Earth 2 has made some very significant announcements/ statements with respect to the pre-alpha launch of their 3D world. To begin, there is an invitation for testing the pre-alpha when it launches. This was announced with an accompanying video containing in-game footage which covered several biomes, vehicles, avatar types, and their movements. The video also contains some bloopers at the end which was completely unexpected, however has become one of the most liked part of the video within the Earth 2 community.
Highlights of the announcement & the accompanying video :-
Multiplayer will be possible inside E2V1 pre-alpha, which is 100% developed in-house. To demonstrate the video has devs joining with their avatars from across various parts of the world - Europe, America and Australia.
The video showcases in-game footage (not pre-rendered), captured across various parts of the the 510 million sq. km world . It shows multiple avatars walking/ running/ flying around, donning a variety of skins, across diverse biomes both on land and water. It also showcases vehicles/ drones in motion, and different buildable structures.
Users will be able to host Mini-games on owned land.
It is known E2V1 will have some bugs, and some of them are shown as bloopers in the video. Thus E2V1 will need extensive testing and will improve over a period of time.
Aspiring users who wish to register as a tester for the pre-alpha should fill-up the google form via the link https://forms.gle/KAyvtrikwfjfyTFZ7
Shane, CEO Earth 2, hopped onto discord to chat with users upon the release of this video announcement. Key take-aways and full chat transcript is as below:-
Key Take-aways
E2V1 pre-alpha sometime in 2024, however no hard timelines to share
The pre-alpha is just a beginning, it will be built upon further as more complex features/ effects are developed over time.
Pre-alpha currently focused on PC and want to test with different system configurations; multiple different tests with different groups at various times.
Some parts of Earth 2 will be complicated, others simple and fun. Lands will be able to host mini-games, where such sessions may be isolatable from rest of Earth 2. Outside mini-games seamless navigation will be possible across properties.
Multiplayer is complicated to execute within a 1:1 Earth, planning to support as many avatars simultaneously as possible, which will gradually increase over time. E2V1 pre-alpha will begin with multiplayer, where avatars can spawn at own Mentar to begin with, and across the span of Earth 2.
Enhancements such as flying boosters may be auto provided inside some mini-games, however may need to be crafted for use in the open world.
Dying inside E2V1 may incur some costs in form of Ether (no confirmation or specifics shared).
Committed to timelines shared earlier for Whitepaper (March 2024) and token launch (around BTC halving).
No of testers:- Not on first come first serve basis and applications will be reviewed. Declined to share specific number of testers admitted but may depend on number of applications received.
Next egg hunt during pre-alpha.
Full Chat Transcript
Shane enters chat Shane (S): The key here is that it's a 510,072,000 km² detailed Earth with accurate topology matching back to the real world - and we've started multiplayer. This is different from getting multiplayer to work on a small map, very different.
Anyway, we filmed this footage in ONE AFTERNOON and just thought it would be more fun to release the footage as opposed to a simple invite form. The bloopers were just for a bit of transparency, a laugh (though some will still be saying it's pre-rendered I'm sure).
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, crazy month ahead...
be sure to watch it again in 4K !!! Fully pre-rendered and all! (sarcastically)
Does the next egg hunt start during the pre-alpha?
Yes
Will we be able to venture with 5 or 6 people in the group?
we had 7 in this footage, but the funny story is this footage was not supposed to be the actual footage. We were going to record again with the other devs but the test run just ended up being it
What does Ether particles with the numbers mean in the video?
you will find out soon enough
What do the 25Ks below the energies and essence regarding upgrading mean exactly?
you will find out in the article
Great job on getting out a multiplayer in house. The true tests will be the stress test with many users for sure.
yup, step by step
What's the lowest level GPU it will work with, I mean I have an RTX3080TI so I know I"m good, but just wondering what people can get away with?
is why we want to test
Recommended specs for E2V1?
we still need to work that out.
Can the testers meet and play each other in E2V1 pre-alpha test version?
there will be multiple different tests with different groups at various times. We plan to release it this year, but leading up to that point will be a lot of different testing phases for different reasons
Are there more radioactive pre-designed skins coming?
Yes
Will we start off with multiplayer and how many of us at one time, are you hinting more than 7?
Yes
Nice video ! Any news on submitting for the crypto token ?
still the timeframe I gave previously
So as you collect the particles you get a speed boost that reduces over time. Nice simple gameplay.
early mechanics, there are other elements not shown yet .. but yes, I did say parts of Earth 2 will be complicated, and others simple and fun. I am more about making games simple and fun / enjoyable (at least the mini-games to start with). There may be other world wide stuff going on at some point
That video was awesome. You guys are kicking butt. Are there any plans to do a skin/in game keepsake for the launch of Essence? It would be pretty cool to have something in game to remember/mark the day. Even like just a t-shirt or something would be cool.
thanks Pacey. There are many things I wish we could do, shirts, merch etc all very cool but to be honest we're already pushed to the limit right now. These extras sound simple but not when you have so many other tasks .. not enough hours in the day
This will shut so many people up..... Its like the biggest in your face ever.
(sarcastically) nono .. it's all pre-rendered.
I heard there are a few of the haters in other channels suffering from a hard bout of copium .. my advice to them is to just get a life. Why spend all your life, time and energy hating on a project that is doing the exact opposite of everything you've been saying it would do. Just be happy for us, your life will improve. Isn't it a good thing we are building and progressing? I believe this has now become a form of obsession above anything else.
Can you say something about where in the world the footage in the film is from?
we just went to random places. One is a lake northern Italy near the alps. The lake with the Mentar is Mt Baekdu in N.Korea. The fishing scene was a lake in Japan. That's all I remember for now. We were just jumping around randomly zooming into various places (though I specifically wanted to check out Mt Baekdu)
What is penalty for dying ?
copious amounts of E-ther to respawn .. don't die. This is a joke btw .. well kind of
Are those cars, boats and guns coming with the pre alpha or were they more showcases of what you guys are working on for future releases?
those are various mechanics we are working on. Some will be in the pre-alpha or soon after
Any press invitations?
we probably should send out PRs for this type of thing but we just don't have the time .. just too much to do
Of the mini-games that will be available at pre-alpha launch, which one do you enjoy personally the most and why?
I think the E-ther battle - lot's of laughs playing that one in multiplayer.
I've had politicians, royalty, Billionaires, pr0n stars, and more on the podcast. I've never once paid for an interview. I will pay you to come on the podcast! Let's get this bread!
oh man if you saw my daily schedules you'd know why I tend not to do interviews / online events. It's not that I don't want to, it's that it messes with my already insane lifestyle of wake up, work, sleep, wake up, work
With such a lifestyle, please don't die
I'll try to avoid doing that
Nice touch with hand mounted boosters for flying. Will all players have that outside of the mini-games to travel around or is it an unlock?
too early to answer. It may be auto in the mini game (don't want to give too much away) but in the open world you will need to craft them
Well done Shane. Been here since the beginning and so glad I didn’t listen to all the countless nameless fudders over the years.
still very early .. but there have been a few hey?
EPLs coming to E2V1 next year or how can we get around in E2V1?
oh for sure
In video... Players are standing on a platform that juts out from the cliff... Is that "player built" ?
yes, that was more of a bug but lol .. we were just messing around. I was spawned as the jet spaceship trying to find them and they were trying to tell me where they are
Loved that video. multiplayer looks great! Will the pre-alpha allow a certain amount of multiplayer? If so, do you have a number??
glad you liked it! No comment on the exact numbers yet - as we mentioned in the video, the multiplayer we demoed is 100% in house, developed by our team to work in such a massive open world. Also mentioned in the video we are working with some partners to mix our solution for the open world to scale it better
Are the tester applications nominated on a first-come, first-served basis if the criteria is met? Should we hurry up or take time to fill in carefully?
no they will be reviewed
Can you share anything about Blue and Green Energy, like what we get them from?
not yet sorry
Just thought to pop in before I go to sleep and think that video of the pre alpha is what is going to excite so many people for what is to come. Got to say well done to you and the team and I’m very bullish on what’s to come.
thank you
Will there be any skin drops of less than the 250 we have currently seen? I have become quite the skin collector, as I'm passing on some properties I would have ordinarily picked up to get these great looking skins.
I can't confirm for sure
Did you guys see how a property can be isolated when inside
yes, that is for the mini-game. You can seamlessly travel over all properties, but we also developed a solution to isolate them for things like mini-games (if it's part of the specific game). Looks simple, but not so simple on a global scale. In the video you saw a property that had split tile locations, so that was all one property with the various parts highlighted
Are Essence loans (contracts?) still in the pipeline?
contracts are still on the table but we have such a huge year ahead. I think it's critical for us to get the interactive 3D world moving first
Where are we spawning?
-Only in our land
-Anywhere we want
-Pay some essence for EPL teleport
only from your own Mentar to start
Shane, Will land upgrades be a strategic battle depending on the market price of tokens??
yes, that is correct. Some may make sense to upgrade quickly while others might become more attractive after various points in time
Can players in multiplayer be in different parts of the world simultaneously ? Does distance matter ?
yes they can, and we will be working to increase numbers. Multiplayer is super complicated inside a 1:1 scale Earth
Another question, If we get selected for the pre-alpha test and collect the floating e-ther there, will it be reset when it's official launching time??
would not be real E-ther in the test games.
there will be a whole system for this first mini-game. It's kind of like a proof of concept
Will S2 come back soon?
probably not
No portals to other games ? Just an in-game mode ?
as pointed out (somewhere) in the article I think - this is just the start. We need to start somewhere. We have not changed any long term vision. Just because a future plan was not demoed does not mean it's no longer planned. This will be a very long project developed over many years
Do you plan on having Lobbi live ahead of the token launch?
we will see - cannot say just yet
Any issues with copywrite name, trademarks, or symbols ahead of token applications ?
I don't believe so
How many testers are you planning to onboard?
depends how many applications we receive. I cannot give exact numbers as that will be interpreted the wrong way I believe I'm sorry
sorry guys, I just scrolled up and realized I have missed so many questions. My apologies. I do need to keep moving now, I have been awake all night and still have many things I need to do before taking a rest. I hope you all enjoyed the footage -we still have a very long way to go but it's nice to share this progress.
Do avatars have levels or stats that can be increased over time ? Can players grind to improve stats ?
good question, but initially probably not. There may be some areas this is applied over time but remember, we're not really building a game per se but a metaverse, like a platform. So in a way it's more like living in an alternate reality where the base you may not be represented as single character in a set game. That is the beauty of what we are building .. there are no limitations on what we can / should / will add over time
I would love dynamic nature with tree and grass movement but I know it might be unrealistic (Maybe as option for high-end hardware)
100% and don't think we haven't already thought of a million things people have not even started to think about. But as mentioned in the article, video description and so forth, this is very much a work in progress. Check out games that have continued on in development over a number of years, take a look at their very first release and compare it to how they look now 5-10+ years later. What you see now is our starting point, and in my opinion it looks pretty good for a pre-alpha starting point. As mentioned, this is very much a step by step process - we are working with a massive open world and trying to build a system that will support a large number of players interacting (so not like a triple A game in a small map that might only ever support teams of 5, 16 etc).
So 100% agree, there are many things we know could improve the look, feel .. foot prints, dust, weather, waves, particle effects, more animations, dynamic everything plus many, many other things.. but this is just the very first version and we will continue to test, release, review and then move onto the next part pushing the limits along the way. What you see in the footage is real time, multiplayer, recorded in one afternoon - not pre-rendered footage to hype up a project .. I have avoided anything prerendered after the inception video.
Anyway, just wanted to point that out as a few points above are important to take into consideration. Just look at where some of the other big name games started and where they are today. Our plan is of course to keep developing and improving over time, it won't happen over night and I'm trying to approach this in a way that gives Players something to do as we roll things out
Is there any information if VR glasses can be used with e2v1 pre alpha? for example, OpenXR or SteamVR support would be more than enough
we have tested but focused on PC first
Amazing video! Can’t wait to dive into E2V1!! How realistic is it to hope for a console (PS5) porting in the future?
I am not sure, for now we are focused on PC. It may be possible, but would be some time away and certainly not until we expand the team
Hey Shane, we still cant know around which month we will start the tests on e2v1 right?
I am not setting any dates. This is an early application form so we can have a list together when needed. I just mentioned E2V1 pre-alpha will be 2024
I have to get back to my day here guys, just wanted to point out those few things above as those points are worth taking into consideration. Have a good day all