Support NeoGAF

[bigmac996]

Well, tastes differ...but I would rather spend my time running around exploring, fighting monsters and doing quests here...

...than here...

I'm with you there. I feel they could have easily created more interesting deserts. I understand that contrast is a good thing but even something like the top example you showed wouldn't be an outstanding setpiece, it'd just make the environment a bit more unique than it is. Or at least give the area more character.

 

[YankeeDonB]

I'm with you there. I feel they could have easily created more interesting deserts. I understand that contrast is a good thing but even something like the top example you showed wouldn't be an outstanding setpiece, it'd just make the environment a bit more unique than it is. Or at least give the area more character.

I'm going back and forth on this. The first pic suggests an unspoiled, exotic desert. The second (much more like XV's Lucis) suggests an exurban wasteland, which is what I think they're going for. The visual character of a region does more work than just "looks good!" "Doesn't look that good."

Because Insomnia retreated behind the wall, I've been assuming the surrounding countryside has been more or less abandoned. It's not unspoiled wilderness, but a rural region on the slide.

 

[Tyaren]

I'm with you there. I feel they could have easily created more interesting deserts. I understand that contrast is a good thing but even something like the top example you showed wouldn't be an outstanding setpiece, it'd just make the environment a bit more unique than it is. Or at least give the area more character.

Thanks, I already thought I was going crazy alone. I just couldn't image a situation like the following actually happening:

Concept artist: "Here's my vision of the desert region. I imagine it vast and desolate but also beautiful with awe-inspiring sights and real character. The player will spend some hours there after all and wait till we send him backtracking there regularly for quests, lol."

Director: "Nah, scratch the beautiful and awe-inspiring and also the real character. Lets just have it vast and desolate. We will make the player really dread it, so he will enjoy the rest of the game world so much more! "

On a more serious note:
For games with clearly sectioned-off regions that you spend many hours in to then make the jump into a new area, like Final Fantasy XV or the Xenoblade games or The Witcher 3, I think every region has to be visually pleasing and interesting on it's own. If you however have a vast, seamlessly interwoven world that you are traversing more quickly then it might indeed be appropriate to also have some less interesting, emptier spaces while having your goal visible at the horizon. But FFXV's world is clearly not build like this.

 

[.JayZii]

Well, tastes differ...but I would rather spend my time running around exploring, fighting monsters and doing quests here...

...than here...

I'm sure there will be rock formations and bluffs in different parts of the desert.

It also can't be sunset or sunrise forever. Give your top picture midday lighting and you might not find it so special.

 

[purseowner]

Hey guys, look at that ESRB description, I don't know if it's new, but it might contain spoilers, so I'll spoiler tag that for those who are interested :

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34533&Title=FINAL+FANTASY+XV

Why oh why did I read that. More spoilery than I expected.

And although it isn't outright stating what happens,

Spoiler

the fact that it's pretty much written in plain text that Luna dies because there are fuck all female characters in this game is a disappointing reminder of Squeenix being stuck in their ways. I know you said you were trying to emulate the success of VII, but did you really have to go and make your primary female character a sacrificial lamb again?

 

[Philippo]

Why oh why did I read that. More spoilery than I expected.

And although it isn't outright stating what happens,

Spoiler

the fact that it's pretty much written in plain text that Luna dies because there are fuck all female characters in this game is a disappointing reminder of Squeenix being stuck in their ways. I know you said you were trying to emulate the success of VII, but did you really have to go and make your primary female character a sacrificial lamb again?

Where are you even getting all of that?
Definitely not form the ESRB description lol

 

[BocoDragon]

Why oh why did I read that. More spoilery than I expected.

And although it isn't outright stating what happens,

Spoiler

the fact that it's pretty much written in plain text that Luna dies because there are fuck all female characters in this game is a disappointing reminder of Squeenix being stuck in their ways. I know you said you were trying to emulate the success of VII, but did you really have to go and make your primary female character a sacrificial lamb again?

Spoiler

Why assume it's Luna? Is it because she's one of the only women shown in the game?

What you don't realize is it's Cindy being impaled on the hood ornament of the Regalia. She tells Prompto she loves him as she dies, and the camera pans across her ass and Gladio smirks "nice......"

In all seriousness it could be some random NPC in a cutscene. Not sure why people necessarily read an important character into that. Could be but why assume it? I consider myself completely unspoiled because how the fuck can you tell who that is?

 

[purseowner]

Where are you even getting all of that?
Definitely not form the ESRB description lol

Sure, I could be wrong, and I haven't and won't read the leaks, but:

Spoiler

one cutscene involves a woman being stabbed off-screen

 

[Philippo]

Sure, I could be wrong, and I haven't and won't read the leaks, but:

Could be many things actually, for example first thing that comes to mind is KS SPOILER

Spoiler

Luna/Ravus mother literally being stabbed by Glauca, maybe shown in-game as a flashback

?
Plus, it says off-screen, if it was

Spoiler

Luna be sure that they would show it, it would be the most important death of all the game.

 

[Chaserjoey]

Sure, I could be wrong, and I haven't and won't read the leaks, but:

Spoiler

There's more than just Luna who could be the victim.

Gentiana, Cindy (lol unlikely since she's just for car delivery / upgrades), Iris, Aranea, flashback to Noctis' mother / Luna's mother / other flashbacks, Shiva, random NPC etc

 

[Tyaren]

Also, guys...

Spoiler

...being stabbed does not necessarily mean that you will die. It didn't say "stabbed to death" or "impaled" as with the swords part in the rating. That part sounds pretty dead to me. XD It just says a female will be stabbed.

 

[GreenMakoEyes]

Also, guys...

Spoiler

...being stabbed does not necessarily mean that you will die. It didn't say "stabbed to death" or "impaled" as with the swords part in the rating. That part sounds pretty dead to me. XD It just says a female will be stabbed.

yes..

Spoiler

like Aerith only got "stabbed"

 

[Tyaren]

yes..

Spoiler

like Aerith only got "stabbed"

Lol, one more reason

Spoiler

that they won't imitate that iconic scene (including dying) and that it is something entirely different.

 

[contranova]

this:

Cleigne seems to be west of Lestallum

 

[Tyaren]

this:

What is this post about/ what is it trying to show us?

 

[Gbraga]

Sure, I could be wrong, and I haven't and won't read the leaks, but:

The first thing I thought of was a flashback to Noctis' mother dying. Or Luna's mother.

They just repeated scenes from Kingsglaive in Brotherhood, so they're definitely not taking it for granted that everyone will have prior knowledge from all of the pieces of that universe.

 

[contranova]

What is this post about/ what is it trying to show us?

That there's more regions that haven't been revealed yet.

So really all we know are

Lucis Region (correct me if I'm wrong)
- Leide
- Duscae (Tabata said the whole thing including the disc and lestallum was 10% of the whole world map)
- Cleigne

Areas outside this region
Altissia
Snowy Area (west of the Volcano thingy)

Areas revealed we know exist but don't know where in map
-Tenebrae
-Nifilheim
-The greek/Santorini looking town that was revelaed in the tech demo/concept art
- The U shaped mountain past the sea shown in a lot of the demos when they drive to Galdin Quay

Also regarding the driving. If you look at this--

The Marlboro at least is on a different continent based on this map:

You'll see the Marlboro area revealed to be on the continent west of the volcano. From that point to where the yellow line starts (presuming it's the train line) there aren't any indicated roads. This leads me to believe that the roads on the map only unlock either once you're in the region or you talk to a local and they unlock it for you (this was the case in the demos where Cidney unlocks the road map for Leide, Duscae and Cleide).

 

[DrBretto]

yes..

Spoiler

like Aerith only got "stabbed"

Spoiler

Aeris got stabbed, but not off-camera. Can you imagine they would do a similar scene off-camera? If it was Luna, it'd be front and center, IMO.

 

[Tyaren]

That there's more regions that haven't been revealed yet.

So really all we know are

Lucis Region (correct me if I'm wrong)
- Leide
- Duscae (Tabata said the whole thing including the disc and lestallum was 10% of the whole world map)
- Cleigne

Areas outside this region
Altissia
Snowy Area (west of the Volcano thingy)

Areas revealed we know exist but don't know where in map
-Tenebrae
-Nifilheim
-The greek/Santorini looking town that was revelaed in the concept arts
- The U shaped mountain past the sea shown in a lot of the demos when they drive to Galdin Quay

Ah, I see.

I think the Santorini look-alike...

...is actually at the coast of Duscae near Cape Caim (where the lighthouse is and where you set over to Altissia).

I think in this old driving footage they made sure to cut it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbKkJKfy6Cg

I think they even mentioned/hinted in the stream, that this footage was shown in, that they would not show a nearby city.

 

[contranova]

Ah, I see.

I think the Santorini look-alike...

...is actually at the coast of Duscae near Cape Caim (where the lighthouse is and where you set over to Altissia).

I think in this old driving footage they made sure to cut it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbKkJKfy6Cg

I think they even mentioned/hinted in the stream, that this footage was shown in, that they would not show a nearby city.

How do we know this? That would make sense though, because based off that footage there's really no docks whatsoever in the Caim... so maybe they did delete that part for the demo?

Also that u-shaped mountain. Do we know anything about it?

 

[Tyaren]

How do we know this? That would make sense though, because based off that footage there's really no docks whatsoever in the Caim... so maybe they did delete that part for the demo?

Also that u-shaped mountain. Do we know anything about it?

I think you are right now mistaking Galdin Quay...

...for Cape Caim:

Galdin Quay is in Leide, there they try to get a boat to Altissia first but Ardyn tells them there's no use. So there are no boats and no docks.
Much later after the events in Duscae they will go to Cape Caim to get a boat to Altissia. That is what the developers back then explained when they presented Cape Caim to us.
Since there is no boat or docks to be seen either, I think they will go back to the closely located Santorini look-alike city to get on a boat. Maybe (and this is just speculation) they are in Cape Caim to find a captain/owner of a boat in the lighthouse. When they approached the lighthouse in the stream Tabata said there was some story related stuff that they wouldn't show to us. That captain/owner is probably not willing to help them at first in typical JRPG fashion.

Regarding the weirdly shaped island of Galdin Quay:
I don't think it has any significance actually. It looks empty and there is also no boat to get over at this point in the story. It's probably there to just look cool.

 

[contranova]

Galdin Quay is in Leide, there they try to get a boat to Altissia first but Ardyn tells them there's no use. So there are no boats and no docks.
Much later after the events in Duscae they will go to Cape Caim to get a boat to Altissia. That is what the developers back then explained when they presented Cape Caim to us.
Since there is no boat or docks to be seen either, I think they will go back to that Santorini look-alike to get on a boat. Maybe (and this is just speculation) they are in Cape Caim to find a captain/owner of a boat in the lighthouse. When they approached the lighthouse they said there was some story related stuff that they wouldn't show to us. That captain/owner is probably not willing to help them at first in typical JRPG fashion.

Regarding the weirdly shaped island of Galdin Quay:
I don't think it has any significance actually. It looks empty and there is also no boat to get over at this point in the story. It's probably there to just look cool.

I understand both are different places. I thought you were implying that the Santorini looking town is Cape Caim. Which I was saying doesn't look like there's anything around it -- but it is possible like you said that it's close by.

Maybe that u-shaped mountain will be one of those islands you get to travel to once you get the airship for a sidequest. Remember the isolated island where you get the Knights of the Round materia? =D

 

[Tyaren]

I understand both are different places. I thought you were implying that the Santorini looking town is Cape Caim. Which I was saying doesn't look like there's anything around it -- but it is possible like you said that it's close by.

Cape Caim is just the lighthouse above the cliffs. The closely located city (if it is still there) has no name known to us yet. It's also just my hunch that it could be the Santorini look-alike.

Maybe that u-shaped mountain will be one of those islands you get to travel to once you get the airship for a sidequest. Remember the isolated island where you get the Knights of the Round materia? =D

That could be a possibility and a great way to make you come back again...but they said there have to be roads in order for the car to land. I don't think there is a road on the island. But let's see.

 

[Ralemont]

Also that u-shaped mountain. Do we know anything about it?

Hello Bahamut

 

[contranova]

That could be a possibility and a great way to make you come back again...but they said there have to be roads in order for the car to land. I don't think there is a road on the island. But let's see.

All you really need is a landing/take-off strip and then traverse the whole island by foot. Imagine a gas station/restaurant at the end of the strip like a mini flight stop. Would be awesome if they did that!

 

[YankeeDonB]

Hello Bahamut

Just what I was thinking! Those weird rock formations seem to be associated with astrals (well, Titan at least).

Oh man, a new mainline FF in under two months. Despite the decade long XIII debacle I'm so excited....

 

[GreenMakoEyes]

[...]Oh man, a new mainline FF in under two months.[...]

this sentence makes me so happy!

 

[contranova]

Just what I was thinking! Those weird rock formations seem to be associated with astrals (well, Titan at least).

Oh man, a new mainline FF in under two months. Despite the decade long XIII debacle I'm so excited....

2010 was the last time they released a new English mainline FF -- I still remember how excited I was when I finally got the physical copy (as far as how I felt about that game, that's completely separate).

But I really am optimistic about Final Fantasy XV. It's a different kind of excitement knowing the fact that Square knows there's a lot going into this, and Tabata using FFXV to "reclaim the throne" to become one the best FF -- not to mention games -- out there.

With that said,
Any predictions when XVI will be out?!

 

[Mailbox]

Sure, I could be wrong, and I haven't and won't read the leaks, but:

Which could really be anyone tbh.

That being said, I decided to do the counting and I'm really weirded out now when people talk about how few the female characters are in XV. For perspective we know of 5 main female characters that make more than rudimentary appearances (ie: they appear more than once and actually interact with the plot and characters in meaningful ways (Luna, Aranea, gentiana, Cindy, iris) and ffXIII had... oh wait, the exact same number? Yeah, 5, 4 if you decide not to count Jihl (I'm not counting lebrau because she's a nothing character and I pretty much don't remember her at all). [on a side note, does ff12 even have more than 4-5 main women in its main plot-line? I only got so far in the game before I got stuck, so I couldn't get to the end ]

Maybe it's because they aren't part of the main party?

 

[Aters]

Which could really be anyone tbh.

That being said, I decided to do the counting and I'm really weirded out now when people talk about how few the female characters are in XV. For perspective we know of 5 main female characters that make more than rudimentary appearances (ie: they appear more than once and actually interact with the plot and characters in meaningful ways (Luna, Aranea, gentiana, Cindy, iris) and ffXIII had... oh wait, the exact same number? Yeah, 5, 4 if you decide not to count Jihl (I'm not counting lebrau because she's a nothing character and I pretty much don't remember her at all). [on a side note, does ff12 even have more than 4-5 main women in its main plot-line? I only got so far in the game before I got stuck, so I couldn't get to the end ]

Maybe it's because they aren't part of the main party?

FFXII has exactly four women that are important to the story. Three are party members, the other one gets stabbed off screen (or on screen?).

 

[Tyaren]

Oh man, a new mainline FF in under two months. Despite the decade long XIII debacle I'm so excited....

 

[AkirraKrylon]

This is one of the biggest upgrades I've ever seen for a game so close to launch.

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

 

[DrBretto]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

*reads a few paragraphs*
*shakes head*

Yup. Voodoo. That's how they did it!

Seriously though, great read.

 

[YankeeDonB]

Yeah buddy.

 

[Koozek]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

Niiice, thank you! Always love reading technical stuff like that.

 

[Ishida]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

Spoiler

Thanks for the info!

 

[dragonzdogma]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

Seriously though, great read.

C'mon , no way you guys understood any of that.

Niiice, thank you! Always love reading technical stuff like that.

 

[DrBretto]

C'mon , no way you guys understood any of that.

You don't need to understand every little minute detail to get the point, which is that they weren't using all of the resources available yet. I definitely trailed off about half way through, though.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

Ah so it's mystery optimization.

Nods head in approval

 

[The Last One]

http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/10/05/CEDEC-This-is-how-FFXV-was-optimized-6461-words


Good read, check it out. Explains how they are optimizing XV.

 

[AkirraKrylon]

Yea the tl;dr ELI5 of that article is basically they were able to force the engine to utilize more and more of the CPU as they pushed optimization forward (double the amount that duscae was using).

 

[Tyaren]

Yeah, I did maybe understand 1/3 of that...but it sounded impressive.
Let's still wait for the final game though (or at least some recent direct feed footage). I don't want to already praise their optimization efforts after looking at some small, blurry screens and a just as low quality gameplay stream.

 

[brandonh83]

Heavy FFVIII vibes from Galdin Quay. Mmmmmmm.

 

[Koozek]

C'mon , no way you guys understood any of that.

Well, I've been studying CS. The latter parts lost me a bit at the VFX Static Branch optimization, though.

 

[Aters]

Well, I've been studying CS. The latter parts lost me a bit at the VFX Static Branch optimization, though.

Same here. The first part was covered in computer system and operating system class.

 

[Mcdohl]

That there's more regions that haven't been revealed yet.

So really all we know are

Lucis Region (correct me if I'm wrong)
- Leide
- Duscae (Tabata said the whole thing including the disc and lestallum was 10% of the whole world map)
- Cleigne

Areas outside this region
Altissia
Snowy Area (west of the Volcano thingy)

Areas revealed we know exist but don't know where in map
-Tenebrae
-Nifilheim
-The greek/Santorini looking town that was revelaed in the tech demo/concept art
- The U shaped mountain past the sea shown in a lot of the demos when they drive to Galdin Quay

Also regarding the driving. If you look at this--


You'll see the Marlboro area revealed to be on the continent west of the volcano. From that point to where the yellow line starts (presuming it's the train line) there aren't any indicated roads. This leads me to believe that the roads on the map only unlock either once you're in the region or you talk to a local and they unlock it for you (this was the case in the demos where Cidney unlocks the road map for Leide, Duscae and Cleide).

Not sure if spoilers, it's stuff on IGN from interviews with Tabata, but I'll mark as spoilers anyway:

According to IGN, the train marks the

Spoiler

start of the linear path, and has areas which you will not be able to return to. You will only be able to return to the earlier areas, which I assume is the Lucis regions only. From footage we've seen, we know the train segment includes the snowy area, Tenebrae, and possibly the Marlboro lair.

I'm starting to become strongly convinced that this is the entire open world of FFXV:

Edit: And Altissia is probably a hub-city only accessible via a boat ride cutscene.

 

[Falk]

I read up to MUTEX then started foaming at the mouth having flashbacks from computer engineering degree

 

[TheGreatDirector]

 

[The Emperor]

How do we know this? That would make sense though, because based off that footage there's really no docks whatsoever in the Caim... so maybe they did delete that part for the demo?

Also that u-shaped mountain. Do we know anything about it?

Looks like the shelled remains of Cocoon after its crystal pillar broke in XIII-2.

You find Lightning there confirmed?!

 

[contranova]

I'm starting to become strongly convinced that this is the entire open world of FFXV:

Edit: And Altissia is probably a hub-city only accessible via a boat ride cutscene.

When Episode Duscae came out, there was an Active Time Report where Tabata mentions that the actual world map is 10 times bigger than the full duscae region (specifically mentioning including the area of Duscae that was blocked for the demo)

So with that in mind, It's looking like the world map above is about 30% of the whole map. This makes more sense.

They could easily explore this area, go down to Altissia and the areas more south and west of it. Then somehow the story will take them back up around Cleigne but then travel west to the snowy regions. With that said, I just remembered how in FF8 you start off at Balamb Garden, travel to Galbadia, then back to Balamb as it becomes a ship to fisherman's horizon, then to Esthar etc. So backtracking to re-explore places you have been to before is totally possible.