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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.
Comments
That might be very convenient for planning.
I support this.
I feel that it's really important to have times of day, and seasons, off by just a little so that they drift over time, for those really unfortunate folks who have very specific times they can play, the same time every so often.
I wouldn't want 'Every week at 8 PM on Saturday' to be the same time ingame, nor would I want 'three months ago, 8PM on Saturday was the first day of winter, and now here we are again'.
I also will echo what other players have said, that 1 week is too short for a season, but I could see 13 days working really well. People who only play occasionally (say, six days a month) get the feeling of change but even if they can only log in once or twice a week, at least they get to feel the seasons be the same for two different login days consecutively.
The only thing I'm concerned about is some of the visuals.
1. Spring and summer looks the same. Spring could have more lighter greens. New and fresh foliage are usually in a lighter shade of green than mature foliage in the summer. Also shorter grass, different kinds of flowers that only blooms during spring.
2. The color of the snow looks a bit off to me, it looks too grey. Snow usually has a more blueish tint, especially during sunny days.
Also, the randomly placed snowpiles and the bare dirt showing trough at places make it looks like it's thawing. It looks wet and muddy, like when it's close to spring and getting warmer. It looks a bit odd that the animals are changing their apearance for this mild looking winter. Make the snow lay evenly on the ground instead and the roads to look frozen instead of muddy.
It would be really cool of you could add hoarfrost on the trees and grass when it's really cold.
Oh and also, this is off topic but sometimes the size of the snowpiles, some textures, the flowers etc, makes the character look like a miniature person.
In most MMOs I have played, weather has been an almost-purely cosmetic/immersive feature, and to a large degree, that remains the most important factor to me. I would rather see more quality in weather effects than intricate changes to drop/spawn tables during pixelated storms. That isn't to say I don't enjoy gameplay changes by weather, but when there are such changes, I enjoy being able to plan my playtime around them. Hunting out rare materials, picking equipment to defend against damage types, etc.
2) Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
Just functional gameplay details. Will the different animal variations drop weather/seasonal-exclusive materials? Will all zones be under the same seasons(and weather) at the same time? Will there be an NPC who we can ask about weather in different zones(maybe even how long it has left)? The latter especially if there are, let's say, certain fish that can only be found during rain in a specific zone type. Will players be able to change weather around them?
3) Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
FFXIV. Some questions and statements of mine come directly from my experiences with its weather systems. It has weather beyond a sun/rain dichotomy, and while for the most part it is purely cosmetic, if someone is filling out their fishing log, weather is a HUGE consideration.
It also presents a storytelling facet, because in the same UI widget you can check weather it is clear skies, overcast, fog, raining, etc., the weather can also say 'Apocalypse' when the world is on fire around you. In practical terms for Ashes gameplay, I imagine a dragon could generate a unique weather system around itself that alerts players to its presence.
4) Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
My only concern is weather/seasonal duration. After engaging with other games with once-a-month, week-long events, I think that one-week seasons would create some serious cases of burn out as nearly the entire playerbase wants to rush and grind for different reasons every week. Player longevity vs. how deeply weather affects gameplay.
Harvest Moon's days don't track with real time though.
This is comfortable because Crop cycles are ~7 days on average, so in 1 season a well-prepared farmer can squeeze out 4 crop cycles.
So a big question to consider when you decide season length: What is your crop cycle going to look like?
A: That weather affect different areas differently. For example area showcased was Temperate location, i hope that in Deserts there are Dry and Wet seasons. In this case when Wet season starts, rain will last for few days and revive some areas into lush green fields and as rains have stopped and ground becomes more dry and plants wither away. Life hides or dies off until rains return.
Q: Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
On location? No, i do not feel anything at moment was missing. Perhaps additional fogs, hail etc. ?
Q: Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
None are in my mind at moment.
Q: Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
Balancing it, but there is still time to see how it shapes.
Also things that would be cool or like to see is Dynamic weather events. Tornados, floods, windstorms, etc. These would add an interesting dynamic to play, housing and land management. Also can be used as seasonal blocks much like the ice blocking the doorway. For example a flooded cave, or a drought on a smaller body of water/near a port node.
Also the distance scaling between details of grass up close vs in the distance. I know ive seen some chat on this so hopefully it makes it on the radar.
The Wolves of Verra
are recruiting: https://discord.gg/4bFySwxS
One thing i noticed is that the clouds/sky was nothing eye catching. It looked very "normal" as in real life.
I dont know if you are going for the in real life clouds/weather types or are you thinking about mixing real life with fantasy?
How many times have you not stop doing something just to admire the beautiful view/sky/clouds in real life? The strong colors, the beautiful moon, amazing sunsets.. you are just thinking to urselfe... Wow... that looks amazing.
If you are going with a mix of real life and fantasy in both weather and the sky.. i cant imagine what beautiful skies and clouds you can create for the world of Verra. The colors and details you showed for the Riverlands is amazing and if details and colors like that is put into the sky... you can make breathtaking skies
I will post pictures of both in real life skies and fantasy ones that i think would be amazing to see in Verra
I dont know the story for this world or how it is supossed to look like so this is just suggestion and ideas =]
Maybe this ideas dont fit in Verra.. but i think they look beautiful
This 3 pictures are taken from World of Warcraft, expansion Shadowlands. Zone: Ardenweald and Bastion.
World of warcraft , especialy on the latest expansion Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands have some really amazing/beautiful/weird looking skies and clouds. I would love to see something like this in the world of Verra.
This pictures here have alot of strong colors mixed and blended together to create a beautiful eye catching sky and clouds.
Would be amazing to see the Milky Way clear and strong as in this pictures. The Milky way can also be in different shapes and colours to create an amazing fantasy sky.
The northern lights (Aurora borealis) and all kinds of different colours added to them.
I dont know if we will be able to se other planets from the sky, but i think stuff like this looks cool. ^^
Clouds that have special shapes/forms and colours. And maybe sometimes there is a cloud that looks like something like for example an animal
Strong colored moons that reflects the colour to the clouds and maybe even the land gets the color of the moon (like when its about to be a storm the place you stand in will be more grey just like the thunder storm in riverlands video, but if the moon had a strong purple color to it the enviroment would turn abit like faded purple, nothing that overpower the colors of the enviroment ofc, its hard to describe, Kinda like the purple picture bellow, you can see that even the grass gets abit purple because of the moonlight).
Moon that "bleeds".
Moon/planet on the sky that is shattered.
Would be beautiful to see clouds closer to the ground and not only hight up where u cant reach them.
People that have flying mount can fly through them if they like. Its hard to describe but the visual of this clouds are like the pictures ^^.
Would love to see a huge large moon/planet coming up from the horizon..that would really look breathtaking!
I dont know how the world is, does it have an edge like: this is as far as you can go before getting to an invisibe wall? If so it would be amazing to go to this invisible wall end and just look at the moon/planet slowly appearing.. like the pictures. And at the end you see this huge moon/planet on the skies.
In World of Warcraft when you fight Illidan Stormrage you can see a huge moon/planet with clouds, and that looks kinda amazing
Another idea if we could be near an invisible wall/the edge of the map, would be to see a cloud appearing so close to you like the picture in the bottom right corner. Hard to describe. Would be amazing to sit there with ur character and just admire the beautiful sky/cloud and view.
Sunlight beams would be amazing to see in the game. imagine a sunlight beam above a metropolis when there is a cloudy weather
World of Warcraft - Shadowlands, zone: Revendreth makes this kind of sunlight beams that looks very good, and in the battleground warsong gulch remastered (Retail World of Warcraft Night elf base) they shows nice looking sunlight beams.
Storm with cool cloud form and different colours.
Storm clouds that takes abstract shapes of animals like the picture of a storm phoenix.
Storm clouds that makes a shape around something like an lightning/arcane shield like the picture on the right bottom. If you enter this place you will take maybe a tiking damage? It can be an event that has some nice loot around the island that ppl have to fight over while thinking about the tiking damage or maybe a world boss has spawned on this island? So be ready to bring healers and health pots or lightning/arcane resistance scrolls/pots?
Beautiful sunsets and sunsets that reflects it color on the water. The colors can be any color to make stuff beautiful and intresting.
Some other random ideas for skies and clouds.
Fantasy Rain - I would really love to see other rain forms then in real life rain.
Arcane rain, Arcane dust rain, Abstract feather looking rain, Round particle rain that floats lightly in the air. Starshower rain, Rain with the colors as yellow/red lava, volcano/ash rain, light/fire/arcane rain that floats in the air and so on
World of Warcraft does this fantasy particle rain so good. If you go to Shadowlands and the area Ardenweald and Bastion you will see the intresting arcane/starshower rain and the light round particle rain and also the fire/arcane rain.
I dont know if every zone will have a different sky astetic as in other games, if so there can be alot of diversity in every zone. Like the "lavalands" can have a bleeding moon and other zones have fantasy skies and clouds that can fit the astetic of the land.
If the world only has the same looking skies wherever you are then maybe the skies and clouds will change to different looks as a schedule that fits the weather. Example, at night it can take the look of Ardenweald skies.
and other nights it can look like Aurora borealis skies and other times like the Milky Way. And maybe at winter the planet where Verra is has moved around an orbit that now lets the ppl of Verra see another planet in the skies.
This can make the skies intresting like the seasons on the ground. Every season and weather will look different on the sky as well on the ground. Makes you wanna explore and look at the skies.
As I am passionate about how this game is going I am super excited for things to come, here I am!
I think seasons being at least 2 weeks would be good since it gives time for casuals to do what they need but also doesn't take forever for the more hardcore players to do new stuff, It'll also make everything stay fresh and keep the economy going. It would add towards the community doing things together as the seasons progressively change especially in guilds!
I do however think that winter seems to be very lacking, lots of the snow looks like patchy blobs and I think a smoother transition between the chunks and the ground would look more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
All the other seasons are beautiful.
For the teleporting, main cities having a main point to teleport to should be fine, since we will have mounts etc, depending on the speed/size of the maps possibly some key points as well. Kind of like Black Desert but being able to teleport to the cities instead of auto running on horse the entire way. It would also give the illusion of cities having much more traffic/life going in/out of gates.
Many more ideas come to mind but I will comment on future videos!
You guys are doing an amazing job, keep it up!
-Naruir
Variation in the weather. Light Rain - Drizzle > Normal Rain > Heavy Rain obscuring vision - storm clouds
Weather should change visibility and lighting!
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
I think the system looks great so far.
Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
Red Dead Online has really cosy rain and lighting.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
I hope there's plenty of extreme weather conditions to give some danger and variety to the normal expected weather patterns.
Being out at sea on a boat should be frightening during an unexpected storm. Heavy snowfall or a blizzard should limit visibility and make zones feel epic. Show the full strength of mother nature.
- Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
Should there be an impact on day / night cycle during different seasons?
- Long vs. short days / nights depending on the season
- This could have an impact on the sense of danger that different seasons impose
- i.e. winter could have longer / darker nights which can increase the sense of danger when traveling
The render distance looks pretty low
- This impacts both the sky and the ground
- Increasing the render distance in the sky could allow some incredible high contrast weather phenomenon. i.e. image huge clouds in the distance with god rays. Or lightning going off in the distance that gives a sense of foreboding
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- I’d love to see some storms get so intense and pitch black you can’t see anything in front of you.
- Musical changes depending on weather / zone
- Increased character risk in severe weather (cold etc).
- Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
One week feels like too short a time per season. The seasons should be long enough that the average player has the ability to spend time in that season and feel the emotional impact of that season on gameplay. I think there is a risk to the emotional and gameplay impact of a given season is diminished if they cycle through too quickly. This also gives the player the ability to “learn” how the seasons impact the gameplay since for any given season the player spends more time getting familiar with the season and the impacts the season has on the surrounding gameplay. Extending the season also provides an opportunity for gameplay that deepens the players relationship with that given season. For example, by having more seasonally triggered events over a longer duration of time, it builds more excitement for the next time the season rolls around
member of Gray Sentinels
Combining the fog with the sun-lighting-effects which shine through like in the woods it shines through the trees would be even more epic.
Or maybe there is a 'fairy' type of season / weather where you feel like you're one with nature, everything is very colorful, the hue is crazy.
I want to see these artists really shock us and give us those pictures for our backgrounds and those pictures that will attract lots of people to come try the game.
that could have some really cool consequences. Then it would be the agriculture node
**What aspects of weather in-game are important to you?
Weather channels, weather talks over coffee. Weather is so relevant to many of us.
In real life weather will affect our plans almost all the time.
Weather will determine our crops and travel options.
Adding fantasy/magical aspect to it in the virtual world we can only make it more “Fun”
Weather in-game is important but only if it can change world dynamics. If it’s just for the visual aspects it doesn’t matter.
Of course we would like the weather to be tailored for specific Bioms.
**Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
It’s hard to say at this stage. Would have to wait for more either information or presentation
**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’m not going to try to find a specific game for it but there are small projects/showcases for engines where people try to show what you can do with different weather conditions.
For example : How rain and affects open fire on torches, how wind can spread fire faster on vegetation,
How snow affects speed, can you skid on the ice? Can the ice collapse if affected by heat?
Storm and Thunders, can they destroy the environment, set on fire, can lighting kill a character or npc randomly?
**Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
Excited with the weather/seasons actually working at this stage
Concerned on how influential the weather system is. For example a hot lava and lighting preventing people from crossing certain regions unless they are equipped with some resistance gear/buff.
Maybe thats overkill, but if I saw a tornado barreling towards me while I was farming I would laugh really hard.
Also, extraplanar invasion, like the Upside Down from Stranger Things, or the Shadow that Frodo sees when he puts on The Ring.
1. Aesthetics
2. Immersion
3. Most importantly, it has to feel IMPACTFUL. Think about real life, you don't go out in the snow with shorts on, you wouldnt walk for miles in the desert, youd make sure to harvest your crops in spring etc.
Draw from real life and I think don't be afraid to look to survival games for inspiration. People love these games but they never have enough "meat on the bones" for people to stick. You could tap into this market by making the most out of your weather system.
Do you feel anything is missing from the weather system that we’ve shared so far?
1. Rare weather events -tsunamis, tornados, thunderstorms, dust storms, forest fires etc.
2. Overall the aesthetics were great but the clumps of snow in the winter definitely need a revisit, they were immersion breaking
3. In a word, consequences.
A)How will the weather affect my character and what I had planned to do.
C) Will weather affect where you might want to reside?
D) Are winters more harsh in the north?
E) Does the heat from a metropolis melt nearby snow or does the pollution cause clouds that increase rain in the summer?
F) does the summar dry up river beds and make previously inaccessible areas now accessible? Does the spring rain create new streams and water travel routes?
Are there types of weather in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes the weather in those games good?
Valheim sailing in a storm or when the sun finally pops out is just the best thing that's ever happened. It feels like an adventure and honestly I contribute this single aspect to the whole games success.
Is there anything you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the weather system?
What concerns me the most is the longevity of each season. I think it has to be 1 or 3 months per season. They must last a reasonable length of time to hold any real weight within the game. A transient season is nothing more than an expensive reskin every week.
Seasons should impact player choices and be something they can plan for, look forward to and could be an amazing customisation option. E.g. I could invest my resources and build my class specifically around living and fighting during the winter. Wearing frost resistant clothes, setting my freehold up somewhere high in the mountains and specialising in frost magic to become a true ice maiden.
I think if seasons are long enough you can also gate content in a natural and immersive way. You touched on this with the frozen up ice cave, but it can be so much more than this. Think ice bridges, icebergs, island appearances, underground tunnels and everything that can spawn alongside this. This system is fantastic and can be built upon so long as the core architecture is setup as you mean to go on.
New World had thematic color tones and background sounds to zones that distinctly differentiated them from other areas, would love to see that.
Would be awesome if each cycle they could target a node with a season. This way you could give your enemy node an eternal winter, or your own node a constant spring.
My advice is to take a quick poll of what types of seasons the players want to see in the game world. There are probably fans all over the world that can give deep insight into this issue if you ask them.
For feedback, For the average " only play on week-ends " player, which i believe are an important mass of players, 1 week could be kind of short to really experience it / to explore a specific biome roughly in it's entirety, if that's even possible on one week-end, without looking totaly different next week.
I think that 2 weeks could be a great duration for each season but not on the entire map. If the whole map was on 2 weeks for each season, you would have to wait 6 weeks for a specific season to comeback ( which imply specific events / ressources / etc... ), i think that is waaaaay too long.
My suggestion is to split the map in two " hemispheres " just like our dear Earth. With each side having opposing seasons ( Winter / Summer, Spring / Fall ). For each side you still need to wait 6 weeks for a season to comeback but this time it's only two on the other side of the map
(I believe the map is split in the middle by an ocean so maybe you can do east / west opposing seasons, it's up to you)
With that system it encourages transporting ressources from one side of the map to the other for profit, may you be a merchant
No idea if you guys planned to do something similar or just one season on the whole map, but i believe this could be great to make the world feel more " alive " and dynamic
Edit : No idea if someone already posted it, haven't read previous replies, sorry if that's the case, cheers