Hi Res Texture Pack

[Riardon]

From this interview
https://kamedani.tumblr.com/post/642...geki-interview

Dengeki: With the new expansion there is going to be a graphical upgrade to the game. Is there also going to be a change in the minimum PC requirements?

Yoshi P: No, we are working hard on the PS5 version to make it look as good as possible but since this is going to be the final chapter in the Hydaelyn and Zodiark storyline, we decided not to make any major changes.

I want to update the graphics engine at some point since the amount of data used has gotten quite great over these ten years. Also, we want to rebuild the data access system to support 4K graphical textures.

Players have also told us they want their mounts to feel more alive but for that to work we will need to do a graphical overhaul. We are, of course, doing this little by little.

Please remember that we work on schedules planned years at a time. We were able to fix some of our data center issues on this schedule over a long period of time fitting in work where we could. So, when it comes to updated graphics, it is something we want to do but don’t have much free time. It is quite a challenge to do as well so please be patient.

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This wouldn't be such a strain if SE had actually made high res textures then downscaled them way back when 2.0 launched like every other mmo

That being the case, ouch, spaghetti code strikes again on data limits

So no new graphical updates yet again. Unfortunately as expected.

[cr2032]

Given the release of next gen consoles, there's not really a good reason to not add optional HD texture packs at this point. CCP games did this for EvE years ago.

[Amnmaat]

ps4 has enough vram/gram to store hi res textures.
The real problem is SE is understaffed.

[DrWho2010]

it will be a long time before you see anything graphical upgrade. they simply don't have the resources because they are all allocated to something else for the time being (i.e. 6.x development).

[Ultimatecalibur]

This wouldn't be such a strain if SE had actually made high res textures then downscaled them way back when 2.0 launched like every other mmo

They were working with what were at the time overscaled models and textures that they did downscale, the biggest factor is that "high res" has increased massively over the past decade. We went from 1280x720 being standard with 1920x1080 being high end with 2560x1440 being cutting edge high end to 2560x1440 (2k) being close to standard, 3840x2160 (4k) being high end with 7680x4320 (8k) being cutting edge high end.

We went from the difference between standard and high end being a 150% increase with their workstations being a ~266% increase over standard to standard and high end being a 225% increase with cutting edge being a 900% increase over standard.

[Recon1o6]

They were working with what were at the time overscaled models and textures that they did downscale, the biggest factor is that "high res" has increased massively over the past decade. We went from 1280x720 being standard with 1920x1080 being high end with 2560x1440 being cutting edge high end to 2560x1440 (2k) being close to standard, 3840x2160 (4k) being high end with 7680x4320 (8k) being cutting edge high end.

We went from the difference between standard and high end being a 150% increase with their workstations being a ~266% increase over standard to standard and high end being a 225% increase with cutting edge being a 900% increase over standard.

That is true, however it doesn't change the fact that other mmos start at the highest grade for the time then downscale to the lowest acceptable. So when they feel they could upgrade they just adjust to the next higher tier.

Eg, they develop assets with the 1920x1080 or 2560x1440 then downscale them to the current 512x256. Upgrade comes, they tae the original and downscale it to 1048x512 or expand upwards

SE hasn't done that- their assets are literally 512x256 or 512x512 and so modders can't just push a button to undo the scaling. Chest pieces are as low as 256x256 (hempen kurta to name one) but to SE credit, from sb onwards they are adding chest pieces at 1024x512...most of the time and just chest pieces at that
the gear to fill in gaps pre 50 like the aurum chest or manor halfrobe? still using 512x256

so in order to create a hi-res texture pack, SE needs to put some work and staffing resources in. And SE higher ups don't like that. That's why the ffxiv dev team is run on a shoestring

[Raikai]

But they'll really wait until 7.0 to implement such thing? Regarding textures themselves, I can really see it impacting on the perception of PS5 players. It is jarring to see Hien's armor in cutscenes looking like a pixelated mess.

It's funny that the PS5 footage shown was only in a distance.

[Kuroka]

Even just some AI upscaled stuff would be worlds better then what we got so far... look at some mods were ppl literally did just that...

[DrWho2010]

yeah and mods have been known to break the game sometimes. that's something that can't happen from a dev perspective.

[Absurdity]

yeah and mods have been known to break the game sometimes. that's something that can't happen from a dev perspective.

If SE included an actual official "HighResTextures.dat" (or whatever the file format for the local client is actually called) that the game then loads it should be fine. There should be no difference between a 256x256 texture and a 2048x2048 texture besides file size since those game assets should all be loaded locally from your PC or console.