Alpha-0

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

Alpha-0 was a NDA^[3] pre-alpha^[4] release of Ashes of Creation.^[5] This was 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 was also known as the "friends and family alpha".^[8]^[9]

Alpha-0 was 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 Nodes, each with a ZOI.^[5]

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

Alpha-0 starting area

In Alpha-0, players started at an Empyrean divine gateway.^[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]

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

Alpha-0 has a bio-luminescent Underrealm 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 civilian clothing by Keith Kovach.^[21]

There was no active character creation screen in Alpha-0, but there were several options for players to choose from.^[5]

Four playable archetypes: Cleric, Mage, Ranger, Tank.^[22]^[23]
- The other four archetypes are planned for Alpha-1.^[24]
Two playable races: Kaelar, Empyrean.^[22]
Gender selection.^[22]

Alpha-0 progression

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

Nivelamento 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

Coleta 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

The weapon use combo system plays heavily into the weapon skill trees, which are planned for Alpha-2 and beyond.^[30]

The weapon use ability that was originally shown at PAX West 2017 was reduced to a basic form in Alpha-0.^[31] The new combo system will not have the quicktime event that was seen in PAX West 2017.^[32]
A revised weapon use combo system was present in Alpha-1.^[32]^[33] This was referred to as Combo system^[32], Combat skills^[34], and Combat tree^[35].

Alpha-0 dungeons

Alpha-0 Dünir (Dünheim) dungeon design by Michael Bacon.^[36]^[37]

Alpha-0 dungeon design by Javier Perez.^[38]

There were three open-world dungeons in Alpha-0.^[5]
Mobs scaled with node advancement.^[39]

Alpha-0 party size

The party size in Alpha-0 is six (6).^[40]

World size

1,200 km² (square kilometers) is the expected total world size of Verra at launch, including land (480 km²) and water/ocean (750 km²), but excluding the size of the Underrealm.^[41]

This has increased from the previously stated total size of 480 km² including land and water/ocean^[42]^[43]^[44]; but excluding an additional ~100 km² of Underrealm.^[45]

The reason given for expanding the map size was to better accommodate Naval content and to reduce the overall content density in the world.^[41]

The purpose of it becoming bigger is as I said to make sure that density isn't overwhelming: that it isn't everywhere I look there is immediately something. I have no opportunity to see areas of the world that are expansive and are just kind of wanderlust adventure feeling. Everything was sitting on top of you, POIs and nodes and houses and everything. It was like an urban area everywhere. But we wanted to expand that because a large portion of the game is a sandbox element; it's coupled with a lot of curated content but it's that sandbox element.^[41] – Steven Sharif

The shape of the continents has also changed and two new large islands have been introduced.^[41]

Alpha-0 NDA

The Alpha-0 NDA restricts the sharing of visual elements from Alpha-0 testing.^[46]^[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.^[47]^[48]

Alpha-0 release schedule

Phase	Release	Estimated/Actual date
Alpha	Alpha-0.^[4]	December 15, 2017.^[49]

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..^[50] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-0 end date

Alpha-0 may end eventually... or morph into something else.^[51] – Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-0 security systems

Sistemas de segurança serão implementados para combater hacks, abusos, bots, venda de ouro, duplicação de itens, e outras coisas que afetem a economia à partir do Alpha-0.^[52]^[53]^[54]

Esses sistemas coletarão dados de usuário e sinalizarão atividades anormais para serem inspecionadas. Isso, junto com a função de reportar jogadores, vai criar um "mapa de atividade" que evidencia situações anormais.^[54]