What will come out first? Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts III?

[Yause]

The devs firmly stated more games outside of FFXV will use the engine.

A custom FFXV engine (and it has been confirmed as such by Tabata) doesn't rule out future games. It's just that its flexibility would be limited, making it suitable for games that have similar requirements.

At any rate, the lack of a dedicated tech team meant that the Kingdom Hearts III developers were more or less forced to switch engines.

 

[Sora96]

One way to find out if FFXV is coming out this fiscal year, which is what you're thinking, is to look up what Square Enix's game unit sales forecast is and compare it to previous years. It's not going to be some big surprise that comes out of nowhere unless investors have fair warning about it.



Doesn't really mean anything until we see those titles. If SE wants faster releases, UE4 is the way to go. You should all be hoping FFVII:R and FFXVI uses it.



Which is something that doesn't require ton of resources and are cheap and quick to create. Why else do you think we're seeing so many HD remasters right now?

Quick? They started development of 1.5 in 2011. Lol.

 

[Yause]

Also, didn't they say they hope to release FFXV running in 2.0 of the Luminous Engine, not have to? So even they didn't manage to get the engine to the desired version they aimed to obtain, that won't stop them from delaying FFXV, right?

Basically, if Square Enix can present a playable demo for public consumption, the technology is complete enough for a full game. What the developers mean is that they're still adding graphic features to the renderer (basically some of the visual techniques that were prototyped earlier but have yet to be implemented in FFXV), hence the final form can be labelled 2.0.

We have to realize that these descriptors that have gone through a marketing filter. Square Enix decides what "Luminous Studio" and "Version 2.0" really mean, and in the past, none of these buzzwords would have been used. If they wanted to, they could call the demo engine Version 0.8 (the use of 1.4 and 1.5 conveys a sense of completeness, doesn't in? That's a good idea) and the final form Version 1.0, and it would all mean the same thing.

At any rate, Square Enix can freely peg the final engine as Version 2.0 without achieving every target, and no one would be any wiser.

 

[LeonBlade]

We have to realize that these descriptors that have gone through a marketing filter. Square Enix decides what "Luminous Studio" and "Version 2.0" really mean, and in the past, none of these buzzwords would have been used. If they wanted to, they could call the demo engine Version 0.8 (the use of 1.4 and 1.5 conveys a sense of completeness, doesn't in? That's a good idea) and the final form Version 1.0, and it would all mean the same thing.

Well, I mean, technically they do actually mean something. The Luminous Engine is the name of an engine and the version number isn't just marketing PR fluff. Developers have actual milestones to work towards a major version of a piece of software, the version number itself isn't important, but it should indicate how much will have changed.

It's likely that they are working towards 2.0 and not just 1.0 because the engine was ported over from when they were working on PS3. Keep in mind, a branch of Luminous Engine is actually used in FFXIV as well. Version numbers aren't marketing or PR fluff, they are actual important milestones that actually do matter.

Also, even though they had a working demo, the technology isn't technically complete for a full game. The demo was highly unoptimized and technically speaking would not be fit for release. I know what you're trying to say, so I'm not really harping you on it.

What the developers mean is that they're still adding graphic features to the renderer (basically some of the visual techniques that were prototyped earlier but have yet to be implemented in FFXV), hence the final form can be labelled 2.0.

That and a lot of performance as well, which is why reaching the 2.0 milestone is actually critical to creating a stable game that looks good and can target a decent framerate.

 

[ChronoRiskbreaker]

It really depends on what they'll show for FFXV at Gamescom.
It might be that FFXV and KH3 have similar release year.
That's about the best stretch of expectation we can assume.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Quick? They started development of 1.5 in 2011. Lol.

A couple years can be considered pretty quick if you don't have a ton of people working on the project and are remastering or adding other things that will be included with it at release.

 

[Crystal Power]

Final Fantasy XV no doubt. But I would laugh very loud if Kingdom Hearts III released first.

 

[15thCrystal]

I don't think the difference in game engine would amount to a large difference in development time. Using custom tooling and third party software each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A lot of people seem to forget though, that development on FFXV started over from scratch several years ago. It's only about 3 years in development, not much different from Kingdom Hearts III. I also think the amount of assets produced for FFXV is much higher than KH3, with KH3 being a more stylized game, so it's not worth saying the two games take the same amount of resources/time anyway.

As for progress, Kingdom Hearts III looked very rough in the E3 2015 footage, kinda how the FFXV(ersus) 2011 trailer looked: coming along but still needing a lot of polishing. Same goes for FFXV really, it's clear from some of Tabata's comments and non-Duscae footage that there's still a lot that needs to be done.

I have no clue where both games are, both are stil pretty much "Now in Development [Hell]". Honestly I think FFXV is much more closer to completion than KH3, but they could as well be equally on the same path. As long as both games end up in good shape, I don't mind what comes first.

 

[timbo8]

i would say Final fantasy xv but the way kingdom hearts 3 has a big time company like disney as partner i don't think disney arent going to take any of nomura and square bullshit anymore and they are going to be more invovled with the game it is possible to have it come out in 2016 and before ff xv

 

[Nova]

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/kingdo...e-aspects-havent-made-it-past-planning-462693

Yeah....

 

[Yause]

That's the best strategy. Nail down the fundamentals first before scaling up and putting a lot of work into anything else.

Historically, Square Enix (and most Japanese studios) worked the other way, sort of building the various parts of a game disparately and then bringing everything together late in the process. The trouble is that any major changes in technology (i.e. an ever evolving game engine) or gameplay system could render a lot of work obsolete.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

For the most part we've established the ground foundations, like the basic systems and mechanics of what's going to go in the game. Development of that is pretty much close to complete. But of course, since this is an HD title, it's now building the resources, and development of the 'mass' elements of it, like mass production of the areas and the actual things that are going into the game.

Sounds like they're just increasing and speeding up asset creation.

Other elements, including the mini-games and other various smaller items; their progress is very varied...some of them are polished and very close to final state, but at the same time some elements are still in the planning phase and I haven't laid out the groundwork yet. But the basic structure of what's going to go in the game is set, it's now a matter of mass production of the different elements.

The stuff not planned yet sounds like side content and other minor things.

 

[BladeRunner]

OK, the ATR convinced me. Kingdom Hearts III is coming out first.

 

[rboxman]

OK, the ATR convinced me. Kingdom Hearts III is coming out first.

The ATR convinced me that it's no longer a question of _when_ FFXV is coming out, it is a question _IF_ it's coming out... :-/

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Hehe.

 

[AnGer-dono]

Probably the reason why SE is pushing WoFF and the alleged XII remaster. They want Final Fantasy games out but XV isn't ready. At this point, I'm even willing to bet VIIR will be out prior to XV.

 

[Lulcielid]

(...)At this point, I'm even willing to bet VIIR will be out prior to XV.

Not with Nomura working on KHIII.

 

[yeah_93]

Hehe.

lol, only you and I voted for KHIII?

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

lol, only you and I voted for KHIII?

I didn't vote yet. I just think it's kinda funny how the ATR has made people question things.

The release window has been set for a while now and unless something changed, it's still coming out next year.

 

[Lulcielid]

I´m still holding hope that XV will come out first.