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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.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
What happened?
Tenaciel
Member
So I recently just rewatched some old gameplay footages about a mage running around in Verra (2017). It felt like the direction of the environment and overall art has changed. In the old footage I see deep forests, dense grass, dark places where the mage had to use the "lighting orb" to see properly. I can't to see these kind of things nowadays.
And also the mage there looked like a complately different mage compared what we see in the streams nowadays (utility skills like slowing down the falling, summoning a wall), it feels a lot more "mage likely" to me. Overall it was promising more than we can see today.
I'm just wondering...will we see those kind of skills and environments in the future, or the game just going in a different direction? What do you think?
And also the mage there looked like a complately different mage compared what we see in the streams nowadays (utility skills like slowing down the falling, summoning a wall), it feels a lot more "mage likely" to me. Overall it was promising more than we can see today.
I'm just wondering...will we see those kind of skills and environments in the future, or the game just going in a different direction? What do you think?
1
Comments
That mage skill is still planned for in game, but it is meant to "Reveal secret passages and magically hidden terrain around you". The lighting stuff relative to the dark environment in particular was something IS was playing around with to test their capabilities and see what they could do with it. For example would it be fun to have to take a torch into dark caves? (read the little bit on the wiki about darkness https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Environments#Darkness ) So some of the dark lighting and the density of the forest were things that were being played around with, we don't really have any updates on how much darkness and lighting will play a role in the game though last I checked. Would make a great question for the Q&As though!
I've been underground in the Alpha-1 Preview. It can get darker, but currently not 'I need a spell to see' dark.
It's definitely still in the builds though, if you go underwater it gets pitch black quite quickly as you dive.
TRUE!
At the moment I have no fear of the water because I KNOW they haven't put anything creepy in the water yet.
As soon as they do, I'm noping onto dry land.
Pretty sure the footage you are talking about was precreated assets in the engine. It's stuff that's available for any developer using the engine. More of proof of concept or a this is what our initial concept for gameplay will be. Not an accurate description.
I could be wrong though.
From what we have heard from Intrepid, Ashes will have a strong focus on class utility and story elements. They might not end up being what was in that footage but every class will have unique utility that will create a demand for a diverse party. Examples of this are trap finding or finding secret areas/treasures for rogues but the game is really far out and none of this has been implemented. I could very well see magelight or something similar being implemented.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
Anyway, like the OP. I really hope it hasn't been forgotten are cancelled, and that these things still happen. Especially when going out and about where there should not be artificial light.
I wouldn't be concerned about this getting canceled. Steven likes Pathfinder way too much for this to get canceled. I would be concerned if he was into 4e but he has a pretty big interest in story telling and allowing the use of utility/non-combat skills.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
I'm crying
Yes, the character models back then were okay, but they had a much more default-UE mechanical way of movement, in addition to lower detail in textures.
Also, a welcome custom change for IS was detailed in one of the dev updates late last year, in which they completed a long effort for custom lighting in the game world (not that default UE lighting is bad!). I'd felt this was an un-necessary step - but it shows how much they'd like AoC's game world to look and feel unique, over other games on the same/similar engines.
Not worried at all here about them rushing an un-polished game to market!
There is also a mechanic in place that darkens your screen as you enter dungeons and caves. Like....it gets DARK and then once you pass the doorway, it gets as bright as outside again. This may signify something like the OP was looking at. Maybe we will need some form of light from a spell or an item to go into a dungeon. This would be pretty awesome imo.
Subject to Change?