Could We Get More Seamless Verticality in Future Zones?

[YukioShirogaki]

It suddenly struck me how 'flat' FF14's overworld zones feel—there’s no seamless, vertically layered terrain (like towering mountains or valleys you could climb without loading screens), nor vast underground depths that stretch endlessly downward in a connected space...

[YovelaLindswood]

It suddenly struck me how 'flat' FF14's overworld zones feel—there’s no seamless, vertically layered terrain (like towering mountains or valleys you could climb without loading screens), nor vast underground depths that stretch endlessly downward in a connected space...

The tempest was one of my favorite zones in the game. It got darker as you spiraled down to the depths of the ocean until you finally exited through the cave to have Amaurot in all its splendor. That was a map that truly showed off what a developer can do when they care. The depth of it made it feel so alive. In comparison all the dt maps feel so flat. Like two horizontal planes at different height aren't really depth. We need more slopes, cliffside objects, caverns, etc. Like this is an in game picture of one of the new wow zones.

Night and day

[YukioShirogaki]

Exactly! Some zones have those dramatic extreme points, vertically challenging areas like winding mountain paths and narrow passes. There could also be fjord-like terrain with small basins nestled between mountain ranges, connected through several strategic passes. For descending areas, we could have deep layered zones like Genshin's The Chasm or Enkanomiya, even underground realms like the Goblin Town from The Hobbit.

BTW, while I haven't played WoW myself, the screenshot you shared does look absolutely stunning!

[YovelaLindswood]

BTW, while I haven't played WoW myself, the screenshot you shared does look absolutely stunning!

It is. Best part is its only a fraction of the zone. Its also completely underground connected to the overworld map, horizontally to the kobold map, and above the deepest zone of the expansion. All connected with no loading screens and multiple paths and shortcuts between them.

The sun rock also shifts hourly to a purple void theme version and changes the lighting from a holy city nestled on a cliffside deep underground to a haunting sinister purple glow. A unique boss spawns whenever it happens too randomly around the map somewhere and killing it can get you a mount.

[CidHeiral]

It suddenly struck me how 'flat' FF14's overworld zones feel—there’s no seamless, vertically layered terrain (like towering mountains or valleys you could climb without loading screens), nor vast underground depths that stretch endlessly downward in a connected space...

This was a big complaint of mine as well and it was mostly due to technical limitations. Something as simple as flying from the top of Yak Tel to the bottom with the changing aesthetics was impossible without a loading screen before the graphical update. Dawntrail zones were a big improvement of the previous ones, so hopefully that trend continues as they continue to explore their new capabilities.

[Rinoa_353]

This was a big complaint of mine as well and it was mostly due to technical limitations. Something as simple as flying from the top of Yak Tel to the bottom with the changing aesthetics was impossible without a loading screen before the graphical update. Dawntrail zones were a big improvement of the previous ones, so hopefully that trend continues as they continue to explore their new capabilities.

I would hope they could be able to do more once PS4 support is ended as that console will be 13 years old by the time 8.0 releases. That has held the game back for some time now since all the current generation consoles have SSD's as standard and that helps tremendously with loading times and more along with the larger RAM needed to load more details of the zones.

[CidHeiral]

I would hope they could be able to do more once PS4 support is ended as that console will be 13 years old by the time 8.0 releases. That has held the game back for some time now since all the current generation consoles have SSD's as standard and that helps tremendously with loading times and more along with the larger RAM needed to load more details of the zones.

That could certainly be the case. Even the PS5 is five years old as this point. Personally I would have liked to see them go further than they did with the update but I understand where they're coming from, MMOs typically need to cater to very wide range of systems.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I would hope they could be able to do more once PS4 support is ended as that console will be 13 years old by the time 8.0 releases. That has held the game back for some time now since all the current generation consoles have SSD's as standard and that helps tremendously with loading times and more along with the larger RAM needed to load more details of the zones.

The PS4 is still well above the game's minimum PC specs. Console hasn't been the problem since they dropped PS3 support in Stormblood. They just don't seem to want to tell people with outdated PCs to upgrade.

[XtremePrime]

Yak T'el technically has verticality since you can see the tree crowns from above the edge of the cliff and if you have flying you can just flight through the canopy and into the lower zone where the lighting also changes!

But yes, more verticality would be nicer!

[BedtimeBear]

Absolutely. More verticality but with also the cosy-depth some ARR zones had. We don't always need big expansive areas.