Lackluster Graphics in FFXIV

[Randis]

i would like to see the terrain shadows sometimes soon, how hard can it be???

[AugustHereux]

The problem lies with what many are saying, the lack of shadows on most objects, having every object cast a shadow in a somewhat realistic fashion can make most things look alot better.
When i was active this was the major graphical gripe i had, it was noticable that most objects placed in the world , Bridges, tree's and so forth, had only been dropped there without any real consideration, add shadows to these, and the world will instantantiously morph into something a bit more life-like.


On another note, i remember during Alpha the dev-team were stating the use of the same lighting method used in Crysis, anyone remember this?

First post for me, greetings from a former Lindblum citizen, my return shall come.

[giftforce]

The problem lies with what many are saying, the lack of shadows on most objects, having every object cast a shadow in a somewhat realistic fashion can make most things look alot better.
When i was active this was the major graphical gripe i had, it was noticable that most objects placed in the world , Bridges, tree's and so forth, had only been dropped there without any real consideration, add shadows to these, and the world will instantantiously morph into something a bit more life-like.


On another note, i remember during Alpha the dev-team were stating the use of the same lighting method used in Crysis, anyone remember this?

First post for me, greetings from a former Lindblum citizen, my return shall come.

Greetings.

I don't find the environments to be particularly hindered for their lack of shadows. They still look the best of any MMO besides maybe some ArcheAge forests and Blad&Soul areas, and that's because the textures are really well done, and are placed so that they give an illusion of shadow even if it's not a real, dynamic effect of the lighting.

My biggest issue with FFXIV's graphics, I would have to say, is the sharp line between low and high res textures in the distance.

Then the spell effects (they are atrocoius).

Then water.

And then shadows.

But all are very important, don't get me wrong.

[Aramyth]

Lord of the rings isn't that great. Go watch an Archeage video or something.

I did. And it looks at bland as FFXIV's water.

LoTRO has some if the best landscapes, especially the water, out of any MMO right now.

Still it's sad that a game that's 5 years old has better water than FFXIV. Lol

[Eekiki]

Bad things about FFXIV's graphics:
Texture resolution at far distances

With my system (i7 with a GTX590 graphics card, kinda high end for most people), I can run it with Depth of Field turned on, and I increased oversampling on distant objects to "High" from "Standard". Distant textures look pretty good now.

The thing that bugs me the most is the "no shadows" thing. We cast shadows. The big easter egg balloon that was floating around during the egg hunt cast a shadow. But terrain does not cast a shadow! There's no shade under the trees! That irks me greatly (probably more than it should).

[Trocien]

With my system (i7 with a GTX590 graphics card, kinda high end for most people), I can run it with Depth of Field turned on, and I increased oversampling on distant objects to "High" from "Standard". Distant textures look pretty good now.

The thing that bugs me the most is the "no shadows" thing. We cast shadows. The big easter egg balloon that was floating around during the egg hunt cast a shadow. But terrain does not cast a shadow! There's no shade under the trees! That irks me greatly (probably more than it should).

For those non-believers, check out this video to see how much of a difference adding shadows can make. Also - what leaving a game engine up to a real developer can do for your game.

[giftforce]

I did. And it looks at bland as FFXIV's water.

LoTRO has some if the best landscapes, especially the water, out of any MMO right now.

Still it's sad that a game that's 5 years old has better water than FFXIV. Lol

... you mustn't have watched ...

As bad as FFXIV's water?

What is this?

I'm not even going to dignify this with a response. If you think Cryengine 3's water rendering is on par with that which is in FFXIV then there is no helping you.

[Dreamer]

... you mustn't have watched ...

As bad as FFXIV's water?

What is this?

I'm not even going to dignify this with a response. If you think Cryengine 3's water rendering is on par with that which is in FFXIV then there is no helping you.

I wouldn't go so far as to say on par with with FFXIV, but Cry3's water is nothing special. LotRO's is def better.

[zaviermhigo]

I would love if water breathed like it does in real life, by limsa beaches they attempted this, but it doesn't look have as real. My thing is is Crystal tools even a good engine for tons of npcs? Seems like they've been trying to push it, FFXIII had no npcs and I hated the game for that, and no exploration, it was really like "introduction to crystal tools SE 101" now I see FFXIII-Versus, and I see a little more exploration, npcs, and even a hack n slash battle system. Maybe its just not a good mmo engine but it can be pushed for rpgs

[zaviermhigo]

With my system (i7 with a GTX590 graphics card, kinda high end for most people), I can run it with Depth of Field turned on, and I increased oversampling on distant objects to "High" from "Standard". Distant textures look pretty good now.

The thing that bugs me the most is the "no shadows" thing. We cast shadows. The big easter egg balloon that was floating around during the egg hunt cast a shadow. But terrain does not cast a shadow! There's no shade under the trees! That irks me greatly (probably more than it should).

That irks me too, this game is kinda half ass and lazy, maybe it was rushed.