Quote from: J.E aka Project DirectorOnyx uses FaceFX for facial customization. One thing we found with some other facial customization systems is that we disliked the "one size fits all" approach to adapting a head and skin texture to fit any given race. We use "ethnic heads" with strong features that are then manipulated using FaceFX sliders for facial morphing. We don't use tinting, but instead allow the player to pick an "average" "light" or "dark" skin tone for the character's ethnic group. Because we don't use tinting, we avoid the washed-out appearance that often accompanies such systems. And of course we support swapping out hairstyles. We use the same texture swapping system for hairstyles to avoid the look of a single hair texture that has to support hair ranging from black to light blonde. Hair textures have 8-bit alpha and blend to the mid-tone of an ethnic group skin tone, avoiding the harsh line that can be found in some systems. It probably goes without saying, but Onyx also supports changing eye colors.
Overall, I think the system produces very nice results. Special characters are not required to use the facial morphing system (though they can be assigned to do so in our editor). Their heads can be made directly in XSI without requiring any set-up for customization. While the facial customization system is very good, using it on all of the characters who surround you all of the time can start to look bad.
Quote from: CrashGirlI don't know if you can or wil answer this, Josh, but I'll ask anyway:
Does facefx limit how badly you can screw up a face?
One of the things that makes facegen difficult is that most of its settings create really hideous monstrosities that bear no resemblance to a human face. It would be nice if facefx could limit the amount of damage that could be done to the base head model. It would make it easier to use. I mean there's no reason why a face generation system needs to allow you to move the eyes up into the forehead.
Also, in Bethesda's game, ambient light plays a huge role in the way you percieve the skin tones on the faces. What looks OK in one light, looks absolutely hideous in another. The only way I found to avoid it is to try to create the face in as close to a neuteral light as possible. But Bethesda's facegen opportunities only occur in places where the light is really extreme in one way or another.
So my wish would be to allow access to facefx at any time during the game, so I can make adjustments as I go along rather than having to labor to get it as close to tolerable as possible right at the start.
Quote from: J.EFaceFX's parameters are entirely within the control of how the rigger sets them up. So yes, it can limit your ability to screw things up. We have a randomize button in the engine that just randomly sets all of the sliders and it usually produces goofy faces, but doing it by hand can produce nice results.
Relying on an ambient value in the absence of lights will tend to make a face appear to lose all of its geometry and the diffuse texture to lose any dynamic range it appeared to have. This is especially true in the case of a face that relies heavily on normal and/or specular maps. We mitigate the negative effects of ambient lighting in our engine by using low-power character lights at all times. I can honestly say it's pretty rare that I get any of the characters into a situation where the default character lights don't give the characters' faces enough definition and the skin the appropriate tone range.
Quote from: J.EYes, though we are applying it in a somewhat different way. Mass Effect appears to morph a single head per sex and tints its diffuse maps (skin textures) to achieve the light/dark range. ME hair uses tinting, and has a one-bit alpha.
EDIT: Whoops, I suppose I should clarify: textures and hair don't really have anything to do with FaceFX, but I wanted to clarify that our heads don't really look like Mass Effect heads.
QuoteThe team is definitely still hard at work on Aliens RPG", clarifying "We and SEGA will talk about the game when "it's time" to do so. I know that's annoying, but things shift around a lot during game development, especially with new technology. It's better for us and end users if we talk about the game when it's further in development. It helps avoid disappointment and confusion".