As most players of Final Fantasy XIV already know, the benchmark tool for Dawntrail is getting an update to address player complaints about lighting and character model oddities that might be too much to ignore despite things ultimately being OK. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida has checked back in with a follow-up to that work, providing more details and even some dates players may want to learn about.
First, lighting parameter updates from within the benchmark’s character creation tool were completed last week and will undergo final review by Yoshida on Friday, May 3rd, with these updates also being applied to the game itself when Dawntrail goes live. The devs are also correcting “bugs, data issues, or sections in need of further attention,” with work on that expected to finish by May 15th, followed by Yoshida’s review on May 16th.
All of this adds up to the updated benchmark looking at a release date of May 23rd or at some point later in that same week. Yoshida further assures that the Dawntrail launch is moving forward as planned, with his team now going through final reviews and finishing touches in tandem to these benchmark updates.
