As a rule, Final Fantasy games have amazing hair. But the ‘dos in Final Fantasy XV look especially good. Thank fancy tech, professional hair stylists, and wigs for that.
During the last console generation, a glut of characters had buzz cuts or sported coifs that looked like they were drenched in hairspray. Those bad hair days are hopefully numbered.
Square Enix is using its new Luminous Studio engine, which as Kotaku previously checked out and which looks truly impressive, to create Final Fantasy XV. As Square Enix’s Akira Iwata explains in a recent Famitsu interview, the Tokyo-based game company worked with a professional hair designer for its Luminous tech demo to create the hairstyles in real life using mannequins. The same process, which yielded realistic results, is being repeated on Final Fantasy XV.
Above, you can see the mannequin contrasted with the in-game model. Clever software then bridges the gap between the two. Here, you can see slides from 2012 via 4Gamer, briefly explaining the tech that goes into reproducing realistic hair.
The result is realistic strands of hair that have volume and move naturally, instead of the unnaturally clumpy locks we’ve seen in past.
Square Enix: serious about good hair.
Comments
24 responses to “Why Final Fantasy XV Has Fantastic Hair”
Good hair is the new hands-with-individual-fingers of this generation
I’m still waiting for simulated weather with actual affects on the terrain. Rains too much in game, flooding. Snows too much, large snow drifts etc.
Some people thought FFXIII had too much Snow…
Sorry (I’m not sorry).
For a minute there I had HOPE that I wouldn’t be reminded of pain In the ass side characters
Thinking on all of the characters in FF13 makes me realize that the only characters I didn’t actively want to punch in the face were Lightning, Sazh, and Fang.
I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that opinion, which is probably what lead the developers to the mistaken conclusion that Lightning was so popular.
Like an elected political party, it’s not what everyone wants… it’s what we hated the least.
I agree, but Vanille was also kind of tolerable. I would rate her above Barrett or Zell and not because of perverted reasons
Also Sazhs baby chocobo was the star of the game
Maybe if you played with the sound off. Again, not for perverted reasons, but because that voice was just… ugh. SO grating. I wanted to love the performance because it used an honest-to-god ACTUAL Australian voice-actress, but I just couldn’t. I don’t know if it was the shitty script, shitty direction or she’d been in the US for too long, or just plain over-acting, but oh my god anytime Vanille spoke it was like nails on a chalk board to me.
Heh, I read the warnings about Vanille’s VA performance and did myself a favour and got the Asian versions of FFXIII and FFXIII-2 (Lightning Returns thanfully has dual audio available). I have to say that the Japanese VA for Vanille is much more tolerable, particularly if you are used to Japanese VA in general. Vanille as a character I really dug, not for perverted reasons… (OK, for *somewhat* non-perverted reasons).
The only one I wanted to punch was Hope, but even then by the end of the game he was my main.
Best Synergist, and the AI put buffs on in a weird order.
Protect and shell before haste? I don’t think so AI, I’ll do it myself.
Yes it would be awesome to see this progress. FFXV at least has some alright changing weather effects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJrXCfVKXEA
I’m waiting on guys with realistically rendered arm hair. Severely underrepresented in games these days.
I have to agree, but we can’t have them looking like Magilla the Gorilla either
Flooding would be awesome. Maybe the next Far Cry could do it or something, after all they seem to include their fire spreading effects in all installments now.
One of the few things that XCX could do to improve its look.
Good luck doing that on the Wii U!
The hair in xcx isn’t too bad, it’s a pretty good representation of the anime look they’re going for.
It’s just the plasticine faces which are terrible. There ARE some good faces in the game, but they’re the more solid, wrinkled structures of predetermined NPC’s. Modelling the smooth, soft featured faces in 3d never looks right.
I came in here to complain but this was an interesting article.
Kudos, Ashcraft, kudos.
Super gorgeous hair physics powered by AM… wait, this isn’t tomb raider
I’d think the next step in realism is having responsive sweat glands. All that jumping and running around is bound to work up something.
Well GTA V had some good sweat effects. They were mostly wet patches on clothing, but an interesting addition none the less. Although it did make me change Michaels clothing a lot, dude got drenched running to his front gate
It was interesting to see what EA did with fighting physics in their MMA title recently. I hope THAT is the new realism – the skin ripples of being hit and ability to show injuries almost anywhere on the body. Along with sweat. Those two combined would be a boon for many games.
More “Naruto Hair”!
Working in the public service that is the (probably quasi-racist term) to describe those particular hairstyles sported by Asian people.
Damaged skin, tears cuts and injuries would be awesome, and brutal. Imagine getting lacerations all over you after a scrap.
And everyone mocked them for the millions they spent on Aki’s hair in Spirits Within… Clearly it’s paying off now!