- Starfield’s character models have an unsettling, eerie smile. Veteran game developer and character artist Delaney King goes into a deep dive explaining why.
- King provided insight into the essential facial muscles such as the orbicularis oculi, which are essential in emulating human facial expressions.
- Some Starfield players are finding this lack of polish to the final product as another critical reason why the game is getting negative reviews.
Starfield players find the NPC smile animations uncomfortably creepy. Game developer Delaney King detailed why that is the case.
While Bethesda and eager fans are hailing Starfield as an unqualified success, it is not without its shortcomings. Detractors have given an increasing number of negative reviews on Steam, but their criticisms are not unwarranted. With other recent highly rated games such as Baldur's Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, every little flaw in Bethesda's first new IP in 25 years is going to likely be scrutinized.
Delaney King (game developer and character artist for such games as Dragon Age, God of War, Stellaris, Dungeons & Dragons Online, among many others) took to his social media to break down why Starfield's NPCs have those unnerving smiles.
One thing I noticed about Starfield is the character smiles have an issue with the orbicularis oculi muscle not contracting to give a "Duchenne smile". pic.twitter.com/2JdR95L3Uo
— Delaney King (@delaneykingrox) September 10, 2023
King added that when a person smiles and the orbicularis oculi muscle does not contract, it creates what is commonly referred to as the fake smile or the liar's smile. It essentially lacks the sincerity, merely smiling for the sake of smiling.
Going further than simply explaining the "Duchenne smile", King expounds on the mechanics involved with the facial muscles in order to produce a realistic human smile (or a reasonable facsimile) with computer generated models:
This smile probably bugs you for some reason you can't put your finger on as will. Allow me. This is the zygomaticus major muscle. It contracts when you smile, pulling the corners of the mouth up towards the Zygomatic process.
This smile probably bugs you for some reason you can't put your finger on as will. Allow me.
This is the zygomaticus major muscle. It contracts when you smile, pulling the corners of the mouth up towards the Zygomatic process.
But here it isn't pic.twitter.com/nu12XqTnZ8
— Delaney King (@delaneykingrox) September 10, 2023
King also gave visual examples of the fake smile in real life, including those by Homelander (played by Anthony Starr) and the familiar face of Hungarian electrical engineer András Arató (who became the picture of the "Hide the Pain Harold" internet meme).
András Arató is famous for his smile. It appears his orbicularis oculi doesn't contract very far even with a genuine smile, resulting in that classic "dead inside" meme. The crow's feet suggest the muscle is tense, but it just doesn't seem to go as far as your average joe.
But it does not end with just the smiles of Starfield's character models. The NPCs in the game also have a problem with their eyes, having a look that would fit right in a survival horror game, but for all the wrong reasons.
Also, for the love of god people, stop rolling the eyes around in the sockets without moving the upper eyelid to cover the upper eye white.https://t.co/YPIW7lc39G
— Delaney King (@delaneykingrox) September 10, 2023
This examination by a game developer and character artist such as Delaney King is fascinating in and of itself. But while it is an objective look at the flaws of the CGI models for Bethesda's new scifi RPG franchise, it does highlight what some players who have been very critical of the end product are saying about Starfield.
A growing number of fans have found Starfield boring, lacking a compelling motivation to keep playing after a certain point, despite the massive options available. Some have pointed to the barren planets and locations that one can go to. Others have emphasized the bland NPC and unmemorable NPC interactions. This latter criticism seems to fall in line with the lack of polish to how the character models and their expressions were designed for Starfield.
While the so-called uncanny valley remains a problem with any CGI model that tries to emulate human emotions, there are degrees of success and failure with its execution in modern video games. Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 and Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 are two recent examples where the character models are done well. Plus, fans of these games can name multiple memorable character interactions in the course of the gameplay. Apparently, the same cannot be said for Starfield.
It certainly won't help Starfield's low reviews on Steam and Metacritic. Is this simply another indicator that Starfield is "undercooked" for a AAA game? Should additional time in development have been dedicated to fix these eerie smiles that leave an unsettling feeling with some Starfield players?
About Starfield:
Starfield is the first new universe in over 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity's greatest mystery.
Developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, Starfield is available on Windows PCs and Xbox Series X/S platforms.
There is always an excuse for everything, isn't there?
Sure seems like it. People point out a flaw and suddenly it was "done on purpose!".
Compare this to their other titles. Look at how much of a downgrade this is and please explain how this massive budget got such horrific facial expressions on the characters!
I remember seeing them showcase and brag about the realistic facial expressions. Where are they?
I don't know what happened to Bethesda but this is just sad and pathetic...