Alpha-0

Alpha-0 Launcher/login screen.^[1]

Alpha-0 is a NDA^[3] pre-alpha^[4] release of Ashes of Creation.^[5] This is the first of many internal tests of the networking, backend and node system.^[6]

Establishing core technical features for the back-end solution.^[7]
Connecting many players into a single zone with 4,000 NPCs.^[7]
Getting good server framerate performance.^[7]
Making the connection through the launcher end.^[7]
Establishing the core node system collection cultural experience.^[7]

This release is also known as the "friends and family alpha".^[8]^[9]

Alpha-0 is the invite-only "raffle" alpha that also grants access to some media and influencers.^[10]
Alpha-0 is a part of Pre-alpha testing.^[4]

Alpha-0 gameplay footage

Alpha-0 footage from livestream, 31 October 2017.^[11]

Alpha-0 participation

1,200 to participate in Alpha-0 starting Friday 15th of December 2017.^[12]

Alpha-0 nodes

Alpha-0 Empyrean village node.^[13]

The alpha-0 map is divided into three Nodos, each with a ZOI.^[5]

Only one node was capable of reaching the Village stage (at one time).

Área de inicio del Alpha-0

Durante el Alpha-0, los jugadores empezaban su aventura en una puerta divina Empyrean.^[14]

Alpha-0 environments

Alpha-0 river that runs through the center of the map.^[15]

Alpha-0 flood plains environment.^[16]

Alpha-0 forest environment.^[17]

There are four over-world environments (climates/biomes) in Alpha-0.^[15]

Flood plains
Forest
Desert
Snowy mountains

Alpha-0 Subreino preview by Trystan Snodgrass.^[18]

Alpha-0 has a bio-luminescent Subreino environment.^[19]

One of the important aspects of color play is going to be the distinguishing factor between different Underrealms and the regions that exist in the world: Their color influences set them apart from different regions.^[20] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-0 classes, races and genders

Alpha-0, ropas de civil por Keith Kovach.^[21]

No había una pantalla funcional de creación de personaje durante el Alpha-0, pero había varias opciones para que los jugadores escogieran:^[5]

Cuatro arquetipos disponibles: Clérigo, Mago, Ranger y Tanque.^[22]^[23]
- Los otros cuatro arquetipos están planeados para el Alpha-1.^[24]
Dos razas disponibles: Kaelar y Empyrean.^[22]
Selección de género.^[22]

Alpha-0 progression

Players experienced a degree of progression in Alpha-0.^[5]

Nivelación was from level 1 to 10.^[25]
New equipment dropped.
There was a tier-based skill progression where players applied points into individual skills.

Alpha-0 artisan classes

Reunión and crafting was originally intended to be in Alpha-0,^[5] but due to time constraints these were not included.^[26]

Alpha-0 combat

The weapon use ability (precision combo/quicktime event) system is in Alpha-0 but it is a different iteration to what was shown at PAX West 2017.^[27] Due to time constraints leading up to Alpha 0, the success range of this system was widened and the UI component was disabled. The plan moving forward is to continue to evolve the system in a fun and more engaging direction based on community feedback.^[28]

Many animations at the moment are first pass, and will be further fleshed out as development continues.^[29]

We want combat to be engaging, fun. What you're seeing in our pre-alpha we honestly have not spent a lot of time on combat. Most of this pre-alpha has been spent on establishing core technical features for our proprietary back-end solutions for making a MMO in Unreal.^[7] – Steven Sharif

Weapon use ability status

A revised weapon use combo system will be present in Alpha-1.^[30]^[31]

The weapon use ability that was originally shown at PAX West 2017 was reduced to a basic form in Alpha-0.^[32]
The new combo system will not have the quicktime event that was seen in PAX West 2017.^[30]

Alpha-0 dungeons

Alpha-0 Dünir (Dünheim) dungeon design by Michael Bacon.^[33]^[34]

Alpha-0 dungeon design by Javier Perez.^[35]

There were three open-world dungeons in Alpha-0.^[5]
Mobs scaled with node advancement.^[36]

Alpha-0 party size

The party size in Alpha-0 is six (6).^[37]

World size

480 km² (square kilometers) is the approximate world size at launch.^[38] This includes water and land content.^[39]

Water area is considered playable area, but the exact area of land versus water is not known at this time.^[40]

I don't know the exact the exact amount that is land versus water but the water is playable area as well and it's gonna have content...^[40] – Steven Sharif

An additional 100 km² may be taken up by the Subreino.^[41]

480 square kilometers; which is which is pretty large comparatively to other MMORPGs out there. Now that does not include the lapped spaces: So that is the Underrealm and the portion of the world that it encompasses, which could probably easily take up an additional hundredish square kilometers I would imagine.^[41] – Steven Sharif

It is anticipated that a mounted player can traverse the entire map in a matter of hours.^[42]

The Alpha-0 map was a 4km x 4km area (16 km²).^[43]
The Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale map was 2.5km x 2.5km² (6.25 km²).^[44]
- The Forest of Erinthia map was roughly 1/5th the size of the original map.^[45]
The Alpha-1 map is expected to be 96 km².^[46]

Alpha-0 NDA

The Alpha-0 NDA restricts the sharing of visual elements from Alpha-0 testing.^[47]^[3]

Alpha-0 easter eggs

There may or may not be a pair of sandals; if found will grant you some major boon or benefit... You might need a utility skill to find them.^[48]^[49]

Alpha-0 release schedule

Phase	Release	Estimated/Actual date
Alpha	Alpha-0.^[4]	December 15, 2017.^[50]

Alpha-0 key raffles

When getting real-time feedback, we want a wide sample of opinions from people that cannot afford to spend four or five hundred dollars on the Braver of Worlds, to the people that can... We want to get a wide, diverse audience from a purchase standpoint, even people that aren't even invested in the game at all, that's why we raffle out to registered users, or just on stream..^[51] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-0 end date

Alpha-0 may end eventually... or morph into something else.^[52] – Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-0 security systems

Security systems will be in place to combat cheating, exploiting, botting, gold selling, item duplication and other things that affect the economy starting from Alpha-0.^[53]^[54]^[55]

These systems collect user data and flag abnormal activities for inspection. This combined with player reporting functions generates a live "heat map" that draws attention to unusual behavior.^[55]