PS3 Graphics

[Ethari]

Hey Everyone!

I've been playing since launch and enjoyed this game very much. Coming from FFXI, this game has some interesting ideas and qualities that have made it a new and enjoyable experience. While I have been currently playing on PC, I am considering purchasing a PS3, so that I can enjoy a more consistent framerate and player experience. I am currently using an ASUS g73JH and every couple of months, my graphics card just seems to nosedive. Currently, I am requesting a model switch from ASUS to a more stable graphics card due to the consistent RMAs that I have encountered.

This being said, I was wondering if the devs or veterans from the forums would be able to comment on the quality of graphics that we will be seeing from the PS3. As of now (when my graphics card is actually stable), I play the game at standard settings with shadows and anti-aliasing off. I'd like to be able to play with shadows and with higher graphics than my pc can currently provide. I really enjoy the stability and consistency that come with playing a ff mmo on console. Any thoughts?

[Asmeret]

The only thing I assume about the graphics is that it'll be capped at 30 FPS.

[Wolfie]

Hmm.

The 'standard' settings that FFXIV comes with are actually pretty poor for the average PC video game this day and age. Most come with anti-aliasing and some shadows. The reason why they're turned off by default with FFXIV is because they're poorly optimized and don't play well except with beefier machines.

PS3 is likely only going to be slightly better, with minimum shadows and 2x AA, and low texture resolution. PS3's hardware is fairly limited. The good news is that it'll almost guaranteedly work out of the box as with all PS3 games, and you won't need to configure anything and won't experience slowdown because of underpowered hardware.

That said, I noticed that you're using a notebook to play this game. Have you considered buying or making a desktop computer to play games on? The best graphics you can get on FFXIV are going to be available on gaming desktops, and I haven't experienced slowdown or problems with graphics on mine.

[Elexia]

Being designed for a console it'll be a lot more optimized towards that hardware (and honestly, the custom OGL PS3 uses is better than DirectX) so it should look and run fine at 720p that they're aiming for. If you played FFXI on the 360, compare that to the default PC settings and you can sorta get an idea on playability on a console vs PC.

[Asmeret]

Don't forget, with 2.0 will come better system optimization. I assume you've already looked at multiple threads on how to optimize your game, but what are all the settings you're currently playing on?

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11691...ettings-guide/ - May or may not help you in deciding what you want on/off.

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

I think if we had seen the PS3 version release on the current engine, a game like Final Fantasy 13-2 would be a decent benchmark as to how the game would run. The engine is also undergoing surgery, so it will most likely perform even better than what I'm about to suggest.

No spoilers from me, har har! And mild spoilers are in the hidden boxes (which may not seem like spoilers to some, but I've been clocked on this several times).

Three tests:
1) Get into a battle with rainy weather, engaged with five or so enemies. Have your second ally as the Ravager role and use a large ally as your third character. As the player, cast Ruinga.

Academia 400, beyond the collapsed bridge where you fight flying and hulking Taxim ci'eths, usually 5~6 enemies at a time. Have a behemoth as your monster ally.

2) Go into a location with a dense population. The characters may have less detail than the player characters. Rotate the camera a few times.

Academia 4XX in the northeast section of the map.

3) Get into a battle with multiple gargantuan enemies. Cast Ruinga.

The final battle.

If you are content with the frame rate and the graphics of:
your the main character (may be a cross between main and lower detailed NPC),
monster detail,
attack effects,
the environment

You'll be golden (rough estimate)

[Dibria]

2.0 is coming with an engine change/update that they are saying will improve compatability, the PS3 is not as powerful as an up to date PC but the advantage is that the performance will not change system to system. A PS3 will set you back more than a GTX560ti or Radeon 6950 so I'd stick to PC and just get a better graphics card, I hear EVGA are the most reliable but I personally haven't owned one of their cards.

[Zenaku]

They said that the PS3 would be cap at 720p and would look pretty good. The only diff is that PS3 would be limit how many NPC,char,mob it can display vs PC which if you have good enough Video card there is no limit. Also they said that PC would get a DX10 then a DX11 update while ps3 may just stay the same so that mean the PC every few years the look of the game may get a big update while ps3 would just stay looking pretty good but not better then pc version.

[Signy]

2.0 is coming with an engine change/update that they are saying will improve compatability, the PS3 is not as powerful as an up to date PC but the advantage is that the performance will not change system to system. A PS3 will set you back more than a GTX260 or Radeon 4850 so I'd stick to PC and just get a better graphics card, I hear EVGA are the most reliable but I personally haven't owned one of their cards.

There i fixed for you.

They said that the PS3 would be cap at 720p and would look pretty good. The only diff is that PS3 would be limit how many NPC,char,mob it can display vs PC which if you have good enough Video card there is no limit. Also they said that PC would get a DX10 then a DX11 update while ps3 may just stay the same so that mean the PC every few years the look of the game may get a big update while ps3 would just stay looking pretty good but not better then pc version.

This is right. I'll say that the pc version will be better also because the mods that will be on 2.0. Maybe some mods will be ported to ps3 but that depends on SE and we know what will happen.

[Quesse]

They said that the PS3 would be cap at 720p and would look pretty good. The only diff is that PS3 would be limit how many NPC,char,mob it can display vs PC which if you have good enough Video card there is no limit. Also they said that PC would get a DX10 then a DX11 update while ps3 may just stay the same so that mean the PC every few years the look of the game may get a big update while ps3 would just stay looking pretty good but not better then pc version.

This would make sense to me. The texture detail running at 1920x1200 is nothing short of amazing. Obviously it takes a beast of a computer to run it at that level. There's no way a PS3 could handle it. Limiting the res to 1280x720 would make it possible to run at a decent frame rate. However, the difference in image quality between a PC at 1080p+ and a PS3 at 720p is likely to be pretty large.

What worries me is that they will dumb down the engine somehow to shoehorn it into the PS3 and the PC experience will suffer. That the game looks so wonderful is a big reason why I like it so much.