Striped Hyena Overhaul

ralphthestick

ralphthestick
yoav_r said:
Bactrian camel was changed long long after its release, as was the Dhole.
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Camel was resized - the model wasn't changed, and the official line on the dhole change was that it was to fix an animation issue. The binturong remains the only model that was changed for purely aesthetic reasons.
yoav_r said:
It looks a lot like this picture:
Striped-Hyena.jpg
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It...doesn't though? The neck is still a lot thinner, the muzzle is more delicate. Obviously the eyes are closed in the photo, but I would guarantee you they are a different shape to the screenshot. Even if one could point to a single individual that looks like the screenshot, shouldn't the model be more broadly representative of what an 'average' striped hyena looks like?
I'm glad that the model doesn't bother you, but your game would not be made worse if changes were made to make it more accurate, right?
 

Old Country

Old Country
BenevolentBadger said:
*Image. You've seen one image.
I think it's way too early to judge.
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putting out these images showcases to the consumer what will be available in the pack. If this were free it would be another story but it's not. This is how many will decide if the 10$ for this pack will be worth it, or if they should hold off until a discount is available. This is precisely the time to give constructive feedback to frontier. It makes no sense to buy something you're having doubts about especially if you don't like the product off the bat. And this is also exactly why frontier gives the top creators on YouTube the pack early, because it shows off the animals from a in game gameplay aspect that's more relatable to the consumer. So no, it's not too early to judge it's actually the best moment for constructive criticism.
 

Old Country

Old Country
yoav_r said:
So you decided which subspecies they aimed for and then decided it diesn't look like it? What if they were aiming for another population?

It looks a lot like this picture:View attachment 336452
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it almost looks nothing like this image. Ears on the real hyena are almost 2x as large and are a completely different shape all together. Even though it's closing it's eyes you can still see that the positioning of the eyes is much different as well as the shape which once again droops down unlike the game that makes the animal look more feline than hyena. Also this image you posted is a great example to show off just how much of a difference there is with the muzzle. It's much more broad on the real hyena and lighter grey with black undertones where the in game one is very dark black. Also the size of the muzzle is about twice as large in the real image, it covers up more of the face. Lastly in the image you have shown, the neck is much thicker and fluffier which is a common trait of striped hyenas but not on every single individual. I have said it before but the body of the in game striped hyena is actually really good. The Head and potentially neck is where they need to adjust some things especially the head. The in game image they posted just look nothing like a striped hyena and it's not really a matter of opinion or not when basic facial features are just straight up inaccurate. It's like me saying the lion is accurate because it's how I perceive them. It doesn't matter if I like the lion or not, it doesn't change the fact that basic features of it are totally incorrect. You may like the hyena but it doesn't make it good or accurate. Thank you
 

thegaminghyena

thegaminghyena
Doctor Hyena said:
Doctor Hyena said:
Hello Frontier,
I've seen the new images of the striped hyena for the upcoming Grasslands Animal Pack DLC. Overall, it is decent- however, there is lots of room for improvement.

I understand that similarly to the base game's spotted hyena, the striped hyena has been placed on the canine rig with only slight modifications. While it may look "good" in-game, I definitely feel that the hyenas need their own rig and set of animations. Why? Well, if we look at real footage of hyenas walking around and compare it to that of canines, we can see that there are some very significant differences. Hyenas have homolateral leg movement, kind of like camels and giraffes in real life, whereas with canines there is a clear pause between ground contact points. While canines have plenty of movement in the rear, hyenas' hips stay mostly still and the torso movement is more so in the chest and shoulders (frontal areas). Here are some slow-motion video examples:
How canids move
How hyenas move, skip to 0:16
While they might look similar at first glance, these are indeed two very different animals with very different styles of movement and behaviors which should be represented in-game. I understand that these changes could take quite a bit of time to do, so perhaps they could be released in one of the minor updates after the DLC releases.

Also, as many others have pointed out, the model could use improvements too. While the striped hyena's fur looks excellent, there is certainly room for improvement with the head. Overall, hyenas have more robust and box-like muzzles than what is represented in the model. Also, while the eyes look nice from a quality standpoint, hyenas have very different eyes from what is currently on the model. Generally, they are a chocolatey brown color with very small, fading pupils- kind of like a binturong. For reference, here is something that Old Country whipped up.
View attachment 336375

One of my artistically gifted friends Evirapo made this:
View attachment 336479

Here is a comparison between the Planet Zoo striped hyena and a real Indian Striped Hyena which seems to be the subspecies they were aiming for. As we can see, the head's overall structure is very different and the animal's stripes are darker with sharp edges. These changes need to come to the in-game model and texture so that it looks more like its real life counterpart and can be on par with the quality of the other animals in DLCs.
View attachment 336446
Here is a more similar individual, but it still showcases the same issues with the head structure, stripes, and ear size.
View attachment 336460

While I do respect the appreciation of this animal, I feel that it should be represented in a more accurate manner than what has been shown thus far. Hyenas are very misunderstood and often disrespected animals, so the best thing to do is to raise awareness by depicting them the way they are in reality.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Doctor Hyena said:
Hello Frontier,
I've seen the new images of the striped hyena for the upcoming Grasslands Animal Pack DLC. Overall, it is decent- however, there is lots of room for improvement.

I understand that similarly to the base game's spotted hyena, the striped hyena has been placed on the canine rig with only slight modifications. While it may look "good" in-game, I definitely feel that the hyenas need their own rig and set of animations. Why? Well, if we look at real footage of hyenas walking around and compare it to that of canines, we can see that there are some very significant differences. Hyenas have homolateral leg movement, kind of like camels and giraffes in real life, whereas with canines there is a clear pause between ground contact points. While canines have plenty of movement in the rear, hyenas' hips stay mostly still and the torso movement is more so in the chest and shoulders (frontal areas). Here are some slow-motion video examples:
How canids move
How hyenas move, skip to 0:16
While they might look similar at first glance, these are indeed two very different animals with very different styles of movement and behaviors which should be represented in-game. I understand that these changes could take quite a bit of time to do, so perhaps they could be released in one of the minor updates after the DLC releases.

Also, as many others have pointed out, the model could use improvements too. While the striped hyena's fur looks excellent, there is certainly room for improvement with the head. Overall, hyenas have more robust and box-like muzzles than what is represented in the model. Also, while the eyes look nice from a quality standpoint, hyenas have very different eyes from what is currently on the model. Generally, they are a chocolatey brown color with very small, fading pupils- kind of like a binturong. For reference, here is something that Old Country whipped up.
View attachment 336375

One of my artistically gifted friends Evirapo made this:
View attachment 336479

Here is a comparison between the Planet Zoo striped hyena and a real Indian Striped Hyena which seems to be the subspecies they were aiming for. As we can see, the head's overall structure is very different and the animal's stripes are darker with sharp edges. These changes need to come to the in-game model and texture so that it looks more like its real life counterpart and can be on par with the quality of the other animals in DLCs.
View attachment 336446
Here is a more similar individual, but it still showcases the same issues with the head structure, stripes, and ear size.
View attachment 336460

While I do respect the appreciation of this animal, I feel that it should be represented in a more accurate manner than what has been shown thus far. Hyenas are very misunderstood and often disrespected animals, so the best thing to do is to raise awareness by depicting them the way they are in reality.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Let's hope that with enough attention from the community, the hyena is fixed.
 

Sindy

Sindy
I'm willing to believe they gave us a horribly timed screenshot again and the hyena is just caught mid-turning animation. I'm also willing to believe stylization plays a role in their design choice; but if this is really what model looks like, the face at the very least is honestly wrong (that back leg looks weird, too, but all the leg animations look strange on everything, imo). Not that we'd be able to know from just this one picture what the model actually looks like in its entirety, of course, but the devs definitely know, considering they made it, and they need to hear that we've caught their inaccuracies just like the binturong and the malayan tapir (and I seriously hope the tapir gets fixed someday).

I spent a good while looking at pictures of striped hyenas myself because I wasn't totally convinced, with and without extra fur, and compared it to the model. At the very least, the eyes have to change. Again, it could just be that snippet of animation, but if it's not, they need to be droopier. Not one hyena I looked at had their eyes open wide like the that.

If this really isn't a model issue and just a terrible angle/really poor timing, then at least maybe this'll finally push them to take better pics because my lord, sometimes they seriously make some animals look bad in the promotional stuff when in the game they look amazing.

Tl;dr: if the model's wrong, it needs to be fixed. As it currently stands with what we can see, this model is wrong. If it actually isn't, they need to start taking better screenshots. Badly.
 

sumcherish82

sumcherish82
Sindy said:
I'm willing to believe they gave us a horribly timed screenshot again and the hyena is just caught mid-turning animation. I'm also willing to believe stylization plays a role in their design choice; but if this is really what model looks like, the face at the very least is honestly wrong (that back leg looks weird, too, but all the leg animations look strange on everything, imo). Not that we'd be able to know from just this one picture what the model actually looks like in its entirety, of course, but the devs definitely know, considering they made it, and they need to hear that we've caught their inaccuracies just like the binturong and the malayan tapir (and I seriously hope the tapir gets fixed someday).

I spent a good while looking at pictures of striped hyenas myself because I wasn't totally convinced, with and without extra fur, and compared it to the model. At the very least, the eyes have to change. Again, it could just be that snippet of animation, but if it's not, they need to be droopier. Not one hyena I looked at had their eyes open wide like the that.

If this really isn't a model issue and just a terrible angle/really poor timing, then at least maybe this'll finally push them to take better pics because my lord, sometimes they seriously make some animals look bad in the promotional stuff when in the game they look amazing.

Tl;dr: if the model's wrong, it needs to be fixed. As it currently stands with what we can see, this model is wrong. If it actually isn't, they need to start taking better screenshots. Badly.
Click to expand...
We have done what we can do. Let hope hyena get more love from Frontier.
 

Doctor Hyena

D
Sindy said:
I'm willing to believe they gave us a horribly timed screenshot again and the hyena is just caught mid-turning animation. I'm also willing to believe stylization plays a role in their design choice; but if this is really what model looks like, the face at the very least is honestly wrong (that back leg looks weird, too, but all the leg animations look strange on everything, imo). Not that we'd be able to know from just this one picture what the model actually looks like in its entirety, of course, but the devs definitely know, considering they made it, and they need to hear that we've caught their inaccuracies just like the binturong and the malayan tapir (and I seriously hope the tapir gets fixed someday).

I spent a good while looking at pictures of striped hyenas myself because I wasn't totally convinced, with and without extra fur, and compared it to the model. At the very least, the eyes have to change. Again, it could just be that snippet of animation, but if it's not, they need to be droopier. Not one hyena I looked at had their eyes open wide like the that.

If this really isn't a model issue and just a terrible angle/really poor timing, then at least maybe this'll finally push them to take better pics because my lord, sometimes they seriously make some animals look bad in the promotional stuff when in the game they look amazing.

Tl;dr: if the model's wrong, it needs to be fixed. As it currently stands with what we can see, this model is wrong. If it actually isn't, they need to start taking better screenshots. Badly.
Click to expand...
Yeah no, I think regardless of the angle we can see the face and I've compared it to real-life images at similar angles. The skull structure, eye position and color, ear size and shape, and markings all need to change no matter what. Model is definitely wrong here.
 

Pinguin

Pinguin
I said in other thread that think Frontier did great job on the overall fur and hair on the back. Current hyena in game has some weird posture because of the dog rig, so they probably used that but even then they did good, but if they made small changes around the face, meatier neck and add some hair on the neck if would look perfect. I dont mean to offend Frontier artists, they did amazing, but there is always a room for improvement, I hope they will take this feedback to heart and implement these small changes. :)
 
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