LaraX?

[Rowan Amore]

Just saw a post on Flickr from Velour about a coming soon update to Lara.  Anyone have any more info on that?

Edited July 28, 2023 by Rowan Amore

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Updates...and we're getting the Picasso line?

Hmmm...first I'm hearing of this. If they update the shoulders, I just might cry.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Updates...and we're getting the Picasso line?

Hmmm...first I'm hearing of this. If they update the shoulders, I just might cry.

Happy cry? Sad cry?

[Kristy Aurelia]

This appears to be the source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2482365581930212&set=a.379135692253222

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Those who wear the body know exactly what I'm talmbout.

[CrissyRobertson]

Info from the Maitreya group this afternoon.

They have been working on it since last year

Any upgrades to Lara will be free

They are revamping everything, Petite and Flat included

[Rowan Amore]

I wonder if they will include the no alpha cut option that some might like.  Not that I'm not happy with Reborn but there are clothes I'd love to drag out again IF they'll still fit.

[Tayt3rChip]

My main concern is the fit. I  have stuck with Maitreya due to the wide range of stuff available for it. I'm really hoping the clothes will still fit. Also would be amazing if the dev kit became more accessible and the body easier to rig. 

[Tayt3rChip]

[Jenna Huntsman]

I'm going to guess the major change will be a new UV map, hence why:

• The information is coming from a skin creator, as it'd be smart to get other creators involved and making content for the new UV map ahead of launch
• The name; as it follows the LeLutka naming convention (X represents their new UV)

Just a guess.

[steeljane42]

32 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Updates...and we're getting the Picasso line?

Hmmm...first I'm hearing of this. If they update the shoulders, I just might cry.

Sadly there's no way to update the shoulders without breaking existing content. Even if they'd include some kind of deformers, which anyone can get already, it's still only a partial fix.

So it's either a new body with a generous free upgrade for current Maitreya users, or vanity updates that won't really change much. Perhaps a new UV given the X in its name? That would be nice, especially if they'd share it with others like Lelutka did. Although knowing maitreya if it happens they won't share a thing.

[Persephone Emerald]

2 hours ago, Jenna Huntsman said:

I'm going to guess the major change will be a new UV map, hence why:

• The information is coming from a skin creator, as it'd be smart to get other creators involved and making content for the new UV map ahead of launch
• The name; as it follows the LeLutka naming convention (X represents their new UV)

Just a guess.

Although, if they're following Belleza's naming convention, X might mean a smoother shape with more detailed naughty parts. 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Persephone Emerald
Added a comma for clarity

[Gryphon Ronas]

4 minutes ago, steeljane42 said:

Although knowing maitreya if it happens they won't share a thing.

Do you mean the current body UV, SLUV?

Also, the skin applier kit has a detailed UV map pulled from Maya.

Are either of those what you mean?

[Persephone Emerald]

5 minutes ago, steeljane42 said:

Sadly there's no way to update the shoulders without breaking existing content. Even if they'd include some kind of deformers, which anyone can get already, it's still only a partial fix.

So it's either a new body with a generous free upgrade for current Maitreya users, or vanity updates that won't really change much. Perhaps a new UV given the X in its name? That would be nice, especially if they'd share it with others like Lelutka did. Although knowing maitreya if it happens they won't share a thing.

The shoulders in those pictures look better to me.

[steeljane42]

13 minutes ago, Gryphon Ronas said:

Do you mean the current body UV, SLUV?

Also, the skin applier kit has a detailed UV map pulled from Maya.

Are either of those what you mean?

I meant the new UV the X update if it's actually a thing in the update. Lelutka, for example of new UVs, are much more "relaxed" about their devkits compared to Maitreya, and even they did share the EvoX permissions with only a few other brands, all of which are pretty tiny and a non factor on the current mesh heads market compared to the top 3. To be fair I'm not sure if other (bigger) ones have asked, though.

So given the "history" of how it is/was difficult to get Maitreya's devkit compared to most other bodies I said about them/you not sharing that UV with other body creators, since it's pretty much direct competition.

13 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

The shoulders in those pictures look better to me.

Looks about the same to me, especially if consider the fact it's a perfect angle to showcase the body/skin. You can pose (current) Maitreya in a way it'll look fine as well, but static pictures from the good angle is one thing, real-time and all kinds of animations is another.

Edited July 28, 2023 by steeljane42

[AmeliaJ08]

Revamping a body... it's interesting but such a task has to be pretty daunting for a body as established as Maitreya Lara. You could make tiny tweaks to the model and tell users to simply alpha any issues that introduces (sucks) or you could go completely new and simply say that LaraX (or whatever) is an entirely new model that wears entirely new clothes and simply include the old body as a sort of compatibility option. How you do that cleanly though is beyond me, you could have both bodies on at all times and switch between them with the HUD maybe?

Obviously so much content has to remain supported somehow, you can't just jump straight to an entirely new body Legacy style and that do go down well given how much drama that move caused. Lara's dominant market position for so long probably makes it incredibly difficult to move forward.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by AmeliaJ08

[AmeliaJ08]

30 minutes ago, Jenna Huntsman said:

I'm going to guess the major change will be a new UV map, hence why:

• The information is coming from a skin creator, as it'd be smart to get other creators involved and making content for the new UV map ahead of launch
• The name; as it follows the LeLutka naming convention (X represents their new UV)

Just a guess.

That's a really good point.

What improvements could be made to the UV map though? I was looking at it and wondering the same myself, the changes that Lelutka introduced for EvoX make a lot of sense and make much better use of the space but with the body map I couldn't really see where something similar could be made though, it seems like there's no part of a body where you can spend detail to better spend it elsewhere like the EvoX map did.

I am just a layman though.

 

 

[Rowan Amore]

A new body map didn't work so well for Slink.  Not only would people need to possibly buy new clothing but also skins and any other mods like tattoos, freckles, moles, etc.  That would be a bad move IMO.

[Jenna Huntsman]

1 minute ago, Rowan Amore said:

A new body map didn't work so well for Slink.  Not only would people need to possibly buy new clothing but also skins and any other mods like tattoos, freckles, moles, etc.  That would be a bad move IMO.

Eh, their new UV failed for a couple reasons IMO:

1. It was explicitly tied to a new body, and none of the existing Slink lineup was updated to use the new UV (meaning; there was no existing market for content that uses the new UV). This is the opposite of what LeLutka did, which was to go back and update their previous products to use the new UV, meaning that there was a large pre-existing market for the new UV
2. Slink was already sliding down the board as their marketing wasn't very good, and tastes changed away from Hourglass, which was their most popular body (as far as I can tell, anyway), and Physique got dwarfed by Maitreya, which is (in my experience) a bit more flexible with it's shape
3. They took a page out of the Legacy playbook for their new body, and slapped a large pricetag on it; yet didn't have anywhere near the marketing and hype to motivate people to actually spend that much.
4. The shape of the new body was very meh, and more importantly, wasn't very flexible.

It seems to me like if a new UV is the path they're going down, then taking pages from the LeLutka playbook is a very good idea (Free update for everyone who owns a Maitreya body? Massive existing market there!)

[Persephone Emerald]

39 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

Revamping a body... it's interesting but such a task has to be pretty daunting for a body as established as Maitreya Lara. You could make tiny tweaks to the model and tell users to simply alpha any issues that introduces (sucks) or you could go completely new and simply say that LaraX (or whatever) is an entirely new model that wears entirely new clothes and simply include the old body as a sort of compatibility option. How you do that cleanly though is beyond me, you could have both bodies on at all times and switch between them with the HUD maybe?

Obviously so much content has to remain supported somehow, you can't just jump straight to an entirely new body Legacy style and that do go down well given how much drama that move caused. Lara's dominant market position for so long probably makes it incredibly difficult to move forward.

If the only noticeable shape changes were the shoulders and arm connection, this wouldn't break all the existing mesh clothing. It wouldn't affect strapless dresses and tops. It wouldn't affect pants, shorts or skirts. It would only slightly affect tops that cover the shoulders, because an alpha layer or cuts could still hide bits where the body might show through. 

Clothing designers might not even mind having to rig for Lara X, because people will be buying more new clothes.

[Orwar]

46 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

That's a really good point.

What improvements could be made to the UV map though? I was looking at it and wondering the same myself, the changes that Lelutka introduced for EvoX make a lot of sense and make much better use of the space but with the body map I couldn't really see where something similar could be made though, it seems like there's no part of a body where you can spend detail to better spend it elsewhere like the EvoX map did.

I am just a layman though.

   The SLUV has a lot of unused real-estate, we could squeeze in a decent bit more resolution into our bodies with better optimised maps. 

   But also - individual arms. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

So, I've been poking around and landed on some social media discussion between a few creators and their customers. They mentioned an in-depth discussion in the Maitreya Discord, so I peeked, but I don't see much in the public channels aside from the CSR confirming there is indeed an update and it *will* be free for current users. My assumption is there's a creator/developer channel in there that's hidden where the bulk of the discussion is taking place, which is standard for head/body Discords anyway. No biggie.

Anyyyyyhooooo, according to one creator, this may wind up being a very big overhaul - mesh & weights included. There's talk about the new body requiring a whole new rig, so the old one will remain and be packaged in. And a new devkit.

Since I can't access the channel where the main convo is happening to 100% confirm all this for myself, I'm leaving out creator names and whatnot. IFFFFF this all turns out to be true though, I'm going to freak owwwwwt! In the meantime, I'm remaining calm and treating it all as rumors. RUMORS I say!

...

...

[Orwar]

21 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Anyyyyyhooooo, according to one creator, this may wind up being a very big overhaul - mesh & weights included.

   It is possible they're re-doing the mesh, and thus have to re-do the weighting, but are able to make it close enough to be compatible at least with a majority of old mesh clothes for it.

   Buuuut we'll just have to wait and see. 

[JeromFranzic]

Uugh, just looked at my piddly Samsung phone, pointed at the Discord app... Ok... can't wait

*unpacks a few more Unreal avis in the meantime*

[steeljane42]

If it's true, and if the new body won't be compatible with the older clothes, then for a while (and for some people for a really long while) it will make things rather complicated. I've got used to swapping bodies for a needed outfit a long while ago when I've got legacy, but still wanted to wear maitreya for some RP/fantasy outfits. And recently after getting a reborn I still swap to a few legacy based outfits for the same reason.

But I know some people just dread the thought of maintaining multiple bodies with different shapes, skins, keeping more than one clothing size and so on. So if it's entirely new body and not just a new UV and some tweaks here and there, then given lack of clothing for the new body at the start and for quite sometime it'll be the game of swapping for many many people.