Au Ra Customization: Horns and Faces

[Altitis Acquired]

So this popped up on my Tumblr dashboard:

 

 

http://draco-ixtar-the-lalafell.tumblr.com/post/117758857898/ok-so-when-ever-the-subject-of-au-ra-and-being

 

 

 

 

 

"ok, so when ever the subject of au ra and being able to choose there horns come up, people immediately come up with phrases as:

“why should se undo there work so you can look cute”

“just because you want a virtual character to look Kawaii”

“i think they should stay locked to faces that way they arnt more unique then other races”

 

 

so i decided to do basic math and count the different possible combinations of just the faces,tails,horns, and hair compared to miqo’te’s faces, tails, and hair.

and the difference if the horns are locked to the face compared to if the horns were freely choosable is a much bigger number then i think most realise, 

for the sake of numbers i didn’t include hight as a factor due to only 2 races having hight be a true distinguishable feature, Roe’s and Lala’s, and focused more on what can be seen right away, i also didn’t count the ‘scale’ and ‘face mark’ areas since the combination is basically

((4x5)+ (4 x10)+(4x9)+(4x6) + 4) = 124 possible new combinations on top.

 

 

so with this i hope people realise that not being able to ditch the horns is going to limit the amount of different looks au ra will have (not counting hair colour or eye colour this is solely on looks)

 

 

http://41.media.tumblr.com/2d9c4ede0ae22e324b33becfd413fb97/tumblr_inline_nnm0szoPpA1t5mxam_250.png[/img]the image above is the original face 4 with its default horns.

http://40.media.tumblr.com/ba7b7b0bd1e298da89fb61635be1eb38/tumblr_inline_nnm0t8X1Z51t5mxam_250.png[/img]now the image above is face 4 with face 1′s horns, the face may look the same, but the new horns are giving this character a much different looks even if the colours are the exact same 

(credit to the op of the thread for making those edits.)

the op has done that with each face for female au ra and male au ra 

i reccomend you see it and click the like so we can get customised horns

 

 

Link to the original thread on FFXIV’s forums,

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/231308-Please-make-the-Au-Ra-horns-separate-from-the-faces%21

 

 

The reason i say to like the first post is the devs mainly pay attention to what has a lot of likes and if it is on feedback they take that into consideration. :3"

 

 

I quite agree with this assessment. The Au Ra horns tied to the faces really limits the customization, and I overall find it an odd choice to link those two things together. The horns could easily have been a customization option on its own, not dependent of your choice of face.

What do you guys think?

[Maril]

I really hope they change it so you can choose the horns separately, but I doubt they're going to do anything that radical so close to the launch of the expansion. I suppose it all depends on how difficult it'll be to change.

[ShoggMommy]

I'd like to have them separate as well, I suppose we'll see if they'll do it or not. The cynical side of me says they won't, but I'll try to remain hopeful.

[Michikyou]

I'd much rather they address the height limitations for females. 5'2 isn't tall enough.

 

*cries in corner*

[Spethah]

I'd much rather they address the height limitations for females. 5'2 isn't tall enough.

 

*cries in corner*

 

I just barely hit 5'2 irl. Rude.

 

 

Just to add, like I've added almost everywhere now, in the niconico stream it was said that the customisation for Au Ra wasn't entirely complete and that there was some things missing and they would not be in the benchmark. Could horn choices be there? Maybe. Who knows? Being in the dark about this does riles me up since we cannot give any form of constructive criticism, something that SE does seem to listen to.

 

I for one like all the horns and don't care over the lack of choice. I also play a lot of games with ultra limited character creation.

[Aris]

Completely behind this!

 

I was under the impression that horns and scales -- particularly the horns -- were going to be the defining feature in Au Ra customization. I like the way they've done the scales, and the variety of horn sizes. It would have been awesome to be able to mix and match with the horns though.

 

I'm not optimistic that they'll change anything, but no harm in raising our voices on it.

[Steel Wolf]

Though limited creation has been a thing in this game and other online FF's, I completely agree that letting horns be their own selection would be most welcome.

 

That said...it might be a feature that arrives far later than Heavensward's release, while also assuming the variety of horns don't clash with head shapes and geometry of headgear. I'm not sure how much difference there is to the actual geometry of the character's different head models (if any), but that is something to consider.

 

I'm not saying this is a bad idea, all I'm suggesting is that it's likely not as easy as some assume.

[Kellach Woods]

I'm actually surprised that we got face scales as the replacement / section for makeup rather than Horns.

 

I legitimately thought they would be like Elezen/Lala ears.

[Aaron]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

What /really/ makes people stand out at least to me in game is the face. Yes, I remember Miq'ote by their faces. Not the ears, not the hair or the lolnin gear but the faces.

 

If you /really/ want to stand out. You'll put extra time on the subtle features of your characters face. And before people say character creation is limited, it isn't. Because I've seen plenty examples (myself included) of PC characters who to this day I haven't found a look alike of. Or even close to of some actually. The creation is decent enough. Just gotta know how to do it.

 

This coming from a guy that use to design characters before going to shit in high school. 

 

I hardly see why everyone is complaining they don't get more horn sliders like that alone is gonna keep them from looking like the assimilated mass already coming in 3.0.

[Merri]

Just to add, like I've added almost everywhere now, in the niconico stream it was said that the customisation for Au Ra wasn't entirely complete and that there was some things missing and they would not be in the benchmark.

 

I've actually been hearing conflicting reports for awhile now. Yoshi-P said the benchmark wasn't complete at PAX East, however he then went on to say that they finished it in time during the Niconico steam. No source on that at the moment, however.

 

It'd be nice if they opened up the horns, but, right now they're intrinsically linked to faces through scale options, as they each have horn adornments tied to specific faces. I don't code, so, I wouldn't know what they'd have to go through in order to remedy the situation and have that option cycle depending on the face and horn combination chosen, instead of both being static. Likely means writing new code, which also means testing it, making sure it functions properly, making sure it's aesthetically pleasing, etc, etc.

 

Maybe they'll be able to churn it out in time for Heavensward, but, we're getting awfully close for them to completely overhaul character creation unless they already had the idea on the back burner as a potential addition.

 

Just trying to play the devil's advocate. I personally hope they open up the option, but, I won't be particularly let down if they don't for the reason above. A bit disappointed they didn't just do it from the start, but, it is what it is.

[Altitis Acquired]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

 

I would consider this arguement valid IF Miqo'te have different types of ears attached to the face options. But they don't, all ears look the same on ALL faces. The only thing that changes slightly is the fur when choosing hair options, but the very shape of the ears stay the same.

 

However, that's not the case with the Au Ra horns which actually change for each face option.

Also, I am not asking for sliders, just that the horn options are seperated from the face options.

[Aaron]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

 

I would consider this arguement valid IF Miqo'te have different types of ears attached to the face options. But they don't, all ears look the same on ALL faces. The only thing that changes slightly is the fur when choosing hair options, but the very shape of the ears stay the same.

 

However, that's not the case with the Au Ra horns which actually change for each face option.

Perhaps I used the wrong body part. Ill change it.

 

All Au Ra will have horns like all Miq have tails. To be frank, no one will go outside of a rp excuse "I remember you from your really big horns" when they've probably or will see 100 other au Ra OOC with the exact same horn option you picked face tied or not. Just like you never hear "I remember you from your tail!"

[Altitis Acquired]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

 

I would consider this arguement valid IF Miqo'te have different types of ears attached to the face options. But they don't, all ears look the same on ALL faces. The only thing that changes slightly is the fur when choosing hair options, but the very shape of the ears stay the same.

 

However, that's not the case with the Au Ra horns which actually change for each face option.

Perhaps I used the wrong body part. Ill change it.

 

All Au Ra will have horns like all Miq have tails. To be frank, no one will go outside of a rp excuse "I remember you from your really big horns" when they've probably or will see 100 other au Ra OOC with the exact same horn option you picked face tied or not. Just like you never hear "I remember you from your tail!"

 

Well, to me, it's not about what OTHERS see on my character. It's what I see on my character. There's a pair of horns I think looks cool, but I like a face better than the one the horns are attached to, so I would want to pick that pair of horns with that face.

[Kellach Woods]

Also, if they're going to be ear replacement and look different from face to face, "ear" customization for Lalas/Elezens is already a thing. I don't see why specific horns have to be tied to the face.

 

At best, I can see one reason - the facial features tab being replaced by the scales custom option as it affects the horns.

[Aaron]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

 

I would consider this arguement valid IF Miqo'te have different types of ears attached to the face options. But they don't, all ears look the same on ALL faces. The only thing that changes slightly is the fur when choosing hair options, but the very shape of the ears stay the same.

 

However, that's not the case with the Au Ra horns which actually change for each face option.

Perhaps I used the wrong body part. Ill change it.

 

All Au Ra will have horns like all Miq have tails. To be frank, no one will go outside of a rp excuse "I remember you from your really big horns" when they've probably or will see 100 other au Ra OOC with the exact same horn option you picked face tied or not. Just like you never hear "I remember you from your tail!"

 

Well, to me, it's not about what OTHERS see on my character. It's what I see on my character. There's a pair of horns I think looks cool, but I like a face better than the one the horns are attached to, so I would want to pick that pair of horns with that face.

Well ive not had that problem so I wouldn't know. *shrug*

 

Your Au Ra looks good enough as is imo. Was just trying to point out lately it seems everyone wants something to complain about with the new race. (Not saying you were per say but you get the gist)

[Altitis Acquired]

Honestly? I don't see the problem. 

 

The horns aren't going to be the stand out point. Every Au Ra will have horns just like every Miq'ote has ears. They alone won't make you stand out or be unique. 

 

 

I would consider this arguement valid IF Miqo'te have different types of ears attached to the face options. But they don't, all ears look the same on ALL faces. The only thing that changes slightly is the fur when choosing hair options, but the very shape of the ears stay the same.

 

However, that's not the case with the Au Ra horns which actually change for each face option.

Perhaps I used the wrong body part. Ill change it.

 

All Au Ra will have horns like all Miq have tails. To be frank, no one will go outside of a rp excuse "I remember you from your really big horns" when they've probably or will see 100 other au Ra OOC with the exact same horn option you picked face tied or not. Just like you never hear "I remember you from your tail!"

 

Well, to me, it's not about what OTHERS see on my character. It's what I see on my character. There's a pair of horns I think looks cool, but I like a face better than the one the horns are attached to, so I would want to pick that pair of horns with that face.

Well ive not had that problem so I wouldn't know. *shrug*

 

Your Au Ra looks good enough as is imo. Was just trying to point out lately it seems everyone wants something to complain about with the new race. (Not saying you were per say but you get the gist)

 

Oh, I absolutely LOVE the Au Ra! The only thing, as Kellach says above, is that it's an odd choice to tie the horns with the faces. No other race does this. It would be like if the Elezen's ears were tied to their face options.

[Michikyou]

I'd much rather they address the height limitations for females. 5'2 isn't tall enough.

 

*cries in corner*

 

I just barely hit 5'2 irl. Rude.

 

 

Just to add, like I've added almost everywhere now, in the niconico stream it was said that the customisation for Au Ra wasn't entirely complete and that there was some things missing and they would not be in the benchmark. Could horn choices be there? Maybe. Who knows? Being in the dark about this does riles me up since we cannot give any form of constructive criticism, something that SE does seem to listen to.

 

I for one like all the horns and don't care over the lack of choice. I also play a lot of games with ultra limited character creation.

 

What. No they said that they completed the Character benchmark earlier than inteded in FATE tokyo, so the one we have now is the completed benchmark.

[allgivenover]

I don't code, so, I wouldn't know what they'd have to go through in order to remedy the situation and have that option cycle depending on the face and horn combination chosen, instead of both being static. Likely means writing new code, which also means testing it, making sure it functions properly, making sure it's aesthetically pleasing, etc, etc.

 

It would be extremely easy to filter the options based on face/horns combination. What I don't know is how that combination is being built by the engine.

 

It's either a conscious design choice so that one or two particular faces don't become the only face we ever see, or it's a limitation born from mishandled rendering code that was deemed not worth fixing, whether that mishandling is model or memory related I have no idea.

[Hyrist]

*speculator hat on*

 

I don't think they're going to do it. Doing so gives more options than any other race, which would then be a point of contention.

 

There's also character data and display coding, which again, this development team seems to be very picky about.

 

 

Do I want it? Yes, of course, more options are always nice. But I've followed SE enough to know not to pin my hopes on things like this. People will make due and SE knows it - by my guess they'd rather conserve contextual balance and keep things as they are then get dragged into a domino effect that distracts them from working on other features.

[Naunet]

while also assuming the variety of horns don't clash with head shapes and geometry of headgear.

 

The former I doubt would be a problem, because the four faces are barely different shapes at all that don't actually change the dimensions of the head (and you've got a huge buffer of hair). The latter would be something I would hope SE has already planned for and wouldn't be affected by freeing horns from face types.

 

I doubt they will do anything to improve it though, as usual.

[K'nahli]

Limiting design options because previous races didn't have as many sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. If they were really concerned about that then they should just add an extra option or two for other races further down the line.

 

Frankly, Au Ra have no extra options. Like miqo'te, they don't even have muscle definition sliders, so I think that covers the limbal ring and colour additions. They also have fewer tail options than miqo'te if I recall correctly. Would the single addition of choosing horns independently really upset people? I highly doubt it... and even if they believed that it might, I think it would be absurdly silly for them to hold back because of it.

 

As such, I don't think that's why horns and faces are linked - and I certainly hope it isn't.

[Hyrist]

Limiting design options because previous races didn't have as many sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. If they were really concerned about that then they should just add an extra option or two for other races further down the line.

 

Frankly, Au Ra have no extra options. Like miqo'te, they don't even have muscle definition sliders, so I think that covers the limbal ring and colour additions. They also have fewer tail options than miqo'te if I recall correctly. Would the single addition of choosing horns independently really upset people? I highly doubt it... and even if they believed that it might, I think it would be absurdly silly for them to hold back because of it.

 

As such, I don't think that's why horns and faces are linked - and I certainly hope it isn't.

The crux of it is, while we are free to make positive estimates on the reaction of the Playerbase, Square Enix, or any game Developer really, have a bad track record of such assumptions.

 

Also, speculative equivalencies are merely speculative. The Limbal Ring for a Au Ra can be the equivalent of a tattoo Hyurs. Tail Sliders are muscle sliders are ear sliders and so on. Scale patches are beauty marks and scars and so-forth. 

 

Suddenly Au Ra get differential horns but Elezen don't get differential ears, followed by Mi'qote. Then that happens and Au Ra wonder why they don't have horn sliders and Hyur, Roe, and Taru wonder what they're going to get for all the new additions.

 

While you may think otherwise, Square Enix can't take that chance. They've got a backlog of bugs and concerns and imbalances and loads of complaints that there's not enough (insert piece of content here) to address, on top of any new content they wish to add. It would take time and resources to what would amount (to be fair) to an overhaul of the character creation and character rendering process. I assure you, it would not wind up being 'easier' than that given all the technical testing quality control, and coding (it's not just character wise, it's data storage and load both server side and client side)anything short of that wouldn't be worth the work load because of all the technical hurtles they'd have to cross.

 

It's easy to sit client side and speculate as to what little difficulty it would be to change something. It's an entirely different world to sit on the production side of what's pretty much considered a 'living game'.

____________________________________________________________

 

Again, as a personal perspective, I'd be all about more options. However I'm a hobbyist when it comes to following Gaming as an industry and am familiar with a lot of the tripping points and tropes of developers.

 

I do not see this happening, at the very least not anytime soon. The way it's structured implies to me that they created a rather rigid system off the bat and to expands the options will likely require a good bit of overall. I could be wrong, but my gut feeling on this tells me to settle in with what we have.

 

I'm not saying 'don't give feedback' as, again, I want this to happen too. Just please, please do not become hung up on it.

[Aysun]

I said it on tumblr, and I'll say it here:

 

Sure, but if they decide to not link horns to face type then they’ll have to make Miqo'te markings not linked to face type as well. Won’t happen.

 

Look at the character creator as a whole and you’ll see that each race has things that parallel the others in what you can change and what you can’t. They’d have to revamp the entire creator if they wanted to change this one thing.

 

 

People seem to forget we have the same problem with Miqo'te. No, it's not the ears that are linked to the face, but the markings we get. There's no mixing there either.

[Hyrist]

What struck me odd, was that I thought the four styles of horns would be synonymous of say, the four styles of tails we would get, and that the tails themselves would be single style, as the trade off.

 

When I realized that we had tail options, I realized there wasn't enough option slots for both.

 

To be honest, I would have preferred the separate horn options and a universal tail, rather than have the horns locked to facial structure.

 

That said, the frame-set seems to use Miqo'te as a base, "skeleton" wise. Given what flexibility with faces that are there, I think the felt that tying horns to the face structure and maintaining the options on the tails (That were likely already programmed with the frame set) seemed like it gave players more options, while giving the programmers the path of least resistance.

[Wymsical]

That said, the frame-set seems to use Miqo'te as a base, "skeleton" wise. Given what flexibility with faces that are there, I think the felt that tying horns to the face structure and maintaining the options on the tails (That were likely already programmed with the frame set) seemed like it gave players more options, while giving the programmers the path of least resistance.

 

Yup, I've noticed that XIV seems to have very particular and rigid systems in place to handle things and it's nigh impossible to break them due to the way they've made the engine. Like the way quests are structured. Given these limits, I'm not surprised horns are the way they are. I do wish we could've swapped tail options for horns too. Maybe eventually they'll find a way to bypass certain things like the character data limits and expand our options.