More Beta Videos

More videos to see today, and better quality than the last batch.  Enjoy!

Hours of footage of the beta, right here, right now!

Heres more videos from that guy that I showed in that last post. Anyway these videos continue from where the one in the last post left of and, wait for it.........there is FIVE hours of footage between these three videos!

Prepare ladies and gentlemen for information overload!


Watch live video from kamizage's channel on Justin.tv


Watch live video from kamizage's channel on Justin.tv


Watch live video from kamizage's channel on Justin.tv

What is going on in the world?

How come this idiot has got a Beta key and I do not?  I mean come on he even has no idea what he is doing, or anything about the game!  It's not fair I tell you, not fair at all.  :(


Watch live video from kamizage's channel on Justin.tv

For some reason this video was crashing IE but worked fine in Firefox, if your using IE try watching it on the justin.tv site.

PC Upgrade Advice

Yes, the benchmark has been around for a while, but let's get some discussion going! (Link is to forum discussion about specs and scores.)

[If you don't have the benchmark yet, download it here!]

I'll assume most people who check this blog often are people who will be playing on PC at release time. If you are anything like me, you probably want to upgrade your PC to be up to snuff! I did a little ballpark-figure upgrade for my PC on Newegg recently, and it came out to be over $1000 USD. I had intended on getting a new CPU, a new Video Card, and a small but fast Solid-State Drive to install the game onto.

My advice for anyone hell-bent on upgrading their PC for launch day is simply this: Don't do it!

Wait until September. Prices will fall, if only slightly. Octuple-core CPUs are coming (sometime). Video card technology is constantly changing.

Unless you need the equipment right away for other purposes, it's prudent to wait until after you have played the game on your current setup before committing money to improving it. That way, you can decide how much of an upgrade you require, roughly; or if you even need one at all -- perhaps the cost won't be justified when you see that it actually runs nicely on your current rig.

As the adage goes, "haste makes waste." Ordering your upgrade blindly, or based loosely upon your benchmark scores, will almost certainly result in overspending and buyer's remorse.

Make yourself wait those extra two or three weeks after launch, maybe even a month or more, to decide whether the game is running smoothly at the setting level you desire. Updates will likely be rampant after launch; not everything is perfect after beta! There could be performance boosting updates due to rewriting wasteful code.

You can argue that if you did overspend, that you have at least gotten a leg-up on future games that will be more demanding. That very well may be true, but to me it's just a rationalization.

Don't spend your money before you know what it's being spent for!

Did you already drop some cash on an upgrade? Let me know what you spent it on, and how much your benchmark changed!
Satisfied with your current benchmark score? Post your rig and score in the thread!
Waiting for release to upgrade, like I am? Tell me what you have your eyes on for your upgrades!

More Beta Testers Added

Square Enix just announced via their Twitter that they added “thousands of new applicants” to the Beta. Access to the Tester site for these new applicants isn't available til Tuesday the 13th (2moro). Along with this news the Tester Timetable has also been adjusted. Beta play windows are now 20 hours instead of alphas 4 hour test window.

Also there has been a few videos added to Square Enix's youtube account but they are set to private and can't be viewed.

So everyone go check your e-mails, cause I just did and have been given Beta access.

Heicko.

Post βeta video look Part 1

So after the huge βeta video blowout yesterday what have we got from it?  Lets look a bit more in depth.

First of all we have the main menu:

So you can see the list there and all the normal sort of options are all there.  Our first look at the option called 'Configuration'.  This brings up the graphics options.

Clearly switching options on or off is going to affect the performance of the game.  What effect does the 'Physics' option have on the game I wonder?  Clicking on the 'Extended drawing' changes the draw distance of the landscape.  You can see that effect in this picture, notice the detail on the hills far in the distance.

The next option is the shadow option.  Bit of a no brainier really, but lets have a look anyway.

That's really all we got to see of the graphics options, we did see a fair bit of the battle system though so we can look a little more into that.

This is the stamina bar, the top graphic shows the bar filling up to the needed amount required for the highlighted move in the action bar (not pictured).  The second graphic shows the bar continuing to fill even after the required amount has already been acquired.  The third bar shows the bar once a move has been selected and is about to be performed.

Final Fantasy XIV - βeta videos

Eagle eyed forum user Arkadian has spotted these FFXIV Beta videos on youtube!

Final Fantasy XIV at the Japan Expo in France

Can you speak French?  Yes?  Well you're in luck becuase FFXIV was shown at the French Japan Expo and there is a lot of new footage on offer if you want to watch it.
If you can't speak French then you still might find it intresting as your at this site in the first place!

Visible Accessories! Beta File Exploration!

According to a quick glance at the files downloaded for the Beta client, there are something around twenty(!) equipment slots, including what seems to be two ring slots (also reported as four from some sites, but the current version of the beta client leads me to think two), and a bracelet slot (possibly two of those as well).

What is more interesting, to me, is that data is included to make accessories visible, down to earrings, necklaces, and rings. This will add a subtle depth to the environment that FFXI was unable to achieve due to resource and software limitations.

*The following paragraph is intended for computer geeks, read with caution.*

As for the files themselves, they seem somewhat obfuscated. From what I am going to assume, the folders in the data areas are actually treated as files , and the numbered, extension-less files within those folders are stitched together by the client to read the data (as an example, folder "hir_mdl" would be treated as a file/container/wrapper "hir.mdl", and files 0001 and 9999 within it would comprise the data). This is, presumably, to make data mining more difficult. If you decide to delve into these folders, MDLs are models, TEX/TEX1/TEX2s are textures to map onto the models. That is the case within the /client/ directory. Within the /data/ directory, you will find the much more familiar hex numbered folders leading to .dat files, a la FFXI. Nothing of value is human-readable in these after a quick glance; I am going to assume that old .dat viewing utilities will not work, but I may be wrong.

Just felt like nerding out there for a bit, this is only speculation on the first release of the beta, so of course change is to be expected.

-kylep

Evolution of this blog

You may have noticed a couple of changes on here today.  The main one is the new title picture at the top of the blog, the others are the jiggling around of the links in the links area and shifting the side bar elements around.

The reason for this change is that this blog going to start changing direction.  I started this blog to track my journey through Final Fantasy XIV back in March, hoping that I would get a tester account.  Of course that didn't happen so I thought I might as well keep the blog a little active until then and post a bit of news from time to time.
What happened next was a bit of a suprise.  The tester Pooky Poo went mad and broadcasted what he was doing on the internet.  While many watched his live stream, I recorded it, knowing it would not be around long.
It was not, and soon I found myself in the position of being one of the only people in possesion of his broadcasted material so i done what anyone in my position would do, cut it into chunks and put it on youtube!
This was the start of this blog gaining a following, and this site changed from being a blog to chart my progress through FFXIV, into a site that posted leaked FFXIV footage.
When another person let me loose on their recorded Alpha stash I find myself bombarded with new videos and the site hit counter really started to roll.

Now as the footage is drying up and we are getting close to the release of the game, once again this blog will change again and this time it'll be on the good side of Square-Enix!

Myself and many of the regluars on the forum are going to create a Linkshell called 'Twelve' (or something to that effect), and this blog will be aimed at that.  It we be about OUR journey through Final Fantasy XIV, and I will grant publishing access to a few of you as well as forum admin status.

This blog is not going to be about me, it will be about us and our adventure.  I hope you enjoy the ride!

Linkshell rules are now online

Check them out here:

http://myffxivjourney.freeforums.org/rules-of-the-linkshell-t23.html

I think they are fair, plus I'm offering publishing access to active members but you'll see that in the rule list.  If you don't like what you see or have anything you would like to say about the rules, please feel free to post in the thread.

Also I have decided on a linkshell name, but you'll have to check the rule thread to see it!

What am I up to now?

I'm STILL downloading FFXIV Beta  :(

It was going at around 500kb/s but now its slowed down.  Damn you P2P!  Anyway if you came here looking for the FFXIV Beta download, it's the post below.

Hush! Keep it under your hat!

Want the FFXIV Beta?  Sure you do, download it from here:

http://www.cairxiv.net/

Then click on the button that says 'Fite Me' I tried in Internet Explorer but it didn't work, but it did work in Firefox, not sure why but it did.

Once downloaded and unziped you can install, then update.

And you will be downloading for a while so I'd go and make a cup of tea (or 10) while its doing its thing.

FFXIV Collectors edition.

We all know that we'll be buying the collectos edition becuase it comes out 8 days early, but also you are going to get some cool stuff!
The in-game item as you may already know is the Onion Helm which you can see here:

Also you'll get and authenticator so you can do really secure log-ins and a drink container.

There is other stuff like the map, the book and DVD but I think these are the coolest bits!

FFXIV Release date & Details

Ok here we go, the FFXIV release date has been annouced.

22nd September 2010 - PC Final Fantasy XIV: Limited Collector's Edition
 - http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/15693250/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Limited-Collector-Edition/Product.html

30th September 2010 - PC Final Fantasy XIV
 - http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/15453909/Final-Fantasy-XIV/Product.html

25th March 2011 - PS3 Final Fantasy XIV
 - http://www.play.com/Games/PlayStation3/4-/10296365/Final-Fantasy-XIV/Product.html

I have put a pre-order down for the collectors edition and have booked a few days off work to really get into it!
I have also put a poll on the forum to see who is going to be buying what version, you can visit that poll here:
http://myffxivjourney.freeforums.org/ffxiv-release-poll-t22.html

The collectors edition will contain the followiong:


EARLY ACCESS - Play a few days prior to the release of the PC Standard Edition
BEHIND-THE-SCENES DVD - Get an insider look at the making of FINAL FANTASY XIV with exclusive video content, interviews and more in this special documentary DVD
SECURITY TOKEN - A FINAL FANTASY XIV branded Security Token used in addition to your regular password
ADVENTURERS BRANDED TUMBLER - Carry a small piece of Eorzea around with you with this branded tumbler
MAP OF EORZEA - A detailed map showing the key areas of Eorzea, essential for the committed traveller
TRAVEL JOURNAL - Record your travels in this journal filled with pages of never-before-seen concept art
FREE GAMEPLAY- 30-day free gameplay
GUEST PASS - Invite a friend to play free for a limited time
GAME DISC
GAME MANUAL

Also if you would like to see the news story regarding this you can find that at CVG here:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=253984

Also now we have the date, I can start putting the Linkshell ideas down and start getting everything sorted.