Why choose harsher sounds?

I just randomly was rewatching the Alpha/Beta videos and I noticed that the Ul'dah theme originally had much nicer tones.

I would have liked this style of music orchestration to the current more harsh sounds. I always felt A Realm Reborns orchestrations seemed quite harsh, but I thought it just was Soken's style, but clearly this states otherwise, Soken can and does have access to quality sounds and instruments but for some reasons opts to go for a more harsh low quality sound.

Ul'dah's theme from Alpha/Beta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW6fL5X1fM4&t=02m36s

To me this actually sounds very beautiful.

Current theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dGWXbZW3hY

This is the current theme, which seems to be the trend they chose to go with.

Also, is it just me or the textures of Ul'dah even better too?

Cant do anything about it now I guess, oh well.

I like the heavier theme, personally. Feels more grandiose.

It's less "Yay you're in Ul'Dah I guess!" and more "WELCOME TO UL'DAH <insert word I can't use on the forums>!"

1.0 was bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniolaut

Also, is it just me or the textures of Ul'dah even better too?

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The graphics were scaled back for 2.0 because 1.0 was ambitiously made for (at the time) higher end computers and it led to problems...
Like, one of the examples the devs gave in that documentary was 1.0 flowerpots had more polygons than 2.0 NPC models do.

Personally I prefer the current theme but one thing I noted was this was the only change on that video - the zone music remained the same as far as I could hear.

Perhaps it’s as simple as revamping the main city themes to send the message that this is a new ‘reborn’ game and not the same game with a coat of paint.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by van_arn

1.0 was bad.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ItMe

The graphics were scaled back for 2.0 because 1.0 was ambitiously made for (at the time) higher end computers and it led to problems...
Like, one of the examples the devs gave in that documentary was 1.0 flowerpots had more polygons than 2.0 NPC models do.

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I mean, OP is literally talking about A Realm Reborn (if you actually watch the videos)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniolaut

Also, is it just me or the textures of Ul'dah even better too?

Cant do anything about it now I guess, oh well.

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They probably downgraded a little more so the differences between PC and PS3 could be as small as posible. You can clearly see how the poor PS3 is struggling to run the game in the first video

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Originally Posted by lolicon09

I mean, OP is literally talking about A Realm Reborn (if you actually watch the videos)

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Sorry, I wasn't clear.

1.0 had stellar graphics.
They dialed this back in 2.0.
During 2.0's alpha and beta they were still working on dialing that back (and there was internal discussion if it should happen at all).
So yes, alpha / beta ARR legitimately does have better textures. It's not just you.

Yes if you watch, and listen, to the videos, that is how you will hear what I'm talking about.

None of this had to do with version 1.0 at all whatsoever.

That Alpha/Beta track sounds awful OP. Like someone put it together from midi files in a couple of hours.

Heard it. It blows. Current is better.

I like it too. But I think they go the other way because the first comes off as more separate from what you see. The second brings the music to be closer to the feel of the visual and focuses their combination in a way that you're looking more in the world than listening to the music

Quote:

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Originally Posted by van_arn

That wasn’t a mistake. That was a very intentional promise kept.

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It definitely opened the door for more people to get into the game asap. I was one of those people. Looking back, however, I'm not sure how I tolerated playing on my PS3 for so long. It was a miserable experience. lol But I loved the game so I stuck with it until the chance to jump to PS4 presented itself.

I feel like this is a very odd thing to complain about... You know, 7 years later....

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

I feel like this is a very odd thing to complain about... You know, 7 years later....

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I feel like we've both been around here long enough to know how the OP works. Lol

I like the current theme for Ul'Dah more than the one in the alpha/beta/whatever video.