Tag: shirtless

Ardyn as Christ figure

ffxv final fantasy xv ardyn dlc 4k

So if Ardyn is the Christ-like figure, what is Noctis? With all the lore dumping and hey, btw, the gods are arses, but wait, are they really or does it just seem that way, maybe the gods are as much at the whim of Fate and Destiny as anyone else – is anyone really a good guy or a bad guy in this tale? Well, I’m not even going to pretend to understand or waste my limited braincells trying to analyze what can’t truly be analyzed, because in games (and movies, and long running tv series), story can be story at any time for “reasons.” But hey! Look at that detail work in Ardyn’s torso! The belly button is almost photogenic!

ffxv final fantasy xv ardyn dlc 4k
Is it the same as Gladio’s bellybutton/torso, only minus tattoos? I always leave Gladio’s shirt on, I have no idea.

ffxv final fantasy xv ardyn dlc 4k

ffxv final fantasy xv ardyn dlc 4

Not Ardyn’s naked torso, but I like it anyway. There’s a lot of “painting” aspect to some of the cutscenes.
final fantasy ffxv ardyn dlc 4k

Gladio, Ignis + 4k/60+ gaming is awesome

This first picture is to wallow in how nice it is to play FFXV at mostly max, in 4k. Texture distance, Turfworks, reflections, all that jazz. And it still stays at 60-70fps or higher. You can see the tiny fps number in the bottom right. It’s not hugely different from before, but especially while playing it’s just enough “better” to make it even more impressive.

ffxv screenshot 4k ignis

Next one is just because I liked Gladio posing like this and it looks good.  I did try the RTX DLSS type of anti-aliasing as well but I thought it sucked in this game – although it is better than FXAA in this case. I still vastly prefer the TAA for FFXV.ffxv screenshot 4k gladio

And finally, another one of mostly shirtless Ignis, haha. I like how he seems as if he’s just enjoying a summer stroll in the grass.
ffxv screenshot 4k ignis shirtless

Outside of FFXV, I’ve also played 7 Days to Die in 4k. It runs mostly around 60fps maxed but too many zombies and that game still drops into the low 50’s, but it’s still very smooth. 7 Days is a voxel Unity game in Alpha so I didn’t expect it to do quite as well (at 4k). If I run 7 Days at 1440 it stays above 60fps all the time tho, so it’s good. It’s not the type of game one cares a lot about playing in 4k anyway.

Also, I … managed to squeeze in a 3rd monitor on my desk with the 27″ 1080 at an angle. I wonder if it’ll give that side of my face a sunburn, haha. So, the 4k TV on the left, 1440 in the middle, 1080 to the right. This means I don’t need a monitor switchbox (just KB/mouse switch) and I can see the desktops of both pc’s at once, which is nice. Sitting within this half-circle of tall monitors makes one feel like a chr. in the movies, bouncing from screen to screen. It’s a little more awkward in terms of repositioning the angle of keyboard for typing depending which monitor you’re staring at, but I suppose it works. I still hate Win10. But I love gaming on the new rig. Was it worth all that money? Probably not. But 4k/60+fps on a 43″ right in your face … it’s so niiiiice.

P.S. How does one create a damn double space (or more) under posted images that sticks in the actual published page, in WordPress? Neither < br > or < hr > or simply hitting Enter twice in Visual mode works, since the last WP update. It looks ok in the editor but I hit publish and the formatting disappears. The only way that works at the moment seems to be using < code > and hitting Enter a couple times within it. Driving me crazy.

Hanging out by stream w/shirtless Prompto mod

Prompto without a shirt on, regular “outfit” mod, not Avatara/Noct-skin.

When I was 12-14, I had a close friend I’d known since I was maybe five. He was beach-blonde, very handsome and had this same kind of thin build. He was quite popular with the girls that went to my parent’s church and they flocked around him like sheep during group beach trips as he stood around trying to play it all off (he was friendly but somewhat shy and taciturn). Seeing these screenshots I realized Prompto reminds me of him just a tad…except my friend didn’t prattle or sing chocobo-songs. I wonder how that friend is doing, haven’t seen him in years. Tons of time passes by and you wonder about these things from time to time. 😀

Still no shirtless-outfit mod for Ignis. Wah.

Why I don’t post shirtless young Noctis

Someone asked elsewhere about pics of a shirtless young Noctis. I replied in the comment section but this is a longer explanation. Young Noctis is not officially available as a Comrades or Avatara face or hair option and no one has yet made any shirtless Noct. full-model or outfit mod, either.

Someone did very recently upload a Comrades face/hair option (they are two separate mods/pieces vs. a whole outfit/model), however as is often the case with non-official models, there are terrible shader/shadows/skintone issues, especially when combined with the shirtless Comrades mod.

It’s that whole neck to body seam issue. 😛
The “official” old-Noctis head doesn’t have this shader problem so it matches up with the shirtless torso mod somewhat better (most of the time, it can look terrible occasionally too). But even with ambient occlusion setting off and some different lighting situations, putting two mods together is still pretty apparent/ugly 90% of the time even from moderate distances. I have no desire to use it or spend much time trying to find the singular moment in the game where the combo might look okay for pics. Plus the hair is rather low-res for my tastes. I mean it works ok if you keep a shirt on Noct, but then what’s the point re: main game…

Perhaps someone else might create a combo of Comrades mods that works better, in the future, or maybe one day Square will actually improve their mod-tool re: this whole skintone/shader stuff.

Avatara-Noct-Ignis, getting closer

A half-way decent attempt at a “hair down” mod for Comrades/Avatara
ffxv ignis shirtless avatara screenshot

An intriguing thing is it seems a hair mod that lacks proper motion physics and shaders etc. isn’t as affected by Ansel ignoring/not wanting to apply the TAA (and/or other post-processing game setting elements) to Ansel-screenshots (note true Ignis’ hair being darker brown and less detailed/smooth – the hair-down hair is the worst ever in this regard, especially from a distance). PC version of Prompto’s pics do the same thing, like Prompto uses Ansel on PC. >.>

If you actually play Noct as Ignis, even with the hair, it still doesn’t look/feel right – but very close-up/face-only screens or within the creation editor’s better lighting/shaders, if you angle just right and squint, you can pretend. 😛

(4k)
ffxv ignis screenshot 4k