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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.
The desert biome is real... right??
Toothpaste
Member, Alpha Two
This is going to sound crazy and the information may be dismissed because of where it came from. But, the recent Narc stream revealed some concerning information that I am not really sure how to process or what to think of it. He showed us some evidence that the Desert zone that the showcase took place in was not a real area in the game and was created last minute because the node siege/ guild war stream was delayed. The 4 pieces of evidence he showed were the lack of a mini map, the location at the top showed that Steven was suppose to be in Lionhold, the water physics were not active, and there was an area in the background that was flat and featureless.
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In every other showcase that Intrepid has shown us, there has been a mini map in the upper right-hand corner. However, for some reason, there was no mini map displayed in this showcase. The mini map was hidden. Maybe Intrepid did not want to reveal too much about the Desert because there is already an almost complete map Riverlands map floating around composed of mini map images. Or maybe its because if they showed the mini map, it would reveal that the area they were in was surrounded by nothing.
Questionably, the area the showcase took place in was called Lionhold. But, we know Lionhold to be located in the Riverlands biome. Was the location of Lionhold moved to the desert and this is new information? Or is there something they are trying to hide?
In the above screenshot we can see that even though Steven and the Mob are walking through water, the water is not interacting with their movement. This could be because of the game build that is being used in this showcase does not have the water physics enabled.
The last piece of evidence that was presented was the this 1 second snippet of an area. At the 14:09 - 14:11 time stamp of the showcase upload, you can see in the background for a split second that there is a flat featureless area. The reason why this is weird is because features is something that AoC is not lacking. In all of the other showcases, everything we have seen is rich and dense with foliage, terrain detail, depth. Even things that are off in the distance that you might think are out of the field of view still show detail. EXCEPT for this area... yes, strange, I know....
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The reason why I think this is concerning is because this is obviously not a real place. The showcase area was slapped together last minute and is not a true representation of what the desert biome will actually look like. The Sandsquall desert is suppose to be one of the places we are to test in A2. Why did they not just show us a small section of the Sandsquall desert? Obviously its because the desert biome is not ready to be shown, but is that not concerning when A2 is 3-5 months away? Why did they even bother showing the desert? Do minotaurs also inhabit the desert? This showcase should have just taken place in the Riverlands, that would have raised less questions.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In every other showcase that Intrepid has shown us, there has been a mini map in the upper right-hand corner. However, for some reason, there was no mini map displayed in this showcase. The mini map was hidden. Maybe Intrepid did not want to reveal too much about the Desert because there is already an almost complete map Riverlands map floating around composed of mini map images. Or maybe its because if they showed the mini map, it would reveal that the area they were in was surrounded by nothing.
Questionably, the area the showcase took place in was called Lionhold. But, we know Lionhold to be located in the Riverlands biome. Was the location of Lionhold moved to the desert and this is new information? Or is there something they are trying to hide?
In the above screenshot we can see that even though Steven and the Mob are walking through water, the water is not interacting with their movement. This could be because of the game build that is being used in this showcase does not have the water physics enabled.
The last piece of evidence that was presented was the this 1 second snippet of an area. At the 14:09 - 14:11 time stamp of the showcase upload, you can see in the background for a split second that there is a flat featureless area. The reason why this is weird is because features is something that AoC is not lacking. In all of the other showcases, everything we have seen is rich and dense with foliage, terrain detail, depth. Even things that are off in the distance that you might think are out of the field of view still show detail. EXCEPT for this area... yes, strange, I know....
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The reason why I think this is concerning is because this is obviously not a real place. The showcase area was slapped together last minute and is not a true representation of what the desert biome will actually look like. The Sandsquall desert is suppose to be one of the places we are to test in A2. Why did they not just show us a small section of the Sandsquall desert? Obviously its because the desert biome is not ready to be shown, but is that not concerning when A2 is 3-5 months away? Why did they even bother showing the desert? Do minotaurs also inhabit the desert? This showcase should have just taken place in the Riverlands, that would have raised less questions.
The Steven giveth and the Steven taketh away
2
Comments
So if we discard the Lionhold argument for a sec (it is a good argument though), there's a chance that the "empty" spot was just desert.
Now, the chances of this are reaaaaal fucking low, but the possibility is still there.
The game itself is at 40% and that is too optimistic, since this project is too ambitious, they are creating a hybrid combat system, node system, naval, etc.
The class system is still in prototype, they lack too much, but they have made a lot of progress.
Approximate launch date, 2028/30 for this type of project.
All this judging by the dev stream. But they are hiring a lot of people as Steven says, so the process will speed up more according to that logic.
Could be that it was done to prevent Spoilers(?) by not showing the actual Desert Region. And then again, Yes. It is not yet done and finished. This could very well make it unfit to serve in a Presentation right now.
For me it would be concerning if the Alpha Two wouldn't* come no matter how finished or unfinished the Game might be. It was announced -> so it should come sometime sooner or later.
No matter if the Game is finished +90% or just +50%. It is for testing anyway, right ? It is not nowhere near a Beta right now, right ?
I know that without " Tests " - a VideoGame of a bigger Scale to gigantic Scale - > will never get finished anyway. And the Alpha Two is supposed to be just that. Tests so the Developers gain hopefully most useful Data and Feedback.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
Intrepid, WE DID NOT PAY TO BE YOUR TESTERS!
Oh wait, yes we did. Never mind.
Imo this is the vibe of someone looking at it like they are getting a game and not a alpha. Narc has plenty of bad takes as well, even more so recently imo based on his perspective on things.
Lets give him the full benefit of doubt and say his guess is right. It really doesn't change anything as they are developing the area / level in a controlled environment for whatever reasonings in relation to development. That doesn't mean the work put in that area / level isn't going to just be moved over.
I could come up with tons of reasoning , but you can't help someone that is taking a magnifying glass with their goal being so desperate for content. Imagine being surprised things are unfinished or in a very development like form general people won't get from pre alpha.
So yeah, that is whats weird, right? The area was obviously not in a presentable condition, so why bother presenting it then? The showcase could have just been in the Riverlands, no questions asked. And if it were done to prevent spoilers, then that should have been mentioned during the stream. Because now, from what we've seen, it makes us question how far along they are in development.
We develop things using test areas all the time.
My artist had an idea based on the Ashes skybox demo and has mocked up an entire area to test something in a day just to see how it would look, and try out some stuff.
It's a good thing, it's no more wasted time than a catchup meeting or something. Sometimes it's more effective to work up a demo than to even have such a meeting, so to me, all good.
Also, it's UE5. You literally don't need to do anything, there's a (relatively complex?) way to just 'tell it to make an area like that' with a bit of guidance, now. If you wanted to run lighting tests, the ground area wouldn't matter except for the materials, so, good job, Intrepid.
I'd have made another Giant Pile of Gushing Praise post actually, but I was reminded tangentially of exactly this potential point (by similar things that I noted), so decided to save all my gushing praise for whenever the 'more likely to be real' desert is shown.
As much of a skeptic as I am, there is a limit to how far you can take said skepticism. Considering what they've shown of their tool control and availability - having this WIP version already indicates that they can slap together a region-specific location and make it somewhat work.
And Riverlands have already shown the polish that they can do to that slapped together location. We simply saw a location w/o said polish. And that polish is missing because it's silly to polish shit at this stage.
If anything, I'd say that the current polish of Riverlands has most likely set them back months of "proper" development of the game, just because Steven wants to walk the razor's edge of "we need to show something good every month, while also somehow keep developing the game itself".
Right right, I think you have a good point there. This does show that they are able to slap something together quickly, that works. And thats good because it shows they have made the tools needed to populate and dress the different biomes.
You are right, I think you make a great point. They are capable of throwing together a demo quickly for testing/showcasing purposes and that is a positive thing that their team is capable of doing that.
I guess I am feeling that if it were a test area and they knew that they were demoing an area, they should have told us instead of trying to pass it as an in-game area.
Could be that it has to do with People a few Times asking inside the last Months that Sir Steven and his Crew show off a different Biome than always just the Riverlands.
And in the Desert - > there is not so much in the way of the Moonlight. Not many Tree's around. Just some Rockformations.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
It is an in-game area, it's just not done. Steven spent ten minutes at several sections of the update specifically telling folks to expect an Alpha - not a game.
So I'm not sure where the 'should have' is coming from...? Don't confuse a transparent development methodology with an entitlement to be told everything all the time.
The evidence I presented suggests that it is not an in-game area. I understand that it is an alpha, not an eastern port and not a finished game. From the evidence I presented, it is clear that the showcase area was was not part-of or connected to the same map/world/build that we see from the Riverlands. The evidence suggests that the showcased area was a demo-island, surrounded by flat featureless nothingness. If it was a demo area and not part of the actual in-game map then I find that as a misleading attempt at marketing the desert.
It was in-game enough to demo the skybox and lighting changes and the Weapon Skills.
damn, that's how you make content out of thin air xDDD
1- Anyway, why is it a concern that this area inst finished? most of the areas arent
2- its not a fake area, its a real one. it exists, we saw it. wether it stays in the game or not or gets modified that remains to be seen. it was shown maybe because in every stream, people complain that they have only seen one area.
3- do you or narc (without googling) have any idea of how a mini map works? what I mean by that is how does the info displayed in a mini map exists there? that will answer your questions.
Notice the missing elements in the second image do to if you lower loading frames. These cells are how the world is broken up and allows artist to work on the same level.
This is the loading line that will cut things off from player view with the lower loading range
Im not even saying this is 100% right, there is tons of technical elements that can lead to not seeing the full image. This is alpha development and they are showing you raw things, and might also not want you to see all the more dirty details.
This is why i keep saying if you are trying to look for BAD ELEMENTS to make a narrative that things are faked. You have already convinced your mind you are looking for it and will tie anything to it. Without actually knowing anything technical about the game engine. Or doing some research. Its a bad take and spread misinformation.
If anything, this serves as evidence that some content creator's 'content' needs to be taken with more critical lens.
mag works at intrepid confirmed.
We are being mislead to believe that the area in the showcase is a playable in-game desert biome.
lmao
it could be an island that hasn't been shown to us yet and will be in the final game.
also, if it was an area made for the monthly streams,s o what? they are not saying "you will play in this area" and then remove it.
So... nothing they show us in the demos is truly "playable".
It's a test environment.
And this showcase was primarily about the skybox, the lighting, and the Wand Weapon Skills.
Background of Desert was nice, but in the dark.
Mislead? FFS go outside - it's an alpha-state demo not a congressional inquiry.
anyways I don't see why people watch narcs videos it's mostly all clickbait, hes got the personality of a washcloth and talking about ashes is the only way for him to get any attention cause no one covers the game due to the game covering itself already