Alpha-2
Alpha-2 is intending to be obviously a very large chunk of the game's mechanics: a very very big percentage of it.[2] – Steven Sharif
A large percentage of Ashes of Creation's game systems are expected to be in place for Alpha-2.[2]
- World
- The Alpha-2 map will be approximately 220 km2 in size.[4]
- Alpha-2 is going to be probably about half of the world space available as part of the testing. I would say just over 220 square kilometers of world for players to explore, which is a pretty comprehensive portion of the game.[4] – Steven Sharif
- Seasons and climates.[5][2]
- Events.[6]
- Quests.[7][8]
- The Alpha-2 map will be approximately 220 km2 in size.[4]
- Character
- Character creator.[3]
- The aim is to have the character creator in the hands of players before the release of Alpha-2.[9]
- Character progression up to level 35 (subject to change).[10]
- All archetypes will be available.[11]
- Some secondary classes and augments.[12][13]
- Tulnar race.[14]
- Family summon mechanic.[15]
- Religions.[16]
- Character creator.[3]
- Combat
- Combat revamp.[11]
- Active and passive skills will be re-architected.[11]
- Primary skills are expected to be very different to those in Alpha-1.[11][17]
- Weapon skill trees will be present to augment the combo system.[18]
- Actual sieges in the real sense.[2]
- Combat revamp.[11]
- Nodes
- Node progression to City (stage 5) and potentially Metropolis (stage 6).[2]
- Relics and the Reliquary node building.[19]
- Freeholds.[2]
- Crop rotations.[2]
- Naval content.[2]
- Naval warfare.[2]
- Three ship classes.[2][20]
- Ships will have functioning cannons but the ship building UI may not be complete.[2]
- Economy
- Artisan classes (Gathering, Processing, Crafting).[21]
- Artisan gear sets.[22]
- Potential gameplay layers such as surveying and land management are being considered for gathering.[23]
- Auction houses.[2]
- Crates used to transport supplies between storage points and caravans.[24]
- Artisan classes (Gathering, Processing, Crafting).[21]
- Other
- Unreal Engine 5.[25][26][27]
- Some of Bear McCreary's music will be in Alpha-2.[28]
- User interface and tutorial systems.[7]
- Emblem, logo and symbol editor (tentatively).[29]
Alpha-1 and Alpha-2 testers may be invited to participate in spot testing prior to the Alpha-2 release.[30]
Alpha-2 is known as the persistent alpha.[31][32]
Contents
Alpha-2 availability
| Phase | Release | Estimated/Actual date |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha-2 | Alpha-2 (persistent alpha).[31][32] | To be announced.[33] |
Persistent alpha
Alpha-2 is known as the persistent alpha.[31][32] Persistent means that the Alpha-2 servers will be kept up all day and night until launch.[31]
- There will be downtime for patches.[34]
- There may still be character and testing wipes.[35][31]
- Alpha-2 servers will become the public test servers (PTS) post-launch.[35][31]
- Used to test patches and updates.
- Beta-1 and Beta-2 will probably not be persistent.[31]
- All servers will be wiped prior to launch.[36]
The ultimate goal for A2 is to be persistent and the PTS, but before we get that far there's gonna be some wipes I would expect.[35] – Steven Sharif
Alpha-2 server wipes
Alpha and Beta servers will be wiped prior to launch.[36]
- Alpha-1 testing phases will include full wipes.[37]
- Servers may also be wiped between individual tests, unless the developers require progression to be saved for certain spot tests.[38]
As a general rule, if the testing phase contains the word Alpha, it is safe to assume there will likely be wipes.[35] – Steven Sharif
Alpha testing system requirements
Funny story; So yesterday as we are stress/density testing with our NDA testers, I accidentally summoned 5k bears around our few hundred players. But hey, it didn’t crash! Can you spot Lt. Toast here?[39] – Steven Sharif
These are fully operational NPCs. They have behavior trees, they have AI blackboards; you know 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.[40] – Steven Sharif
Ashes of Creation alpha testing minimum system specification.[41] These system specs have not changed for Unreal Engine 5.[42][43]
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-Bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-2125 3.3GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 3.3GHz
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon 6870 HD with 1GB and DirectX 12
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 35 GB of available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card
Recommended specification.[41]
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-Bit
- Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz / AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon R9 Fury with 4GB and DirectX 12
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 35 GB of available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card
Tulnar race
The Tulnar race will be in place before Alpha-2. Concepts and early works are expected at that time.[14]
Naval content will be present in Alpha-2.[45][2]
- Naval warfare.[2]
- Naval raid bosses.[45]
- Three ship classes will be present in Alpha-2.[2][20]
Artisan classes timeline
Artisan classes (Gathering, Processing, Crafting) will come online fully in Alpha-2 and the Betas.[47][21]
- Approximately 10 percent of the artisan system were online in Alpha-1.[48][47][21]
- 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 kind of 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.[21] – Steven Sharif
Alpha-2 NDA
Alpha-1, Alpha-2, Beta-1, Beta-2 releases are not covered by NDA (non-disclosure agreement).[49]
- Alpha-1 testing prior to the full release of Alpha-1 was covered by NDA.[50][51]
Participation
Alpha and Beta participation is expected to grow with the sale of pre-order packs.[53]
Testing phases
![[9]](#cite_note-cc-alpha-2.png-9){kind=link}
![[15]](#cite_note-steven-family-summon-2.png-15){kind=link}
![[28]](#cite_note-steven-bear-a2.png-28){kind=link}
![[32]](#cite_note-alpha_and_beta_phases.png-32){kind=link}
![[33]](#cite_note-release-dates.png-33){kind=link}
![[35]](#cite_note-server-wipes.png-35){kind=link}
![[36]](#cite_note-server_wipe.jpg-36){kind=link}
![[37]](#cite_note-alpha_one_test_scehduleschedule-1000.png-37){kind=link}
![[39]](#cite_note-steven-a1-stress-test.png-39){kind=link}
![[51]](#cite_note-alpha-1-nda-1.png-51){kind=link}
![[54]](#cite_note-kickstarter_packages.jpg-54){kind=link}
Ashes of Creation early access packages:
- Alpha-0 was the invite-only "raffle" friends and family alpha test phase.[55][56]
- Alpha-1, Alpha-2, Beta-1, and Beta-2 were available for purchase during the Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding campaigns.[54]
- Alpha-1 was available in the Intrepid pre-order pack and the Adventurer pre-order pack.[57][58]
- Alpha-2 and Beta-2 were available during PAX West 2017.[59][60]
- Alpha-2, Beta-1, and Beta-2 are currently available in Pre-order packs on the cosmetic store.[61]
![[56]](#cite_note-beta_0.png-56){kind=link}
![[59]](#cite_note-PAX_West_2017_Alpha_package.png-59){kind=link}
![[60]](#cite_note-PAX_West_2017_Beta_package.png-60){kind=link}
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.[34] – Steven Sharif
Alpha-2 videos
- 2022-03-31 Video - Ashes of Creation First Look of the Alpha Two Character Creator in 4K
- 2022-05-27 Video - Ashes of Creation Dynamic Seasons and Weather Developer Chat
- 2022-05-27 Video - Ashes of Creation Seasons in the Riverlands
- 2022-06-30 Livestream
- 2022-06-30 Video - Ashes of Creation Alpha Two Basic Melee Weapon Attack Update
- 2022-07-29 Video - Ashes of Creation Alpha Two Desert Biome Preview
See also
References
- ↑ Video, 31 March 2022 (34:16).
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Podcast, 29 September 2021 (59:29).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Video, 31 March 2022 (0:00).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Interview, 14 January 2022 (3:50).
- ↑ Livestream, 29 April 2022 (56:24).
- ↑ Livestream, 29 April 2022 (32:29).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, 28 January 2022 (15:35).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Podcast, 29 September 2021 (23:00).
- ↑ Interview, 20 October 2018 (12:38).
- ↑ Livestream, 28 March 2020 (1:41:11).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Livestream, 8 April 2018 (AM) (2:17).
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, 20 October 2018 (0:00).
- ↑ Livestream, 24 September 2021 (1:18:06).
- ↑ Livestream, 24 September 2021 (1:19:17).
- ↑ Livestream, 29 April 2022 (21:00).
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Livestream, 27 September 2018 (54:02).
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Interview, 7 February 2021 (35:30).
- ↑ Livestream, 30 June 2022 (1:17:34).
- ↑ Livestream, 29 April 2022 (25:16).
- ↑ Livestream, 25 February 2022 (1:10:00).
- ↑ Livestream, 28 January 2022 (7:26).
- ↑ Livestream, 23 December 2021 (40:53).
- ↑ Livestream, 23 December 2021 (50:50).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, 31 October 2018 (47:44).
- ↑ Livestream, 30 July 2021 (45:11).
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 Livestream, 18 January 2018 (25:22).
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2
- ↑
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Livestream, 29 July 2022 (1:08:49).
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3
- ↑ 36.0 36.1
- ↑ Alpha one test schedule, Mar 12, 2021.
- ↑ Livestream, 30 November 2020 (7:27).
- ↑ 39.0 39.1
- ↑ Livestream, 26 March 2021 (12:34).
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 What are the minimum requirements for Alpha?
- ↑ Livestream, 23 December 2021 (49:39).
- ↑ Livestream, 23 December 2021 (42:09).
- ↑ Livestream, 30 September 2020 (41:13).
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 Livestream, 31 March 2022 (1:10:43).
- ↑ Livestream, 30 November 2020 (24:51).
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Livestream, 26 March 2021 (42:28).
- ↑ Livestream, 30 April 2021 (41:18).
- ↑ Livestream, 18 January 2018 (49:26).
- ↑ Livestream, 29 May 2020 (31:37).
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, 24 August 2018 (12:18).
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 Livestream, 17 November 2017 (28:50).
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Kickstarter packages.
- ↑ MMOGAMES Interview, 8 September 2017.
- ↑
- ↑ Intrepid pre-order pack.
- ↑ Adventurer pre-order pack.
- ↑ PAX West 2017 Alpha package.
- ↑ PAX West 2017 Beta package.
- ↑ Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.
