Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Cyrtip]

snip

I was under the incorrect impression before the benchmarks and 7.0 that the old textures and models would be getting upscaled - just larger textures and more polygons. That's all I wanted or expected, and I don't think that would have left anyone dissatisfied (Though I could be wrong on that). Most of the criticism I heard about the game's graphics pre 7.0 were things like "I can count the pixels on Stormblood Zenos' model/my armor/my hair/etc.)," remarks that metallic materials looked plastic-y (Like the Genta/Genji fending armor from Stormblood's first raid tier), or people noting how obvious some polygons/jagged edges were.

I just wanted the characters to be higher definition, not redesigned. Chances are, in an alternate universe where there were no graphics replaced with 7.0, there would be no people wearing masks solely out of a dislike of how their characters look, because they wouldn't have intentionally made a character whose face they couldn't stand and couldn't fix. (Case in point, the profile picture left of this paragraph haha)

The solution to "I (Developer) want to change this face" would have been to add more options to the character creator, not to take away what we previously had to force changes like pronounced lower eye sockets, puffy cheeks, largened Au Ra pupils, etc. More options is still a possible solution, even now. At the end of the day, the new faces are a big group of vertices, edges, and faces, just like the old ones. It wouldn't be impossible to make another face, mouth, what have you that actually closely replicates what we had pre-7.0 while also keeping the new features (and technical advantages brought by all faces being morphs of the same standard mesh) that we have now, and I wish that the devs had either done that, or had never made these new facial features to begin with, just increasing the texture resolution and poly count on what we had instead.

My disappointment in the changes is that I expected them to be minimal, but a lot of them feel like the developer responsible didn't even have a reference photo open, or did, and put forth excruciating effort to do the opposite of whatever they saw.
For Au Ra♀ face 4 (mileage may vary depending on facial features),

Small pupils? They're large now.
Defined pupils? They're muddy now.
Lowered gaze? Its raised now.
Straight eyelashes? They're curved now.
Thin eyeshadow? Its thick now.
No margin (skin indentation) at the bottom of the eye socket? Incredibly pronounced one now.
Thin cheekbones? They're puffy now.
Thick nose bridge? Its thin now.
Matte lips? They're glossy now.
Upper lip shaped with convex curves? Curves are concave now.
Lower lip shaped with concave curves? They're convex now.
Neutral face had a mild frown? Gentle smile now.
And sadly, there's more, but char limit and I gave feedback here.

[Astronis]

I was under the incorrect impression before the benchmarks and 7.0 that the old textures and models would be getting upscaled - just larger textures and more polygons. [...]

Thank you for answering.

I'll be honest, when I first started playing FFXIV, I had to be dragged in by my friends with repeated, adamant assurances that the story was worth getting over my personal dislike of the aesthetics. I didn't like any of the options available to me when I started on the free trial; I like playing ordinary male characters generally and only Highlanders looked like they had ever been within striking distance of testosterone and only face 2 looked mostly like it hadn't been hit several times with either the ugly or the goofy stick. So I picked the least-worst option (I was laughing about all the ridiculous hair options and settled on the least-worst in my eyes, which...given what I chose, should give you some insight on what I thought of the rest of the hair!) My character eventually grew on me over the years, of course, and I never wore a mask, but I always saw problems with it from a technical standpoint.

And then the graphic update rolled around and did for my character everything you wanted done for yours--higher polygon count, better textures, without any significant redesign (though he does have a subtly different expression at rest, which I like). So...since what happened with my WoL's face is pretty much what you wanted for yours, I can only hope that this was the dev's aim all along for all of them, which they didn't quite achieve in every case. I hope you get what you want, and I don't think it's unreasonable to want that. I've always thought my face 4 au ra alt looked a bit more different from her original look than my main does, for sure. She absolutely has more of a smile than she used to. The limbal rings are very different; I had to change the color to get close to what she originally had. But since she's an alt I don't play heavily, the differences were easier to get used to.

An option to keep what exists now and something closer to the original would be very nice!

[Argantaelle]

I've noticed this as well. I recently rewatched Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (excellent movie) and there's a scene that takes place in an elevator with light directly overhead. When I reached this scene I had a good chuckle because I realized it looks exactly like so many pictures people have posted as examples of how bad the graphical update looks.

Well, well, well, I do enjoy when people, instead of directly quoting, prefer some vague references in their responses. You completely misunderstood what I was trying to say. My complaints are not about lighting (I'm not interested in it overall; the shapes, lines, and contours are far more important to me); they are about the shape of the face. If you look at your reference picture closely, you'll see that the lighting (even if unflattering) follows the shape of the bones under the actress's skin. It's a regular human cranium; the light emphasises that she has cheekbones and a rather wide upper jaw (you can check the cranium structure yourself if you want to).

If you look closely at pictures I've uploaded, you'll see that instead of this regular wide polygonal upper jaw, the faces got something akin to a bird's beak—a narrow triangle with the sharp corner. It's not a normal human-based face. It demonstrates that there is something wrong with the normal map (I think it's the normal map, but I'm not an artist, so I might be mistaken).

[Argantaelle]

And then the graphic update rolled around and did for my character everything you wanted done for yours--higher polygon count, better textures, without any significant redesign (though he does have a subtly different expression at rest, which I like).

I understand that you like your character (and I'm very glad for you, in earnest), and now you feel uneasy that he might be taken from you or downgraded in any way. I'm starting to feel the same about my alt, haha. Considering also the treatment many faces got, I don't feel that the possible future update might be beneficial for many of us; I'd be glad to be proven wrong, of course. But time will tell; now we have nothing to do but wait.

I sincerely hope SE will listen to both of us.

[CidHeiral]

Well, well, well, I do enjoy when people, instead of directly quoting, prefer some vague references in their responses. You completely misunderstood what I was trying to say.

I have no idea who you are or what you have said previously. I was referring to a broad group of people.

[Argantaelle]

That's the answer I was expecting of you, and you did not disappoint.

[Iscah]

Can we please not turn the thread into a personal point-scoring exercise.

[potatsdevourer]

They said the announcement is postponed one week for translation (whatever it means) right? So... it should be anytime until tomorrow?
(tbh I do not think they will drop anything worthwhile either this week or the next)

[Cyrtip]

They said the announcement is postponed one week for translation (whatever it means) right? So... it should be anytime until tomorrow?
(tbh I do not think they will drop anything worthwhile either this week or the next)

The Development team is currently still carefully reviewing all feedback and considering a planned course of action. However, we will require another week or so for translations before we make an official announcement.
We apologize that this is taking longer than expected, and we thank you all once again for your patience.

Their exact words were another week or so, so it could be longer. If it isnt, then we should get info by Sept. 7th at the latest

[Cyrtip]

I like playing ordinary male characters generally and only Highlanders looked like they had ever been within striking distance of testosterone and only face 2 looked mostly like it hadn't been hit several times with either the ugly or the goofy stick. So I picked the least-worst option (I was laughing about all the ridiculous hair options and settled on the least-worst in my eyes, which...given what I chose, should give you some insight on what I thought of the rest of the hair!) My character eventually grew on me over the years, of course, and I never wore a mask, but I always saw problems with it from a technical standpoint.

Yeah, when it comes to mature (Not too young or old) and masculine human-looking faces, you've really only got Midlander faces 5/7 (The one Ardbert and my alt use, and its stubble-less alternative), and Highlander, but the other three Highlander faces all have odd looking cheeks.

For me, I just knew I wanted to play Au Ra when I made my character, because I thought they looked cool. Wanted to play a male, but couldn't stand the goofy crash bandicoot-esque run animation, so female Au Ra it was. I chose face 4 because it was the least cutesy/feminine of the bunch, being diamond-shaped and sharp, and made as much of a tomboyish character as I could.