This post mirrors a Reddit thread I started. You can view that through this link.
Disclaimer
This was quoted by Caspian as a clarification to the meaning of these dates.
Rather than provide ship-dates or deadlines, we're providing a development schedule so you can see when we'll be working on stuff.
The dates here reflect an estimation of when the work on these particular phases will be happening. It is a development cycle for a game and that always has a lot of variables. These dates are not written stone, will be adjusted in the future, and at the end of the day, we'll just have to see what happens. Also based on input below there are a lot of people that believe that this game started its development at Kickstarter, which is a common misconception. This is not the case, the underlying engine for this game is something that has been in development for quite some time. To be accurate 10 years prior to 2015 (12 years ago). No this does not mean that this engine is 12-year-old technology, just means that the work began back then and a lot of thought and energy has gone into it. This is a common misconception which I believe is leading to a lot of the comments below. Also, technology allowing the streamlined creation of games has also come an extremely long way just in the last 5 years. It does not take 50+ million dollars and a 50+ man team to make an MMO anymore. I've watched this game for awhile and its rate of development has been consistent and rapid. Take this information into account when appraising the general time range these dates represent as being far-fetched. They aren't.
This post is for those here that may be interested but are confused and do not understand the development cycle for CoE. Hopefully, this information clarifies things for you and helps.
What is Chronicles of Elyria?
It is a much-anticipated game that is set in an immersive world with player run domains, governance, economics, warfare and the logistics that makes all that possible. It is a large, complex, and ambitious title that many thought would never even happen. I'm happy to say that it's looking like they were all wrong and this game is coming closer and closer to full release. The scope of this post isn't to get into what CoE is (if you have any questions on that feel free to reach out to me) but to help explain the development cycle that is soon approaching. Information on the development cycle for this game is somewhat scattered and for those unfamiliar with what this complex game is or where the information can be found it can be hard to understand what is to come once alpha hits at the beginning of 2018.
As per the information here I've explained the development process (as best as I can).
I have been a member of the Chronicles of Elyria community since kickstarter and in anticipation of what this game offers and I'm very excited to experience and help test this long-awaited game that will be entering its alpha stages of development.
The Development schedule is as follows and I'll break down each part for your convenience.
Q = Quarter which is 3 months
T = Trimester which equals 4 months
S = Semester which equals 6 months.
This can also be referenced here.
V3 of the Website
Graphical and functional overhaul of the CoE website
Courtier, Royal, and Monarch packages have been removed from the store.
VoxElyria ( previously known as ElyriaMUD)
Now called VoxElyria, this is a lower graphical version of the game that serves a dual purpose. It gives Soul Bound Studios a chance to test scaling and platform compatibility while also giving people like myself something to play sometime in early 2018 while waiting for alpha.
The voxel-based front-end client will have the same engine the game will run on when the full release happens. This is not in any way shape or form how CoE will look upon alpha, beta or full release of the game.
An early example of what full release will look like can be seen here.
Alpha 1
First immersion into the world of Elyria where most of the basic functionalities will be tested and improved.
Alpha 1 is available to those with Magistrate packages and above which is an aristocracy pledge level and comes with a number of other features including being the owner of a customizable settlement. The stand-alone purchase of alpha 1 is currently listed at 155usd and will be available around Nov. 1st.
Server Selection
Each servers map will be procedurally generated separately:
Angelica: NA-W, Luna: NA-E, Selene: EU, Oceanus: Oceania.
This is at the moment set and can be referred to here
Previously Soulbound Studios had been planning to use SpatialOS but due to the platform not meeting the studio's needs they decided to find an alternative. These quotes from 01/13/2018 can explain this in more depth.
Caspian - Today at 7:11 PM
@Otter Morbis Sure. Games are typically written in C++. It's native, performant, etc. But it's not great when trying to interop with a lot of other services. For that, more and more people tend to use C#, Java, etc.
We were intending to use C# as our backend, however NPM and NodeJS has created a huge ecosystem for readily available, OpenSource code that can be used to speed up development. Things like Three.JS JavaScript 3D engine, all the way down to libraries for computing Voronoi Diagrams.
Also, JavaScript is now the most popular language on the planet, so finding people who are skilled JavaScript programmers is quite easy.
Next, JavaScript allows for isomorphic programming, which means we implement something once, and it runs on both the client, and the server. It can run on the PC, Linux, or Mac, on your phone, or even on a console. Anywhere there's a JavaScript engine running (such as v8), we can run our game. This makes it easier for us to develop a mobile companion, as well as to implement VoxElyria in addition to the UE4 client.
We host the v8 engine inside of UE4, and in the browser, which means our client code can run in both places, but only needs to be written once. Same with our UI, which is written as React components.
I don't know if any of that answers your question other than to say, we were primarily focused on
a) Speeding up development
b) Increasing our access to readily available solutions
c) Increasing the different ways in which we can release a CoE client to customers.
Settlement / Domain Selection
King/Queen, Duke/Duchess, Count/Countess, Mayor/Mayoress or Baron/Baroness will select the domain they will possess from the top down. This will be based on IP (influence points) which is determined by the amount one has spent to help the development of the game. This has become highly competitive and due to this, an ambitious an expensive game was able to begin development without some large money backers owning the rights on it and distorting the concept that makes it what it is.
1 Kingdom = 12 Duchy spots
1 Duchy = 24 County spots
1 County = undetermined amount of settlements as that will depend on a number of variables. Ex: A desert or rainforest will likely be much harder to settle in and thus have less than a more hospitable area.
This means that a continent with Kingdoms at capacity will have roughly 1,728 Counties.
Counties will not be all the same size but It is roughly estimated that 2.5 Counties equals the size of a Skyrim map as Quoted by Caspian.
So a roughly 2.5 "average" counties would be about the size of Skyrim.
Skyrim itself is roughly the size of Poland at 14.790 square miles per this source.
Total estimation of the continent each server will have is 10,000 sq mi. Elyria is going to be a massive game world.
Merging options do exist. This also applies to settlements as well, as additional mayor packages that are purchased will increase the size of the settlement inherent to the account and not give an additional settlement. Whether or not there will be diminished returns is suspected but to my knowledge has not been officially confirmed.
More information available per this source.
KoE
As quoted from this source refer to this source for more detailed information.
Kingdoms of Elyria is a planned top-down, 2D graphical overlay game resembling a traditional kingdom management game. It will include the features necessary to do kingdom/land/domain management, which includes settlement building, architecture/construction, and the ability to zone land. The minigame's creation is predicated on a need for Soulbound Studios to gather data on how kingdoms interact within the game world, so they can informatively design the mechanics governing those interactions.
Design Experiences
Many of the store packages during kickstater came along with a number of design experiences. Soul Bound Studios wanted to create a game that allowed the early backers to not just enter the world but to also build and create items in it. Examples are tattoo, hairstyle, consumable, personal weapon, shield, armor, relic (powerful magical artifact), or even a creature that will exist in Elyria. Currently, only Courtier and Royal store packages offer design experiences anymore.
This phase is when the game developers will go through the countless submissions and do the beginning phases of implementing them into the game world.
Alpha 2
Second more advanced testing phase prior to full release. It is said that the architecture tool will be available at this time but that is subject to change like most things during the development of a game.
Alpha 2 is available to those with Proprietor packages and above which is a gentry pledge level and comes with a number of other features. The stand-alone purchase of alpha 2 is currently listed at 65usd and will be available around Nov. 1st.
Beta 1
More testing of a much more refined game. No specific details regarding what features will be tested as of yet.
Beta 1 is available to those with Founder packages and above which is an adventurer pledge level and comes with a number of other features. The stand-alone purchase of beta 1 is currently listed at 40usd and will be available around Nov. 1st.
Prologue & CoE Adventure Toolkit
As quoted from here
Prologue: The Awakening is an offline, single-player or small group (with the optional CoE Adventure Toolkit) experience designed to act as an introduction to the lore and story of the game. Originally, it was also intended to serve as an early hands-on test of some of the game's most important client feature areas, in line with Soulbound Studio's "Rope Bridge" philosophy of development. It was subsequently moved later in the development timeline, just prior to Exposition and Beta testing. This will ensure the intended content will be available to experience, as the world-building and architecture tools will be in >place by that time.
The prologue will be a free download available to everyone and will act as a demo of sorts.
The adventure Toolkit can be explained through a quote by Caspian in the comments of the State of Elyria post.
The Adventure Toolkit will be a permanent, supported, separate product from CoE which people can purchase to play the role of game master and build their own adventures using the same world-building and settlement building tools as we have, in addition to OPC scripting for scripting the NPCs.
Only the "GM" will need to purchase the Adventure Toolkit. Anyone who has the prologue downloaded will be able to connect to anyone's game, if they have the information to do so.
We will continue to release content for the Adventure Toolkit, and perhaps our own modules, as purchasable DLC so people can do more with their adventures and campaigns.
Exposition
Exposition points come along with store packages and amounts of EP can also be purchased in the store separately. This will be the currency used to set up your domain/settlements as you see fit. Detailed information can be found here.
Numerous kits and al a carte items will be available in the future. Al a carte items have been confirmed as of this post and will be available as of Nov 1st. How one spends their EP points will ensure that no two settlements, counties, duchies, or kingdoms. will be exactly alike and will accommodate what focus the original leaders of those domains wish to have regarding types of professions and aspects of infrastructure among other things. This is merely the groundwork of a player made world.
Beta 2
Beta 2 is available to those with Pioneer packages and above which is an adventurer pledge level and comes with a number of other features. The stand-alone purchase of beta 1 is currently listed at 40usd and will be available around Nov. 1st.
More testing and refining of the game for full release.
Stress Test (Any paid account)
Even if you have only paid 40 USD for an Elyrian account, you can get in on this one. Likely mock battles of large-scale, amounts of items created in an area, among other things to gauge how much the server capacity can handle to ensure that resources are being ported and piped correctly.
Launch
Full release after a necessary and comprehensive development cycle. I personally cannot wait for this day to come and I'm definitely not alone in this.
Hope you enjoyed this post, and if you have any questions feel free to send me a message or post in the comments below.
