Tomorrow's Forcast: Horks!

Is it Hork or Horc?

Depending on which AQWorlds writer you ask, it is probably Horc. Which is a "hulky orc". But I fully intended it to be Hork. Saying it out loud always made me phase into a rendition of the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show, "Hork, Hork, Hork!" Which also sorta indicates that they would be white meat. Gotta appreciate the small things in life. So even if it contradicts canonical lore, my Northern Battleon dialect will have me writing "Hork". Tomorrow, we will be releasing a new mini-adventure in the Hork Camp for you. I am in a voice chat where Sir Fainal, J#, Warlic, and Alina are preparing some reward drops for you. We want to add new things to do while we work on the MASSIVE list of high priority features to deliver your more rewards, release on more devices, and get started on the custom tier items. 

Bank is live! (version 1.0)

The first iteration of Infinity's bank feature is now available for all players in the Alpha.... talk to Gravelyn. Grab the newest update to the game on Steam and help test it! Also, fun fact: Tunik optimized it so it can hold 131,207 individual items without issue. (CRAZY!) The original AQWorlds would crash if there were over just 10K items.

Healing VFX

We are working on the Infinity Hero Class. Nulgath sent in a ton of awesome spell FX. Excited to share this one first! It is crazy how fast he mastered Unity's particle system. Immortal Joe has a working prototype of the class. Once the skill FX are in we can do a round of balance testing and add to the game for you to try. 

Next Major Kickstarter Update Post in TWO WEEKS

We will be updating the news here near-daily

Happy Friday! 91% of Backers have completed their pledge manager & surveys. If you have, but have not gotten your codes yet... then just send me a quick message via Kickstarter with the secret power word...  "Send codes please!". A few hundred backers will confirm that it is super effective. For new backers, it will take a day or two for us to pull your data and merge it into our game's database. Thank you for your patience! We have been overwhelmed with bug reports, support tickets, and ideas. So, for the next two weeks we are going to laser-focus on fixes, features, content, and helping backers get into the game. We will also build some light quest releases during this time to give you something to do. The latest Kickstarter post was a treasure trove of info on how to get and redeem your codes. We want to keep that the top post everyone sees during this time. Please help spread the word if anyone asks that the next major Kickstarter Update post will be in about two weeks. Please check here on www.AQ2D.com for the daily updates. 

Fixes & Common Questions

• Read our most recent Infinity Kickstarter Update Post for information on how to get your rewards and codes
• We are pulling Kickstarter Backer data daily... once you fill out your pledge manager / survey, please give us a day or two to send your codes via email. If you do not get them after 2 days, message us on Kickstarter and let us know if you do not receive them. 
• Friday game update! New game update coming today which fixes a bunch of issues including chat. NEXT WEEK a much bigger update is coming with some desperately needed features. 
• The Epic Founder Doom/Destiny/Chaos badges have been fixed for all tiers
• The Epic Founder Quests can now be turned in from the "quick quest menu button" now too. 
• Legendary Founders and above do not have this quest because you already have ALL THREE badges and sets of items :D
• Thanks to the help of the White Hats, we fixed a number of possible quests exploits
• We are only on PC right now and we will be stabilizing it for a while. Mac will be next... then Android... then Apple iOS.
• We have A LOT of wood to chop... wish us luck! 

Umbra Class

Did someone say... UMBRA CLASS?!

You heard that right, Umbra class is coming back! Ghost started to work on the shadow form of Umbra (this is still a work in progress).

If you do not know what Umbra is this eerie, dark, and horrifying class was originally built as a testing class and was made for tech demos.

Ghost started this today, so it is still subject to change... but it is still SO SICK!!!

This is a gif of Spider using the old version!

Be sure to use the correct code!

If you see this error, make sure you are using the right code. It is the long one that starts with KSNF....

We just re-emailed Keys to 2,800 backers

If you have not gotten your Steam Key and Reward Codes in your email yet, please check again now! :D We made a list of every backer who completed their survey, but did not redeem a code yet. Then we sent them all another email to the alternate address you gave us. Be sure to check your spam, promotions, and other tabs. This should get us around that Apple privacy email thingy problem. If you still do not have the email... then just send me a quick message via Kickstarter with the secret power word...  "Send codes please!". It is super effective. Despair and I will be working to write you back with your link so we can get you in game before the weekend starts. Battle on!

Danger Pony

Hello Heros,

I just wanted to thank all of you for helping us launch alpha smoothly! I've been having so much fun playing, chatting, (attempting to) break the game, and just fighting monsters with you all! 

I'm excited to see where this goes in the future... and if you see me around don't be afraid to say hi! :D

as some of you have asked... the wait is over! Danger Pony has now been added!

You can find him in the "infinity backer shop" NOW!

Now THIS is an AQWorld ALPHA

415+ players crowded into a single instance of Yulgar's Inn. Apparently the /goto command is bypassing any reasonable limit cap, LOL. The game ran surprisingly well considering. 

HAPPENING NOW

• Be sure to read the official Kickstarter Update Post!
• Despair and I have gotten through about 600 Kickstarter backer messages and still have several hundred to go. 
• Captain Rhubarb pulled Kickstarter data, generated codes, and send emails to wave 3 (Which is everyone up until about noon today)
• If you used Apple's protective mail thingy to create your Kickstarter... you will have to send me a message on Kickstarter to get your codes. 
• Actually at this point, if you have not gotten you codes via email... go ahead and send me a message. 
• The coding team has been overwhelmed by the bug reports. They are currently in urgent bug triage. 
• The content team has been overwhemed by monster, map, and item reports XD. They are prioritizing urgent ones too :D
• We fixed the issue where the three badges (DOOM, DESTINY, CHAOS) were error-[ing. They should now correctly be showing on your AQWorlds page. 
• We updated your rewards page with pictures that better explains what each type of code is used for. 
• Captain Rhubarb fixed a ton of backer's pages so they now show codes, and also fixed an issue where using Benevolent IODAS counted again the wrong type of token. 
• Despair's "Danger Pony" seems to be ready to go into the game.... your next backer reward is coming. 
• We found a lot of items that were not correctly tagged to be obtainable by the Benevolent IODAs... the team is fixing them now.
• Captain Rhubarb discovered an error preventing some Benevolents from getting their extra and... eh, it is complicated. He fixed it and everyone has the correct rewards now. 

Read more

How to Redeem your Cross-Game Rewards

The Infinity Founder Blade is a cross-game reward. Founder tier backlers and above recieved a code to unlock this item in AdventureQuest 3D, DragonFable, EpicDuel, and the original AdventureQuest that started it all. 

 Here is what it looks like in AdventureQuest 3D (Which is our first ever cross-platform game to run on phones, tablets, and computers)

Want to learn how to redeem the backer sword in all our other games?

Read more

Read the Alpha Kickstarter Update Post

Be sure to read the official Kickstarter Update Post! It is full of information on how to get and redeem your codes. 

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