(MINDBLOWN) The Scope and scale of ''FInal Fantasy XV Uncovered''
polycounter lvl 9
I know there's already a thread about it (made by me) but this is another level of revealing Square Enix brought us these last hours! 
In case you missed, they made a conference with 15 Majors news featurings trailers and details about the game everthing that comes around with it!
One word: Mindblowing.
We might have our next succesor to the Witcher 3 here!
So since there's alot of environment artist here, I'll start by the most interesting trailer, the ENVIRONMENT TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZYNC4JZ_2c
What stroke me here is the gorgeous AND constant quality found in a amazingly diverse set of environments.
The scenerey at 1:40 just leaves me speechless.
Here's also another trailer featuring gameplay footage with a new ''Stand by me'' re-interpretation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyzKFxzW3pU
Gameplay footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDCy-7_7kI
A free demo will be available on online stores (ps store and xbox marketplace) featuring Noctis when he was young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HfsU6ZqbH8
Plus a free series of anime episodes available online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytEviyISKO0
AAAAND FINALLY, an epic full feature film from Square Enix CG studio (Visual Works) relating events surrounding the game and universe of FF XV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJ1C5O2gyc
(Kinda reminds me of Advent Children).
All that for a whooping budget of 250 millions of dollar and more (said by Tabata himself)!!
If the title hasnt caught your attention with that, it probably never will. I tihnk they really want this game to have the same impact as FF7 did on it's release (it probably won't but hey, let's hope so).
2016 GOTY? I do think so.:D
My biggest deception: No PC release annoucement.
Also, I do think they revealed a tad bit too much...
Edit:
I forgot this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxKLNz36o-A
AIRSHIP AVAIALBLE EVERYONE !! AIRSHIP AVAILABLE (or aircar?)
In case you missed, they made a conference with 15 Majors news featurings trailers and details about the game everthing that comes around with it!
One word: Mindblowing.
We might have our next succesor to the Witcher 3 here!
So since there's alot of environment artist here, I'll start by the most interesting trailer, the ENVIRONMENT TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZYNC4JZ_2cWhat stroke me here is the gorgeous AND constant quality found in a amazingly diverse set of environments.
The scenerey at 1:40 just leaves me speechless.
Here's also another trailer featuring gameplay footage with a new ''Stand by me'' re-interpretation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyzKFxzW3pUGameplay footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDCy-7_7kIA free demo will be available on online stores (ps store and xbox marketplace) featuring Noctis when he was young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HfsU6ZqbH8Plus a free series of anime episodes available online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytEviyISKO0AAAAND FINALLY, an epic full feature film from Square Enix CG studio (Visual Works) relating events surrounding the game and universe of FF XV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJ1C5O2gyc(Kinda reminds me of Advent Children).
All that for a whooping budget of 250 millions of dollar and more (said by Tabata himself)!!
If the title hasnt caught your attention with that, it probably never will. I tihnk they really want this game to have the same impact as FF7 did on it's release (it probably won't but hey, let's hope so).
2016 GOTY? I do think so.:D
My biggest deception: No PC release annoucement.
Also, I do think they revealed a tad bit too much...
Edit:
I forgot this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxKLNz36o-AAIRSHIP AVAIALBLE EVERYONE !! AIRSHIP AVAILABLE (or aircar?)
Replies
Still would be nice with a good finalfantasy.
That probably doesn't have a huge impact on gameplay, but wouldn't a higher framerate be so much nicer !
The game does look super pretty and the combat looks fun so this might be the first FF game I actually finish.
Although I am hoping this will be the last of their development slogfests, I thought 13 had a rough cycle but considering the 10 year cycle for 15, I really feel like they need to find a better way that doesnt involve them throwing out and rebuilding everything constantly.
I mean the Collectors Ultra Super Edition was sold out in Minutes (that's 30.000 sales already for you).
Give me a physical PC Deluxe Edition and we are game SE.
Even if everything was running perfectly, I'm very skeptical about Squares ability to make a compelling experience these days (considering the last Final Fantasy I enjoyed enough to beat was FFX, 15 years ago).
This just confirms that they NEED a PC release, no kidding.
Edit: PC release confirmed.
The Character Artist, also does their own rigging, and they animate their own models.
I'm sceptical here. Where did you hear that? You got some contacts at SE that told you that?
I mean for indie developpers, I might understand but a game of this scale, I have hard time picturing this.
It's funny how much of a clue they took from attack on titan...the titan looks pretty similiar. Also it seems like there is some "shadow of the collossus" vertical gameplay to fight the ...let's call em Aeons, i hope the scene with Levithan from the first trailer is still in there.
But still i have to say, that i still don't know what the game is about really, outside of a travel...which sounds rather "simple" for a SE game.
Oh yeah ramuh...when i first saw it on a stream i couldn't believe my eyes whats happening right now.
So now the story has been dumbed down to be about a prince and his friends taking a road trip (and fighting misc baddies along the way which somehow culminates in them saving their kingdom / world) after their kingdom falls to an invasion.
They want to get back to the success of the old days? Don't treat your audience like children. The older FF had some rough stuff in them.
I mean i like the connection that is going on between the 4 guys, i really do...but yeah the story could be slightly more interesting...as of what we know so far. I don't see this getting to the FF usual of fighting a god in the end.
HOWEVER: there was a leak months ago on reddit where a user, claiming he got info from a trustworthy source, talked about the game and that there will be
- an anime series called brotherhood
- a movie a caled kingsglaive
- a platinum demo
- a mobile game called FFXV lite
- a pc version
Back then nothing was known about any of this and only 2 of his infos were off slightly, the smartphone game was named differently and there was no PC Version, however i personally believe that they might have staff in a approx. 300 Million dollar game to work on a PC version, that needs different kind of adjustments from the console version. But despite a port being a big undertaking, the game already runs x64 code and already seems to have DX11/12 implementatio (considering it's on XB1 and there was a lumnious DX12 demo months ago). So I think there is a chance it to be announced at a more PC orientated event.
Well, a while ago we received an internal email about possibly wanting to do like a 1-year 'exchange' with the Japan Studio.
They required a portfolio/reel, and stated everything from zbrush samples, to rigs, to animations, to bakes, and texturing.
Naturally I thought It was a mistake until I spoke to a few of the people who frequently go between the studios.
Nope, no mistake, the 'Character Animator' position requires that artists to model rig and animate all of their own characters. like Oldschool Blizzard Cinematics style.
Same goes for Visualworks.
We had a Technical Director here in Montreal for a couple of years.
Tetsuji Iwasaki was tasked to head up an internal Square Enix project (that later became Shinra), whose team needed to hire an Artist.
He was surprised when nobody that hit his expected modelling standards had any rigging or animations in their portfolios, and had to be explained that the job was split into 2 in North America.
I'm still blown away by this myself, but yes, it's not hearsay or rumour. These guys are that crazy.
Interesting was the famicom interview with tabata, where he explained that they basically had to kick out the common system in japan of "seniority" (so you get a higher position depending on how long you kept your old seat warm in the company) in favor of a performance and skill driven based positioning.
But man didn't expect things in Japan to be THAT different. I mean a modeller for a SE game should be busy enough with his day job, he shouldn't have time to even think of animating.
But the more you know.
Here on PC, we got artist from all the corners of the world except Japanese (I think there's a few though).
I'd like to here more insight from their part or just see some art dumps from their part from time to time.
If it's more about being japanese then working in japan then it's mostly because of the language barrier and also the biggest reason is that most japanese developers don't work with 3D outside of work, of course there are exceptions, but it's quite rare.
By the side: Tabata spoke in recent interviews about the FPS issues, that will be resolved and about a PC version, that they probablly tackle as soon as the game went gold (or released). It supposed to be a heavily pimped up version aimed at high end PC Specs.
That as well, but actually not doing any private art at all is very common, I know a lot of people that have never touched 3d outside of school and work neither do they have a computer that allows it. this is of course a very stereotype point of view, but there isn't really the same kind of pressure on skill to get a job here, and I have seen people with a couple of drawings in their portfolio get jobs in 3D, even in the bigger studios.
I have not played Duscae demo, so this was my first introduction to the way this game plays. I loved old Final Fantasy games so I was cautiously curious about this one. Now I feel more confused than ever. Unless the reviews for the final game are really good I don't think this will be the game that gets me back into the series.
These look quite recent judging by the rather high texture resolution, so I suppose that there are still some people out there creating that sort of stuff and posting it online.
There are also a lot of people putting in the effort to extract 3d content from commercial games to study it :
The way these models are crafted definitely hints at production practices involving a high level of 2d skills first and foremost. From there I could indeed imagine that excellent 2d animators could make the jump from 2d animation, to self-illuminated models ... and then years later transition to more realistically shaded character creation. Who knows !
@pior
those look really cool. Didn't know about that.
And yea, the trailers have been pretty in-depth with the characters and plot; however, they just went with a dream for this? I watched a co-worker play through the previous demo at my last job and it looked way more exciting than what we were given.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200059412&postcount=452
But there is a decent amount there to play around with, i guess they expected you to play around rather than experience the game.
I think the most enjoyable thing for me was fighting that boss at night in the rain. On the ps4 i played the frame rate was stable. But according to an interview they said this demo was not to demonstrate frame rate, so who knows.
Here's someone expertly battling the boss with some extra weapons you can find in the area. Shows there's a lot of potential there if you know what you're doing.
@pior I think that first set of models is from the atelier games which i've always admired for their character models. It's possible some of those images came from models ripped from the game?
I see a few japanese artists on sites like sketchfab and i've also been seeing zbrush use become more popular when artists are making figures. But i don't know how much of any of that is independant work.
Not the biggest GI Fan, but that trailer looks interesting (especially the new footage).
by the by the way:
A lot of people are concerned if the game will be accpted in the west for it's Japanese J-Pop look...well if the west isn't they have a problem because japan def. not. Preorders are the worst in FF history (while it is still at Nr. 1 on Amazon germany and US).
I have the impression that Square made some significant changes under Tabata, but I still feel Nomura's aesthetic sense will limit the appeal of this game.
I guess it was probably too late to change that and it would risk alienating Japanese fanbase. But overall it seems Square is aware they need the western mainstream audiences more thanever hence the event being in English and the more approachable character design in the upcoming movie.
At this point I'm really curious how the next numbered FF game will look.
Thing is, most of what I've seen is just painstaking brute force methods to everything.
We had the pleasure of working directly with SE VisualWorks on our pre-rendered DX trailers, and their work just seemed flawless.
No clipping, no strange topology, no wierd artifacts that were hidden.
Just flawless models with flawless displacement bakes and textures.
;p
But I'm really a canadian through and through.
Yo'd be appalled," says Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD and Final Fantasy 15. "Just as a reference, I sleep maybe three hours each day. It's difficult every day ...
"There is a sense that this is shortening my lifespan. But it's all worth it."
When it came to setting the tone for Final Fantasy games on PS4 and Xbox One, Tabata says Square Enix didn't set out with a clear idea of what that future should look like. After all, the Final Fantasy franchise has spanned generations of consoles and explored dozens of different themes and settings.
"I knew whatever lifespan I'd already shortened with Type-0 would be even further shortened with 15," Tabata says. "But after a minute or two of thinking it over, I thought, 'That shouldn't be much of a problem.'"
It's not just sleep Tabata is sacrificing, either. As a husband, and as a father to a daughter in kindergarten, he says the time he spends at home never feels like enough. He cranks into the early hours of the morning during the week in order to spend his weekends playing with his daughter or eating with his wife. His own alone time is nearly non-existent, pushed back into the hours he spends in the car on the way to work.
"In the car, I listen to music," Tabata says. "That's all I really do. In essence, that's the only place where I listen to music now."
Yet by taking on these projects — and by tackling Final Fantasy 15 specifically — Tabata feels that the reward will outweigh the work.
"I can finally kind of be on the same battlefield as some of the globally popular AAA titles, the major hits," Tabata says. "That's been one of the best feelings that's come from working on this."
There's something special about watching Final Fantasy fans get excited, too, he says. Tabata says it's worth all the struggle when a game is finally released and feedback comes pouring in. Criticism is only a temporary setback, and it inspires him want to work harder. But the real joy is finding the players who enjoy the team's work.
"Once we receive news of fans enjoying this game, it all kind of is worth it," Tabata says. "You forget about all the struggles that you faced during the development ... I think that's what keeps me going."
"I think it was at that point that I started to feel like it's OK — it's really not a big deal if I'm shortening my lifespan to bring enjoyment to others. That's when my mindset started to change."
This mentality is typical of Japanese game developers, Tabata says. For Final Fantasy in particular, Tabata sees it as a franchise that brings happiness. He's quick to offer lighthearted, if not cutting commentary about his work ("I wouldn't really recommend developing games at Square Enix much. We don't sleep."), but there's a sharp sense of pride there, too.
"It's really the drive to create the best experience. Something that surpasses everything ... That's just what Final Fantasy development is like.Ok, give that man a cake!
And a bed!
http://www.polygon.com/a/life-in-japan/Tabata-Final-Fantasy-15
the combat worked much better fighting the bigger boss. then it wasnt a problem with all that jumping around, and i got punished for button mashing and had to do smarter things like evading.
However, another interview with Tabata:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipTGqVSXwRg&t=1m12s
Biggest Takeaway? The team played A LOT of western RPG and is especially loving The Witcher 3. Interesting, i never really heard other directors from japan talking western games as inspiration.