Alpha-1

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Alpha-1 aperçu du combat JcE.[2]

L'Alpha-1 est une version de test de Ashes of Creation MMORPG.[4] L'Alpha 1 testera:

Il est possible que la sortie de l'Alpha-1 précède celle du mode horde d'Ashes of Creation Apocalypse.[11]

Alpha-1 availability

Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price.[12][13][14] Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are also available in the store for the difference in package price.[15]

Alpha-1 playtest schedule

Hail and well met glorious Ashes of Creation testers. My name is Sean Farrens. I am the manager of quality assurance on Ashes of Creation and on behalf of the Ashes QA team I would like to extend a deep and heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in testing Ashes of Creation during the weekend of May 14 through May 16th for our Alpha 1 build. In spite of instability and uncertainty you have all proven to be invaluable in regards to your feedback and bug reports; and for that I cannot express my gratitude enough. As many of you know, developing an MMORPG is an epic endeavor that is filled with trials and tribulations that no other game will ever encounter; and your illustrated dedication has proven to our team that we are on a high road to the best MMORPG gaming experience to date. During this most recent testing period we received over 2,600 bug reports, which have been an absolute boon to our testing process. We review each report individually and I continue to be impressed with how detailed and helpful each of these reports has been. Like seriously you guys give repro steps and everything. Super duper handy. I greatly look forward to your feedback in the future and hope you enjoy our content so far, so thank you so much everybody.[19]Sean Farrens

While we will have specific spot tests for certain systems as we develop them post the Alpha one month, it should be expected and understood that after this Alpha one month there will be probably a significant amount of downtime where there won't be spot testing as we break apart a lot of systems, take what we learned from alpha one month and implement and iterate upon those learnings. So there's gonna be several months probably worth of significant downtime where there will not be access to spot testing, where we are going to go in and really rejigger a lot of systems[20]Steven Sharif

Phase Release Estimated/Actual date
Alpha-1 Alpha-1 early preview livestream.[21] March 27, 2020.[22]
Alpha-1 limited QA testing (NDA).[23][24] May 28, 2020.[25][26]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 1 (NDA).[27] Dec 18 - Dec 21 2020.[27]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 2 (NDA).[27] Feb 19 - Feb 22 2021.[28][29]
Alpha-1 preview intermittent spot testing (NDA).[30][31] Mar 19 - Jul 9 2021.[30][31]
Alpha-1 preview weekend (no NDA).[30] July 9 - July 11 2021.[32][33][30]
Alpha-1 (no NDA).[30] July 14 - August 15 2021.[34][16]

Read more...

The term "alpha" is a tricky one, and it typically has 2 meanings in gaming. The development meaning for alpha is a point in the process where we are ready to test the fundamental systems in their core form, without polish and without much of the content. Then, there is the external or "marketing" term for alpha. This is typically applied to Eastern-ported MMORPGs, when in fact that is a completed game being localized for a region, and not really indicative of a true development alpha. As you may know by now, game development has many stages - from the initial tech demos to the pre-production and pre-alpha states, then on to the alphas and betas and eventually launch.[27]Steven Sharif

I want to make emphatically clear, our alphas and betas are true development alphas and betas, and some have said I am crazy to allow these phases to be seen without an NDA…maybe I am crazy? lol… But I am trusting the community of gamers out there to get a glimpse into the process, and understand the long road ahead for what will eventually be worth the wait. Given time and talent, amazing things can happen, so make sure you help us in communicating that we are in open development which means people get to see the bare bones before the meat. And look, I know people see our 4K footage and say, "This looks better than most released games!", but trust me when I say, you ain't seen nothin’ yet.[27]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 testing goals

Server deployment and performance testing
  • Stress-test our server deployments and player concurrency numbers with high volumes of player activity and interactions.[30]
  • Stand up multiple world server deployments across different geographical regions.[30]
  • Soak test server grid health over a continuous period of production use.[30]
  • Evaluate current networking architecture, and identify non-performant code and areas for additional optimizations or refactoring.[30]
  • Test our build strategy and hot-fix deployment procedures, account services, web-based systems, launcher and patcher stability, and cloud-based infrastructure.[30]
System functionalities and behavior testing (in their core state)
Player character systems (in their core state)
Ancillary systems (in their core state)

The above is not a comprehensive list of everything being tested in Alpha One, but it hits the primary points. There are many other data metrics being collected for our approach to the content production pipelines, system definitions, and refactoring as well. Not to mention a plethora of technical art implications and optimizations, but you get the gist. This is a very fundamental test that will impact the direction of development post-Alpha One, so you can understand the importance of testing and its need for player participation, attention, and feedback.[30]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 participation

Alpha-1 testing was available to the following participants:

There were approximately 9,600 participants in Alpha-1 testing as of August, 2018.[35][36]

  • As of May 31, 2021, just under 5k additional participants have been added since Alpha-1 sales resumed. Less refunds and unclaimed codes, leaves a total of slightly over 13k testers.[35]
  • The weekend test of May 27, 2021 saw 5,300 unique logins over the 3 day period.[35]

There were roughly 9600 if I recall A1 participants prior to my closing the preorder packs in 2018. Since opening them up again there have been just under 5k additional participants added. And prolly around 300 refunds give or take. Of the roughly 14,000 a1 testers, there are still about 1k unredeemed ks codes which leaves a little over 13k testers? The weekend test saw 5300 unique logins over the 3-day period. And I think discord flags stand around 4k roughly?[35]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 servers

Alpha-1 servers were provisioned in the following regions.[37]

info-orange.pngCertaines des informations suivantes n'ont pas été récemment confirmées par les développeurs et peuvent ne pas figurer sur la feuille de route de développement actuelle.

Alpha-1 servers will support 1,500 concurrently connected users per server.[39][40][10]

Server wipes

Alpha and Beta servers will be wiped prior to launch.[41]

As a general rule, if the testing phase contains the word Alpha, it is safe to assume there will likely be wipes.[44]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 NDA

Alpha-1 testing prior to the full release of Alpha-1 was covered by NDA.[45][24]

  • NDA review and acceptance is done via the game client.[46]
  • The text and voice NDA was lifted from the PI QA testing phase on May 28, 2020.[45]
  • The verbal NDA was lifted from Alpha-1 preview testing, and future testing, on May 17, 2021.[47]
  • The NDA was lifted on July 9, 2021 for the three day Alpha-1 preview weekend test.[33][30]
  • The NDA was lifted on July 14, 2021 for Alpha-1.[48]

We are extremely excited to invite folks to this glorious milestone of our development journey with NO NDA as we want everyone to be able to provide feedback unfiltered. During Alpha One testing, we'll be looking for your feedback specifically on the following things: download and installation process, client performance, and server performance.[48]

Alpha testing system requirements

Test de performance de l'Alpha 1, 17 Mars 2021.[49]

Histoire amusante, hier, alors que nous faisions des tests de stress/densité avec nos testeurs NDA, j'ai accidentellement invoqué 5 000 ours autour de quelques centaines de joueurs. Mais bon, ça n'a pas planté ! Pouvez-vous trouver Lt. Toast ici ?[49]Steven Sharif

Ce sont des PNJ pleinement opérationnels. Ils ont des arbres de comportement, ils ont des tableaux d'IA ; ils fonctionnent comme un PNJ le ferait ; à ma surprise et à la surprise de tout le monde en fait, le serveur a très bien géré cela : 5 000 entités, toutes dans une zone très étroite.[50]Steven Sharif

Configuration minimale requise pour l'Alpha-test de Ashes of Creation.[51] Ces spécifications système n'ont pas été changées pour l'Unreal Engine 5.[52][53]

  • Système d'exploitation : Windows 10 64-Bit
  • Processeur : Intel Core i3-2125 3.3GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 3.3GHz
  • Carte graphique : Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 / AMD Radeon 6870 HD avec 1GB et DirectX 12
  • Mémoire vive : 6 GB RAM
  • Réseau : Connexion internet haut débit
  • Stockage: 35 GB d'espace disque disponible
  • Carte de son : Carte son compatible DirectX

Configuration recommandée.[51]

  • Système d'exploitation : Windows 10 64-Bit
  • Processeur : Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz / AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz
  • Carte graphique : Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon R9 Fury avec 4GB et DirectX 12
  • Mémoire vive : 16 GB RAM
  • Réseau : Connexion internet haut débit
  • Stockage: 35 GB d'espace disque disponible
  • Carte de son : Carte son compatible DirectX

Alpha-1 testing zone (Alpha island)

Vous en verrez davantage à l'approche de l'Alpha 2, mais ceci vous donnera un aperçu de la capitale de l'empire Aelan avant l'Exode. C'est l'une des zones de départ dans laquelle les joueurs entrent. Ce sera l'une des zones de départ dans l'alpha 2.[54]Steven Sharif

Castle sieges in Alpha-1

Trebuchets in the Alpha-1 preview castle siege attackers headquarter camp.[57]

Alpha-1 castle sieges are based on Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges.[59][18]

  • Players will be able to join guilds. These guilds can register for the siege events.[57]
  • Castle siege events will be 100v100 battles that occur daily and will last for three hours.[57]
  • Attackers will start on the opposite end of the map (from the defenders).[57]
  • Attackers will be able to use trebuchets to drive to and assault the castle.[57]
    • Trebuchets have a single primary fire that does a small amount of damage to players and heavy damage to buildings.[57]
    • Trebuchets will be fully physical when they are being driven.[57]
  • When the attackers have breached the castle they will be able to channel a cast on the relic in the throne room to try to capture the castle from the defenders.[57]
  • The victors of castle sieges will receive benefits, such as cloaks, flying mounts for guild leaders and potentially also for guild officers.[57]
  • Alpha-1 castle sieges are in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.[60][61][62]
    Currently the siege zone is actually in the open world, but separated by mountains and off in the sea a bit. There is actually no instancing in A1, although the siege zone will only be accessible in A1 through a registration NPC teleporter.[60]Steven Sharif
  • The opposing team is notified when these raid bosses are being attacked.[59]
  • Teams who get the last hit on these bosses will receive buffs that will help them in the siege battle.[59]

Last year, I spoke of attempting to incorporate sieges into the Alpha One experience. This has obviously been a goal of mine because it provides considerable data and a consistent event within the world that players can participate in to help stress test the deployment. Well, I am happy to say that it is appearing more and more likely by the day! Initial implementation of the Apocalypse siege code has been migrated into the Alpha One client, and we should begin internal testing next month. I will caveat this expectation with the fact that we are cutting it a bit close from an internal QA standpoint, but I have some confidence that the system will be online and capable of inclusion for the Alpha One test in the month of June. The siege component will obviously not be representative of what the siege system will be at launch, or even in Alpha Two.[18]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 player flagging/corruption

La mise en place de la Corruption de joueur est attendue pour l'Alpha-1.[8]

Alpha-1 PvE content

JcE content in Alpha-1:

There's over 200 quests in the game right now. There's a bunch of dungeons. We've retooled all of the boss fights. Those dragons that you see in the siege are also in the world- part of the open-world too. There will be a slightly different- there are some extra mechanics in the siege versions versus the ones that are in the world, but there's plenty of cool things to get on both of them, so make sure you check them out and hunt them down.[61]Jeffrey Bard

Artisan classes in Alpha-1

Classes artisanales (Collecte, Traitement, Artisanat) is expected to come online fully in Alpha-2 and the Betas.[64][65]

Crafting honestly will not come online in any sense of its true form until Alpha-2. Alpha-1 has essentially what are intended to be the core gameplay loop of crafting, meaning the collection of materials, the translation of those materials into processed goods, and the use of those processed goods into item acquisition. That's the core gameplay loop that is currently present in Alpha-1. But those are mostly facilitated piggy backing the merchant systems right now and not actually using the real crafting system; and that's because crafting hasn't been completed in a form that can be implemented in Alpha-1, but will be for Alpha-2. What's present in Alpha-1 doesn't even really scratch the surface for crafting.[65]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 name reservation

info-orange.pngCertaines des informations suivantes n'ont pas été récemment confirmées par les développeurs et peuvent ne pas figurer sur la feuille de route de développement actuelle.

Name reservations were slated to begin during Alpha-1.[5]

Two-factor authentication

info-orange.pngCertaines des informations suivantes n'ont pas été récemment confirmées par les développeurs et peuvent ne pas figurer sur la feuille de route de développement actuelle.

Token-based two-factor authentication (2FA) was expected to be in place for Alpha-1.[67]

Alpha-1 easter eggs

Testing phases

Ashes of Creation testing phases.

Ashes of Creation's core game systems are expected to be in place at the start of Alpha-2.[82][83] By the end of Alpha-2, the game is expected to be feature complete, but it will not be content complete until launch.[84][85]

The game will be feature complete before Beta... Beta really is intended to identify last minute bugs to make sure that everything is ready for launch; it's important that all features are complete by Beta-1. Alpha-2 will not be feature complete at the start of Alpha-2. There are going to be updates that are going to be incorporated as part of the Alpha-2 process and there are going to be additional features that come online that get fleshed out between that time and Beta-1. There's going to be regions of the maps that aren't going to be accessible of course during Alpha-2.[85]Steven Sharif
Alpha-2 is intended to exist up until launch. There's going to be different testing periods that we will be releasing either new content locations or zones or systems that we want to have players focus in on. In those situations, if we're having participation drought because of the length of Alpha-2, we can set them up in a more focused setting. We can even incentivize that. We can offer unique testing to potentially new testers as well.[84]Steven Sharif
  • The developers will not necessarily announce NDA testing periods.[89]

Alpha-1 videos

Alpha-1 screenshots

Voir également

Les références

  1. Direct, 2018-10-31 (22:46).
  2. Direct, 2018-10-31 (24:37).
  3. 3rdpersoncamera.png
  4. Vidéo, 2018-04-05 (1:01:40).
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 Newsletter, 2018-08-7
  6. Direct, 2019-07-26 (1:10:44).
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Direct, 2018-09-01 (1:02:99).
  8. 8.0 8.1 Entrevue, 2018-08-08 (18:55).
  9. 9.0 9.1 Entrevue, 2018-08-08 (19:02).
  10. 10.0 10.1 alpha-1-phase-2.png
  11. Direct, 2019-09-30 (1:09:04).
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Direct, 2021-04-30 (4:02).
  13. steven-alpha-1-sales.png
  14. steven-a1-upgrade.png
  15. crowdfunding-packs.png
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 release-dates.png
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Ashes of Creation Store: May cosmetics.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
  19. Direct, 2021-05-28 (1:36:43).
  20. Direct, 2021-07-30 (20:30).
  21. March 2020 newsletter.
  22. Vidéo, 2020-03-23 (0:01).
  23. alpha-1-nda-2.png
  24. 24.0 24.1 alpha-1-nda-1.png
  25. steven-a1-testing-start.png
  26. Creative Director's Letter, 2020-04-1.
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
  28. Direct, 2021-02-26 (14:58).
  29. Blog: Creative Director's Letter, January 2021.
  30. 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 30.11 30.12 30.13 30.14 30.15 30.16 Alpha One Schedule Update, May 10 2021.
  31. 31.0 31.1 An Update on Alpha One Schedule, March 12 2021
  32. steven-a1preview-end.png
  33. 33.0 33.1 Ashes of Creation Twitter - Alpha-1 Preview Weekend Begins
  34. alpha-1-end.png
  35. 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 steven-a1-participation.png
  36. Direct, 2018-08-17 (24:07).
  37. 37.00 37.01 37.02 37.03 37.04 37.05 37.06 37.07 37.08 37.09 37.10 37.11 Alpha-1 screenshot.
  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 38.6 Alpha-1 screenshot.
  39. alpha-1-participation.png
  40. Entrevue, 2020-07-19 (1:21:49).
  41. 41.0 41.1 server wipe.jpg
  42. Alpha one test schedule, Mar 12, 2021.
  43. Direct, 2020-11-30 (7:27).
  44. 44.0 44.1 server-wipes.png
  45. 45.0 45.1 Direct, 2020-05-29 (31:37).
  46. toast-nda.png
  47. steven-a1-verbal-nda.png
  48. 48.0 48.1 Guide to Alpha One.
  49. 49.0 49.1 steven-a1-stress-test.png
  50. Direct, 2021-03-26 (12:34).
  51. 51.0 51.1 What are the minimum requirements for Alpha?
  52. Direct, 2021-12-23 (49:39).
  53. Direct, 2021-12-23 (42:09).
  54. Direct, 2022-05-27 (1:04:29).
  55. Vidéo, 2022-05-27 (3:46).
  56. Vidéo, 2021-05-28 (24:44).
  57. 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 57.5 57.6 57.7 57.8 Vidéo, 2021-04-30 (19:25).
  58. Vidéo, 2021-05-28 (19:04).
  59. 59.0 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 Vidéo, 2021-04-30 (13:02).
  60. 60.0 60.1 60.2 60.3 steven-siege-zone.png
  61. 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 61.6 61.7 61.8 61.9 Direct, 2021-04-30 (41:18).
  62. 62.0 62.1 Podcast, 2021-04-11 (49:40).
  63. 63.0 63.1 Direct, 2021-05-28 (1:04:29).
  64. 64.0 64.1 64.2 Direct, 2021-03-26 (42:28).
  65. 65.0 65.1 65.2 65.3 Entrevue, 2021-02-07 (35:30).
  66. 66.0 66.1 66.2 Direct, 2021-03-26 (39:08).
  67. Entrevue, 2018-08-21 (40:44).
  68. 68.0 68.1 68.2 68.3 Ashes of Creation Twitter, April 4,2021.
  69. 69.0 69.1 Vidéo, 2021-02-26 (11:03).
  70. 70.0 70.1 Direct, 2020-05-29 (36:18).
  71. Direct, 2021-03-26 (17:46).
  72. 72.0 72.1 Kickstarter packages.
  73. MMOGAMES Interview, 2017-09-8.
  74. beta 0.png
  75. Intrepid pre-order pack.
  76. Adventurer pre-order pack.
  77. PAX West 2017 Alpha package.
  78. PAX West 2017 Beta package.
  79. Newsletter - Pre-order packages are ending reminder.
  80. Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.
  81. steven-mail-ru.png
  82. Direct, 2023-03-31 (1:24:21).
  83. Podcast, 2021-09-29 (59:29).
  84. 84.0 84.1 84.2 Direct, 2023-04-07 (28:08).
  85. 85.0 85.1 Direct, 2022-07-29 (1:08:49).
  86. Direct, 2023-03-31 (5:57).
  87. Direct, 2021-07-30 (45:11).
  88. Direct, 2018-01-18 (25:22).
  89. Entrevue, 2023-07-09 (26:35).