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.
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.
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
Yes, but the point made that no one had replied to you was specifically being made to the fact that it was posted in April last year.
I'm not saying it can't run on consoles. Hell, most people will run the game at 1080p. My point was the top end will not be the highest grade possible if it is ported to consoles. My stance does not change at all and you will understand what I mean in the next generation of consoles.
I was but a wee lass during the console wars, followed by the PC/Console wars, followed by the 'FLOPS measuring contests'...
This thread takes me back to my childhood...
I don't think that will ever make sense because it's nonsense. The game being on consoles wouldn't stop Intrepid from making it the way they want and intend for it to be. There are countless examples of games with settings, effects, and even cutdown and missing game modes and features not available on consoles, so it's also simply untrue that consoles hold back what games are capable of, it all comes down to the developers and their resources. Alan Wake 2 has path tracing on PC and no ray tracing options at all on console for example. And Battlefield 3 back in the day had 64 player multiplayer on PC but only 24 player on consoles and larger maps than the console versions had. Again, there is zero technical reason that the game they're building right now as it's designed would not be able to run on the current consoles. There are far more technically demanding games running on them right now.
This is so true.. if graphics where that big of a deal for "most people" how come some indie games that look like they where made in 1980 become top played games.
Fun part is I played tons of games where the art style did not suite my needs but still game play was awesome. The beauty in an MMO is not the graphic.. its the way you can spend your time in game with friends and family
Because things like preferring high quality graphics aren't black and white like that. I can want AAA studios to push fidelity as much as possible and still enjoy stuff like Stardew Valley or Dwarf Fortress
It kinda is.. most people don't even know the differences between graphics and art style. If they push the boundaries of the graphics to max alot won't even be able to play the game, where if they create a style that suites most of the players a game wil last longer. Les chance of it looking out dated 2 years after launch.
It really isn't, and that's a huge assumption you're making. Let's see some proof that most people don't know the difference. Nothing else you said is relevant to what I said.
I agree. Graphics or art style are not top priority on what draws me into a game as it is the the quality of design in the game, systems and skill cap to play. A game could have the best graphics and coolest art style and still not appeal to me.
Pushing graphics boundaries forward isn't the role of new independent game developers.
You should be looking at Intrepid as being more like those indie game developers.
While I never said I was expecting Ashes to push graphical boundaries, this is definitely not some indie game being made in a garage by a few people. Intrepid is close to the size of a AAA studio. They have nearly 200 full time developers. Bethesda only had roughly 110 when Fallout 4 released in 2015 and I don't think anyone would argue that wasn't a AAA game.
What this game lacks is a mood. Everything looks and feels the same. Saturated colors are almost always present. There is no overcast, strong winds and rain, mist, storms, floods, snowstorms etc. That purple haze that is present in almost all biomes in distance is so immersion breaking too. Everything is sunshine and rainbows.
So you just haven't watched any of the videos showing off their weather system then? It's not as in-depth as the weather system in Red Dead Redemption 2 but it's definitely a big step up from most other MMOs.
Also, who actually expects "floods" in a video game, especially in an MMO? lol talk about unrealistic expectations.
AAA games have exponentially larger development teams than Ashes has.
GTA5 had over a thousand people working on it.
While Ashes isn't Dwarf Fortress sized in terms of development team, it is closer to that than it is to GTA5's development team.
Rockstar games are an exception, not the norm. The only other games that come close that amount of manpower and resources are some Ubisoft games and Call of Duty. Most AAA games are made by studios less than half the size of Rockstar.
I do like how you ignored the fact that Bethesda was smaller when Fallout 4 released than Intrepid is right now to try and make your point.
And in fact, this is what the Intrepid website says about their development team: Intrepid has assembled a veteran AAA team of tremendous talent and experience in the MMORPG industry.
And Bethesda games.
We have basically just outlined the AAA game market here though. There are a few others, but honestly not many.
What?
Take-Two Interactive, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Capcom, CD Projekt, Epic Games, Nintendo, Bandai Namco Entertainment, BioWare, Bungie, Gearbox Software, FromSoftware + a ton more im not listing.
IS being a newer studio most likely won't have the same resources, etc. But you can tell by their direction they are going for a triple A look. Doesn't mean people need to be obsessed with every detail looking the same quality as other games.
And Bethesda games what? BGS until very recently was a small studio making "AAA" games. They only had around 110 employees, not just developers, when Fallout 4 released and around 450 when Starfield released last year, many of whom aren't developers and the ones that are devs are working on other projects, like Fallout 76 and their new Elder Scrolls mobile game. Intrepid is bigger now than BGS was when Fallout 4 released and nobody is going to argue that Fallout 4 isn't a AAA game.
They flat out say they're AAA on their website lol people are literally just arguing to argue about this
Form some people ya, and some people just don't play games so they don't know what studios there are.
On top of that, they didn't consider themselves big enough to tackle an MMORPG.
Fact is, Intrepid is a small studio if you want to compare it to actual studios making AAA games - but they are actually tiny when you compare them to the teams spread out over multiple studios that work on those same AAA games.
Expecting the same level of graphics is unrealistic. Expecting them to in any way push graphics forward is even worse.
May I remind you this is not a single player game, this is a MMO with massive castle sieges, hundreds of players running around at the same time using their spells and abilities. If the graphics are not "The BEST' I will be ok for the sake of gameplay, I mean that's what we want right? a good game.. otherwise buy a poster and stare at it.
Incorrect on all counts. Intrepid themselves say they're AAA by the way. It's literally on their website.
Intrepid say a lot of things that are borderline.
Sure, Intrepid want Ashes to he considered a AAA MMORPG. That doesn't mean they have a development team the size of other AAA games, nor does it mean players should expect cutting edge graphics - you should never expect cutting edge graphics in an MMORPG.
And I'm not trying to be negative or anything because I hope the game is a success, and I'm really excited to play the alpha 2, and I know not everything is about graphics... But... I see myself getting more interested in high-quality graphics with this new generation of games coming out from Unreal 5 since it's very ''realistic'' and beautiful compared to the previous generation... Like Chrono Odyssey, Archeage 2, Throne, and Liberty... The reason I'm still hyped about Ashes is due to the node system, caravan, ocean... Something I didn't find on those games (excluding Archeage 2 which is still to be released) Well, take your own conclusions, check for example throne and Liberty gameplay
Anyway, the game is still on Alpha, obviously, there's a lot to change but I really hope intrepid hires some good game designers, who can compete with the Korean gaming market... Because when it's about game design, graphics, they are the best (excluding monetization haha)
You can't say they have good game design while excluding monetization as that is built into their design. Their game design is debatable.
Also AoC and other games are trying to do two different things both will have some form of limitation\. Seasons for example will be cool but at the cost of some more generic looking elements.
AoC art is on the right track and will be where it needs to be on release, and ill always agree great animations are important though.