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[KeanuReeves]

I have vast faith in them by this point. Many people will say that it has taken them a long time to get where they are now but that simply isnt the case. They basically restarted development (like he said) and they are now 60% into it.
Development of the game was put on hold for years and i think it is unfair to say that they only got around to making 50% of the game since 2006. They have made 50-60% of the game since 2012 is my take away from this. And if you guys were all just joking then ignore what im saying

Regardless i feel that he deserves to hear som true feedback to what has been shown and not to what we think of the whole development problems. It looks fucking amazing. I truely hope they keep that cozy feeling of friendship and brotherhood along with that insanely big scale of events. Exactly what i have always wanted to see since i was a small kid. Dont down play the small moments and keep the big moments in context and dignified.

 

[Reveirg]

Honestly what is up with Nomura? Someone explain.

I really hope we'll get to know, one day.

From what I gather:

2006-2010: Project is stuck in pre-production while all efforts go in FFXIII.
2010-2012: Project enters full development, but encounters various hurdles + some of its workforce has to go help with ARR.
2012-2014: Tabata is brought in to reboot the project to PS4.

In the new interviews, Tabata makes it sound like he picked up the project as soon as the switch to PS4 happenned. In that case, why was Nomura the one to present the game at E3 2013?

 

[MormaPope]

It would be really interesting to know exactly how much money has been spent on the development of this game.

Enough for Square Enix to make timed exclusivity deals with Microsoft.

 

[injurai]

Mythos/Meta Phyisics DONE
Story DONE
Character Design DONE
World Design DONE
Story Boarding DONE
Engine Creation DONE
Gameplay Design DONE

Essentially they are just fabricating the game and bringing it over to the Luminous Engine. I'm not surprised to hear these numbers. It's amazing how much comes together in the final stretch. The first 80% of the work creates 20% of what you end up playing, the last 20% of the work accomplishes 80% percent of the game. This is because it takes time to know what it takes to proceed with comfidence. It's a rather common attribute when your creating the backend of an engine in software. And when creating the engine itself usually those rations reverse. With the last 20% taking 80% of the time due to debugging. But once you have the production pipeline in place everything becomes a well oiled machine in the final stretch.

It's actually comforting to me to hear they are progressing at this rate given the time frame in which they switched over from the Ebony engine to the Luminous engine.

 

[GluedOnBeard]

Hopefully that first 50 was getting everything in place and now they just need to flesh things out a bit so the rest of the game will be on an accelerated schedule. Can see a fall 2015 release as a major possibility.

 

[Data West]

In the new interviews, Tabata makes it sound like he picked up the project as soon as the switch to PS4 happenned. In that case, why was Nomura the one to present the game at E3 2013?

Because the KH trailer was immediately after it.

 

[Slowdive]

It's different depending on which studios you talk about, which is why freaking out over the percentage doesn't make sense. Just as a few example, Ys (PS4/Vita) it due out next year but it's only 30% complete right now while Type-HD is due out in March and it's currently 80% complete,

I agree, the percentages could mean anything.

 

[iavi]

Seems like Konami/Kojima came out on top when it comes to creating a AAA title with a newly created engine. Yeah, MGSV took a while, but when it comes to AAA Japanese development its just as ambitious as FFXV. Hell, they're both "open world" games in a sense, and I'd bet Kojima will utilize vast space more than Tabata and his team.

If RE7 is open world in design, god help us, we wont see it until 2018 or 2019.

MGSV took as long as it has too because the Fox Engine was being developed alongside it as well.

Kojima Productions landed themselves the spot Capcom had last gen in being the devs on the JP side of things that's getting all their engine/development ducks in order, then pumping games out.

MGSV is around the corner and it's already on to Silent Hills.

 

[HeelPower]

.
2013-2014: Tabata is brought in to reboot the project to PS4.

No.

He joined in 2012.

People keep thinking he joined at around E3 and that's false.

 

[JayEH]

Tabata will get it done. Can't wait until 2021 when Nomura announces he's leaving KH3 development and Tabata directs that too lol.

 

[teiresias]

Really? Square-Enix were fine about doing it with XIV... Please keep Lightning away from XV.

In answering that question about Final Fantasy Icons, does the question reference characters or literally "icons" - like the famous "pointing finger" icon for menu selections? I can't tell from his answer.

 

[Hyunkel6]

This is the next Last Guardian. Mark my words.

 

[Sayad]

Good, enough time to add playable female characters, or mogels or whatever. So far this is the most bland collection of playable character I've seen in an FF game.

 

[Perfo]

Why are you doing this to yourself? You're only going to be disappointed.

Because when S-E says it's 60% usually it takes a little more than one year for their games to come out. Also they're not going to miss holidays in Japan, you can be sure of this. It's a main FF and you don't launch one like this in May. Not everywhere at least.

Anyway all this really puts Nomura in a bad situation, he really got side-kicked long time ago. I wonder what went wrong with him and the development of this game, for a new one to come (a rookie compared to him), build the game anew on new ideas, and release it in 3 yrs on a completely new gen.

 

[Eusis]

At this rate, screw it!
Release this game in episodes like the Walking Dead.

I can't wait any longer. Getting too old for this bullsh!t.

Funnily enough that might have worked with FFXIII. But if XV is more open then it almost certainly won't work, and likely development isn't structured in a way where it CAN work. It'd probably have to be basically 75+% complete then released.

Anyway all this really puts Nomura in a bad situation, he really got side-kicked long time ago. I wonder what went wrong with him and the development of this game, for a new one to come (a rookie compared to him), build the game anew on new ideas, and release it in 3 yrs on a completely new gen.

Taking on a new, large budget FF has been a daunting task for a lot of developers, most obviously with Yasumi Matsuno. Nomura probably handled it a bit better but if so that was definitely undermined by the generational leap and the fact the PS3 was a royal pain in the ass to work with, especially with how their tools had been going.

It seems in general SE's been kind of a clusterfuck for large scale development that isn't JUST about producing expensive assets, and it was doubly bad with the PS3. Hopefully this generation goes smoother, but I suspect the damage has already been done, nevermind that they were arguably going down this road since the merger if not earlier.

 

[The Last One]

I remember they saying the same thing about FF XIII in 2009 IRC

 

[RK128]

Well, that number is what I expected at this point at least :l (as I personally think they resumed development on the game in 2010 and shifted gears to PS4/X1/PC early 2012).

The game is going to come out at least now . There really, is no excuses at this point; Realm Reborn got fixed, no more Lightning spin offs (....I HOPE at least.....) and many of Squares team thrown and focused on FFXV (didn't they say at one point last year that FFXV is a major game for them?) :l.

By E3 next year, the game should be much closer to completion (expecting......about 70-80%?) due to the game going into Alpha and much of its world/systems/gameplay being finalized. It will come out next year....it honestly has to :l....

 

[duckroll]

We won’t go into too much detail, but you can switch between an offensive stance and a defensive stance with the push of a button.

Yup, this confirms what we were talking about in the tech demo thread. You choose between holding defend and attack to pull off either evasive maneuvers or attacks. Hopefully it's not too scripted!

During the “Versus era” – though it might be weird to refer to it that way – we weren’t able to reveal any information on release timing because that was a project in which we had to overcome so many different problems that arose. Unfortunately, while we were trying to work through the issues, the timing never matched. But about two years ago, when I officially joined the project, we did a pretty major directional change when we decided not to go with the previous generation.

Development hell confirmed. Nice that he's being forthcoming about it instead of the usual "development has been going smoothly, just taking a long time" crap.

Also, he says this happened two years ago? Hey guess what was reported two years ago: http://kotaku.com/5927645/rumor-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-is-dead

Kotaku 100% vindicated. Their sources were spot on and coincides perfectly with the timeline we know of.

 

[sappyday]

I remember they saying the same thing about FF XIII in 2009 IRC

That isn't the same though.

 

[Reveirg]

No.

He joined in 2012.

People keep thinking he joined at around E3 and that's false.

That makes sense considering he says he's been on for 2 years.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I'll believe it when I see it.
2020 here we come.

 

[kswiston]

Very late 2015 or first half of 2016 is probably reasonable. It's pretty clear that S-E is serious about cleaning up this mess of a production, so I doubt we will be waiting much longer than 2 more years. That would be 4-5 years of full production, plus another 5 of pre-production.

 

[Mory Dunz]

He said to basically restart the counter since he joined 2 years ago.

So it's only been in development for 2 years and is halfway done!

Nice.
Man, series like Zelda need to take note about how to release games in a timely fashion.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Yup, this confirms what we were talking about in the tech demo thread. You choose between holding defend and attack to pull off either evasive maneuvers or attacks. Hopefully it's not too scripted!



Development hell confirmed. Nice that he's being forthcoming about it instead of the usual "development has been going smoothly, just taking a long time" crap.

Also, he says this happened two years ago? Hey guess what was reported two years ago: http://kotaku.com/5927645/rumor-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-is-dead

Kotaku 100% vindicated. Their sources were spot on and coincides perfectly with the timeline we know of.

Kotaku vindicated?

 

[Mortemis]

I get the cynicism for this game is well deserved, but I for some damn reason have faith we'll see this within the next year and a half, at most two years if things fuck up.

Tabata will get it done. Can't wait until 2021 when Nomura announces he's leaving KH3 development and Tabata directs that too lol.

Nah man, Yasue is our man for KH3.

Yup, this confirms what we were talking about in the tech demo thread. You choose between holding defend and attack to pull off either evasive maneuvers or attacks. Hopefully it's not too scripted.

Yep, hopefully. It can turn out fun but I'm still cautious.

 

[iavi]

Yup, this confirms what we were talking about in the tech demo thread. You choose between holding defend and attack to pull off either evasive maneuvers or attacks. Hopefully it's not too scripted!



Development hell confirmed. Nice that he's being forthcoming about it instead of the usual "development has been going smoothly, just taking a long time" crap.

Also, he says this happened two years ago? Hey guess what was reported two years ago: http://kotaku.com/5927645/rumor-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-is-dead

Kotaku 100% vindicated. Their sources were spot on and coincides perfectly with the timeline we know of.

WTF was Nomura doing??

 

[kswiston]

WTF was Nomura doing??

Creating lines of clothing for his characters

 

[HeelPower]

Kotaku interview is a must read.

Everyone truly interested in the game must read it.

It actually feels good reading it.

 

[Reveirg]

WTF was Nomura doing??

Trying to make a stunning open-world 60-hours experience on PS3, without a functional engine.

Kotaku interview is a must read.
It actually feels good reading it.

It kinda does, and it kinda stings because I can't shake the feeling that Nomura got kicked off the project without his consent.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Comments in this thread are embarrassing. 60% complete, started working from the ground up 2 years ago, meaning they have about 16 months to go.

Grade school math, people.

Cutting it tight, but yea, they're definitely trying to hit that December 2015 release for Japan.

 

[BeatResetsTheWorld]

I have vast faith in them by this point. Many people will say that it has taken them a long time to get where they are now but that simply isnt the case. They basically restarted development (like he said) and they are now 60% into it.

It's nice to think that way, but it's highly unlikely they "restarted" anything. At most they scrapped a bunch, and redid a lot, but it's doubtful they just up and restarted from scratch

 

[frostshade]

Looks like a mid 2016 release date based on this info unless they rush it.

So late 2015/early 2016 is plausible.

I think revisions and QA are gonna take much longer than they expect.

 

[Mr. RHC]

WTF was Nomura doing??

You are really asking this?

Spoiler

Sorry Lord Nomura

 

[MormaPope]

Realistic release dates -

Earliest:
Japan: February or March 2016
Worldwide: May 2016

Latest:
Japan: November or December 2016
Worldwide: February or March 2017

 

[uncredited male]

That is a lot of tea tables.

 

[Altered Juice]

 

[Captain Marvel]

wow, what the fuck have they been doing, Jesus! that really blew my mind, I need to lay down now.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Game development officially started in 2012.

I hope they make sure the game comes out in the best possible state and don't rush it.A 2015 release will likely be rushed unfortunately.

So yeah its tough to swallow, but ,based on what they showed, the wait will absolutely be worth it.

A simultaneous 2016 of a great game is better than a 2015 release of a rushed game that needed extra time.

Again it started in 2012.People need to rule out 2006->2011 era.

It had some development from 2010 to 2011, and full production started September of 2011. So it's had 3 full years of development at this point, and Tabata's been on for 2. At least that's my understanding.

From the sounds of it, Normura really just isn't a good director for something as large as Final Fantasy XV, while Tabata seems fully capable of making a product of this size and shipping it in a timely manner. Hope his hard work pays off.

 

[IAmRandom31]

50-60% after 8-9 years ???!

Holy shit that's god awful. Sooooo another 8 years to go then since it is only half done? And then another 3 years when they have to change over to the PS5 hardware.

Holiday 2015 is out the window. Now 2016 isn't even sounding good

Damn depressing.

No wonder Nomura got axed. Holy shit that is horrible game directing.

 

[HeelPower]

It kinda does, and it kinda stings because I can't shake the feeling that Nomura got kicked off the project without his consent.

unfortunately it seems like it failed.

The game essentially got fully rebooted 2 years and thanks to Tabata they actually achieved something remarkable in 2 years.

The game went through some hell though and so did Nomura probably.

 

[Dark_castle]

EDIT: Nevermind, I thought the OP was about the Kotaku article. But yeah, this part is important:

At first I was devastated reading OP. This made me relieved, sorta.

 

[Green Mamba]

I dunno, I'm actually feeling good about this game now. Like... they're very clearly actually making a game now. It's far more tangible now than it ever has been.

 

[iavi]

Trying to make a stunning open-world 60-hours experience on PS3, without a functional engine.

My theory; he went into development of Versus XIII with a major case of the scope-creep--around the initial talks of the game having this PSX era overworld, but all in 3D, full HD towns, etc, etc, but then realized neither the tech, nor the resources Squeenix was giving, were there to support all of it--engine troubles, Squeenix pulling his team from him to pump out more Lightning--That's when we started hearing the first talks of it being scaled back a bit.

Then it went silent.

When they reannaounced it as FFXV, but with Tabata as 'co-director', and KH3 right along-side it. That shoulda been the tipping point.

 

[Amir0x]

I dunno, I'm actually feeling good about this game now. Like... they're very clearly actually making a game now. It's far more tangible now than it ever has been.

dat tangibility

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

50-60% after 8-9 years ???!

Holy shit that's god awful. Sooooo another 8 years to go then since it is only half done? And then another 3 years when they have to change over to the PS5 hardware.

Holiday 2015 is out the window. Now 2016 isn't even sounding good

Damn depressing

I take it you didn't read a single word of the OP/article?

 

[jeffrockz312]

Finally. Almost there. Only 8 more years to go.

 

[duckroll]

Kotaku interview is a must read.

Everyone truly interested in the game must read it.

It actually feels good reading it.

Hmmmm. Good read.

While Square Enix hasn't gone into great detail about how combat explicitly works, the way Tabata described it certainly sounded interesting. "The controls aren't you simply press a button once for a single action to happen," said Tabata. "Rather, they are a continuous flow of movements. It's more about the movements that are associated with the buttons and building upon them for actions through the combat system."

This sounds dangerously like "hold X for continuous awesome" but based on the way he phrased it, maybe there's customization for how the combos flow? Honestly, if I'm going to have to hold down a button to create a string of combos quickly, I'll like to have a good amount of control over it, maybe like with the Command Deck in Birth by Sleep, or editing combo strings on a programmable auto-fire controller? I dunno.

According to him, "The way a game plays has to feel good."

Good, at least he's committed to a good philosophy. Hopefully he can execute it too.

"If we don't do something that people think is amazing, it's meaningless," Tabata said. "If we don't do something that's challenging, it's also meaningless."

Big talk. Hopefully it comes with a big delivery in 1-2 years.

 

[Gorillaz]

I dunno, I'm actually feeling good about this game now. Like... they're very clearly actually making a game now. It's far more tangible now than it ever has been.

"tangible"

"Almost there"

 

[Wishmaster92]

Almost there my ass....

lol

 

[Slowdive]

50-60% after 8-9 years ???!

Holy shit that's god awful. Sooooo another 8 years to go then since it is only half done? And then another 3 years when they have to change over to the PS5 hardware.

Holiday 2015 is out the window. Now 2016 isn't even sounding good

Damn depressing

After 2 years, not 8 or 9. Late 2015 is still possible going from what Tabata said about Type-0 being 80% complete and it's out in March.