Roadmap question ~ What does "radical changes to the in game world" mean

[Tupsi]

So what you're saying is they can do it, but it wouldn't be wise to do so -- only to turn around and say they can't do it? And she's the one with fallacies?

[Wicka]

So what you're saying is they can do it, but it wouldn't be wise to do so -- only to turn around and say they can't do it? And she's the one with fallacies?

No no no. I said they can do it, sure. But because it would be all sorts of bad idea to do so, they can't. Because as a business, you can't make bad decisions that make inefficient use of your resources (poor use of time, manpower, etc.).

Reminds me of a scene from firefly where a goodguy/outlaw steals some goods from theMan only to find out that it was medicine for a sick village. When he returns it to the sheriff the sheriff says something along the lines of "A man has the choice to do the right thing." and the Outlaw ( a good man) says "I don't believe he does." (implying that as a good man, there is no choice but to do the right thing).

As people who make games, sure they can do it. As a business however, they can't. A business has no choice but to do the economically wise thing.

[Jinko]

My point is that they probably could put 2.0 maps in 1.whatever. But because we live in the real world, they can't. Waste of time, waste of resources, bad business plan, etc. Just because we have big maps now, doesn't mean that replacing them with a bunch of small ones is easy or even worth it. I mean, they already have these long, narrow, minimalist areas in between zones that obstruct the view of both zones (probably to hide loading and such), to give the illusion of a large and cohesive map. And that thing takes place practically everywhere. You would probably have to completely restructure some code in the current engine in order to just change that from (kill everything except skybox and tiny bit of inter-zone hallway -> begin loading next zone without loading screen) to (enter loading screen -> Kill zone -> Load zone -> leave loading screen and enter new zone). And then you would have to go in and throw all these zoning triggers everywhere, and then test them all to ensure stability, etc.

So. No. They can't.

This !

It's a lot more work than is worth it.

[Tupsi]

I'm pretty sure that's what she was saying as well -- they have the ability to do so but there's absolutely no reason to do so. What Jinko was basically saying they didn't have the ability to do so (incompatibility) and she was correcting that as while what you said is true, what she was mentioning was this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Tools

The features are more regarding graphics and cutscenes, not really an engine like Unreal.

[Leonesaurus]

I think when they say, "radical changes to the in game world" prior to 2.0 means not changing the layout of the maps that will be used for 2.0, but possibly other unnatural changes to the world around us.

Maybe the same maps for 1.23 will be the same layout, but maybe the black shroud will be somewhat different? La Noscea could spawn even larger versions of creatures we have now possibly as well? Fire, destruction and imperial madness everywhere!?

All I know for sure is, the 7th Umbral Era is here already and when it ends, 2.0 will beckon the 8th Astral Era.

Umbral is the death, while Astral is new life. Umbral is the dark, while Astral is the light. Umbral is the destruction, while Astral is the creation.

I don't know what exactly will happen for sure, but something radically different is going to come to the current maps and when 2.0 (the 8th Astral Era draws near) the new world emerges and Eorzea shall continue living on, as it has for the past 7 eras.

[Jinko]

What Jinko was basically saying they didn't have the ability to do so (incompatibility) and she was correcting that as while what you said is true, what she was mentioning was this:

I still stand by that its incompatible in its current state, as it would require a huge amount of recoding/programming to make it work.

Yes you could make it work if you threw hours and hours of time at it but is that likely to happen.. and more importantly is it worth it ?

The way Elexia was communicating it made it sound as if it was as easy to take a finished map and all the objects and plunk it straight into this games engine and that clearly isn't the case.

Of course I would love to be proved otherwise, having completely new zones as part of the lead up to 2.0 would be amazing.

[Croy]

I think you may be confused. Crystal Tools is a game engine, while Cinema 4D is a 3D creation suite(modelling, animation, etc.). Ergo you need both to make a game. Also, I am pretty sure that Cinema 4D is NOT free. Whatever software they are using to create assets has a licensing cost for every machine it is installed on (very expensive for even a group of just 10 people).

I think every company uses 3rd party software for content creation. Eg: Maya, 3DSMax, Cinema 4D, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Some companies even use 3rd party engines like Unreal or Source. And I don't think I can think of any current company that would take the time to create asset production software on par with the leading developers like Autodesk or Adobe (outside of maybe proprietary motion capture software, I think Quantic Dream might have made some of that...). So your first little paragraph is both confusing and fallacious.

I can actually answer this part of your comment. In several on-site documentaries for Square-enix, both for FFXIV and other recent games (FFXIII and Versus) they were using Softimage modeling suite, Zbrush and Maya for the raw pipeline which is then ported over to their proprietary toolset (Crystal Tools, whatever this game engine is etc). Not arguing or correcting, just making it easier for others to understand what they are likely working with .

And yeah its not impossible to port to the current engine, just way too much hassle which is why they are making a new server and graphics engine in tandem with the new level design. In terms of the live game there is a lot more going on then just porting raw data but you know that obviously

As for how I think the 'radical' changes will show themselves before 2.0. Guessing small anamolies will start popping up which become the root of much larger changes that come live in 2.0. Wells drying up, new trees sprouting up in parts of the geometry, small deviations in the current geometry that might show what will happen to a given area etc. but nothing close to the grand scale we are likely to get in 2.0. Meanwhile we will get NPCs and quests that try to investigate these strange occurrences or start seeing new NPC's that talk about 'building' something that we will eventually see in 2.0 and tell us why its being built (Or in some cases why something is being changed or destroyed).

[Dgsoil]

^ This is a pretty "radical change" to the camps that could happen pre-2.0 if the looming Dalamud has any say over it.

[Griss]

with the world forever altered and the empire still at our gates most likely i think Yui's "Again" would be a good song for the 2.0 launch ^~^

Again is a good song. I humbly suggest Shunkan Sentimental by Scandal.

[Davorok]

^ This is a pretty "radical change" to the camps that could happen pre-2.0 if the looming Dalamud has any say over it.

My theory is this:...The Red Moon will not impact Eorzea but will pass by so close that it's gravitational pull tears, fractures and alters the landscapes. The Red Moon also starts "Pulling" large crystals from deep within Eorzea's crust (hence the chains to prevent the crystals from floating away towards the moon. Other large crystal deposits are entangled in giant tree roots and heavy rock creating large "structures" that seem to be breaking thru the worlds crust trying to reach the sky.