Nvsion Magazine! Now with more FFXIV!

A new spring issue of the popular gaming magazine released by Nvidia's "Nvision" magazine has just hit the shelves and as you can see by the cover, they're giving FFXIV some much deserved publicity. They have a entire section of the magazine all about up and coming MMORPG's for this year, with the first 6 pages being completely dedicated to FFXIV, not to mention the front cover itself and the very back cover. I just picked up my copy, be sure and pick up yours as well! You can get them just about anywhere.

I'll give you guys a run down of what the magazine itself says in these 6 exciting pages of FFXIV goodness.

Quote, Nvision Magazine:

"And what did you do at work today, honey?"

"Oh, I just created a new world, designed a new planet and some critters to roam the hills and valleys, and outlined the designs for the players that are gonna run around and shoot 'em all."

"That's nice, dear--What are you going to do on the seventh day?"

Building the next generation of massively multiplayer online worlds actually requires years of dedication to concept, design, and execution. Big franchises and bigger teams are crafting the spaces online gamers willl inhabit for the next decade. That requires a talent and commitment level of a flavor that is unique to the games industry, and we're taking you inside the process to reveal what it takes to bring virtual universes to life.
What's clear about the next wave of MMO is that graphics are no longer and afterthought--developers are finally tapping into the full power of the GPU to bring cutting-edge visuals to the genre.


Few gaming franchises combine the longevity, critical approval, and fan adoration that defines the Final Fantasy series. This 14th iteration (not counting all the various off-shoots, side projects, and even animated films) moves the franchise online for the second time (The first time was 2002's Final Fantasy XI). But a brand new world--Hydaelyn--and a new setting on that world called Eorzea require a vast amount of new art concepts, design, and creation--all occurring under the watchful eye of art director Akihiko Yoshido-san. Nvision tapped Yoshida-san for exclusive insights into the process his team goes through to remain within the traditions of the franchise while developing fresh new locations for online gamers to explore.

"The Variety of playing styles available will be considerably greater than that of Final Fantasy XI," Yoshida-san says of the scope of content being created. Hydaelyn blends sci-fi and fantasy elements, as seen in the early images released, leading to a large variety of disparate style needing to be blended into a cohesive world vision. "To deliver the graphics necessary to bring the variety of gameplay to life, we are striving to produce sharp images that are contextually appropriate to the time, place, and situation. An example of this would be the visually stimulating or evocative landscapes," says Yoshida-san, adding, "To help fulfill the expectations that players have cine ti have of afinal fantasy world. One of the first things we take into account is a certain sense of reality. For example, we have paid a great deal of attention to the effects that the passage of time or changes in the weather have on how light is displayed."

Still, veterans of Final Fantasy XI will see some similarities in the character styles and professions, even though the specific races and classes will be new to the series. "The character creation from Final Fantasy XIV will be much more in-depth than that of previous titles of the series," says Yoshida-san, "Players will be able to generate avatars similar to thos in Final Fantasy XI if they choose to do so, but there will also be some new [player character] types." Want more specifics on the new characters? The devs are keeping that information tightly under wraps. though five distinctive races have been revealed so far.


Incredibly, Square-Enix released the single-player Final Fantasy XIII while working on this MMO off-shoot. The games share certain technology details such as the core engine and the tools used to build the worlds, bu the process, challenges, and ultimate requirements are significantly different. More surprising yet is the fact that the world of Hydaelyn revealed in the first release of FFXIV may actually be smaller than the locations crammed on to the Blu-ray disc shipping for FFXIII on PS3. "Since we are still in development a thorough comparison isn't possible, but at releast FFXIB will be about the same scale, if not slightly smaller, than FFXIII," says Yoshida-san.

But that's not to suggest the game world will actually be small. Shortly after its release in Japan, it was revealed that enough content for an entire additional game ended up on the FFXIII cutting-room floor. These game worlds are always massive...and complicated. While Square-Enix is keeping many gameplay details under wraps, five races have been revealed (the Hyur, Lalafell, Miqo'te, Roegadyn, and Elezen) with character classes organized in four discipline types (Disciples of War, Magic, the Land, and the Hand). The races, classes, and disciplines require an intriguing blend of art assets to capture the vast scope of this world. "The world of FFXIV will have certain sci-fi elements such as out-of-place artifacts, perhaps best exemplified by airships," says Yoshida-san. "These elements will play a key role in distinguishing the cultures and civilizations of different nations, regions, and races, but they will not be extremely numerous," adds Yamamoto-san. "We are seeking to create a fantasy world with its core in classic sword-and-sorcery that players will never grow tired of visiting, no matter how much they play."

Veterans of FFXI may, come actual release, recognize certain elements of the class structure, but the developers are happy to point out that lessons learned from the development will be incorporated into a tighter, more focused online Final Fantasy experience. "It would be more accurate to say that we are attempting to achieve a development process that take full advantage of the know-how obtained from Final Gantasy XI while also improving on its shortcomings," says Yoshida-san. "Given the differences in the worlds, there will be no direct transplants from Final Fantasy XIII," he adds, "however, player can expect to see some of the classic monsters from the Final Fantasy series making an appearance, a number of which will be undergoing a makeover from FFXI."

Some of those enhancements will come courtesy of close working relationship between nvidia and the Square-Enix engineers and art department to optimize the vast environments and detailed characters for nvidia GPUs. And you heard it here first: Square Enix is also investigating options to incorporate 3D Vision support.

Like so many in-game details, further specifics on these relationships and what they may deliver to gamers in the year ahead and not being disclosed. Of course, given the evolving development process that MMOs undertake post-launch, many other high-end elements could find their way into the code and your game experience. "We are putting in place a system that will allow us to continually implement fresh, new designs while simultaneously taking precautions to ensure that there is no 'design inflation' early on," says Yoshida-san. "Allowances are also being made for future expansion of the game."

That, for fans of the Final Fantasy universe, is very, very good news. As if the single-player Final Fantasy XIII wasn't enough content, this super-stylized sci-fi epic with swords and sorcery elements will provide even cross-server gaming between locations to keep you entertained for years. And in that time, you'll get to wander some incredible locations, gaze in awe at mind-boggling structures, and craft details on your own character that place it undeniably in the Final Fantasy universe.