Underwater Graphical Update

[Iscah]

I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.

So, the Tempest then. They've already done it and it's not any more or less exciting than any other type of environment, just a different decor theme.

Sure, some prettied-up coral reefs would be nice, but functionally it's not something they've failed to contemplate.

If all the involved story characters had the ability to breathe infinitely underwater then maybe we would get a zone with water currently present.

[Jojoya]

I'm sure it will look prettier to cruise around underwater.

It's not going to change what happens underwater. We're still a long way off from true 3D combat (whether underwater or in sky/space) becoming popular with players. As good as 3D graphics are getting, the brain gets confused when trying to judge distance without that underlying surface between the person and the target giving a clear perspective.

Square enix and some simpleton players have a fear of underwater combat when in reality you don't need to actually swim to fight; Link has shown us this reality in the Zelda games. Sea floor would be where all the enemies are; anything above it would be like the "flying" section of the underwater zone.



I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.

So what's supposed to make the underwater combat unique and interesting if we're still using what the brain interprets as a 2D surface for reference points?

All I can think of in my mind is that combat underwater is usually represented as slower in action and movement so it would end up like doing old school Toto-Rak with a 4 second GCD.

Does that sound like fun to you? It doesn't sound like fun to me.

[Rekh]

I'm sure it will look prettier to cruise around underwater.

It's not going to change what happens underwater. We're still a long way off from true 3D combat (whether underwater or in sky/space) becoming popular with players. As good as 3D graphics are getting, the brain gets confused when trying to judge distance without that underlying surface between the person and the target giving a clear perspective.


So what's supposed to make the underwater combat unique and interesting if we're still using what the brain interprets as a 2D surface for reference points?

All I can think of in my mind is that combat underwater is usually represented as slower in action and movement so it would end up like doing old school Toto-Rak with a 4 second GCD.

Does that sound like fun to you? It doesn't sound like fun to me.

No need to slow down the combat, the appeal would be being truly underwater; not this fake bubble like in tempest. No different than a snow zone, the appeal is the aesthetic.

[Merrigan]

It's a feature I'd like to see implemented. For my part, I was rather disappointed by the treatment of the underwater areas, which fell far short of those in WOW. In general, they're pretty ugly, empty and boring. Even the graphics are very uninspired, which is odd given the almost infinite design possibilities offered by the sea. Where are the immense ruins, underwater palaces and wrecks where treasure can be found?

There must be technical reasons for this, in terms of combat implementation / vertical axis management for creature movement. For combat, we could simply imagine special actions that would resolve a few rp concerns (indeed, an arrow in the water shouldn't hit its target), in Bozja's style? Maybe that's a bit greedy.

[Iscah]

... the almost infinite design possibilities offered by the sea. Where are the immense ruins, underwater palaces and wrecks where treasure can be found?

While there are "infinite possibilities" across all the games that could possibly be made, that doesn't mean this game is built to be able to utilise them. What good would a "wreck filled with treasure" be in a game that doesn't have treasure chests in its overworld?

We've had a ship graveyard, we've had ancient ruins that happen to be very Art Deco, other ancient ruins that were definitely underwater and full of gold, and a literal undersea palace in Japanese style. None of the undersea locations are physically filled with water because the game doesn't do water physics, but they're still the same locations that would probably get designed if we could swim there.