Japanese website GAME Watch were able to interview Tanaka and Komoto at the Tokyo Game Show this week. Some interesting new information about the game was revealed and a full English language translation and write-up can be seen at Eorzeapedia via the link at the bottom. The main points we gathered from the writeup were:
Trailer:
* The boat you can see near the beginning of the trailer is part of the prologue for the port town of Limsa Lominsa. Players can choose to start their game here.
* The trailer had a mix of pre-rendered and real time scenes, split around half and half.
* The music in the trailer was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and is not directly related to the scenes shown in the trailer.
* The first track will be used during cutscenes while the second will be used for battles.
Gameplay:
* Komoto says to expect changes between what was seen at GamesCom, the beta and the final product.
* The menu area at the bottom where players can select abilities was inspired by Final Fantasy XI’s macro system.
* Skillchains will be in Final Fantasy XIV but will take a very different form to their Final Fantasy XI appearance.
* Your timing and position in battles will be very important.
* Unlike in Final Fantasy XI, fighting enemies that are in parties will be common. It will still be possible to fight single enemies in some situations however.
*They are aiming to make the party system flexible so that a party can work well with different numbers of players per party. In FFXI six player parties were the norm, but in Final Fantasy XI they want it so that if you only have 3 or 5 players your party will work.
* It has not been decided how many classes will be available upon release, but new ones will come in version updates rather than expansions.
* Some familiar abilities from Final Fantasy XI will make a return, such as Flee. However this does not mean the player using Flee is a Thief.
System Specification:
* You will need a computer on the high end of the current market to play Final Fantasy XIV.
* There will be support for 64bit and multi-core systems as well as Windows 7 support.
* The game is made with Windows in mind rather than consoles as was the case with Final Fantasy XI.
* The graphics will also be different between the different platforms, suggesting the PC version could have better graphics than the PS3 version. The PS3 version will likely be 720p but variable for PC users.
Beta Information:
* Beta testing will be broken down into 3 or 4 hour tests in small groups and will be conducted worldwide. After this, the plan is to hold weekly 24 hour tests.
* Next the plan is for stress tests which will require a lot of people. Each test will have double the number of the last one. Finally, there will be a full open beta that anyone can join.
Source: Eorzeapedia
