Square Enix held its 80th Letter from the Producer broadcast dedicated to the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. During the stream, the development team spoke in detail about the upcoming graphical update to the game in the Dawntrail expansion. We were able to take a closer look at what the old and new locations will look like after the update is implemented, as well as some graphics settings that will allow us to adjust them.
In addition, the authors talked about new blacklist functions, including the ability to “mute” and prevent players from entering your property. Finally, the team shared the schedule leading up to the release of the Dawntrail expansion, with many new collaborations and events.
Graphics update
In Patch 7.0, which will release the Dawntrail expansion, new zones will take advantage of the updated graphics, but old zones will also be updated. The team showed footage comparing the game, how it looks now (in patch 6.58) and how it will look in 7.0.
The higher resolution of the foliage and its density are immediately noticeable. Producer/director Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio Murouchi showed off how the grass will now move and push slightly when your character walks over it. They further showed improved floor textures that became more detailed, as well as materials that began to exhibit more properties. In particular, metals and crystals such as etherite crystals are more reflective.
Character models have been improved to display shiny or smooth skin, and wet surfaces now have a clearer, more reflective appearance.
The team also demonstrated the ability to use TSCMAA anti-aliasing to reduce the flickering of distant objects when the character moves. On Windows and Mac, you can select the additional option “TSCMAA + camera shake”.
Shadow resolution has also been increased, and players can choose whether they want sharp, high-resolution shadows or enable a feature that will naturally soften them. As an example, the developers show that the trunk of a tree has a clearer shadow, but the branches and leaves scatter the light more strongly.
While not graphics related, they have shown that some flying mounts will now turn when you turn them, such as the winged griffin. Not all mounts will have this feature as they may not be designed to rotate. Characters’ eyes will also now move slightly to give them a more realistic expression, but to avoid interfering with characters’ emotions, existing cutscenes are not affected by this change.
Yoshida showed off several locations in Tuliollal, a new city that players will be able to travel to in the Dawntrail expansion. Particular attention was paid to increased object density and objects with a large number of polygons. He also showed off an area showcasing wave simulation, an area that players will also venture into in this expansion.
All platforms will feature Super Resolution, which restores low-resolution image quality while minimizing resolution degradation. AMD FSR 1.0 will be enabled by default, but those playing on Windows with a graphics card that supports DLSS 2.0 are advised to switch to it in the settings menu.
When selecting AMD FSR on Windows and Mac platforms, resolution scaling can be adjusted between 50 and 100%. Lowering this value will reduce the load on your device. AMD FSR maintains the required resolution by spatially upscaling lower-resolution images, making resolution loss less noticeable.
When you enable Dynamic Resolution, the feature will automatically adjust the screen resolution when the frame rate drops below the desired threshold. The team believes that with AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS compensating for the loss of resolution, players will be able to experience higher resolution quality and frame rates than before.
The latest generation consoles will not receive all the graphical upgrade features. For PlayStation 4 players, supersampling will be reduced to reduce the load on the console, and dynamic resolution and LOD (low detail models on distant objects) will be forced to enable. The Xbox Series S version will force shadow LOD to be enabled for the same reason.
Blacklist changes
Dawntrail will also feature new blacklist features. Messages from blacklisted characters are currently hidden, but the update will now hide their model as well. This applies to all blacklisted characters on the entire service account. This will vary between characters blacklisted before and after patch 7.0, so if you want them to disappear, you’ll have to remove them and add them again.
Blacklisted characters will appear in some situations where they need to be visible, such as in co-op play. But even if the character’s model is visible, his name will appear as Unknown in the party list and on the character plate. When they write in chat, a notification will appear and players can choose whether they want to temporarily see what they wrote using a subcommand in the chat menu.
A list of muted players has also been added, allowing you to mute their messages. It is automatically applied to characters blacklisted prior to version 7.0 and applies to all characters on the user’s account. The names of muted players will be displayed as usual, and as with blacklisted characters, you can use a subcommand to temporarily see what they wrote if you’re in a co-op game
In total, no more than 200 characters can be blacklisted. The data is stored on the server side, so if you play on another platform, they will remain blacklisted, however their names will only appear when played on the device they were registered on, as character names are saved on the client side. You can also mute up to 200 players, and this list is separate. The data is stored on the client side, so it will not be transferred when moving to another platform.
A filter has also been added that will filter out messages based on the terms you specify. It applies to Say, Tell, Yell, Shout, and /emotes in all circumstances, including co-op play. However, it will not apply to linkshells, cross-world linkshells, group or guild chat. Term filter data is stored client-side, so it won’t carry over if you move to another platform.
The function of expulsion from the estate will be added. You will be able to add a player to the list prohibited from entering the territory of your estate and immediately expel him from it. Once added, they will not be able to log in for 10 days. Guild masters and estate owners have access to this function. They can designate up to four members or neighbors who will have access to this feature. When players with exile privileges are in an estate, anyone on their blacklist will be automatically expelled if they attempt to enter the estate.
Loadstone also gives you more control over your privacy settings. You’ll be able to limit who can view certain aspects of your Lodestone character page, such as your profile, achievements, and friends. Visibility settings can be limited to friends, guild members, linkshell members, etc. You can also remove yourself from loadstone character searches. Blocked players will not be able to see your activity. The above settings will also apply to characters added to your in-game blacklist.
Schedule
The team has released a list of upcoming events and returning collaborations that will take place before the launch of the Dawntrail expansion.
- April 24 — Re-collaboration with Yo-Kai Watch.
- May 8 – Completion of collaboration with Final Fantasy XVI.
- May 14 – Moogle Treasure Trove – The Second Hunt for Genesis event begins.
- May 15 – The Make It Rain Campaign seasonal event begins.
- May 15 — Dawntrail media tour begins.
- May 16 – Producer’s letter #81 about updating missions for the expansion.
- May 30 — Completion of the Dawntrail media tour.
- May 31 – End of the Make it Rain Campaign seasonal event.
- June 5 – Re-collaboration with Dragon Quest X.
- June 14 — Letter from the producer #82.
- June 20 – Completion of collaboration with Dragon Quest X.
- June 24 – End of the seasonal event Moogle Treasure Trove – The Second Hunt for Genesis.
- June 26 – Completion of collaboration with Yo-Kai Watch.
- From June 26 to 28 – 48-hour maintenance and preload session for Dawntrail.
- June 28 – Dawntrail Early Access begins for those who pre-ordered the expansion.
- July 2 – Official launch of Dawntrail
Facts about the game
Celebrating Final Fantasy XIV’s 10th anniversary since the release of A Realm Reborn, the team shared some statistics with players:
- 30,000,000 registered accounts
- 240 awards received worldwide from 313 nominations
- 88 Aetherite Travel Points
- 325 matchmaking activities
- 159 hours of story scenes
- 4,917 minutes of music
- 16,096 tons of welded matter, which is equal to the reserves of platinum on Earth.
- 46,152 km is the distance traveled by all the corks knocked out of a bottle of Realm Reborn Red champagne.
- 54,350,656 liters of potion is almost more than the amount of ketchup consumed by the population of the United States in a year.
When players started playing:
Favorite mount:
Favorite pet:
Favorite spot for home:
Most formidable boss:
What is FFXIV for you:
Announcements
The broadcast discussed various items for the Japanese markets, including lacquered plates/bowls, a custom photo book, potato chips, a Zodiark/Hydaelin “Meister Qualities” figurine, and a planetarium show. The team is also hiring a marketing and community planning specialist in Japan.
