The desert biome is real... right??

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.

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Depraved

Mag7spy wrote: »

Now that I've gone over the fact about its not a big deal if for some reason narc is 100% right, lets look from another angle

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.

mag works at intrepid confirmed.

Toothpaste

Dygz wrote: »

Why is it misleading?
It was in-game enough to demo the skybox and lighting changes and the Weapon Skills.

We are being mislead to believe that the area in the showcase is a playable in-game desert biome.

Mag7spy

Depraved wrote: »

Mag7spy wrote: »

Now that I've gone over the fact about its not a big deal if for some reason narc is 100% right, lets look from another angle

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.

mag works at intrepid confirmed.

lmao

Depraved

Toothpaste wrote: »

CROW3 wrote: »

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 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.

Dygz

Toothpaste wrote: »

We are being mislead to believe that the area in the showcase is a playable in-game desert biome.

Um. Steven specifically stated that Alpha 2 is to test; not play.
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.

GreatPhilisopher

lack of minimap happened in previous streams in riverlands i think its an option to hide it

CROW3

Toothpaste wrote: »

We are being mislead to believe that the area in the showcase is a playable in-game desert biome.

Mislead? FFS go outside - it's an alpha-state demo not a congressional inquiry.

unknown

This content has been removed.

Nerror

Well, I am convinced now the game is a scam!

Apok

Intepid just wants feedback, they started a desert biome and probably want to know what people think of the design before they get too far along with it, too rocky, too hilly, etc.

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

Mag7spy

Apok wrote: »

Intepid just wants feedback, they started a desert biome and probably want to know what people think of the design before they get too far along with it, too rocky, too hilly, etc.

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

He still has a following as all steamers which is good giving attention to the game. But his content is so desperate on AoC than making his own identity, he is going off the deep end at some points.

His own lack of knowledge on development (like most people) makes him have bad takes than a normie watches it (in this case) and believes they are faking it. Which can be akin to what people thought of with cyberpunk 2077. Though it makes 0 sense to be saying faking it as its in development and you see Steven playing it live.

Granted i guess you could try to make a argument everything is faked and pre recorded but at some point you need to touch grass and take a break from following alpha development. When you are just running with negative energy in fear of trying to counter your own hype or reliance on the ip.

Liniker

@Toothpaste its a nice conspiracy theory, too bad its just that, a conspiracy theory

I remember people saying the same shit about some of the Riverlands streams like this one

point out that there was nothing beyond that zone so it could only be a scam lol

or in this one where the minimap was cut and not working, also in the riverlands lol

Lionhold is just the name of a node close to the spawn zone, Steven clearly teleported to that desert zone and there's not a working map so it saves the last location

maybe they just don't have loaded the whole world for the showcase, its normal, they have done this before like here we can clearly see in the same zone for 2 streams the Tower of Carphin was missing... because the map wasn't loaded for that particular showcase build

there's many other examples, tbh people just have no grasp on what is a game in development... open development is funny, its like a bunch of kids looking at a doctor performing surgery, and giving opinions on what they think is right or wrong lol

RazThemun

Considering it is an unfinished game... I doubt it was a last minute anything. Now did they go to a location that is less put together than the riverlands? yes. Does it mean they threw it together the day before? No.... Truth be told it could be another 3 or 4 years before launch anyways. Plenty of time to finish up zones, quests,etc that they haven't really started on yet or spent much time.

Tyranthraxus

I don't see the relevance as to whether or not the area in the showcase will be the actual area, or not. From what we know so far, they're finishing one continent, and haven't even started on the other; If it doesn't look exactly like it did in the showcase, what's the difference, given that there WILL BE a Sandsquall Desert?

Toothpaste

CROW3 wrote: »

Toothpaste wrote: »

We are being mislead to believe that the area in the showcase is a playable in-game desert biome.

Mislead? FFS go outside - it's an alpha-state demo not a congressional inquiry.

So, I took the advice of CROW3 this weekend, and decided to go outside by visiting one of the United Sates' fine National Parks. No bugs, cool breeze in my hair, and all the peace and quiet in the world to think....to think about why Intrepid would decide to give us a tiny unpolished glimpse of the Desert Biome.

@Liniker @Nerror I would like to point out that I never said the word 'scam, or in no way alluding to that this game is a scam. I believe 100% in Steven and Intrepid, I understand that the development process for an MMO takes a long time, and that this is a true Alpha and things are subject to change.

Dygz wrote: »

And this showcase was primarily about the skybox, the lighting, and the Wand Weapon Skills.
Background of Desert was nice, but in the dark.

So, I think you bring up a good point. This was a showcase for the skybox, lighting, and wand. Why would they need or want to show the desert, especially in the dark? It's obvious that they are trying to hide something. They are trying to hide the lack of detail with dark shadows. They are trying to hide the surrounding area by using weird camera angles and deleting the mini map. This was the first time we saw the Desert. Of course we are going to be looking at all the details of the area, notice all of the imperfections, and compare it to the Riverlands/ other showcases. They could have done this showcase in the Riverlands and there would have been no doubt.

Liniker wrote: »

Lionhold is just the name of a node close to the spawn zone, Steven clearly teleported to that desert zone and there's not a working map so it saves the last location

maybe they just don't have loaded the whole world for the showcase, its normal, they have done this before like here we can clearly see in the same zone for 2 streams the Tower of Carphin was missing... because the map wasn't loaded for that particular showcase build

However, Liniker does have good explanations for why the area was called Lionhold and the lack of a mini map.

And @Mag7spy also shared a good explanation as to why flat featureless areas show.

Tyranthraxus wrote: »

I don't see the relevance as to whether or not the area in the showcase will be the actual area, or not. From what we know so far, they're finishing one continent, and haven't even started on the other; If it doesn't look exactly like it did in the showcase, what's the difference, given that there WILL BE a Sandsquall Desert?

The reason why this is relevant is because this is a misleading marketing practice. Intrepid is basically saying, "look, we told you we have a desert biome, here it is, we arnt going to be in A2 for 3+ years." When in actuality the desert is still in concept. Its misleading just like selling crossbow cosmetics when crossbows aren't even usable weapons. (We still dont know what weapons will be usable in A2) You are showing (advertising) us something that looks cool, but doesn't actually exist in the real game, and that is misleading.

CROW3

Toothpaste wrote: »

So, I took the advice of CROW3 this weekend, and decided to go outside by visiting one of the United Sates' fine National Parks. No bugs, cool breeze in my hair, and all the peace and quiet in the world to think....

Nice. 🤗. Which park?

tautau

The mini-map can be turned off and on at will by the player, right? So, absence of the mini-map means that it was turned off at the moment, which makes sense because no travelling was intended.

Toothpaste

CROW3 wrote: »

Toothpaste wrote: »

So, I took the advice of CROW3 this weekend, and decided to go outside by visiting one of the United Sates' fine National Parks. No bugs, cool breeze in my hair, and all the peace and quiet in the world to think....

Nice. 🤗. Which park?

I camped in Big Bend National Park. It was beautiful. Thank you for asking.

Aszkalon

Toothpaste wrote: »

The desert biome is real... right??

The Voices from beyond the Stars are whispering that the Desert Biome is a Lie and just part of a digital World that quite literally doesn't exist. But these Voices are partially filled with the Craziness of certain Copium-Addicts who thirst for the World of Verra nonetheless.

Maybe it will be there in the Alpha Two. Maybe it will be added only after Alpha Two. Maybe the Gods allow it only to be seen when their Lord and Master Sir Steven allows it.

Tyranthraxus

Toothpaste wrote: »

The reason why this is relevant is because this is a misleading marketing practice. Intrepid is basically saying, "look, we told you we have a desert biome, here it is, we arnt going to be in A2 for 3+ years." When in actuality the desert is still in concept. Its misleading just like selling crossbow cosmetics when crossbows aren't even usable weapons. (We still dont know what weapons will be usable in A2) You are showing (advertising) us something that looks cool, but doesn't actually exist in the real game, and that is misleading.

What if they add/remove trees? Are you still going to bitch about it not being the *actual* area, and deceptive because it doesn't look *EXACTLY* the same as it did, in Alpha-development?

My, what a terrible company Intrepid MUST be, for the final product looking different than it did, before development was finished....

Heaven forbid a preview not be the precise, completed product. As SS had mentioned, they'd had many requests for peeks at different biomes. It's possible they just wanted to show what their desert-biome can look like.

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