[2022] Development Update with Event System Overview - 11AM PT Friday, April 29, 2022 | Ashes of Creation Dev Tracker

Transcript (by Youtube)

1s	[Music]
20s	hello everyone salutations and welcome
23s	to our glorious ashes of creation april
26s	development update we hope everyone is
29s	well and safe
31s	i am margaret crone your community
32s	marketing lead and with me as per usual
35s	is r1 the only the ship driver akk
40s	aka creative director stephen
43s	sharif you are you're driving the ship i
45s	forgot to mute my phone i'm sorry
48s	hello
49s	how are you doing
52s	i'm good i'm sorry
54s	i was getting distracted by twitch yeah
57s	um yeah i'm great it's been i was
59s	actually answering this to folks in
61s	twitch chat earlier uh it's been a very
65s	busy month so much that i feel like i
67s	blinked and it just passed by oh yeah i
69s	know not a bad thing i think that's that
72s	means there's just a lot going on and
74s	that you know i'm moving and grooving i
76s	i actually didn't get too much sleep
78s	last night because
80s	our uh
82s	the magic
84s	magic the gathering games that we played
86s	last night after work
88s	we were up a little late
90s	and uh that was a lot of fun we had like
92s	15 people from the studio playing magic
95s	commander uh
97s	after work it was it's become a pretty
100s	considerable size group you guys always
102s	play on thursdays and it's like that's
104s	not the best day for me i was like i
106s	want to play i even bought a commander
107s	deck because i've never done i played a
109s	lot of mtg but not commander and i'm
111s	excited to play i love commander yeah
114s	you don't get the whack especially with
116s	a big group like that
117s	oh yeah we had we had an emperor game we
120s	had a penta we had a couple two-headed
123s	uh two-headed games um it was fun
126s	nice well i'm happy for that uh the
129s	other element of that what i was saying
130s	was like it's been amazing working with
132s	this team because everyone's super
134s	passionate and although i've worked on a
137s	lot of teams i haven't worked on a lot
138s	of teams where everyone just like comes
140s	to work with like
141s	this enthusiasm for the day versus like
144s	oh i'm coming to work today you know
147s	it's very different atmosphere and you
149s	know i absolutely adore
151s	everyone we work with and my team
153s	personally has grown over the years i
155s	know we're going to talk about it in the
156s	studio update but it's pretty pretty
158s	amazing how are you doing i feel like
160s	you need a vacation good
164s	there's no time for vacations
166s	no i'm doing really good i don't know
167s	it's a little chilly today so if i'm
169s	shaking it's because i'm cold but um and
171s	i left my jacket at home
172s	but no i'm i i know i'm doing good um
176s	yeah a lot of work this last month the
178s	the town hall the we had an internal
180s	town hall actually was it yesterday a
181s	day before
183s	i can't remember no day before wednesday
184s	before yesterday wednesday they're all
186s	building together that was like a
188s	three-hour town hall session for our
190s	studios um but uh it was really great
194s	and
195s	you know um
196s	it's always cool when everybody gets to
198s	see everything that everyone's working
200s	on and we you know are at the end of a
202s	particular milestone
204s	internally from our uh
206s	production team um getting kind of that
209s	that look um at everything is is a lot
213s	of fun and very inspiring um so i loved
216s	our internal town hall and then uh of
218s	course
219s	it was it was it's almost like a a diff
221s	a second stream but just for the team
224s	like an internal private stream it's
226s	like an internal live stream
228s	it was very cool and um you know people
230s	are in chat going what about getting
232s	some ashes of creation uh clothes to
234s	keep us warm and we're working on it
238s	and on the marketing side for sure uh we
240s	know that a lot of people are asking for
241s	it within our community um so there's
244s	lots of stuff going on on that front i
245s	think steven has teased a little bit of
247s	like a while ago in regards to it
250s	but as we get closer we'll be sharing
252s	more stuff on that front but we've got a
254s	whole slew of great things to cover
256s	today so just if you this is your first
258s	time tuning in with us down in the
260s	bottom left hand corner you'll see our
263s	like run of show basically we have our
265s	reminders our studio update which we
267s	talked a little bit about here uh design
269s	and engineering update with some
271s	eventful uh segments in there um and an
275s	environment update as well as character
277s	art update and q a so we will get right
280s	to that kicking it off with our
282s	reminders
284s	first and foremost we've got our
286s	question or our comment spotlight from
289s	youtube if you are a youtube subscriber
292s	and you leave us a comment on our video
294s	we will be selecting a random person and
296s	we'll read your comment and if you have
298s	a question in there we'll answer it so
300s	this one is from uh stephen barley thank
302s	you for subscribing to us over on
303s	youtube and leaving us a lovely comment
306s	uh their comment says i love what you
307s	are doing with the game with regards to
310s	character customization i would love to
312s	see certain customizations that require
314s	in-game challenges to achieve
316s	maybe there would be some extremely hard
319s	to complete quests that allows you to
321s	obtain unique eye colors hairstyles
323s	scars tattoos or in especially rare
327s	cases perhaps slightly glowing or
329s	animated with variations of those and i
332s	don't know i think i think this stuff
335s	i think stefan might be in our studio
339s	like with some bug devices or something
342s	um no
343s	sorry i called him stefan because he
344s	spelled the same steven stuff yeah i'm
345s	not sure which uh
348s	um no but yeah that's absolutely
350s	something that uh that design and the
353s	character creator team has been you know
355s	discussing stuff that we want to do is
357s	is have unlockable uh features uh as as
361s	steven was discussing there um where you
364s	know like oh you have that scar because
366s	you participated in this siege or these
369s	many sieges or
370s	um you know you have this tattoo because
374s	of your of a cultural background or
376s	because of a quest that was accomplished
378s	um where you're able to get that that's
380s	absolutely
382s	a level of progression that uh makes the
384s	character creator relevant not just at
386s	the start of your experience in an mmo
388s	but it gives you a reason to visit those
390s	salons and make changes to your
392s	character uh as it grows and has a
396s	history a
397s	a background that can be communicated
399s	through these customization options and
401s	that's that's a really cool um you know
404s	an element to it uh that we want to
406s	incorporate 100
408s	yeah so
409s	what you're asking for we got you homie
411s	boom uh boom done
415s	all right next up of course we have our
417s	reminder for a monthly cosmetic swap
419s	over the road to desolation is scheduled
422s	for
422s	uh
423s	to swap over on may 11 2022 at 11 a.m
427s	pacific so if you'd like those snag them
429s	while they're hot because we're gonna
431s	have some new ones coming your way
433s	um and of course uh this month we had a
436s	little bit of a different feedback it
437s	wasn't a part of our dev updates perser
440s	per se but
442s	um let me
444s	go back over there
446s	we had some hairstyle feedback that we
449s	requested from you all
451s	and in regards to that
454s	uh
455s	i think they'll be popping some in there
456s	but we basically were asking you guys to
458s	kind of provide to us some of the
460s	hairstyles and hair types that you like
462s	we heard a lot of your feedback in
464s	regards to that
465s	we actually compiled all the feedback
467s	about all of the
470s	character customization and we went back
472s	and talked to the design team about it
473s	steven was there as well and it seems
476s	like all most of the things you guys
478s	want we are going to be implementing um
480s	obviously when it came to the character
481s	creator we weren't completely done uh
484s	showcasing all of the hairstyles that
485s	we'll have we'll have a whole slew of
488s	them different textures different hair
489s	types and styles um but
493s	in the interim because it was such a hot
495s	topic we created a new thread where we
497s	hope you all will share
499s	images of hairstyles that you'd like to
501s	see
502s	so that we can um
505s	you know share those with our team and
507s	hopefully incorporate them as much as we
508s	possibly can in our development phases
511s	yeah and it's important to note
514s	we've said this many times you guys are
516s	aware of this like art is a continuing
518s	work in progress um
521s	and the character creator we wanted to
523s	to show you guys kind of the level of
525s	capabilities at an early stage um which
527s	means many of those assets many of the
529s	ideas that you guys shared were already
531s	planned um and and kind of part of the
534s	character creator roadmap um so look
536s	forward to in the future getting more
538s	updates on on those features as they get
540s	implemented for sure um and we will be
543s	compiling that so make sure that you
545s	head on over to our forums uh check out
548s	the discussion
549s	feedback thread requesting hairstyles
552s	for the character creator over there and
553s	toss us their feedback i believe i saw
555s	um beckner and roshan posting it in chat
558s	click on it leave us some images of what
561s	you'd like to see and i think with that
563s	that wraps up our reminders short and
565s	sweet today next up we have our studio
568s	update which i will toss over to stephen
571s	yeah absolutely so
573s	the studio is growing actually we since
578s	the start of this year
580s	we have hired
583s	23 additional people to the team um
587s	which is really cool
589s	because we are getting an incredible
592s	amount of talented individuals but aside
594s	from the talent um individuals who are
596s	just mmorpg fans and players and
600s	um
601s	you know they have they have a passion
604s	for this genre and for the project and
606s	they were following along and
608s	um it's really nice to be in a position
610s	from a studio perspective where
612s	your project is known and it's desired
615s	amongst the industry uh to participate
617s	with it and you have these natural
619s	applications and interests that are
621s	coming every day uh that our hr team and
624s	and is doing really great hard work
626s	stacy and and cameron midori and and um
631s	you know john helping to onboard and
634s	and um you know facilitate these these
637s	applicants so uh very excited for that
639s	the teams are growing i love seeing the
641s	teams growing up i go out to lunch uh
644s	with the teams and meet these new faces
646s	and and i love seeing just the the
648s	passion in the eyes of people who are
650s	working on bringing to life what you
652s	guys want what we want and and
655s	and what is going to be the next great
656s	thing when it comes to mmos so
658s	the uh
660s	the growth is is doing really good um
662s	internally we also are very close to
664s	getting our graphics done and
667s	um our uh logos and signs and everything
670s	put up and the studio set dress to the
672s	point where we're gonna start recording
674s	some videos with the team and give you
676s	guys some insight i know we've done
677s	those in the past and we've talked about
679s	how we're going to be doing them here in
680s	the future again
681s	but i'm excited to get that stuff
683s	running again
685s	it's going to be really cool i think for
686s	you guys to get a behind-the-scenes look
688s	i know mark are super excited i know as
690s	well
690s	my whole team has just been chomping at
692s	the bits to uh do more things like that
695s	so if you really enjoyed the dev diary
697s	series we want to do more of those
699s	things and also just bite-size stuff on
701s	social you know through like instagram
703s	stories snapchat maybe
705s	things like that so yes
708s	um and then on top of that um we
712s	actually completed uh
715s	our
717s	uh first milestone of the year um
720s	last week i believe it was in the
721s	beginning of last week um can't quite
724s	discuss everything that was there
726s	because not all of it is ready yet but
729s	um a lot of a lot of great things
731s	internally from a development standp
733s	from a development standpoint um that is
736s	going very well and is very exciting um
739s	which will be trickling out over you
741s	know i know i'm teasing this but it'll
742s	be trickling out over
743s	you know the next few months
746s	to see that kind of stuff so uh all in
747s	all things are going really good on the
749s	studio front yeah it's been very very
752s	exciting um
753s	for me too
755s	uh because i've gotten to experience
757s	what like we it was like when we're all
759s	kind of like in a little garage studio
761s	where we could like open up the garage
763s	door and it was like oh my gosh and now
765s	it's like this massive building that
767s	we're in
768s	uh
769s	and i don't get to see everybody every
771s	day it's so weird
773s	right and you might see some faces and
774s	you're like who's that person you're
776s	like that's a weird experience i i am
779s	fortunate uh in the company that i get
781s	to see all of the new hires as they come
783s	in because we're like uh flagging their
785s	accounts and things like that so um i do
787s	get to see faces kind of like little
789s	pictures of them
791s	but sometimes they don't match
792s	necessarily what they look like you know
794s	in person
795s	uh especially people who use like goku
798s	as their image or something but
801s	um it has been pretty cool seeing all
804s	the yeah
805s	i'm cool i'm excited and like when we
807s	see potlucks and it's just like this
809s	massive amount of people in the
810s	cafeteria oh yeah
813s	yeah it's always it's it is always fun
815s	to see that for sure and last potluck
817s	you guys had a little uh little
820s	wren fair dress up that was cool
822s	yeah we posted some photos of folks who
825s	wanted to be in photos
827s	so if you want to check that out it's on
829s	our linkedin instagram twitter facebook
832s	all of those places
833s	some people brought their a game with
835s	costumes i just threw on something quick
838s	um but let's move on to the design and
842s	engineering update then
844s	let's first preface you know everything
847s	that we talk about is subject to change
849s	potentially through development as we
851s	test things
852s	so just keep that in mind as we talk
854s	about things here but first let's talk
855s	about what have they been doing
857s	generally on the design and engineering
859s	side
860s	maybe start with engineering and then
862s	design so we can tie it into today's
864s	topic
865s	yeah um
867s	there's been a lot of stuff
869s	that's been that's been worked out over
871s	the last month um engineering's really
873s	been focusing a lot on
876s	let's see we have the node layout tool
877s	that's been getting some adjustments
879s	that
880s	roy's been working on
882s	and the node team on the design side has
885s	been working on especially with
886s	environment it's kind of like changing
888s	the way that the node layouts work um
892s	to facilitate some of the additional
893s	service buildings that are going to be
895s	incorporated in alpha 2.
897s	um
898s	we want to kind of create a layout tool
901s	that allows even you know each of the
904s	nodes to kind of be represented in a
905s	unique way we've talked about that in
907s	the past but more importantly also that
909s	we maintain consistency on certain
911s	building locations especially player
913s	housing
914s	and specific building
917s	service building types as we progress
918s	into stages four five and six of the
921s	node
922s	of the nodes progression
924s	so that's something that's been getting
926s	a little bit of a redesign in addition
927s	uh you guys probably noticed in alpha
930s	one um how
932s	many of the nodes were relatively flat
934s	there was not a lot of topography when
936s	it came to kind of sections or districts
938s	of the of the city um that lived at
941s	different heights essentially kind of
943s	creating a unique um silhouette
946s	that's possible um with the node layout
949s	um so now that we've had um kind of our
952s	approach for
953s	for uh alpha 2 uh with the nodes that
956s	we've manually been constructing from a
958s	layout perspective that that chris
960s	giusto and
961s	bucky and jason neil have been kind of
963s	participating in fleshing out um the
966s	engineering team has been providing
969s	for that node layout tool
972s	the type of additional requirements that
974s	are requested
975s	also on the ai systems
978s	engineering has been working closely
980s	with chong and the design team on kind
983s	of the requirements that the alpha two
985s	creatures uh need to have from a
987s	behavior tree perspective the ability to
989s	kind of uh weigh certain actions and or
992s	uh um
993s	uh
994s	response arcs that exist within that
996s	behavior tree how do we
998s	how do we value those scores how do we
1000s	make those um those types of actions
1003s	live in parallel with one another right
1005s	if i'm trying to cast an ability as a
1007s	monster but i'm also trying to move to a
1009s	particular waypoint as a result of some
1011s	other occurrence on the player's behalf
1014s	i need to be able to calculate that
1016s	in the ai's
1020s	brain
1021s	at the same time with one another right
1023s	so a lot of engineering work has been uh
1025s	led by uh uh russell peltz on
1028s	on um changing up the ai systems from
1031s	alpha one to accommodate all of the
1033s	additional uh
1035s	uh behaviors that we wanna see out of
1037s	the creatures that dyna even that the
1039s	dynamic type of behaviors right um so
1042s	there's a significant amount of work
1043s	that's been done on that front uh combat
1046s	combat has been a huge endeavor
1049s	over the last actually several months
1053s	and
1054s	through a lot of the prototyping that uh
1057s	the design team and the engineering team
1060s	and our vfx team and our animation team
1062s	um have been working on a team
1067s	for sure 100 um character art not so
1069s	much in the combat prototyping um
1072s	uh because the models are kind of
1074s	staying consistent there but for example
1076s	uh with the assassin class with the um
1079s	with our dagger weapons we didn't
1080s	previously have that in alpha one so
1082s	those are entirely new animation sets uh
1084s	that are required to have those dual
1086s	wielded kind of daggers um and that's
1088s	something you guys might be seeing soon
1090s	in the future um but
1091s	that prototyping phase over the last
1093s	several months has really been to kind
1096s	of flesh out the
1098s	major revamp that we've been working on
1100s	for combat because part of the biggest
1102s	amount of feedback that we got from
1104s	alpha one was with regards to combat and
1107s	we have a lot of ideas on on the things
1109s	that we wanted to try and you know the
1111s	best way to kind of flesh those ideas
1113s	out obviously is through prototyping and
1115s	development prototyping is just kind of
1117s	um you know combination of rapid
1119s	iteration of standing up these ideas
1122s	without full-fledged kind of code
1124s	support doing so in a blueprint setting
1126s	or in a test level
1128s	where you can really kind of throw a lot
1129s	of different things at the wall and you
1131s	can
1132s	rapidly iterate on how that stuff feels
1134s	um get feedback from the team feedback
1137s	from focus groups um and then you can
1139s	take the direction that that that is
1141s	getting the kind of best bang for the
1143s	feeling buck so to speak um
1146s	so it's been great to kind of see that
1147s	but in addition that that phase allows
1150s	for us to really expand upon the
1152s	versatility of what our ability system
1155s	can can do and that's been spearheaded
1157s	by by keenan and adam
1159s	um
1160s	uh uh with regard on the code side with
1163s	regards to to what design has access to
1166s	to do for all the ability systems right
1169s	um and not just the ability systems but
1171s	but but also like your combat weapon
1173s	montages and and your basic attacks um
1177s	so
1178s	there's been a lot of work on that front
1179s	it's not quite ready to show i know so
1182s	many people are waiting to see combat
1185s	updates it's the top thing we get asked
1188s	a hundred percent
1189s	but we have to be very careful when we
1192s	present um what's been worked on uh that
1196s	it has to be at a particular state uh
1198s	that's presentable right um obviously
1201s	you guys know this you're you're our
1203s	core audience you're tuning in here and
1204s	you're you're watching our live streams
1207s	uh but the moment we release an update
1209s	with regards to combat that spreads like
1211s	wildfire right that's what we call
1213s	essentially a marketing beat um this is
1216s	something that is out of our control
1218s	it's content creators pick it up they're
1220s	going to show it to very you know
1222s	unengaged audiences and we want to make
1224s	sure that the presentation is at a point
1226s	where when it grabs those legs that we
1229s	don't have control over from a marketing
1231s	perspective
1232s	that it is it'll stand it'll stand by
1235s	itself it won't need our our verbal
1237s	support and kind of talking about it
1238s	it'll be a visual component that is
1241s	visceral and you know looks good and you
1244s	know has has people's support so we want
1246s	to set the right precedent because if
1247s	people look at something and it's a
1249s	prototype and it's in really early
1251s	phases they might make comments like oh
1254s	this isn't very good combat yeah and
1255s	it's like well we know that it's a
1257s	prototype so that's why we have to make
1258s	sure that it's in a solid enough state
1261s	the delicate blend between a transparent
1264s	development process
1266s	but also understanding um that majority
1270s	of your player audience
1272s	will not grasp or will not will not take
1275s	into context um what a work in progress
1278s	looks like so certain things we have to
1282s	polish to the point where they're
1283s	presentable where they can be understood
1285s	again in its own context without my
1288s	verbal support or margaret's verbal
1290s	support right i think a great example of
1292s	that is the character creator right
1294s	we've we went through many phases prior
1297s	to that of the character creator and we
1299s	would not have wanted to share those
1301s	with you all not because we don't want
1303s	to share the development process but
1304s	because there will be people who take
1307s	that and look at it and go this isn't
1309s	you know why would i want to play that
1311s	right yeah the character creator is a
1312s	prime example of what good looks like um
1315s	when it comes to a feature that can
1318s	stand on its own right
1320s	that's something that can be shared and
1321s	people understand that so anyways
1323s	i don't want to go off on the
1325s	comment too much
1327s	but but essentially uh
1330s	the combat the ability systems the tool
1331s	support there
1333s	has has progressed a significant amount
1335s	and by the way
1337s	as prototyping lends to those additional
1340s	uh features within the combat tools
1343s	it actually is an exponential uh
1347s	speed modifier right when when those
1349s	additional things come online we can
1351s	actually more rapidly prototype and more
1353s	rapidly iterate as well um which which
1357s	feeds feeds back into kind of the
1358s	process of getting good combat right of
1362s	getting something that um something that
1365s	feels good so there's been a lot of work
1367s	on that front um buoyancy and vehicle
1370s	physics uh there's been a lot of work
1372s	done from michael bratty and
1377s	from mikhail
1378s	on
1379s	mount controls on flight and gliding
1382s	mechanics that'll be present in alpha 2.
1384s	the buoyancy of ships
1386s	the physics behind vehicle movement uh
1389s	for siege weapons um you know we had
1392s	some representation of that of course in
1394s	alpha one
1395s	but since alpha one you know it was
1397s	added to the schedule of course for us
1398s	to go back to refine those things there
1400s	works in progress we have additional
1401s	passes that are done on them um
1403s	additional uh um uh support that's
1406s	presented for those things um and i'm
1408s	happy to say that they are they're
1410s	looking quite good and you may see some
1411s	updates on those in the near future
1413s	networking has been a big of course uh
1416s	endeavor on the on the engineering side
1418s	there's been a lot of work
1420s	on that front by
1421s	um by zach and by hunter and by ben
1424s	um
1426s	and uh that that actually is is pretty
1429s	exciting but of course i can't talk too
1431s	much about that stuff um the the the
1434s	platform the web teams our backend
1435s	services uh mark and his team have been
1438s	doing an incredible job from the uh from
1441s	an engineering perspective on on
1443s	supporting pretty much everything that
1445s	um
1446s	that the uh uh that the gameplay
1448s	engineers are needing from them um so
1451s	it's exciting for my team i appreciate
1453s	them greatly i work with the you know
1455s	that team a lot so yeah absolutely um
1459s	itemization and crafting um
1462s	there's a lot of a lot there's actually
1464s	a lot of changes that we have not yet
1466s	discussed
1468s	on the uh crafting front so you guys
1471s	have had a
1472s	a pretty rudimentary um insight into
1477s	what crafting is in ashes of creation
1479s	and in alpha one we just had the basic
1482s	core loops right which is like i collect
1484s	the thing i combine a thing and i get it
1488s	yeah yeah exactly collect combine get um
1491s	and that is a that that is a pretty
1493s	simplistic approach that we wanted to
1496s	just have present from again a gameplay
1498s	loop that was in alpha one but alpha two
1500s	is meant to really represent a few of
1503s	these professions in their true form
1505s	from gathering processing in a
1507s	crafting's perspective now there's some
1509s	additional gameplay layers that are
1511s	intended to be tested as part of alpha
1513s	2.
1514s	as it relates to actually crafting
1516s	choosing crafting something
1519s	or processing something there
1520s	additionally is a concept called
1524s	survey which is a component of gathering
1526s	that
1527s	makes things a little bit different than
1529s	what players have uh have
1532s	been accustomed to in most mmos in the
1534s	past um and just to give you a little
1537s	bit of idea uh behind kind of those
1539s	gameplay layers that we're thinking
1541s	about you know we've talked about
1545s	ideas like land management and as you
1548s	draw resources from your surrounding
1551s	area what type of effect does that have
1553s	on the land
1555s	and then also how effectively can you
1557s	draw those resources without having such
1559s	a deleterious effect on the land right
1562s	which might impact future resource
1564s	gathering for some period of time um and
1567s	it makes relevant the movement of these
1569s	players who are collecting these goods
1571s	from the environment that they actually
1573s	cannot always just do so in one
1575s	particular area as the land management
1578s	begins to degrade
1579s	so it actually encourages movement
1582s	across the world to discover new areas
1584s	that might not be as perturbed
1587s	as the ones you're coming from it's a
1589s	it's a very interesting idea um it's
1591s	something that we're going to be
1592s	prototyping in alpha 2 and getting
1594s	feedback on and testing um corey and mai
1597s	con have been leading endeavors on the
1599s	design side for those types of ideas
1601s	which um
1603s	are really fun and we're going to talk
1605s	about at some point in the future as
1606s	well um outside of that we've also had a
1609s	considerable amount of of work that is
1613s	has been coming out of the design side
1615s	from uh chris giusto's node pod uh with
1618s	bucky and jason and and a few of our
1620s	other designers um on service buildings
1623s	and the node superpowers and relics and
1626s	the reliquary system that's going to be
1628s	present in alpha 2 the types of benefits
1630s	that are conferred there the gameplay
1632s	between capturing those relics and
1635s	stealing them or or sabotaging their
1637s	return to the nodes
1640s	what type of passive benefits do they
1641s	grant the citizens what types of
1644s	active benefits are being conferred upon
1646s	vassal states
1648s	the upgrade paths that are going to be
1650s	present within the service buildings
1651s	working with environment
1653s	to kind of mask out sections of of a
1656s	building until the upgrade comes online
1658s	and a new room opens up or a new wing or
1661s	a new story
1663s	it's really interesting to kind of see
1665s	the specialization paths that are
1668s	possible on an individual node basis
1671s	that that makes that particular node a
1674s	waypoint for certain types of players
1676s	right and how it drives traffic from the
1679s	player base to those nodes that
1681s	increases things like the taxable
1684s	revenue that's possible and then that of
1686s	course bleeds into the types of
1688s	additional buildings or defensive
1690s	mechanics or initiatives and events that
1693s	can be done um you know incorporating
1695s	things like node policies from almost a
1698s	civic standpoint uh that grants certain
1701s	type uh certain types of actions that
1703s	the node government can take um whether
1705s	it be diplomatic actions like
1707s	potentially conflicts with other nodes
1709s	and the wars that happen what type of
1711s	rep you need to have with those other
1713s	nodes from a diplomatic perspective can
1715s	be influenced by these policies um
1717s	there's a there's a lot of stuff that's
1718s	been worked on from the node team that's
1720s	being supported by our engineering team
1722s	with regards to this feature development
1724s	uh in preparation for alpha 2. so um
1728s	as an engineering design kind of
1729s	overview i'm sorry if i'm super long no
1731s	it's crazy there's just so much stuff
1733s	the chat's like my brain is melting
1735s	because it's just so much
1737s	so much stuff and
1739s	stephen will not be able to go through
1740s	everything there's nothing like his
1742s	stuff yeah there's she'd be here all day
1744s	there's a lot there's a lot uh sometimes
1747s	i feel like my mind is on the precipice
1749s	of just breaking in half when there's
1751s	just what what there is to cover on a
1754s	daily basis uh from my schedule um but
1758s	there is so much to be excited about
1761s	that this team is working on and not
1763s	only that they're working on but that
1765s	they are creating in such a way
1768s	that is unlike any experience that i've
1772s	had as a gamer uh and as an mmo player
1775s	and i'm just i'm just so incredibly
1777s	excited i guess i'm fresh off the heels
1779s	of our last of our of our internal
1782s	livestream our time our town hall so if
1784s	i seem overly excited it's because you
1787s	know watching the presentation at the
1789s	end of our first you know 2022 milestone
1793s	um
1794s	has made me excited so i apologize
1798s	i apologize to you and to those out
1800s	there who do not have this game in their
1803s	hands yet if i am hyping this i don't
1805s	want to be like i'm not hyping this i'm
1808s	just very excited myself and i want to
1811s	convey the excitement to you guys but i
1814s	i also want to temper
1816s	that there's still development we have a
1818s	lot of work development there's a lot of
1820s	work and and last um
1823s	last last uh uh stream you know we
1827s	showed a very big
1829s	system the character creator and we
1831s	showed oh are we dying are we losing
1833s	oh yeah the internet just crashed
1837s	uh-oh
1838s	uh-oh
1840s	wait
1841s	oh it's back
1843s	wait a minute
1845s	are we back
1847s	uh-oh
1848s	let's see if the stream drops how are we
1850s	doing
1853s	standby it's like we're still up so
1857s	all right
1858s	we'll wait for it to
1861s	sorry about that
1863s	yes seems like the internet took a
1865s	hiccup okay i think i think we're back
1866s	but anyways i i just wanted to say um
1870s	the another thing is is that
1874s	last last month we showed off the
1876s	character crater right and that's that's
1877s	obviously was a was a
1879s	very exciting thing for for everyone to
1881s	see it it gives you a level of quality
1884s	for
1884s	what we're hoping to achieve with all of
1886s	our systems in the game in general and
1888s	and you guys get to see that stuff and
1890s	um but that we are active actively in
1893s	development and we need to be
1894s	conscientious of how we present the
1896s	systems uh during our development um and
1899s	what that means is sometimes we're not
1901s	going to have streams that are as
1904s	exciting as visually appealing as that
1907s	as a character creator so i just want to
1908s	make sure we temper expectations that
1910s	we're going to show you guys stuff we're
1912s	going to show you stuff strategically
1913s	that's that's smart and that can be
1916s	shown by other content creators and
1918s	stuff um uh but just be patient for that
1921s	um i know you guys have been patient we
1923s	appreciate that we love the patients
1925s	that our community has uh but understand
1927s	that patience will yield a very good
1929s	product um so all right well let's
1932s	transition into talking a little bit
1936s	about
1937s	our event system and how that works if
1940s	you don't mind transitioning to that
1942s	yeah we have a little
1943s	video that we'll play i like event
1945s	systems some b-roll video uh
1949s	will we talk about this
1957s	somebody said that
1959s	margaret someone said that you cut the
1960s	stream to stop me from leaking
1965s	i didn't i think it was twitch because i
1967s	didn't touch anything we actually didn't
1968s	stop the stream it was a like twitch
1971s	hiccuped and then we're back now so
1973s	yeah sure
1975s	um
1978s	i actually have mute power i can just
1979s	mute stephen
1981s	i know i don't own the power
1983s	no bully no bullying i know i wouldn't
1985s	ever um
1987s	so that's a joke maybe but
1989s	what we wanted to talk about on today's
1991s	stream was a little bit more systems
1993s	driven
1994s	um chatting kind of about how
1998s	content gets introduced into the world
2001s	um and things like uh
2004s	things like uh these little goblins that
2006s	you see by the way i love these little
2008s	goblins
2011s	yeah the shaman's cool but what i love
2012s	about the goblins is they're really
2015s	a unique monster race from the sense
2017s	that they have social organization to
2019s	themselves right and
2021s	a lot of monsters kind of share that
2023s	that aspect um
2026s	that they have these kind of social
2027s	organizations where you can develop uh
2030s	goblin tactics and you can have uh some
2033s	goblin identities and you can have
2035s	variants and those types of um the types
2039s	of goblins that you can even experience
2041s	um but anyways uh so when we're talking
2044s	about events um we've talked about this
2047s	in the past a little bit some of you
2048s	guys know the event system
2050s	but really
2052s	what the events represent is a way for
2055s	us to attempt and introduce
2058s	content in a more fluid in a more
2061s	natural in a more
2064s	kind of progression-based
2066s	way that the world is reacting to player
2070s	activity
2071s	and what we mean by player activity is
2077s	in the event system we have uh
2079s	certain predicates and these these
2083s	predicates act as requirements that must
2085s	be
2086s	satisfied before a particular story arc
2090s	or a particular event
2091s	can kick off right
2094s	and these events are are very
2097s	[Music]
2098s	very wide ranging in what they can be
2101s	right um this could be a plague that's
2104s	sweeping the lands it could be
2106s	um a natural disaster that is a forest
2111s	fire or a volcanic eruption uh it could
2114s	be a response from a particular npc
2117s	faction or a monster faction like here
2119s	you see the goblins kind of assaulting a
2121s	town but what's interesting about these
2123s	events and something that i think
2124s	correlates to to
2126s	kind of how i run d d campaigns as well
2129s	is that there's always a clock ticking
2132s	in the world right there's always
2133s	something that's happening
2135s	in the background regardless of what
2137s	player decisions are made sometimes
2139s	right these things can continue to
2142s	develop and if you don't pay attention
2144s	to them or if you don't respond to them
2146s	if you do not
2148s	stop them from advancing in stages
2152s	right
2153s	these things will have effects on your
2156s	day-to-day activities they will
2159s	create obstacles they will potentially
2162s	destroy buildings they will
2166s	create havoc within the game player
2169s	world that will force you to respond um
2172s	and if you if you do not
2174s	um you will suffer the concept the the
2176s	consequences so um
2179s	let's see where do did you give me let
2181s	me see
2183s	talking points for you here oh sweet
2185s	yeah
2187s	steven's using the run of show you guys
2188s	it's exciting i know i'm so sorry
2193s	i'm like where is my run of show um okay
2197s	i think i have it here okay perfect um
2200s	so one of the things that we we kind of
2202s	consider behind the uh event
2204s	applications are like where these events
2207s	live so obviously one of the most common
2209s	probably events that you guys have
2210s	experienced at other mmorpgs are
2212s	calendar events um caliver calendar
2214s	events can be server-wide events that uh
2217s	you know give us unique content uh based
2219s	on the duration of either some type of
2222s	uh real-world holiday or in-game holiday
2225s	or beat
2226s	now that's not to say that these are
2227s	going to be campy or that they're going
2230s	to be
2231s	um you know out of immersion so to speak
2234s	we're going we we have a lot of ideas on
2236s	how certain real world holidays can be
2239s	uh contextualized within the game world
2242s	and it seemed fitting right we actually
2244s	asked you all for your feedback in
2245s	regards to events and holidays and if
2248s	you'd like to see those and um
2250s	looking at the feedback from that it
2252s	seems like you guys want to mix you want
2254s	a mix of in-game holidays and seasonal
2256s	events and things like that that are
2258s	pertinent to the culture of the world
2260s	and different from real life and then
2262s	you also want some that coincide with
2264s	real life but have
2266s	you know their own culture and purpose
2268s	in the game and i think we can
2270s	definitely incorporate all of that
2271s	feedback for sure yeah and part of the
2274s	great thing that the content team the
2276s	narrative team that's um you know scott
2278s	and chris and aimee and wynn um
2283s	and tony um
2285s	you know part of the things that they're
2287s	working on um is creating a lot of
2290s	cultural identity for these character
2292s	races um and how we can um
2296s	bring about kind of these um calendar
2299s	events from the perspective of each
2301s	individual race um that's something that
2303s	is that i think is going to be
2306s	really helping identify or giving
2308s	identity uh to each of the
2310s	characteristics
2311s	the other thing i want to say is that
2313s	aimee and clayton um have been
2317s	uh you know working very hard on um
2321s	on this event system so i want to give
2323s	them super kudos big props uh to to uh
2326s	aimee watanabe and um clayton stamper um
2330s	next thing
2331s	and i believe chris scott scott bacara
2333s	chris holdtorf absolutely and recently
2336s	tony as well um
2338s	so notice like you gotta
2341s	yes i know i'm sorry it's okay um
2344s	so uh the the next thing and this is
2346s	kind of indicative of the little video
2348s	that you see here the little loop that
2349s	we're playing is note attacks um some of
2351s	the events that spawn have consequences
2354s	that lead to node attacks right and
2356s	enemies have
2358s	a particular type of hate list
2360s	on certain buildings that a node may
2363s	have access to when they attack during
2365s	an event and that hate list might relate
2368s	to
2369s	um
2370s	or that building choice might relate to
2373s	something that is indicative of the
2374s	storyline for that particular event um
2377s	or it could be something that is more
2379s	pivotal to the defense of the city if
2381s	the city doesn't respond to these types
2383s	of things that might weaken them for
2384s	potential player attacks afterwards
2386s	right um and that's something that's
2388s	that's very important as well um monster
2390s	coin events we've talked about this in
2392s	the past monster coins are obviously
2393s	items that allow players to become
2394s	monsters for some period of time um
2397s	events allow players to kind of opt in
2399s	from the monster's perspective and take
2401s	out their rage on other players or
2403s	different factions
2404s	but without having to be their own
2406s	player character at that time um i think
2409s	that breaks up the monotony of of what
2412s	you know playing your character class
2414s	might always represent on a day-to-day
2416s	basis and give you a little bit of uh uh
2419s	a a fun um uh
2422s	a little bit of a a fun part time away
2425s	from that um the other thing is uh are
2428s	kind of poi events um so p of i events
2430s	typically tell stories of the particular
2432s	poi right like why does this poi exist
2435s	why are there monsters here at this
2437s	point of interest that might be some
2438s	tower or might be some dungeon you know
2440s	how does that population interact with
2442s	the rest of the world outside of just
2444s	its point of interest right
2446s	and those things could be precursors for
2448s	node attacks themselves um it could
2451s	address the story of nearby threats as
2453s	antagonists to civilization in general
2455s	um enemies can can only really grow
2458s	stronger as the node grows becoming
2460s	outposts essentially for exiled or
2462s	rivals of the existing order um the
2464s	other thing about node conflict npcs
2467s	is that they might have influential
2468s	inhabitants of the world right you might
2470s	have you know a dude who's the leader of
2473s	the speakeasies and they you know have
2476s	information to give you and if you don't
2478s	you know interact with them they might
2479s	give you that information to your
2481s	enemies and that might spawn off some
2483s	other event um so these are these are
2485s	also closely integrated with story lines
2488s	and and story arcs uh in general um the
2490s	other thing uh you could have um certain
2494s	type of pvp objectives and pvp driven
2496s	events the event system
2498s	is used to create pvp situations in the
2500s	open world as almost battlegrounds right
2502s	open world battlegrounds and i've talked
2503s	about this in the past as well
2505s	but usually my
2508s	definition of what a battleground is and
2509s	it's non-traditional it's not typically
2511s	something that um is defined in the same
2513s	way in other mmorpgs but i kind of view
2516s	them as these small skirmishes that
2519s	might lead up to a siege or to a war and
2521s	they might have capture points during
2523s	node and castle fights and these pvp
2526s	objectives may be more relevant for
2527s	smaller groups than for giant raids and
2529s	you might have concurrently running
2531s	objectives during a particular event
2533s	where you have to dispatch
2535s	groups simultaneously to go address
2538s	these objectives uh in order to complete
2541s	one particular type of event or one
2543s	particular type of of success condition
2547s	so that is that is another element of
2549s	our pvp objectives and how they work in
2552s	the event systems as well um one
2554s	important thing to note about events in
2555s	general is notifications are
2559s	are sent to the players right players
2560s	can kind of opt into these events uh in
2563s	a similar way that you would into a
2565s	quest right you're going to be presented
2567s	with it would you like to participate um
2569s	but they might not i mean they might not
2571s	always be that way you might hear
2575s	trees falling in the forest and that may
2577s	be an audio cue to tell you something's
2580s	happening over there it's out of the
2581s	ordinary this is not normally an audio
2583s	cue that i hear in this area and i'm
2586s	gonna go investigate that thing so it
2587s	might not just be always that kind of ui
2590s	window represented with a participate or
2593s	not but i'm going to go investigate and
2595s	in that sense it could be stage driven
2598s	so you might have the more local stage
2601s	where it is just the visual or audio
2602s	cues and you get to go participate in
2604s	that stage and then when it advances or
2607s	if you don't answer the problem in time
2609s	then it starts to expand regionally and
2611s	then it might send out um particular uh
2614s	notifications to either citizens of the
2617s	node from which it falls under its
2618s	purview um or even broader than that
2621s	right it could be global driven events
2623s	um and then it could have things that
2625s	that are are visual cues that are really
2628s	big like a giant blizzard that's
2631s	affecting the zone uh because the event
2634s	hasn't been addressed and that can
2636s	affect the crop rotations or it can
2638s	affect uh passages and roads and how
2640s	caravans move you know there's a lot
2642s	there's a lot that the that the
2643s	predicate system um informs to the event
2647s	system and then the event system reacts
2650s	to those types of predicates right
2653s	there's also event levels uh the level
2655s	of a particular event
2658s	content is scaled essentially with the
2659s	level of the content that triggers it so
2662s	for example if the event takes place in
2663s	a zone that has a base population of
2665s	let's say average level 25 then one of
2668s	the trigger conditions might be that 10
2670s	monsters of level 25 have been killed
2672s	recently in that zone and the level 25
2674s	event will now spawn additional content
2676s	designed for level 25 players so these
2678s	events aren't always going to be end
2680s	game they're going to be obviously
2682s	appropriate based on the content in
2684s	which the predicate system is informing
2687s	but they also could be something
2689s	completely uh top level that is
2692s	introduced at a lower level area and
2694s	brings population traffic of the players
2696s	back to those types of things
2698s	there's one other important thing is
2699s	that events are driven by what we call a
2702s	state machine right
2703s	and there are essentially five types of
2705s	states that exist for events
2708s	there's the in progress state there's
2709s	the active state inactive on cooldown or
2711s	disabled um and that is essentially a
2715s	way that we inform
2717s	um we inform uh what types of elements
2720s	what what stage of activity things are
2723s	coming online based on what event state
2726s	uh is is currently active at the moment
2729s	um
2730s	uh we talked a little bit about kind of
2732s	triggers um we have world conditions
2734s	like node levels we have uh
2737s	seasons and climates and calendar the
2740s	service building activation relics and
2742s	completed raids
2744s	all of these things can be part of what
2746s	informs i'm not going to go into what
2747s	everything can be i don't want to dish
2748s	out you know the the nitty-gritties of
2750s	the system per se but i'm just giving
2752s	you an idea of what essentially um
2754s	allows events to become a thing um
2758s	and then once those things are addressed
2760s	or not addressed
2761s	certain cooldown cooldowns get triggered
2764s	um
2765s	other conditions might uh uh trigger it
2767s	could form as a predicate for an
2769s	additional event there could be
2770s	concurrent events
2772s	um
2774s	we are we alive
2775s	i feel like we're dropping again
2778s	yeah it looks like twitch is hiccuping
2779s	again
2780s	oh no yeah okay maybe we're back
2785s	it's still in the red
2787s	we're under attack
2788s	and now it's green again
2791s	there's an ad playing so
2793s	give it four seconds not like these
2798s	yay
2805s	fortunately it's not my internet it's
2807s	twitch's side so it's not cutting it's
2809s	not like making the video cut
2812s	yes that's true
2813s	this is true
2815s	okay um
2816s	but anyway so that's that's the general
2819s	uh kind of um
2821s	new information that you may or may not
2822s	have had in the past uh regarding events
2825s	i'm not sure if i missed anything i i
2827s	think it's getting going red again
2832s	i'm looking at the
2835s	says the video skips but the audio is
2837s	fine
2838s	interesting
2839s	well
2840s	you know we always can't have um
2843s	remember when we used to have so many
2844s	issues audio issues and like
2847s	you may not remember that i wasn't here
2850s	it was before my time uh oh but now it
2853s	is your time no i'm just kidding but
2855s	this is not me
2856s	i'm just messing i'm just messing with
2858s	you but now it is your time
2861s	the time of the orchestra no i'm just
2863s	kidding um oh gosh anyways did i miss
2866s	anything in the uh
2868s	in the uh
2869s	explanation there's any questions you
2871s	have for me about events at all margaret
2873s	i don't think i think the only thing i
2876s	would want to uh mention is that this
2878s	isn't all of them
2880s	no no no no we wanna obviously this type
2883s	of system
2886s	are we still alive it says we are
2888s	but it's definitely maybe it's the
2890s	goblin video let's kill the job kill the
2892s	goblin video i don't know
2894s	i don't think it should be because it's
2896s	my cpu is like two percent
2899s	maybe twitch can't handle the goblins
2901s	the goblins are too powerful
2905s	goblins are strong
2908s	okay um
2909s	yeah so to margaret's point um this
2912s	obviously isn't everything about the
2913s	system we don't want to reveal
2915s	everything about the system
2917s	but we do want to give you context for
2918s	how the system interacts with the
2920s	players
2921s	and we do want to give you kind of an
2922s	idea of how these things advance and
2925s	progress and how they get um initiated
2928s	and uh just to give you a general uh
2931s	idea of you know all all of what invents
2935s	um can entail um so that you know the
2938s	type of living breathing you know
2940s	typical cliche
2942s	terminology that's used for these types
2944s	of systems
2946s	but the goal is to really create
2948s	something that is that feels immersive
2950s	that feels organic
2952s	that feels reactive to kind of player
2954s	agency in the world
2956s	and the event system is one of those
2958s	components um
2960s	yeah yeah and it's kind of basically
2962s	that risk versus reward versus
2964s	consequence that we have talked about
2966s	many times when it comes to ashes of
2968s	creation we want you if you ignore those
2971s	goblins they're going to be plotting
2973s	something so uh you will have to you
2976s	know deal with what the repercussions of
2978s	those are but if you're you know take
2979s	care of it early on maybe you're
2981s	rewarded for that so kind of keeping
2983s	those things in mind um also i believe
2986s	there will be a feedback thread about
2988s	events that is going to be popped up
2990s	now-ish vachnar i know you're making it
2993s	live uh so if you can pop that live now
2996s	you're welcome to go over to our forums
2997s	leave us feedback in regards to your
2999s	thoughts we'll also have an article that
3001s	will be going out i believe next week
3003s	and that will also kind of give you a
3006s	rundown of this again if you're you know
3008s	if reading is a little bit easier for
3009s	you than listening to us talk but we'll
3012s	also embed the video segment so you can
3014s	you know listen back and read at the
3016s	same time along with us um
3018s	i did have one question that was asked
3020s	oh god i feel like it was the goblin
3023s	video like maybe we should have made
3024s	them gremlins because they were missing
3027s	i'm just kidding i don't think it is i
3028s	think twitch is having server issues
3030s	right now um
3032s	yeah i looked at their thing i think
3033s	they were having services got it uh in
3035s	regards to this question that i saw in
3038s	chat i think it might be something that
3040s	you you could answer and uh sure it's
3042s	from
3043s	levi levioima i'm not sure
3046s	uh they wanted to know you don't have to
3048s	answer this today but i would appreciate
3050s	an answer on stream over the next couple
3052s	days if you are going to link some
3054s	holidays to out of game events how will
3056s	you resolve the time difference since it
3059s	was said that in game time will be
3061s	faster than real world time like four
3063s	times faster i believe and that's kind
3064s	of a valid question to ask oh i see so
3067s	will will
3068s	seasonal events in the real world align
3072s	with the seasonal rotation in the game
3075s	world
3076s	um and uh i think in that sense um
3080s	probably not that's going to require a
3082s	little bit of suspension of disbelief um
3084s	in understanding that but it's it's it's
3086s	also fair that
3088s	um in
3090s	game events do not need to be uh
3093s	perfectly cyclical
3096s	like let's say seasonal events are in
3098s	the real world um they could have a
3102s	non-uniform cycle associated with them
3105s	um
3106s	but yeah we we also you know there is
3109s	something to be said for
3111s	having that represented in the game as
3113s	long as it's immersive as long as it's
3115s	contextualized within the story and the
3116s	world and the universe that we've
3117s	created um and isn't a direct homage to
3120s	santa claus and the real world right
3122s	like um just to use a prime example or
3125s	something um
3127s	but it it it it can be a fun it can be a
3129s	fun thing for players to experience and
3130s	it doesn't always have to
3132s	oh thank for red again oh my god yeah
3136s	twitch is uh not happy oh no
3141s	i am recording locally right now so
3144s	um for this end bit just in case
3147s	it's like hardcore hiccups
3150s	twitch is it twitch what are they doing
3153s	i don't know um okay but either way
3155s	hopefully that answered your question i
3157s	think that was a that was a good answer
3159s	yep
3161s	got some ads playing
3165s	but they'll be able to listen to the
3166s	video as well
3167s	yeah that's good
3169s	um what do we got next our next thing is
3171s	environment art
3173s	rock and roll so let's go ahead and hop
3176s	over there
3177s	so
3178s	um the first thing is i don't know if
3180s	you want to talk a little bit about what
3181s	environment has been working on but i
3183s	know they've been working on a lot of
3185s	biome oriented things in regards to
3187s	alpha 2. well
3189s	and so this is oh so we're doing
3191s	concepts so this is a some concept that
3194s	that joe has done with regards to um
3197s	fleshing out some of the architectures
3199s	of the pirae culture
3201s	um so these are different types of home
3204s	um
3205s	concepts for the pirate
3208s	and you can see obviously the approach
3211s	here is to be as seamless between the
3213s	environment that
3214s	these homes exist in uh and the the
3218s	architecture itself so there's a lot of
3221s	root structures that are incorporated
3223s	they're likely going to be using uh
3226s	similar foliage actors that exist within
3229s	the world um as a means to integrate
3232s	these types of structures uh with their
3234s	surrounding environment i really love
3235s	how joe
3236s	kind of captures um not just the element
3239s	of the building here and the design of
3241s	that particular building for the
3242s	modelers to kind of utilize but also uh
3245s	to give context for how these buildings
3247s	live within the environment by
3248s	incorporating uh the ancillary uh
3253s	natural features
3254s	and this is definitely work in progress
3256s	they're just kind of trying to solidify
3259s	you know how do these different layers
3261s	live how do they interact with the
3262s	environment as stephen said
3264s	so take note that these are not final
3266s	these are just concepts to kind of give
3268s	us a you know an understanding of where
3270s	we're headed with them uh the next thing
3272s	that we're going to show here is the
3274s	ayla ruins which um you know this is
3277s	obviously in-game screenshots uh these
3279s	are modular sets that um
3282s	uh in the beginning of the new portal
3284s	area runes for the ayla ayla elder race
3288s	to be used throughout the riverlands so
3290s	we've shown off the riverland stuff in
3291s	the past already
3293s	and now you're getting to see a little
3294s	bit rather of those
3296s	i'm watching on stream as well yeah
3298s	i'm recording locally so we can yeah
3300s	yeah we'll use the local video yeah um
3302s	so this
3304s	these you know obviously you guys are
3306s	aware you're coming back to vera vera
3307s	once had very large parent-race
3309s	civilizations and um much of the
3312s	landscape incorporates kind of ruined um
3315s	uh uh buildings and these um uh sets
3320s	that you're gonna come across in the in
3321s	the world to kind of communicate that
3323s	age and that
3325s	distant past uh feeling um but part of
3329s	that is determining um the parent race's
3331s	original architecture and what their
3334s	their cities did look like because there
3336s	are going to be cut scenes in the game
3338s	that kind of take you back
3339s	uh in time to visualize the fall and the
3342s	apocalypse and and stuff along those
3344s	lines as as incorporating as certain
3347s	story elements um so uh in that sense uh
3351s	we create kind of the
3353s	pristine version of the alien
3354s	architecture and then we destroy it down
3357s	into
3358s	um these ruined
3361s	points of interest and or ruined
3363s	set dresses for the for the environments
3369s	and then next we have a little teaser
3374s	of a couple
3375s	screenshots of some of the new tech that
3377s	they're
3378s	going to be showing off in the future
3380s	um i don't know if you want to talk how
3382s	much you want to talk about that but i
3384s	know they wanted to tease these a little
3386s	bit i actually just i went out to lunch
3388s	with the environment team yesterday and
3390s	we were talking about um you know
3393s	showcasing this in the next stream
3397s	and they uh pretty confident they were
3399s	like don't give a timeline
3401s	if they're confident hey if they're
3403s	confident i'm confident so
3405s	um i will say that uh i have seen the
3408s	the preliminary tech here uh and it is
3412s	freaking cool
3414s	these are just teaser images
3417s	but wait until you see the video uh
3420s	about this tech and how seasons are
3423s	introduced within the world it is
3426s	something that i think is going to be a
3429s	very stable and unique aspect of the
3432s	ashes of creation
3433s	[Music]
3435s	mmorpg its world is going to be seeing
3438s	the drastic differences that are
3440s	introduced visually for each biome in
3443s	each environment
3445s	when these cycles of seasons uh are
3447s	introduced and you're gonna see that
3449s	that that tech which is which has taken
3452s	a lot of effort from our technical art
3454s	teams and from the environment teams um
3456s	in accomplishing uh but it is something
3459s	that feels just so good um and of course
3462s	it has deeper uh uh
3465s	implications right um as it applies to
3468s	certain systems like uh crop rotations
3471s	and um being able to kind of grow things
3474s	but also how does that affect the
3476s	economy like if a particular region
3478s	moves into a season and that week you
3479s	can't grow a particular type of good but
3482s	another region halfway across the world
3484s	can grow that good and you talk about
3486s	moving those goods across regions so
3488s	that they're relevant to either craft
3490s	workbenches or you can sell them in the
3492s	local economies
3494s	that is a major indicator of movement of
3497s	goods and movement of goods carries
3500s	risks and risks can create political uh
3503s	foes and friends so um you know all that
3505s	stuff something as simple as just a
3507s	climate can have cascading consequences
3511s	across the entirety of the game um and
3514s	yeah i think it's pretty pretty cool
3517s	all right moving on to our character
3520s	goodness
3522s	um
3523s	i'm looking at
3525s	uh
3526s	oops that was supposed to be last
3529s	you saw nothing uh the first one here is
3532s	our sleep sears uh rament as you've seen
3536s	before and i'll play the 3d element of
3538s	this
3540s	this is the 3d model of it our artists
3542s	are so amazing you see concept art and
3544s	pretty much everything looks just like
3546s	the concept
3547s	um
3548s	so pretty sick
3550s	awesome head dress you can kind of see
3551s	how the light reflects on everything who
3554s	did this one was danny eli i didn't
3557s	i i forgot to put the names on those
3559s	ones so i don't wanna i don't wanna give
3560s	credit to someone with the wrong names
3562s	um
3564s	and then the next one here is our steed
3566s	of the frayed corpse
3570s	work in progress
3576s	you guys might get your bingo card oh
3578s	that horse looks so good
3581s	all right and then the next one is the
3584s	lovely amethyst bow bite
3591s	oh
3592s	it's like a little alpaca alpaca
3595s	well it was basically like a
3599s	alpaca
3614s	turtle alpaca llama
3617s	and then next we have our rock hawk
3619s	which is looking so sick
3621s	rock hawk i like that
3623s	and
3624s	uh
3625s	don't say it too fast
3632s	[Laughter]
3640s	next up we have our work in progress
3643s	ascara but we haven't really had i know
3645s	there's been people asking for
3648s	for bugs
3649s	so here you go
3650s	oh
3651s	little beetle dude
3653s	yeah
3654s	how big is that
3655s	i would assume it's probably a big
3658s	beetle that you're gonna fight
3661s	um but i'm sure they can make little
3663s	ones too
3665s	yeah then we've got
3667s	the thing you totally didn't see earlier
3670s	which is the work in progress of the
3672s	scorpion boss
3674s	and we do have an image for scale
3677s	right there
3681s	oh yeah
3683s	this guy is scary
3685s	so
3686s	sick i think either ginsee or keith is
3689s	working on this one
3692s	i don't want to say who it is if i have
3694s	it wrong
3697s	um but yeah you know he he just looks
3700s	like he's a misunderstood
3704s	totally
3705s	probably not gonna attack you and eat
3707s	your face no he seems like a like a
3709s	cuddle bug you know what i mean no pun
3711s	intended so cuddly with all those spikes
3714s	yeah imagine those spikes no they're not
3716s	meant to poke you they're meant to
3718s	embrace you
3721s	all right whatever you're into steven
3727s	and of course that wraps up this uh
3729s	segment for our character art um we'll
3732s	move on to our q a and try to answer as
3734s	many questions as we can here i know we
3737s	do have a hard cut off at some point
3739s	because steven has another meeting he is
3741s	a fairly booked man
3743s	the first one here we have here is about
3746s	roleplay
3747s	um and the question is well the custom
3749s	text chat command slash e slash emo emmy
3753s	or some variant of it be in the game for
3755s	role play and they don't mean like
3757s	emotes like dancing and stuff like that
3759s	that they mean like can they type in the
3762s	text that they want to type in
3764s	yeah
3765s	i think that was wasn't that present in
3767s	alpha one i think it was an alpha one
3769s	like you could type the slash
3771s	uh emote you wanted and it would play
3773s	like a you know wave or you could clap
3775s	or you could do something like victory
3776s	stuff yeah they don't want it to be an
3778s	animated they're saying like can i just
3780s	type whatever i want like uh slash
3783s	uh you know emmy
3785s	uh
3787s	and then what does that do in the what
3789s	do they want that to do
3790s	other than put text there i think
3793s	oh then yes
3795s	you can chat in the chat box for sure
3799s	well yeah like you can say slash
3800s	chuckles but it's not like tied to an
3802s	anime
3803s	yes
3804s	you can do that
3805s	karthos wants to know naval combat uh
3808s	can i equip my ship with a ram and plow
3811s	into other ships and maybe raid bosses
3813s	to inflict damage while not completely
3815s	yes
3817s	there might be particular ship
3819s	components and or classes that excel at
3822s	that type of activity
3825s	awesome
3826s	the next one is from goalid and they
3828s	would like to know about vassal nodes
3831s	village nodes and higher level nodes
3833s	give out certain certificates for
3835s	freeholds to be placed in their zoi
3838s	zone of influence for those who don't
3839s	know
3840s	if i place my freehold in a vassal node
3843s	can i get citizenship in the parent node
3848s	uh that is a very good question actually
3850s	um right now guys are doing a lot of
3852s	value yeah
3853s	yeah right right now actually we are
3855s	intending on the um uh the freehold
3859s	system
3861s	to work in both scenarios uh there will
3864s	but that may change but you would have
3867s	an option depending on where you
3869s	achieved where you procured the
3872s	certificate from
3873s	um as long as it is either in the parent
3876s	or the vassal area it could be a part of
3878s	either you you kind of you give that
3881s	declaration when you lay down the
3883s	freehold but
3885s	like i said that may change because we
3886s	are actively um defining a different
3889s	approach on some of the vassal systems
3893s	awesome awesome
3895s	next up we've got nia asking about
3897s	emotes uh will there be interactions
3900s	with pets and mounts such as petting
3903s	hugging or playing with them oh yeah i
3905s	would love to i mean it's a
3907s	um i think actually a long time ago uh
3911s	animation
3913s	did do some of that um
3916s	as a matter of fact in alpha one you
3917s	might have seen some of the anims on the
3919s	rider of a horse that they went down and
3921s	kind of padded the side
3924s	of the neck or they would pet kind of
3927s	those but those would be separate
3928s	actions that you could potentially do as
3930s	just additional emotes but interfaces
3932s	with a mount or pet that you have
3935s	active all right
3938s	and then we've got uh questing lore from
3941s	dismiss and they want to know will we be
3944s	processing through an overarching story
3947s	and chapters of a narrative or will it
3949s	largely be exploration and contained in
3952s	small regional quest lines dotted
3954s	throughout the world
3956s	both
3957s	um there will be a healthy dose of both
3959s	of those um that the the approach of the
3962s	narrative team
3964s	is that there is of course a meta-story
3967s	that meta-story gets informed by
3969s	regional stories and regional outcomes
3972s	and
3974s	depending on how players progress within
3976s	their personal stories that could be
3978s	either
3979s	racially based or
3982s	could be
3983s	their class-based
3985s	they could be a per node basis like all
3988s	of those things support a grand
3990s	structure of the meta-narrative but
3992s	that's how you effectuate kind of
3994s	outcomes
3998s	and then we've got schmucky asking about
4001s	leveling will each node have a couple
4004s	or have a complete and unique path
4006s	for a player to get to max level
4009s	so this is like could i just go to one
4011s	node and level up to max level
4014s	um could you do that the way that the
4016s	nodes influence spawners around its area
4019s	if the node were high enough level it
4021s	would have relevant um experience grants
4026s	that you could likely just live your
4028s	life at a particular node however that
4030s	probably would not be the most effective
4032s	means of leveling um is it possible
4035s	perhaps yes um but
4038s	it would be probably at a reduced pace
4041s	okay
4042s	and then ronius
4045s	sipony i don't know if i'm saying your
4047s	name right wants to know about monster
4049s	coins if an economic building is
4052s	disabled in a monster coin event will it
4054s	have economic consequences in regions
4057s	other than the node in which it was
4059s	destroyed
4060s	uh potentially yes depending on what the
4062s	what the service building was that got
4064s	disabled um so for example if the
4066s	service building that got disabled
4069s	was a blacksmith's building that housed
4071s	a workbench which was the only workbench
4073s	in the region capable of crafting a t5
4076s	or tier v or you know high tier
4078s	quality equipment
4080s	then of course that would have
4082s	ramifications economically as those
4084s	pieces of equipment that are already
4086s	readily available would raise in prices
4089s	and because there would be
4092s	a
4093s	issue within the supply chain of those
4097s	items being introduced into the economy
4099s	you would potentially have some supply
4101s	and demand
4102s	changes economically and that could span
4104s	regions that could be global um even so
4107s	yeah
4108s	and then we have a question from
4109s	schwann36 wanting to know about naval
4111s	content
4112s	since you need to be at a port or harbor
4115s	to summon a ship and that's only big
4117s	ships small ships you could you could do
4119s	not at those um if a ship is destroyed
4122s	will's out at sea will the player need
4125s	to slowly swim back to shore
4128s	or get a ride or how would are they just
4130s	stranded out there what's the yeah i
4133s	mean there's a real fast ride that they
4134s	could take and um typically that would
4136s	involve them kind of just swimming under
4138s	the water and letting life take its you
4141s	know take them away
4142s	but now
4145s	stephen oh my god by the way do not
4147s	advise doing that in real life or
4149s	anything i'm just saying like in the
4150s	game world
4152s	there's a fast way and there's a slow
4153s	wave but those are really kind of your
4155s	options at that point
4158s	okay because some games have uh you know
4160s	things that will let you go back to
4162s	shore or recall back or something of
4164s	that sort yes um no we don't have a
4167s	recall we don't have that type of there
4169s	there is consequence for you losing the
4171s	means of your mobility um and if you
4175s	lost the means of that mobility then um
4178s	those consequences are it's going to
4179s	take you longer to get to where you need
4180s	to go
4181s	or you're going to have to suffer suffer
4183s	some experience debt
4185s	all right and then dabs 16 wants to know
4188s	about sieges if a person is a citizen of
4191s	a node when a siege scroll is dropped on
4194s	the node can they move their citizenship
4197s	before the siege occurs
4200s	very interesting question um for the
4202s	most part uh yes they could do that do
4206s	they get a deserter tag or something so
4208s	there are certain policies
4211s	um that the node could have active at
4213s	the time
4215s	that might exacerbate the penalties for
4217s	departing the city as a citizen prior to
4221s	a siege taking effect but during the
4223s	declaration period
4225s	so
4227s	that is a answer that has a variable
4230s	component to it
4231s	okay
4233s	and then richie sh wants to know about
4235s	the under realm can we expect the
4237s	underrealm and tulnar starting area to
4239s	be more built up civilization-wise since
4242s	those inhabitants have existed on vera
4244s	since the apocalypse
4246s	well it's important to note actually
4248s	that the the tulnar's locations within
4251s	the underground that they took refuge in
4254s	during the
4256s	um
4258s	after the exodus um
4261s	that portion is
4263s	was protected well actually i don't want
4265s	to get into that too much
4268s	i know i almost i almost slipped there
4270s	i'm glad
4271s	uh i did not actually um but uh how can
4274s	i answer that question uh i'm not gonna
4275s	give an answer you don't have to
4277s	necessarily give an answer yeah um
4280s	okay and then sorry richie you'll have
4282s	to experience in game to find out
4285s	uh the next question is about mounts and
4287s	and this is from lashing and they would
4289s	like to know will gliding tier two
4291s	mounts have to sacrifice speed
4294s	other stats or an ability slot to keep
4297s	tier one mounts relevant
4301s	um
4301s	[Music]
4304s	no tier one route mounts are relevant um
4307s	and this is something that's going to be
4309s	explained in our stable systems and how
4311s	mounts are
4313s	accounted for uh later on um we haven't
4316s	gotten into an article about the stable
4318s	systems yet or or discussed really how
4320s	they work um but generally you're gonna
4322s	have active mounts and those active
4325s	mounts um i'll just i'll tease this a
4327s	little bit the active mounts are
4328s	determined based on um you
4332s	having that active mount as part of a
4334s	slot within the stable that you um
4337s	you're within the area of
4339s	and what that means is that mounts are
4340s	relevant in battle and if you lose your
4343s	mount in battle it's it's it is a
4345s	detriment there are ways for you to
4347s	bring that mount back there are active
4349s	potions that you can have available to
4351s	you to do fast resurrections
4353s	to reduce that cooldown potentially and
4355s	you can also interface with the stable
4357s	itself if you want to uh swap that mount
4359s	out mount out with a different mount but
4362s	tier one mounts will have certain type
4364s	types of abilities that are unique to
4366s	the tier ones and the tier twos will
4368s	have certain abilities that are unique
4369s	to the tier twos in some cases those
4371s	will be horizontal um in other cases
4374s	they'll be vertical power gain um so it
4376s	just depends on the situation it's it's
4379s	it's a situational element
4381s	perfect and then we have our last
4383s	question is going to be about end game
4386s	from gizmo gizmo as in like m-o-w like
4389s	moe in the lawn uh and they want to know
4391s	how do you plan to balance professions
4394s	to keep them equally useful and relevant
4396s	at endgame
4399s	well that's hard balance is a hard
4401s	question
4403s	it's a it's a big question
4406s	balance is
4408s	um you know of course something that is
4410s	done through testing through iteration
4413s	um and uh and also watching player
4416s	behavior so um
4419s	you know when it comes to balancing a
4420s	system that's something that we do
4421s	during testing phases when it comes to
4423s	architecting the system itself and
4425s	identifying the areas in which certain
4429s	certain professions excel
4431s	where they interact with ancillary
4433s	systems their interconnectivity across
4434s	the artisanship system as a whole
4437s	you know the the important part there is
4439s	to identify
4441s	um how that the the interconnectivity
4444s	lives with the other professions in the
4448s	artisanship system um and and and what
4451s	type of reliance you have on particular
4453s	professions to complete the path of
4457s	crafting or introduction of new items
4460s	into the economy
4462s	and i think that
4463s	one of the things you need to strive to
4465s	do
4466s	is not to create arbitrary and one-off
4470s	bespoke professions that aren't part of
4472s	that integration that whole holistic
4474s	kind of view of the depression system
4477s	corey and mike are doing a great job in
4479s	kind of identifying uh the importance of
4482s	each profession across the artisanship
4484s	as a whole the artisanship systems as a
4487s	whole
4488s	and right now we have 20 i believe we
4491s	have 22 professions
4494s	and we're talking about masteries like
4496s	ultimate masteries uh living within only
4499s	two of those to start for any one
4501s	individual character
4503s	so there's a uh that doesn't mean that
4505s	that you can't achieve like tier three
4507s	and tier four um
4509s	intermediate proficiency within those
4511s	systems and have some
4513s	uh some interaction across the whole but
4516s	when it comes to complete mastery we're
4517s	really kind of identifying around two or
4519s	three right now
4520s	but that's something that gets play
4522s	tested something gets iterated upon
4523s	something that we get feedback on um
4526s	that's an important aspect for sure
4528s	yeah
4529s	well we appreciate you answering all
4531s	those questions stephen i know it's a
4534s	lot
4535s	um but of course uh we hope that you all
4538s	enjoyed our april development update as
4541s	we said there will be an ebb and flow of
4543s	those big ones where we showcase a lot
4545s	of cool in-game stuff
4547s	versus the others where we kind of give
4548s	you little pieces trickling here and
4550s	there but we hope that you enjoyed
4552s	hearing about the event system we will
4553s	have an article going out next week or
4555s	sometime coming up
4557s	that you can check out as well as there
4559s	already is a feedback thread up if you
4562s	have any you know thoughts on the event
4564s	system thus far feel free to drop them
4566s	over there and then of course we also
4568s	have our hairstyle feedback thread up we
4571s	would love to hear your thoughts on
4572s	those things
4574s	especially for the hairstyles if you can
4576s	provide some imagery that assists our
4578s	artist quite greatly and you know we're
4581s	really excited we hope that you have
4583s	enjoyed um seeing our update and uh just
4587s	quick reminders that the road to
4588s	desolation cosmetic swap over will be on
4590s	may 11th so if you'd like that check it
4592s	out thank you all for watching thank you
4594s	steven for your time we hope that you
4596s	all stay safe and healthy and of course
4599s	if you uh didn't get to watch this or
4601s	you kind of came in later
4603s	it will be immediately available over on
4605s	twitch if twitches mods want to work
4607s	with us otherwise we will be putting
4609s	this up on our youtube channel
4610s	youtube.com ashes of creation and if you
4613s	subscribe to us over there and leave us
4615s	a comment on the video your comment
4617s	could be selected randomly to be uh
4620s	spotlighted on our next live stream
4622s	which we will you know if it's a
4623s	question we'll answer if not we'll maybe
4625s	discuss it a little bit maybe it's about
4627s	tacos i don't know what it's going to be
4629s	about
4630s	but we hope to see it and of course
4632s	follow us on all the places we you know
4635s	we of course do this big update on live
4636s	streams once a month once a month but we
4638s	do a ton of updates on our social media
4641s	throughout the month so if you want to
4643s	see daily content twitter facebook
4646s	instagram snapchat go check us out uh
4648s	pop on over to our discord bacner and
4651s	roshan are and are always interacting
4653s	with people daily over there as well as
4655s	over on our forums we would love to have
4657s	you join us and be part of our ashes
4659s	family and we will see you all next
4662s	month for another development update bye
4664s	everybody have an awesome weekend
4667s	[Music]
4675s	[Music]
4703s	[Music]
4708s	you

[2022] Development Update with Event System Overview - 11AM PT Friday, April 29, 2022

Transcript (by Youtube)

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