Difference between revisions of "Alpha island"
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== World map == | == World map == |
Revision as of 01:53, 23 October 2022
Alpha-1 testing took place in a zone to the north west of the world map.[6] This zone has many islands and a mainland area.[7]
- The Alpha-1 starting area is set in the ruins of an Pyrian divine gateway.[8]
- There are 12 different (sub)zones in the Alpha-1 testing location.[5]
- The Alpha-1 map was approximately 70 km2 of playable area.[9]
- Alpha island (also called Alpha-0 island) was the first open-world testing zone for Alpha-1 participants.[14]
- There are approximately 4 biomes in Alpha-1: Flood plains, Desert (Desert), Snowy mountains, Forest.[15][16]
- Temporary teleportation points will be present in early tests until ships are introduced later in the alpha testing.[17]
Alpha-1 starting area
The Alpha-1 starting area was set in the ruins of a Pyrian divine gateway to the south of alpha island.[8]
Divine gateways
Divine gateways are portals located in the ruined cities of the four ancient races of Verra.[20]
- Divine gateways are where players first arrive in Ashes of Creation.[21]
- Each divine gateway is in proximity to one or more starting area.[20]
- Players can choose their starting gateway.[22] This choice is not restricted by their choice of race.[23]
- Tulnar characters have the same option of starting at any of the divine gateways as other races.[24][23][25]
- The divine gateways were created by the Goddess of Creation in response to a warning from the Goddess of Fate that The Ancients and The Others would return from exile and seek retribution for their defeat at the hands of The Seven gods.[19][26]
Where players start, they enter this portal from another world called Sanctus. Sanctus is a place of no magic, low technology; and players are the first expeditioners that are coming through this portal into the world of Verra.[27] – Jeffrey Bard
Alpha-1 nodes
There will be 85 regular node locations at launch with 15 additional castle nodes (5 castles x 3 castle nodes each)[28][29][30] for a total of 100 nodes.[31]
- Previously the developers estimated 103 regular node locations with 15 additional castle nodes for a total of 118 nodes.[32][33][28][29][30]
- This decrease in node count does not affect the amount of available player housing, or the estimated server capacity.[34][35]
- We have moved from a 103 nodes to 85 nodes; and there's a few reasons for that. One, when we were doing the calculations behind how- in Alpha 2 and in the game- we want these vassal structures to exist, we had more nodes than what felt meaningful and we wanted to condense some of that those curated story arcs and hooks into the environment and realm around the areas to be more bountiful at a lesser node value: meaning bringing down the node count so that we can increase the richness of each of those nodes more than what was at 103.[31] – Steven Sharif
- There were 9 node locations in Alpha-1.[36]
- Node locations are subject to change prior to Beta-1.[36]
Node locations
World map
The world of Verra features an in-game viewable world map. This map is not randomly generated, and begins covered in a fog of war.[40] Players will not be able to see the world until they have explored it or gathered information about it. The world is also full of imperfect information, which will require the player to act on it for verification.[41]
- For example, you may hear a rumor in a tavern that tells you the location of a cave full of weak Kobolds, but this was not accurate as the rumor was started by well-equipped bandits in order to waylay overconfident adventurers.[41]
- Information about the world will be presented directly to players through the world map UI as it is gathered.[42][43]
- Node tax rates will be visible on the world map by hovering over a node location on the UI.[44]
- The map UI will potentially incorporate player created location markers that are visible by other party members.[45]
- Previously, detailed information about the world was only available through the Library unique node building.[46]
- Not every server will share the same map, as player decisions will vary between servers.[47][48][43]
- The map will have geographical choke points caused by non-traversable obstacles (such as Mountains).[49][50][51]
- Even though we're an open-world that doesn't mean that from a design perspective, especially with the way our economic systems work, that we will want to create Geographic choke points.[50] – Steven Sharif
- Zones in Ashes of Creation will cater to all levels.[52]
World size
1,200 km2 (square kilometers) is the expected total world size of Verra at launch, including land (480 km2) and water/ocean (750 km2), but excluding the size of the Underrealm.[38]
- This has increased from the previously stated total size of 480 km2 including land and water/ocean[53][54][55]; but excluding an additional ~100 km2 of Underrealm.[56]
- The Underrealm did not increase "too much" in size.[57]
- The reason given for expanding the map size was to better accommodate Naval content and to reduce the overall content density in the world.[38]
- The purpose of it becoming bigger is as I said to make sure that density isn't overwhelming: that it isn't everywhere I look there is immediately something. I have no opportunity to see areas of the world that are expansive and are just wanderlust adventure feeling. Everything was sitting on top of you, POIs and nodes and houses and everything. It was like an urban area everywhere. But we wanted to expand that because a large portion of the game is a sandbox element; it's coupled with a lot of curated content but it's that sandbox element.[38] – Steven Sharif
- The shape of the continents has also changed and two new large islands have been introduced.[38]
Castle sieges in Alpha-1
Alpha-1 castle sieges are based on Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges.[61][62]
- Players will be able to join guilds. These guilds can register for the siege events.[59]
- Castle siege events will be 100v100 battles that occur daily and will last for three hours.[59]
- Attackers will start on the opposite end of the map (from the defenders).[59]
- Attackers will be able to use trebuchets to drive to and assault the castle.[59]
- 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.[59]
- The victors of castle sieges will receive benefits, such as cloaks, flying mounts for guild leaders and potentially also for guild officers.[59]
- Alpha-1 castle sieges are in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.[63][64][65]
- 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.[63] – Steven Sharif
- This zone includes the following raid bosses.[61]
- These bosses will also appear in the open-world (outside the siege zone) with slightly different mechanics.[64]
- The opposing team is notified when these raid bosses are being attacked.[61]
- Teams who get the last hit on these bosses will receive buffs that will help them in the siege battle.[61]
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.[62] – Steven Sharif
- Destructible structures (such as walls and gates) are present in Alpha-1 castle sieges.[66]
- The ability to repair structures (and siege weapons) is a long term design goal that will not be present during Alpha-1.[66]
Alpha-1
Alpha-1 was a testing release of the Ashes of Creation MMORPG.[72]
- World
- The Alpha-1 map (Alpha island) consists of a mainland area and several islands. This was approximately 70 km2 of playable area.[9]
- Alpha-1 takes place in the north west part of the map.[73]
- Character
- Progression to level 15.[74][64]
- 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.[74] – Steven Sharif
- Character creator (basic).[75][76][77][78]
- Progression to level 15.[74][64]
- Races
- 4 playable races Kaelar, Vaelune, Dünir, Empyrean.[83][76]
- 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.[84]
- 4 playable races Kaelar, Vaelune, Dünir, Empyrean.[83][76]
- Combat
- Hybrid action/tab combat.[76]
- Revamped combat systems will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing.[85][86][87]
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.[85] – Steven Sharif
- Economy
- The economy present in Alpha-1 is not reflective of the final state of the game.[91]
- Merchant systems and player to player trading.[91][92]
- We have an economy but it's not really going to be reflective of the final how the economy is going to work. It'll work for alpha one and there'll be plenty of things to trade and buy and exchange, but it's not going to be really super representative what the final state is. So keep that in mind as well it's a stubbed-in system. It's not a complete or really finalized system at all.[91] – Jeffrey Bard
- Approximately 10 percent of the artisan system.[64][93]
- The core basics of the artisan gameplay loop is facilitated via the merchant (NPC) system.[64][93][94]
- Gathering, Processing, Crafting is expected to come online in Alpha-2 and the Betas.[93][94]
- Previously this was targeted for Alpha-1.[95][76]
- What's present in Alpha-1 doesn't even really scratch the surface for crafting.[94] – Steven Sharif
- Gear
- Approximately 49 unique gear sets.[64]
- These are unique sets with different stats, but some may be similar in appearance.[64]
- Daggers (Dual weapons).[96]
- PvE
- Approximately 6 or 7 dungeons with one almost raid-level difficulty.[97]
- Two world bosses requiring party-sized groups.[97]
- One true 40 person raid boss.[97]
- Over 200 quests.[64]
- Questing is placeholder until Alpha-2.[98][76]
- Guilds.[61][76]
- Alpha-1 castle sieges and Castles are in a zone accessible via a NPC teleporter.[63][64][61][62][99][100]
- This zone includes three Elder dragon raid bosses.[64][61]
- These bosses also appear in the open world (outside the siege zone) with slightly different mechanics.[64]
- Naval content
- Ships for "island hopping".[17][101]
- Other
- There is no instancing in Alpha-1.[63]
- UI and tutorial systems are placeholders until Alpha-2.[102][98]
Alpha-1 availability
Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price.[104][105][106] Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are also available in the store for the difference in package price.[107]
- August 15, 2018 was the last day for purchases of Alpha-1 through Intrepid pre-order packs (History).[76]
- August 13, 2021 was the last day for purchases of Alpha-1 through the Adventurer pre-order pack (History).[108][109][104][62]
Coastal nodes
There will be nodes along the coast and on islands.[112]
- These nodes will have specific water oriented influences, services, and questlines, that relate to the seas.[112]
- The open sea does not contribute to the advancement of coastal nodes, even if it falls within the ZOI of the node. This is subject to change during Alpha-2 testing.[113]
- Coastal nodes change the spawn tables of the nearby water content and can also trigger specific events.[114]
- Coastal nodes are not directly siegeable by sea. Instead, harbors offer objective-based naval gameplay during node sieges.[115][116][117]
- We've gone back and forth a little bit on whether or not the design intent for sieging of nodes is intended to include, for certain nodes, the naval component. The concern there was that it would be a difficult thing to balance around that particular node having accessibility from the water for those types of defenses. So what we've presented as an opportunity where harbors are the focal point of those naval interactions; and during sieges you are aware that nodes have certain objectives, which have ramifications and can influence the outcome and/or the ongoings of a particular against a node. And if one of those objectives is a naval objective, because that node might own a harbor, which is a point of interest that gets adopted by a node which advances far enough around it. So you might have one harbor and five nodes that can own that harbor. And the first to hit the village stage adopts the harbor. Then that can become an objective point during a siege that has naval interaction. So that's the direction we've moved towards, rather than allowing the naval component to interact directly with sieging the node itself as opposed to being a part of the objective-based gameplay that exists for a node siege.[115] – Steven Sharif
- Island chains are part of Ashes of Creation naval content.[118][119]
Artwork
2021-05-29 2021-04-04 2021-02-11 2020-12-01
See also
References
- ↑ Alpha-1 screenshot.
- ↑
- ↑ Guide to Alpha One.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (12:09).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (22:43).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (9:51).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (16:05).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Interview, January 14, 2022 (3:50).
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:21:49).
- ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (53:01).
- ↑ Livestream, November 30, 2020 (25:45).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, January 29, 2021 (26:38).
- ↑ Livestream, October 16, 2017 (12:08).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (24:51).
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (17:23).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Livestream, November 8, 2020 (0:00:00).
- ↑ 20.0 20.1
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (29:25).
- ↑
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Livestream, October 16, 2017 (53:58).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, July 20, 2020 (13:33).
- ↑ Interview, April 20, 2018 (5:46).
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Blog: 10 facts about castle sieges in the MMORPG.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (15:14).
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:05:47).
- ↑ Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
- ↑ Interview, August 24, 2018 (3:44).
- ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:18:54).
- ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:06:42).
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (37:16).
- ↑ Blog - Development Update with New Map and Feature Discussions.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (46:52).
- ↑ Video, January 27, 2023 (4:39).
- ↑ Interview, May 22, 2017 (22:54).
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 The mighty beard!
- ↑ Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:14:29).
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
- ↑ Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:11:22).
- ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (2:33).
- ↑ Blog: Know Your Nodes - Scientific Node Type
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (37:03).
- ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (53:26).
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:25:11).
- ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:19:13).
- ↑ Livestream, May 15, 2017 (30:53).
- ↑ Livestream, January 30, 2020 (1:18:12).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, August 17, 2018 (10:43).
- ↑ Livestream, April 7, 2023 (22:48).
- ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (24:44).
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 59.5 59.6 59.7 59.8 Video, April 30, 2021 (19:25).
- ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (19:04).
- ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 61.6 Video, April 30, 2021 (13:02).
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 62.3 62.4 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3
- ↑ 64.00 64.01 64.02 64.03 64.04 64.05 64.06 64.07 64.08 64.09 64.10 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (41:18).
- ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (49:40).
- ↑ 66.0 66.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
- ↑ Video, July 14, 2021 (0:01).
- ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (15:35).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (40:19).
- ↑ Livestream, March 28, 2020 (54:48).
- ↑ Video, April 5, 2018 (1:01:40).
- ↑
- ↑ 74.0 74.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:13:05).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:10:44).
- ↑ 78.0 78.1 Livestream, September 1, 2018 (1:02:99).
- ↑ 79.0 79.1 Interview, October 17, 2020 (53:50).
- ↑ 80.0 80.1
- ↑ Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:41:11).
- ↑ Interview, October 20, 2018 (12:38).
- ↑ Interview, June 13, 2021 (31:24).
- ↑ Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:48:14).
- ↑ 85.0 85.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:14:50).
- ↑
- ↑ Video, February 26, 2021 (6:17).
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (44:30).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 91.0 91.1 91.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (43:55).
- ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (19:02).
- ↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (42:28).
- ↑ 94.0 94.1 94.2 Interview, February 7, 2021 (35:30).
- ↑ Podcast, May 11, 2018 (59:25).
- ↑ Livestream, January 30, 2020 (35:12).
- ↑ 97.0 97.1 97.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (39:08).
- ↑ 98.0 98.1 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
- ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (20:40).
- ↑ Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:29:17).
- ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (29:09).
- ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (18:55).
- ↑ 104.0 104.1 104.2 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (4:02).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 108.0 108.1
- ↑ 109.0 109.1 Ashes of Creation Store: May cosmetics.
- ↑ Livestream, August 17, 2018 (58:53).
- ↑ 111.0 111.1
- ↑ 112.0 112.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (1:01:28).
- ↑ Livestream, March 29, 2024 (2:26:40).
- ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (48:05).
- ↑ 115.0 115.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:18:49).
- ↑ Livestream, October 14, 2022 (58:46).
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (37:51).
- ↑ Livestream, May 17, 2017 (30:53).
- ↑ Kickstarter - We Just Broke $1,500,000!