[3.0] Heavensward: Post may contain potential spoilers.
The Hydaelyn Preservation Project
For those that have read yesterday’s post. I stated that I was working on a “little” project on expanding how I present Final Fantasy XIV as a whole. For whatever reason. I decided to invest a little bit of resources on how long it will take me to complete the project and well… I may have underestimated the scale of this task. In fact it has taken from a relative simple scale to an astronomical one overnight. So, let me go into detail as to what this project entails.
As the title suggests. I’m embarking a rather not so fun “preservation” project. What this entails is similar to my Screenshot a Day series on this website. The main difference is that instead of taking screenshots of the zones and saying some random stuff that may pertain to the image. I’m going to record the ambiance and some points of interests of each zone to try capturing the “vibe” of that particular zone. This project will serve as a way to give the audience/players an alternative perspective that one can’t get through a screenshot. Priamrily sound, motion and life to this world. FFXIV presents a vast world and not every aspect is well suited to screenshots. Especially when it comes to rain or any small particle effects.
The other reason behind this is more of a way to help preserve the game’s current state visually. This is mainly due to the fact that the developers for FFXIV are revamping the visuals of the game (Primarily lighting to my understanding). Not only that, but the developers have altered dungeons before in the past and its within reason that they could change more than just dungeons. As such this project’s ulterior goal is to help ensure that future players and viewers/readers will still be able to see what the game used to look like and how it felt.
Beyond all of those reasons. Ultimately, I just want to tackle this vast task. I’ve explored a bit on some platforms and there are definently people who have done similar things, but I don’t think they designed their content with the intent of preserving the game’s visuals and feel. So while I may be doing something rather similar to other people’s content on various platforms. I think my approach will be different enough to justify its existence.
There’s only really one challenge for this project and that is primarily time. This is due to the fact that its within the realm of possibility that I may not have enough time to do all of the zones and instances before the next major expansion. The reason as to why is quite simple. There’s a lot of zones and instances that currently exist with the game. Even if I just tackle all of the major zones for the game. It can still easily take me a year to finish. This is in part due to the fact that I don’t intend to make daily uploads of these like what I do with Screenshot a Day. It takes me no more than 15 minutes to find a screenshot and post it. However, a single zone can take multiple hours to finish.
Other Reasons
I don’t expect a lot of attraction with this project. I will more than likely be questioned on what’s the point of all of this. Unfortunately, they won’t be wrong when they point out the fact that some platforms already possess years worth of content of this game and has already captured the visuals and sounds of this game. However, I intend to press on regardless of people’s responses. For the simple fact that I think there are some people out there that will appreciate the time and effort I put into this “insane” project of mine. Its even possible that I could find like-minded people and they might be able to help out on this enormous task. (Which by the way, if I intend to “preserve” everything. I will need help from others. Since not all content is feasible by myself to do)
I doubt that I will receive any form of recognition. It will be sad in a way. A project that I expect will take over an year to complete and if no one recoginizes my efforts. It will more than likely make me feel pathetic in a way. Then again, I’ve been doing my Screenshot a Day Series for FFXIV for nearly half a year now. From what I’ve seen. People hardly look at my blog. (Partly because I don’t actively spread the existence of it.) I could be wrong of course. I haven’t look at any of my web traffic in a couple months now.
The process of “preserving”
Let me talk a bit as to how I’m going to preserve the visuals of this game unlike via screenshots. Quite simply, as mentioned vaguely before. I’m going to record the enviornment of the zones and without music initially. (I haven’t fully decided if I want to add the zone music in the mix, but I can simply add it in as a seperate video later on.) Just the environment and the ambient sounds of the game. Once I recorded everything that I want out of a zone, I’ll make some minor transitional effects between the points of interests and combine them into one whole video for a single zone. I will then upload the video onto Youtube and post it while also linking it to an adjacent post that may go into detail about it or not. In fact, I will have a link towards the end of this post demonstrating of what I had just said.
Scale of this project
Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out every zone/instance I’m going to do right now. Hopefully in the next couple of days. I’ll be making an excel sheet and have a checklist for everything I intend to do. Once its in a good and readable state. I might link it for those to see my current progress of this project. One thing is for certain though. I plan on doing every major zone from all of the expansions of this game. I won’t guarantee dungeons or odd zones like Wolves’ Den, nor other types of instances. Once I get a better idea on the workflow and the speed of the uploads. I may reconsider the scope of this project, but for now I’ll stick with major zones.
Here’s the link to the youtube video:
About Me
Considering of my laziness in regards to my actual about me page. This will probably be the most popular post out of the rest. Because of that. I will talk a little about myself. While I won’t mention my actual name nor do I intend to show any photos of myself. I’m a bit of a reclusive individual. Never had much desires in talking about myself. If I ever did go down in that direction. I would mostly talk about more of my interests or projects than myself as a whole. Mind you, I’m not a hardcore roleplayer, especially in FFXIV. Then again I have no issues in roleplaying when it comes to Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. I should warn you now that I’m a bit of klutz when it comes to writing things at times. This is maily due to the fact that I tend to quickly write a post and spend 0 seconds on proof-reading.
The best way that I can describe myself is through two words. A storyteller and a worldbuilder. I’m fascinated by stories and in conjuction the worlds that exist inside of them. I’ve spent nearly a decade now crafting a vast “world” of my own and while I may never show it. I feel impressed by how much work I’ve invested in it. Its been somewhat of a dream of mine to show people of this “world” that I speak of, but at the same time I’m a bit anxious of showing it to others. Mainly because of fear that its worthless and makes zero sense. Secondly, because I don’t want someone profiting over my blood, sweat and tears
Conclusion
Alright, so that will be all for today. This is definetly one of the more important posts for myself. Honestly, I’m a bit anxious of making a video public on Youtube. I haven’t made a single public video in over a decade now. However, I think its imperative that I should do so since it will help carve a little corner on the interenet for myself. Not that I should realistly expect much. Especially with the type of content I’m working with. I suppose it would be an accomplishment if atleast a thousand people were to watch one of my videos.
Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy this post and these future uploads of mine. I have a tad more to say tomorrow regarding to this project, but I want to space it out a little bit so as to not use up all of my words in a single post.