Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
The variety and be able to actually gradually see the changes from dynamic weather is a big step up. I think its also important to have hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards or siroccos that have a chance of developing that may drastically change the dynamics of normal play, maybe even damaging or slowing or character tossing. Would be interesting if i had to prone to save myself from a tornado sucking me up or even going as far to hold up somewhere safer from the elements if im getting pelted by a sandstorm.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
Yes, snow that can dynamically be walked through. I could imagine a long hike up a peak that is snow capped that might be powdered snow about 4-6 feet tall to walk through, would really change strategies/visibility. Big minus because i didnt see it but surely imagine you are planning for it/working on it. Would be kinda silly not to. As well extreme weather and affects as stated above. I think the current stated seasonal change is too quick and think it should be slowed down a tad more. As well i did not see thunder and lightning which is a big must. Would be interesting if you could actually get struck by lightning and die off a extremely low percentage like real freak lightning attacks. Imagine when you try to explain to your guild mate you were on your way... but got struck by freak lightning.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
Excited
The fact that weather can change trade routes is a wonderful way to moderate that one city does not always get more love then the others. Nothing would be more dissapointing then just a few maxed city hubs getting all the love and basically nothing else happening below it. It was nice to see as well the dynamic change of the animals color change with seasons.
Concerned
Draw distances need to be able to be modified by user so us with super computers can try to overheat our gpu's while we show our friends how beautiful the game is.. kinda joking, kinda not, i don't know how its all hooked up but would none the less love to see this feature for users to adjust. I think its a shame some games simply try to blur the background while everything around you is clear. Let us choose, please.
There might be a Relic that a Node (not one singular player) may acquire that can change the weather and/or season in the zone of their Node but we have yet to see how powerful they are and how long they can be activated.
I completely agree with your statement. I think I didn't express my point of view correctly with the example. The changing of the seasons is said to have a major impact on the overall economy of the game. In my opinion, this rapid change of seasons greatly deprives this influence of its potential. Maybe that's just how I see it, I just wanted to bring it up for discussion. I think I'm not the only one who sees it that way
I'll second this! I'd like to see the slower, more gradual changes we will see ingame as well.
Immersion in general, weather in games needs to get as close to reality as possible without interrupting gameplay itself. I'd say the best way to do this is pick a weather effect, and see what that weather effect DOES and what it CAUSES in real life. For example: We want thunderstorms, what does thunder do? It flashes and lights things up temporarily. If it strikes something, like a tree, it could scorch it or if you wanna get frisky, light it on fire. Maybe my example sucks, but i hope you understand.
- Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
Extreme weather events like tornadoes and thick heavy windy blizzards. I'd like to see proper caked snow like in RDR2 where you leave a trail of your feet behind you temporarily, if thats possible at all. My favorite weather is thunderstorms, and i was missing the immersive 'flashes' that you get in real life (Im sure you know the feeling of playing games during a thunderstorm and it strikes somewhere and your room lights up for a nanosecond). The thunderstorms in the demo didnt convey that feeling as much as it could.
- Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good? Miscreated, its not a very known game and the game itself isn't amazing but its rain/thunderstorms was done VERY well. There was A LOT of rain, not a little sprinkle here and there and the rain was LOUD and it would make it more difficult to hear outside things, really making you feel like you were in that rainstorm and had to find shelter ASAP.
Here are some images of that game during rain, by the picture alone you can feel how heavy the rain was.
The foliage could definitely use some movement in this game though!
- Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system? I'm excited for epic boss battles in extreme weather conditions. I'm concerned with how you guys will make weather affect abilities and spells. Flat damage nerfs to classes/abilities just because of weather is a no-no in my opinion, because it will make someones class not fun to play for a week straight. Not sure how you guys plan on buffing/nerfing certain elements without making it unfun for the players playing them.
Winter, I am not sure if it was addressed/answered, but I wish water would freeze during winter times. If players could break this ice that would add an extra layer of possibilities to economy.
Combat, I honestly feel like this adds an extra layer of problem to the balancing. I can't add much to it, I just hope it won't make people feel useless if they happen to be in their counter season or it does not take considerable resources to adjust to the current season. But I love the idea of complexity, definitely was touched in a few games I have played but was eventually abandoned.
Sea, same as lightning. Random occurrences, like a storm paired with heavy wind that makes navigating harder. Wind supporting or obstructing navigation. I think I have played a game where whirlpools were a thing, I think that a great feature to add to the sea, though not as devastating as it is irl.
Last bit is that I think 1 week is too short of a period. I am not sure if current 1 week is due to systems, design or future ideas. But I feel like even if just 2 weeks would feel more Impactful. Something to add in this regard, I hope the castles are going to have different seasons every siege, though I am not sure players can influence it.
I am not a high-end enjoyer and never really cared about it as I prefer performance over quality when it comes to graphics and such. But a few of my friends mentioned that they wish the LOD was something you can change, as it was very prominent in the video how the distance loses detail. I second that there should be a good amount of option possibilities when it comes to this.
I already am satisfied with what I have seen regardless of the above, it's already more than basically anything I have seen.
Got me teared up a bit watching the teaser. We can truly see now how gaming is entering a next generation when it comes to tech. Good job!
P.S.: Gamescom in 2023? 😀
Considered having altitudinal floors?
In my country, Peru, the altitudinal levels play a big factor in food, flora, fauna, culture, dialect, etc.
It could be very interesting that AoC could have something similar to that because if a material is in some zone, what is the reason for that material to be in that zone? Is that material (flora, fauna, etc.) just there for the sake of being there or is there a clear reason?
For example: If I need a creative material, a plant for example, that plant grows in a specific place with a specific climate, then the place plays a factor so it would not be logical to take into account the altitudinal levels ? or is it the case that everything grows horizontally ?
This is a video about the best restaurant in Latin America, in the TOP 10 restaurants in the world for many years , Central , which uses the altitudinal floors as inspiration for the creation of its menu. Although it seems simple, the altitudinal levels are very important.
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80007945?trackId=255824129&tctx=0,2,NAPA@@|a34e7cc4-4c03-4dda-a166-87f2e49803c8-156246972_titles/1//chef/0/0,NAPA@@|a34e7cc4-4c03-4dda-a166-87f2e49803c8-156246972_titles/1//chef/0/0,unknown,,a34e7cc4-4c03-4dda-a166-87f2e49803c8-156246972|1,titlesResults,80007945
THIS!!
But also: ducks.
Everyone knows DUCKS LOVE RAIN!
Also, if possible:
The ambiance it provides! Good sound design with soothing or interesting visuals
I thought the presentation overall was fantastic! It was very well done. The only thing I didn't like is the rain effect. I think a lot of the things you applied to the environment to fake the rain's wetness (like height map puddles) are well done, but the rain effect itself didn't feel like it was on the same par as the rest of the otherwise amazing presentation.
I'll try and explain what I disliked about it.
First off, I think there were too few particles on-screen to represent the rain. I think there should be more raindrops to realistically sell rain. Secondly, these raindrops should not be as opaque as they were. Sure, there's going to be parts of the raindrop that appear as an opaque white, but that's the specular on the water that is either thin, or shifts as it falls. I think making the rain a little more transparent or blurry, could help. Thirdly, the angle that the rain was coming down at was strange. I understand that with wind, rain comes down at an angle, but I think the higher the wind, the more uniform the raindrop's angle is and I felt like there were still a bunch of variants in angle even at high wind speeds in the demo. Also, I felt the rain felt slow falling overall. I think you could speed the raindrops up and maybe enlongate the particles a bit. Lastly, I don't feel like there was enough to represent the rain's interaction with the ground. I understand if you can't do animated height raindrops on the terrain for performance issues, but I think you could get away with having some low ground fog billowing across the floor to effectively fake raindrop splashes.
I'll share some examples from this video to explain my suggestions.
Overall, best I think was Uncharted 4: A thief's end. (At 3:25) There were plenty of raindrops on the screen, and it did this really cool effect where occasionally it would have a quick burst of heavier rain. The droplets on screen would almost double and you could see a cool almost ripple or wave effect go through the falling rain (at 3:41). What's also neat is there's some lightning strikes occasionally that light up the whole sky and, in turn, light up more raindrops for you to see. If you watch the whole video, there's a couple games that do this and it's always a cool effect. Also, being an example of high wind, you'll notice most of the raindrops are uniformly angled with each other.
Heavy Rain (17:20) Also has a nice rain effect with more blurred droplets.
Moving on, Batman Arkham Knight (at 9:50) I think is a good example of the raindrops opacity, with the opaque highlights only being specular. You'll notice that you notice the raindrops that fall in front of the pink neon sign more and that is because they are picking up the light! You'll even notice some pink raindrops, which is super neat! Now, the floor here has a really cool animated height splatter texture--which really sells the rain's interaction with the environment. I don't know if you're able to do this in an MMO for performance issues, but it's a really nice effect to have on dirt or paved floors if you can swing it performance wise.
If you can't do the height splatter, Shadow of the Colossus (13:01) has the "low fog to fake rain splatter" that I was trying to explain. The rain kicks up these small fog clouds low to the floor which your brain will helpfully interpret as splashes of water.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (28:20) has another cool interaction with the environment you can simulate which is drainage. if you look at the building, you'll notice there's an animated height map flowing down the buildings's walls, doors, pipes, all of it. This might(?) take a lot to prep an asset's UVs for, so I totally understand if it can't be implemented because it's just too much effort for payoff or for performance reasons. It's just another cool effect I'm throwing out as a possibility for rain-environment interaction.
Crysis 3 (37:58) has a really nice billowing effect that links it well to the wind. There's these splatters that move across the floor and some fog that kicks off from the ground and ripples across it and other fog that spawns from the ground and gets released back up into the air which feels more like a splatter that got swept up by the harsh wind.
Lastly, Ghost of Tsushima (51:12), I just want to point out how uniform the raindrops are even at different wind speeds. The angle increases at higher winds and stormier weather, but stays near uniform throughout. At lighter rain, you'll see a bit more angle variation appear than in the higher storms. I think it's a good example of how wind should effect rain.
Thanks for listening to my long rant about rain. I hope you'll consider updating the rain effect. Despite how long this was, I just want to state that I really loved the seasons and weather demo overall! It was absolutely breathtaking. The seasons changing was so cool to see. Huge props to the environment team for pulling that off! It's obvious you guys have put a ton of hard work into this. You guys did an amazing job!
I would love to see random weather events like tornadoes, dust storms, hurricanes, etc. that can be damaging or deadly to players caught in them. Could you imagine the stress of hauling a caravan with a crazy storm brewing, or sailing the ocean in rain so hard you can't see 10 feet in front of you!
If possible make obstructions to the main light source effect luminosity of the environment
(clouds blocking the moon at night should make it go dark until they pass by)
Lightning flash followed by delayed thunder noise based on distance from the player.
Ambient sounds should match the time of day (very quiet during dawn, most busy midday, owl sounds during night etc.)
Would like to see foggy and dusty skies before the rain change to rainbow with clear skies and extended viewing distance as if the rain cleared the air.
Rain looks very light and almost painted. should vary in intensity. would like to see intense pouring rain.
If possible make it interact with wind's direction (alternating wind behavior should be reflected on rain's falling direction)
Night looks too bright as if it's a full moon (if possible make darkness depend on moon luminosity)
Clouds between seasons look too similar, would like to see variation in type, should demonstrate precipitation levels.
Butterflies and insects keep casually flying during very windy conditions, which doesn't make sense and immersion breaking.
Fog on the water making a need for a light house to see the shore.
This might not be seasons related but in certain mystical areas maybe areas where glowing plants form the ground. would be cool to see a lot of glowing bugs in the air as particle FX. Or possibly if the bugs, and surrounding animals only appear to be glowing at night and when day break hits they stop glowing.
member of Gray Sentinels
Ideally, harsh seasons would affect travel and health. There are a lot of implications here, but if the team can replicate the feeling of the need to prepare for a certain weather condition, I think that would play well with the dynamic theme.
Variance in snow intensity. I wouldn't doubt this is already in plans though.
Global (or regional) warming. Volcanoes could have drastic affects on the weather. Also wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't in the plans already.
Ice skating and hockey.
Nothing unique to the AoC project that I can think of.
I'm excited for travel and the effects on the economy (and everything).
I'm concerned for the resources on both the client and server side i guess. Honestly just making shit up though. It was a really good demo.
My only concern regarding the weather is that you mentioned it being on a weekly basis, personally i feel like this is too short of a timespan to have any real impact on economy. I think a bimonthly would be better as it would give appropriate time for it to truly effect the market. it's going to make people go YES! its finally summer so these specific herbs are finally available, without being excessively long.
When seasons change too quickly, they become an afterthought and people stop paying attention to them. Id hate for your weather system to get lost in the background like every other game.
We'll have to test it to know how it truly feels.
The update was amazing and really is pushing boundaries. Big big props to the team honestly just well done.
Onto the areas i would like to see some work on:
I echo the draw distance i assume its in the works but like others have said, it would be good for farther hills not to look like naked mounds compared to the nearby lush fields.
Rain drops in the water! I didn't notice it in the video personally.
Sound can really set the mood. A thunderstorm dampening overall sound. Some of the sound including in the summer was great!
At least a minor movement of grass around where you move i know you mentioned this in the video.
Snow, rain, mud should all leave some sort of trail when you walk. A slightly different sound!
Other people have gone into detail but i just surmised where i agree.
On the topic of rotation time, i am fine with 1 or 2 weeks. I feel that people need to take into account uptime AND downtime.
1 week up is 3 weeks down.
1 month up is 3 MONTHS DOWN. 3 months until you reach a season a 2nd time.
With crop rotation a month for the next season seems too long. I feel that 2 weeks might be just right.
Simply put, I just want to feel immersed in the world of Verra. In simplest terms this would be weather that has realistic audio and visuals. So far from everything shown to us this "low bar" I had for weather has already been met and then some. I thought it was a pipe dream to have weather actually change dynamically and effect things in the world like: melting ice to reveal a doorway, and wind increasing the speed of ships. I'd like to see additional aspects using this same idea with things like: Ice making surfaces slippery, caravans getting stuck in mud, ships becoming beached from tides or landlocked due to ice forming on rivers.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
The big thing I can think of that was not shown was how bosses could effect the weather. Also, it'd be cool if boss difficulty (hard mode/challenge modes) could be determined by the weather/season in which you fight the boss. Example: Fighting a fire dragon in the winter may be a better option if the winter weather weakens the fire dragon. That same fire dragon could be encountered in the summer with an increase in difficulty that also increases the quality of loot. This way we can have a hard mode that isn't just selecting the option in a menu, but chosen more organically.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
My biggest concern is the length of which the seasons occur. It was stated in the livestream that a season would be a week long. This is NOT nearly long enough. We need a season to last at LEAST a month to have any impact on the economy. I understand that this might be due to the subscription period being a month long and this would allow players to experience every season in one payment, but in all seriousness... if you want to experience all seasons just pay the sub for 4 months and it's still cheaper than a new game off the shelf. A week long season simply means that if I did not get a chance to harvest what I wanted, or run that dungeon that's only available in a specific season then it's not that big of a deal because I can just wait a couple weeks. It has minimal impact, and really wouldn't matter. Please reconsider the length of seasons.
And spring unleashes forest fires and burning forests so you have to travel a different way or it creates an obstacle course and enables mini jumping game with your mounts because of the fires. Also maybe when there are windy storms the wind blows down trees and blocks paths as well as creating mini jumping games where you have to jump over fallen trees.
Maybe if there gods or religion we could pray to the wind gods and enable a storm to help our ships go faster. maybe certain seasons enable certain weapons to be found like a frozen blade hidden in a frozen cave blocked by ice and you have to wait for summer to come to unlock it.
Would love see some seasonal themes change throughout the world of Verra like enable house decorations that are seasonal like fall leaves that can be hung around pillars or holly and mistletoe can be hung in the winter and maybe the towns and cities décor changes with the seasons.
In the desert there should be dust storm that enable zero visibility so that you can actually get lost in the desert from a seasonal change or weather event.
member of Gray Sentinels
I feel like you guys are nailing the weather so far & I have been nothing short of impressed. I think that for me the sound design of in-game weather effects is just important if not more so to me for immersion but the sound you guys have put in so far is amazing. I also feel like the weather engagement with the player is a key aspect, such as field of view reduction, visible struggle in high winds, clothing becoming wet, heavy rainfall causing flooding or rivers to become impassable. And finally, the avoidance of mother natures wrath such as dark clouds forming, lightning in the distance accompanied by booming thunder, tornadoes, even rough seas during a storm.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
This is something I am sure that you guys are going to work in, it was probably just not present in the stream, but Storms....Storms that strike fear into the hearts of mortals that wouldn't dare to enter them, in fact entering them would be a last resort. Sandstorm / Thunderstorm / Tornadoes / Hurricanes that force the player to make the decision to go around it and take the long route, or face the storm head on if they dare... this would be so amazing for sea travel as well.
Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
From personal experience the games below have had a lasting impression on me with regards to their weather mechanics.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
I'm excited about seeing just how far the system goes in terms of inclusion of natural events, I am also interested to see if volcanic eruptions will involve the weather system E.G if plumes of smoke bellow from the volcano into the sky & whether this has an effect on the lighting within those areas.
The only two things I am concerned about currently is "blocking" of environments without giving people the ability to exit the space if blocked inside. E.G someone logs out within a cave, logs back in and is blocked within the cave with no means of escape.
The second thing I am concerned about is that the seasons will be too short and feel "rushed". This also leads into having materials gathered during certain seasons holding their value for longer if the seasons don't switch so frequently. I'd say that it would be interesting during Alpha 2 to test how long the seasons should last?
Edit: I also echo Linikers comment concerning draw distances.
Other than that, you guys are doing an incredible job and I'm sure all of the above has already been thought of. Alas, just in case it's never been seen or heard before =D
member of Gray Sentinels
- Something to diversify the experience. The idea of using weather a determining factor for gathering and path-finding is an amazing surprise.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
- Nope, that's about everything I could expect. Weather effects on clothing or pets is nice but I don't want it if it will tank FPS.
Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
- Ark does a nice job with weather, but beyond variety and visibility it has no real impact on game-play. Your system, as it was described, changes what we will be doing in game which is incredibly refreshing.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
- Just having areas change as time goes on adds so much to the daily/weekly grind that is an MMO. Having the same areas produce different resources is far more than I expected to see. Can't wait to see this in game.
- The time frame listed worries me. One week may not be enough time to have any real impact on the economy. One week may also add to the forced login feeling, I'd feel like I have to log in this week or I'll miss out on features or resources.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far? I think you guys are doing a great job so far and it is impressive to see in an MMO. I would like to see you continue to build upon what has already been created, add more variety to ALL the weather features with different levels of intensity.
For example: Fog, Mist, light drizzle, rain, scattered showers (short spanning, smaller areas), heavy rainfall, and Thunder Storms. Do the same thing for wind, snow, etc.
I would also like to see weather effects with water creating waves and rare occurring natural events such as a Blizzard, Cyclone, Whirlpool, Sandstorm, Volcano eruption that has some sort of significance tied to them, like a world boss.
I really like the idea of environmental obstacles blocking pathways like the block of ice we saw in the video. I think this could be improved by adding more variety like: Rock slides, Boulders, Fallen Trees, underwater passages that are frozen during the winter, etc. Be creative with it!
It's cool that some of the animals change colors, but I would like to see more wildlife interacting with the world based on Seasons opposed to just standing there idle or running in straight lines. Good examples of this would be, Deer feeding on grass or drinking water, Sitting under trees, two bucks ramming each other with their antlers during Fall, ducks swimming, bobbing under water, Bears clawing trees, chasing after smaller animals and even feeding on them if caught. It's important to have AI conflicting with each other because it makes the world feel alive. Many games miss the mark when it comes to AI and it feels unnatural/dull.
Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good? I thought the weather was done well in The Witcher 3 and Sea of Thieves. The Witcher 3 does a great job with the wind effecting the environment, clouds, rain and beautiful sunsets. Likewise, any game that has naval content can take much inspiration from Sea of Thieves. The way the wind works, the stormy seas, the varying size of waves, and having to adjust sails depending on wind direction.
Tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, blizzards? Sandstorms? And so on. Just to know exactly how much variation it has
I know the difference between monthly and bimonthly from other hobbies in life and that's basically what it becomes. 'Seasons are a monthly event, good luck getting everything done in 7 days.' It's just casual unfriendly.
Wishlist
I posted this elsewhere but I want this approach to weather to be considered:
1. water wasnt reacting to rain, that was pretty easy to see and this showcase really missed that
2. hat was reacting to wind very nicely but i think taht cape was not, i feels like cape is super heavy and super storng wind that steven set up cant even move it, i would like u to fix that if its not a problem
3. no lightnings in the thunder.. only sounds, that did steal some charm of storm ngl
Im very excited to see u guys afect spells by the weather and really want to see tornado and other disasters that u can pull out!
PS. If u want some challange.. when wind is passing though small holes it makes whistle noises, so old ruines.. cracks.. all that stuff, i think its pretty hard to make it, but if u do, it will add another layer of imerssion