Caravanserai

Pre-Alpha-1 caravan UI.

Caravanserai is a node building in Ashes of Creation where caravans are constructed, prepared for launch, and are unloaded.

• The caravanserai is a default building type that is present in every node (of Village (stage 3) or higher). This building can be upgraded to add additional beneficial features.

When you want to launch a caravan you have must first have a caravan that's constructed at the caravanserai. – Steven Sharif

• Caravans are constructed at a caravanserai from components. If components are missing, default versions with lowest stat values will be applied to the caravan.

In order to construct caravan at the caravanserai, you go to caravanserai and you say hey I've got all these components and I want to construct a caravan; and the caravanserai will accept the components that you have: It will use those components. If you don't have components for certain parts of the caravan it will give you default versions, which will be lowest stat value that that caravan can then have. – Steven Sharif

• Once a caravan is constructed it will be hosted at that caravanserai. Players will be able to select from a list of available caravans via a UI screen, which will show the available storage compartments for each caravan. These compartments can be assigned to members of a party or a named interest.

When the caravan is constructed it will be hosted at that caravanserai; and if you want to launch a caravan you will select the caravan you have available at the caravanserai. You will then be provided with a UI screen that shows you the compartments of availability for storage that the Caravan has. You can assign those compartments to members of a party or named interest. You can apply insurance if you want for any pieces of those storage and it can go into escrow; and if the caravan ever gets destroyed, that escrow will go to the named player and that's how we... facilitate that transaction between players if they want to do those things. – Steven Sharif

• Insurance can also be requested (if this is enabled by the caravan owner) which will go into escrow. If the caravan is destroyed, that escrow will go to the named player.

There is a system driven way for players to co-op caravan trips; and essentially you have the driver or the owner of the caravan preps the caravan for launch at the caravanserai‎, which is the node building that launches the caravans, and he can make a selection to allow designated players or members of his party to reserve space within the caravan; and they may then upload their goods into the caravan at the caravanserai‎ by interfacing with the UI there; and there can even be an agreement for insurance should the caravan be destroyed. Let's say you find a driver who's run many successful missions and you're confident in their ability to deliver you may not ask for insurance; but if this is a new person who doesn't have an established reputation on the server for being a successful caravan driver then you can request insurance; and that's an option that the owner of the caravan has to enable; and when you interface with that UI window there will be the amount of insurance that will be placed in escrow and given to you should the caravan not make it to its destination, or should the caravan's goods be lost. So there is mechanical systems in place to provide that type of interaction. We feel that interaction is good, it's fun; it helps encourage the social interaction that's important to an MMORPG but also it provides an outlet for players who may not wish to actually drive a caravan or launch a caravan or own a good caravan to transport their goods to piggyback with other players. – Steven Sharif

• Once a caravan is prepared it is in a launch-ready state and can be launched whenever the caravan owner is ready. Launching a caravan will display an overhead map view of the node with a 360 degree line circling the node at between 100 to 150 meters from the node where the caravan can be launched. Once a launch site is selected on the line it will take between two to five minutes to launch the caravan depending on upgrades to the caravanserai. During that time the caravan owner and members of their party can teleport to the launch site. Once completed the caravan will be ready to mount.

If you prep your caravan it's going to be in a launch-ready state and you can launch a caravan whenever you want, keep it in the launch ready state. If you click to launch the caravan, your perspective will leave to a world map perspective that sits above the node and you will have a 360 line that lives outside of the node area at a good distance, roughly about 100 to 150 meters from the node, and you will spawn the caravan there; and it will take about two to five minutes depending on some of the upgrades that the caravanserai has for that caravan to spawn outside the node at that location. During that time you can teleport to that launch location, which is just outside the node- from the node itself. That way people can't follow you, see your node- see your caravan that's about to leave or whatever; but you can let your players know "hey if you're part of my group you can also port with me and we'll spawn at the location that the caravan's getting constructed at. Once the caravan little construction site is finished, your caravan is ready to to mount and you're ready to move along the way with it. – Steven Sharif

• Caravan drivers will see a visible perimeter around nodes that represent a disembarkation line. This will be similar to the launch line, and its radius is also based on caravanserai upgrades. When a caravan crosses this line it will no longer be able to be attacked. Guard NPCs will spawn and escort the caravan to the node's caravanserai.

As you approach cities, caravanserais will confer a radius around the node; and that radius will be something visual to you in the world as you're approaching another node; and you will see a line- a disembark line where when you cross that line you've reached the safety zone; and that line cross is outside of the node in a similar distance, but also based on caravanserai upgrades, that the placement of the caravan at launch is; and so you only have to make it to that line, and once you do the events surrounding the caravan and the ability to attack that caravan stops and it gets auto-moved into the caravanserai. Guards will start to materialize around it. They'll grab the reins of the horse and begin to move the caravan slowly to the caravanserai and now you've reached a pit stop; and at that pit stop this can either be your final destination or you can relaunch it again. You don't have to stop at nodes along the way to your destination. If you want to keep going you can keep going: You want to cross rivers, you can cross rivers. You want to go out into the ocean with a little raft caravan, you can do that too; and you can go to a destination and you can stop there and unload there. But if you're running into trouble, if you're under assault, if you're a near attack and there's a node nearby with a caravanserai that you can stop at, you can start directing the caravan towards that node and all you got to do is make it to that finish line outside of the node; and when you do the caravan auto will move towards caravanserai. – Steven Sharif

Caravan construction

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Caravan building is a potential crafting profession in Ashes of Creation.

• Caravan components obtained from caravan builders will have stats according to the skill of the artisan.

Caravan components

Caravans are constructed from components at a caravanserai building within a node. If components are missing, default versions with lowest stat values will be applied to the caravan.

• Axles.
• Chassis.
• Mounts bred through the animal husbandry profession.
• NPC guards.
• Wheels.

Caravan components obtained from crafters have stats according to the skill of each artisan.

• Armor rating (damage mitigation).
• Capacity.
• Hit points (health).
• Maneuverability.
• Movement speed.
• Turning radius.
• Turning speed.

Initiating caravans

Quest driven caravan initiation

Players can initiate quest driven caravans (via a NPC) with the following parameters.

• The resources it will carry.
• If it is initiated for a specific quest in a nearby node.
• If the goods are intended for trade or warehousing in a regional market.
• The recipient of the caravan (e.g. a Temple within the nearby node).

When you initiate a caravan you're going to be able to determine the resources of the caravan is going to have in it. You're going to be able to determine whether or not this caravan has been initiated for a specific quest in a nearby node. You're going to be able to deliver goods for trade or to just warehouse in a new region, so that you have access to that local market. – Steven Sharif

Caravans may not be initiated from warehouses during a siege declaration on that node.

When you're in a nearby node that you need to drive caravan to... you're going to have an option from the NPC within a nearby node to dictate the caravan launch as a recipient of the temple yeah. – Steven Sharif

Personal caravan initiation

Personal caravans are initiated from a caravanserai building at a Village (stage 3) node or higher.

• Previously it was stated that personal caravans can be launched from any point of storage.
• Personal caravans are capable of transitioning to/from naval caravans.

Naval caravan initiation

Naval caravans are capable of transitioning to and from land caravans at the point of intersection of land and ocean.

• There will be a delay of one or two minutes while the caravan transitions while a conversion structure spawns. This introduces a small window of vulnerability.
• The conversion structure does not benefit from damage mitigation points of land or naval caravans, so it's a very weak position to be in.

At the point in which your character or model intersects with an ocean it will spawn a conversion mesh or a conversion structure; and there will be a period of time, up to several minutes depending on the capacity of the caravan with the resources and/or materials that is necessary for the conversion to take place; and then the naval caravan will be available; and you can intersect that line again with land to try to convert back to a land-based caravan – Steven Sharif

Visuals

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  2022-07-30

See also

• Caravans
• Node buildings