is going to be another pre Alpha being rolled out or it will be Alpha next? Any word on an estimated date when either may be planned?
Jonesing for a new gameplay stream after November, this silence is killing me.
For sure PA5 confirmed, Im guessing there will be most likely a 6th to follow. Beyond that, no word but I would be willing to bet after PA6 (if there is one, as I anticipate) Alpha will happen.
No timeframes or timelines given.. #hardatwork
vigilantee13 said:For sure PA5 confirmed, Im guessing there will be most likely a 6th to follow. Beyond that, no word but I would be willing to bet after PA6 (if there is one, as I anticipate) Alpha will happen.
No timeframes or timelines given.. #hardatwork
Assuming 6 confirmed and the last, and given the general schedule it's been running at, I don't expect we'll see alpha until the middle to late part of the year. We're coming up on a year and a half of pre-alpha, so we have to be getting close to the next part of this ride.
Drebin said:I was under the impression that there was only going to be 5 pre-alpha phases. I can't remember what the video was but I'm sure I heard one of the devs mention this on a stream.
I don't think this has ever been stated. Here is an excerpt from the August 2018 Newsletter:
PA4 will be available to our pre-alpha testers this fall.
"And just how many PA phases are there before alpha? We can’t answer that just yet. The idea, though, is to use PA4 as a reference point, or a reference zone, as Joppa spoke about in June. This means that by PA4 most systems will be in place. The small remainder of systems will be added prior to alpha, but for all intents and purposes the core Pantheon experience will be available for PA4 and beyond. This means that in PA5 and onward more world building can be done. Systems will continue to be refined but will no longer need to be built. That accelerates things greatly so expect the later PA sessions to come a lot quicker and more regularly than the early Pre-Alphas."
To me, it sounds like their PA4 goals were changed to PA5. (Project Faerthale) -- and based on the verbiage above, it sounds like there is a plan for "later PA sessions to come a lot quicker and more regularly" after Project Faerthale is completed. I would be shocked if there aren't at least 6 PA phases (PA5 is mentioned above which would technically be PA6 now (in that context), and more PA sessions are referenced even beyond that), and wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if we see 8-10 of them.
I don't want this project to be rushed and get released in an unfinished state like VG did but it's hard not to be seriously bummed with how slow this project is moving. I pledged to this game so long ago that it was thought it might release by 2017/2018 and now it's 2019 and we are still parsing different pre-alpha sessions. I would be surprised if this game releases before 2022 at this pace. Also starting to worry that it may never release. I hope I'm wrong but I been losing faith to the point that my excitement has waned quite a bit.
Fragile said:That sounds just awful, so I won't believe you at all.
As you can see here... it's not an exact science. But I agree with a few others here in that if you have the expectation that several PA phases will continue through 2019, you won't be disappointed. :)
Fragile said:I would imagine the actual testing feedback from a pre-alpha phase isn't that substantial compared what they will already have in-house from QA. Huge step in testing and feedback would actually be Alpha.
I'm curious just what you think this small team has as an in house QA department?
Also, don't forget that most of the Dev predictions of timelines were made before their November hiring drive that let them bring on a bunch more experienced Dev's (mostly Art and Animation guys). They specifically said that this hiring of new people was not pre-planned and that by doing so it would speed up things and let them get into the next phases of development sooner. They are not 'rushing' things, but it is possible that they will be ahead of their own internal predicted schedule.
Zorkon said:I'm curious just what you think this small team has as an in house QA department?
I would think it's 5 or less, but you don't need a group of 20+ people to tell you what functions and what doesn't - especially when all they do is play/test the game (and are updated with the changes). When you get an influx of hundreds to an Alpha state is when you see things you didn't think to test or notice. The pre-alpha stuff (especially due to the small windows of time to play) isn't going to come close to what an actual Alpha would result.
The big quote from the December newsletter that makes me worried about timelines are - "For the first time since development started we are bringing together the full Pantheon experience, with all of the systems, animations, models, sounds, and effects one would expect to see in a modern game."
Now let's make a list from what we know from streams/reddit:
1) Animations were placeholder and incomplete
2) Races weren't completed (wru Skar)
3) Perception system hasn't been fully fleshed out
4) Cities (Faerthale) and other area's art wasn't completed / built
5) We haven't even seen most of the other continents
6) Class resources weren't finished (looking at Paladin and probably Monk here)
7) A lot of the UI elements aren't there yet (Target marking etc)
8) Does Progeny exist?
9) I hope colored Mana continues to not exist
I mean I want all these things ASAP too, and let's hope there was a ton of stuff behind the curtain we haven't seen yet that's already been developed (at least I have my fingers crossed for). I feel, at some point, you just have to go all in and just put it out there - this doesn't mean to stop with the major developments but let testing happen, let the community embrace the game more, and add some much needed transparency. Just think of the excitement Alpha will cause and people that get to test it, on top of that - each time there is an update to the Alpha, there will be a new wave of excitement to those updates. That just creates waves and waves of positivity not only for the community, but the game - AND - it's developers. Pantheon Alpha, let's goooooooooooooooo!
Fragile said:I mean I want all these things ASAP too, and let's hope there was a ton of stuff behind the curtain we haven't seen yet that's already been developed (at least I have my fingers crossed for). I feel, at some point, you just have to go all in and just put it out there - this doesn't mean to stop with the major developments but let testing happen, let the community embrace the game more, and add some much needed transparency. Just think of the excitement Alpha will cause and people that get to test it, on top of that - each time there is an update to the Alpha, there will be a new wave of excitement to those updates. That just creates waves and waves of positivity not only for the community, but the game - AND - it's developers. Pantheon Alpha, let's goooooooooooooooo!
On the other hand, going Alpha prematurely would generate more error reports than VR can handle, which could quickly turn those waves of positivity into floods of negativity when testers/players find that their reports are "being neglected".
I am pretty sure they have an internal schedule for these dates and goals they are trying to hit... I do not expect them to give us that in any way. Can you imagine the backlash from the rabid fans on here if they missed any date.
It's just hard with a team as small as we keep hearing to fix problems as they come up so those target dates can be moved rather easily.
my fellow terminians, i have a bold and outlandish prediction! prealpha5 will not happen! with the mass exodus of personnel from a monolith that has fallen comes forth a boon of builders! these great arcitects have expedited the process and we will be gifted with 'ALPHA' thank you thank you! this shall be released sometime in the first quarter!
disclaimer: predication is based on wild imagination and speculation, have no substantial backing, no connection or collusion with any people. no responsibilities will be claimed for any negative emotional duress if you bought into this outrageous claim. please consult with the therapist if you have incurred any psychological synptoms.