SPOILERS Plate Positions as Seen from the Ground

[Tjen]

I have attempted(and failed) to find anyone talking about this and I wanted to know how other people think about this. Or if I am just wrong and otherwise avoids what I feel like is a huge continuity failure if what I think I am seeing is right.

My first play-through, I was confused by the view from Sector 5 Slums in that it seemed like the plate being reconstructed was over Sector 5, but it was obviously supposed to be over Sector 6 - they even bring up Sector 6 plate falling in the game. I eventually just figured I was visually parsing it wrong and continued to play a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Now going through again on hard mode, it is bugging me again enough to make this post. As you can see in this first picture, Cloud is supposed to be standing in the Sector 5 Slums, but the plat that appears to be overhead has the large gap out of it, suggesting that it is Plate 6. You can see the pillar that travels up to the same plate if you look up, and the reactor beyond it. From how I see this, Cloud must be standing in Sector 6.

If you look at the Midgar map, it shows a location dot in Sector 5, and even shows Plate 6 missing the chunk in the middle.

Also, I was confused by the shot from the ending with Marle looking up as they are cleaning up and putting down the sign for Seventh Heaven. The plate overhead is partially there, looking a lot like Sector 6's partial edge, but the next plate is totally intact. It also can't be remains of the Sector 7 plate, because there are shots of it completely gone with the open edge of Sector 8 plate being fully visible.

Anyway, if anyone can explain this, I would like to hear their input.

 

[Dionysos]

I'm glad someone else has noticed this! The inconsistencies here have been low-key bugging me every time I've looked up at the plate from Sector 5. I’ve been wanting to discuss this with someone as it has been annoying me.

You're right, the plate with the gaps in it is supposed to be the Sector 6 plate. When the player crosses through into Sector 6 for the first time, Aerith even comments on the big gap and explains that they are still rebuilding since Sector 6's plate fell while they were still constructing Midgar. When you look up at this moment you can see the big gap and everything is as it should be.

However, if you were also to look up before this and from anywhere in Sector 5 (even the from the church) you can still see this gap. We appear to be seeing the exact same plate in both Sector 6 and Sector 5.

I wondered if it might be an optical illusion of sorts. Similar to how you can still see the sun during sunset even after the sun has already dropped below the horizon. There might be some weird illusion going on because of the distance of the plate, the angles we view it from, etc... But then I followed the pillar (which you highlight here) in Sector 5 and it does appear to be joining to this Sector 6 plate. Unfortunately I do think that it is much more likely that Square Enix simply misjudged this.

Maybe they wanted Sector 7's plate (or lack of a plate) to be visible from Sector 5 for maximum emotional impact, logic be damned. Maybe they wanted the player to look at the gap from Sector 5 whilst some NPCs were discussing how scary the situation is. But that seems like a silly reason to mess that up. They made it clear that each sector is separated by a small gap and a reactor, so there is no logical reason for Sector 5 and Sector 6 sharing the same plate.

It’s frustrating (though only a mild frustration) so I’m going to try and pretend that none of this has happened and correct the error in my head. It is a minor gripe for me and I still enjoy looking up at the plate, just significantly less when looking up from Sector 5.

 

[Dionysos]

I took a few screenshots from above to get another angle.

Spoiler: Chapter 17 spoilers

I climbed up to the very top of Shinra HQ for these. I went back up the ladder where you chase the Sephiroth 'clone' and he jumps off the building.

Sector 5 with the boundary with Sector 6 and Mako Reactor 6.

Sector 6. You can clearly see that it is still under construction. Compared with Sector 5, it has yet to have any buildings built on top of it. It also has the big gap in the middle of the outer edge of the plate as that has yet to be filled in.

The collapsed Sector 7 plate, still on fire.

So they appear to have depicted them as they should have from above, but probably misjudged how things would appear from below. That's quite unfortunate since you do spend a long time below the plate.

 

[Tjen]

I think that I've come to decide that it's kinda just wrong from sector 5, and that they were limited by having to use a single giant panoramic background that they could use from the church all the way to the door/gate to sector 7. There's not even a giant gate/wall from 5 to 6, but that is what they went with to make it more seamless I guess.

 

[Dionysos]

Yeah, I think the panoramic background (instead of building the entire plate in 3D) is to blame. I can understand that it wouldn't be possible to render all of that and keep all of that area (Sector 5 and 6) open without loading points. The limitations of the console probably held them back a bit with that.

That said, part of me wishes they just added a loading point between Sector 5 and Sector 6. The wall between Sector 5 and 6 with the hole in it is supposed to be the boundary, but you can just walk straight through it.

Still, they certainly did a great job with the overall impression of being under the plate. It is, as you say, only Sector 5 where it doesn't seem to match up.