Regalia

The Regalia is the car Noctis Lucis Caelum and his friends use to travel across Eos in Final Fantasy XV. It is a black convertible identified by its license plate, which reads "RHS-113."

According to Director Hajime Tabata, the Regalia is a member of Noctis's party. It symbolizes the open world of Final Fantasy XV and the idea of "freedom." The Regalia lastly symbolizes King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, as it originally belonged to him. Overall, the car is a metaphor for the bond Noctis shares with his father, as well as how Regis will preserve his son's journey.

The Regalia is able to fly, and it is the only aircraft the player can control in Final Fantasy XV.

Appearance
The Regalia is a black, four-seat convertible with an interior made of dark leather. Its hubcaps have a chocobo talon motif, and its license plate lights up at night. The plate reads "Insomnia RHS-113 - The Royal Capital" in reference to the capital of Lucis and King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII.

The Regalia resembles the real-world and. Regarding this, Hajime Tabata has said, "I can't really tell exactly you which company we looked at, but certainly the design of the car in the game was inspired by German car manufacturers and a couple of British cars, as well." At a Final Fantasy XV fan event in Tokyo, it was revealed the Regalia was designed to resemble Rolls-Royce luxury cars.

In Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the party's car resembled the and had a panoramic roof that stretched to its trunk.

In Final Fantasy XV, the player can upgrade the Regalia and customize it with different "skins" and paint jobs; some of these were available as pre-order bonuses.

Story
Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum drive the Regalia to Altissia, where they are to rendezvous with Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Noctis's betrothed. Along the way, the car breaks down, thus Noctis and his allies have to stop at Hammerhead so Cindy Aurum can repair it.

After the fall of Insomnia, Noctis and his friends drive the Regalia to the Disc of Cauthess, where it is confiscated by Niflheim forces. The party infiltrates an imperial base and reclaims its car after an encounter with Ravus Nox Fleuret.

Noctis later drives the Regalia to Gralea, where it is destroyed and left behind. Before abandoning the car, Noctis recalls a time from his youth when it brought his father, King Regis, home to him.

Mechanics
The Regalia can be set to autopilot, driven by Ignis, or driven manually by the player, who controls Noctis. The player can use the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One's shoulder buttons to change camera angles while driving, and they can press and hold or  to raise or lower the Regalia's roof. Players can honk the car's horn by pressing or, and they can fast-travel to parking spots and outposts they have previously visited. The player can fast-travel at night, even when Ignis refuses to drive.

On the world map, the Regalia is represented by. If the player is separated from the car, it can be summoned through use of the "Call Car" command on the map menu. Enemies sometimes attack while Noctis and his friends are in the Regalia; this forces the party to exit the car and engage them in battle. In auto mode, the player can select a destination for Ignis to drive to. The Regalia can be stopped at any time.

The Regalia runs on gasoline, much like the cars in Final Fantasy VIII. If the Regalia runs out of gas, its tank can be refilled for 10 gil. Locations on the world map marked with a serve as parking spots, and when the Regalia is near one, it parks automatically. There are no loading screens when one drives or flies the Regalia; the Day One Patch enables the player to access the main menu and shop when the car is on autopilot.

Initially, Ignis refuses the drive the Regalia at night due to the presence of daemons. This forces Noctis to drive the car himself until he reaches level 30, when Ignis has a change of heart. Regardless of who drives the Regalia, daemons still pose a threat until the player locates the Enhanced Headlights for Cindy and has her install them. These headlights prevent daemons from attacking, but the player can also avoid these foes by accessing the shop menu and leaving it open while the Regalia is in Auto Mode.

Sometimes, Prompto sees photo opportunities while the Regalia is in motion. When he does, he asks to stop, and taking the picture becomes a short sidequest. Monsters sometimes cross the road, and if the Regalia is on autopilot, it stops to let them pass.

In Chapter 4, Noctis is forced to drive the Regalia and must follow Ardyn Izunia to the Disc of Cauthess. If he fails to keep up with the imperial chancellor, it is Game Over. The player cannot drive the Regalia at night when Iris Amicitia is in the party during Chapter 6.

During the post-game, the player can complete the "Into Unknown Frontiers" sidequest to transform the Regalia into the Regalia Type-F, a model capable of flight. The player can fly anywhere in the skies of Eos, but landing the Regalia Type-F badly or hitting an obstacle results in a Game Over. The Regalia Type-F can only land on roads, and it is the only means of accessing some portions of the world map. It also features an unlimited fuel supply. By visiting Cindy at Hammerhead, the player can revert the Regalia to its original form at any time.

Customization
Cindy assists the player in customizing and upgrading the Regalia once Noctis collects the necessary parts. This includes applying different coats of paint and various decals. The different colors of paint can be mixed from the items the player collects, mainly from procurement points for minerals. The player can always revert the Regalia to its default look.

Colors

 * Body


 * Interior

Upgrades
While a majority of the Regalia's upgrades are obtained by completing the sidequests Cindy offers, others can be bought. The player can also expand the car radio's music selection by purchasing additional collections of Final Fantasy music at outposts.

Servicing the Regalia
The Regalia can be damaged, and Cindy repairs this damage for a fee. This service is sometimes unavailable if Ignis is the one who damages the car; in this case, the player must manually damage the Regalia before Cindy can fix it.

Creation and development
A black car appears in trailers for Final Fantasy Versus XIII that seems to be a precursor to the Regalia. The Regalia's prioritized character over realism, but it was changed to make the car look more modern and befitting of a king. A black convertible served as the basis of the Regalia's new look, and it was intended to be customizable.

The Regalia belongs to King Regis and symbolizes him. It is a metaphor for "[Noctis] taking his father's love, burdens, and bond on the road to his destiny." It was important to Hajime Tabata that the bond between Noctis and his father, as well as the Regalia, be focused upon. This is because children in Japan are proud of their fathers' car. It is a "big thing" to go on a ride and have the cars' functions explained. Tabata described this as a wonderful experience from his youth that he wanted to portray in Final Fantasy XV.

Originally, the Regalia's steering wheel was on its right side, much like cars in Japan. This was changed after a long discussion at Square Enix as a result of Eos's lore, which states cars were first developed in Niflheim and then exported to other nations, which adapted to suit their design. In-game, the location of the car's steering wheel is said to be the result of the large number of right-handed imperial citizens. Square Enix decided to adjust driving so it was a uniform practice; it felt changing the signage and necessary driving position would confuse players. It was then decided cars in Final Fantasy XV would drive on the right side of the road and have their steering wheels on the left side so Noctis's journey could resemble a road trip through the United States. Developers considered allowing players to decide how traffic moved, but this was deemed too cumbersome.

Games like Need for Speed were consulted to make the driving mechanics in Final Fantasy XV enjoyable. These are designed to replicate the feeling of controlling a car while avoiding the "nitty-gritty" aspects of doing so. In Final Fantasy XV, walking is reserved for getting to places the Regalia cannot reach. The Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer shows the party driving on a stone arch near an astral shard, but the car cannot be driven off the road.

In the master version of Final Fantasy XV playable at Gamescom, the player held the right trigger to accelerate, and the Regalia steered itself. U-turns and parking were automatic processes activated by a single face button. When Final Fantasy XV appeared next at PAX West, players were free to steer the Regalia. This caused issues in the game, so developers decided to perfect this mechanic before implementing it.

When designing the Regalia Type-F, Square Enix met with Avalanche Studios (the developer of Just Cause) to discuss its LOD development methods and learn how the system handles textures. Square Enix used what Avalanche taught it to perfect its own version of the LOD system for Final Fantasy XV.

Square Enix has stated players in Japan and the United States can listen to MP3s on the Regalia's radio. This cannot be done in Europe because stricter laws are in effect.

The Regalia was originally meant to appear in Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae, but it was removed because Hajime Tabata did not want the demo to be driving-focused and thus deviate too far from fan expectations for a Final Fantasy game.

Omen
In a vision King Regis has of the future, his son Noctis drives the Regalia alone and stops by a petrol station. Pryna appears in a nearby field, and Noctis crashes the car after spotting her.

Trivia

 * During a livestream on October 2, 2014, Hajime Tabata discussed internet memes that featured Noctis and his friends in the Regalia. Square Enix encouraged the development of more memes for publicity purposes and released art assets of the scene these depicted.
 * The Regalia would be worth ¥50,000,000 ($440,000) in the real world.