@SquareEnix: Kickstarter campaign to get a graphic upgrade?

[wildsprite]

The devs really just need to bring the game up to full DirectX 9.0c/e support and that would solve a lot of the graphics issues right there, not really sure how much work it would take to do this. however with the impliment of xinput controller support we know they have atleast partial DX9.0c support, hopefully adding the rest wouldn't be too difficult.


for those that dont realize it upgrading the framework to DX9.0c would give the game more stable graphics, less graphical anomolies and it would also allow weather effects to be turned on for many systems that don't handle the weather right now with DX8.0 because it would make use of the GPU a lot more than it does now. as it is with DX8.0 it makes use almost entirely of the CPU and almost no GPU. would the graphics upgrade be a huge leap in pretty. not really no. but we don't really need a huge leap. just a better framework to handle what we have now.

[Catmato]

You don't have to search very hard to see this can be changed, like a lot of other aspects of the game.

That's not the point.

[Diavolo]

That's not the point.

I understand that, but options for better visuals are out there and it doesn't take a supercomputer to run them.

I've been saying this for years, but if it were up to me I'd assign a small team of programmers and artists to rebuild the game using the Unreal Engine, which SE already licenses for use in other games, and release it as a remaster, a popular trend these days. Doing this would open the game up for a plethora of changes/upgrades many of us have been asking for and the dev team couldn't get implemented because of how difficult/impossible it would be with the old PS2 engine it's currently running on. FFXI has changed enough from its early years to appeal to casual gamers as well as the more hardcore and I'm sure it would breathe new life into the game, enough to probably keep the game running at a profit for years... but that's a pipe dream. Look at how long it took for them to finally go ahead with the FFVII remake.

[Pixela]

I understand that, but options for better visuals are out there and it doesn't take a supercomputer to run them.

I've been saying this for years, but if it were up to me I'd assign a small team of programmers and artists to rebuild the game using the Unreal Engine, which SE already licenses for use in other games, and release it as a remaster, a popular trend these days. Doing this would open the game up for a plethora of changes/upgrades many of us have been asking for and the dev team couldn't get implemented because of how difficult/impossible it would be with the old PS2 engine it's currently running on. FFXI has changed enough from its early years to appeal to casual gamers as well as the more hardcore and I'm sure it would breathe new life into the game, enough to probably keep the game running at a profit for years... but that's a pipe dream. Look at how long it took for them to finally go ahead with the FFVII remake.

They don't want to appeal to new gamers, they are happy to make money off what they have. Keep in mind they have 2 competing titles and one is more important to them than the other. If they could close this game down and get us to move to the other they would love it (they have tried enough tactics), we won't go so instead of losing a large customer base they are continuing to update this game but they aren't going to directly compete with their flagship.

[Snaps]

I think it would be awesome to have a new client. I'm not a directx expert although I've read that newer versions of directx use a different set of bindings than dx8/9. The cheap and dirty route of rebuilding against directx8 vs directx9 might be possible and yield some improvements. Doing anything beyond that is essentially going to require a complete rebuild of the client. You will need more than just a small team of software engineers to do that in a reasonable amount of time. I don't think there would be much payoff for the company at this point. It would have been good earlier in the game's life cycle to focus on more maintainable software development. A better game would have attracted more customers. It's too late now to justify the cost. I would pay good money for a client rebuild although I don't think there are enough of us.

[Alhanelem]

I wouldn't consider DQX to be a direct competitor to either of the other games, it appeals to a different fan base.

[AoiX]

So, what would be the fund raising goal? What kind of stuff would be a bonus for backers? What would be stretch goals?

[Zumi]

You don't have to search very hard to see this can be changed, like a lot of other aspects of the game.

It is hard capped at 30 fps. I have a fps monitor on one of my video capture programs. I have a gtx 970 and a core i7 6700k and it never can go above 30 fps.

[Catmato]

It is hard capped at 30 fps. I have a fps monitor on one of my video capture programs. I have a gtx 970 and a core i7 6700k and it never can go above 30 fps.

You're correct, barring the possibility of any third party programs removing the limit.

[Kjara]

I'd even be happy if they just allowed that game that's in the work (Grandmasters of Vana'diel, something like that?) to be playable on computer. I have no mobile, but even if I did I think playing an RPG on that would be pretty obnoxious... I mean, you have to farm, grind, etc. How long can a phone last like that? The pictures of the graphics look pretty good, and a friend of mine who's more into hardware stuff tells me the game is run on an engine pretty easy to emulate on computer.