We are pleased to present the full digest of the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVIII!
If you missed the live stream, or if you just want to watch it again (and again), check it out below!
* Don't forget to select the 1080p option to watch the video in HD!
* Video includes interpretation from Japanese to English.
Over the Past 11 Years
We began the broadcast by looking back at FFXIV’s journey over the past 11 years, with gratitude for all of our Warriors of Light.
(00:10:09)
In the broadcast, we went over the timeline while commenting on prominent events, which you can watch in the video.
From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank all of our Warriors of Light around the globe, as well as our partners and members of the media. We truly appreciate your support and hope you’ll join us for the coming years as well.
New Challenges in FFXIV: The Next Ten Years
In this segment, we explained our goal for FFXIV and the milestones we have leading up to it.
Evolving into an RPG that’s Fun Alone or with Friends
(00:31:20)
FFXIV has been enjoyed by audiences around the globe as an MMORPG. With that said, we periodically conduct market research around expansion releases and other timings, and the results indicated two areas where we’ve yet to make a breakthrough.
The first area is the large number of responses that state, “I’m a FINAL FANTASY fan and have played every game in the series, except FFXI and FFXIV,” which we are sad to hear. While FFXI has been updated to become far more solo-friendly than before, we would like to aim above and beyond with FFXIV.
The second area is the group that answers, “I’m hesitant to play online games like FFXIV because they require interacting with other players...” This has been the most prominent reason among those who don’t want to try FFXIV. As such, our goal over the next 10 years is to evolve FFXIV from an MMORPG to a new genre, “an RPG that's fun alone or with friends.”
(00:35:16)
To this end, large-scale updates to the Trust system will be made during the Patch 6.x series. Of course, you can still use matchmaking to participate in duties; these updates are geared towards those who want to play through the main scenario by themselves.
As a note, 8-player trials that appear post-Heavensward will be addressed in Patch 7.0 or later. In Endwalker, we were able to determine that Trusts can be used for 8-player trials; however, since the process of adjusting the mechanics accordingly requires a lot of development cost, we would first like to address dungeons, as there are many of those.
Some of you may be under the impression that the Trust system is meant for forming parties with the Scions and other prominent characters. However, depending on the course of the story, you may not have always had such characters by your side. As such, there will be quite a few cases where you’ll be accompanied by NPCs from the Adventurers’ Guild, especially towards the early parts of the story.
With that said, we are hoping to adjust as much as we can for duties taking place during crucial moments in the story, even going as far as to adjust parts of the main scenario, so that you can participate in them alongside prominent characters.
On a related note, dungeons in A Realm Reborn were designed very differently from our current specifications, and such aspects will also be adjusted, a topic we’ll be elaborating on in future Letter LIVE broadcasts. For example, the floors that apply Heavy status in the Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak will be removed.
We also have plans for Cape Westwind, which will be converted into a solo instanced battle, as well as Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium, which we plan to convert into 4-player dungeons. The encounters against Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea-possessed Thancred will be extracted and remade into their own separate content and will no longer be one-sided thrashings by eight Warriors of Light.
Preparation and Development of Graphics Update Phase One
(00:50:26)
Taking long-term operations into account, a graphics update will be prepared in the backend of development during the Patch 6.x series. An immense number of graphics-related resources and assets have accumulated over the 11 years since launch, and we couldn’t possibly update it all at once, which is why we’re referring to this as “phase one.”
Additionally, we will be optimizing processes in the PS4 version during the Patch 6.x series. Additional graphics settings akin to those in the PC version will enable more detailed customization, allowing you to play with settings that are better suited for your individual needs.
Furthermore, please rest assured that the PS4 version will remain available for Patch 7.0.
(01:04:48)
During the broadcast, we showed some sample images from our first month of testing for the graphics update. Each of them features higher resolution textures and improved surface detail. Rather than pursue photorealism in FFXIV, our goal is to maintain the current aesthetic with our updates.
Furthermore, our current expectation is that equipment items added in Patch 7.0 and onward will be released at the graphics quality of these updates, while older equipment items will be sequentially addressed during or after the Patch 7.x series. That being said, we are hoping to prioritize equipment that players often use for glamour.
As for NPCs, there will likely be a period of time where certain NPCs have been updated but not others. The graphics update is something that will take several years, and we would appreciate your patience regarding this matter.
On another note, we’ve received comments asking us to address the clipping on certain equipment items, but this is likely something we cannot address. Preventing clipping requires the physics engine to conduct real-time calculations but adding these would bog down the performance of the game. Furthermore, the current pace at which new equipment items are released is only possible because we permit a certain level of clipping. Although we will certainly do our best to avoid clipping as much as possible, we’d like to emphasize that it may not be as flawless as what you may see in offline games.
(01:21:58)
We also showed some sample images of how the graphics update will change the overworld.
In the first image, additional lighting has been added to the Studium in Old Sharlayan. Additional lighting can change the overall appearance of a scene, even without adjusting the objects themselves, as you can see with the crisp shadow of the desk in the foreground, as well as the improved clarity of details on the back wall.
The second image featuring Titania shows higher resolution shadows and several new light sources. The addition of colored lights allows for more complexity in visual presentation. One thing to note is that although the warm-colored lighting has altered the overall atmosphere of the image quite a bit, we only added them to make the differences more apparent for this image, and these adjustments will not be made to the actual Titania encounter. You can also see how crisp the stained-glass windows in the background now appear, despite the texture resolutions and polygons not having been altered in any way whatsoever.
In the fourth image featuring Thavnair, a number of objects have been added to the scene. There is also another texture layered over the ground, which allows us to add cracks and emphasize the surface detail of the earth.
The fifth image shows the results of a test where we changed the automatic grass generation system to use higher resolution grass. This grass generation system is used in all areas added between A Realm Reborn and Endwalker, so this update would beautify nearly all grass found in the game.