Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

[little ninja]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

Why would they do it for only a portion of the userbase? Seems like a huge waste of money and resources.
Someone didn't learn from the mistake that was the Ruins of Kunark expansion, then. PC users shouldn't be forced to upgrade to enjoy better graphic on a game they already pay for.
Look at WoW, why do you think its so successful?
Same reason all other Blizzard games are, they don't strictly cater to the high-end PC user. They accomodate a wide range of PCs and settings, SE just caters to different platforms. Either way, its smart business to tap a wide range of users than limit it to the high-end user.

Anyways for the woW comment. Its popular for alot of reasons. But ability to handle all kinds of pcs is kinda far fetched. I have alot of friends who play wow an enjoy it. But still cant handle goig inot a decent size raid because their systems cant handle it.

Damn those kiddies an their hand me down pc's.

EQ can try to upgrade their graphics but it only goes so far. Though also the developers behind EQ are not that great at creating models, the dwarfs still have 1 eye missing a pupil and many of the races still have the broken necks except for the Drakken (Which is a new Race and they stick out as being new by graphic comparison). They can try to upgrade it but it will reach a point were they'd have to do a complete overhaul of the entire game in order to up the graphics, by then cost may not be worth it.

Yeah my friend was telling me something about that awhile ago. Sad part is that modeling chars isnt hard at all especially when you have the concept art. Kinda crummy that guy got the job to model it while others like myself dont get the chance. Im curious to see what it looks like, If anyone has any old images feel free to link it. Im curious to see if its just a poor job at splining it, or if its a rig issue for the neck.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

Revamping the actual graphics is the sticky point here, I'd say. We already have the PC version capable of doing things the PS2 version can't in terms of the options in the config (or registry edits where the presets aren't enough). Expanding the ways in which the graphics engine can scale settings to meet varying hardware would not be a PS2-breaking endeavor in all likelihood. Whether the results would be worth the investment depends on things about the existing engine design I don't pretend to know. As a software developer and free software user/modifier, I can speak to the fact that the abstract difficulty of a task and the specific difficulty of that task with a given piece of software can be radically different depending on how that software was designed. Adding the same feature to two different programs might take 15 minutes on the first and a week on the second, depending on whether the design was conducive to the feature's implementation.

It's up to SE's developers to make a determination as to how far the current engine can go without breaking compatibility or requiring major rewrites, and up to SE more generally whether either of those courses of action are justifiable going forward. I think the question is valid and pertinent and not something necessarily answered by existing statements.

[eticket109]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

Is it the first week of April already? Wow, doesn't seem like its even been a month since we last had this thread.

I can't really add anything more then what's already been posted in this thread or all the others we've had about it. I wouldn't expect any major graphic overhauls any time soon, if ever.

[Macht]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

To drastically revamp the graphics, the developers still have to program new graphics effects using the revised engine's new capabilities, and maybe even revise the art assets. That, is where things begin to cost a great deal of money and time.

Hence the point I stated, this is a complete overhaul. Adjusting TnL, adjusting transparencies, retexturing the modeling, upping the polygon count for smoother models, redoing the models for more fluent motion, etc...

That's a complete overhaul and becomes less cost effective the more the MMO gains content.

[Feba]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

Someone didn't learn from the mistake that was the Ruins of Kunark expansion, then. PC users shouldn't be forced to upgrade to enjoy better graphic on a game they already pay for.

They're not forced to upgrade. Older players will be allowed to play just fine on the current engine, and players with highend systems and vista can run DX10 client.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

They're not forced to upgrade. Older players will be allowed to play just fine on the current engine, and players with highend systems and vista can run DX10 client.

If you wanted the better graphics, you're forced to upgrade. PS2 players would have to drop $600 to get a PS3 if they hadn't already.

In any case, its all irrelevant, its not happening.

[Murphie]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

Wait, wait, wait.

Why is the idea that folks who want graphical upgrades, but don't have the hardware to support it should have to buy said hardware in order to receive the graphical boost that they want so perplexing?

If the upgrade was optional, but your PC couldn't handle it, you have a choice. Either deal, or upgrade your hardware in order to access the graphical upgrades. If you want to be a cheapass, then you just have to deal with the graphics as they are.

[Tirrock]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

If you wanted the better graphics, you're forced to upgrade. PS2 players would have to drop $600 to get a PS3 if they hadn't already.
In any case, its all irrelevant, its not happening.

I wanted to play Gears of War so much...it looks so pretty. But when I tried to shove the disk into my SNES, it broke. :( :( :(

Seriously though, I have to agree with the last sentence. I don't see them upgrading FFXI's graphics.

[Murphie]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

It's not happening right now. But that doesn't mean that it might not in the future.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

It's not happening right now. But that doesn't mean that it might not in the future.

First I should point out what the OP has ignored. SE stated it once and continue to hold to that statement. They do not want to version the code.
To provide the option for a person to use newer graphics or stay with old is versioning. The only reason the game is on XBox 360, PS2, and PC is because they didn't need to change the code it could easily be recompiled and work on all the platforms. Otherwise it's the exact same code.

It's not happening.

[Tirrock]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

I'm all for prettier expansions (going from Valkurm to Lufaise Meadows is like day and night), but it honestly seems like too much work for them to improve the graphics on an almost 5 year old game.

Not that I wouldn't love it if they actually did improve the graphics. Although I still like most of FFXI's graphics anyway. The first thing I said when I installed neverwinter nights 2 was: "FFXI looks better than this..."

[Murphie]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

It's not happening.

What about the word "might" don't you understand? SE changes their mind about things all the time.

It might happen in the future, but it's not happening right now. Nothing is absolute.

[Effedup]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

It might happen in the future, but it's not happening right now. Nothing is absolute.

I envy your optimism, but I'm pessimistic enough to believe it will never happen. Not only because S-E is one of the slowest to adjust companies on the face of the earth, but also because they're already working on a new MMO, which I'm sure will be graphically on par with the newer MMO's out there now.

Then again, I also thought S-E would never even attempt to add a window function...they must be serving up Sno-Cones in hell right now.

Speaking of the registry hacks, like the one for higher resolutions (which I already did), is there any other enhancements that can be unlocked through editing the registry? A better draw distance would be pretty uber... ^^

[Feba]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

If you wanted the better graphics, you're forced to upgrade. PS2 players would have to drop $600 to get a PS3 if they hadn't already.

Uh, uh, of course?

Seriously, what the hell are you expecting? People that want better graphics get better hardware. People that don't would continue to play on their old hardware. I personally never intend to buy a PS3. If I were a PS2 FFXI player, and I wanted better graphics, i'd still have the ability to buy a newer PC or a 360. Or I could keep playing the PS2.

Macht has a point- but they've already given a few graphics tweaks to 360, so they aren't all the same. SE has also performed updates for JUST the PC version to prevent hacking before, so that isn't accurate. There have also been cases where there's a bug that's only present on one system, so SE only patches that system.

It would be nearly impossible to keep a game the size of FFXI working across such different platforms without at least a FEW changes and differences. Hell, according to that, SE wouldn't have a JP version, because it has IME support, which the other languages don't.

[little ninja]

Re: Will the graphics engine ever move with the times?

What about the word "might" don't you understand? SE changes their mind about things all the time.
It might happen in the future, but it's not happening right now. Nothing is absolute.

I highly doubt that S.E will pull some of the remaining programmers off of other projects like job upgrades an new content. To enhance graphics that are 5 years old. Pretty much everything Macht said is basically what S.E is looking at having to do to enhance graphics.