Development Update With Midnight Magic Preview - 11AM PT Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | Ashes of Creation Dev Tracker

Transcript (by Youtube)

2s	[Music]
9s	[Music]
18s	hello everyone and Welcome to our
20s	glorious April development update it has
23s	been a month and oh boy for Stephen and
26s	I it has been a month we've had so much
29s	going on it has been crazy but in a good
32s	way we're obviously ramping up as we're
35s	heading towards our Alpha 2 that's
38s	coming up here in quarter 3 but of
40s	course um I'm Margaret cron your
42s	director of communications here at
44s	Intrepid Studios and with me as always
46s	is Stephen Sharie our creative director
49s	um how are you doing today I am
52s	tired but I'm doing good I'm excited
55s	it's a live stream day we've had a lot
56s	of late night um you know sometimes you
59s	got to do a little Crunch and we've had
61s	couple weeks of late nights um we had
63s	some P4 problems at one point so it just
67s	theun yeah it's it's always a little
70s	stressful but it's been rocking and
71s	rolling and it's been a lot of good
73s	things that have come out of that of
75s	course I'm looking at my by the way I'm
77s	just real quick I'm looking at myself in
78s	the uh uh in the camera and I'm like
81s	whoa my eyes look terrible so I
84s	apologize I'm a little bit tired I know
86s	I was like I'm a little tired so I
88s	apologize for that but I know I got like
90s	four hours of sleep but I still couldn't
93s	I still woke up like I don't know um but
97s	pregnancy problems I have like a huge
99s	bump now you guys it's crazy oh my
101s	goodness I know that's I don't know can
104s	see like
106s	whoa I'm halfway point halfway point
109s	we're 20 weeks awesome that is amazing
113s	well we'll be 20 weeks next week um but
115s	yeah Steven's shown off some of our
117s	merch that we've been working on I think
118s	we've been getting a lot of questions
120s	about merch merch and you can kind of
121s	see we always tease a little bit in the
123s	background but we are I mean I guess I
125s	can talk a little bit about that before
126s	we get into things but um we are doing a
129s	lot of samples right now and some things
131s	are already in full manufactur and the
133s	samples have been approved so it's been
134s	pretty exciting we hoping say to those
137s	of you in the audience I see saying that
139s	I that you need this mug first of all
141s	this is my gallon of coffee for the
143s	morning um but second of all there was
146s	some debate on the team about whether or
147s	not this is too big oh yeah you tell us
150s	of course my uh opinion is that it's not
154s	big enough uh but of course you and the
156s	audience can say would you do you think
159s	be inch smaller what no way not at all
164s	look at because it's weird to hold see
166s	people saying too small it's perfect
169s	it's a tankered I'm telling you like the
172s	size of the mug I just think like the
173s	handle needs to be in a little bit more
175s	just like an inch I don't I feel like
178s	the handle is kind of unique unique oh
181s	it's 100% unique so for the for the mugs
184s	that we made all the mugs are custom
186s	mold we um Mike Veo designed them he's
189s	awesome so these are samples though
192s	there's some stuff wrong with them so
194s	don't look too closely I know I love it
196s	this the other side they're not final
197s	samples
198s	either so good yeah it's looking pretty
201s	cool um and you can see some puzzle
204s	boxes in the background for that
205s	Stephen's got but um of course today
208s	this that's not what we're discussing we
209s	are there's always stuff that is
211s	simultaneous people sometimes they think
213s	they think that what we're showing on
214s	the live stream is all we have homies we
216s	got like 500 things going on
218s	simultaneously parallel to one another
220s	so this is just what we want feedback on
222s	for this month and so for this month
224s	we're going to have some quick reminders
225s	very quick uh we have our Midnight Magic
228s	action which will be showing off um some
231s	desert area with the nighttime lighting
233s	we know we got a lot of feedback on the
234s	nighttime lighting so we've made some
236s	updates so definitely send us your
238s	additional feedback and then we also
240s	have some Mage abilities uh fire
242s	abilities for those pyros out there as
245s	well as um we do have weapon combo uh
249s	stuff that we're going to be showing off
251s	and we'll have some tangental videos
252s	that you'll see on social later so stay
254s	tuned for those and the Skybox the sky
257s	box as well which is which is a big
259s	change and many of you guys know about
261s	the constellation system this sky boox
264s	is going to be facilitating that uh in a
266s	really cool way I'm excited about the
268s	Showcase today yeah and um um there are
270s	still some things that we're working on
272s	with the sky box so everything's work in
273s	progress keep that in mind um and then
275s	we'll have a little Studio update as
277s	well as art update and we'll do our Q&A
280s	as always and we will be taking
281s	questions after the after after the
283s	Midnight Magic segment as well as per
286s	usual we do want to do a little bit of a
288s	caveat and I don't know if I want to you
290s	want to hand handle that Stephen or if
291s	you want me to which caveat in regards
293s	to Alpha 2 uh cont oh yeah sure
295s	absolutely absolutely um
298s	so this is something and and after this
301s	are we going to be going into Midnight
302s	Magic or uh we'll do reminders and then
305s	we'll go to let's do reminders first and
307s	then I'll and then I'll do the the the
309s	sure we can do that so uh quick updates
312s	we'll just get right into that our first
314s	thing is our YouTube subscriber comment
317s	um and if you would like your comments
319s	that spotlighted you have to subscribe
321s	to us on YouTube and make sure that you
323s	have your subscription public and then
326s	um leave us a comment on our development
328s	update version of our video
330s	um and so this one is from spillo
334s	4900 or
335s	4900 um and they want to know can you
337s	guys make an option for UI elements to
340s	be switched off or on for example I
343s	always love to play with less info on my
345s	screen so I feel more immersed I would
348s	love to be able to turn off the name
350s	plates the health bars and mainly the
352s	glowing circles under every Target or
355s	player so I think they just want
356s	customization in it I know we can turn
358s	off all the HUD but I think they want to
359s	be able to turn off the elements
361s	elements yeah absolutely um no I mean
364s	you know Colby and grat and the UI team
367s	in general agrees with this sentiment I
369s	do as well right we want as much
370s	customization as
372s	possible currently you can disable some
375s	of those elements um we're going to be
377s	expanding uh that to all elements in the
380s	future um you can also move those
383s	elements around the screen position them
384s	where you want them to you can increase
385s	and decrease the sizes of those elements
388s	um you know customization is OB
390s	obviously a very important aspect of UI
393s	because each of us has unique
394s	preferences that are predicated on just
396s	you know what we've enjoyed in the past
398s	and and in in in how we want to play our
400s	game so we are totally on board with
402s	customization and that will be an
404s	element in alha 2 you can see some of
406s	the customization that we have like you
407s	can move stuff around adjust sizes of
409s	things so um obviously we're going to
411s	expand upon that as we move forward um
414s	yeah and right now the you know the act
416s	the the uh by pressing shift H currently
420s	in the game you can manipulate those
422s	elements as is um y so yeah yeah um and
427s	then the next reminder here is of course
430s	that we do have some more depth
431s	discussions uh We've wrapped up our
433s	previous one or we are wrapping up this
435s	one which is the item drops and we want
437s	to know what types of items and upgrades
439s	do you expect to drop from regular mobs
442s	do you feel good when regular mobs have
444s	a rare chance to drop powerful items
447s	head on over toss us your feedback we
449s	would love to hear from you guys I know
451s	there's a lot of you out there who are
453s	thinking about item progression and
455s	you're and you have some some thoughts
457s	about this so if you're not in that
459s	thread I don't know what you're doing
461s	because I feel like every MMO player
463s	this is your life is chasing after the
466s	the Epic items and of course our next
469s	one that will be coming up is going to
470s	be about cutscenes so um we would be
474s	interested in your thoughts stay tuned
475s	for that dude I can barely hold this cup
479s	up I mean it so big I want me to hold it
483s	to see how big it is compared to me I'm
484s	like I'm like I need to work out I'm
486s	like shaking this thing it's like wait a
489s	minute well that's a different problem
493s	Stephen I need to get some weights in
495s	the office just doing the meetings like
496s	this don't say that John's gonna start
497s	bringing you oh no I shouldn't say that
502s	in the conference room anyways let's
505s	move on to Midnight Magic then all right
508s	so there is a very before we get into
511s	Midnight Magic there is a very important
513s	topic that I feel we as a community and
518s	as the studio need to reinforce and
521s	discuss
522s	again we have said time and time again
525s	in the past that our Alpha will be a
528s	true Alpha and I love going out in the
532s	community and reading commentary in
535s	Discord and reading the forums and
537s	reading the reddits and reading our
539s	social media and kind of listening to
542s	different content creators over the
543s	weekends as they have their live shows
545s	and as they put out videos during the
547s	week you know I absorb as much as
550s	possible because it is that connection I
554s	feel with the community that provides a
556s	level of insight for player expectation
559s	for player feedback you know how we can
561s	iterate on what we're doing right all of
563s	that stuff is a very important thing to
564s	just kind of keep on top of and as I am
568s	continually watching I see the hype
570s	growing for Alpha 2 coming up you know
573s	third quarter this year and we are still
575s	on schedule for for that um for that
578s	date but as I am watching the yes
582s	correct for as I'm watching the
584s	commentary out there it feels more and
587s	more to me that the expectation is that
590s	you are going to be playing a game and I
594s	will go back to what I have said
597s	multiple times in the past this is not
600s	an Eastern Port over for localization of
603s	a completed game that many of us have
605s	experienced in MMO land this is a true
609s	Alpha there will be lots of bugs there
612s	will be potential wipes there will be
615s	content that is not finished there will
617s	be things that when you are playing may
621s	not be fun because of that obviously the
624s	goal is that our core systems and the
626s	experience is going to be an enjoyable
628s	one but but you are not playing a game a
631s	finished game at that point you are
633s	literally playing a true Alpha and I
637s	want you in the community and I want the
639s	content creators to assist us in making
642s	sure that that level of expectation is
645s	understood by broader audiences because
648s	not everybody Tunes in to the live
650s	stream not everybody follows the project
653s	religiously like there are different
656s	types of cohorts of players out there
659s	that that are engaged with us at
661s	different levels and it's important that
664s	we make sure we manage expectations that
666s	what you guys will be seeing in quarter
668s	three is the alpha excuse me is the
673s	alpha of Ashes of creation Now I'm very
676s	excited for what we're building I I
678s	think it looks great I think it plays
680s	great I think what we are presenting as
683s	a product is something that the players
685s	a large fraction of the of the market
689s	share of MMO players want I believe in
692s	that very much and I think that that is
695s	validated by the by the majority of
698s	feedback and response that we see from
700s	the community when we give these monthly
702s	updates and that's the you know that's
704s	part of the purpose why we give updates
707s	um now in Midnight Magic which you're
711s	going to see we're going to touch on a
712s	number of different topics and this is
714s	kind of like a little bit of a catchup
716s	to where we have noticed feedback from
719s	the community in the past and it touches
721s	on a few of those things it touches on
724s	um the nighttime lighting which was
727s	something that we got twice a lot of
729s	feedback from the community on we got it
731s	during the artisanship Showcase and we
734s	got it during the um cleric showcase the
737s	first cleric showcase uh almost two
740s	years ago and it was overwhelming that
742s	players wanted a darker setting for
745s	night so we do these showcases around
748s	specific updates where we want to
750s	collect your feedback we're not showing
752s	you all of the game during these updates
755s	because we want there to be some
757s	Discovery for that during Alpha for
758s	those of you who are playing in Alpha so
760s	we try to pinpoint topics that are
763s	useful to us to make sure that we are
766s	either have the right guiding star in
769s	how we iterate on these things and you
770s	guys are those Stars right to use a a
774s	perfect tie-in of uh of a metaphor for
778s	what we're showing here shortly um and
780s	then we're also talking about the Sky
782s	Box a lot of people were talking about
784s	how you know the sky looked a little bit
786s	plain and we wanted to bring up that
788s	level of fantasy we are showing off um a
791s	biome which you guys had seen a preview
793s	of in the past but not actually seen us
795s	playing in Within game now very
798s	important that when we talk about biomes
801s	biomes essentially zones um are a lot of
805s	work to develop right from a Content
807s	perspective and what you're going to be
808s	seeing here here is the uh the um sand
812s	Squall desert a slice of the sand Squall
815s	desert we will be announcing in the
817s	future with likely some blog post or
819s	during an update probably probably both
821s	probably like a live stream as well as
823s	an article that will go simultaneous
825s	with it yeah where we go into depth on
828s	what is expected at the start of Alpha 2
831s	however what I will say is that Alpha 2
835s	is a long-going
837s	testing period where we are going to
840s	have significant updates to the game and
844s	to the content that's playable over the
846s	course of Alpha 2 so when we Define our
850s	production schedule and just to give you
852s	some insight on the game development
854s	side excuse me obviously you know we
858s	have our our core feature set we have
860s	the content that's planned and we
862s	bifurcate those into entrance criteria
864s	for Alpha 2 right and that's a list of
867s	things that we need to accomplish and
868s	that we're in the middle of accom in and
870s	then we have our list of updates that we
874s	want to release which is Alpha 2.1 and
876s	Alpha 2.2 and Alpha 2.3 and those have a
879s	certain Cadence which we'll get into in
881s	the future as we talk about you know
882s	more about what Alpha 2 is going to look
884s	like um but to keep those we'll have
887s	updates and articles that go alongside
889s	those but the goal is to get to our exit
891s	criteria which we also have a list of
894s	what we want to have at the end you know
896s	yeah the exit criteria is very big it is
899s	so it will be a long testing period that
901s	we'll have you guys be part of
904s	absolutely and then in addition uh what
905s	we're touching on here in Midnight Magic
907s	is going to be um the weapon progression
909s	system as well as the wand and we're
912s	going to do something a little bit
913s	different with regards to this month's
915s	update we're going to be showing some of
916s	that within this uh within Midnight
918s	Magic but then we're also Margaret and
920s	her team are going to be working with
922s	Brian uh Ferguson who authored the uh
925s	the WAN progression system uh and do
927s	some additional uh video content that
929s	will be released throughout the month so
931s	you can see couple different specs
933s	because we didn't show off all the
934s	there's a lot of specs there's a lot
936s	right there's a lot of specs this is an
937s	in-depth weapon progression system and
939s	you know so much so where you don't
942s	traditionally see this level of depth
944s	within a weapon progression system as
946s	well as having the standardized class
948s	Arc Type system right you usually see
950s	one or the other right either they're
952s	really in-depth on the weapon or they're
953s	really in-depth on the class we decided
955s	to do both because we're crazy no I'm
956s	just kidding because it's because it's
958s	it's compelling and it's interesting
960s	right it's fun when we when you think
962s	about your class and and or your
964s	archetype in this case but in classes
966s	that you've played in the past or the
968s	customization that you've made for your
969s	character I mean think about what made
972s	it unique right like what made you
974s	powerful is like hey I figured out this
976s	spec that this person didn't use or if
977s	you think about how people share specs
979s	in order to be like hey you want a spec
981s	like this for this fight and spec like
983s	that for this fight like that's the
984s	whole part that's the fun of especially
986s	for us math and combat junkies out there
989s	absolutely and then last but not least
991s	of course um we'll be showing an update
994s	around uh some of the Mage abilities uh
997s	specifically a lot of the fire abilities
999s	which you haven't seen before those have
1000s	now been authored and then some of the
1002s	lightning effects we got a lot of
1004s	feedback about ball lightning we got a
1006s	lot of feedback about some other skills
1008s	that we made updates to because this is
1010s	the type of relationship that companies
1013s	who author these games should have with
1015s	their community and we want to show that
1018s	even in active development we are
1020s	observing Mar Margaret and her team put
1022s	together these glorious feedback reports
1026s	that thank you for reading everything
1029s	that collect across the wide array of
1032s	areas where you guys make comments right
1034s	and then they present it to the team and
1036s	we incorporate some of the feedback that
1037s	we agree with into how we iterate and so
1040s	that's what that's what this video is
1042s	going to be about we hope you guys
1043s	enjoyed I thought it was a lot of fun um
1045s	and I think the world is looking great
1047s	and feeling great and immersive and boy
1049s	oh boy uh also we're going to be
1051s	releasing this on YouTube Correct at the
1053s	same time so remember if you're watching
1056s	on YouTube in all of its 4K Glory stick
1059s	around in twitch continue to comment
1062s	here because your comments do get
1064s	brought in to our feedback points and
1067s	we'll see you in just a moment and we
1069s	will see you on the flip side
1072s	[Music]
1075s	[Applause]
1078s	[Music]
1091s	hello everyone and welcome to another
1095s	update from the beautiful world of Vera
1097s	and we have an exciting showcase for you
1101s	guys
1102s	tonight as you can see we are not in the
1106s	riverlands but instead in the beautiful
1110s	sand Squall desert and we are going to
1113s	be talking about as you can tell already
1116s	the nighttime updates with the Skybox
1120s	updates some Mage updates and a wand we
1124s	have an exciting showcase and I am
1127s	joined by three absolute excuse me four
1131s	absolute glorious developers three of
1134s	whom you guys have not seen of or heard
1138s	from
1139s	ever but they do glorious work here at
1142s	Intrepid Studios our dynamically
1146s	glorious Duo lighting team Chris Logan
1149s	Gabriel Ford how are you guys doing
1152s	tonight doing awesome yeah pey love it
1156s	be here glad to have you guys glad to
1159s	have you both and
1161s	also the man responsible for this
1164s	beautiful Skybox that you're
1167s	seeing Todd one of our glorious senior
1169s	VFX artist how you doing Todd I'm doing
1173s	great Happ here happy to have you as
1175s	well and we have a regular on the stream
1179s	one of our senior combat designers Mr
1181s	Brian Ferguson responsible for all
1183s	things wand and many other things Brian
1186s	how you doing buddy hey I'm doing great
1189s	honored to be here and I'm happy and ex
1192s	I'm I'm just excited to get into all the
1194s	stuff we've been doing on combat I'm
1196s	excited too because you know what it's
1198s	feeling good and it's looking good so
1201s	let's get into it obviously you guys can
1204s	see we have got quite an update when it
1206s	comes to the lighting and the visuals of
1210s	the sky I'm going to jump on my my
1212s	wonderful shell of the Ancients because
1214s	you know what we're talking about skies
1216s	and this guy has got some skies on his
1218s	back he's got some galaxies on his back
1220s	and while I do that I would
1223s	love Todd to hear from you about what we
1227s	have done with this Sky because it is
1230s	looking freaking good well thanks what
1233s	haven't we done um one of the main
1236s	things we did was we converted it over
1238s	to a cube map which means that it can
1241s	actually rotate as the planet itself
1243s	rotates which is something we couldn't
1245s	do before oo that sounds exciting and
1248s	you know what that sounds like it plays
1250s	into perfectly what we need the Skybox
1254s	to do which is provide us some
1257s	interesting and compelling predicates
1259s	for our constellation system so having
1261s	that true rotation is also a gameplay
1264s	component not just Visual and boy I got
1268s	to tell you Todd those moons look great
1272s	don't they I wish I could take full
1274s	credit for those but I can't um but I
1278s	really love the way they turned out with
1279s	the sky yes they do look good Gabe Chris
1282s	talk me about those
1284s	moons yeah so the the most recent update
1288s	on the moons is getting them mainly to
1291s	respond to the the wonderful Sky BLX
1293s	that Todd created um I don't know if you
1295s	can find the um shattered Moon behind
1299s	the clouds maybe um but there's
1301s	definitely some pickup you can see of
1303s	the nebula behind it uh adding a little
1305s	bit to it give it a little bit of life
1307s	um and make it feel like it's it's
1309s	really a part of the world um and it's
1311s	it's responding to things that are
1314s	moving as Todd said the nebulas will
1315s	move through the day night cycle and so
1318s	you'll be able to see that reflected in
1319s	the moons as well um and I know Todd you
1321s	did some work on some of the VFX for the
1323s	moon um explosions and things like that
1326s	I don't know if you want to if we might
1327s	be a to catch some of that happening yep
1330s	there is right you can see it erupting
1332s	right
1333s	now periodically do that it looks so
1337s	good and those of you out in the out in
1340s	the wild out in the audience who are
1343s	unfamiliar with the lore and Ashes of
1345s	creation um we have what are known as as
1349s	harbingers that were kind of the
1351s	foretellers of the impending apocalypse
1354s	long before you have arrived back on
1356s	Vera one of which struck that Moon and
1360s	God knows what is happening up there
1362s	right now but we know that those
1363s	harbingers did not bring good things
1366s	they were not bringing the best of
1367s	things to Vera um but Chris Gabe talk to
1374s	me about this nighttime lighting because
1376s	it is looking dramatic and Moody I love
1381s	it thank you um the big the big
1384s	takeaways were uh responding to some of
1387s	the feedback from the community about
1389s	pushing it uh a bit darker um the
1392s	nighttime previous to this um was a
1395s	little bit brighter so we're definitely
1396s	pushing some of the darkness values I as
1398s	a you know from a personal perspective I
1401s	definitely like to push things as as
1402s	dark as the game designers will allow me
1405s	to um so I'm always happy to to respond
1408s	to that kind of
1409s	feedback we we did get that feedback by
1412s	the way we were we had shown off I think
1415s	it was a couple of years ago our kind of
1418s	uh super first pass on nighttime
1420s	lighting and players wanted it darker
1423s	that was like the overwhelming sentiment
1425s	that we got from the community and I
1426s	feel like with this with this pass that
1429s	you have done here with the nighttime
1432s	lighting you've struck the right balance
1435s	between what feels you know
1439s	dark enough to elicit that kind of vibe
1442s	that you want to see in nighttime um
1445s	without kind of entirely obscuring
1449s	vision of other players and NPCs or
1452s	requiring like you know a constant torch
1454s	or light next to
1457s	you right and that's the that's the
1459s	magic of it right that's where that's
1460s	where the fun the fun is for me um and I
1463s	know Chris will probably agree is
1465s	finding that balance of making it feel
1468s	the the inherent feeling of how we
1470s	understand night and um how we enjoy
1473s	playing games because nobody wants to to
1476s	play in complete darkness so um yeah it
1479s	was it's a lot of balancing on that end
1481s	um and then working with Todd's uh
1483s	Skydome he's had a lot of really great
1485s	work with bringing in some ethereal uh
1487s	an ethereal atmosphere and colors and
1490s	you know we've been on the lighting side
1491s	trying to pull from that as much as
1493s	possible to give Knight less of a a
1496s	Hollywood blue um aesthetic to it and
1499s	we've been pushing the purples trying to
1501s	give it just the just as much atmosphere
1504s	and moodiness as we can get away with in
1506s	uh the fantasy world of Vera um you know
1509s	and hope that it hope that it feels the
1512s	way that we you know we intend it to uh
1514s	we wanted to feel nice and Moody and
1516s	spooky at sometimes and you know really
1519s	push it as far as we
1520s	can yeah and Chris talk to me about your
1523s	guys's plans continued with lighting I
1525s	mean you and Gabe have obviously been
1527s	working on lighting here for for a a few
1530s	months now and I know that there's a lot
1532s	of updates we're going to be showcasing
1534s	in the future around the daytime
1536s	lighting and that's going to be
1537s	relatively significant for just the
1539s	general visuals of the game um as we at
1543s	least can see here with regards to
1544s	nighttime update talk to me about your
1546s	guys' plans yeah so Gabe Gabe's working
1550s	on the Tod system pretty exclusively and
1552s	he is doing some really cool stuff that
1556s	uh I really has never been done in games
1558s	before uh some of the some of the stuff
1561s	he's doing with how the sky reacts and
1564s	we actually get color Fades from like
1567s	warms on one end to the really deep
1569s	cools on the other side uh you know some
1572s	of the atmospherics were doing some
1574s	weather stuff uh that we're hoping to
1576s	Showcase shortly here uh and yeah
1580s	there's a lot of stuff on the horizon
1582s	that's what I can tell
1584s	you oh my gosh I love even how the VF
1588s	effects interact with the lighting I
1591s	mean it really
1594s	pops uh uhoh here we go hold on I'm not
1598s	ready for you yet you just chill out
1601s	chill there for a second Brian we got to
1603s	see a little bit there of some of the
1605s	wand updates I'm going to Showcase that
1608s	again and then let's talk a little bit
1609s	about um the wand progression but before
1613s	we do that I want to show off an update
1614s	that the community was requesting with
1616s	ball of lightning
1623s	that looks so much
1627s	better oh no he's got a weird a little
1631s	weird bug that's okay guys as you know
1634s	ashes is a work in
1636s	progress there are going to be little
1638s	bugs you might see here and there and we
1640s	show you the Good the Bad and the
1643s	Ugly
1646s	okay time for you to go to sleep
1650s	forever there we go he's down I
1653s	apologize guys you guys can see you can
1655s	see some bugs here or there as you know
1657s	we are working towards Alpha 2 there are
1660s	going to be some bugs but um Brian talk
1664s	to me a little bit about the weapon
1667s	skill tree for the
1670s	wand yeah so we've given this a big pass
1673s	what you're looking at here is um seven
1677s	different ways to cut customize your
1679s	weapon um so you can customize the
1683s	length of your weapon combo you can
1686s	customize what your finisher attacks are
1689s	in this case you've specialized them
1691s	into beam attacks and you've also
1693s	increased their damage and their um
1697s	their proc
1698s	rate what you're looking at there is a
1701s	status effect proc choice so every combo
1704s	hit you do has a chance to proc that
1706s	status effect chill is a good Synergy
1709s	for your build since you're using a lot
1711s	of lightning and fire spells having the
1714s	ability to weave a CH in there um is is
1717s	good uh like from a hybrid
1719s	perspective and obviously those types of
1722s	choices are relevant right because you
1724s	have a lot of horizontal choices
1726s	possible in your weapon progression that
1729s	is intended to be speced to complement
1732s	what your ability selections are uh
1736s	within the the archetype or the class
1739s	correct so right now you're speced for a
1744s	a heavy beam Focus um there's not much
1747s	proc Synergy going on yet because you
1750s	haven't unlocked deeper procs it's just
1753s	all beam damage all beams yeah so um on
1758s	so the right side is weapon combo Pro
1761s	like the right side of the tree in
1762s	general is weapon combo progression and
1764s	Synergy within the weapon combo and the
1767s	left side of the tree is the procs that
1769s	you get from the weapon combo um so the
1773s	the upper left of the tree would have a
1777s	uh two procs that you can choose from
1779s	that synergize really well with uh on
1782s	weapon combo and hit so every time you
1785s	complete a combo you'll be able to uh in
1790s	the upper left every time you complete a
1792s	combo you'll be able to get one of these
1795s	effects um on on a normal combo it's a
1797s	25% chance to get it but on a beam it's
1800s	every time um and that gives one of them
1804s	gives additional damage on hit and the
1805s	other one reduces the cool down of the
1808s	next spell that you cast so it gives you
1810s	that nice
1811s	benefit every time you go back into your
1813s	combo you'll you'll get something out of
1815s	it either just massive damage with this
1819s	or you'll get the combo Synergy as well
1821s	now obviously a lot of people in the
1823s	community have been discussing kind of
1825s	the you know combat strategy and
1828s	approach in ashes of creation you know
1830s	blending between what is your weapon
1833s	progression and your class progression
1836s	um and this is something that obviously
1838s	we are looking to receive feedback on in
1840s	Alpha 2 that's a very important
1842s	component of alpha 2's gameplay is to
1844s	kind of you know collect what the
1846s	players feel about that momentto moment
1848s	gaml weaving between your skill rotation
1852s	and your weapon uh use as you can see we
1855s	are investing a lot of diversity options
1860s	and choice with Within These individual
1863s	weapons uh and players can choose any
1866s	number of weapons and progress them as
1867s	they see fit to compl their different
1870s	types of rotations they'll have access
1872s	to yeah each one of these weapons will
1875s	have a unique progression associated
1877s	with it um so you'll be able to level up
1879s	a bunch of them and um they're they'll
1882s	level at about like 2 and 1 half times
1884s	speed I don't quote me on that of of a
1888s	normal
1889s	a normal adventuring level progression
1891s	so you you'll be able to keep multiples
1892s	of them leveled up and swap between
1895s	them update to the uh to the ability
1899s	Arcane volley I think it looks great CA
1901s	did a great job with that some lightning
1904s	updates as well obviously and as we
1907s	showed previously the uh fire uh
1912s	Fireball with three successive attacks
1915s	let us know what you guys feel about uh
1917s	that as well I really think it feels
1920s	good
1921s	um let me see if I can find a little
1924s	dude to try on some yeah go ahead as
1929s	you've been casting abilities here
1930s	you'll notice that the effects on your
1932s	weapon are swapping back and forth
1934s	between different Elemental effects um
1936s	that's signifying that your Elemental
1938s	empowerment status is swapping back and
1940s	forth and we've updated Elemental
1942s	empowerment now whenever you finish a
1944s	combo it applies the appropriate status
1947s	effect to the elemental arm it I love
1950s	that beam that beam felt
1953s	good yeah the beams are really really
1958s	sick I I I love that all the projectiles
1960s	and beams change with the elemental
1973s	empowerment oh it feels really good yeah
1976s	there there's a lot of different um C
1978s	customization
1980s	considerations that we we taking into
1982s	account whenever we're setting up the
1983s	skill tree um you may want to complete
1987s	one weapon combo and get back into your
1989s	abilities rather quickly um that's kind
1991s	of what you're setup here with just big
1993s	damage um and not a lot of a lot of
1996s	procs at low chance taken um you could
1999s	take some higher more guaranteed proc
2001s	chance and still have that that choice
2004s	that's another customization access you
2007s	might want to to um synergize your
2010s	ability rotation with weapon procs um
2014s	also you have the stas effect
2016s	application Choice um in this case
2018s	you're choosing to take something that
2020s	doesn't synergize with your abilities
2022s	and instead taking something else that
2023s	you wouldn't normally have access to
2025s	easily in your rotation um but you could
2027s	choose to instead double down on burning
2030s	and really want to provide a lot of that
2032s	Avenue of status effects for your party
2034s	or or double down on the electrified um
2038s	or rather we call it volatile now that
2040s	status effect because that's the role
2043s	that you're playing in your party and
2045s	and one thing to keep in mind too is the
2048s	wand isn't just available to Mages so
2050s	you could be a cleric or a Bard using
2053s	this and you want to set up your Mage
2055s	buddy with more tier one status effects
2058s	so that they can capitalize on that and
2061s	uh really bring down big damage every
2063s	time that they're activating one of
2065s	their abilities I love it I also do
2068s	love the elemental Empower effect on the
2070s	weapons um and those of you who are
2072s	wondering this set that you see here is
2075s	the Carin robe set oh let's not let's
2079s	stay away from that
2081s	Berserker come over here a little bit I
2083s	think we're moving into the more Undead
2086s	territory um but those of you who were
2088s	wondering as I said this is the this is
2090s	the car and robe set I think it does
2092s	look great character team did a
2094s	phenomenal job with this set um and
2097s	obviously the lighting and the materials
2100s	look really good I'm loving it
2103s	no
2105s	no you were not supposed
2108s	to chase
2111s	me let's put you to sleep and then
2114s	perhaps we will light you on fire with
2116s	this magma
2118s	ability and see how that
2123s	goes did a passing all these fire
2126s	abilities no did a great job job with
2128s	those oh no the bug
2131s	again I'm sorry
2138s	guys he looks like a walking
2144s	billboard um yeah they did they did a
2147s	great job with the effects I think they
2148s	look they look phenomenal um now
2151s	obviously that's lighting never really
2154s	stops getting improved right and um talk
2158s	to to me a little bit about uh Chris uh
2161s	Gabe Todd how um how that works with VFX
2165s	right how does that work with the game
2167s	in general as lighting gets updated you
2169s	know what are the what are the
2171s	repercussions that you know we need to
2173s	update the effects on and and how easy
2175s	is that to
2177s	do yeah so one of the one of the
2179s	repercussions we're going to run into um
2182s	as we kind of roll out the rest of the
2185s	the day night cycle um at night time
2187s	it's it's not as a big of a problem
2189s	because the values are so much lower but
2191s	as we part of our update process has
2194s	been moving the lighting to what we call
2196s	physically Bas lighting which really
2198s	just means we're trying to as accurately
2200s	as possible um portray the sun values
2205s	and Sky values as close to the real
2207s	world as possible um which means that
2209s	the V effects especially with something
2212s	like a a Caster or um with magic they
2215s	need to still be visible in the game
2218s	World during you know all times of day
2220s	when the sun is
2221s	85,000 you know units um so that that
2225s	definitely falls on to the the VFX team
2228s	to kind of keep up with that um and I
2231s	know that they have some you know some
2232s	tricks within the engine that they've
2233s	set up to kind of account for that but I
2235s	to probably speak to um speak better to
2238s	what the ramifications are of us doing
2241s	this very large overhaul on their end oh
2244s	boy can I um to get not to get too
2247s	technical we have in the materials a
2250s	material function that will
2252s	automatically adjust the brightness of
2255s	uh emissive particles to adapt to how
2260s	much your in-game eye is reacting to the
2263s	to the light or lack of light um and
2266s	what that means is at night you can have
2269s	something that's really bright but it
2271s	won't blind you but you'll still be able
2273s	to see it during the day we can also
2275s	invert that we can have it so that
2277s	effects our more
2279s	visible throughout the day and the night
2281s	and they don't change depending on the
2283s	the incoming light um and uh yeah as we
2288s	adjust the lighting in the game we're
2290s	going to be relying on that and we may
2293s	have to tweak it a bit uh because you
2294s	really don't want to have the player
2296s	blinded by the particles that he's
2299s	throwing around
2301s	effects you want it to look real and
2303s	that's what we're trying to
2305s	do yeah and I think in a lot of ways um
2308s	as with you know all of game development
2310s	it's a it's a team effort but U
2312s	materials lighting and V effect are
2316s	definitely um all need to march on the
2318s	same on the same Cadence um and so Todd
2321s	and I have spent a lot of time you know
2323s	back and forth with VFX he's been
2325s	putting together and um making sure that
2327s	it works with the lighting and a lot of
2329s	my job is making sure he has what he
2331s	needs to you know make sure that his VFX
2333s	work and and look good across you know
2336s	all times of day and all different Sun
2338s	intensities as as it goes from day to
2340s	night
2344s	so oh no I woke up the undead
2351s	ones I do love that
2354s	beam
2357s	yeah yeah I really love how it turned
2359s	out Tech involved in setting up the
2361s	projectiles and beams with the wand is
2363s	pretty cool we're passing through
2365s	parameters and adjusting the appearance
2367s	of the projectiles and beams dynamically
2369s	this allows for us to have a more
2371s	precise timing and allows us to reuse
2373s	the assets a bit more smartly instead of
2376s	having to make a bunch of different
2377s	assets for different use conditions we
2379s	can make one asset and change it
2381s	dynamically to fit many different use
2383s	cases one example in the W tree is the
2386s	beam amplifier passive when you get
2388s	backtack beams not only is their damage
2390s	increased by 50% but the appearance of
2393s	the beam gets upgraded usually as devs
2395s	we would need to employ a lot of smoke
2397s	and mirror to get particle effects to
2399s	work in a bunch of different use
2400s	conditions typically by having many
2402s	things timed out in concert to give the
2404s	desired result and changing that timing
2407s	based on different
2408s	situations with this parameter Tech we
2410s	have the ability to control things in a
2412s	much more direct and responsive way than
2414s	usual which results in a higher Fidelity
2417s	product you know what else I love I mean
2420s	just sitting here kind
2421s	of when I was a when I was a younger lad
2425s	I used to go out to uh the Imperial
2427s	County line here in California out near
2430s	um aao Wells and go camping out under
2434s	the the night sky where there's no City
2436s	Lights to infringe
2438s	upon the beautiful views and of course
2440s	we would take you know random stuffed
2443s	animals DED in gasoline and filled with
2445s	black powder and blow them up and have
2447s	paintball fights and do you know quads
2449s	and [ __ ] but um just sitting here
2452s	looking at this tree out in the desert
2455s	with the Sky Box I mean it it's very
2459s	immersive I think you guys have captured
2462s	a really great kind of essence of that
2466s	immersive environment and world that you
2468s	just kind of want to spend time in and
2471s	[Music]
2474s	explore oh yeah absolutely love it
2478s	absolutely love it so those of you out
2482s	there in the community this has been an
2484s	update obviously on some of the um some
2487s	of the uh wand changes some of the Mage
2491s	um updates as well oh let me just
2494s	dispatch this guy real quick this risen
2499s	Soldier we will send him back from once
2502s	he came he can go to
2508s	sleep oh he died before I can finish
2510s	that um we also saw um uh obviously the
2514s	the beautiful sand Squall desert now of
2517s	course biomes require a lot of work to
2519s	be finished especially from content
2520s	creation standpoint um when it comes to
2523s	quest lines narratives points of
2525s	interest um but as you can see heading
2527s	into Alpha 2 you know a lot of work has
2530s	been done kind of standing up these
2531s	these basic biomes that we will have
2534s	populated uh with with content for
2536s	people to participate in the riverlands
2538s	of course being the bulk of of that
2541s	content oh my gosh hey buddy let's have
2543s	you go to
2545s	sleep um oh he interrupted that hold
2550s	on
2552s	okay I'm just going to I'm going to kill
2555s	all these things real quick and then
2556s	we're going to try this this sign off
2559s	one more
2566s	time let's see if we can do it
2581s	let's put him back to sleep
2584s	first we'll do our updated lightning
2588s	ball requested by the
2593s	community very
2595s	nice um the nighttime sky um being
2601s	updated obviously uh to support our
2603s	constellation system but also to sell
2605s	that fantasy that is the world of Vera
2607s	because because there is a beautiful
2609s	story to tell and it is Fantastical and
2612s	obviously the work that's going into
2613s	updating our lighting as you can see
2615s	here with the nighttime lighting pass I
2617s	think you guys have hit it spoton but of
2619s	course we do this so that we can get
2622s	your feedback and what we want you guys
2624s	to discuss on all of the things that
2626s	you've seen here today between the
2628s	weapon progression tree for the wand how
2630s	do you feel about those options uh both
2632s	the horizontal options the vertical
2634s	options as well as what we're trying to
2637s	cell with the wand fantasy and how it
2640s	interacts with abilities that you are
2643s	going to be specking into uh your
2647s	classes um how you feel about the beam I
2650s	really think the beam is cool um and
2653s	also what you guys think about the
2654s	nighttime lighting what you think about
2656s	the night sky um and the Beautiful biome
2658s	that we are in all of this matters to us
2660s	very much we take that into
2661s	consideration when we do iterations
2663s	Brian Todd Gabe and Chris thank you very
2667s	much for joining me I had a great time
2670s	walking through all of these beautiful
2672s	updates to the game as I know our
2674s	community has you guys are doing
2675s	phenomenal work um very very honored to
2679s	have you on tonight's
2681s	stream yeah thanks for having us yeah
2684s	thanks for having us absolutely happy to
2686s	be here all right we will see you all
2688s	back on
2690s	stream bye everybody
2702s	hello welcome back while we're chatting
2705s	we'll have the video kind of playing in
2706s	the background
2708s	so you can kind of check that out there
2711s	were some questions it seems like
2713s	generally people are liking the
2714s	nighttime lighting but of course
2716s	definitely send us your feedback we'll
2718s	be compiling that for the development
2719s	team but there were some questions that
2721s	were in chat we had like the YouTube
2724s	chat going we had the Discord chat going
2726s	we had the twitch chat where we're in
2727s	all the places our community team's
2729s	pretty awesome and they've already
2730s	grabbed some stuff not not as many as
2732s	normal but um for this one uh people are
2735s	wondering how will weapon combos work
2736s	when the weapon doesn't necessarily fit
2738s	the archetype for instance if I'm a Mage
2741s	and I want to use a bow how will that
2744s	work yeah I mean um so right now the way
2747s	we're approaching weapons is that you
2748s	have two dedicated um slots uh excuse me
2753s	actually technically you have uh three
2755s	dedicated slots you have a ranged weapon
2757s	an and a main and a main hand and you
2759s	can toggle between your ranged or your
2761s	melee when you use an
2763s	ability depending on the type of ability
2766s	it will immediately swap to the
2768s	appropriate uh equipment slot and then
2770s	swap back once the ability is completed
2773s	um when it comes to kind of the
2775s	versatility of each of these archetypes
2777s	being able to spec you know different
2779s	types of weapons um that is a
2781s	customization option that's going to be
2784s	uh
2785s	essentially players can make bad choices
2788s	right we're letting players make choices
2790s	that may not mix as well as other
2793s	choices and that's okay um it presents
2796s	some interesting you know horizontal
2798s	options to the player uh but at the same
2800s	time there is going to be something for
2802s	each archetype or class that's present
2804s	within each of the weapon skill trees um
2809s	so excuse me um so if you're choosing to
2813s	use a bow or you're choosing to use you
2814s	know any type of weapon you're going to
2816s	have options with this that skill
2818s	tree and by the way just to kind of
2820s	comment a little bit on you know this
2822s	showcase you know our goal here was to
2824s	kind of have a lot of little updates
2826s	within one video next month we're going
2828s	to have a very big showcase around a
2831s	very big feature uh but this month we
2834s	wanted to kind of update the community
2835s	on how we took feedback across a number
2838s	of smaller updates and kind of collect
2840s	what you guys think about uh those
2842s	changes which to me seemed like it was
2844s	very positive you guys uh agree with the
2846s	the lighting position
2847s	the the wand updates and the the Mage
2849s	updates and we'll kind of be alternating
2852s	will be doing some things where we're
2853s	trying to get their feedback on like
2855s	smaller pieces and some will be bigger
2857s	pieces so just kind of you know stick
2859s	around with us we got a lot to show we
2860s	got a lot to to share and a lot of
2862s	things that we want feedback on um so
2864s	this next one is Will spell Effects
2866s	light up and reflect off of the
2868s	environment in the same color or
2870s	appearance as the
2871s	spell some some spells will it kind of
2873s	depends on the spell right now um we are
2876s	talking obviously you know leading into
2878s	Alpha 2 we're going to be starting to
2880s	focus on more performance um with
2882s	regards to both the client and the
2884s	network some of those lights can be
2886s	expensive um we're going to probably be
2889s	introducing more uh light effects that
2891s	spawn off of the particles uh for the
2894s	surrounding environment but perhaps
2895s	don't cast Shadows um we'll be seeing
2897s	about that over the course of the next
2899s	few weeks or so and and probably we'll
2901s	have an update either within the next
2903s	within the next month or the month
2904s	thereafter okay and the next one here is
2907s	is once the transition from light to
2909s	dark starts how long will it take are we
2912s	willing to share that with folks yet
2915s	yeah I we're talking about generally
2916s	like sunset or Sunrise um you know that
2919s	that will probably last anywhere from 10
2921s	to 15 minutes or so um to see that
2924s	transition between night and day people
2927s	are going to get some cool time lapses I
2929s	think it's going to be fun yes uh the
2931s	next one is will there be interact
2935s	interactions between elements like if
2937s	you cast a waterbased spell followed by
2940s	a lightning spell will this increase
2941s	damage taken by mobs absolutely that is
2945s	that is the the
2947s	fundamental uh interaction between
2950s	abilities is that you set them up and
2952s	you knock them down right and this is
2954s	kind of keyword interaction kind of part
2955s	of our status effect stuff we different
2957s	abilities put status effects on
2959s	creatures and then you can exploit those
2961s	not only you can exploit that anybody
2963s	who's fighting with you can exploit them
2966s	absolutely yeah I mean
2967s	the intent is to provide a um
2971s	environment where parties can execute
2973s	well or again execute badly in um those
2978s	setups right um and that's I think what
2981s	makes for compelling
2983s	gameplay um and then the next one here
2985s	is how easy is it to level weapon skill
2988s	trees so if I'm starting like how how
2991s	much time is it going to take for me to
2992s	like progress and kind of spec these
2995s	things out that that's 100% % something
2997s	that we're going to be testing as part
2999s	of Alpha 2 obviously but our initial
3001s	finger in the wind is going to be that
3003s	it's roughly three times faster two to
3005s	two to three times faster uh for you to
3009s	maximize the leveling of a particular
3011s	weapon skill tree versus that of your
3013s	adventuring level um so it is it is
3015s	chunky there's still some amount of time
3017s	that needs to be dedicated in order to
3019s	fully execute on you know that
3021s	progression um but it is um it's it's
3024s	it's not as as long as uh the adventure
3027s	class all right and with weapon leveling
3032s	um does it mean you will level per
3034s	weapon type or will it be per weapon and
3038s	if I get a better wand for example will
3040s	I still have to level that up again yeah
3042s	it's it's weapon type um so you know if
3045s	if you start advancing within the wand
3047s	class of weapons uh you will persist
3050s	that progression across all wands that
3051s	you acquire cool and then I'm going to
3054s	grab actually a question from the forums
3056s	that kind of pertains to uh W or wand SL
3059s	Mage stuff uh this is from jibs IRL
3062s	asking about spellling where does the
3065s	team pull inspiration from for wand
3068s	weapon combo
3069s	VFX yeah that's a great question I mean
3072s	you know obviously WS vary across a a
3076s	large variety of different
3078s	fantasy um uh stories that have been
3080s	told throughout time um you know and and
3083s	we kind of collect inspiration from all
3086s	of them right uh in the way that we are
3087s	either animating the wand attacks uh in
3090s	the way that we are you know selling the
3092s	visual effects fantasy for the wand
3094s	projectiles um you know that beam is is
3097s	something that um in the past we kind of
3101s	moved away from but but this time around
3103s	we thought that uh you know CA would do
3105s	a great job in in authoring the effects
3107s	for that um and it felt good in play
3109s	testing so we wanted to show that off to
3111s	the
3115s	community uh I think we have one more
3117s	that came in last minute and then we'll
3119s	be we'll be on our this will be our
3121s	penultimate one uh do we know whether
3123s	there might be magic connected to time
3126s	or time of day SL night like magical
3130s	rights or rituals that can only be
3131s	casted
3133s	uh During certain times or effects yeah
3138s	um there is definitely magic that
3141s	relates to time there is actually a god
3144s	of of time um
3147s	and
3148s	so hold let me see if I
3151s	can bringing up design docks I know I
3155s	was I was about to see if I want to if I
3157s	want to reference it well we haven't we
3159s	haven't final we haven't talked a lot
3160s	about that stuff yeah yeah probably not
3164s	but there is there is obviously um a god
3166s	of time there is the the Ageless Warden
3169s	uh who is the goddess of time at turna
3173s	um and you know there the there are
3176s	elements in game play that we want to
3177s	incorporate when it is relevant to cast
3180s	certain types of
3181s	spells cool cool um and this is the last
3184s	one it's not really Mage or it's not
3186s	really a weapon combo or lighting
3189s	lighting specific but I think this is
3191s	something that we get quite often which
3192s	is when we see other archetypes so we've
3195s	shown off a few of them people are
3196s	wondering about Bard suer and Rogue
3199s	specifically the The Bard is is
3201s	currently in phase two of its
3203s	development which is essentially
3205s	finalizing its visual effects um and we
3208s	will probably have a showcase for Bard
3211s	within the next few
3212s	months exciting exciting people are
3215s	going to get hyped we did do a little
3217s	teaser the other a few streams ago that
3220s	was really funny obviously jokes but
3222s	hopefully people enjoyed it we have
3224s	definitely been working on barred stuff
3226s	um and of course we do have a feedback
3228s	thread over on our Midnight Magic
3230s	preview action so if you haven't checked
3232s	that out feel free to head on over to
3234s	our forums and give us your feedback we
3236s	we would love to hear it our team does
3239s	an amazing job of putting together a
3241s	feedback reports and the development
3242s	team goes over those and ensures that
3244s	we're on the right page so hopefully um
3247s	you know your your initial feedback to
3248s	us in regards to nighttime you're seeing
3251s	some updates from reading so far on the
3254s	platforms that we've that we're on right
3256s	now it it seems like you all are kind of
3258s	happy with the direction that we're
3259s	going but um do Let us know your
3261s	thoughts and of course on the wand
3263s	weapon combos uh let us know your
3265s	thoughts on that and we will have some
3266s	more videos coming with some other specs
3268s	and stuff like that so if that's
3269s	something you're interested follow us in
3271s	all the places at ashes of creation um
3274s	and with that we will swap over to our
3277s	studio update talk a little bit about
3280s	how the studio is doing and maybe also
3282s	expand on some of the other stuff that
3283s	we're working on because I I mentioned
3285s	it earlier we are working on a lot of
3288s	things
3289s	simultaneously not GNA have Stephen list
3290s	them all out we'll be here all day I was
3292s	GNA say what are you asking me to do
3294s	here I like going through everything
3297s	um yeah Studio update we are we have had
3301s	a lot of people join the studio over the
3303s	course of this last month um I believe
3308s	we've probably had around 10 to 12 or so
3311s	people who've joined over the last month
3313s	and I think we have another we have
3314s	another we have another seven or eight
3317s	that are joining in the next month so um
3321s	Studio's growing um obviously you know
3324s	with with nearly 200 people now in the
3326s	studio we have a lot that's going on
3329s	across the oh wow I have 13 emails at
3332s	least nice so um we have a lot that's
3335s	going on right now it is it is
3337s	definitely production Mayhem as we uh
3339s	are coordinating all of this all the
3341s	work that needs to be done um but yeah
3344s	no things are going well um things are
3346s	going very well we had we had a a lot of
3348s	progress that's been made towards um our
3351s	node War system which people are going
3353s	to be seeing uh within the next month um
3356s	node War obviously a big repeatable loop
3359s	of gameplay that is going to be Central
3361s	to Alpha 2 and it it taxes our you know
3364s	Network we've had a lot of optimization
3365s	efforts
3367s	both as part of the play testing that
3369s	you know Pi has been a part of uh
3371s	helping us to kind of profile um some of
3375s	that Network work uh that needs to be uh
3377s	done from a optimization standpoint but
3381s	also some of the um the client side um
3386s	optimization that that Zack Mallet has
3387s	been uh spearheading um a lot of a lot
3390s	of progress made on all of those fronts
3393s	uh we are currently in Milestone 9 UM
3396s	and within Milestone 9 we will be a
3398s	feature complete when it comes to our
3400s	entrance criteria for Alpha 2 uh and in
3403s	Milestone 10 we will be polishing and
3406s	and essentially you know making that
3407s	stuff ready from a player perspective
3409s	for Alpha and Bug fixing is a big part
3413s	of that obviously um so we'll be
3415s	squashing lots of bugs we'll need some
3416s	fce Waters at the studio uh from the
3418s	community if you want to send some over
3421s	um but yeah no there's a a lot of great
3423s	progress a lot of don't tease them
3425s	Stephen they they want to they want to
3427s	help they're like let me in I will find
3430s	the bugs for you um absolutely you're
3433s	gonna find plenty of bugs in alpha alpha
3436s	2 again like Stephen said it's an alpha
3438s	there's going to be bugs um and we we'll
3440s	have a way for you to report them as
3441s	well uh I think we had over 9,000
3444s	although like 6,000 of those were like
3446s	dupes from alpha 1 but hey we did
3449s	resolve a lot of those issues so thank
3450s	you all for reporting them we
3452s	appreciated it um yeah anything else you
3456s	want to bring up Studio update wise I
3458s	think on the hiring front the only thing
3459s	I want to bring up is that we do have a
3461s	lot of engineering roles and a combat
3463s	design role that are like our big roles
3466s	that we've been um we need more help
3469s	finding the right candidate for so if
3471s	you know people in those engineering
3473s	roles or in the combat design role
3476s	definitely them our way you know we're
3478s	picky where we're trying to find the
3480s	right people that fit our culture as
3482s	well as the skills that we're looking
3485s	for absolutely and just to piggyback on
3487s	that as well like um I've I we have I
3490s	don't know I think we had
3491s	like four or 5,000 applicants the junior
3495s	design one too no I it's just like there
3498s	is a lot we're getting a lot of interest
3500s	obviously which is great we love it we
3502s	we want it um but uh if you are one of
3505s	those people who have applied be patient
3508s	um as we kind of Screen through and and
3511s	um excuse me and go through the
3514s	application status uh it could sometimes
3516s	take a week or two uh for for your
3519s	application to kind of get processed
3521s	Cameron's been powering through I want
3522s	to give a shout out to him he's been
3524s	killing it it's a lot of candidates to
3526s	go through and I know that on the social
3527s	front Peter has been messaging people on
3530s	on LinkedIn as well letting you guys
3532s	know that hey just be patient with us um
3534s	we are doing our best we're trying to
3536s	through them uh like you said there a
3539s	lot of candidates to go through and not
3541s	and we're not just like moving them
3542s	along right we we read your cover letter
3544s	we look over your your uh resume we look
3547s	over the answers to the questions that
3549s	you put forward and then we we kind of
3551s	delve deep into who you are to before we
3554s	like even go through an interview
3556s	process with you
3558s	so absolutely is timec consuming and you
3561s	will never ever get a message from us on
3564s	a social platform about your job it will
3566s	always come from our our like
3568s	professional means so if you do not get
3571s	a response from us in that way then it
3573s	might be fake so do not get scammed I
3575s	know there's a lot of hiring scams out
3577s	there um and with that I'll move over to
3580s	our art
3582s	update uh the first one here is we have
3585s	some Chef outfits
3588s	o um that looks cool yeah and what is
3592s	this this is a chef yeah so we've got
3595s	two different Chef ones we got The
3598s	Gingham chef female outfit and the male
3601s	one I'll show you both of
3603s	those and uh these are
3606s	artisanship um yep gear yeah yeah so
3610s	those of you who are there's been a lot
3612s	of arti ship buildings too and stuff
3613s	being made it's looking pretty cool a
3615s	lot of the a lot of the artisanship um
3618s	uh professions have Associated gear that
3621s	you can acquire which improve your
3622s	artisanship profession
3624s	skills if you wear the while you are
3629s	um excuse me if you wear them while you
3631s	are performing your profession
3633s	actions like if you don't like them give
3635s	us your feedback on
3636s	them I see some people's commenting
3639s	obviously it's not finished these are
3641s	these are uh the model phases sculps
3643s	yeah yeah sculpts of it and then we've
3645s	got the storm Snapper so if any of yall
3648s	grabbed that this guy this bad boy has a
3650s	model now uh looking awesome I feel like
3653s	it's very fitting for the nighttime sky
3656s	cuz got a little stargazing um device on
3659s	there which is pretty cool that that
3662s	model looks so true to the concept I
3666s	know it's a little creepy great if you
3668s	look at it you're like is that concept
3669s	no that's a model yeah that jiny made
3672s	that and she made a couple variants for
3674s	that Turtle too that I thought looked
3675s	great yeah and then Sam and Danny worked
3679s	on the chef stuff um and then Sam worked
3681s	on some gear so we'll look over those
3684s	these are like kind of gear progression
3686s	for rank Kai I know we've got a lot of
3688s	rank Kai lovers out there so there's
3689s	heavy gear progression light and medium
3691s	and obviously this is just kind of
3693s	sketching the concepts of like how we're
3695s	building them out this isn't necessarily
3697s	final um but very cool you can kind of
3700s	see where we're headed with like the
3701s	progression of T tier one gear all the
3703s	way to tier five and the different
3705s	complexities of T tier five
3709s	gear
3711s	so looks great hopefully people are a
3714s	great job there yeah yeah and then last
3717s	we've got actually some more
3719s	architecture stuff it is aen building
3721s	details so Joe worked on these and it's
3725s	very they're very
3727s	elegant yeah those look great too Joe
3729s	did a great job with these this is all
3732s	the the filigree that's going to
3734s	accompany much of the um the alen Rune
3739s	sets uh that are Incorporated across you
3742s	know different parts of the former alen
3744s	Empire um obviously you know these
3747s	cultures had a lot of time to develop
3749s	their own unique art styles that you can
3753s	see kind of represented there with the
3754s	Lion's heads and the lion bodies
3757s	obviously is a core you know uh figure
3760s	within the alen history looks great yeah
3764s	looks
3766s	fantastic and then we've got our Q&A
3769s	segment which I'll play the a video of
3774s	the Midnight Magic action
3776s	whilst we go over some of those
3778s	questions um really quick s and then
3782s	there's one other thing I want to grab
3784s	so I'm G to grab that really
3786s	quick ah okay um so our first question
3790s	here is from nicr and they want to know
3793s	about castle NPCs what level are the
3795s	mobs in MPC occup occupied
3799s	castles they are Level
3801s	50 level 50 they are they are Max they
3804s	might be level 55 we'll see
3806s	um a little challenge yeah cool cool and
3811s	the next one here is from casty and they
3813s	want to know about Freehold props will
3815s	players be able to raise Flags or
3817s	banners on their personal Freehold lots
3820s	and buildings and I know we've talked a
3821s	little bit about flags and Banners and
3823s	things like that but yeah 100% that's
3825s	that's that is a a definite inclusion
3829s	with regards to props that you can place
3831s	within homes and within free holds um
3835s	for you to display Lay Your
3837s	Colors all right and then the next
3840s	question here is about RNG exposed and
3843s	this is from Anon and they want to know
3845s	will RNG probabilities for artisanship
3848s	professions and drop rates be made
3850s	public in some some might and some might
3855s	not um it just kind of depends right um
3858s	it depends on what we're talking about
3860s	specifically
3861s	um yeah can you talk a little bit about
3864s	what might be um
3867s	um you you will likely see the you know
3870s	percentage chance of success when it
3872s	comes to enchanting particular armors
3874s	and or weapons um when you attempt to
3876s	make the the uh enchantment um uh choice
3880s	you may see the successful completion of
3884s	your crafting result when attempting to
3887s	uh excuse me the the chance of
3889s	successful completion for crafting
3890s	results when you attempt to craft risky
3892s	things um but what you might not see are
3895s	going to be dro chances there's going to
3897s	be
3899s	um uh you know variance within those
3901s	drop chances as well um it just kind of
3904s	depends it's it's kind of all over the
3906s	place when it comes to econ in general
3909s	all right cool cool and then we've got
3911s	mayoral politics this one's spicy uh
3914s	Hugh Jordan wants to know it was
3916s	mentioned that an elected mayor can give
3918s	insid or information on upcoming
3920s	commissions what prevents a mayor
3922s	offering High very high rewards for very
3925s	low returns could this siphon off node
3928s	resources and be open to abuse I mean
3931s	you voted them in or well no this is uh
3936s	for E
3938s	economic so this so the question is what
3941s	prevents a mayor from manipulating the
3945s	um purchase system yeah for the Comm
3949s	this probably more relevant to buy
3950s	orders I would say um and the intent is
3953s	that the
3955s	mayor does have the ability to influence
3959s	what those purchase prices and buy order
3962s	types are that's that's a power that
3964s	comes with being elected or winning the
3968s	the election result now what you do is
3972s	going to determine if you stay in office
3974s	probably uh depending of course on the
3976s	election type um but there are some
3979s	safeguards with regards to you know how
3981s	much the play the player can manipulate
3984s	options they are Cho
3986s	yeah right and and there are also clamps
3988s	on setting you know purchase prices and
3990s	whatnot so um that's important there are
3993s	some safe there are some uh rails there
3996s	okay uh this next one kind of Falls in
3998s	line with it too which is from uh falth
4000s	which wants to know about diabolical
4002s	elections what stops a player from an
4006s	enemy node bidding on your economic node
4010s	Memorial election just to grief it after
4012s	they get elected only only citizens can
4016s	bid on the economic node yeah but let's
4019s	say I was previously a citizen of
4021s	another node I really want that node to
4023s	succeed so I renounce my ele or my
4027s	citizenship become a citizen of another
4029s	node and now my goal is to infiltrate
4032s	that node right like take over it use my
4034s	money to be able to become mayor and uh
4037s	basically tank it so that my my other
4039s	node my friends over here can take over
4042s	well that sounds like a strategy
4047s	um the game of that's I was gonna say
4050s	that sounds like a strategy um there are
4053s	obviously going to be certain mechanics
4055s	that when a mayor engages with its node
4060s	requires requires Buy in from the
4063s	citizenship so you know the mayor is
4065s	going to have a certain amount of
4066s	mandate energy and that mandate energy
4069s	can be spent on you know promoting
4071s	certain policies electing certain
4073s	buildings to be constructed C choosing
4076s	certain um trade agreements and
4078s	alliances and many of those things
4081s	require the citizenship to kind of Buy
4084s	on through either voting or engaging
4087s	with those systems um to determine
4090s	whether or not the mayor can
4091s	successfully do those things so there's
4093s	a bit of a relationship between what the
4095s	citizenship wants and what the mayor uh
4101s	wants our next one here is want to BU
4104s	dungeon
4106s	or WTB and this is from Lloyd will open
4109s	world dungeons have a negative feedback
4112s	loop for those who are busing or
4115s	carrying dungeons for lower level
4117s	players
4119s	so negative feedback loop yeah will I be
4122s	able to kind of if I'm you know you're a
4125s	newbie and I'm like hey I'll take you
4127s	over here and you can pay me some gold
4130s	and I'll level you up oh my goodness um
4134s	well
4136s	uh yes some fat gear so so so generally
4140s	um there is a level disparity um
4144s	mechanic that prevents players who are
4146s	outside of 9 to 10 levels of the highest
4149s	level within the party from collecting
4151s	experience through their um uh uh
4155s	through their adventuring um so to some
4158s	degree there is a safeguard with regards
4160s	to
4162s	that and then obviously um you know the
4166s	way that we cater the experience the
4168s	encounter experience um depending on
4171s	those locations are going to require
4173s	that a party is operating at at a high
4175s	efficiency level in order for them um in
4178s	order for it to be efficient for that
4179s	lower level player uh to participate and
4183s	and gain levels in a in a um in a way
4185s	that makes sense right so so I think you
4188s	know there are some safeguards with
4189s	regards to that um and the other thing
4192s	is that like if you're paying other
4193s	players to power level power level you
4195s	or you're
4196s	um you know you're engaging in any type
4198s	of like rmt we have U behavioral heat
4202s	mapping um which will help us identify
4205s	those individuals uh and take action
4207s	yeah we'll have um customer service who
4210s	are looking over those reports every
4211s	morning and going through
4214s	and looking
4216s	investigating um and then our next one
4218s	here is new user experience from caners
4221s	what is your approach from a ux
4224s	standpoint for new players to easily
4226s	understand the complexity of systems
4228s	through ashes of Creations UI instead of
4231s	resorting to external player means yeah
4235s	so we do intend to have and this is for
4239s	entrance criteria of Alpha 2 a trigger
4241s	response when players engage with
4243s	certain systems uh for the first time or
4245s	when they are entering a certain area
4247s	for the first time or um you know
4249s	entering a node for the first time that
4251s	they will be uh able to kind of be
4254s	prompted with information about how they
4256s	should go about you know firsttime user
4258s	experience sort of thing um that is
4261s	going to obviously help Orient players
4263s	uh to the different systems within the
4264s	game because there are many um yeah
4268s	that's that's a relatively standard
4269s	approach um that we're taking as well
4272s	and then our next one here is from uh
4275s	kadak and they want to know about PVP
4276s	testing performance in various PVP
4279s	systems such as Caravan Arenas and Guild
4281s	Wars is said to be measured over the
4283s	course of 6month PVP seasons
4286s	how will this be measured during Alpha 2
4288s	considering there will be server wipes
4290s	and I do want to be clear that our goal
4292s	is to not have server wipes in Alpha 2
4294s	we want to have persistence that is the
4295s	point of the persistence we may have
4297s	times where we come down for updates and
4299s	things like that but the goal is to not
4301s	wipe if we don't have to we will if we
4303s	have to yeah so entrance entrance
4306s	criteria for Alpha 2 will be that we
4309s	have Guild Wars and that we have node
4311s	Wars um and we will be keeping score of
4314s	those things and players will be able to
4315s	see see those scores we will likely not
4318s	have the season update until after Alpha
4322s	2 begins probably in a 2.1 or 2.2 update
4325s	for Alpha 2 um the goal there is obv
4329s	numbers I know the goal there uh is
4332s	obviously that you know players can
4335s	rinse clean kind of the history in the
4337s	season um and start fresh whether or not
4340s	those will be six-month I think that's
4342s	the goal of Alpha 2 is to help test that
4344s	um it might be shorter than that um uh
4347s	but the intent is to have a system that
4349s	provides ability to kind of track your
4351s	wins and losses um and to have those
4353s	wiped fresh uh on some Cadence and Alpha
4356s	2 is going to be a longer testing period
4359s	so prepare yourself for that um and then
4362s	Vox triam wants to know about
4363s	development tools are the development
4365s	tools that are needed to help with World
4367s	building and game assets completed and I
4369s	will let you know development tools
4371s	never end you're constantly adding and
4373s	making new ones I was going to say even
4376s	even for games you know that um that
4379s	have been launched for a while the the
4381s	tools are you know constantly getting
4383s	touched up and and and um changed I
4387s	would say that um no our tools are not
4389s	completed uh obviously you know what
4391s	completes them you know tools are kind
4394s	of stood up uh generally barebones
4397s	fashion and then they get updates and
4400s	updates and updates and make the life of
4401s	the user uh who's utilizing those tools
4405s	easier after there's response from you
4407s	know the developer who's the customer
4409s	and the author of The Tool that's a go
4411s	that's a back and forth that's just
4413s	continually happening
4415s	um there are you know some tools that
4418s	will require some iteration depending on
4420s	on what we see during testing as well um
4424s	so our tools team is hard at work you
4425s	know continuing to provide updates to
4427s	the existing tools for the developers as
4429s	well as creating more tools all right
4432s	and our last question which is from uh
4435s	last moose uh wants to know about
4437s	resource sinks are mounts and the animal
4440s	husbandry profession intended to have
4443s	the same scarcity or resource SK sys
4446s	that other in-game items and professions
4448s	may
4449s	have um mounts mounts themselves are not
4455s	unless we're talking about flying mounts
4457s	um and then the um animal husbandry
4461s	absolutely there's a lot of sinks in the
4462s	animal husbandry um but when you create
4465s	a mount and that mount exists that mount
4467s	is not going to disappear you know at
4469s	the end of a lifespan or you know be
4470s	killed you will be able to revive
4472s	it all right and that is it for our
4475s	questions but if you have more questions
4478s	Stephen is going to be doing an
4480s	AMA uh with some wonderful content
4483s	creators vladis nice gaming L uh Sunny
4486s	from L forged and Jamie KS so we would
4489s	love for you guys to tune into to that
4490s	that will be live right here twitch.tv/
4493s	ases ofc creation on May 10th 2024 for
4495s	at 11:00 a.m. Pacific um so hopefully
4498s	we'll see you guys there and if you have
4500s	questions ping those guys try to get try
4502s	to get your question on their list um I
4504s	know some of them have already sent some
4506s	over but um I did give them till like
4508s	the day before to check in so um yeah
4512s	we're excited to do that I'm excited to
4514s	see what they ask Stephen I'm very
4516s	excited for that ama I think it's gonna
4518s	be a lot of
4519s	fun all right and with that we are
4522s	wrapping up any final things that you
4524s	want uh f to to know from your
4526s	perspective Stephen no I I think it was
4529s	a a great stream I I think we're making
4531s	great progress you know obviously as we
4534s	continue to develop uh towards Alpha 2
4538s	um you know we are we are gaining
4541s	progress every day right the team is
4542s	hard at work in in achieving that we
4545s	will continue to give you updates on how
4547s	things are going right now things are
4549s	looking good uh from a production
4551s	standpoint um and yeah I think it's
4553s	going to be I think it's going to be a
4555s	great uh test session Alpha 2 um I think
4558s	people are going to be going to be
4560s	participating in in something that is
4563s	unique to the space and I'm excited to
4565s	see how people respond yeah it's going
4567s	to be fun I know my team's most excited
4569s	for that because that's when we get a
4570s	lot of social interaction that's when we
4572s	can do stuff with you guys in game and
4573s	run events and stuff especially with a
4575s	longer testing period we'll get to do um
4578s	a lot of fun things people keep saying
4579s	that's your
4580s	Fela that's my Fela I would hide my Fela
4584s	they me open put in plain sight no one
4587s	would know um but of course uh join us
4589s	for that ama and then of we also have
4592s	our forums we would love for you to head
4593s	on over to forums. ases ofc creation.com
4596s	send us your feedback we have a thread
4597s	already of for Midnight Magic so
4599s	anything that we showcased in this live
4601s	stream we would love your feedback on
4603s	and of course we want to hu say a huge
4605s	huge thank you to all of you who tune in
4606s	live we appreciate you spending your
4608s	time with us and hanging out and
4610s	chatting with us and giving us a pulse
4612s	on how're how we're moving forward and
4614s	progressing our product and of course
4616s	thank you to Christopher Gabe Brian and
4619s	Todd for joining us for the Showcase and
4621s	of course you Stephen for your time um
4624s	we hope that you guys are stay healthy
4625s	and happy and we'll see you on well less
4628s	than a month because we're going to see
4629s	you for the AMA because you're going to
4631s	tune in for that right um and so we'll
4634s	have the VOD right here up on Twitch
4636s	immediately after and then if you're
4638s	over on YouTube I apologize it's going
4640s	to be 720p because I had to reform my my
4643s	PC and it down scaled for some reason so
4646s	we'll fix that apologies um but that
4648s	will be over up on YouTube make sure you
4650s	leave a comment on that Dev update And
4652s	subscribe and make sure your
4653s	subscription is public so that your
4655s	comment can be spotlighted in the next
4657s	live stream for our development update
4659s	live stream and of course follow us in
4660s	all the places we are at ashes of
4662s	Creation in every soci social platform
4664s	we would love for you to hang out with
4665s	us and we are going to be showing off
4667s	some other specs that you did not get to
4669s	see with the wand here so you'll
4671s	definitely want to check those out over
4673s	on our socials and we will see you all
4676s	next month well less than next mon we'll
4678s	see you May 10th keep saying next month
4681s	bye
4683s	[Music]

Development Update With Midnight Magic Preview - 11AM PT Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Transcript (by Youtube)

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