Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Rolling hills (i.e. ambush areas), dense forests (i.e. ambush areas), caves (i.e. ambush areas) are wonderful, but I hope I don't jump out of my reanimated skin every time I turn a corner.
So far, everything in game looks wonderful, but in forested areas, there should be more trees. EQ1 had some nice gloomy forests (where I used to jump out of my skin going around a tree and seeing huge bears...).
So, in a nutshell, places that don't make you jump too much. The old ticker isn't what it used to be. Too much of that and I will have to have Nagash visit to kick start me again.
And beautiful mountains are a vision of awe. We need some of them. Especially ones that cannot be crossed. Natural breaks that don't break immersion.
Least favorite: plains or desert (at least when they are done at a very basic level)
Although I think the desert would be a really interesting biome if it was given some unique features like castles carved out of sandstone cliffs or giant snowy mountains dispersed throughout.
Base on your video about nodes , road and bridge will appear with nodes leveling , so if we can get lost in early stages of nodes could be nice
1. Travel time
2. Travel Convince
No one likes big empty spaces like WoW's The Barrens (they are necessary, they are also unappealing) It's annoying and brings your mood and enthusiasm down whether you are aware of it or not.
No one likes clunky hard to navigate areas - Think urban places where you are boxed in to certain paths and your travel is far more maze-like. Canyons and Cave tunnels might also apply.
Bottom line: If it takes awhile to travel relative to other zones or if I need a map's help going from A to B, it will not be enjoyable after the nth time.
Least Favourite: creepy undead place / graveyard (undead are overused in fantasy)
Biome that has to go: any biome that feels lifeless or is featureless
Talking about biomes where undead are roaming around as if it's a normal type of landscape. There needs to be a strong narrative to create such a biome, and not all fantasy settings can fit such a narrative well. Warhammer does it well.
Did you hear that nagash? You are overused and not scary anymore! X'D
It has fascinated me for a year. This is where my toon will play and explore. The buildings raised up above spring floods but right next to a food source. My inner child rejoices at the thought climbing to the top of a tree house and just looking around at the scenery with the sound of water flowing in the background.
Also, as a healer who usually gets squished easily, rivers are great to swim across to try and get away from mobs when I am exploring.
I would love to see bio-luminescent plants and animals in the water you could dive down to look at for fun.
Dislikes - Desert, Any landscape that is infuriating to traverse
I don't really have a favorite biome, but I tend to dislike the tundra- and desert-like biomes because they are made on general information for games and tend to be completely barren. If you could add in details about how these biomes actually function, that'd be great. Like adding a lot of fish off the coast of a dry desert or adding lots of caves in an area that rains a lot and putting endemic life in them. These places aren't sterile and when they are treated like that it sucks to play in.
If I had a heart it would be hurt
We'll see ya for the next Dev Discussion!
i am no elven prince...
did you like the examples I posted? (first page)
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/208648/#Comment_208648
This applies to rocks trees stones in dungeouns doors in dungeouns.
Really like marshes that you can walk through in ankle deep water.
Biomes I dislike are volcanic redston areas. With red rivers of magma and fire themed monsters that are basically all the same color. Basically everythign is red and fire based. Think there is a right way to do this.
There should be variety in biomes. One example I would like to mention is When Mist of Pandaria came out for WoW. Frome what >I remember there were two thems those bugs and pandas. So all your dungeouns had either an oriental theme or that bug theme. The dungeouns art style and mobs were so similar that they felt like a an extension of another dungeouns. Entire expansions was that was that way. Just gets repatative after a while.
Not to found of huge under water biomes. I lake is fine or going treasure hunting off shore for treasure in sunkin whips but not water worlds.
Aesthetics - The zone or biome does not necessarily have to look the best or have the highest fidelity, but it does need to feel like it's a place that could belong in some other universe. It should, ideally, have colours and lighting that capture that zone's location within the wider world.
E.g. In RIFT, the zone Gloamwood very much captures the gloom that is present. Everything from the lighting to the colours, the trees, the ground and the main settlement really feel like it belongs. The zone varies quite a bit in elevation with many bridges and caves to traverse and dark creatures to encounter.
Content - The zone or biome should have enough things to be seen or done. There's no use having an aesthetically pleasing zone only to be something you spend 30 minutes in and never come back to. There should be a natural flow/progression to the questing, diversity in fauna & flora and perhaps other reasons to stay or come back to it.
E.g. In Conan Exiles (not an MMORPG but still), each biome has a distinct set of creatures and resources that spawn only or mostly within it. There are certain pockets within each zone that capture the imagination and cannot be mistaken for any other area. In the jungle you will find gorillas, snakes, panthers etc. with scattered ruins and shipwrecks along the eastern coast. There are things to encounter on the ground, up high and even in the water.
Atmosphere - The zone or biome ought to capture the right 'feel' through the visual and sonic components. Background/ambient music and sounds should feel like they belong and be unique enough within a world that makes it distinctive.
E.g. Elwynn Forest (WoW) has peaceful ambient music that cannot be mistaken for any other zone. The place feels neutral, neither safe nor dangerous. Stormwind, on the other hand, has very majestic music and ambient sounds pertaining to an urban area. Battlegrounds, conversely, will play very war-like sounds to match the mood of the battle.
Drastic biomes (desert, snow mountains, ect...) are great if you make them high risk, high demand, high rewards.
Going into a snowy region without supplies or gear should be punished. Avalanches, blizzard, environmental debuffs, waves of snow beasts or high level snow beasts, ect all should be included to make it dynamic and rewarding to survive and thrive there.
Going into a swamp region players should be more aware of poisons, underwater swamp beasts, and insect waves attacking players and towns.
No matter the environment type high risk, high demand (environmental danger/debiffs), and high rewards.
yeah its called the city of the dammed
2) The other biome I like is cold high-altitude areas with some woods, with streams, lakes and also some snowy planes on them (see Wrothgar in ESO).
[And although you do not want more...sometimes one does not always get what one wants ^^]
3) The last one is sandy deserts, although they are hard to make interesting, I like them. especially if you can find little hidden caves or oases amidst the dunes.