[Volition]

I have played this game for a long time but never really wondered this until now. Why on some quests do we have to zone before we can continue to talk to the NPC? Is FFXI coding really that bad? Or is there some other reason?

[Eladamri]

Some recent quests require zone, can't be the coding. Must be a reason there ... maybe some variable sneed to be cleared and are often cleared by zoning, therefore it requires zoning. And yeah they could clear them at the end of the quest but maybe that's just too much load or something. God knows how it's done. But it surely isn't an error since you still see quests that don't require zoning.

[[Crack]]

Why zone? Thats SEs way of saying "Dont just do quests, try other shit too". The ones that require zoning always say "Come back to me later blahblahblah" and either need JP midnight or a zone. Nothing to do with coding.

But yes, FFXIs code really is that bad.

[Eladamri]

But yes, FFXIs code really is that bad.

Explain

[[Crack]]

Explain

Have you played this on anything outside of the PS2? The code is about the most assy mess that has ever been. Not to mention when it first came out and they just kinda let mostly everything be client side. There was a shit ton of hacks out when people started to tear apart this code. Hell there was even one that let you fish anywhere, and you would pull up random shit that wasnt even in the game yet.

There is also that totally awesome FPS cap of 29. There is the awful optomisation on the PC version (which I dont even have enough space in the world to explain. If you play on PC, you know what im talking about, if not you are blind.). Its an awful port. I hear its pretty much the same for the 360. Sure it works fine on the PS2 (outside of the limitations of the PS2 causing FPS dips) but over all, its pretty assy code.

[NinjaGorge]

Why zone? Thats SEs way of saying "Dont just do quests, try other shit too". The ones that require zoning always say "Come back to me later blahblahblah" and either need JP midnight or a zone. Nothing to do with coding.

Yes, it's not about coding. There are plenty of quests that don't require you to zone and plenty that do.

It's just SE's method of making you play longer and preventing players from getting fame or doing things too quicky.

ToAU(for example) could probably be completed in just two or three days, if it weren't for the fact they "dragged it on" by making you wait until JP midnight for some of the missions.

Its an awful port. I hear its pretty much the same for the 360

I'd like it if they updated FFXI's User Interface and graphics and other stuff for Xbox360/PC but SE said they are probably not going to do that.

[[Crack]]

Very few MMOs go for a total UI and Graphics update, and to be honest its not worth the time. If its not broken dont fix it. They could update the UI and fuck up the game entirely. Graphics would take to long because they are working on multiple projects right now and when you compare them to other MMOs, they look great.

Also the game runs on DX8. This is about as good as you can make a DX8 game look. They cant update to DX10 because not enough of the population uses vista and a GPU that has DX10. They could update to DX9, which the 360 and pretty much every PC player could use, but it also comes down to remaking the entire graphic engine. Which is almost making an entire new game. It takes lots of time and money, which at this point in FFXIs life is a bad choice.

People seem to think there is just a magical button SE can hit that says "Improve Graphics" and out of no where the chars have more detailed models, specular lighting, higher res textures, better geometry, ect. Just think of the size of the game, think of all the models in the game, think about all the zones, think about all the textures, now combine that with upgrading the engine to DX9 then add all the money and time spent. Yeah, not worth it so 20~% of the population can have better graphics.

[Eladamri]

Have you played this on anything outside of the PS2? The code is about the most assy mess that has ever been. Not to mention when it first came out and they just kinda let mostly everything be client side. There was a shit ton of hacks out when people started to tear apart this code. Hell there was even one that let you fish anywhere, and you would pull up random shit that wasnt even in the game yet.

There is also that totally awesome FPS cap of 29. There is the awful optomisation on the PC version (which I dont even have enough space in the world to explain. If you play on PC, you know what im talking about, if not you are blind.). Its an awful port. I hear its pretty much the same for the 360. Sure it works fine on the PS2 (outside of the limitations of the PS2 causing FPS dips) but over all, its pretty assy code.

Ok I just wanted to know.

I agree, way too much client side, creates lags that shouldn't even exist.
I am not so much into graphics so the FPS thing I didn't really pay attention.

[[Crack]]

The FPS cap results into some bad coding somewhere which will fuck up something somewhere if the FPS where to go over 29. Im not sure to much on the specifics for it, but like in Quake along time back, some of the weapons where based on FPS, and someone made a hack that would get your FPS to run at like 300 (not sure how this works either) and you would shoot projectiles at the speed of light.

I have a feeling something like this would happen. So in return, if you beat the FPS cap, maybe your char would run really fast or something, I know deley is based on 30 FPS, but Im sure thats server side. Its just something somewhere which could have been avoided if SE knew how to code.

[pathwriter]

A few patches ago, SE managed to screw up some of the video code for a few Radeon cards (or something like that). The result was that if I logged in more than once without rebooting my PC, all subsequent logins after the first would run at the FPS my computer is actually capable of sustaining. When that happened, I was running fairly close to Flee speed unless I happened to be caught in a sandstorm or some other laggy visual effect, at which point I'd slow down closer to normal speed. My attack animations and casting animations were also significantly sped up, but actual Delay and cast time were unaffected. So, from what I can tell, a lot of the game is based on capped FPS for whatever reason, but the only client-side effect of uncapped FPS seems to be movement speed.

[[Crack]]

Yeah I figured it was something like that. Some times when you overclock your CPU/GPU you char starts running about 10% faster than he should. Happened to my friend, it was ever so slightly faster, but when we ran next to him it was noticable.

[Volition]

A few patches ago, SE managed to screw up some of the video code for a few Radeon cards (or something like that). The result was that if I logged in more than once without rebooting my PC, all subsequent logins after the first would run at the FPS my computer is actually capable of sustaining. When that happened, I was running fairly close to Flee speed unless I happened to be caught in a sandstorm or some other laggy visual effect, at which point I'd slow down closer to normal speed. My attack animations and casting animations were also significantly sped up, but actual Delay and cast time were unaffected. So, from what I can tell, a lot of the game is based on capped FPS for whatever reason, but the only client-side effect of uncapped FPS seems to be movement speed.

Would other people see this movement speed or was it just something loading on your end? As in a hack or just a graphical glitch?

[pathwriter]

Oh, people could definitely see it. I wasn't hacking, though, it was a screwup on SE's part. They patched it within a couple hours, as memory serves, but if I'd done it intentionally, it'd be bannable.

[[Crack]]

I love how SE bans people for their fuckups. People have gotten banned because they OCd their shit and ran at flee speeds, and didnt know why. They would call GMs and they would say "You cant play" basically.

[ziero01]

I have played this game for a long time but never really wondered this until now. Why on some quests do we have to zone before we can continue to talk to the NPC? Is FFXI coding really that bad? Or is there some other reason?

It's an attempt to create the illusion of the passage of time. A five minute walk for you is like an hour for people in game time.

[Maxeon]

sort of on topic
A member in our LS got reported and temp banned twice for "movement hacks"
After several discussion w/s GM's (no help) and 1 SGM, it was determined this was caused by him overclocking his PC.
(GM's refused to even address the issue, big surprise I know).
Even though he was "cleared of the charges" He still had to wait out the suspension to play.
So if you are thinking about over-clocking your PC to get around faster, I would advise against it.

[Prothescar]

I got a 3-day suspension for something similar to that happening. Was during the Halloween event of... '05? I think. Either '05 or '06, and I was running around town doing the events with a couple of other people. I was wearing the pumpkin hat that the moogle says, "May do unexpected things." (note: at this time, I had no idea what Mordion Gaol was, so bear with me.)

So all of a sudden I find myself in a square, dark room called "Mordion Gaol". I thought that it was some part of the Halloween event, so I began saying in party chat, "lol guys look at this" only to see that they were still in San D'Oria. One of them said, "lol he's in GM Jail" at which point they disbanded.

Eventually, a GM got into the room and I knew something bad was happening. A general outline of the conversation from what I remember:

Me>> ?!
GM>> Hello, Prothescar. You are in here because we have had reports of you using "Speed Hacks".
Me>> Wut.
GM>> You currently have an unfair advantage over other players. I am going to have to
GM>> remove you form the game and place a 3 day suspension on your account.
Me>> I dont even know what a speed hack is...
GM>> Take care.


At which point my connection was interrupted and I was suspended. Had I known the beauty of FRAPs, I would have a screenshot, but sadly, no.

It had turned out that I wasn't the only one having the problem; it was a mixture of CPU overclocking and FPS cap issues that led to around 10-20% movement speed increases. I never did get any apology or anything, nor did I expect one, but I really would expect SE would compensate people for inconveniencing them and taking away three paid subscription days.

That's just my story in a hand basket.

[[Crack]]

Like I said, SE bans you because they suck.