Glorious Alpha Two Testers!

Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.

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Alpha-1 dates

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Comments

  • FerrymanFerryman Member
    Wandering Mist wrote: »
    Undead Canuck wrote: »
    The other thing that people forget to take into account is the game engine (with networking). Intrepid had to build theirs first. A lot of other AAA games are from studios that already have an engine.

    The only mmorpg I know of that actually made it's own game engine from scratch was WoW. Most others use modified versions of existing engines, including Ashes. The base Unreal Engine isn't optimised for mmorpgs so Intrepid have had to modify it to suit their needs. Granted this is still a lot of work but not nearly as much as making your own engine from scratch like Blizzard did for WoW.

    If I remember right, Camelot Unchained also has created its own engine so it can handle the planned massive PvP battles. In other hand, that has also shown with the time of the development. :D
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  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited April 2020
    "The only mmorpg I know of that actually made it's own game engine from scratch was WoW. Most others use modified versions of existing engines, including Ashes. The base Unreal Engine isn't optimised for mmorpgs so Intrepid have had to modify it to suit their needs. Granted this is still a lot of work but not nearly as much as making your own engine from scratch like Blizzard did for WoW. "


    You are correct. But look at how long it took to build the networking into UE and then what happened to the backend when we tested. As I said, a lot of work building their engine.
    And how many people did Blizzard have working on the game? And how long did the people work together in the same company?
    Intrepid started from scratch, with a bunch of people who just joined the company. I say that they are doing well and the end result will amaze us all.
  • LexLex Member, Phoenix Initiative, Avatar of the Phoenix, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Intrepid only rebuilt the networking code of Unreal Engine 4. This is a lot of work but an order of magnitude less work than creating a game engine from scratch.
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  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    You are also correct. And how many network engineers did they have for that? My point is that Intrepid had to 'build something' with (probably) fewer people than some other studios.

    Or I am entirely wrong and don't know anything about the game industry. Whatever.

    All I am trying to say is that Intrepid is continually developing and a lot of us don't care how long it takes them to make an amazing game.
  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Undead Canuck wrote: »
    You are also correct. And how many network engineers did they have for that? My point is that Intrepid had to 'build something' with (probably) fewer people than some other studios.

    Or I am entirely wrong and don't know anything about the game industry. Whatever.

    All I am trying to say is that Intrepid is continually developing and a lot of us don't care how long it takes them to make an amazing game.

    agreed, they could take till 2025 and if the game is everything they say it is then I would be happy
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  • DraskDrask Member
    I hope they have people continually upgrading the engine if that's the case. With the new consoles coming out at the end of the year. Raytracing will start to become standard soon after. That's a big jump in visuals. Star Citizen seems to be doing this, but who knows when that's actually coming out.
  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Drask wrote: »
    I hope they have people continually upgrading the engine if that's the case. With the new consoles coming out at the end of the year. Raytracing will start to become standard soon after. That's a big jump in visuals. Star Citizen seems to be doing this, but who knows when that's actually coming out.

    when have consoles ever beaten PC graphics?
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  • DraskDrask Member
    Nagash wrote: »
    Drask wrote: »
    I hope they have people continually upgrading the engine if that's the case. With the new consoles coming out at the end of the year. Raytracing will start to become standard soon after. That's a big jump in visuals. Star Citizen seems to be doing this, but who knows when that's actually coming out.

    when have consoles ever beaten PC graphics?

    Never, but they've held back PC games plenty. The fact that they are supporting/pushing raytracing means a big jump forward in graphics for both mediums. If this game takes 5 more years to come out though. It may look very dated by the time of release if they don't continuously improve their engine during the development process.

    I'm still a proud member of the PC master race!
  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Drask wrote: »
    Nagash wrote: »
    Drask wrote: »
    I hope they have people continually upgrading the engine if that's the case. With the new consoles coming out at the end of the year. Raytracing will start to become standard soon after. That's a big jump in visuals. Star Citizen seems to be doing this, but who knows when that's actually coming out.

    when have consoles ever beaten PC graphics?

    Never, but they've held back PC games plenty. The fact that they are supporting/pushing raytracing means a big jump forward in graphics for both mediums. If this game takes 5 more years to come out though. It may look very dated by the time of release if they don't continuously improve their engine during the development process.

    I'm still a proud member of the PC master race!

    We'll have to see what happens with the upcoming generation of GPUs. Even though a lot of GPUs support ray tracing, the fps hit you take from enabling it (up to 50% less fps in some cases) doesn't make it worth investing in. Unless Nvidia and AMD can close the gap in performance I don't see much point in supporting ray tracing right now.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Wandering Mist wrote: »
    Drask wrote: »
    Nagash wrote: »
    Drask wrote: »
    I hope they have people continually upgrading the engine if that's the case. With the new consoles coming out at the end of the year. Raytracing will start to become standard soon after. That's a big jump in visuals. Star Citizen seems to be doing this, but who knows when that's actually coming out.

    when have consoles ever beaten PC graphics?

    Never, but they've held back PC games plenty. The fact that they are supporting/pushing raytracing means a big jump forward in graphics for both mediums. If this game takes 5 more years to come out though. It may look very dated by the time of release if they don't continuously improve their engine during the development process.

    I'm still a proud member of the PC master race!

    We'll have to see what happens with the upcoming generation of GPUs. Even though a lot of GPUs support ray tracing, the fps hit you take from enabling it (up to 50% less fps in some cases) doesn't make it worth investing in. Unless Nvidia and AMD can close the gap in performance I don't see much point in supporting ray tracing right now.

    I would agree that it wouldn't be worth it for Intrepid to implement ray tracing from scratch in to Ashes, but I'm sure they have looked in to the UE4 support for it that is built in to version 4.22 and higher.
  • LexLex Member, Phoenix Initiative, Avatar of the Phoenix, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Since they always keep current with the latest UE4 version, they get things like ray tracing for free. The beauty of using an Engine like UE4 is that you can focus almost entirely on producing the game itself and leave the technical intricacies of platform, graphics, and hardware to the engine.
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  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    haki wrote: »
    Kickstarter: Estimated delivery Dec 2018
    I assume you’re not very familiar with Kickstarter.
     
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  • PandiumPandium Member, Settler, Kickstarter
    Atama wrote: »
    haki wrote: »
    Kickstarter: Estimated delivery Dec 2018
    I assume you’re not very familiar with Kickstarter.

    Yes i am... just never thought they are going delay this game for so long.
  • VirtekVirtek Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @Lex Always with the helpful stuff right away...too speedy, you are!

    @noaani I'm stealing "quarantine" from you...I don't care if someone else made it up, I'm stealing it from you


    I can say that I see full launch happening in 2023 (though I hope for a SMOOTH launch in 2022), as well. It makes me sad to say so, but developing, testing, reiterating, testing, testing, and reiterating again on systems that are brand new to the industry....gonna take a while.

    The node system alone introduces so many hooks into other systems that it will add a lot of time, thought, and headaches to the process.
    Think of questing alone..."Find the elf in the woods" will be much more difficult when a metropolis pops out of that particular forest because people mined the bejeebus out of a gold deposit nearby. EVERYTHING will need to be designed around the node system and the wrenches it will be throwing into machines like confetti.

    Either way, as a wise man once (might have) said:
    "Give me perfection, or give me delays with a reasonable explanation prior to said delay!"
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  • DrEpochDrEpoch Member, Alpha Two
    Oh god I never thought of this.
    The node system alone introduces so many hooks into other systems that it will add a lot of time, thought, and headaches to the process.
    Think of questing alone..."Find the elf in the woods" will be much more difficult when a metropolis pops out of that particular forest because people mined the bejeebus out of a gold deposit nearby. EVERYTHING will need to be designed around the node system and the wrenches it will be throwing into machines like confetti.

    Then I thought about it... But you know... The node layout while randomly generated. The region is pre determined what'll look like at certain stages.

    So possibly a very fragile if x=y string determines elf's position?

    Then the tool they have that'll literally cut every tree / object within a perimeter of area, Or add back on command.
    ...
    It'll be fine PFFFFFFFFT
  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Fooshyy wrote: »
    Oh god I never thought of this.
    The node system alone introduces so many hooks into other systems that it will add a lot of time, thought, and headaches to the process.
    Think of questing alone..."Find the elf in the woods" will be much more difficult when a metropolis pops out of that particular forest because people mined the bejeebus out of a gold deposit nearby. EVERYTHING will need to be designed around the node system and the wrenches it will be throwing into machines like confetti.

    Then I thought about it... But you know... The node layout while randomly generated. The region is pre determined what'll look like at certain stages.

    So possibly a very fragile if x=y string determines elf's position?

    Then the tool they have that'll literally cut every tree / object within a perimeter of area, Or add back on command.
    ...
    It'll be fine PFFFFFFFFT

    Haha it's slightly more complicated than that, and that's assuming quest NPCs like that stay in the same place rather than wondering around. It would be quite funny to have a forest-dwelling NPC suddenly appear inside a city because the node levelled up at the wrong moment.
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  • wildarms2wildarms2 Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Damokles wrote: »
    Sarevok wrote: »
    2022 and 2023?! I don't like either of those dates. I've been hoping it was mid to late 2021. Haven't played a good mmo for a couple of years now.

    Here is a realistic timeline if EVERYTHING goes as planned:
    - May 2020 closed Alpha 1
    - Fall 2020 "open" Alpha 1
    - Summer 2021 Begin of internal Beta
    - Summer/Fall 2021 Begin of NDA Beta
    - Fall 2021 Open Beta
    - Winter 2021 Release (Christmas time)

    you forgot about alpha 2 :disappointed:

  • NeocortNeocort Member, Alpha Two
    I am new (late) to the ashes world. Long time WoW player (F&F Alpha member) and would love to get into the Alpha 1 of Ashes. Is there anyway to make that happen, or is my only option to purchase the Voyager pack and wait for Alpha 2?
  • HellfarHellfar Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited October 2020
    Neocort wrote: »
    I am new (late) to the ashes world. Long time WoW player (F&F Alpha member) and would love to get into the Alpha 1 of Ashes. Is there anyway to make that happen, or is my only option to purchase the Voyager pack and wait for Alpha 2?

    I wouldn't recommend to necro old threads going forward, especially since this one became obsolete within the past week or two.

    There is currently no way to buy Alpha 1 access unless they feel they could use/handle the additional testing. If you want to guarantee yourself some sort of early access, it's best to purchase the $250 bundle for Alpha 2 access. There is currently no release plan for Alpha 2 at the moment.

    Also, welcome to the community and hope you enjoy learning more about the game.
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  • Cold 0ne FTBCold 0ne FTB Member, Alpha One, Adventurer, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Can somebody create an automated count down for this?
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  • SorfSorf Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Neocort wrote: »
    I am new (late) to the ashes world. Long time WoW player (F&F Alpha member) and would love to get into the Alpha 1 of Ashes. Is there anyway to make that happen, or is my only option to purchase the Voyager pack and wait for Alpha 2?


    This thread is from 7 months ago nice necro :D , you can't buy into alpha 1 anymore right now you can't either win competitions or wait until Alpha 2.

  • VarkunVarkun Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Steven has hinted at the possibility that alpha 1 access may become available again in the future, but there is no clue as to when or how. It may be related to how many actually participate in the alpha 1 tests and if those numbers are near what Intrepid desire or perhaps they simply have decided that they will let more in to test. Time will tell.
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