Alpha-1

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Alpha-1 Teaser.[1]

This is a true development alpha. This is not a marketing alpha; and what that means is as you know part of the process here in developing Ashes of Creation is being open with that development so you guys can see that progress; and it is a double-edged sword. There are going to be a spectrum of people that exists who are very involved with the game's development and those who are just completely at an arm's length away in understanding the process; and they may look at alpha one- the people who don't really understand the development process or haven't been a part of it- they may look at it and they may think oh you know this is trash, looks like trash, you know whatever it's the end-product. But at the end of the day what's important for us and what yields the best possible product is for us to include as much as possible the community in that development process with no NDA so that you guys give valuable feedback; and as we go through the iterative process in further defining the game and fleshing out that content were doing so with the player in mind and their voice in our ear. That is I think one of the key distinguishing factors between our development and many developments that you guys may have seen in the past.[2]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 preview ancients mobs.[3]

What this experience for Alpha one is going to be- that month-long experience- it is not intended to be a content experience... It is not intended to be a game experience. It is not intended to be a fully-fledged content experience. So keep that in mind.[4]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 was a testing release of the Ashes of Creation MMORPG.[6]

  • Character
    • Progression to level 15.[9][10]
      The composition of class skills or archetype skills has to tread a fine line between two roads: One we wanted to be representative of skills not just that would traditionally be found 1 through 15 but we're actually introducing some skills that might be found later, because we want to test those particular ideas and how the skill functions.[9]Steven Sharif
    • Character creator (basic).[11][12][13][14]
  • Races
    • 4 playable races Kaelar, Vaelune, Dünir, Empyrean.[19][12]
      A lot of times people ask well why haven't we seen the other races and stuff? We want to establish the quality bar and process with these races first and then when we move into further content production for the other races we have have those pipelines in place and we have the processes in place and we know how to approach them.[20]

The weapon attack is an important component of the combat system, so we want to make sure that as we're doing this combat revamp that we are essentially taking into consideration player feedback and sentiment about how they want a reactive and more mobile weapon attack system.[21]Steven Sharif

info-orange.pngNiektóre z poniższych informacji nie zostały ostatnio potwierdzone przez programistów i mogą nie znajdować się na aktualnym planie rozwoju.

Alpha-1 availability

Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price.[45][46][47] Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are also available in the store for the difference in package price.[48]

Alpha-1 playtest schedule

Testy Alpha-1 zaplanowano na jesień 2020 r. Wszystko, co miało miejsce przed tą datą, jest uważane za testy QA, do których osoby wspierające Alpha-1 są zapraszane etapami.[51]

  • Ograniczone testy Alpha-1 rozpoczęły się 28 maja 2020 r. Od sponsorów Royalty i wyższych. Początkowo testy te będą przeprowadzane podczas jednodniowych sesji, które w ciągu kilku miesięcy przekształcą się w weekendowe okresy testowe.[52]
  • Umowa NDA dotycząca tekstu i głosu została wycofana z tej fazy testów.[53]

Testy w maju i czerwcu prawdopodobnie pozostaną pod NDA, dopóki nie poczuję się komfortowo ze stabilnością.[54]Steven Sharif

  • Posiadacze pakietu Leader of men zostanią zaproszeni do rozpoczęcia testów w sierpniu.[55]
  • Latem testy Alpha-1 zostaną rozszerzone, aby objąć wszystkich posiadaczy pakietu Braver of worlds i wyższych. Zaczną również od weekendowych okresów testowych.[52]
  • Bliżej jesieni, celem jest zaproszenie wszystkich graczy Alpha-1 do udziału w tygodniowych sesjach testowych.[52]

Na koniec z radością ogłaszam, że ograniczone testy Alpha One rozpoczną się w maju 2020 roku, zaczynając od naszych sponsorów Alpha One najwyższego poziomu z Kickstarter. Te testy będą początkowo obejmować naszych zwolenników Phoenix Initiative i wyższe. Ponieważ klient gry staje się bardziej stabilny podczas tych ograniczonych testów, zaczniemy wprowadzać naszych odważnych i ponadprzeciętnych zwolenników, a ostatecznie naszych posiadaczy pakietów Interpid w przedsprzedaży. Naszym celem jest, aby klient gry Alpha One był gotowy do pełnego testowania jesienią 2020 roku. Teraz oczywiście ta oś czasu podlega wstępnym testom i jej sukcesowi w ciągu następnych kilku miesięcy, więc upewnij się, że złagodzisz oczekiwania. Głównym celem testowania Ashes jest stworzenie solidnego i przyjemnego doświadczenia podczas iteracji projektowania i wdrażania gry. Ważnym wnioskiem z tego ogłoszenia jest to, że robimy postępy w kierunku grywalnej gry. Przed nami jeszcze długa droga, a wiele systemów w Alpha One to podstawowe systemy, które wymagają jeszcze więcej dopracowania. I nawet teraz nie mogę zagwarantować, że opóźnienia nie wystąpią, ale będziemy starać się być transparentni i komunikować się z Państwem o naszych sukcesach i porażkach.[52]Steven Sharif

Pierwsze testy w maju z naszą inicjatywą Phoenix i wyższymi zwolennikami będą prowadzone podczas jednodniowych sesji, które w ciągu kilku miesięcy ostatecznie przekształcą się w weekendowe okresy testowe, gdy klient gry Alpha One stanie się bardziej stabilny. W okresie letnim, gdy rozszerzamy uczestniczących testerów Alpha One o Bravers i nowszych, oni również zaczną od weekendowych doświadczeń, które sprawdzą cierpliwość naszych graczy. Zbliżając się do jesieni tego roku, zamierzamy zaprosić wszystkich graczy Alpha One do udziału w tygodniowych sesjach testowych i przesunąć granice naszego doświadczenia z Alpha One. W miarę zbliżania się do tych okresów testowych będziemy aktualizować harmonogramy i instrukcje.[52]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 testing goals

Server deployment and performance testing
  • Stress-test our server deployments and player concurrency numbers with high volumes of player activity and interactions.[56]
  • Stand up multiple world server deployments across different geographical regions.[56]
  • Soak test server grid health over a continuous period of production use.[56]
  • Evaluate current networking architecture, and identify non-performant code and areas for additional optimizations or refactoring.[56]
  • Test our build strategy and hot-fix deployment procedures, account services, web-based systems, launcher and patcher stability, and cloud-based infrastructure.[56]
System functionalities and behavior testing (in their core state)
Player character systems (in their core state)
Ancillary systems (in their core state)

The above is not a comprehensive list of everything being tested in Alpha One, but it hits the primary points. There are many other data metrics being collected for our approach to the content production pipelines, system definitions, and refactoring as well. Not to mention a plethora of technical art implications and optimizations, but you get the gist. This is a very fundamental test that will impact the direction of development post-Alpha One, so you can understand the importance of testing and its need for player participation, attention, and feedback.[56]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 participation

Alpha-1 testing was available to the following participants:

There were approximately 9,600 participants in Alpha-1 testing as of August, 2018.[57][58]

  • As of May 31, 2021, just under 5k additional participants have been added since Alpha-1 sales resumed. Less refunds and unclaimed codes, leaves a total of slightly over 13k testers.[57]
  • The weekend test of May 27, 2021 saw 5,300 unique logins over the 3 day period.[57]

There were roughly 9600 if I recall A1 participants prior to my closing the preorder packs in 2018. Since opening them up again there have been just under 5k additional participants added. And prolly around 300 refunds give or take. Of the roughly 14,000 a1 testers, there are still about 1k unredeemed ks codes which leaves a little over 13k testers? The weekend test saw 5300 unique logins over the 3-day period. And I think discord flags stand around 4k roughly?[57]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 servers

Serwery Alpha-1 zostaną udostępnione w następujących regionach.[59]

Serwery Alpha-1 będą obsługiwać od 1500 do 2000 jednoczesnych użytkowników.[62][63]

Server wipes

Alpha and Beta servers will be wiped prior to launch.[64]

As a general rule, if the testing phase contains the word Alpha, it is safe to assume there will likely be wipes.[67]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 NDA

Alpha-1 testing prior to the full release of Alpha-1 was covered by NDA.[53][54]

  • NDA review and acceptance is done via the game client.[68]
  • The text and voice NDA was lifted from the PI QA testing phase on May 28, 2020.[53]
  • The verbal NDA was lifted from Alpha-1 preview testing, and future testing, on May 17, 2021.[69]
  • The NDA was lifted on July 9, 2021 for the three day Alpha-1 preview weekend test.[70][56]
  • The NDA was lifted on July 14, 2021 for Alpha-1.[71]

We are extremely excited to invite folks to this glorious milestone of our development journey with NO NDA as we want everyone to be able to provide feedback unfiltered. During Alpha One testing, we'll be looking for your feedback specifically on the following things: download and installation process, client performance, and server performance.[71]

Alpha testing system requirements

Alpha-1 stress testing, March 17, 2021.[72]

These are fully operational NPCs. They have behavior trees, they have AI blackboards; they are functioning as an NPC would; and to my surprise, to everyone's surprise actually, the server handled it quite well: 5000 entities all within a very dense area.[73]Steven Sharif

Minimum and recommended computer specifications for Alpha-2.[74]

Minimum Specs - 1080p
  • Processor: Intel i5 8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600
  • Memory: 12GB
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1070 or equivalent
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 100GB SSD Storage
  • Windows 10/11
Recommend Specs - 1440p
  • Processor: Intel i7 8700 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600
  • Memory: 16GB
  • Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or equivalent
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 100GB SSD Storage
  • Windows 10/11
Please note that these requirements will change throughout our testing phases.[74]

Alpha-1 testing zone (Alpha island)

Map of Alpha-1 testing zone.[75][76] Kredyt obrazu: Axiom: Angelcry

The Alpha One map including nodes, dungeons, quest givers, POI, teleporters, and camps will be explorable! Note that this is only a small portion of the world of Verra.[71]

Alpha-1 testing tropical zone featuring a war beast and a tribe of pigmy goblins.[77]

This is a rather large tropical area; and what we use some of the creatures for is establishing character for different parts of this tropical place. So that even though it's the same biome, it feels different when you are going from place to place based on what's there and how those things are interacting with the environment.[78]Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-1 testing took place in a zone to the north west of the world map.[79] This zone has many islands and a mainland area.[80]

Castle sieges in Alpha-1

Trebuchets in the Alpha-1 preview castle siege attackers headquarter camp.[89]

Alpha-1 castle sieges are based on Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges.[36][38]

  • Players will be able to join guilds. These guilds can register for the siege events.[89]
  • Castle siege events will be 100v100 battles that occur daily and will last for three hours.[89]
  • Attackers will start on the opposite end of the map (from the defenders).[89]
  • Attackers will be able to use trebuchets to drive to and assault the castle.[89]
    • Trebuchets have a single primary fire that does a small amount of damage to players and heavy damage to buildings.[89]
    • Trebuchets will be fully physical when they are being driven.[89]
  • When the attackers have breached the castle they will be able to channel a cast on the relic in the throne room to try to capture the castle from the defenders.[89]
  • The victors of castle sieges will receive benefits, such as cloaks, flying mounts for guild leaders and potentially also for guild officers.[89]
  • Alpha-1 castle sieges are in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.[37][10][91]
    Currently the siege zone is actually in the open world, but separated by mountains and off in the sea a bit. There is actually no instancing in A1, although the siege zone will only be accessible in A1 through a registration NPC teleporter.[37]Steven Sharif
  • The opposing team is notified when these raid bosses are being attacked.[36]
  • Teams who get the last hit on these bosses will receive buffs that will help them in the siege battle.[36]

Last year, I spoke of attempting to incorporate sieges into the Alpha One experience. This has obviously been a goal of mine because it provides considerable data and a consistent event within the world that players can participate in to help stress test the deployment. Well, I am happy to say that it is appearing more and more likely by the day! Initial implementation of the Apocalypse siege code has been migrated into the Alpha One client, and we should begin internal testing next month. I will caveat this expectation with the fact that we are cutting it a bit close from an internal QA standpoint, but I have some confidence that the system will be online and capable of inclusion for the Alpha One test in the month of June. The siege component will obviously not be representative of what the siege system will be at launch, or even in Alpha Two.[38]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 player flagging/corruption

Player corruption was implemented in early Alpha-1 tests but was subsequently disabled.[44]

Alpha-1 PvE content

PvE content in Alpha-1:

There's over 200 quests in the game right now. There's a bunch of dungeons. We've retooled all of the boss fights. Those dragons that you see in the siege are also in the world- part of the open-world too. There will be a slightly different- there are some extra mechanics in the siege versions versus the ones that are in the world, but there's plenty of cool things to get on both of them, so make sure you check them out and hunt them down.[10]Jeffrey Bard

Artisan classes in Alpha-1

Artisan classes (Gathering, Processing, Crafting) is expected to come online fully in Alpha-2 and the Betas.[30][31]

Crafting honestly will not come online in any sense of its true form until Alpha-2. Alpha-1 has essentially what are intended to be the core gameplay loop of crafting, meaning the collection of materials, the translation of those materials into processed goods, and the use of those processed goods into item acquisition. That's the core gameplay loop that is currently present in Alpha-1. But those are mostly facilitated piggy backing the merchant systems right now and not actually using the real crafting system; and that's because crafting hasn't been completed in a form that can be implemented in Alpha-1, but will be for Alpha-2. What's present in Alpha-1 doesn't even really scratch the surface for crafting.[31]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 name reservation

info-orange.pngNiektóre z poniższych informacji nie zostały ostatnio potwierdzone przez programistów i mogą nie znajdować się na aktualnym planie rozwoju.

Name reservations were slated to begin during Alpha-1.[12]

Two-factor authentication

info-orange.pngNiektóre z poniższych informacji nie zostały ostatnio potwierdzone przez programistów i mogą nie znajdować się na aktualnym planie rozwoju.

Token-based two-factor authentication (2FA) was expected to be in place for Alpha-1.[93]

Alpha-1 easter eggs

Testing phases

Ashes of Creation testing phases.

Ashes of Creation's core game systems are expected to be in place at the start of Alpha-2.[108][109] By the end of Alpha-2, the game is expected to be feature complete, but it will not be content complete until launch.[110][111]

The game will be feature complete before Beta... Beta really is intended to identify last minute bugs to make sure that everything is ready for launch; it's important that all features are complete by Beta-1. Alpha-2 will not be feature complete at the start of Alpha-2. There are going to be updates that are going to be incorporated as part of the Alpha-2 process and there are going to be additional features that come online that get fleshed out between that time and Beta-1. There's going to be regions of the maps that aren't going to be accessible of course during Alpha-2.[111]Steven Sharif
Alpha-2 is intended to exist up until launch. There's going to be different testing periods that we will be releasing either new content locations or zones or systems that we want to have players focus in on. In those situations, if we're having participation drought because of the length of Alpha-2, we can set them up in a more focused setting. We can even incentivize that. We can offer unique testing to potentially new testers as well.[110]Steven Sharif
  • The developers will not necessarily announce NDA testing periods.[115]

Alpha-1 videos

Alpha-1 screenshots

See also

References

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