What do we know about the rumored DX11 engine?

Back when Square first published minimum and recommended system requirements for A Realm Reborn, it was said that initially the PC variant would launch on its current DX9 engine but a DX11 engine would be made available not long after launch.

Well, the PS4 version has now launched, and with that, all platforms targeted by the game are officially live. This means that unless plans have changed, the new graphics engine could be the next big thing in development.

Now I must admit that I haven't been following any news or live letters or thereabouts between October and April, because RL kept me busy with things other than gaming. So now I'm wondering: did I miss anything? Have there been any official statements regarding this rumored DX11 engine? Has it been given a roadmap, or has it been canceled? Did Square maybe show something of it off? Did any questions during the various live letters ask about it, and what were the responses?

Inquiring minds want to know! :)

DX12 - Please look forward to it, on a side note DX11 is not going to be as big as you think from prior information.

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Originally Posted by Nghthawk

DX11 is not going to be as big as you think from prior information.

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Visually not by a lot, however it still opens up shader v4.0, better Anti-Aliasing options and Tessellation if SE utilizes them and gives us settings.

Performance will likely be the biggest improvement. All comes down to SE's part.

Nothing to look forward to... Minimal difference

As has been stated, the visual improvements won't be major, but they'll be nice. We won't get things like higher polygon counts on models, but we will likely get better shader effects, better performance, and possibly an optional higher resolution texture pack.

If they do improve the anti-aliasing, that would also be great. It would be nice for the terribad FXAA to no longer be the only option :)

Hmmm, somewhat disappointing. I mean, what exactly keeps them from going all out on the PC and PS4? The game barely challenges videocards as it is... I should know, I have a €100 videocard from three years ago (let it sink in what that means for a moment) and I am playing with all settings maximum on 1200p. Even then, it's only starting to go choppy if a FATE deathsquad comes zerging by while spamming AoE, otherwise it's perfectly smooth. What with the luminous studio engine and the ingame videos from FF15, it's not like Square doesn't already have the capability to make extremely pretty things happen on the PS4. I'm even willing to drop cash for a new videocard if it meant it would make this game look that much better, but I guess I won't be needing that then.

That said, I'll take whatever I can get. More texture resolution would be a great start.

So, what about a rough timeframe? This year or next?

6 months rings a bell, not sure if that means 6 months after release (were past that), or 6 months after PS4 goes live ( just started ). I don't fully remember any specifics being there was so little talked about it. That goes hand -n- hand about they letting us develop addons for the game 6 months after release...... no new information on either of these 2 items.

improve the water and im happy (archeage water is amazing! )

All I've heard points to improving overall performance. It was stated that texture resolution won't change. Probably won't see visual changes, but the performance should increase for some.

The main thing we know is that it isn't coming out anytime soon.

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Originally Posted by DragonFlyy

All I've heard points to improving overall performance. It was stated that texture resolution won't change. Probably won't see visual changes, but the performance should increase for some.

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They've said that they hope to make substantial lighting changes, which could drastically alter the look of the game.

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Originally Posted by Nutz

They've said that they hope to make substantial lighting changes, which could drastically alter the look of the game.

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Seeing is believing, as it stands now the biggest change we will see with a DX11 client is likely a performance boost.

But for now, only one thing is 100% certain:

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Originally Posted by Doki

it isn't coming out anytime soon.

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Last thing I remember hearing about it is that they would continue working on it after PS4 release.

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Originally Posted by Shirai

Seeing is believing, as it stands now the biggest change we will see with a DX11 client is likely a performance boost.

But for now, only one thing is 100% certain:

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Maybe, Maybe not. DX11 does mean that DX11 cards can use all they were advertised for (both good and bad depending on your card)

But realistically it should be worse performance at the gain of better visual fidelity. There are certain things they would most likely use with DX11, that makes certain elements of the game more lifelike but will get a hit on power.
Obvious way is how things showing in the background are programed.

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Originally Posted by Doki

The main thing we know is that it isn't coming out anytime soon.

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Pretty much this. Yoshi-P said recently that they're focusing on PS4 release (which has passed now), launching in china during the summer and then after that, they'll be back with DX11 into their main plans.

edit:

Found the interview in the other DX11 thread.

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Yoshida: With respect to the Windows DirectX version of the game, of course we have made some preparations for a DirectX version. We’ve been developing the PlayStation 4 version which runs on 64 bit hardware and because of that work, the Windows 64 bit version is done. However, this coming summer we plan to release the game in China and after that we have plans for an expansion pack so when we finish those, we will be looking to complete the DirectX milestone. With that in mind, after we successfully launch A Realm Reborn in China and begin work on the expansion pack – I believe that around that time that we may be able to speak more about the DirectX 11 client for Windows. But don’t worry! We are definitely making progress on that project. (laughs)

As far as what to expect from the DirectX 11 client, it is my policy that we don’t do anything to change the gameplay experience from one platform to another. While DirectX 11 will provide a graphical advantage for some players on newer hardware, there really are no changes in gameplay for someone with older hardware vs newer hardware. However, in terms of graphics there may be a large jump in graphics quality – the whole engine and the rendering pipeline is completely different. The way shaders work, the way polygons are rendered, water effects, mirroring affects, or objects getting wet – they all work a bit differently on the new version for DirectX and will be updated for the DirectX 11 client. So for players who are more discerning of graphic quality – they will most likely notice. But it will not change the gameplay at all, and I’d like to make it so that it is simply another option you can select.

With that in mind, after we successfully launch A Realm Reborn in China and begin work on the expansion pack – I believe that around that time that we may be able to speak more about the DirectX 11 client for Windows.

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Many thanks for finding that quote, Quiz! That's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to see when I made this thread :)