Technology in FFXIV + Visual Style

[Onidemon]

Does anyone else feel like the medieval theme has been milked way too much in mmos? doesn't anyone else feel like something new and refreshing?

I know the empire in FFXIV has technology but we have yet to see that technology and how it will shape the world. I personally LOVED FFX and FFXII's blend of Advanced Technology and Fantasy. It was the perfect match and i hoped FFXIV would do the same. I have to say i was rather disappointed that they decided to go with the same them and style as FFXI.

There is still a lot of areas sealed off and we haven't seen enough of the empire yet so maybe theres still a chance that we will get a high-tech city or something.


Visual Style

Am i the only one to see how FFXIV went in a different direction then it's art work? Not only that but FFXIV doesn't even look half as cool as the other stuff Akihiko Yoshida did before. Everything looks overly simplified, boring and is lacking color and life.


Adventurer's guild from FFXIV's artwork

http://users.telenet.be/kerlesh/Aoshi/FFXIV banner.jpg


In game adventurer's guild

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...1285540140.jpg

Compare the character's clothing in both pics, look how detailed, beautiful and colorful they are in the artwork and look at the in-game screenshot how everything just look SAD. Everything is either black or brown or beige..... no vibrant colors, no life and everything seems to lack detail.. it's just plain and simple.


Gridania artwork

http://ffxivonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/gridania.jpg Simply beautiful


Gridania in-game

http://www.ffxivorigin.com/content/attachments/227d1282007650-gridania1-jpg/

Like everything else in the game... it's lacking life. Where's those huts we see in the arwork, built in those big trees. Where's those huge 1000 years trees? Those beautiful lights guiding your path?

when comparing the ingame screenshot to the artwork it looks like they didnt have enough time to finish the main building... the 2nd and 3rd floor are missing. It's also missing lights, decor and paint...


Can we realistically hope all this will be fixed? I would love for FFXIV to turn more like it's artwork. To me it seems that they didn't understand Yoshida's art and couldn't reproduce it or they just lacked the time to do it? I hope one day we will see Eorzea come to life and maybe have a world resembling FFX and FFXII's worlds.

[Shikaree]

I'd like to see a magically developed city with great advancements in technology as well, but also not have it been destroyed eons ago and is now in ruins and mostly lost technology like how a lot of games like to put them :/

Getting to the topic, I've done comparisons and even posted the adventurer's guild art in another topic about how Eorzea currently looks. It feels bland, empty and lacking in life. Even the Rapture demo that was posted looked like it could have been a more lively Limsa from the way it was laid out.

[Onidemon]

I'd like to see a magically developed city with great advancements in technology as well, but also not have it been destroyed eons ago and is now in ruins and mostly lost technology like how a lot of games like to put them :/

I agree. I think FFXIV's main/central city should look like Rabanastre.

http://gallery.burrowowl.net/index.p...image/6779.jpg

But i know it will be ishgard and from what it looks like on the outside, it will be a plain old castle with grey brick walls all over the place... another depressing scenery.....

[Onidemon]

Getting to the topic, I've done comparisons and even posted the adventurer's guild art in another topic about how Eorzea currently looks. It feels bland, empty and lacking in life. Even the Rapture demo that was posted looked like it could have been a more lively Limsa from the way it was laid out.

I'm not too familiar with video game development but i hope all this can be fixed in the future. I know WOW re-designed the whole world and cities in Cataclysm and Aion also had some graphical enhancements but i'm not sure if it's doable in FFXIV due to the engine not being very flexible.

[Shikaree]

I'm not too familiar with video game development but i hope all this can be fixed in the future. I know WOW re-designed the whole world and cities in Cataclysm and Aion also had some graphical enhancements but i'm not sure if it's doable in FFXIV due to the engine not being very flexible.

That we'd have to see on. They didn't touch the FFXI towns in the 9 years the game has been out, and only added minor things/objects to pre-existing zones (and started to just reuse areas instead).

[RedAffinity]

It's certainly a possibility in the future, a couple years down the road with an expansion release an upgrade to the main cities. It's VERY do-able. As a current fix, it absolutely is unlikely to happen there's just more issues on their plate than to fix art style and direction in existing locations. But i'm in complete agreement with you all, the textures, models, graphics look superb, the art direction is very boring, empty and bland.

As far as worlds go, i'm probably a minority here but I loved the world and art direction in Final Fantasy 9. The characters were a little too animated looking and cartoony, but the world and environment was that perfect balance of fantasy and midieval

[Onidemon]

It's certainly a possibility in the future, a couple years down the road with an expansion release an upgrade to the main cities. It's VERY do-able. As a current fix, it absolutely is unlikely to happen there's just more issues on their plate than to fix art style and direction in existing locations. But i'm in complete agreement with you all, the textures, models, graphics look superb, the art direction is very boring, empty and bland.

As far as worlds go, i'm probably a minority here but I loved the world and art direction in Final Fantasy 9. The characters were a little too animated looking and cartoony, but the world and environment was that perfect balance of fantasy and midieval

You're not alone, FF9 was one of m'y favorites. They really captured the Final Fantasy essence in that game and everything about the game reminded me of the old FF games like FF3(6 in japan).

[Rinoa]

I hope they will put a bit of FF8 in there somewhere.

[Shikaree]

You're not alone, FF9 was one of m'y favorites. They really captured the Final Fantasy essence in that game and everything about the game reminded me of the old FF games like FF3(6 in japan).

This is why I picked Lindblum as a server, FFIX was a great game. I think Memoria was a great endgame dungeon as well.

Something else I don't see in FFXI/V are areas that present large objects that scales out the area more. I'm talking like 100+ foot high up giant overhead rock structures or very tall trees that make you able to see right up close, run around or under, and just say 'wow!'. I'm not talking how it is in Gridania, I mean somewhere more like Los Noscea or Coerthas. The land just feels very flat with a bunch of walls and maybe a level change that stays consistent for one side of the zone. Can't really call anything landmarks out there, it all looks the same.

[RedAffinity]

This is why I picked Lindblum as a server, FFIX was a great game. I think Memoria was a great endgame dungeon as well.

Something else I don't see in FFXI/V are areas that present large objects that scales out the area more. I'm talking like 100+ foot high up giant overhead rock structures or very tall trees that make you able to see right up close, run around or under, and just say 'wow!'. I'm not talking how it is in Gridania, I mean somewhere more like Los Noscea or Coerthas. The land just feels very flat with a bunch of walls and maybe a level change that stays consistent for one side of the zone. Can't really call anything landmarks out there, it all looks the same.

Not only am I in complete agreement with what you said above, but I also chose Lindblum Server for the exact same reason =]