Thread: Area design between 2.0 and 3.0, and going into 4.0...

I remember this too. Something about it being really hard to fit new quests and events into 2.0 area`s because they`re already so tightly packed. I`m sure anyone who`s tried to do one of the Slyph transport missions only to have a FATE spawn on top of you know what I`m talking about.

Originally Posted by Riardon

The areas designed to be that huge in order to house and justify one of the key elements and one of the most advertised feature, Flying. That's the reason we got that huge areas. SE decided to go with the safe route in budget with FFXIV ARR after 1.0 huge flop. ... more stuff...

It seems like you're talking about 2.0 and changes made from 1.0. All good points/insights where 1.0 is concerned, but I'm not referring to 1.0 at all in my post. 1.0's pretty much a non-factor at this point.

I'm referring to the environment design in 3.0, and how it differs and is - in my opinion - a downgrade from that of 2.0's areas.

Originally Posted by Khalithar

Well it depends on how the zones are designed, a game world can "feel" big without actually being that big. Best example I can come up with for a game like that is the overworld for Shadow of the Colossus, if you've played it, the game world feels huge but it really doesn't take long to travel from one end to the other, but the way the graphics and the skyboxes are done it certainly "feels" like a huge sweeping world.

That's a great example! And a great game

Scale and size isn't even really the core of my issue. To me, I'd like to see them make the areas as large as they can, while still maintaining a higher level of variety in the areas, and more attention to detail, in the small land features, the texturing quality (again, it's pretty sloppy/poor in some spots in HW) and just generally show the level of care and attention in newer zones that they clearly put into the 2.0 areas.

Originally Posted by Preypacer

It seems like you're talking about 2.0 and changes made from 1.0. All good points/insights where 1.0 is concerned, but I'm not referring to 1.0 at all in my post. 1.0's pretty much a non-factor at this point.

I'm referring to the environment design in 3.0, and how it differs and is - in my opinion - a downgrade from that of 2.0's areas.

1.0 does have some relevance to your complaint. Do you know why the maps were so boring and repetitve in 1.0? PS3 limitations. Part of the playerbase wanted one seamless world and were very vocal about it so the devs listened. Unfortunately they also promised a PS3 release, so to make a seamless world even remotely plausible for such a weak console they had to re-use assets over and over. 3.0 looks to me like Yoshi's attempt to find a good middle-ground between 1.0 with it's sprawling (if boring) landscapes and 2.0s gorgeous corridors. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they re-used a good number of assets in the HW areas to make the new areas playable on PS3.

Yoshi said future expansions will continue to support flight, so I doubt we'll see such detailed maps as 2.0 had ever again.

Well art and graphics are more well liked by some than others. Personally, whether ARR looks better or not is moot to me.
Which of the two has more gameplay elements? I like running inside pretty things too, but roleplaying Mr.Fed-ex man and instance hopping pales in scope to flying and exploration content imo.

the main issue with fying is that empty space in the sky (sea of clouds is awesome just because that)...and since we move faster....or above the trees , hubs and what not we dont notice the "world" anymore , but everyone here sure remembers how painfull was navigating w/o flying in the new zones :P

Originally Posted by Warlyx

the main issue with fying is that empty space in the sky (sea of clouds is awesome just because that)...and since we move faster....or above the trees , hubs and what not we dont notice the "world" anymore , but everyone here sure remembers how painfull was navigating w/o flying in the new zones :P

I definitely agree with "not noticing the world" any more. I won't pretend to be one of those people who take pleasure strolls through the digital meadows, but it does have some nice areas and a relaxing feel to it. Though I feel like the Sea of Clouds could have been so much more if they stuck with the 2.0 style of map.