Let’s Learn How They Made Vana’diel

Source: Weekly Famitsu, 9.28 Issue

Here we have some pictures of Vana’diel rarely seen by the casual adventurer. Take a good look, and afterwards we’ll talk to the Graphics Team that made them happen: (last names) Aiba, Tsuchiya, Chiba, and Hama. They’ll be answering the questions that have been on the minds of players for a long time. Also, they will divulge a few secrets about the world of Vana’diel.  A must-read for any fan!

 
The sun softly blankets the sky at dusk

The creators of our harmonic world of Vana’diel added in many secrets of their own… 

Holy land engulfed in darkness
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Twilight in the chasm
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The shining Gate of the Gods
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A deadly mountain erupts
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What is Final Fantasy XI?
Final Fantasy XI is the first MMO(multi-user)RPG in the Final Fantasy series, with an estimated player base of 500,000. Every day, players gather in the online world of Vana’diel to live the life of an adventurer. There have been three expansions released so far, include “The Rise of Zilart,” “Chains of Promathia,” and “Treasures of Aht Urghan.” This year, “Wings of the Goddess” will join the lineup, and the world will become larger than ever. 

FFXI Area History
From September 6th, 2004, these Chains of Promathia areas were added:

• Movalpolis: Oldton Movalpolis, Newton Movalpolis
• Tavnazia Marquisate: Tavnazian Safehold
• Tavnazia Archipelago: Lufaise Meadows, Misareaux Coast, Phomiuna Aqueducts, Sacrarium, Riverne-Site #A01, Riverne-Site #B01
• Promyvion: Promyvion-Holla, Promyvion-Dem, Promyvion-Mea, Promyvion-Vahzl
• Lumoria: Al’Taieu, Grand Palace of Hu’Xzoi, The Garden of Ru’Hmet
• Limbus: Temenos, Apollyon
• Existing Region Additions: Bibiki Bay, Manaclipper, Carpenter’s Landing, Phanauet Channel, Uleguerand Range, Attohwa Chasm, Pso’Xja

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From April 20th, 2006, these Treasures of Aht Urghan were added:

• West Aht Urghan: Al Zahbi, Aht Urghan Whitegate, Bhaflau Thickets
• Mamool Ja Region: Mamook, Wajaom Woodlands, Aydeewa Subterrane
• Halvung Region: Halvung, Mount Zhayolm
• Arrapago Region: Nashmau, Caedarva Mire, Arrapago Reef, Hazhalm Testing Grounds
• Alzadaal Region: Alzadaal Undersea Ruins, Zhayolm Remnants, Arrapago Remnants, Bhaflau Remnants, Silver Sea Remnants, Nyzul Isle

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Graphics Team Interview

From here on, we’ll be talking to the guys behind those beautiful screenshots. Not only will we talk about how Vana’diel was built, but we will get into a little “Vana’diel Trivia” by telling you of some secret spots hidden in this vast world.

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Ryosuke Aiba: Art Director. Previous titles include Final Fantasy III.
Kiyoshi Tsuchiya: Chief Background Texture Designer. He works on the background textures as well as weather effects.
Tomoki Chiba: Chief Scenery Model Designer. He works on 3D models that make up the scenery of FFXI.
Eiichi Hama: Chief Background Art Designer. He works on the artwork for background scenery in FFXI.

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To begin, when you make an area, do you use an existing model to start with, for instance maybe some place someone likes in real life?

Chiba: Yes, there are many areas like that.
Aiba: Yes, we even have a book of places we borrowed ideas from (laughs)
Tsuchiya: When reality meets fantasy, you look at places as how they could fit in a game and use them as a basis for your work.
Aiba: We use many references from a magnificent building to pictures we take in the nearby park. Although Vana’diel is a fantasy world, we don’t want it to be too far-fetched or cartoony. The visual impact of a game is extremely important, but even greater is the ability to keep enjoying that scenery after tens or hundreds of hours of game play. We use the beauty and variety found in reality to give our users that impact.Do you travel and gather ideas? 

Aiba: It’s usually, “Should I go there and get some ideas,” or maybe “Let’s go here,” … … but we’re just looking at photographs (laughs) 
Tsuchiya: We haven’t been anywhere in particular in the country either. It’s mostly just “Hey, this looks nice,”and that’s it. (laughs)Do you have an example of a real place?

Aiba: It’s tough to name a specific place.
Chiba: It’s not so much taking a place itself, but aspects of many places and using them together.

DID YOU KNOW?

There are many hidden things added into Vana’diel to give it a natural feel. If you’re lucky, you may spot them on your adventurers. For instance, you can always see owls perched in the trees of Carpenter’s Landing.

DID YOU KNOW?

Carpenter’s Landing has many owls in the trees. They seem to stare at you eerily, no matter where you move. You can find similar owls in Mamook as well.—

Next, is there anything you find particularly difficult about making an area?

Aiba: Yes, there is. When the team was formed 7 years ago, we had no idea what we would be making. We had never designed a full 3D game of this scale and had to design an impressive amount of maps.
Tsuchiya: Until now, we could just concern ourselves with mapping out each area where the player can travel. With FFXI, we had to consider how every zone will fit onto the World Map, and keep that in mind while designing all the individual zones.
Chiba: There was also much distress over how we could fit this massive amount of data into the Playstation 2 (hereafter PS2). There was a lot of research that had to be done, as well as a fair amount of trial and error.
Aiba: Among the teams there were people designing sketches, color schemes, models… everyone would say “I want to make this,”and each time we’d have to consider how we could make it happen.

DID YOU KNOW?

In the Northern area of Lufaise Meadows, there is a lake where you can observe a family of ducks swimming along. At a certain time, you can always see a wyvern fly in from the ruins of the old Tavnazian capital. If you stick around and fish for a while, you may be lucky enough to see it.

DID YOU KNOW?

In Vana’diel, fish that live in the sea are different than fish that live on the land. For example, on the boat in Bibiki Bay, you can see schools of dolphin, while on the boat to Al Zahbi, you may spot a whale or too. Then there’s also the fish that live in the depths of Alzadaal Ruins…

Currently, there are several different platforms for Final Fantasy XI. What are the difficulties involved in designing for different versions of hardware?

Chiba: The PS2 was the original platform for Final Fantasy XI. There was talk of a Windows version from the beginning, but the game was designed and adjusted to run on the PS2. Since then, we’ve had to port the game onto several different platforms, but as far as the details of that transition go, it was a relatively smooth process.
Tsuchiya: As we program for the PS2, we can see how it will appear in Windows as well, so we basically design for both platforms at the same time.
Aiba: When the project initially began, there wasn’t a PC on the market that could run FFXI.
Chiba: The PS2’s performance was much better.Tsuchiya: A little before the release of FFXI, Windows PCs that could handle the game began to appear in stores.
Aiba: So during development, we planned for Windows PCs that would be available some years down the road.

Looks like there was a lot to account for during development. Now, when viewed altogether, the scenery of FFXI looks just amazing. How do you evaluate the finished product when making a zone?

Hama: When designing an area, it’s extremely important to take a walk through it yourself.
Chiba: If you don’t explore the area, you can’t get a clear picture of how it looks. Of course there are things you can anticipate during the design process, but there are always aspects that you need to fix which you could not have foreseen.Tsuchiya: We have to think of FFXI as more than just an online game, but a game where people will spend lengthy periods of time looking at the same scenery. Balancing the practical implementation of textures while keeping them unique and beautiful was of great concern, but after many complications, we persevered and delivered the product you see today.

Is it difficult to make everything coexist in an area?

Chiba: If you stretch the limits a bit, it can be done (laughs)
Aiba: In a normal game, you generally have more freedom with the amounts of data you can work with. In the case of FFXI, we have limitations, so we need to condense everything as much as possible, so objects and areas in the distance are compressed to stay within these limits.
Chiba: Viewing an area across a long distance will include more objects and can become a strain on the hardware. To allow the game to run smoothly, the polygon count is decreased over distances.

DID YOU KNOW?

The moon in the sky waxes and wanes, but did you know its color changes according to the days of the week? All things in Vana’diel are deeply influenced by magic and the elements, and the moon is no exception.

DID YOU KNOW?

Have you seen the grasshoppers? They can be found in some relatively well-traveled places. Everyone can hear them, but few people have actually reported seeing them. Grasshoppers mainly appear in Rolanberry Fields in the grassy areas. By the way, when it rains they tend to hide in the grass and not come out.

What are the differences between going about making a Field Area as opposed to a Dungeon Area?

Hama: The process is basically the same.
Aiba: A dungeon is much easier for the hardware to display, so we can put in more details and incorporate ideas that are not feasible in the field.
Chiba: We all have our places where we stuck in little things of interest. We put them in places where the processor load would be light, so consider that when exploring…(laughs)

Still keeping some secrets, huh… (laughs) Finally, give us an example of something you wish to do in the future.

Hama: I want to keep focusing on the intricacies of the background scenery.
Chiba: I want to use the experience we’ve gained along the way and start testing new ideas.
Tsuchiya: We’ve got the framework of the areas, but still have a lot of drawing and designing to do. There are some difficult points ahead, but we feel we’re getting closer and closer to making the ideal product.
Aiba: I want to design a town. Towns appear frequently in RPGs, such as the one you start the game in. You have the forest in back, a lake or river perhaps, and the chief’s house…It’s nothing big and flashy, but it makes up the world of the RPG.

KISUKO OKUMURA’S TOP 3 SPOTS IN VANA’DIEL

(the author of the article)

If you ask me what makes FFXI so fascinating, I can tell you without a doubt, it’s the scenery. Here I’ve selected my Top 3 favorite spots for viewing the natural beauty of Vana’diel..

The Boyahda Tree
You can explore the insides of this great, cavernous tree. I don’t know about all the crabs and spiders and such, but it’s still a very pretty area.

The view of Tavnazia from the hill in Lufaise Meadows
The view from the opening movie can be personally experienced here. The capital of Tavnazia from this vantage point creates quite a moving image.

Valkurm Dunes, near the Bard’s Song Runes
The “private beach,” hidden in Valkurm Dunes is a great place to explore. The vast ocean, the white sands, and the flowers make it a beautiful scene.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The scenery in FFXI is genuinely moving in its own right, and now I see it in a whole new way after talking to the development team. It has a deeper charm than I could have imagined, and I will continue to go on adventures, searching for new surprises.