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[What's new in...]
[By Frenchemul]
Hey everyone, today I'm back for a second video about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn [Technical evolution]
Hey everyone, today I'm back for a second video about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
in which we're going to talk about the technical evolution of the game.
SQUARE ENIX indeed has a lot to prove, since V1 was kind of frustrating, due to its lag and poor optimization.
Back then, a state-of-the-art and thus pricey computer was needed to run the game at decent settings [i7 + GTX460].
So what will basically change?
Of course, deep changes are upcoming,
client- and server-side.
Firstly, whether you were worrying about it,
the lag now belongs to the past, thanks to a revision of the client-server architecture and of the servers themselves.
For instance, opening the UI, clicking on a button, or moving your character will return an instant response.
For those to whom 250ms is an heresy, datacenters will be opened in NA and Europe to reduce latency as much as possible.
Still, the game won't have any localization restriction,
meaning American players will be free to play on a Japanese server without any drawback,
- well, perhaps a little bit in PvP mode... *sigh*
Client-side now, a new graphics engine has been created specifically for ARR,
so say "Goodbye" to Crystal Tools, which hadn't really been thought for MMOs,
and welcome this brand-new engine, created by the brains of the Luminous team, of which it shares the kernel.
Its ambition is simply to make people forget their past experience with V1.
The first objective of this engine is a better optimization for PS3s and lower-end PCs.
N. Yoshida, Director & Producer of the game,
claimed buying a new computer won't be required to run ARR at fairly good settings,
meaning if your computer isn't already three years old (before 2010).
For instance, my early 2012 laptop, which is equipped with an i7-3610QM and GT650M,
and thus is more designed for multimedia,
was able to run the game at max settings during the Alpha test (plus, more optimization to come).
For those who are not really looking for optimization,
the depth of field has been increased,
and you will be allowed to move the camera more freely,
and to set the amount of character displayed on your screen.
The shadows will be generated in real time,
and this is scarce enough to be mentioned:
it will be the first Final Fantasy that uses real-time shadows.
Not to mention the fact we're talking about an MMO here.
Every tree leaf has its own shadow, so the result is quite gorgeous.
We can bet on the fact AO will eventually be usable,
when a GTX690 used to be unable to run the game properly, when it was activated.
Extremely versatile, the engine won't be compatible with DX11 features right from the beginning,
but this will come via future updates.
The devteam unfortunately doesn't plan to make the PS3 version 3D-compatible anytime soon.
Talking about the PS3, ARR remains a multi-platform game.
Thus PC and PS3 will share their servers, with a few consequences to this.
Meaning players that own both platforms will be allowed to switch at anytime,
keeping their progress, at no cost.
The only expense to plan is to purchase both game boxes.
To conclude, the lag and slow-downs now belong to the past. I'm... not sure we're going to miss them.
One more thing: if the game is expected to be released on August, 27th 2013,
you can anyway try to apply for a Beta access, at the following adress.
It's expected to last at least until mid-April, [ http://entry.ffxiv.com/beta/ ]
[ http://entry.ffxiv.com/beta/ ] but is more likely to end between mid-June and the end of the summer.
but is more likely to end between mid-June and the end of the summer.
This lack of information is due to the fact N. Yoshida wants
the game to perfectly fit his vision of what the game should be, before allowing it to land on the store shelves.
I guess we'll have to wait for the end of the fourth phase of Beta for an announcement.
Thanks for watching this second video on the technical evolution of ARR, the next one will be about the quests! See you around!