YouTube user Shalashaska used in-game assets to tweak the existing Nightborne male model to alter their face and available hairstyle options. It’s actually crazy to me how with just a few minor alterations, the male Nightborne is almost passable for an actual Nightborne now.
Question: Any special tech or programs needed for customization of Allied Races like glowing hair tips?
Ya, we had to get a special tech for how the full body tattoos shine on the Nightborne. Same with the Entropic Embrace - it’s different from Shadow Priest’s Voidform, since it’s Just their skin color and not mounts, or armor so that required new tech as well.
Question: What was the hardest Allied Race to design from an art angle?
Nightborne was the most difficult - mostly because we had to up the fidelity of the facial animations when they became player characters. Had to move some bones around! The data perspective also was difficult - lots of back-end data converting NPCs to PCs.
Here’s how all that hard work converting NPCs to playable models went:
Yea, I saw this recently and I have to say… even though I still feel the model itself needs some improvements, just those fan made options alone made a world of difference.
That Blizzard didn’t even include the one decent Night Elf male face for the Nightborne males was a travesty, and this fan edit shows that Nightborne inheriting options from the Night Elves is feasible and that some NPC only elements can works too (the glowy hands for example).
I’m hopeful that Nightborne get more than just hand-me-downs from Night Elves, but even just that would help.
The metal beard thing is cool and that hairstyle looks really nice on male nightborne, but I think the face still isn’t right. Still doesn’t look like Legion nightborne
It’s definitely feasible, but personally, I don’t think that the new customization options the Night Elves received fit the theme of the Nightborne being prim nobles.
I think the skin tones can work, as well as some of the hairstyles (as seen in the fan vid) and the moon-themed jewelry. Not everything would really fit the Nightborne of course, such as the hair vines and vine jewelry, but hairstyles are fairly generic in many cases.
What’s important is that the styles still use the Nightborne hair textures so they match the other Nightborne hairstyles. Hopefully Blizzard will also add new color variants for the Nightborne hair textures. The Nightborne are sorely in need of both skin and hair color options, as well as hairstyle, facial hair, and jewelry options. They basically just need more of… everything
Saying this from an artist’s perspective that one hairstyle seems to it perfectly with those with pale skin and eye shadow; since the illuminated eyes is guaranteed to contrast itself from the hair and skin.
This really shows that a little work goes a long way. I, ideally, would want their model more drastically remade to look better and more like the NPCs but this is a good start.
The option to change the face shape really helps the males look better. I hope NB get some love soon because they desperately need it.
Blizzard’s Nightborne Wall of Shame
