Breaking down some of the screenshots

[bobbygunz]

Pick Picky Picky! Downgrade or not Graphics still look amazing, and the Diversity in each area is out of this world from what I see From Forest to Desert, and all of the Rocks, Grass, Cacti etc are not all in the same place every 5 secs you walk ahead! So in the end this so called " Downgrade" of graphics is def. a better trade off to get Better looking zones in general. ( And for all you know this is just the graphics of the standard user, and higher ups can experience it X10 better than what were seeing now.)

They don't look "amazing". They look average now. They're still good enough for today's MMO landscape, but they're definitely not the best anymore. FFXIV used to have the best graphics, now it looks just like Blade and Soul and TERA. That desert landscape looks like something copy-pasted out of Red Dead Redemption. Current Thanalan is much more original and interesting. It's not just a generic desert landscape ripped straight from Red Dead Redemption or someplace. So hopefully there is still a place in 2.0 for an area that looks like present-day Thanalan.

And I think you're over-estimating the degree of copy-paste in FFXIV if you think copy-paste is visible in Screenshots. I've never seen a screenshot of current FFXIV and thought "copy paste!".

Obviously a compromise was needed to allow us to have dynamic shadows, and also to avoid copy-paste during zones. However, I had been expecting that the smaller zone size would be that compromise, and in 2.0 we'd still maintain everything else we have in 1.0 (i.e., high res textures, superior normal mapping, polygon count). Obviously not!

I thought more people would notice all this.

[Starlord]

They don't look "amazing". They look average now. They're still good enough for today's MMO landscape, but they're definitely not the best anymore. FFXIV used to have the best graphics, now it looks just like Blade and Soul and TERA. That desert landscape looks like something copy-pasted out of Red Dead Redemption. Current Thanalan is much more original and interesting. It's not just a generic desert landscape ripped straight from Red Dead Redemption or someplace. So hopefully there is still a place in 2.0 for an area that looks like present-day Thanalan.

And I think you're over-estimating the degree of copy-paste in FFXIV if you think copy-paste is visible in Screenshots. I've never seen a screenshot of current FFXIV and thought "copy paste!".

Obviously a compromise was needed to allow us to have dynamic shadows, and also to avoid copy-paste during zones. However, I had been expecting that the smaller zone size would be that compromise, and in 2.0 we'd still maintain everything else we have in 1.0 (i.e., high res textures, superior normal mapping, polygon count). Obviously not!

I thought more people would notice all this.

Like I said " If it is a so called (Downgrade)" I take that and get better looking zones anyday. But I seriously think your underestimating those Screens anyhow, The res is 720p at best.

[Otaku]

They don't look "amazing". They look average now. They're still good enough for today's MMO landscape, but they're definitely not the best anymore. FFXIV used to have the best graphics, now it looks just like Blade and Soul and TERA. That desert landscape looks like something copy-pasted out of Red Dead Redemption. Current Thanalan is much more original and interesting. It's not just a generic desert landscape ripped straight from Red Dead Redemption or someplace. So hopefully there is still a place in 2.0 for an area that looks like present-day Thanalan.

And I think you're over-estimating the degree of copy-paste in FFXIV if you think copy-paste is visible in Screenshots. I've never seen a screenshot of current FFXIV and thought "copy paste!".

Obviously a compromise was needed to allow us to have dynamic shadows, and also to avoid copy-paste during zones. However, I had been expecting that the smaller zone size would be that compromise, and in 2.0 we'd still maintain everything else we have in 1.0 (i.e., high res textures, superior normal mapping, polygon count). Obviously not!

I thought more people would notice all this.

1. As its been said you're comparing alpha/pre-alpha SS's of XIV (no AA/AO and low rez textures on basic unneeded things like ground/fauna) to B&S/TERA, if that's the case I imagine retail version will still be the best looking MMO on the market even if it looks slightly downgraded from what we have now.
2. In the forest SS alone I see 12 unique trees, I don't know if we even have 12 unique trees in the game atm ><

[viion]

Current Thanalan is much more original and interesting.

.....ROFL

ok please stop, you have to be trolling.

*Steps outside Uldah*
*Looks at the Landscape*

I have no successfully seen ALL of Thanalan as its no different from the moment you step outside the door of Uldah.

Please show me these "Interesting" places, unless you think HIGH RES ROCK TEXTURE is uber..

Here is how badly XIV is copy-pasted

[bobbygunz]

.....ROFL

ok please stop, you have to be trolling.

*Steps outside Uldah*
*Looks at the Landscape*

I have no successfully seen ALL of Thanalan as its no different from the moment you step outside the door of Uldah.

Please show me these "Interesting" places, unless you think HIGH RES ROCK TEXTURE is uber..

Here is how badly XIV is copy-pasted

Well obviously everyone's familiar with those images, and also the copy-pastedness of large segments of land in FFXIV, but it's certainly not a problem which is ever visible in screenshots. However, those badly normal-mapped ground textures and lack of aliasing is a problem which is visible even in screenshots.

And anyway, within each large segment in FFXIV you have to admit there is still variety. Thanalan is not a homogenous area, even though people like to say it is. It's pretty popular to say such things, but it's not actually correct. Thanalan is copy-pasted, but not ostensibly within an individual area. There is diversity in Thanalan, it's perhaps just spread out too far and also repeated on a large scale.

Someone mentioned that they counted 5 individual trees or something in a screenshot for 2.0. So it's not as if everything is unique in 2.0 either. There will always be repeated assets, things used over and over. Same thing is true for version 1.0, it's just that the landscapes are bigger, and their size makes them feel repetitive and boring. If for example, Thanalan was smaller and had no copy pasted chunks, what would the problem be?

All the maps in FFXIV at the moment are lcopy pasted, and it's a problem, but it's not as bad as everyone says. It's not a problem to the extent that everything about FFXIV's maps at the moment are bad. It's a large scale problem, but on a small scale (e.g., in your immediate surroundings) it's not, and the game still looks good.

From the screenshots for FFXIV 2.0, the reverse seems to be the the case. The issue is no longer copy paste, but lower quality graphics.

I guess I was just expected best of both worlds.

And nobody has to keep mentioning that those are probably on standard settings, they probably are, or atleast I'd like to believe so.

Edit: And I don't mind the new crystals, I think they look nice and refreshing.

Hopefully. If high settings fixes the bad textures and suchlike, I definitely wouldn't complain anymore.

[Airget]

Well obviously everyone's familiar with those images, and also the copy-pastedness of large segments of land in FFXIV, but it's certainly not a problem which is ever visible in screenshots. However, those badly normal-mapped ground textures and lack of aliasing is a problem which is visible even in screenshots.

And anyway, within each large segment in FFXIV you have to admit there is still variety. Thanalan is not a homogenous area, even though people like to say it is. It's pretty popular to say such things, but it's not actually correct. Thanalan is copy-pasted, but not ostensibly within an individual area. There is diversity in Thanalan, it's perhaps just spread out too far and also repeated on a large scale.

Someone mentioned that they counted 5 individual trees or something in a screenshot for 2.0. So it's not as if everything is unique in 2.0 either. There will always be repeated assets, things used over and over. Same thing is true for version 1.0, it's just that the landscapes are bigger, and their size makes them feel repetitive and boring. If for example, Thanalan was smaller and had no copy pasted chunks, what would the problem be?

All the maps in FFXIV at the moment are lcopy pasted, and it's a problem, but it's not as bad as everyone says. It's not a problem to the extent that everything about FFXIV's maps at the moment are bad. It's a large scale problem, but on a small scale (e.g., in your immediate surroundings) it's not, and the game still looks good.

From the screenshots for FFXIV 2.0, the reverse seems to be the the case. The issue is no longer copy paste, but lower quality graphics.

I guess I was just expected best of both worlds.



Hopefully. If high settings fixes the bad textures and suchlike, I definitely wouldn't complain anymore.

You're still here? Seriously if you want to talk about this can't you make a new topic about it. I'd rather see something interesting rather then some person spazzing out over every single pixel and polygon of a game that looks amazing. I can guess you didn't grow up in the 90's since you clearly have no appreciation for the art behind said graphics.

1988:


1991:


1995:


1997:


1999:


2001:


2004:


2006:




2009:


2011:


FF14:


---------
So yea, you prolly didn't go up during a time when graphics were still maturing so the above's a little lesson as to why we are happy with what we see and why we see it as amazing graphics. We don't need to be wowed by the HD graphics, to us HD is nothing more then something that makes a game look nicer but does it do anything to improve the actual gameplay? But fine if you still want to argue your point just do it on another topic.

---
Also how cute Bobby, is that your real character or are you just to afraid to use your real character. It's such an adorable idea that you happen to have 3 classes at 6 so when people check your ID and class levels it says 666.

[Firon]

They don't look "amazing". They look average now. They're still good enough for today's MMO landscape, but they're definitely not the best anymore. FFXIV used to have the best graphics, now it looks just like Blade and Soul and TERA. That desert landscape looks like something copy-pasted out of Red Dead Redemption. Current Thanalan is much more original and interesting. It's not just a generic desert landscape ripped straight from Red Dead Redemption or someplace. So hopefully there is still a place in 2.0 for an area that looks like present-day Thanalan.

And I think you're over-estimating the degree of copy-paste in FFXIV if you think copy-paste is visible in Screenshots. I've never seen a screenshot of current FFXIV and thought "copy paste!".

Obviously a compromise was needed to allow us to have dynamic shadows, and also to avoid copy-paste during zones. However, I had been expecting that the smaller zone size would be that compromise, and in 2.0 we'd still maintain everything else we have in 1.0 (i.e., high res textures, superior normal mapping, polygon count). Obviously not!

I thought more people would notice all this.

This here is why only 1 good game per year now cuz of graphic whores.

[bobbygunz]

This here is why only 1 good game per year now cuz of graphic whores.

When someone says they are "optimizing" the engine, then it suggests they are making it better. But actually they just took a shortcut and lowered all the texture resolutions and terrain mapping instead. I guess it just comes down to a clash of expectations. I had expected we'd still have the same quality of graphics as we do now, but with the ability to have dynamic shadows, and less copy-paste. Guess not!

In reality, there was no optimization. Just a shuffling around of features.

[Starlord]

When someone says they are "optimizing" the engine, then it suggests they are making it better. But actually they just took a shortcut and lowered all the texture resolutions and terrain mapping instead. I guess it just comes down to a clash of expectations. I had expected we'd still have the same quality of graphics as we do now, but with the ability to have dynamic shadows, and less copy-paste. Guess not!

In reality, there was no optimization. Just a shuffling around of features.

Optimizing the engine, to make it "run" better not "look" better major difference and they used Optimizing and Low-end computers in the same sentence mind you.

[KiriA500]

When someone says they are "optimizing" the engine, then it suggests they are making it better. But actually they just took a shortcut and lowered all the texture resolutions and terrain mapping instead. I guess it just comes down to a clash of expectations. I had expected we'd still have the same quality of graphics as we do now, but with the ability to have dynamic shadows, and less copy-paste. Guess not!

In reality, there was no optimization. Just a shuffling around of features.

[Citation needed]