alpha test
Latest
Heroes of the Storm's Garden of Terror swaps between night and day
It's the gimmick, the hook that makes a well-designed MOBA battleground truly memorable, and Heroes of the Storm's Garden of Terror thinks it has its hook: a night-and-day sequence. Unlike the mostly cosmetic lighting filters in MMO day/night cycles, Garden of Terror's transition between the two will change the fundamental rules of the match. While during the daytime players can check out mercenary camps, the nighttime is a whole different story. The camps go away when the sun goes down, and out pops nighttime horrors as players' visibility decreases. The daytime only comes back when all of the horrors are killed, giving players control over how long the dark lasts. One of the Garden of Terror's objectives is gathering up seeds to plant so that a huge player-controlled mob can be summoned. Learning when and how to use the summon will be a key to dominating the match.
TUG alpha patch allows you to hunt dumb goats
What purpose do really dumb goats serve? If they're in TUG's new 0.6.3 alpha update, it's to be hunted for their pelts and cooked over a roaring flame. In a new video, TUG shows off several of the sandbox elements that went into today's patch. Players can create and cultivate farms, or alternatively go hunting for the aforementioned "dumb goats." There is also a physics system in place for projectiles, new craftables, and the ability to have a good old-fashioned cook-out. We're not kidding around, this is one goat-tastic video. Check it out after the break!
Dino-survival: Hands-on with The Stomping Land's early access alpha
Yesterday, I examined up-and-coming dinosaur-survival MMO Beasts of Prey. Today, let's look at another game in the same niche genre: The Stomping Land. The Stomping Land isn't technically billing itself as an MMO, but it boasts a semi-permanent world. But my experience in it was nothing like the trailers shown back in May. The current game is totally different. In fact, it seems to have regressed. There's no customization, there are no berries, and no one I talked to knew how to name a tribe. It feels like a semi-permanent shooter, similar to other survival games except without a lot of the building. You either make a teepee or you don't. You make a bow or you don't. You have a dinosaur mount or... you don't. The biggest servers I saw had 24 people, meaning I was able to avoid other players very often, but the game was more fun when I encountered people -- at least people who didn't one-shot me and waltz away.
Dino-survival: Hands-on with Beasts of Prey's early access alpha
When I first dived into the horror-survival genre, I knew there would be zombies, but I never expected dinosaurs. You don't get much bigger than a T-Rex stomping around your neighborhood (though I am still waiting for an underwater survival game that randomly has blue whales unintentionally ruining your kelp fort as they hunt for krill). When dinosaurs started to replace zombies, I knew that my inner child would drag me in, even if I once again had to pay for alpha. It's this very idea of "paid alpha" that inspired me to tackle not one but two titles from the newly spawned dino-survival based genre. Apologists will say that it's just alpha, but the reality is that you get only one launch, and to me, launch is you start letting people buy your game and don't hold them under an NDA. With this in mind, I decided to try my hand at both Beasts of Prey and The Stomping Land to see which, if either, feels the most deserving of my time (and money). Today, I'll start with BoP.
UemeU goes deeper than the typical sandbox
How about a good palindrome to round out your Friday experience? What, you want a sandbox on top of that? Fine; here's UemeU and stop bothering me. Omnigon Games recently announced that alpha-dwelling UemeU is now on Steam Greenlight and can be downloaded for free on the official website. The project draws upon popular sandbox games such as Little Big Planet and Minecraft to give players the ability to create their own worlds and stories. The main claim to fame here is an impressive depth that goes beyond the simpler tools that its competition provides. You can check out one of the avatar videos for UemeU after the break to get an idea for the potential that this title holds.
ArcheAge closed beta coming in mid-July
The good news for fans of the approaching ArcheAge is that the game will be using update 1.2 for the game, news that brought forth much rejoicing. The bad news is that as a result, the game's beta has been somewhat delayed. Trion Worlds has outlined the state of the game in a recent blog post explaining where the game is in testing and what players can expect in the future. In order to get the new version into testing as soon as possible, the developers are not adding in the Trion-specific features to the game which were mentioned previously on the forums. Closed beta events will be starting in mid-July, with a separate alpha server available to see how the 1.2 play environment plays and what benefits it offers. If you're interested to hear about the state of development, take a look at the full update and get ready for the paradigm shift.
Pathfinder Online formally opens alpha to backers
"Ladies and Gentlemen and Miscellaneous Humanoids of all Types," wrote Ryan Dancey on the Goblinworks website today, "It is my great pleasure to announce that we are beginning the formal Alpha Test of Pathfinder Online." According to Dancey, invitations are now en route to Kickstarter backers and everyone who purchased alpha access through the official game store, so check your email if you ponied up. You can also check out the release notes to clue you in on what's in the alpha and what isn't quite. For those not participating in the test, the studio plans to livestream the current build tomorrow -- that is, Friday, June 27th, at 6 p.m. EDT -- on its Twitch channel.
TUG videos shows off new survival mode, more explorable biomes
If you've been looking forward to testing out TUG's persistent survival mode, it's now here; alpha update 0.6.2 introduced the first phase this week. The update also includes new biomes to explore, new resources to gather, an extended hunger timer, and more. The Proving Grounds, the game's traditional arena mode, is still available to play. To get a peek at all the new biomes and other changes, watch the videos below and check the official patch notes. Nerd Kingdom's Peter Salinas also shared with Massively what players can expect in the next update. Around July 11th, TUG will add "AI, goats to hunt and harvest for foods, cooking, farming, camp fires, and throwing spears." Players can get early access to the game on Steam.
Remember Destiny alpha with shirt 'that came from the moon'
Last week's alpha test of Bungie's massive shooter, Destiny, was a huge success, attracting legions of players and leaving the studio to celebrate its achievements, and even poke fun at the game's most glaring failures. In what Bungie calls a "Post Game Carnage Report," it reveals that the alpha test period played host to nearly 6.5 million Player Games. During those games, testers racked up 149.5 million primary weapon kills, 21.7 million secondary weapon kills, 21.6 million Super Ability kills and just over 4 million heavy weapon kills. Given that the alpha test lasted just over five days, that translates to an average of 39.36 million deaths per day - quite a bit of bloodshed for a game that has yet to enter beta testing. Despite its numerical achievements, many players will remember Destiny most for the hilariously lackadaisical voiceover work featured in this recent trailer. Instead of striking back at the legions of cynical Internet jerks who've spent the past few days poking fun at the game's canonical fixation on moon wizards, Bungie has turned the memetic phrase into a t-shirt. What's more, the developer is forwarding proceeds from the sale of the shirt to charity. Happily, fans quickly responded to this generous gesture by making the shirt one of the best-selling items available on Bungie's online storefront. [Image: Bungie]
ArcheAge alpha popularity forces Trion to upgrade hardware
One of our awesome Massively readers forwarded to us an email from Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman to ArcheAge's alpha testers. In it, Hartsman thanked the players and noted how their numbers had helped to stress test the studio's hardware. "The massive number of Archeum Founders has really helped us stress test the way we do things: We've already had to expand the capacity of the server to three times the number of characters that one world is expected to have," Hartsman wrote. "That you've propelled ArcheAge as high up as the #2 game on all of Twitch.tv has really been humbling for all of us. It makes us want to work even harder to deliver the best release that we possibly can." Hartman reported that the studio had doubled the amount of server hardware twice since the alpha started. He also indicated that the team is preparing for a new alpha build, beta testing, and launch day. [Thanks to Paragonlostinspace for the tip!]
Dungeon Fighter Online returns from the dead
It was a about a year ago that Dungeon Fighter Online closed up shop in North America, but the scrappy MMO might be back for round two. The resurrected version of Dungeon Fighter Online is being run by developer Neople, not Nexon. The studio plans to begin the alpha test of DFO tomorrow, May 15th. This will be an open alpha test requiring players to use their Facebook accounts to access. "As some of you rightly mentioned, this is an alpha test, not a full re-opening of the game," Neople cautioned on its Facebook page. "So there might be bits and pieces that don't go as smoothly as we want, and we sincerely hope the DFO community understands this." [Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip!]
SOE's Jimmy Whisenhunt on the paranoia and potential of H1Z1
What's more dangerous to your survival after the apocalypse: undead abominations or your fellow humans? OK, that's certainly not a new question in the zombie gaming genre, although it's not going to stop H1Z1 from asking it. In fact, there's a haze of extreme familiarity that's settled around this title, even though it's the first full MMO on this scale to tackle a zombie survival sandbox. Is it almost too familiar for its own good? Will that familiarity be an asset or a drawback? Is SOE merely trying to cash in on the DayZ craze without trying much new? Or are these assumptions blinding us to the grander plan? To get a better feel for H1Z1, we got on the phone with Senior Designer Jimmy Whisenhunt. To start off, Whisenhunt gave us a quick summary of the game for those who aren't clued in to the whole. H1Z1 is a post-apocalyptic survival MMO that's more focused on physicality than stats. So instead of needing to level up, you'll find your initial challenges will be things like foraging for food, finding a shelter, building a campfire, and getting your hands on a weapon because everything wants to kill you. And when Whisenhunt says "everything," he means not just zombies but the environment, infection, weather, wildlife, and even other players.
ArcheAge player sentenced to 13 hours in jail by peers
ArcheAge's court system came into the limelight yesterday when a player in beta was sentenced to over 13 hours of in-game jail time by a jury of his or her peers. Players who break the various laws in the game and then die have a choice to either accept a short prison sentence or go to court and plead their case to a jury of five other players. These players then vote on the defendant's guilt or innocence, and in the case of the former, sentence the defendant to prison. Prisoners can wait out their sentence, play soccer in the jail courtyard, or attempt to tunnel their way to freedom. This particular player had over 100 criminal charges, which incurred a high amount (770 minutes) of jail time. If you want to learn more about ArcheAge's criminal justice system, check out the video after the break!
Come sail away with this ArcheAge ship preview video
It seems as though there is a lot of buzz around ArcheAge's watercraft, although this impression may be caused by Massively's Jef running up and down the halls screaming, "They have rooooowboaaaaats!" on the half-hour. However, if you haven't seen what this upcoming title has in store with ships, check out the following video preview that demos several types, from small to big. Aly and The Professionals say that there can be a lot of fun on these "party boats;" however, "you should be aware that parties on the sea include being jumped by sea creatures, pirates, and over-excited guildmates who take full advantage of character collision by pushing you overboard." Give these crafted ships a watch after the break!
Elite: Dangerous goes in-depth on trading
Elite: Dangerous' 20th newsletter is out, and the team has dedicated the lion's share of its space to talking about the upcoming space sim's trading game. The developers explain how Elite's thousands of systems will help to create a huge economy once the MMO goes live: "Each star system has a different basic type of economy –- for example agricultural, industrial, hi-tech, extraction, refining or service, and some have a mix of these basics –- such as extraction and refining are often (but not always) in the same system. From a commodities perspective all but a service economy produce items for consumption. This creates an active trade network." The newsletter also gives a sneak peek at planetary rings, informs fans that today is the last day to buy into alpha access, and says that the game will update its galaxy configuration based on any major discoveries that may occur in our world. Give the newsletter a read and check out a video of the trading system after the break!
ArcheAge's founder packs will run you $49.99 to $149.99; closed beta to start in June
While Trion Worlds is still being coy about a release date for ArcheAge (the official line is still "2014"), the studio announced today during its livestream the details behind a trio of founder's packs for the upcoming fantasy sandbox. Here's what each of the packs contains: Silver ($49.99): Beta access, four-day head start, Founder title (with stats), 30-day patron pass, experimental hang glider, and 2,500 credits. Gold ($99.99): Beta access, four-day head start, Traveler title (with stats), 60-day patron pass, 10 evenstones, 10 hereafter stones, glass phoenix hang glider, desert assassin platemail, and 7,500 credits. Archeum ($149.99): Alpha access, beta access, four-day head start, Trailblazer title (with stats), 90-day patron pass, Daru Chests, 10 evenstones, 10 hereafter stones, glass phoenix hang glider, desert assassin platemail, Founder's cloak with customizable logo, personalizable crest, 10 pet healing potions, and 11,250 credits. We spoke to Trion earlier this week about these founder's packs and upcoming closed beta test expected to begin in June -- read on!
Black Gold Online closed beta begins May 15th
In a press release issued today, Snail Games announced that the closed beta for its steampunkish MMO Black Gold Online will begin on May 15th. Says the release, Closed Beta participants will see large-scale battlegrounds with customizable 'Carriers' (large battle mounts for each faction) and can develop over 100 distinct carrier-types for battle. Black Gold Online also features true hardcore PvP, where players can fight against members of their same faction as well as opposing forces across a variety of battlegrounds, arenas and 'Chambers of Greed.' Finally, players can join even larger Energy Well battles as they form armies to fight for control of precious resources in large-scale faction and guild battles. The closed beta will also include revamped graphics and a refreshed interface. We've embedded the latest trailer below!
WoW's Warlords of Draenor alpha patch notes are huge
Blizzard has released today a massive dev blog with preliminary annotated patch notes for the Warlords of Draenor alpha test, which itself was just officially announced yesterday. The big additions relate to garrisons, stat squish and balancing, talents and Draenor perks, racial traits, crowd control, and yet another major healing revamp. Nearly every class in the game has a hefty entry outlining which skills are being changed and which are being deleted from the game entirely. Sounds as if returning players might be needing that newbie tutorial for Draenor after all. Have a look at your class changes and let us know whether you think you're getting buffed, nerfed, or just set up for another cataclysmic reset of the game's combat meta.
Blizzard kicks off WoW's Warlords of Draenor alpha
In a blog post on the official site today, one interestingly timed to coincide with a big launch going on today and tomorrow (ahem), Blizzard officially announced the start of the World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor alpha test. The studio cautions players that not all of the promised content is in the alpha client, so don't panic when dataminers can't give you all the nitty-gritty on garrisons. They're not in yet. Players interested in signing up for later phases of testing are instructed to create a beta profile on Battle.net. Applicants will be selected randomly.
ArcheAge FAQ mentions testing plans, optional subscription, and housing limitations [Update]
Trion Worlds has published a new FAQ for ArcheAge today that concentrates on testing plans and core features of its upcoming Western version. The team said that alpha testing is imminent and will be followed by beta events leading up to launch, still set for sometime in 2014. While fans can sign up on the site for a chance at a key, Trion said that soon-to-be-revealed founders packs will guarantee beta access. ArcheAge will be adopting a hybrid F2P model including an optional subscription. This subscription will be necessary if a player wants to own his or her own house in the game, as the "limited real estate" will be earmarked for paying customers only. Trion addressed its level of control over the title in its relationship with developer XLGAMES and indicated that the Korean 1.0 patch changes will not be coming to the West: "We work with XLGAMES to understand and new features that are added to ArcheAge in the East to determine how well they will be accepted in our regions, and then offer feedback. XLGAMES has been fantastic in addressing that feedback as best as they can. In situations where a feature is added that we don't think will be appropriate for our audiences, we work with XLGAMES to modify or remove that feature from our version." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
