Dear ESO....Horse's ears don't work like that....

MissAethe · November 2020

I didn't know where else to put this, but there's been something about the horse's ears in ESO that have driven me CRAZY since I started playing this game.

For some reason, whoever designed the horses in ESO made their ears flex backwards in the middle in a super "This Is Not How This Works" way when you start to move your horse at any speed faster than a walk. Static-ear horses don't do this (Dwarven War Horse for example), but literally ALL of the non-static ears do. Horse's ears are SUPPOSED to swivel to lay back flat, similar to a dog or a cat, they don't weirdly flex in the middle and bend backwards at the tip. It's so jarring as someone who owns horses IRL to see this weird deformity being the standard horse ear movement in the game. If I wasn't on Xbox, I would post a screen to show what I mean but I can't angle myself while running well enough to get the picture.

I checked to see if anyone had commented on this anywhere and through the forum search, it hasn't been mentioned to my knowledge. I know a lot of people don't know anything about horses to spot a detail like that, and that's perfectly fine! But it's so frustratingly bad for me that I can't unsee it, and can't use a non-static eared horse without being unable to look at literally anything else except it's weird ear deformity.

GOAT4EVAR · November 2020

Ok

Raideen · November 2020

I agree OP, I just write things off like this with this answer.

"We reside on Nirn, not Earth".

Faiza · November 2020

Wait until you meet the talking dog lol

Irfind · November 2020

I dont know, i think the hint legs and the permanent open mouth ar more questionable.

Sylvermynx · November 2020

It's irrefutable that whoever is responsible for the horses in this game is not a horseperson at all. As a horsewoman for many years, I find the weirdnesses of all the horses to be very awkward; I prefer to use cats, wolves, and indriks to the horses.

Muttsmutt · November 2020

well well, now this is refreshing! complaining about horse ears! i love it!

InaMoonlight · November 2020

I agree, but I was weak and too lazy to start droning on that on top of the other things I whine about. But yeah! Excellently explained. May you get heard by ZoS!

Edit: I love horses RL, but ingame I never ride one, they feel all wrong in movement and bumpy in ride (compared to the others) A horse doesnt land as harsh as the game makes it feel on any downtread, jump maybe, but a regular run/gallop, nuuuh, no one would have a tailbone!

twev · November 2020

Muttsmutt wrote: »

well well, now this is refreshing! complaining about horse ears! i love it!

Attention to detail is attention to detail.

They have a multimillion dollar art department.
Details matter to players.

Nothing wrong about caring about details when they could have done something correctly but didn't bother to.

redspecter23 · November 2020

"The horse has odd ears!"

Meanwhile...

Riding insects
Destroying gods... multiple times
Summoning an actual supernova to use against your foes... for a mere portion of their life
Don't mind if I take that 200'th heavy plate to hold on to
2 foot high impassable rocky "mountain"
my sword is on fire, not regular fire mind you, but colored funky fire
1up's in gem form

I guess it's all about perspective.

Linaleah · November 2020

redspecter23 wrote: »

"The horse has odd ears!"

Meanwhile...

Riding insects
Destroying gods... multiple times
Summoning an actual supernova to use against your foes... for a mere potion of their life
Don't mind if I take that 200'th heavy plate to hold on to
2 foot high impassable rocky "mountain"
my sword is on fire, not regular fire mind you, but colored funky fire
1up's in gem form

I guess it's all about perspective.

but all these other things are entirely fictional and have no real life equivalent. while horses in game supposedly represent horses as they are in real life (at least basic horses, not the magical constructs) that's why its so jarring. (well that and this game does show serious attention to detail in many places, so when it doesn't - it becomes more noticeable)

redspecter23 · November 2020

Linaleah wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

"The horse has odd ears!"

Meanwhile...

Riding insects
Destroying gods... multiple times
Summoning an actual supernova to use against your foes... for a mere potion of their life
Don't mind if I take that 200'th heavy plate to hold on to
2 foot high impassable rocky "mountain"
my sword is on fire, not regular fire mind you, but colored funky fire
1up's in gem form

I guess it's all about perspective.

but all these other things are entirely fictional and have no real life equivalent. while horses in game supposedly represent horses as they are in real life (at least basic horses, not the magical constructs) that's why its so jarring. (well that and this game does show serious attention to detail in many places, so when it doesn't - it becomes more noticeable)

Look at it this way. These are not Earth horses. They are Nirn horses. Just as humans don't have elf ears and mer exist on Nirn. These horses have features specific to Nirn. Once you start saying "these ears aren't right" you have to "fix" the elf ears, bosmer horns and Orc tusks as actual human beings generally don't have those things.

resdayn00 · November 2020

Faiza wrote: »

Wait until you meet the talking dog lol

You've won this thread

Aiphaton · November 2020

I always wonder why people demand such fixes - gamebreaking fixes nahh
Dw next Patchnotes "We fixed Horseears"

Linaleah · November 2020

redspecter23 wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

"The horse has odd ears!"

Meanwhile...

Riding insects
Destroying gods... multiple times
Summoning an actual supernova to use against your foes... for a mere potion of their life
Don't mind if I take that 200'th heavy plate to hold on to
2 foot high impassable rocky "mountain"
my sword is on fire, not regular fire mind you, but colored funky fire
1up's in gem form

I guess it's all about perspective.

but all these other things are entirely fictional and have no real life equivalent. while horses in game supposedly represent horses as they are in real life (at least basic horses, not the magical constructs) that's why its so jarring. (well that and this game does show serious attention to detail in many places, so when it doesn't - it becomes more noticeable)

Look at it this way. These are not Earth horses. They are Nirn horses. Just as humans don't have elf ears and mer exist on Nirn. These horses have features specific to Nirn. Once you start saying "these ears aren't right" you have to "fix" the elf ears, bosmer horns and Orc tusks as actual human beings generally don't have those things.

again orcs and elfs do not have the RL equivalent, so their ears and tusks and horns and eyes can be whatever. horses however are STILL very much RL equivalent. the better comparison would be issues with how Bretons and Nord and Redguard look and move, compared to RL humans because they ARE the equivalent of RL humans.

Faiza · November 2020

Linaleah wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

"The horse has odd ears!"

Meanwhile...

Riding insects
Destroying gods... multiple times
Summoning an actual supernova to use against your foes... for a mere potion of their life
Don't mind if I take that 200'th heavy plate to hold on to
2 foot high impassable rocky "mountain"
my sword is on fire, not regular fire mind you, but colored funky fire
1up's in gem form

I guess it's all about perspective.

but all these other things are entirely fictional and have no real life equivalent. while horses in game supposedly represent horses as they are in real life (at least basic horses, not the magical constructs) that's why its so jarring. (well that and this game does show serious attention to detail in many places, so when it doesn't - it becomes more noticeable)

Look at it this way. These are not Earth horses. They are Nirn horses. Just as humans don't have elf ears and mer exist on Nirn. These horses have features specific to Nirn. Once you start saying "these ears aren't right" you have to "fix" the elf ears, bosmer horns and Orc tusks as actual human beings generally don't have those things.

again orcs and elfs do not have the RL equivalent, so their ears and tusks and horns and eyes can be whatever. horses however are STILL very much RL equivalent. the better comparison would be issues with how Bretons and Nord and Redguard look and move, compared to RL humans because they ARE the equivalent of RL humans.

Bretons are elves too lol

Vevvev · November 2020

Faiza wrote: »

Bretons are elves too lol

Not fully as they are more human than elf now after many generations, but you are right in a way as they have their magical aptitude and pointy ears the other races of men don't have.

I do agree with OP though that horses have always felt a bit odd in this game. At least our mounts don't instantly stop when you take your finger off the movement key. Some games do that and its even worse!

vestahls · November 2020

Remember the Making Of for Oblivion? The lady who did the horses really worked to make the physics of them look real, she seemed to put so much heart into it.
Bring back that lady to fix ESO's horses. Devs should care about the stuff they add to the game.

SydneyGrey · November 2020

ESO has the worst horses of any game I've ever seen. I've seen kid's games that had better-looking, more natural horses than ESO does.

LadyLethalla · November 2020

I always said, ESO's horses look like they were designed by someone who'd never actually seen a horse and was working off a description someone else gave them...

This is why I always ride cats instead.

The thing that bugs me most about horse riding in video games is that the reins are always slack and never gathered up. I know, First World Gaming Problems xD

preevious · November 2020

This is an oddly specific thing to be annoyed about, but if you really love horses, I can understand.

I suggest you ride a senche instead, then?

Ratzkifal · November 2020

Didn't horses in ESO have leg deformities too? I remember seeing a thread like that...

LanteanPegasus · November 2020

Ratzkifal wrote: »

Didn't horses in ESO have leg deformities too? I remember seeing a thread like that...

Yes, they have. Their hind legs are strangely deformed, it's a wonder they are able to gallop at all.
So I guess it isn't a surprise that when they do the pain does make their ears curl in strange ways ?

I didn't notice the ear problem, because my camera angle usually has the horses head hidden behind my character once I start to gallop.

But the leg problem is so noticeable that I stopped using horses once I had a senche mount. Not because I don't like them, but because I can't look at that legs without imagining pain.
It infected the Indriks as well, albeit it's a bit less catastrophic there, because deer have a slightly different leg position from horses. But it's still off.

So it would be nice if the horses got a rework.

And while they are at it - I have no idea why all big cats/senches/Alfiq are done exceedingly well, but the house cats have some kind of slightly deformed back ???

Wolfchild07 · November 2020

And canines don't run like that. They also don't howl with their mouths wide open. I agree, the big cats were done right, then everything else was not done with the same care.

Starlight_Whisper · November 2020

The also got horse legs wrong. I have seen like two real life veterinarians complain about it.

Honestly designer for those models needs to do better research.

P.S Gald they fixed camel abomination

Sylvermynx · November 2020

As a matter of fact, my long-time large animal vet (who is a personal friend and shirttail relative as well) decided to try ESO a while back. He couldn't do it because the animals were so wrong.

I referred him to Skyrim with AlienSlof's mods.... He's much happier.

Starlight_Whisper · November 2020

vestahls wrote: »

Remember the Making Of for Oblivion? The lady who did the horses really worked to make the physics of them look real, she seemed to put so much heart into it.
Bring back that lady to fix ESO's horses. Devs should care about the stuff they add to the game.

^ like this...come on and at least fix it with new models of horses

XxCaLxX · November 2020

You ever consider that horses of Nirn have different ears than the Earth horses that we're use to?

NotaDaedraWorshipper · November 2020

I can't imagine how someone can focus on the ears with all the other things that is wrong with ESO's horses.

The proportions, the legs, the open mouth, the unblinking eyes, the badly textured tails on the newer models, the running animation, the model rig, the legs!

I'm still hoping we will get a nice horse model

mustangmorgan31 · November 2020

Irfind wrote: »

I dont know, i think the hint legs and the permanent open mouth ar more questionable.

oh yeah, the hind legs are like dog's legs.

SickleCider · November 2020

Many issues with the horses can be attributed to a bad skeleton rig, I suspect. A bad skeleton can do more than poor animations; it can also stretch and squash the model. I think it explains:

1. Disproportionate hind legs
2. Short swan necks
3. Laterally squished body (on new "bulky" models)
4. Slack mouth syndrome
5. And yes, the ears

I think a LOT of issues would be resolved if they gave the skeleton another pass. Animations need a dire rework too, but one thing at a time.

Sidebar: Someone mentioned the canines' run cycle. I agree. It's wrong.