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
If someone isn't satisfied with timelines, or the fact the game is going to be available 5 days a week from December, then I really don't want what to tell them beyond: "Take a deep breath, the game is nowhere finished and MORE delays are bound to happen".
Blown past falling sands…
You are reflecting bud on the winning I'm just responding to your terrible takes. I understanding perfectly well but you are out here trying to convince people they lied / changed plans and saying alpha 2 isn't persistent. Its extremely silly, laughable actually.
They would have to fully remove alpha being persistent or atleast make it years down the line and only have it be like that at the end. For you to be standing on this kind of point.
Ill just be blunt, you are being a joke right now and whining pretty much. Their time frame is pretty fair. But at the same time there is no point taking you this serious because you will also complain at delays and prob say they are lying again or something.
You won't admit it but you are looking at this as a early access expectations and not alpha expectations (expectations is the key word). Its a dumb take.
Pretty much. The first few months are going to be rough and it seems like a lot of people here aren't grasping just how rough it will actually be.
You included.
It’s gonna be very very rough, and there’s also the simple but important thing to remember, Steven isn’t a game developer by trade, so he also came into this with no idea how long it’d take, or the nitty gritty (buggy as all hell) reality of game development.
I think attributing the missteps in communication and the delays to malice instead of plain ol’ inexperience is doing a disservice to a team that’s clearly passionate about making an enjoyable game.
Agreed, I don't think there's been anything malicious done on Intrepid's part either. As you said, it's just miscommunication and/or a lack of communication along with inexperience with a project of this scope/scale.
Disappointed? Yes. Do I think they can still make the game? Yes. Its just taking longer, and I feel like one reason is they keep hiring more people. maybe thats just a hot take, but that speed up after the lag I remember Steven talking about when hiring people doesnt seem to have happened and might even be the cause for this all.
This is the issue with transparent development though in allowing people to see soo much.
Especially to a first time game dev.
I don't care but I would not say no one. Even a number of backers are upset with many things that have happened since the close of the persistent A1 testing month. They feel how they feel and are as invested as anyone about this game and should be heard.
This is true but Steven makes plans to upgrade to UE5.4. That will be a slow down as things will need to be changed to integrate it.
I understand that and I have tried messing around in UE5 myself a bit. I just dont feel like the teams are melding into the studio as cleanly as steven hopes. That makes more sense than them slacking off and why they misjudged the time needed for alpha to be ready. At least in my mind.
What proof do you have for this?
Then dont call those spottests alpha 2 and noone gets pissed lol .....
Oh you caught me. I was just making up my feelings and thoughts on how it might be that way. Sorry sir I wont post my thoughts and feelings without proof again. whatever that means.
It's just the tools and assets that come with UE4 and UE5 are pretty amazing.
And the world building -especially with UE5- is beautiful right out of the box.
It's common these days for me to see a UE5 announcement trailer and think, "That's a world I want to live in and explore!"
I realized a couple years ago that pretty much any UE5 environment is going to be beautiful. The NPCs will look great. Doesn't necessarily mean the gameplay will be great.
And it also doesn't mean that dev teams will be able to complete their games successfully in 5 years or less.
(Especially if you have ambitious gamplay designs.)
I dunno that I would call weekly testing that lasts 5 days each week "spot testing".
Also, that is pretty much what I would want for Alpha testing.
Alpha 2 being 24/7 was always a desire that was too ambitious from an experienced game dev perspective - obviously a hopium dream for a gamer recently turned producer/creative director.
Server meshing is the goal. And I hoped so much for Intrepid to go for it! Since Star Citizen Con 2023 (who, in the gaming field, would diregard such tech?). The promise of MMOs was always for you to be able to meet anybody, whatever that entails. Good or bad. The human factor.
Server meshing is that new tech, it needs to be proven.
I am sure Intrepid corrected its course to implement server meshing since then.
New techs takes time.
A2 is now split into phases.
A2-P1 will stress the hell out of Intrepid's version of server meshing.
A2-P2 SHOLD be when they figure out where the biggest iccups happens.
Past that? I expect delay.
New techs means delay. I've spent 250$ because AoC seemed to listen the feedbacks. Remember the fighter's big glowy hammer?
Or more specifically, Crowfall? They were so full of themselves. You had to find a guild before you'd hop into the game. Solo was not an option. A failure right in the shell. Intrepid listen to feedbacks.
AoC is on a good track. With delays, again and again, but on a good track.
Sure they try to squeeze money out of it, and I won't blame them. Of course you'd need extra money to develop such tech.
I backed knowingly. It's a bet, and I could afford it.
If I can log in during A2-P1 I'll be happy! Then I might get disconnected untill next weekend ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I tossed my money to them because I (thnik I) know what they try to do. And I fully support it.
to clarify i did not saying they were slacking. I said it makes more sense that the added people to the project not falling into sync as well as steven hoped makes more sense to me than them slacking off.
ok let me reword, what is making you FEEL "teams are not melding into the studio as cleanly as steven hopes"
What is your reasoning.
I think that is the overriding factor in all the delays!
Right will get me tin hat on now
The real reason is just that software development is extremely difficult and unforeseen problems arise that cause delays. It doesn't matter if your team is "in sync" perfectly or if they're the most intelligent and experienced developers in the world.
My reasoning as someone who got into my own little game project a few years ago, is that when new people join a project they bring ideas, differences in strengths, personalities, etc. These are all wrenches that get tossed into the machine, and I can only assume this happens on a larger scale the more people you introduce. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but there is definitely a loading on period for new hires to get into the grove and perform at a point where they are not slowing down the process for the whole.
So it feels like they are making progress, but its being bogged down lately and clearly not the speed they had in mind when they announced Q3 Alpha. This is what I feel is the heart of the problem, not necessarily a money or skill issue. The only skill issue here is their communication with us. ( I say that in a very light manner, because frankly its better than most games do anyway.)
Probably would not be having all of this angst had they not treated it like a product and instead treated it more like it really is. Donation in exchange for insight to game development with folks figuring it out and learning as they go, all under an NDA. Probably should have treated this Alpha 2 as such and kept it under NDA, but I get they are trying to also grow the community and market this product of the future, likely a distant future at that. Alpha 1 was generally acceptable, and I think the most they were able to demonstrate was the speed in taking feedback and making changes. Hope that continues.
Ya for any job there is a training period that is how it works. More so on new people getting use to the pipeline, their work flows and getting their bench mark. All things I'm aware of since I work in the entertainment industry as a artist..
Personally i don't feel they need to communicate every single detail, if they have a plan for alpha 2 they will show it when they are ready and have fully made it (which they did)
This idea people have they need to communicate every single detail of their development makes no sense and sounds like a huge way to waste a lot of time. This confusion some people people have saying transparency is them telling you all details about their development, is just used for they can post rage bait.