Thread: 1.0 vs ARR Areas - A Visual Comparison

Originally Posted by DiaDeem

There's also a bit of a caveat when it comes to map size.

1.0 had no sprint or jump, and only got mounts (Chocobos) later in its life. Go to any HW+ area and navigate it only on base running speed and every single map will suddenly feel massive. Not as massive as a 1.0 map but this is does contribute to the sense of how big a map can be. I imagine if flying ever made it to 1.0 that many areas would have suddenly felt way smaller.

I remember going into ARR from 1.0 and feeling that the world suddenly got really small.
The larger 1.0 zones with their sparser camps, dangers, and hassles of getting around, made Eorzea feel more like "a world" that we were in.

Not feeling like I really want to go back to that, but I do have fond memories of that version of Eorzea.
FFXIV 1.0 was pretty much my first game ever, so naivity just made everything fresh and interesting.

Anyway. Here are a few of my screenshots.
It was more wide open and atmospheric.









We spent so much time running around the world to get places.



I remember looking at the chocobo that was stabled in Western Thanalan thinking "I wish we could ride one of those!"



A couple of my not-so-favorite places in old Eorzea.





Also for comparison, battle was much slower and less flashy. But it had some really interesting lighting effects -- like someone would shine a spotlight on you whenever you used spells and weaponskills.

Originally Posted by Mikita

It was more wide open and atmospheric.

*whispers* Except the Shroud, which was borderline claustrophobic.

Originally Posted by Mikita

A couple of my not-so-favorite places in old Eorzea.

*small tic develops near eye when seeing what appears to be 1.x Larkscall*

Originally Posted by Mikita

Also for comparison, battle was much slower and less flashy. But it had some really interesting lighting effects -- like someone would shine a spotlight on you whenever you used spells and weaponskills.

Anything else aside, I gotta say that the lighting in 1.x -- in combat or otherwise -- was on point in a way I've seen in few other MMOs.

Originally Posted by Mikita

I remember going into ARR from 1.0 and feeling that the world suddenly got really small.
The larger 1.0 zones with their sparser camps, dangers, and hassles of getting around, made Eorzea feel more like "a world" that we were in.

Not feeling like I really want to go back to that, but I do have fond memories of that version of Eorzea.
FFXIV 1.0 was pretty much my first game ever, so naivity just made everything fresh and interesting.

Anyway. Here are a few of my screenshots.
It was more wide open and atmospheric.

ARR Zones were indeed tiny, and I'm gonna fully blame the PS3 for that one. It's kind of a miracle that they somehow fit Heavensward on the console at all. They were enough for me at the time specifically, but keep in mind: My prior MMO to XIV was Ragnarok Online, so the move to a (in comparison) huge and super detailed 3D world definitely skewed my perception of ARR's areas. I really wanted to play XIV ever since 1.0 was around (even knowing of the backlash at the time), but my little laptop at the time would have never been able to run the game, so I decided to wait for the PS3 version... and we all know where that eventually ended up in.

Not too long ago I did a "just run around" session in the Shadowbringers areas, which meant no mount and no sprint, and they do feel way larger than they do when we fly around in them, which.. why wouldn't we, right? Even then, yes: They don't feel as big as 1.0 areas, and a point of reference I definitely don't have is how the areas felt with other players around or when there were monsters around, so I can't say for sure how that was, as my screenies are rather limited in that sense. The tradeoff being (as many have pointed out) that you could be in Central Thanalan or in Eastern Thanalan and you wouldn't know it just by looking around from the excessive re-use of assets, which is never an issue with ARR areas.

The one area which I wish had been somewhat as massive as a 1.0 area was the Azim Steppe. It's described as this "Gigantic space filled with plains as far as the eye can see" and... not really? Not even with the "Just walk-no mount" trick. I would have love to visit more of the Xaela tribes in a map that big.

Dunno, mixed feelings. Your screenshots are awesome! It's always really cool to see genuine 1.0 era screenshots.

I know this is an unpopular opinion but I miss 1.0's shroud. When you think of a thick forest away from the cities, you think of plenty of trees and an ease of getting lost. 1.0 shroud did this very well, with its winding trails and such it was easy to lose your way even with a map up.

Originally Posted by Canadane

I know this is an unpopular opinion but I miss 1.0's shroud. When you think of a thick forest away from the cities, you think of plenty of trees and an ease of getting lost. 1.0 shroud did this very well, with its winding trails and such it was easy to lose your way even with a map up.

It was fittingly dangerous and spooky, especially with its original music "Emerald Labyrinth".

I just went through some of my recordings and put together a short video from the old Black Shroud in case anyone wants to see what it was like to run through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0MJ1rHHoE

I loved the animation and weight our characters had in their movements -- you can see it when we come to pause a during our running.

At the end of the video, we probably had several dozen people together to take down a treant -- of course you couldn't see everyone, but I think there were many more people there. lol
This was back when Mog weapons were some of the strongest in the game, when Wrist Flick was a thing for stunning enemies, and the Level 99 treants could just one-shot anyone with 9999 damage.

Originally Posted by Mikita

It was fittingly dangerous and spooky, especially with its original music "Emerald Labyrinth".

I just went through some of my recordings and put together a short video from the old Black Shroud in case anyone wants to see what it was like to run through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0MJ1rHHoE

I loved the animation and weight our characters had in their movements -- you can see it when we come to pause a during our running.

At the end of the video, we probably had several dozen people together to take down a treant -- of course you couldn't see everyone, but I think there were many more people there. lol
This was back when Mog weapons were some of the strongest in the game, when Wrist Flick was a thing for stunning enemies, and the Level 99 treants could just one-shot anyone with 9999 damage.

You didn't pet the Lalas
Really cool vid though!