If you find the smiles of NPCs in Starfield creepy, then according to an expert, an unused muscle in the face is mainly to blame.
Who is the expert?
- Delaney King is a character artist with over 24 years of professional experience
- In the past, King has worked on games like Dragon Age: Origins, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Civilization.
- Character artists create, for example, the visual elements of figures, vehicles, and environments in video games.
NPCs in Starfield do not have a natural smile
What does the expert say about the NPCs in Starfield? In a thread on Twitter, King explains that the NPCs in Starfield do not use the orbicularis oculi muscle. This muscle needs to contract when smiling. A ‘real’ smile that engages the ring muscles is called a Duchenne smile and looks more natural.
King further explains that a smile without the use of the orbicularis oculi muscle results in a so-called fake or liar smile.
She also says that during a smile, the cheekbones should lift so that it does not look like the person is actively resisting the smile. Similarly, the zygomatic muscle needs to pull the corners of the mouth up, which is not the case with the Adoring Fan in Starfield, for example.
While King does not know which method Bethesda uses to create faces, she believes it requires manual optimization to produce a natural smile.
She perceives movement in the orbicularis oculi muscle and crow’s feet, but the movements are not coordinated with the mouth.
In addition to the creepy smile, King also criticizes a specific look of the NPCs, where they reveal the white of the eye above the iris. According to King, this part is normally covered by the upper eyelid when people roll their eyes.
An exception would be fight or flight reactions. In such cases, humans open their eyes wide to let in more light because they are scared or anticipating a fight.
The robot Vasco has no problem with his smile or his eyes and is also quite witty:
