appear, the effect is too subtle, and in 90% of the cutscenes her eyes end up looking empty and hollow.
I do like the changes to the limbal rings however, although the tone seems slightly off after the update. They look much more natural now, and blend into the iris smoothly. In my case at the very least, they do seem to retain their glow in certain lighting - I've actually found it to be a bit *too* much in some scenes.



Nose: While I feel there has been little noticeable change to the shape of her nose itself, the philtrum is now pronounced to a genuinely distracting degree - it was actually one of the first changes I noticed and had an initial negative reaction to.

All in all, overall I am really disappointed with these changes. The character I've grown attached to over the past 3 years hardly looks like herself. Gposing and taking screenshots in general is one of my favorite parts of the game, but I've found that I have very little desire to do so now. I do think it's a bit ironic that for the expansion that was presented as the "lighter-hearted vacation" expansion, she ended up looking like she aged 10 years and lost her will to live in the time between Endwalker and Dawntrail.

I sincerely hope the dev team takes some of these points into consideration. If nothing else, I know I and many other Face 2 players would appreciate any changes to the mouth that brought it closer to its original appearance.

[Moonfallen]

Is anyone else experiencing a pixelated effect around the character models (and in general, around textures, even on the ground) now? I'm using NVIDIA DLSS for context.
It's especially noticeable when the camera is zoomed out, and I can really only see it in gpose/cutscenes. Is this a universal result of the update or is it just me?



I posted this a while ago but you can also see it here (on the before it wasn't pixelated)

I have NVIDIA DLSS turned off for that reason and am currently using AMD FSR at 99 3D Resolution Scaling. I thought maybe it was just me since the newer graphics have been messing with my eyes horribly (no other game does this).

[Garruss]

Wasn't it said that NVIDIA DLSS isn't working correctly in game right now?