Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 Gameplay (Recorded Nov 2022)

Software Server gameplay of 1.0 exploring various areas.
Running Patch 1.23b.

Timestamps:

00:35 – Coerthas
02:45 – Limsa Lominsa (1)
5:05 – Gridania
08:24 – The Black Shroud
09:44 – Ul’dah
12:40 – Limsa Lominsa (2)
15:24 – Mor Dhona
18:00 – Coerthas (Night)

_EDIT_

Quite a few similar questions/comments have come my way (please excuse the wall of text):

1. How are you doing this?
A. I installed a server software and restoration project called Project Meteor. It’s not strictly difficult to set up, but there are parts that could be tricky if you’re not that tech-savvy, so try it at your peril. I haven’t mentioned or linked them directly, partly as I was cautious about potential Square-Enix backlash, and partly to protect the team from a potential influx of update requests. They’re a hobbyist group who do it for fun on and off, so please don’t bombard them asking where they’re up to etc. (A quick Google search should help you find the project). However, I believe they’re more than happy for people to help out on the project, if you can.

2. Is there combat? Quests?
A. The build I used is, for the most part, basically a massive 3D chatroom. There are some sidequests implemented, but nothing of the MSQ. Other branches of the project have partial combat and some starting MSQ, but you’ll need to download and implement those parts yourself.

3. Why does this look so much better?
A. Well… That’s not strictly true. Personally, I like the old movement animations and sounds as they feel like they have weight to them; plus the animation blending is great (a good comparison is the difference between Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain), but they wouldn’t work in the faster pace of 2.0 (remember, 1.0 was a much more turn-based “menu-oriented” system like FFXI and RuneScape, with very little movement necessary). Textures are a mixed bag, with some being a lot more detailed, but a lot of it being a bit of a muddy mess. The LoD management has a very harsh border, something very evident in Limsa – it seems like the intention was depth of field simulation, but it’s a very basic implementation. There’s also no jumping or flying.
Most importantly, the higher the graphical options, the more input latency can become a problem, especially on lower end machines

4. How different are the areas between 1.0 and 2.0?
A. The main cities themselves haven’t seen too much change beyond really, with a handful of areas having moved about. The main Aetherytes in Limsa and Gridania are in different places, but Ul’dah’s is the same. The most notable difference is Limsa’s location for the Musketeers Guild is to the NW of the Bismark. This would be moved to straight North in 2.0, and become the Marauders Guild (which in 1.0 was originally on a ship near the Fishers Guild).
The maps are MUCH bigger in 1.0 than 2.0 (supposedly part of this reduction was the need to run on the PS3). You lose a sense of scale for the world, but the big positive is that 2.0 is FAR more varied and interesting. Many of the main “towns” in 1.0 are camps that all look very similar, and the world itself is very repetitive. I much prefer the changes in 2.0 (Camp Dragonhead is no longer a hut and fence, but a huge stone-walled fortress). And yes, Coerthas was originally lush green mountains. Its snowy look in 2.0 was the result of the calamity.

5. What specs were you running?
A. This was played on an Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop – Ryzen 7 6800H, 16GB RAM, SSD, RTX 3060. Due to personal and financial reasons it’s been sold, so have since been using a very old, chunky Lenovo Thinkpad to run it. Footage was recorded using the Windows 11/Xbox game center recording feature, and not an actual capture device (some footage is potentially slightly more jerky). That said, even at 720p the framerate is clearly not a locked 60fps, and is much worse at 1080p.

6. Do you have footage of other areas or parts of the game? Could you show footage of X or Y?
A. Yes and No. I have random bits and pieces recorded, mainly for comparisons. However as I do not have the laptop mentioned earlier, recording footage is now almost impossible. I would love to show off places like Falcon’s Nest, Vesper Bay, Dusk/Stone Vigil, as well as the instanced dungeons (the old Copperbell Mines, and two that seem to merge to become Sastasha). Once I’m in a better position, I will absolutely record them. However, other channels will have MSQ cut-scenes you can watch, and The Speakers Network has some very good videos on locations as well as footage from the game at the time.

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