YandereDev
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News about the Upcoming Character Models
🕑 Added 2025-02-01 09:19:13 +0000 UTCYandere Simulator's current character models are store-bought assets that have numerous flaws and limitations; I've wanted to replace them for many years now. Way back in 2023, I mentioned that someone had created new character models for the game, and explained that they required some adjustments and improvements before they would be game-ready.
It's been 2 years since then, and I've been quite silent about those new character models. This is because it took a long time to find someone who specialized in optimizing anime-style character models. It took a long time, but I finally located the right man for the job - and I'm very pleased with the progress that has been made over the past 2 weeks!
I'm sure that I'm going to forget a few things, so I'll be updating this list as I remember, but here's what comes to mind off the top of my head:
Adding bones to the eyebrows so that they are much more flexible and are capable of many more shapes than just the default shape. (The current eyebrows cannot bend at all.)
Adding a new bone designed to contain the protagonist's eye, which will allow me to resize the eye much more easily during gameplay. (The current method is terribly inefficient.)
Skinning the new school uniform. (The uniform was not skinned to the protagonist's bones when I first received it.)
Adjusting the new school uniform model to confirm better to the protagonist's new proportions. (The first version of the uniform was clipping into the protagonist's body during walking/running/crouching/crawling animations.)
The creation of a bunch of "anime effects" that can be toggled on/off to help the character become even more expressive.
The creation of a test animation to confirm that the character's new bones are animating properly within the game engine.
In addition to those, a bunch of other work was done, as well. Many of these points are highly technical and might not be very exciting to read about, but I'll include them here anyway for the people who are interested:
Changed the topology of the hands and fingers for better deformation
Fixed weight-painting issues around the character's face and body that have been there since the beginning
Added more edge loops around the eyes for better deformation
Added bottom teeth that can be hidden and unhidden by animating a bone
Added a tongue that is controllable by bones
Expanded the inside of the character's mouth so the new tongue could fit in there properly
Added extra bones that will allow the red "kerchief" on the character's chest to animate and/or have physics
Added an extra blendshape to the characters feet to hide the feet when shoes are being worn
Added an extra bone for the character's eyelid to prevent certain deformation problems from occurring
Added extra bones to each of the eyelids so that it becomes possible to hide the eyelashes if necessary for animation
Removed unused bones that have been an unnecessary part of the character since 2014
In addition to that, new blendshapes were created for each of the rivals' faces. That one might require a little bit of an explanation...
Currently, characters in Yandere Sim are given unique faces by adjusting their "blendshapes." However, if a character's blendshape deviates significantly from the norm, then their face will deform in bizarre ways whenever they animate. A blink animation designed for the default eyes doesn't play correctly on adjusted eyes; imagine someone blinking so hard that their upper eyelashes move BELOW their lower eyelashes, clipping into their cheeks. Yikes!
So, how do you solve that sort of problem? How do you give each character a unique face, while still retaining the same animation skeleton and animations that were designed with the expectation that facial features would be shaped differently? The plan was to make each rival's head a unique model, and to give them all custom blinking animations.
However, after talking it over with the volunteer, numerous flaws were identified with this solution. Instead, the decision was made to retain ONE head model, but to give it enough blendshapes to become any rival, as well as a series of custom blinking blendshapes for the rivals whose eyes were significantly different enough that the blinking animation wouldn't look right on the otherwise.
I bet you'd love to see how the new character model looks and moves, wouldn't you? Over the next few hours, I'll begin to upload image and video previews of the new character model here on Patreon. I feel super-guilty that I haven't been providing exciting rewards to each tier of supporter, so the higher tiers will be getting the juiciest previews.
Thank you very much for your support!
Comments
ASPE
I do hope they come out soon as Iβd love to play the game with them added. Has me hyped.
YandereDev
I'm happy that you're excited!
Kylee Dixon
I am so excited! can't wait for the update!
YandereDev
The current sailor uniform would always be the "default" uniform and always used in official artwork of the game. Other, new/original/unique uniforms would also be available in the game as optional choices.
YandereDev
Sure, that can definitely be produced when the time comes.
YandereDev
It works correctly for me...are you viewing the gif on a computer or on a mobile device? In what browser? Works for me, on computer, in Firefox.
Benjamin
What would that mean for the art work for almost all the characters that are in the sailor uniform would u be able to update all their art work.
Skuld
Great news ! I know it will be easier to implement better animations with a new model. Can't wait to see the progress. Would you be so kind as to show a video of how the model works when it's finished ? I like watching those.
Skuld
Hello, YD, the gif is buggy. It only shows the old model.
YandereDev
If you have a demo reel, you're welcome to e-mail it to me!
Deeders
I can't wait to see the new models! ππ
Trip Meyers
YandereDev
Currently being developed.
YandereDev
Previously, all character models combined head+body+clothing into one mesh. With the new character models, head+body+clothing will be separate. This means that it will become much easier to add new clothing models to the game, since I will only need to add the clothing model and won't need to worry about the body along with it. As a result, the likelihood of Akademi getting a unique/original school uniform has increased.
paganpoetry
What about character models for male characters?
Baby Crystal
Do you still plan to give the characters an original Akademi uniform rather than keeping the sailor uniform? Also when do you plan on releasing these new character models?
YandereDev
In my opinion, the new models have much more aesthetically appealing necks! Here's a gif comparing the old model and new model: https://i.imgur.com/g34LUtf.gif (I meant to include that gif in the post, but forgot to. D'oh!)
KyroSali
What about the "short and thick necks" problem? Can that still be fixed?
Rysiu
I look forward to seeing the new models ππππππ
Amy
I look forward to seeing the new models πππ
LacunaEclipsed
I look forward to seeing the new models π
