Curse

Blackhawk · Sep 15, 2006, 02:16 AM // 02:16

I'm sure a lot of people here are relieved to hear that Gaile

One little thing though relating to the in game cinematics, can you please, and I guess I'm speaking for the majority of people here, would you NOT use whoever did Danikas voice in the future as if my characters going to look a bit different with moving lips, the last thing any of us want is for it to sound like her as well, as I don't think we could bear it

Selerious · Sep 15, 2006, 02:18 AM // 02:18

Im quite happy with my characters, there are only a few things i have noticed different.

my Ele has more mascara and a more defined chin. not bad.
ranger looks less i dont give a damn to a more angry view, al my others are close to how they were before.

Sectus · Sep 15, 2006, 02:28 AM // 02:28

Detailed before/after screenshots of my mesmer's face

Old:

New:

Compared to many others, my mesmer's face is pretty much the same. Her mouth has a slightly different shape and she looks more happy now. I don't mind the change.

Although I definitely see other faces which needs to be fixed. Anyone seen male Tyrian face #3 on the pvp creation screen? He has this weird texture just floating over his right eye, definitely not natural :x

sindex · Sep 15, 2006, 02:29 AM // 02:29

Panic attack for a minute there, when I logged in; on the character screen all my character’s had lost their 15K armor. Well I’m officially amazed that was not the case when I got into the game. (A little off subject but) So I wonder did anything get badly “nerfed” this time, I was looking at the skills changed on the official update page (I can’t really tell). Except I notice they gave a boost to majority of Assassin skills, as well as Ritualists.

silv3rr · Sep 15, 2006, 02:33 AM // 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhawk

I'm sure a lot of people here are relieved to hear that Gaile

One little thing though relating to the in game cinematics, can you please, and I guess I'm speaking for the majority of people here, would you NOT use whoever did Danikas voice in the future as if my characters going to look a bit different with moving lips, the last thing any of us want is for it to sound like her as well, as I don't think we could bear it

I don't think they're gonna re-record the voices... they're just syncing the lip movement with the audio

EDIT: Nevermind, I misread your post :P -- I think for future cinematics, the "heros'" (us) voices will be the same as in Factions and Prophecies.

Blackhawk · Sep 15, 2006, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by silv3rr

I don't think they're gonna re-record the voices... they're just syncing the lip movement with the audio

EDIT: Nevermind, I misread your post :P -- I think for future cinematics, the "heros'" (us) voices will be the same as in Factions and Prophecies.

I hope so as I'd hate my char to have a different face AND sound like a screeching cat

Sable Phoenix · Sep 15, 2006, 02:43 AM // 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

Here is a more detailed explanation of our current situation, so that you fully understand where we are just now: As you know, when we rolled out a game update early this morning, it contained a large number of new files, and amongst them were files that involved changes to the faces of some characters. Now, changes are necessary in order to implement a much-requested feature: Lip synching for the in-game cinematics. This feature requires a redo of the faces, a "rewiring" if you will, that allows the lips to move, and indeed the whole face to be animated during speech.

However, with these desired changes came a few inadvertent alterations, and about those, players have expressed some concerns.

Here is some information for you. There are several key elements involved in what was modified and I thought you'd find this interesting:

The artists configured the faces for animation. In some instances this changed the geometry of the images, so that there may have been a small alteration in the shape or the perceived shape of the face itself.
They added polys to the faces, so sometimes light reflects differently from the surface of the face. (Notice how some of the example shots are different, based on lighting.) This change may have contributed to the "eyeliner" looking a bit more defined or to some of the noticed changes in shading or hue, like that fashionable lipstick. (Again, purely personal opinion, here, I like that look! )
The addition of the polys, in particular, may also give eyes greater clarity or make faces look more polished. For instance, a minor glitch involving lighting from below around the eyes was removed and that will make them more attractive.
Vertices added to the faces resulted in some of the shadows that you see, particularly around the mouth.

A large number of artists are working through the night to amend the errors, and to set the faces to looking, as closely as possible, how they looked at character creation. For example, the vertices issue is being fixed; Aaron gave me a demo of the fix not five minutes ago and it's great! (Nobody needs Botox in this world – they just need their vertices adjusted!

)

Please keep in mind that with the move to animated faces, in some instances it will not be possible for them to be pixel-to-pixel identical to the original face. Most third-party observers would say that the art is better, and the appearance more pleasing, but we appreciate that that opinion may not be shared by all. The artists will work hard to return the looks that you've selected as much as is humanly and programmatically possible.

In any regard, the whole team is working diligently to correct this situation. We ask for your support as we work to make the appropriate and feasible amendments as quickly as possible.

This is excellent to hear. If the faces can be improved overall without altering thier shape and features, that will be superb.

See, I knew it was a vertex problem.

Feminist Terrorist · Sep 15, 2006, 02:47 AM // 02:47

I'm very glad to hear that people are working on the problems.
Duck lips FTL.

xxSilhouette · Sep 15, 2006, 02:49 AM // 02:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiuna

My female ele with 15k luxon armor seems to be missing her earrings after the update. Anyone know why/how to fix it?

same issue here

Blackhawk · Sep 15, 2006, 02:49 AM // 02:49

On the subject of things being wrong and while we have your attention Gaile, can you ask someone to have a look at this little niggle I have over my FoW Armour on my Necro.

Took it in an area of low lighting to really highlight it, but that "light" square area is there all the time and looks wrong (especially after the time taken to get it, it's a bit disappointing) and ruins it as you wouldn't get a square reflecton if thats what it's supposed to be

xxSilhouette · Sep 15, 2006, 03:03 AM // 03:03

Well i just checked all of my characters very carefully, the things i noticed are

1. My ele in her 15k luxon is missing her earrings
2. My ele's faces looks different, but its a good different, i like it.
3. My warrior has eye-liner now, i like it

4. My rangers chin looks really square, much so more then before - but i wear the mask with her, so i don't mind.
5. My necro looks WAAAAYYY to friendly. I had choosen the nicest looking face to begin with, but now she looks scary-happy. i am not happy with her face at all =(

My assasin, rit, mesmer, & monk look the same to me.

edit: the more i look at this necro the more i want to cry. my first character too

I mean i didnt want the scariest looking face, which is why i choose that one to begin with. but necro's arent supposed to smile that much.

Dr Ripley · Sep 15, 2006, 03:12 AM // 03:12

Don't know about you guys, but I'm liking the update to my mes. Me likey... me likey a lot...

jackie · Sep 15, 2006, 03:35 AM // 03:35

One that I've noticed is that left shoulder goes through FoW ritualist armour nowadays. And she doesn't even use Total Gym

ducktape · Sep 15, 2006, 03:38 AM // 03:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

A large number of artists are working through the night to amend the errors, and to set the faces to looking, as closely as possible, how they looked at character creation. For example, the vertices issue is being fixed; Aaron gave me a demo of the fix not five minutes ago and it's great! (Nobody needs Botox in this world – they just need their vertices adjusted!

)
The artists will work hard to return the looks that you've selected as much as is humanly and programmatically possible.

In any regard, the whole team is working diligently to correct this situation. We ask for your support as we work to make the appropriate and feasible amendments as quickly as possible.

Yay! It's nice to see that ANet understands how much this upsets many people and is working so hard to fix it. Hopefully once they straighten out the issue with the vertices and the lighting changes, everyone's face can go back to looking like the one that they chose when they made their character

Silverfire · Sep 15, 2006, 03:47 AM // 03:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by katscratched

I think my monk's face looks chubby, and awkward everytime its illuminated. I'm glad you like it, but it just looks weird.
As noted by someone else earlier, this face also has the grey triangles next to her lips. I think they're trying to allow for our characters to speak in cinemas, but I really hope that having visible weird grey marks isn't necessary

I know that if they don't fix this, I will just have to get used to it, but my monk is by far my favorite character. I noticed her face looked wrong immediately after the update.

Hasn’t anyone noticed that the monks with hair buns seem to have different faces (more mature and chubby) because the hair has changed? The buns are bigger, droopy and more slanted.
It changes the whole character of the faces. Surely this is one simple thing that can be remedied, and a whole lot of monks with different faces but that hairstyle would suddenly look blessedly normal again.

It may be hard to immediately pick from this screenshot comparison, but the larger buns are awful when you turn your character around and check it out.

There is definitely a problem with mesmers with rotting teeth, eles with milk moustaches, and a preference for no eye-makeup suddenly being overridden by panda eyes. I also have heartfelt disagreement with any change to character faces just to make lips ‘enhanced’ or crisper. Our brain is superbly wired for face recognition, so these new changes result in disturbing emotions because the only way to reconcile the new features with the old memory is to see a pout or sneer. The character you knew so well is now pulling a face at you.

Poison Ivy · Sep 15, 2006, 03:54 AM // 03:54

After reading this entire thread...

I'm only going to cross my fingers as my computer passes through decompressing 50%..

Feminist Terrorist · Sep 15, 2006, 04:00 AM // 04:00

I just got done taking a look through all the faces from every single profession, and continent. Tyrian memsers have major issues with the head not matching the neck, and major discolorations all over the face. Not to forget the ugly teeth. That said, most faces have discolored areas, grayish triangles near mouth corners, eye corners, and the sides of noses. Many cases of pink eye also. I think the design team needs to go over all the faces and correct them. Many of the male faces are truly creepy, and if I were a new player, I would be very disappointed with the quality and appearance of many of the "new" faces.

xxSilhouette · Sep 15, 2006, 04:21 AM // 04:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feminist Terrorist

That said, most faces have discolored areas, grayish triangles near mouth corners, eye corners, and the sides of noses.

Thats another thing i noticed with my warrior, she seems to have to dark ovals around her nose on each side

ElinoraNeSangre · Sep 15, 2006, 04:24 AM // 04:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Ripley

Don't know about you guys, but I'm liking the update to my mes. Me likey... me likey a lot...

That's because she's hot!

(oh dude Seattle shoutout!

)

-Kel/Eli

My Sweet Revenga · Sep 15, 2006, 04:26 AM // 04:26

I see the light........ ArenaNet loves me...... I will donate all my money to ArenaNet..... they save frogs...... my dog has fleas....... bliiiiiiisssssssssss........... *droooooollll*............. hay is that the sky?