Alpha Launch Day - PLAY BY PLAY

PLAY BY PLAY

Greetings friends! Today, we will be launching Alpha and emailing unique rewards to the 1st batch of AQWorlds: Infinity Kickstarter backers. 

TOP BUGS & ISSUES

• Kickstarter Update Post just went live!
• Backers with code issues (i.e. "Code not found or already redeemed")
• Quest objectives getting stuck (i.e. Frogzards 1/3 and will not update)
• Skills locking up
• Class issue - If your classes are in your bank you need to go to the original AQWorlds and move them to your inventory.

SENDING EMAILS NOW!

Check your spam and promotions tabs... A LOT of players are saying the email is going into those email folders. 

WAVE 3

• All wave 3 Backers (Sending later on Wednesday)

WAVE 2

• All wave 2 Backers (SENT)

WAVE 1

• Mysterious Stranger Backers (SENT)
• Custom Weapon & Armor Set Backers (SENT)
• Benevolent Backers (SENT)
• Immortal Backers (SENT)
• Legendary Founders (SENT)
• Underworld Founders (SENT)
• Epic Founders (SENT)
• Founders  (SENT)
• Funded it myself backers (SENT)

LATEST NEWS

Wednesday

• 3:17am - Stayed up and pushed a little longer... answered 300 KS messages. That was a solid 17 and a half hour day. Silly that I have been sitting in here by myself this past hour. But the clock sorta reminds me of the TV show 24. Watching today's Alpha release experience would have been a good episode. The Grim Sleeper's pillow scythe is closing in on me. Zzzzz. Tomorrow we will continue focusing on getting the rest of the backers having issues into the Alpha. Battle on!
  
• 2:00am -  Kickstarter Update Post just went live! Whew, I wrote a long one. Also answered about 150 of the KS messages. Prioritizing ones that have not received their codes in the mail. Although most people are saying it was already in their spam or promotions tabs. 
• 1:00am - Spider had a break through.... found the source of a ton of game client desync issues.
• Midnight - Still writing Kickstarter Update Post

Tuesday

• 10:44 pm - There are about ~600 Kickstarter messages in the queue and I am still writing the Kickstarter Update Post. I wrote a fancy API, powershell script, and browser booklet that helps me respond to people asking for codes on KS. But we have been working for 13 hours and the screen is starting to get fuzzy. I am going to try to get the KS Update Post live, and then tomorrow morning Despair and I will help as many backers get access to the Alpha as possible. Thank you for your patience and help as we get through the bumpy parts. Overall, the launch of Alpha has been an overwhelming success. Battle on!
• 10:00 pm -There is a small memory leak on the servers. We will track it down tomorrow. The busy server might crash in about 6 hours. 
• 8:00 pm - 11,500 backers have activated their codes so far. Some report not getting their codes, so we are looking into that now. ~600 KS emails X_X. Going to solve the problem before we start replying to individual messages.   
• 7:15 pm - Game back online. Un-releated... we noticed 2 million monster file downloads since the Alpha started. This is something we will optimize. 
• 7:08 pm - We just broke the login button. Or someone is attacking the API. Investigating. 
• 6:30 pm - Warlic is fixing Flying Kickstarter Castle house preview. Spider & Zhoom figured out the quest objective bug. New game version rolling out soon.I am still writing the post. 
• 5:44 pm - Starting to write Kickstarter Update Post w/ Despair
• 5:30 pm - Just pulled backer data for Captain Rhubarb... good news everyone, we are sending wave 2 shortly!
• 4:55 pm - Looking into the issue tat tells some backers their codes are not found or already redeemed.
• 4:50 pm - 2,065 players online! Servers running smooooth. We have a patch requiring a restart coming soon. 
• 4:30 pm - Sending to rest of wave 1 backers!
• 4:30 pm - Sending to rest of wave 1 backers!
• 4:13 pm - Top reported bug is quest progress stops tracking randomly. Maybe when switching class? Investigating.If you relog it works.  1,600 players online. 
• 4:00 pm - Alpha record! 1,113 players online. Servers holding.
• 3:22 pm - We are fixing an issue preventing backers with multiple Benevolent Add-on to add them. Also, we need to restart the server for both the Quibble and secret challenge pet to appear and be usable. 
• 3:15 pm - Legendary Founder Emails sending
• 3:00 pm - Fixing server & content issues. 
• 1:31 pm - Mysterious, Custom, Benevolent, & Immortal Emails Sending
• 1:31 pm - ALL CLEAR!
  • Restarting all servers...
  • Alpha is now LIVE
• 1:16 pm - Doing a final Cloud Build of streaming game content.... deploying to the content delivery network (CDN). 
• 1:11 pm - Waiting for the all-clear (We have not emailed any codes yet)
• 1:08 pm - Should I be concerned that we have not had any catastrophic issues yet? This eerie quiet forebodes doom...
• 1:04 pm - Final review of the Backer Emails (Making sure the links work.) Remember... keep your secret link... SECRET!
• 1:03 pm - I pulled in a few players as emergency "smoke test" testers to make sure the codes are working as intended before we start sending the mail. Good news! The codes seem to be working fine. 
• 1:00 pm - Spider pushed a GFX fix. PixelPete is nearly done fixing the rewards button on the login screen. 
• 12:41 pm - We are still testing and have not emailed any reward codes yet. I will announce here first when we start sending codes. 
• 12:41 pm - Diagnosing a 501/Error that we are experiencing when switch being back and forth between Worlds & Infinity
• 12:30 pm - PRO TIP! When Alpha starts, you can solve most content issues with the game, completely restart the game and clear cache from the login screen..
• 12:15 pm - Fixed map player limits.
• 12:15 pm - Fixing a game server login permission issue. 
• 12:10 pm - Here is what this looks like on our end. Everyone joins voice chat together. We share our screens to work on problems and fix things. 

• 11:55 am - Please know we have not emailed codes yet. We are waiting for the "all clear". A few minor issues remaining. I will let you know when we start emailing codes. 
• 11:45 am - Alpha Servers online! (Permissions set to Kickstarter backers only for this first week as we stabilize the servers. We will uphold our promises to the Upholders of the Tech Demos.)

• 11:40 am - Attempting to... activate all 3 Alpha servers. O_O
• 11:12 am - Zhoom published a fix for the Class purchasing issue. 
• 11:15 am - Zhoom is configuring the 3 Alpha servers. 
• 11:00 am - Warlic & Ghost are fixing some asset bundles that did not cloud convert to the live servers correctly
• 10:45 am - ...
• 10:34 am - Fixing a issue where players cannot buy Classes from the class shop
• 10:13 am - Ghost & Despair online. Dev team is testing. 
• 10:10 am - Despair modeled some HeroMart gear a while back. Stryche sent a secret promo image to go on the Backer Reward Page. 
• 10:07 am - Discovered Warlic already woke up early and did a game client and cloud build (Nice!)
• 10:00 am - Building latest game client & starting final map review
• 9:45 am - Artix & Zhoom, J# start the Dev Discord Call
• 9:30 am - Coffee maker.... online.

ALPHA NOTES

In the great words of Cysero, "We will be releasing at exactly Ready-O-Clock"

• Please do not message the Kickstarter today.
• Read the last Kickstarter Backer Update for what to expect
• Today will be a wild ride. Expect things to crash & break catastrophically. 
• We will be fixing the client, server, and files as things are discovered. 
• If you already played the Tech Demo, you will not need to use a Steam Key. But you will need a Reward Code that we are emailing you to unlock access to log into a server. 
• The 1st Wave of Backers is everyone who completed their pledge manager / surveys by the end of last Wednesday. We will do a second batch within a week. 
• We added two buttons at the top right of your screen.
  • Gravelyn - Click this button and Gravelyn will help you navigate the game
  • KS Chest - Click this to access your Kickstarter rewards from anywhere. 
• If you have a class in your bank, you will need to go back to regular AQWorlds and move it into your inventory to use it here. Available classes include Warrior, Mage, Rogue, 

Epic Founder is working!

This was the last, and most complicated of the Founder rewards that will be releasing with our Alpha tomorrow. It is not a perfect experience, but for alpha testers who want to get in early and help test, it will be functional for them.  Thank you to Warlic, Ghost, Sir Fainal, Snow, PineOak, the testers, and everyone else who spend the last 12 hours getting as much ready as possible today! Tomorrow we will begin a Play-by-Play in the morning leading up to when we turn the Alpha servers on and begin sending codes to the first batch of Backers! 

Calling it a night... even thought it was a holiday today, so many team members pop in-and-out during the day to help code, publish builds, and fix issues. Love how committed this team is. Very proud of what they accomplished together over these last few weeks. Alpha will be bare bones, but we are releasing a lot more rewards than were originally planned. Going to sleep knowing that no matter what craziness happens tomorrow, we went above and beyond to give our very best. The scary part... is after Alpha launches, the REAL WORK begins O_O. Battle on!

It is Alpha Eve!

Twas' the Knight before Alpha, and all through the lab... <insert sounds of explosions, fire, cats screaming, yogurt being spilled, and coffee being consumed in irresponsible quantities> ...we are still not pencils down. We will be drawing, coding, and converting content right up until tomorrow's launch. Probably non-stop after. The hardest thing to build was the Epic Founder's Choice. This is where they choose their DOOM, CHAOS, or DESTINY sets. It was hard because a core feature to do it is not ready yet. But I found a way around it using quests, creativity, and cool looking Epic Treasure Chest Pets. Epic & Underworld Founders will be able to make their Epic Pack choice in either Worlds or Infinity tomorrow. 

J# made a map where we will preview the armors and Ghost is posing the characters. BUT... we accidentally posed the LEGENDARY Destiny set. Whoops O_O. It looked really cool so posting it below. 

This back item might be too big...

We got through the shops for Backers, Founders, and Epic founders... and fixed all the items in them. We still need to finalize and fully test the in-game method for Epic Founders to choose their Epic Armor Set & Epic Pets. That will be the focus of tomorrow. There were some issues with the Underworld set, but excited to announce we just fixed it a few minutes ago. So going out tonight on a win! Impressive the crew clocked in 15 hours of work on a Sunday. 

Ghost & I were the last ones standing tonight. Was tempted to try to break our record (only need to go 15 more minutes), but in my sleepy haze, I keep trying to put asset bundle IDs into the item ID slots which might break the cloud builder. Which means, it is time to call it a night... Battle OZzzz..... 

Leveling up our "Clickies"

I built a ActionScript to control the image shaders Nulgath added to the project... looks so good! I mean, it looks like I am disintegrating them instead of saving them. Either way, we are saving them from the undead! Right? >_> Sir Fainal is almost done with the Graveyard quests. The reward will be the one Grimskull weapon that did not release during the last Tech Demo. Meanwhile, I cannot help but notice that PineOak in the back of the GIF is testing the Legendary Chaos Armor. Progress!

We basically live in this Discord chat sharing our screens and working non stop... 

Sunday: Fighting Fires

This close to Alpha release is a bad time to getting this ambitious. The original plan was just to release Alpha with the Founder armor and items. But as you can see in this animated GIF, I have the Epic Founder (Chaos) gear with the Epic Chaos Dragon pet equipped. (Whoops, forgot to equip one of the capes.) There is a chance we can get a bunch more of these rewards set up so you can use them when you join Alpha on Tuesday. With the clock ticking down, this is not one of my better decisions. But no guts, no Alpha glory! Wish us luck. #SendMoreCoffee

Saturday Night Undead

Working the Graveyard shift. :D We are still working on getting the Epic Founder armor & pet choice quests available in both Infinity & Worlds. Captain Rhubarb made massive progress on the Benevolent item selection. Two of the 3 bonus questing zones are done with rewards. Odd that so many of our rewards are pets... especially considering that we only had one pet working in the game a week ago. 

Not a bad work run for a Saturday. I really appreciate everyone on the team for working so hard on this upcoming Alpha release.

Sir Fainal and I made it until 2:35am, which is now... still three major things left to be done. The Grim Sleeper may be coming to claim us now... but we will be back tomorrow for a rematch. Onward to ALPHA! 

MEGA PUNCH & Despair's Live Draw Pet

Nulgath & Ghost are so freaking awesome! Unarmed "MEGA PUNCH" gauntlets are in for ALL backers. Despair's pet.... uh... cat-dog-dragon-with-tennis-shoes (reminder, you voted for "all of the above" and here it is, LOL)  is animated and in. Kudos to Snovers for flashing it and Ghost for animating it. OMG the pet's hop fly animation is so cute. 

Firsts of Fury

Fiery! Nulgath just sent in the animation and particles for this fist weapon (Gauntlet Type). Normally I do not post things until we actually have it working in game. But my jaw dropped when I saw these. The backer stretch goals included two "Unarmed". The first one is literally just invisible. The second one... well, give me an hour, and we will see if it looks just like this :D

Better Quest Turn-Ins

Quest turn-ins got a big improvement this week. Completing quests feels way more satisfying now... some rewarding particles, animation, and sound fx that fire when you hit the button. When you playing through sagas (a storyline of connected quests), it will auto kick off the next quest in style. We also fixed item drops from quests. 

Lil' Nugget hops to it

Wrapping up Friday night on a win. After one of the most intense days I can remember, the game is feeling fun, stable, and very promising. We are looking good for the Tuesday release of Alpha. (I should never actually write this out loud.) We do not wan to stop building stuff... but it is definitely time for us to call it a night. 

Artix: Hey guys, have time for a quick call?

"You only worked 15 hours on a Friday? Those are rookie numbers. Gotta get them numbers up."

To type NO, type and N and typo.

Laughed so hard when I got this. Gold Raven sends in  bug reports in as memes.... O_O.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

...oh wait. No, I just cranked my bloom up too high. XD  It is the Friday before Alpha. The final boss fight of game development. So naturally, EVERYTHING broke. You have no idea the stress and horror. A whiplash whirlwind of riding the rocky rapids of failure deeper and deeper... wondering how the heck we were going anything working again. How we could  turn it all around. Then, suddenly one thing went right. Then another. Followed by another. Then a wave of victories putting us back to where we needed to be for Tuesday's release of Alpha. Now, if we can just keep things stable while we add some more content... 

Login screen now shows you level in both games

A lot of backers were trying to decide whether to put their rewards on their current account, or create a new one so they can start fresh. Now there is no reason to choose! Because we are rebuilding the entire world from the very start, we are giving you a special, separate level in Infinity. This will let you play through the game and help us test at the correct level. The AQWorlds: Infinity login screen now shows your level in Infinity & Worlds. Your one account works in both versions of the game. In this screenshot, you can see I am level 100 in the original game, but only level 5 in Infinity. Hey, do not underestimate me. Being level 5 is very powerful in Infinity right now! :D 

Wood you dare?

We are emailing backers codes and launching the AQWorlds: Infinity Alpha on Tuesday. I pulled the data from Kickstarter today and Captain Rhubarb is preparing the first batch of backer reward codes (it took hours to pull each tier separately and merge the data O_O). Meanwhile, the team has been in a code and content creation frenzy. More things are working than breaking at this point... so *knock on wood*... starting to feel a wave of optimism. Am I going to regret having said that tomorrow? *checks sundial* Scratch that, it is already tomorrow. Finishing KS messages and Zzzz....

Hikari's Chaos Axe

Whoops! When going through items, we realized that this chaos axe was Hikari's original design (Not Dages). I mistakenly wrote that in the Kickstarter update post and wanted to clarify it here. Once again, super kudos to Hikari for making this for backers without even being asked. He felt that there were Doom & Destiny items and there should be one more to even it out. This axe will be added to the Founder's armory once completed & setup in Infinity. 

Baby Dragon Animation

Ghost is working on the Founder Dragon Pet animations.... omg, I love the that wing flap animation! 

Graveyard

Hai guys! Despair here, they gave me access to make posts on here...probably not a good idea LOL

BUT I am so excited to see you all in infinity on Tuesday, we will be together all day breaking everything and finding all the bugs. The codes for all of your rewards will be sent out on Tuesday as well! <3

WOW... what a Wednesday O_O

With the intro feeling solid and most of the content bugs now fixed, we started adding some additional quests and maps for the Alpha. Cylisse & Sir Fainal are writing the quests up while J6 and I work on the maps. Ghost is animating the pet dragons. Spider & Immortal Joe are making important combat changes. We added a few unexpected maps that you will be able to walk around and test in the Alpha today that are sure to... raise eyebrows. It is just shy of 1am and just finished responding to KS messages. Going to get some rest... huge day of AdventureQuest Worlds: Infinity alpha bonus content building tomorrow with the team!