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Dominic Feedback Request, Round 2
🕑 Added 2024-04-11 18:28:15 +0000 UTCHey there, everyone. After the excellent feedback I received on the first post about a Dominic model change, I've spent some time redesigning and refining a new version. Now I'm back with another request for feedback.
If you missed the first post, in brief: All character models have been getting adjustments during the transition from the public version of the game to the Morning After Update. Mostly these are just tweaks that shouldn't be too noticeable, but I decided to give Dominic more of a facelift. His hair asset wasn't easy to work with, his textures weren't holding up against newer characters, and I just didn't think he was handsome enough.
Let's first take a look at a sample sprite, and then I'll go over what all I changed; you can see better/bigger versions of all the images in this post's attached gallery:
He has underwear on because he's currently a Ken doll down below, but I wanted to give a sense of what he looks like naked. He'll have his straight boy boxers in the game!
There were a number of comments last time about his body shape seeming off and that his face wasn't feeling correct, to the point of not seeming the right ethnicity. This was due to me trying to cobble together a number of different "morphs" to approximate his appearance—the new model is built on the Genesis 9 Daz 3D figure while the original was Genesis 8.1, and converting one generation figure to another isn't an easy process. (If you want to know more about Daz figures, check out the first Behind the Scenes post.)
For this new version, I took the time to figure out conversion, including purchasing a few extra tools to make it work. The original model was actually sculpted to look like a man of Indian descent, so I figured finding a way to use that original sculpt would fix many issues.
Here's a look at the original figure's head sculpt side-by-side with the new one after conversion and edits:
The biggest challenge here was that the conversion tools don't affect eyes, so they were way too small and not in the correct position. I manually resized and placed them, then re-rigged them so the eyes would point correctly.
The head is mostly the same, but I made some edits. The first was to dial in a separate figure's head a little bit to refine some of the features—the textures made the unedited converted head look a little plastic and fake. To help with that, I also added HD details like the texturing on the lips.
Here's the original body, the converted body, and then the body after being edited:
The conversion mostly went well, but if you look at the middle body's right shoulder, you can see that the collar bone was exaggerated, leading to a weird bump.
I dialed back the converted body a little bit and partially dialed in another one to make a sort of hybrid. This lessened the strangeness in the shoulders while also letting me add in a more detailed body sculpt that was closer to what I wanted. In this lighting and without textures, the stomach looks a little too muscled for the average body type I was going for. But textured and with body hair, I don't think it's super noticeable.
Now let's compare the new version to the first revised version to discuss some changes and why I made them. Let's start with the heads in their neutral, expressionless state.
If you were around for the Connor revision, you'll see a similar transition here where the first version looked much older than the character. Both times, I somehow didn't notice until remaking him!
Most of the adjustments came from the conversion process/edits I talked about above. Some other specific choices are:
I figured out what to edit in the hair's surface settings so that reflected lighting didn't make the hair look like it had gray streaks
I used different brows because I wanted them a little thicker and slightly unkempt
I gave him darker and fuller lashes—before I adjusted the eyes on the converted head, the shadow of the eye sockets looked like dark lashes when viewed in the sprite photo booth lighting. I decided I liked the kind of "pretty" touch that gave him, a sort of Néstor Carbonell-style natural eyeliner.
Here is the original revision and new version of his body:
I didn't do much here aside from what I talked about above with converting the original body shape and then blending it with another figure's body. One thing I did focus on was editing the body hair asset to give chest coverage that vibed with the original model, as well as added some arm and shin hair.
Like I warned above, the new version is currently a Ken doll. If you check out last month's Guy Gallery or Bonus Gallery, you can look at any Antonio image to see a specific issue I have—the dick that comes with these figures isn't detailed at all. The result is the dick looking more like a dildo than the real thing. I also can't do anything like pull foreskin back slightly—the head is either fully hooded or not.
The creator of the dick asset I use for the Genesis 8.1 figures spoke about making a new asset for Genesis 9... but the last comment I saw about that was from 6 months ago. I'm considering going with an asset from another creator, but it's the type you see in more "gonzo" games with massive, oversized dicks. That's not the vibe for this game, of course, though I might be able to shape it to look more natural.
What I'll probably do is just use the default dick since Dominic doesn't show his dick in the game outside of a few images anyway. I can just re-render those images if I get a better asset in the future.
Anyway! This is what I've come up with as of today. I'll leave you with two final images so you can get a better sense of how he'll look in renders—a version of his intro CG and a newly-created pin-up. As noted above, you can see the bigger versions in this post's associated gallery.
I look forward to reading your feedback. Please feel free to DM me with your thoughts if you'd rather not comment publicly. Thanks, all!
Comments
Danny Nym
Changes like this are less about aesthetics and more about fixing issues that make creating CGs difficult. Many of the early models didn't have the best skin materials and had awkward proportions since I was limited in what assets I had access to. The result is later-introduced characters often looked better than the guys meant to be romance characters, if only because the newer models are easier to pose and react to light more naturally. After working with the new Dominic for awhile, there are issues I need to fix with this model, too, but it's still a much easier model to work with than the original. That means less time is spent making his art, which in turn means I can get stuff created for the game faster. So it's a matter of me trying to balance the needs of creating the game against trying not to disappoint the players who grew to love the original versions. I don't always hit a mark that everyone likes, unfortunately, but I do try 🙂
BA
I think I prefer his older model. Honestly, I don't really see what needed to be changed. But, that's just me. Seems like a lotta folks prefer the newer version and that's fine.
Danny Nym
Oh do you mean revamped *Dominic*? It says Connor, and I was confused because I don't think new Connor's ass is flat, haha. I do prefer a bubble butt, but Dominic is meant to have a more "average" body type, which is why I went that direction. He'll still look good when posed and under lighting meant to enhance his appearance.
Chris Hunter
Overall I like the revamped edited Conner, well done. Only critic is that personally I prefer the smaller rounder butt to the longer flatter buss you’ve given him. In the end it’s what is behind the cheeks 😜 🤣
Danny Nym
The only expression I've shown is his neutral one. He'll have the full range of emotions in the game that he always did, and I'll try to get them as close to the original as possible.
Tom Swift Sr.
I think I'm going to miss the old Dominic. Maybe as others have said, you haven't had the chance to work on expressions for the new model, but I always found the old Dominic *really* expressive, often in a cocky (PUN) way, and I hope you will be able to do that with this new version. **
