Are the new environments living up to your expectations?
We've seen the same screens few times now.
What worries me that my big problem with the first batch of XIV landscapes were that they were so mundane.
Cliffs deserts and forests. Nothing we haven't seen before a thousand times and it's the one area where SE has consistently blown the competition out of the water in every FF game.
Bland forests of grid and beige desert are (if these screens are to be believed) going to look like this:
http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/img/sc..._20_PUB_12.jpg
and this:
http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/img/sc..._20_PUB_14.jpg
Think about the timing of these screens too. Why would you NOT want to show the first batch of screens that address specifically the reasons why most players didn't find the current world interesting?
Wouldn't you want the outsiders to think "whoa now this new 2.0 game looks much better than that first attempt!"
The concept art was promising but we just haven't seen that level of originality in screenshots yet.
Are these new iterations of the same places setting the mood for the rest to come or do you think these are just the boring filler areas and they're holding back the good stuff. And if so why?
2.0 environments are they more interesting?
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07-09-2012, 05:15 PMSeif2.0 environments are they more interesting?
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07-09-2012, 05:18 PMSeif
Full disclosure here: I've loved the environments of every single FF game so far since VI including the -2 games.
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07-09-2012, 05:20 PMbobbygunz
Sorry, but what do you actually want? A field of glow sticks and primary-colour landscapes like Guild Wars 2 (which looks like it belong on Nickelodeon or something)?
Only thing wrong with those screenshots is the graphical downgrade from our current version. -
07-09-2012, 05:27 PMLen
The only way to go is up, honestly.
From the scant details from those screenshots, it already looks massively improved. -
07-09-2012, 05:29 PMSuzakuCMXThey're not optimized yet + not finished + on Yoshi-P's personal laptop.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbygunz
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07-09-2012, 05:30 PMGramulI think he wants square to show off the new and interesting looking areas, like what we saw in the concept art.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbygunz
These screens don't really show how much the world is going to deviate from what we know aside from Grid being more open and Tha having more plants. -
07-09-2012, 05:35 PMSeifNo absolutely not.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbygunz
I've heard this argument before that anything different than the current design must look like WoW/diablo and that is simply absurd.
Take XI for example. Very gray game, very muted games still original and compelling visual design. XII very muted colors most areas were almost colored just in values of the same hue. Still very recognizable visual design and very unique to XII only.
X was colorful I'll give you that. But was it Guild Wars/WoW cartoony colorful? No, not even close. What was memorable about it was the journey created by the original and ever changing scenery that was always true to X's main themes.
Now these XIV screens on the other hand to me (and yes we can disagree on liking stuff I'm completely okay if you think they're the s**t, its ok to disagree) could easily look like they were lifted from any game out there.
If you changed the characters I wouldn't doubt if somebody told me these are from Age of Conan, Risen or Dragon's Dogma. -
07-09-2012, 05:37 PMSeifQuote:
Originally Posted by SuzakuCMX
No these are from the SE's PR site not from someone's laptop =/
Also I'd like to point out that I'm not worried about the graphics at all. What I'm talking about here is the visual design. -
07-09-2012, 05:55 PMAzurymber
I doubt at the moment there are many new areas. Its probably just re-designs of the current areas. New areas will probably come with an expansion.
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07-09-2012, 05:57 PMMirageYeah man, FF13-2s environments are fucking amazing. Almost amazing enough to make me forgive the story :p.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seif
Seriously though, they are really good.
More on topic: I think the thanalan and shround we see here are huge improvements. At least based on what can be seen in the few screenshots there are. Keep in mind the shroud was the biggest level-design-flaw in the game. Coerthas and Mor Dhona are pretty all right, just need a few tweaks, really. Wouldn't make sense to showcase these areas when most of the complaints were over other areas.
Layout-wise, La Noscea isn't "that" bad, it just needs to not have so much obvious blatant copypasta. If the caves and cliffs (and all other copypastaed variations) didn't look the same, they could have been in the same location as they are now and at least I wouldn't have minded. -
07-09-2012, 05:59 PMRuisuYou should try playing the game with depth of field off. It looks bad, and why this game was praised for it's graphics is beyond me. Character/gear/enemy detail was fantastic, but everything else is pretty bad. Shadows, shaders, draw distance, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbygunz
Hell, some weather conditions are really annoying because rain happens to fall through areas that are actually sheltered pretty well. -
07-09-2012, 06:02 PMMirage
Things look really good with ambient occlusion though!
Wish I had a graphics card that didn't choke on a million dicks if I turned that on...
I agree though. Character models and gear is where most of the good graphics are found. Some HDR effects look really nice too, but sometimes it kicks in way too strong for partially reflective surfaces.
The roll-on textures as you walk forwards look really really bad too. What were they thinking?
Water effects look nice, though. -
07-09-2012, 07:53 PMMuddExcept the regions are going to be split into 5 differently themed biomes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Azurymber
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07-09-2012, 08:23 PMSeifQuote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
Don't get me wrong I'm not disagreeing with you but that comment was about the graphics and not the visual design.
Let me crudely simplify it this way:
Current thanalan: canyons desert nothing surprising really, few rocks and cacti
future thanalan (?) and yes I'm just guessing based on one single screen which is admittedly pretty weak: canyons desert and few rocks with rotated cacti
My point (and damn is it hard to put this into words, I'm sorry!) is that I hope these screenshots are from the least visually interesting areas and that there is a lot of visual coolness happening all around them.
If anything I think SE has proven that they can do it. Also some of the concept art looks amazing in the road-map pdf. -
07-09-2012, 08:33 PMXodus84
im a bit concerned that the cacti all look exactly the same, im sure itll be varied later on tho
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07-09-2012, 09:40 PMSeifRecycling assets is going to happen in every game and I think that's only natural. Hell if I were asked to design 39 same looking chairs for a game I'd question the intents of that producer. However regarding that exact scene I think it looks about as compelling and unique as this: http://dustydavis.com/blogimages/spr...s_vergines.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Xodus84
btw it's totally okay if you think these scenes do look interesting I'm just curious to know how you think these designs fare compared to the previous XIV or other FF games in general. -
07-09-2012, 09:55 PMArcell
I never really had that much of a problem with the original designs. That being said I do think the new ones are quite the improvement. I think they chose to show off the ones that are the most similar to what we have now so we could make an accurate comparison. It should be noted, as one person did earlier and was ignored, that each area is going to be split up into multiple zones that will look different. What we're seeing is likely the zone that most closely mirrors the current Thanalan and Black Shroud.
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07-09-2012, 10:16 PMSeifI never thought it that way but it makes sense and personally I hope you're right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcell
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07-10-2012, 12:31 AMElexiaThey were taken on Yoshida's laptop which is what he used to show off the short demos to interviewers. They said each area has a theme so it should be more interesting or at least just as interesting as a lot of XI's areas were compared to now at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seif
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07-10-2012, 01:09 AMSeifWhy in the name of shiva would they post them onto a pr site of all things without taking better screens with an able PC? SE we love you and your marketing for XIII and XIII-2 was massive and lasted all year. What is your marketing team for XIV doing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Elexia