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[DarkLordMalik]

Anything interesting or new in the interview?

They had the same concerns regarding the demo that most of the people have i.e it won't sell people on the game. Basically the team-based combat that forms the core of the game is absent and they have no idea why SE decided to show the game in this state.

Tabata also said that he was inspired by Disney when he developed the demo so this explains the Kid Noctis part resembling Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Diablos]

The messaging around this demo is confusing.

Agreed.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Look at those FF13-2 screenshots, PC screens, but they didnt change textures or assets:



I dont really think that the difference between both games is 1 generation.

IQ surely doesn't. Lighting, modelling, scale, etc, surely does. IQ is a significant problem, but even the Duscae demo looked far better than what is shown in those screens. You could say the same with other games. Look I played Max Payne 3 with much better IQ than Quantum Break, but the latter still looks much more impressive.

 

[Gbraga]

Get out with this hyperbole.

This is what the game looked on PS3 back in 2010.

Evolution of FFXV by Gamespot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoFp_DebG38

Real talk, I'd take the Versus XIII graphics at 1080p, 60fps and decent AA over the mess we have now.

If they do manage to get it running decently, and/or a good PC port where we can fix the issues ourselves with both more powerful hardware and third party software, then it'll be worth it.

 

[Koozek]

Yikes! This is what most of the demo looked like. Forget image quality. This straight up looks like a PS2 game. The modeling, lighting, and texture work is terrible here. The only time the demo looked decent was when it was indoors and the engine didn't have to render much like the hallway with the marble floor other wise everything looked like a placeholder.

Seems like everyone on GAF except me had a PS2K. I'm wondering how I could have missed that back then.

 

[King Gilga]

Hrmmmm

There is something going on weird with these edges here. Sharpening like everyone says, but also something else.

Like, this thing has a complete black pixel outline. If this is a sharpening filter, then they have it completely cranked to cause that.

If you told me that screenshot was from a PS3 game I wouldn't even question it.

 

[KHlover]

I've seen a video playthrough of the XB1 version and what got me the most was the shadow pop in. In the area of the above screenshot I've seen shadows pop in less than 5m from where Noct was walking. That's pretty bad

 

[Rodin]

Yikes! This is what most of the demo looked like. Forget image quality. This straight up looks like a PS2 game. The modeling, lighting, and texture work is terrible here. The only time the demo looked decent was when it was indoors and the engine didn't have to render much like the hallway with the marble floor other wise everything looked like a placeholder.

This is FF on PS2 tho

Looks the same right?

Real talk, I'd take the Versus XIII graphics at 1080p, 60fps and decent AA over the mess we have now.

If they do manage to get it running decently, and/or a good PC port where we can fix the issues ourselves with both more powerful hardware and third party software, then it'll be worth it.

I don't think you would. They simply need to remove that sharpening shit and use 900p+FXAA/SMAA on PS4, then it will be fine.

If you told me that screenshot was from a PS3 game I wouldn't even question it.

IQ is awful, but you can clearly see rendering techniques that weren't possible on PS3.

 

[Koozek]

This is FF on PS2 tho

Looks the same right?

That straight up looks like a PS1 game.

 

[Quocia]

Yikes! This is what most of the demo looked like. Forget image quality. This straight up looks like a PS2 game. The modeling, lighting, and texture work is terrible here. The only time the demo looked decent was when it was indoors and the engine didn't have to render much like the hallway with the marble floor other wise everything looked like a placeholder.

I'm not that bothered with the graphics, it's still better than the games I usually play
But I do agree, the floor looked so real.
I wished the wooden blocks had better sound effect. They all made the same noise when falling, it was a bit weird.

 

[nelsonroyale]

If you told me that screenshot was from a PS3 game I wouldn't even question it.

That section looks bare bones, although the scale is pretty good. The other two sections look better in my opinion. Even that section can look quite atmospheric though when you toggle with the lighting.

 

[oneils]

So for those of us who can't watch the video right now, please tell us what it explains?

Summary of this video, well worth watching: http://youtu.be/YECC8u0nPO8

He prefaces the video by explaining that this demo is more linear than the previous one. Not so open world.

Lighting
Fully dynamic with global illumination. Great looking. Both consoles are identical in lighting, shadow quality and texture maps. Only difference between them is that gpu accelerated particle effects are reduced on Xbox one. They didn't see this in combat. Only witnessed the difference in certain situations like when you jump on a switch.

Overall it is one of the most impressively lit games this generation.

Frame rate
Fully dynamic frame buffer in this demo, while the previous one had a fixed frame buffer. Ps4 sometimes has an advantage of 5 fps. The game struggles to keep 30fps, partcilularly in the forest section. Each console can drop to a low of 15fps during the boss battle.

Ps4 has frame pacing issues. Sometimes see duplicate frames output in a row. This creates stuttering. Timing can fluctuate between 16ms and 50ms. Not an issue on xbox one. Much cleaner experience on X1. Though the overall frame rate is rough on both consoles, so the overall experience is still kind of rough.

Resolution
PS4 vs XBOX ONE
1980x1080p (max) 1568x882 (max)
1600x900 1408x792
1568x882 (lowest) 1368x768 (lowest)

PS4 hits highest rate when nothing much is happening, lowest in battles. Similar happens with xbox one. Xbox one always runs at a lower resolution than the ps4. Never matches resolution.

Post processing
Both consoles suffers from aggressive post processing AA, which creates blurring. Overall, ps4 is always clearer in direct comparison.

 

[silva1991]

If you told me that screenshot was from a PS3 game I wouldn't even question it.

Aside from the IQ, yes you would.

not even linear games on PS3 are as good and I still play them.

 

[potatohead]

He prefaces the video by explaining that this demo is more linear than the previous one. Not so open world.

Lighting
Fully dynamic with global illumination. Great looking. Both consoles are identical in lighting, shadow quality and texture maps. Only difference between them is that gpu accelerated particle effects are reduced on Xbox one. They didn't see this in combat. Only witnessed the difference in certain situations like when you jump on a switch.

Overall it is one of the most impressively lit games this generation.

Frame rate
Fully dynamic frame buffer in this demo, while the previous one had a fixed frame buffer. Ps4 sometimes has an advantage of 5 fps. The game struggles to keep 30fps, partcilularly in the forest section. Each console can drop to a low of 15fps during the boss battle.

That's a very interesting opinion from NXGamer.

 

[oneils]

That's a very interesting opinion from NXGamer.

That link was to a digital foundry video (eurogamer). Maybe I watched the wrong video?

 

[YankeeDonB]

That straight up looks like a PS1 game.

Actually looks like a lot of SNES games I played.

 

[potatohead]

That link was to a digital foundry video (eurogamer). Maybe I watched the wrong video?

Then that's a very interesting opinion from EG.

 

[Styles]

The game does have very beautiful lighting:

 

[YankeeDonB]

The game does have very beautiful lighting:

Materials are excellent too, very little of that plasticy look so many otherwise excellent looking games still have.

 

[Vashetti]

The game does have very beautiful lighting:

PS4K version is shaping up nicely.

 

[Lemondish]

Fair enough but at the end of the day we can only judge what has been put before us.

Oh, absolutely, but it should be put in the proper context. Other than maybe the citadel fight, this doesn't provide much that we can use to judge the final game. We can discuss why it's silly that they would take the time out to make content we'll never see in the final product, but I think it's a stretch to believe the main game is in jeopardy of performing miserably.

Hell, in my eyes, it's actually a pretty decent demo if you consider that it appears to be mostly focused on tech like the weather, day/night cycle, and adaptive resolution.

 

[Starlightmuse]

Look at those FF13-2 screenshots, PC screens, but they didnt change textures or assets:



I dont really think that the difference between both games is 1 generation.

The lightning alone would be impossible in Ps3.

Besides, It's unfair to compare PC screenshots with Ps4 ones, even though the assets are the same (I'm not really sure the textures are the same resolution as ps3...). Resolution makes a huge difference.
Also, in XV we have day/night cycle, meteorological changes, a huge sandbox world... those are things that consume a fuck lot of resources and were missing in XIII. So, you know, there's actually a generation of different between one and the other when you really see all the stuff that was missing in XIII.

 

[tuxfool]

Besides, It's unfair to compare PC screenshots with Ps4 ones, even though the assets are the same (I'm not really sure the textures are the same resolution as ps3...). Resolution makes a huge difference.

Textures aren't the same resolution as a ps3, but their post effects often turn that difference meaningless. The Lower bound of their dynamic resolution system is quite low too.

 

[Starlightmuse]

I don't know how XV not looking like a Ps3 game is even a discussion here, lol.

I mean, sure, the IQ is shitty as hell, I agree 100% with you guys there. But come on, it's nowhere near a Ps3 game.

 

[KojiKnight]

There is also NO motion blur unless in some special instances, literally 99% of the demo has no motion blur and it's murdering my eyes.

This is not a bad thing for me. Sorry for your eyes not liking no motion blur, but my god how can you talk about things that ruin IQ one second, then recommend something that destroys IQ in another?

Also as someone who gets weird motion sickness from overuse of blurs, this saves my eyes (and stomach) in comparison.

PS4K version is shaping up nicely.

Fully expecting this to be a thing and a lot of this done on one which is why the framerate seems to much better than literally anything we've seen in motion on real hardware... Prepare for the future PS4 owners.

 

[Rektash]

The game does have very beautiful lighting:

I would love to see that gif in 1080p and running on actual console hardware.

 

[bones123]

That straight up looks like a PS1 game.

Yup. Identical.

(PS4K)
Fully expecting this to be a thing and a lot of this done on one which is why the framerate seems to much better than literally anything we've seen in motion on real hardware... Prepare for the future PS4 owners.

Honestly? I'd upgrade for Final Fantasy.

 

[Guess Who]

Get out with this hyperbole.

This is what the game looked on PS3 back in 2010.

Evolution of FFXV by Gamespot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoFp_DebG38

Wow, I didn't know the old PS3 version was a blurry hyper-compressed video, my bad. (Even ignoring that, plenty of PS3 games looked better than FFXIII-V does in that screencap.)

FFXIII had better looking hair on PS3 than the screenshot I posted has on PS4, the shadows are dithered, there's no texture filtering, the lighting in general looks incredibly flat, the resolution is awful. The only thing in the screenshot I posted that tells me it's not a PS3 game is the final output is 1080p and the ground textures are just a little too nice.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Hexadrive should know how to integrate TAA into Luminous properly.

Speaking with Famitsu, Tabata said HexaDrive was working with them since before Final Fantasy XV was integrated with the Luminous Engine—when the development environment was still running on its former Ebony Engine. In terms of timing, cooperation began a little before the game’s E3 2013 re-debut.

With re-evaluation came a new work flow and structure that came to include people from Square Enix’s Technology Promotion team and Visual Works division, with Hexa Drive providing additional technical support, all of which formed the basis of the current development structure.

The results of the new development environment, as well as HexaDrive’s support, was showcased in the E3 2013 trailer.

Tabata also mentions that both Square Enix and HexaDrive staff went location scouting for caves in Chiba prefecture to create the dungeon playable in the Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae demo.

HexaDrive isn’t the only external developer working on Final Fantasy XV. At the Taipei Game Show in February, Square Enix revealed Taiwanese company XPEC Entertainment is one of many outside firms also lending a hand in development.

http://gematsu.com/2015/04/hexadrive-also-working-on-final-fantasy-xv

 

[ViciousDS]

PS4K version is shaping up nicely.

You mean the version where they crank more graphics and the frame rate and frame pacing are exactly the same?

These statements are getting really tiresome when they aren't the solution. PS4k will not save you from SE and make them all of a sudden masters of developing an engine.


Optimization on the PS4 is what they need to hit hard. This game should have no problem hitting a stable 30fps at, at least 900p

 

[Mifec]

Fully expecting this to be a thing and a lot of this done on one which is why the framerate seems to much better than literally anything we've seen in motion on real hardware... Prepare for the future PS4 owners.

It's being done and demoed on a PC.

 

[Gurish]

Damn that looks really bad

Hopefully another Witcher 3 situation where the PC version looks a generation ahead of the consoles.

"A gen above", we probably forgot what a generational leap looks like.

 

[Javin98]

I don't know how XV not looking like a Ps3 game is even a discussion here, lol.

I mean, sure, the IQ is shitty as hell, I agree 100% with you guys there. But come on, it's nowhere near a Ps3 game.

Agreed, just the usual GAF hyperbole. I mean, sure, the IQ and some textures do, in fact, remind me of a PS3 game, but the lighting, material shading and character models are a clear generational leap beyond any PS3 game.

 

[nickfrancis86]

Agreed, just the usual GAF hyperbole. I mean, sure, the IQ and some textures do, in fact, remind me of a PS3 game, but the lighting, material shading and character models are a clear generational leap beyond any PS3 game.

Yeah I agree, this is nothing like a PS3 game. I think a lot of people take for granted the amount of resources dynamic lighting can take up. Good lighting can make games look so good. Not dynamic lighting but if you have played Alien Isolation, that is a demonstration of good lighting.

 

[n0razi]

That straight up looks like a PS1 game.

just no

 

[Elginer]

That straight up looks like a PS1 game.

I think you forgot what PS1 games look like.

 

[Koozek]

just no

I think you forgot what PS1 games look like.

Guys, don't make me explain obvious joke posts

Btw, I really hope we'll get more boat-riding on oceans this gen. Some of my favorite parts in both Uncharted 4 and FFXV's recent trailer:

 

[openrob]

just no

Straight up, looks like a Mega Drivve game

 

[nickfrancis86]

Btw, I really hope we'll get more boat-riding on oceans this gen. Some of my favorite parts in both Uncharted 4 and FFXV's recent trailer:

I think its good in small doses, it got really boring going from place to place on GTAV on a boat. I like the idea of watching Noct and the guys just cruising along in their car or boat but I hope that you don't just sit there and watch them drive the whole distance from town to town, I think that will get really tedious really quickly.

 

[nickfrancis86]

Shiiiit, this is one of my favorite GBC games.

 

[tuxfool]

Credits to dex3108

This is a relatively clean example in the foreground, but you look I look at this screen and can't help but feel somewhat underwhelmed by what is being presented here. All the detail is being utterly crushed at medium distances.

 

[potatohead]

Straight up, looks like a Mega Drivve game

Looks like Mario Bros.

OK this time I'm legit offended that I have to see Naughty's Dog's work next to this lmao

 

[tuxfool]

OK this time I'm legit offended that I have to see Naughty's Dog's work next to this lmao

Why? Those to gifs both look really great at those sizes. Full resolution is likely to be a different story.

 

[Synless]

Looks like Mario Bros.
OK this time I'm legit offended that I have to see Naughty's Dog's work next to this lmao

Well, one is part of a video the other will be controllable in real time.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Looks like Mario Bros.
OK this time I'm legit offended that I have to see Naughty's Dog's work next to this lmao

?? In the trailer, considering this game is massive in scale, I thought that footage looked awesome. In reminded me of the U4 scene actually. If they can get it to look pretty much that good on consoles and you can travel all over the map it will be damn impressive.

Synless: I am guessing that bit will be playable in U4 too. Certainly, given the impressive scale of the E3 demo, they can do it.

 

[Wheatly]

Ugh their hair looks horrible and so do the textures.

In fact the whole game doesn't look great from the shots I have seen.

The Witcher 3 and others have spoiled me.

Why so many Witcher 3 ass kissers in here? The game didn't look that great and movements were a clunky mess when it first released on console.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

I would love to see that gif in 1080p and running on actual console hardware.

Looking at that GIF I'm still hopeful. There's a lot of pop in and shadows suddenly drawing in too so it isn't like it's an unreasonably high target. I'd be really interested to know what hardware the trailers were rendered on.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Well, one is part of a video the other will be controllable in real time.

Which is which? I have more faith in there being clean 1080p30 playable boating in Uncharted 4, without the promise of there being any.

 

[.JayZii]

Which is which? I have more faith in there being clean 1080p30 playable boating in Uncharted 4, without the promise of there being any.

Cool.

 

[gamerMan]

Wtf. Come on guys.

You are right the resolution is better, but the actual modeling, lighting, and texturing needs work. Here's the HD remaster of Final Fantasy X which bumps up the resolution of the original game.