Why do these two gameplay videos look so different?

4 months ago, they showed the Node Wars video, and visually, it looks spectacular to me. The color palette is well contrasted with the world, there’s no excessive fog, and the character animations with the staff, bow, etc. look really good—at least for me:

https://youtu.be/DJZVi3F513s?si=qCZDms4gKnTR54kC

However, when I watch the video from yesterday, even though it’s clear it’s the same game, I see the color palette is very different, there’s a lot of fog, and even the character animations look worse:

https://youtu.be/lB5euffRa-g?si=cD2EzTiCp_bGcsBM

What could be the reason for such a difference in only 4 months, and why has this direction been taken? Could it be that the Node Wars video is from some dev-build that we won't actually see on October 25 during the first stage of Alpha 2?

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Ludullu

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Zehlan

Suseg wrote: »

I'm a little confused as to how there's so little content available for A2.

Because it is for testing certain systems not about you getting to play through content.

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WHIT3ROS3

Suseg wrote: »

Zehlan wrote: »

Anyone with 2 braincells

You clearly only have 1. You have been told a million times. THIS IS NOT THE GAME. It is a testing period for certain systems.

nanfoodle

Testing will constantly evolve over Alpha 2. Everything from stress testing, leveling nodes, full game experience, crafting focus. They will give us access to the parts of they game that's need our help with. My guess sometime late next year, we will see much larger scale testing. We could at some point check the dialogue with the AI voice over quests.

Zehlan

Suseg wrote: »

I'm perfectly aware it's a test and not a full game. Been following the game for a long long time.

Apparently not!

Suseg wrote: »

They also have been stating (for years now) that they have 100k+ testers... but for some reason they started selling keys because "they need more testers"? I'm sorry what? 100k isn't enough? Huh? Anyone with 2 braincells sees a contradiction. And with the general public already being extremely skeptical, you want to REASSURE the community, not confuse us and raise 20 unanswered questions.

They are only giving you bits so they can have everyone focus on those parts and certain parts of the environment. Not sure how that is hard to comprehend. Can't remember if it was a video or article that stated they didn't want the testers knowing every bit of content in the game by launch so I can imagine even in beta you will not see all the content.

As to your 100k comment. They have stated for live servers 10k max population which will be about 50k subs to that server if that math is correct then A2 server with 3k max population will need 15k of testers, there is going to be 6 A2 servers to start 3 NA, 3 EU which doing basic math 15000x6 equals 95k. Sounds pretty spot on so far and I did the basic math because you said anyone with 2 brain cells could get it but you were still having trouble. YW!

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Depraved

Suseg wrote: »

Zehlan wrote: »

Because it is for testing certain systems not about you getting to play through content.

I'm perfectly aware it's a test and not a full game. Been following the game for a long long time.

The problem is they made the switch to UE5 3+ years ago... and in that time.. we got 1/3rd of the Riverlands? This is the Biome they most worked on, and according to the map they showed us yesterday, there's no quests in 2/3rds of the map. So the only conclusion is that in 3+ years of Development (and I'm being VERY generous with the years I'm counting here) they only cooked 1/3rd of a Biome

You do know how many Biomes are planned, right? Cause at this rate saying the game will launch in 2040 isn't a meme anymore, it's a reality.

The first time they showed the desert, they claimed it's incredibly easy to build Biomes because they have their own tool. Yet, somehow in 2024 we're going to start Alpha with ONE THIRD of a Biome having content.

What else did we get in all these years? Only a few races, 1/10th of the systems, not all classes, 0 augments/2nd classes, only a few weapons have skills trees, etc. Not much.

What have they been doing all these years? There are many things that don't add up here.

They also have been stating (for years now) that they have 100k+ testers... but for some reason they started selling keys because "they need more testers"? I'm sorry what? 100k isn't enough? Huh? Anyone with 2 braincells sees a contradiction. And with the general public already being extremely skeptical, you want to REASSURE the community, not confuse us and raise 20 unanswered questions.

because that's not how making a game works.

you develop systems that help you make the game/content. you don't build the content right away. you basically make a game-making factory particular to the game you are making and you don't need to add lots of content to test it, and don't even need several biomes. after the factory is completed, then you build stuff with it.

making the first biome will take long because you aren't just building a biome. you are building a biome factory and a biome. after that, the next biome will take significantly less time.

edit: same thing for quests, skills, characters, etc

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Noaani

Suseg wrote: »

The problem is they made the switch to UE5 3+ years ago... and in that time.. we got 1/3rd of the Riverlands? This is the Biome they most worked on, and according to the map they showed us yesterday, there's no quests in 2/3rds of the map. So the only conclusion is that in 3+ years of Development (and I'm being VERY generous with the years I'm counting here) they only cooked 1/3rd of a Biome

You know they will have multiple builds on the go at the same time, right?

There is no reason to have quests in a build for a live stream if they don't intend to show those quests.

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Depraved

Suseg wrote: »

Depraved wrote: »

because that's not how making a game works.

you develop systems that help you make the game/content. you don't build the content right away. you basically make a game-making factory particular to the game you are making and you don't need to add lots of content to test it, and don't even need several biomes. after the factory is completed, then you build stuff with it.

making the first biome will take long because you aren't just building a biome. you are building a biome factory and a biome. after that, the next biome will take significantly less time.

edit: same thing for quests, skills, characters, etc

Everybody and their grandma understands you need a base and then expand on that. That's okay.

The problem is it's been 3+ years and the base is: only few races, no augments, -2 classes, and again, the ONE Biome for A2... well it turns out there's only content in 1/3rd of it. And may I remind you, we were promised MANY Biomes for Alpha 2.

I understand its an open development, I understand it's going to take time, but at this rate it's going to take a decade more.

You don't think it's a problem there's just THAT after years of development? You ARE aware how many Biomes this game is attempting to have... right? You are aware we have like five half cooked working systems out of like 50? When A2 starts, they're gonna be actively fixing bugs which means unless they heavily expand they're not going to be making new content, they're just going to make sure the few implemented systems work well. That's going to slow down development even more. At this rate Alpha 2 will last how long... ?

I was full of hope but the lasts few months have shattered my faith in AoC, sadly.

everything I said went right over your head =_=

during these however many years, they were building a factory that builds biomes and content, they weren't building the biomes and content.

Agripinensia

Suseg wrote: »

Everybody and their grandma understands you need a base and then expand on that. That's okay.

The problem is it's been 3+ years and the base is: only few races, no augments, -2 classes, and again, the ONE Biome for A2... well it turns out there's only content in 1/3rd of it. And may I remind you, we were promised MANY Biomes for Alpha 2.

I understand its an open development, I understand it's going to take time, but at this rate it's going to take a decade more.

You don't think it's a problem there's just THAT after years of development? You ARE aware how many Biomes this game is attempting to have... right? You are aware we have like five half cooked working systems out of like 50? When A2 starts, they're gonna be actively fixing bugs which means unless they heavily expand they're not going to be making new content, they're just going to make sure the few implemented systems work well. That's going to slow down development even more. At this rate Alpha 2 will last how long... ?

I was full of hope but the lasts few months have shattered my faith in AoC, sadly.

And this is the problem with open development.

People outside of Software Development rarely understand that what actually takes massive amounts of time isn't the stuff you see - its the stuff you don't see.
I don't work in gamedev, but I can tell you in buisness applications what you see is 5% (maybe up to 15% in a simple app which AoC doesn't fall under) of the work.
And yes we also have a ton of tools and Libraries making our lives easier.
Which by the way is also why we rarely show our customers WIP unless we need feedback to continue working.

Now we haven't actually seen anything since Alpha One several years ago outside of very selected snippets.
I personally think that there are 2 systems that are VERY hard to build:
- Nodes actually changing in appearance and function whilst the server is running
- Transitions between servers

Do I believe that the game will be finished in 2 years? (Or at least feature-complete)
Not really.
But I do think that they are on a good way and that they will speed up regarding the visible stuff (Biomes, Races, etc.) soon.

And yes, they need to get bigger for that - which they are constantly saying.

If you want to see what it looks like when a company starts with stuff like Biomes, take a look at Star Citizen.
Gigantic universe with essentially nothing in it...

I personally would rather have a smaller world but actual content in it.
And I fully plan on recording everything to compare content and world over time (maybe even with content other people on other servers made to see the actual difference).

RocketFarmer

I think the “may be this game isn’t for you, and that’s OK” line should appear in bold font at the top of every thread right next to “this game is a work in progress” and “this is an alpha, not a game”.

I think they have different builds with different content and effects. Could also still be tinkering with lighting and visual effects. I expect Alpha 2 to be pretty toned down, although they did mention current efforts are on polish for Alpha 2 Phase 1.

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Garrtok

I totally agree with everything Suseg wrote. If it's really just 1/3 of one single biome, the game releases in ten years.

Depraved

/facepalm

Zehlan

Suseg wrote: »

Zehlan wrote: »

They are only giving you bits so they can have everyone focus on those parts and certain parts of the environment. Not sure how that is hard to comprehend. Can't remember if it was a video or article that stated they didn't want the testers knowing every bit of content in the game by launch so I can imagine even in beta you will not see all the content

Mate... You REALLY think ONLY a THIRD of an ENTIRE BIOME has content and quests because they're hiding the content? So they decided to hide the other 2/3s of the biome's content??? LMAO!

The mental gymnastics are insane.

Zehlan wrote: »

100k, words

Lil bro they can test the game with 10-15k, that's a full server. You're coping so hard claiming they need more than 100k.

This has to be nothing more than a Troll nobody is this oblivious! I think they are going to hide a lot of content you will never see before launch and if 10k people is good for testing than 100k phenomenal! I would do more math but your lack of comprehension is astounding so It would just be wasted mate!!

80% of the game can be tested in a 3rd of a biome because it is the actual mechanics of the game i.e. crafting, gathering, processing, freeholds, weapons, equipment, player classes, npc interaction, nodes, random events that need testing! Content is last on the list.

RocketFarmer wrote: »

I think the “maybe this game isn’t for you, and that’s OK” line should appear in bold font at the top of every thread right next to “this game is a work in progress” and “this is an alpha, not a game”.

I agree!

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