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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.
Leveraging Community-Driven Content Creation for Accelerated Development in Ashes of Creation
DottorMorte
Member, Alpha Two
Hello, fellow Ashes of Creation community members!
In the recent AMA, the Intrepid Studios team mentioned their intention to collaborate with external companies to develop animations, assets, and other graphic elements for the game. While this is a common and sensible strategy to accelerate development, I would like to propose an alternative approach that could not only enrich the game but also exponentially speed up the creation of missing assets: organizing open creative contests.
1. Exponentially Accelerating Asset and Animation Creation
Imagine being able to multiply the speed at which necessary assets for Ashes of Creation are developed: this is what the community could offer. Organizing open contests for the creation of biomes, classes, races, armors, weapons, creatures, NPCs, bosses, and much more would allow for a wide range of resources to be obtained in significantly less time. Instead of relying on a single external team, Intrepid could benefit from the creativity and dedication of thousands of fans. This process could generate a much larger quantity of ready-to-use assets than what a single studio could produce, leading to a remarkable acceleration in the overall development of the game.
2. Involving the Community in Fundamental Aspects of the Game
Another crucial aspect is community involvement. Allowing fans to directly contribute to the creation of the game not only increases their sense of belonging and commitment but also makes them an integral part of Ashes of Creation's development. This kind of involvement is priceless: players no longer feel like mere consumers but rather as true co-creators of the game world. This could also foster positive word-of-mouth, attracting new players eager to be part of such an interactive and dynamic community.
3. Creating a Vast Number of Ready-to-Use Assets
Organizing creative contests would lead to the creation of a vast number of ready-to-use assets. Imagine how many brilliant ideas could emerge from a global competition: a rich and diverse resource database could be created, ready to be integrated into the game. Additionally, even non-winning assets could still be useful, with Intrepid having the option to purchase these materials at a fixed cost, further expanding the available resources.
4. Saving Time and Money
Finally, there is potential for saving both time and money. While an external collaboration often requires long phases of briefing, review, and iteration, the contest approach would allow for the simultaneous development of a large number of assets. Additionally, a model that offers prizes for the winners (e.g., 10 contests with €10,000 each) and compensation for non-winning assets could be more cost-effective than commissioning everything to external companies. This method could significantly speed up the game's development while keeping costs under control.
Conclusion
In summary, I believe that organizing creative contests open to the community could be a winning strategy for Ashes of Creation. It would not only provide a wide range of ready-to-use resources but also strengthen the bond between the game and its players, making them active participants in the development process. I hope Intrepid Studios considers this proposal and paves the way for a new level of interaction with its community.
What do you think, adventurers?
Would you like to see the community involved in this way?
Eg. contest in the first comment
In the recent AMA, the Intrepid Studios team mentioned their intention to collaborate with external companies to develop animations, assets, and other graphic elements for the game. While this is a common and sensible strategy to accelerate development, I would like to propose an alternative approach that could not only enrich the game but also exponentially speed up the creation of missing assets: organizing open creative contests.
1. Exponentially Accelerating Asset and Animation Creation
Imagine being able to multiply the speed at which necessary assets for Ashes of Creation are developed: this is what the community could offer. Organizing open contests for the creation of biomes, classes, races, armors, weapons, creatures, NPCs, bosses, and much more would allow for a wide range of resources to be obtained in significantly less time. Instead of relying on a single external team, Intrepid could benefit from the creativity and dedication of thousands of fans. This process could generate a much larger quantity of ready-to-use assets than what a single studio could produce, leading to a remarkable acceleration in the overall development of the game.
2. Involving the Community in Fundamental Aspects of the Game
Another crucial aspect is community involvement. Allowing fans to directly contribute to the creation of the game not only increases their sense of belonging and commitment but also makes them an integral part of Ashes of Creation's development. This kind of involvement is priceless: players no longer feel like mere consumers but rather as true co-creators of the game world. This could also foster positive word-of-mouth, attracting new players eager to be part of such an interactive and dynamic community.
3. Creating a Vast Number of Ready-to-Use Assets
Organizing creative contests would lead to the creation of a vast number of ready-to-use assets. Imagine how many brilliant ideas could emerge from a global competition: a rich and diverse resource database could be created, ready to be integrated into the game. Additionally, even non-winning assets could still be useful, with Intrepid having the option to purchase these materials at a fixed cost, further expanding the available resources.
4. Saving Time and Money
Finally, there is potential for saving both time and money. While an external collaboration often requires long phases of briefing, review, and iteration, the contest approach would allow for the simultaneous development of a large number of assets. Additionally, a model that offers prizes for the winners (e.g., 10 contests with €10,000 each) and compensation for non-winning assets could be more cost-effective than commissioning everything to external companies. This method could significantly speed up the game's development while keeping costs under control.
Conclusion
In summary, I believe that organizing creative contests open to the community could be a winning strategy for Ashes of Creation. It would not only provide a wide range of ready-to-use resources but also strengthen the bond between the game and its players, making them active participants in the development process. I hope Intrepid Studios considers this proposal and paves the way for a new level of interaction with its community.
What do you think, adventurers?
Would you like to see the community involved in this way?
Eg. contest in the first comment
1
Comments
Objective
Intrepid Studios invites the community to participate in a contest focused on creating ready-to-use assets for three distinct biomes in Ashes of Creation: Tundra, Flood Plains, and Badlands. This contest is designed to accelerate the development process by sourcing high-quality, game-ready assets that can be directly implemented in Unreal Engine 5.x.
Contest Categories
Participants can submit their work in one or more of the following categories for each biome:
Tundra Biome:
Landscape Assets (terrain, textures, etc.): €3,000
Vegetation Assets (trees, plants, etc.): €3,000
Creature Models and Animations: €4,000
Flood Plains Biome:
Landscape Assets (terrain, water dynamics, textures, etc.): €3,000
Vegetation Assets (wetland plants, etc.): €3,000
Creature Models and Animations: €4,000
Badlands Biome:
Landscape Assets (rock formations, terrain textures, etc.): €3,000
Vegetation Assets (desert plants, etc.): €3,000
Creature Models and Animations: €4,000
Submission Requirements
Asset Type: Submissions must include game-ready 3D models, textures, animations, and any necessary shaders compatible with Unreal Engine 5.x.
File Format: All assets should be submitted in formats compatible with Unreal Engine (e.g., .uasset, .fbx, .png for textures).
Optimization: Assets must be optimized for in-game performance, including proper LODs (Level of Detail) and efficient polygon counts.
Documentation: Include brief documentation on how to implement the assets within Unreal Engine, along with any relevant technical details.
Prizes Distribution
For each biome, the total prize pool is €10,000, distributed across the following categories:
Grand Prize in Each Category: The top submission in each category (Landscape, Vegetation, Creatures) for each biome will receive the respective prize amount.
Runner-Up Prizes: Additional standout submissions in each category may be purchased by Intrepid Studios at a predetermined price.
Deadline: All submissions must be uploaded by [Insert Date] via the official contest portal.
Why not?
potential lack of quality in general, lack of internal quality control and styling guidelines/art direction, and potential legal issues that can arise from using the creations of others in this game or potential future expansions or new games. If they wanted to do some one-off thing where someone from the community gets to work with the designers/artists to create a unique in-game asset of some sort (weapon, piece of armor, etc) then that'd be a different discussion. But asking the community to make assets and submit those for use in the game is something that most devs won't want to do because of the potential problems that can arise. There have even been issues arise from studios actually hiring freelancers for contract work.
So it's a no from me, Chief.
This.