User:An Adventurer/Early Story and Game Development: Difference between revisions

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As lead designer, [[Toby Ragaini]] and a team of designers created the backstory (characters, monsters, history, and timeline of Dereth) for the game as early as the summer of 1995.<ref>[http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ How Turbine Entertainment was Founded] Page 4:''"We had hired a game designer, Toby Ragaini, who built the backstory for the game."''</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_01.htm Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call] Page 1: ''"As the project grew in scope, my role changed to become that of lead designer. Soon realizing the amount of work required to design a game with the scope of Asheron's Call, I put together a team of designers that envisioned and documented the characters, monsters, history, and timeline of a fantasy world called Dereth."''</ref>
== Overall Development ==


Various sources have put the total development time for Asheron's Call at 40 months (plus 8 months of beta),<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_04.htm Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call] Page 4: ''"Project length: 40 months plus 8 months of beta"''</ref> 4 years,<ref>1999/11 [[Microsoft Zone Archive]]: [[Microsoft Zone Archive/News & Events|News & Events]] - [[Microsoft Zone Archive/News & Events/Welcome from the Design Team|Welcome from the Design Team]]</ref> and over 4 years.<ref>1999/11 [[Asheron's Call Beta]] - [[Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta#Letter to the Players|Letter to the Players]]</ref>


The beta test concluded at the end of October 1999. With an 8 month duration that would have put the start of beta testing at March 1999. Presumably, earlier testing was conducted by Turbine and/or Microsoft staff. In an article dating from September of 1998, developer Christ Foster wrote of play testers.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/19981201042053/http://www.next-generation.com/jsmid/news/4364.html</ref>
The Beta was divided into multiple phases. There are multiple references to Beta 0 and Beta 2.{{Specific Citation Needed}} There is also an unconfirmed reference to Beta 3. Presumably, there was a Beta 1.
Beta 0 was private/confidential.<ref>[[Asheron's Call Beta]] -  [[Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta#Introduction Letter|Beta 0 Introduction Letter]]</ref> This phase of beta was available to Microsoft Core Group, which was a group of external testers ran by Microsoft to beta test many of their games.<ref>''Anecdotal evidence from https://www.reddit.com/r/AsheronsCall/comments/de516b/seeking_information_on_asherons_call_beta/''</ref> If our estimates above are correct, this phase started in March of 1999. However, the files on the [https://archive.org/details/AsheronsCallBeta0 Asheron's Call Beta 0 disk image] have dates in the mid April 1999 range. A player was once quoted as having started in April 1999 in Beta 0.<ref>2003 [https://web.stanford.edu/group/htgg/sts145papers/vzhulin_2003_1.pdf Asheron’s Call: Redefining The Role Of Player Killing <nowiki>[</nowiki>PDF<nowiki>]</nowiki>]: ''"I started playing AC 4 years ago, in April '99 in Beta 0"''</ref>
According to the Turbine beta site archive, open beta was planned to start in May 1999<ref>[[Zogblaster Archive]] - [[Zogblaster Archive/FAQ|FAQ]]</ref> During this phase, there was a character wipe on June 2nd, 1999.
Beta 2 was from August 3rd 1999 to October 25th 1999. Starting on on October 18th, it was open to all, with an installer freely available for download.
During beta the game placed in a code freeze, with only major bugs being fixed.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_03.htm Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call] Page 3: ''"Unfortunately, we were placed in a code freeze situation during the beta test, and only the most serious bugs were fixed. "''</ref>
More details on the early days of Turbine and development of Asheron's Call may be found at:
:http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ (Flash required)
Additional infomation may be found at:
:https://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_01.htm
:https://web.archive.org/web/20001202133800/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_02.htm
:https://web.archive.org/web/20001214045500/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_03.htm
:https://web.archive.org/web/20001202141400/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_04.htm
:https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/257659/Classic_Postmortem_Asherons_Call.php (same article, functional location)
== Beta Worlds ==
Information on Beta worlds is spotty at best. Turbine/Microsoft rarely (if ever) mentioned beta worlds by their color name in official statements.
It seems there were the following beta servers:
* Beta World Black
* Beta World Blue
* Beta World Green
* Beta World Purple
* Beta World Red
=== Black ===
An old IGN board post from 2008 titled [https://www.ignboards.com/threads/a-brief-history-of-darktide.250174911/ A Brief History of Darktide] mentions the following:
:''In the middle months of 99, when Beta 2 was wrapping up, Turbine opened up Beta World Black. I was pretty into the idea of a full on PVP world, since I was one of the few full time PKs in the regular beta (myself and Mortanius were the first guys to discover the Hidden Talisman dungeon or whatever where the PK alter is located), so I hit up Kewtsquirrel on ICQ and gave him a beta account and said "hey, this game is pretty rad and for the last wave of the beta they gave us all invites and the PK world is open, come have fun with me".''
Another user replied:
:''Beta World Black = Frostfell. Darktide was Beta World Purple.''
Another user replied:
:''Black was the PVP world. There was Red and Green first, then Black. I dont even know what Purple is, I dont remember any Purple world.''
Another user replied:
:''No, I'm certain PVP was neither black nor red. &hellip; I think it was purple, not 100%, but I know that it wasn't red nor black.''
Another user replied:
:''It was black.''
Another user replied:
:''PvP beta server was BLACK not purple.''
Another user replied:
:''Purple was Harvestgain.''
In a reddit post from 2019 titled [https://www.reddit.com/r/AsheronsCall/comments/de516b/seeking_information_on_asherons_call_beta/ Seeking information on Asheron's Call Beta], one person [https://www.reddit.com/r/AsheronsCall/comments/de516b/seeking_information_on_asherons_call_beta/f2um5q7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 replied]:
:''Also of note, re: the servers -- even during Beta 2 there was just the one server until right near the end. If not when it finally went open beta prior to the release, then very close to.''
:''When these servers came into be with the colours, there was also Beta World Black, which was the full PK server which of course ultimately became Darktide. Beta World Red I believe became Morningthaw, but I'm unsure on the others.''
=== Blue ===
The [[Servers]] article mentions this world. [[User:Arkalor]]'s revision from [https://asheron.fandom.com/wiki/Servers?oldid=291914 18:07, August 18, 2013‎] states:
:''Beta World Blue was the Beta 3 server and was open to the public. It was online from 10/18/99 to 10/24/99 and was using the new September game build.''
=== Green ===
The [[Servers]] article mentions this world. [[User:Arkalor]]'s revision from [https://asheron.fandom.com/wiki/Servers?oldid=291914 18:07, August 18, 2013‎] states:
:''Beta World Green was the Beta 2 server. It was online from 08/03/99 to ?? and was announced as having "many new features" over the previous red world.''
=== Purple ===
An old IGN board post from 2008 titled [https://www.ignboards.com/threads/a-brief-history-of-darktide.250174911/ A Brief History of Darktide] had multiple replies mentioning Purple.
A user replied:
:''Beta World Black = Frostfell. Darktide was Beta World Purple.''
Another user replied:
:''Black was the PVP world. There was Red and Green first, then Black. I dont even know what Purple is, I dont remember any Purple world.''
Another user replied:
:''No, I'm certain PVP was neither black nor red. &hellip; I think it was purple, not 100%, but I know that it wasn't red nor black.''
Another user replied:
:''It was black.''
Another user replied:
:''PvP beta server was BLACK not purple.''
Another user replied:
:''Purple was Harvestgain.''
User Mythrandia on [https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.385125-Thoughts-looking-back-on-Asherons-Call The Escapist Forums] wrote:
:''She was created for beta world purple.''
User Mythrandia on [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/119853/ac-intricacies-of-the-lore Penny Arcade Forums] wrote:
:''&hellip;in honor of my patron from beta world purple.''
=== Red ===
The [[Servers]] article mentions this world. [[User:Jedismj]]'s revision from [https://asheron.fandom.com/wiki/Servers?oldid=33868 11:26, August 8, 2008‎] states:
:''Beta World Red was the first of the Beta servers on the Internet Gaming Zone for Asheron's Call.''
[[User:Jedismj]]'s profile states:
:''Been playing Asheron's Call since early to mid 1999 (beta). Played on Beta World Red and Leafcul for the most part and around 9 months on Darktide. In Beta World Red, I was one of the few who solved the Fire in the Sky prophacy.''
[[User:Arkalor]]'s revision from [https://asheron.fandom.com/wiki/Servers?oldid=291914 18:07, August 18, 2013‎] states:
:''Beta World Red was the Beta 0/1 server - the first world to be be brought online for the Asheron's Call Beta.''
=== Zone Lobby Links ===
The following notes were shared by Ripley on Discord, and were said to be old notes that were passed around back in the day:
* Leafcul: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wr</nowiki>
* morning thaw: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w1</nowiki>
* harvestgrain: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w2</nowiki>
* thistledown:  <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w3</nowiki>
* frostfell: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wp</nowiki>
* darktide: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wg</nowiki>
The following links were found on an archive of an old fan website, [https://web.archive.org/web/20010306122823/http://abands.com/Asherons_Call/index.html http://abands.com/Asherons_Call/index.html]:
* Darktide: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wg</nowiki>
* Frostfell: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wp</nowiki>
* Leafcull: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wr</nowiki>
* Harvestgain: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w2</nowiki>
* Morningthaw: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w1</nowiki>
* Thistledown: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w3</nowiki>
* Solclaim: <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w7</nowiki>
== 1994 - 1996 ==
Turbine was founded in 1994. Founder Jon Monsarrat became the first employee in January 1995.<ref>http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/  The Turbine Story: Pages 1, 2, 3</ref> By the summer of 1995, they had completed enough development to be able to give real demos of Asheron's Call.<ref>http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/  The Turbine Story: Page 4: ''"In summer 1995 ... we built enough of a product to be able to give real demos."''</ref> By this point, Toby Ragaini had been hired as a game designer, and he built the backstory for the game.<ref>http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/  The Turbine Story: Page 4: ''"We had hired a game designer, Toby Ragaini, who built the back-story for the game."''</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_01.htm Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call] Page 1: ''"As the project grew in scope, my role changed to become that of lead designer. Soon realizing the amount of work required to design a game with the scope of Asheron's Call, I put together a team of designers that envisioned and documented the characters, monsters, history, and timeline of a fantasy world called Dereth."''</ref>
== 1997 ==
=== Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 1997 ===
''"Microsoft also announced at the show it will charge daily fees for two multiplayer fighting games on the otherwise-free Internet Gaming Zone. "Somebody's got to pay for all this," said Marty Taucher, a marketing manager in Microsoft's Interactive Media Division, gesturing toward the company's spacious booth on the show floor.''
''The Internet Gaming Zone has a three- tier strategy. Customers can play certain board games such as backgammon against each other for free. Or they can buy a Microsoft game, such as Microsoft Golf, and play against other Golf users for free. Or they can pay a daily fee for playing multiplayer Internet fighting games.''
''Taucher said Microsoft is likely to charge roughly $1 to $3 per day to play Fighter Ace and Asheron's Call, two "premium" online fighting games to be released this fall.''"<ref>1997/06 SFGate - [Now You Got To Pay to Play Online / Gamemakers trying three-tier pricing structure http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Now-You-Got-To-Pay-to-Play-Online-Gamemakers-2821497.php]</ref>


----
----
stormwaltz quotes:


<ref>2000/02 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/102 Credit]: ''"We all work using backstory developed years and years ago, mainly by Toby."''</ref>
''"Microsoft Corp. today announced that it is on a roll with its popular Internet Gaming Zone ( http://www.zone.com/ ). Topping the news about the Zone, Microsoft plans to expand the site by introducing its first two premium games, Microsoft® Fighter Ace and Asheron’s Call. Both multiplayer games will be previewed at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E 3 ) trade show June 19-21 in Atlanta (Booth 2616 in the West Hall, Georgia Congress Center)."''<ref name=MS97E3Release>1997/06 Microsoft News - [https://news.microsoft.com/1997/06/16/microsoft-unveils-first-premium-games-for-its-internet-gaming-zone/ Microsoft Unveils First Premium Games For Its Internet Gaming Zone]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"The second premium game, Asheron’s Call, is an epic role-playing game that will support thousands of players simultaneously. The fabric of this fantasy game, including advanced combat, health, magic and allegiance systems, allows players to develop characters and interact in a variety of ways that provide infinite depth and capability for replay. The rich first-person perspective immerses the player immediately in the dynamic gaming universe. Asheron’s Call, scheduled for release during the first quarter of 1998, is being developed by Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. of Westwood, Mass. Both Fighter Ace and Asheron’s Call will be free for download (connect-time charges may apply) and carry nominal daily or monthly usage fees."''<ref name=MS97E3Release />
 
=== July/August 1997 Issue of FamilyPC ===
''"In an effort to bring online games to the masses, Microsoft is launching Empyrean (code name) this winter at its Internet Gaming Zone. This fantasy, real-time, role-playing game takes place in a 32- by 32-mile virtual world and supports 3000 players simultaneously. If you're nervous about taking the plunge with the hard-core gamers, don't be -- newbies are considered assets, so they aren't killed off right away. Note, however, that while most of the games in the Internet Gaming Zone are free, Empyrean will charge a fee. But it will likely be worth every penny."''<ref>1997/07 July/August 1997 Issue of FamilyPC - [https://web.archive.org/web/19991022230104/http://www.zdnet.com/familypc/content/9706/e3/03online.html Web Archive]</ref>
 
== 1998 ==
=== Gamepen Interview with Toby Ragaini and Jon Grande ===
''"We have a lot of backstory that we are going to incorporate into the game world. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, since part of the excitement will be from players discovering this secret past themselves. I will say that the player’s characters are being brought to an island that was formerly inhabited by a mysterious race of people that the humans now call the Empyrean. The Empyrean were very advanced in magical and arcane lore, however, they seem to have all disappeared. Where did they go and why? No one has answered that question, although most suspect that the magical portals which dot the landscape are somehow involved."''<ref name=Gamepen>1998/05 Gamepen, Desslock's RPG Guide - [https://web.archive.org/web/19980613174748/http://www.gamepen.com/desslock/asheronscall/interview.html Asheron's Call Interview with Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer, and Jon Grande, Product Planner (Web Archive)]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"We are dedicated to making player characters the main focus of the game plot rather than predefined AI roles or scripted characters. To this end, the storyline going forward is less defined than the back story so that we can incorporate players into the ongoing plot. Plans that we have include monster invasions, catastrophic events that add new areas to explore, and other changes that alter the content of the game world."''<ref name=Gamepen />
<br /><br />
''"One interesting aspect of the game is that NPC monsters won’t all be identical. They will have skills, attributes and specialties just like players. This means that the King of the Olthoi will likely be more powerful than the average Olthoi warrior."''<ref name=Gamepen />
<br /><br />
''"Right now there are 14 major types of monsters. Each of these will have many variations that will increase the total types of monsters to over 50. For example, the tumerok is an evil raiding humanoid monster. In Asheron's Call, you will find tumerok warriors, tumerok scouts, tumerok chieftains, etc. each with unique abilities of their own."''<ref name=Gamepen />
<br /><br />
''"We're trying to effectively do two things: 1) continue the trend that Ultima started of boosting the production values of on-line games to rival that of retail games and 2) focus the design of game-play on the interaction between players. Playing with and against other real people is always more challenging and interesting than playing against AI controlled opponents. That's something that we've all learned from playing games like SubSpace and Ultima On-line. We're really trying to build role playing universe that rivals the depth of the AD&D games that we all used to play in college. That's an incredible elusive goal, but one that we continue to chase."''<ref name=Gamepen />
<br /><br />
''"We're planning on starting our beta in the summer and shooting for commercial release this fall. We are counting on getting a great deal of user feedback in our beta and have scheduled ample time to respond to the feedback that we receive."''<ref name=Gamepen />
 
===  Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 1998 ===
'''''"Asheron's Call:  An Epic Online Adventure'''''
<br />
''Asheron's Call(TM) online multiplayer game, which is scheduled to arrive on the Zone in early 1999, draws together thousands of players within a dynamic, 3-D online world. Players can create truly unique characters, with varied combinations of visual appearance, attributes and skill sets. The setting for the game is a 24-by-24-mile island with all types of terrain, including mountain glaciers, desert wastelands, swamps and subterranean dungeons. The game immerses players in an intense fantasy role-playing environment where they must choose to compete against or cooperate with thousands of other real players. An extensive system of allegiance and influence greatly enhances social interaction. The story line in Asheron's Call evolves dynamically over time based on the decisions and actions of the Asheron's Call community. The game is being developed by Turbine Entertainment Software.''"<ref>1998/05 Microsoft News - [https://news.microsoft.com/1998/05/27/microsoft-announces-launch-date-for-ultracorps-its-second-premium-title-for-the-internet-gaming-zone/ Microsoft Announces Launch Date for UltraCorps, Its Second Premium Title For The Internet Gaming Zone]</ref>
 
== 1999 ==
=== Microsoft GameStock 99 ===
'''''"Evolving Story Line''' Asheron's Call provides an engaging back-story equivalent to 4,000 years of game history for players to discover. On-line game administrators will be actively working to advance the overall story line based on the decisions and actions of the Asheron's Call community."''<ref>1999/?? Microsoft's 3rd Annual GameStock - [https://web.archive.org/web/20000817091703/http://www.microsoft.com/games/gamestock99/asheronscall.htm GameStock 99: Asheron's Call (Web Archive)]</ref>
 
=== Microsoft Gaming Zone Interview with Toby Ragaini ===
''"Asheron's Call takes place in a mysterious world called Dereth. People began magically appearing on Dereth about 50 years ago but were quickly enslaved by the vicious, insect-like creatures called Olthoi. Thanks to the heroism of Elysa Strathelar, the humans rose up in righteous fury, and were able to overthrow the Olthoi.''
 
''The game takes place about 10 years after this victory. It is a dangerous and exciting time. Olthoi and other monsters still lurk in their dark domains. Humans have carved out a few small towns, and brave individuals have found the artifacts of a mystical race of people called the Empyrean, who once inhabited Dereth. Is there a connection between the Empyrean and the magical portals that dot the landscape? Many mysteries like these have yet to be solved."''<ref name=ZoneInterviewTobyRagaini>1999/?? Microsoft Gaming Zone - [[Microsoft Zone Archive/Toby Ragaini Interview|Toby Ragaini Interview]]</ref>
 
== Later Dev Quotes ==
''"We all work using backstory developed years and years ago, mainly by Toby."''<ref name=SQCredit>2000/02 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [[Stormwaltz Quotes/Credit|Credit]]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"When writing 'The Reign of Alfrega' in beta, I worked out the reigns of a number of Aluvian rulers."''<ref name=SQOnAluvianRulers>2002/03 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [[Stormwaltz Quotes/On Aluvian Rulers|On Aluvian Rulers]]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"At ship, we had a few pieces of lore and a handful of overview docs - not much beyond that. The Empyrean development of portalspace, for example, amounted to three line-items: Asheron uses portal magic to trap BZ, Asheron creates a stable portal, Asheron brings in the bugs."''<ref name=SQOnHarluneAndStoryline>2002/03 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [[Stormwaltz Quotes/On Harlune and the Storyline|On Harlune and the Storyline]]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"the original vision has it that he was surprised and overwhelmed, unable to close the exploratory portal to the Olthoi world before thousands had already come through. Kellin II, his usurpation of the throne, and his desire to use the Olthoi as weapons are entirely my reworking. I wonder what Toby thinks of it all..."''<ref name=SQOnHarluneAndStoryline />
<br /><br />
''"There's about 40,000 years worth of historical outline in our database. It is, however, only an outline. While all the major players, major events, and chains of cause and effect are covered, the details are left for us to fill in as we go."''<ref name=SQOnHistoricalOutline>2000/05 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [[Stormwaltz Quotes/On Historical Outline|On Historical Outline]]</ref>
<br /><br />
''"the fates of Atlan and Maila were determined long ago by Toby's fiction. In fact, their doom was wrought back when AC was called Empyrean. The fact that Atlan's squire survived was also established. However, the details of Atlan's last march, the name of the squire, and Maila's twilight reminiscences I made up on the spot."''<ref name=SQOnHistoricalOutline />
<br /><br />
''"The person I *think* had the most infleunce was Toby Ragaini. Toby created Asheron and Bael'Zharon (originally named Aiden and Yservius Pentecost), the Empyrean, and lots of other things we take for granted today."''<ref>2002/01 [[Developer Q&A]] - [[Developer Q&A#Asherons Call story line is great! But where did it come from?|Asherons Call story line is great! But where did it come from?]]</ref>
 
== Pre-Beta and Beta Screenshots ==
The following section lays out various iterations of the Asheron's Call user interface. The order is presumptive based on design elements, with the lowest numbered iteration being least like the retail UI and the highest numbered iteration being the most like the retail UI.
 
Sources for the screenshots include:
* [[Zogblaster Archive/Screenshots]]
* [[Zogblaster Archive/Screenshots/Screenshots Archive]]
* [[Microsoft Games Archive/Visuals/Screenshots]]
* [[Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta#Call to Arms Recap - Screenshots]]
* [[Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta#Campaign Against Wardiel]]
 
=== UI Iteration 1 ===
These screenshots are presumably the earliest ones to exist, since they feature a UI that least resembles the UI that existed at release.
 
In terms of UI, the only elements from this era that survived to release are some of the iconography. In the world view window (the 3D rendered space) some dungeon models and textures, the Olthoi model and texture, and player character models and textures from this time made it to release as well.
 
These images feature the following character names in the chat window: Cyril, Ian, Joe, Mike, Sean, and Zach. These would presumably be the following Turbine developers: Cyril Van der Haegen, Ian Wilmoth, Joe Angell, Michael Ferrier or Michael Sheidow, Sean Huxter, and Zach Shukan. If the dates on [[Turbine Developers]] are accurate, that would put these screenshots in the 1997 to 1999 range.
 
<gallery caption="Early Development Screenshots">
File:Alpha - Player Screen.jpg
File:Alpha - Player Screen 2.jpg
File:Alpha - Player Screen 3.gif
File:06001AA0.png
</gallery>
 
=== UI Iteration 2 ===
These next screenshots are presumably later than the previous group, but older than the following groups, based on the appearance of the UI.
 
The UI much more closely resembles the release UI, but there are some differences. The following is a breakdown of how this UI differs from retail:
 
'''Character Creation'''
* On the Appearance page, there is no 'interior of building' background behind the preview of the character.
* On the Appearance page, there is no descriptive text at the top.
* On the Appearance page, there are facial feature textures that were not present in retail.
* On the Attributes page, the points pool to spend on attributes is labeled ''available credits'' rather than ''attribute credits''.
* On the Attributes page, secondary attributes are listed as ''health points'' and ''mana points'' rather than ''health'', ''stamina'', and mana''.
* On the Attributes page, there is no secondary attribute listing for stamina. Instead, magic resistance is listed.
* On the Appearance and Attributes pages, the rotate left, rotate right, zoom in, and zoom out buttons are in a different location.
 
'''Top bar'''
* The vital bars have no heart (health), sword (stamina), and snake (mana) icons.
* The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
* All status icons (e.g. vitae) are present at all times, though they seem to be greyed out if not active. There are 9 status icons.
 
'''Inventory'''
* The inventory backpack icon differs from retail. The icon is a closed tan backback with a green bedroll attached. When the inventory is open, the icon glows.
* Scroll bar in inventory differs from retail.
* Paper Doll shows wielded weapons.
* Items do not fill the next available inventory slot, instead, items can be placed anywhere in the inventory.
* Various item icons differ from retail, e.g. food items do not have an icon background.
* Various inventory UI elements differ from retail.
 
'''Main panels'''
* Of the 5 main panels, all icons are the same except for the map. It is a quill and line, rather than a compass rose. It is possible it was not the map panel at this time, and was perhaps a journal, or some other feature.
* In the Skills tab of the Attributes and Skills panel, a skill called ''Linguistics'' is present.
 
'''Chat'''
* Scroll bar in chat differs from retail.
* Background of the chat window has a burlap/canvas texture.
 
'''3D Game World'''
* No 3D accelerated graphics.
* Portals use the older non-transparent graphics.
 
These images feature the following character names: Anderian, Angathnar, Beldane, Elinara, Giorlo, Glorian, Hiro Protagonist, Kira Slovak, Laridas, Marlee, Mustafa, Petra, Qalifa, Reiley, Saud Valient, Torstrim, Ulaysha, Uthweald, and Walsh.
 
Some of these images feature the Aluvian settlement located at what would later be Tou-Tou. In the captions, this town is called Cragstone. The chat in one screenshot mentions an unknown location called Rothdael. Another screenshot mentions the unreleased playable heritage group called Rennaj.
 
<gallery caption="From Turbine's beta site Screenshots Archive">
screen1.jpg|"''Character Generation -- Appearance Selection''"
screen2.jpg|"''Character Generation -- Attribute Assignment''"
screen3.jpg|"''A street in the town of Cragstone''"
screen4.jpg|"''Portal to the Direlands''"
screen5.jpg|"''I smell a thief!''"
screen6.jpg|"''Looking for fellowship''"
screen7.jpg|"''Scene from a pasture''"
screen8.jpg|"''"En Garde!"''"
screen9.jpg|"''At the summit''"
Snap064.jpg|"''Dead before dinner (or maybe for dinner?)''"
Castleking.jpg|"''Ragnar of the dungeon''"
</gallery>
 
<gallery caption="Other screenshots from this era">
06001AA2.png|Image from original Credits
</gallery>
 
=== UI Iteration 3 ===
The UI incrementally looks more like retail. The following is a breakdown of how this UI differs from retail:
 
'''Top bar'''
* The vital bars have no heart (health), sword (stamina), and snake (mana) icons.
* The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
* All status icons (e.g. vitae) are present at all times, though they seem to be greyed out if not active. There are 9 status icons.
 
'''Inventory'''
* The inventory backpack icon differs from retail. The icon is a closed tan backpack with a green bedroll attached. When the inventory is open, the icon glows.
* Scroll bar in inventory is the same style as retail, but the buttons are green.
* Various item icons differ from retail, e.g. weapon items have a diffent color background.
* Various inventory UI elements differ from retail.
 
'''Main panels'''
* Of the 5 main panels, all icons are the same except for the map. It is a quill and line, rather than a compass rose. It is possible it was not the map panel at this time, and was perhaps a journal, or some other feature.
 
'''Chat'''
* Scroll bar in chat is the same style as retail, but the buttons are green.
 
'''3D Game World'''
* No 3D accelerated graphics.


<ref>2002/03 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/298 On Aluvian Rulers]: ''"When writing 'The Reign of Alfrega' in beta, I worked out the reigns of a number of Aluvian rulers."''</ref>
<gallery caption="From Turbine's beta site Screenshots Archive">
Cave.jpg|"''Cave Dungeon''"
Deaddrudge.jpg|"''After a run-in with a drudge clan''"
Drudges.jpg|"''Battle with drudge clan''"
Drudgeup.jpg|"''Battle viewed from above''"
Town1.jpg|"''"En Garde!"''"
Tusker.jpg|"''Beware the desert''"
Tusker2.jpg|"''a Tusker wants a little lovin’ -- be sure to ready a weapon''"
</gallery>


<ref>2002/03 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/301 On Harlune and the Storyline]: ''"At ship, we had a few pieces of lore and a handful of overview docs - not much beyond that. The Empyrean development of portalspace, for example, amounted to three line-items: Asheron uses portal magic to trap BZ, Asheron creates a stable portal, Asheron brings in the bugs."''</ref>
=== UI Iteration 4 ===
Features of this era of UI include:
* Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, but colored green.
* The vital bars have no heart, sword, and snake icons.
* The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Stamina, Mana.


<ref>2002/03 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/301 On Harlune and the Storyline]: ''"the original vision has it that he was surprised and overwhelmed, unable to close the exploratory portal to the Olthoi world before thousands had already come through. Kellin II, his usurpation of the throne, and his desire to use the Olthoi as weapons are entirely my reworking. I wonder what Toby thinks of it all..."''</ref>
<gallery caption="From Turbine's beta site Screenshots Archive">
Golem1.jpg|"''The Stone Golem is thick skinned''"
Landscape1.jpg|"''Running across the wild green yonder''"
Shovillage1-800x600.jpg|"''Banderlings: 1; Humans: 1''"
Tavern1-800x600.jpg|"''Meet people at the tavern''"
Castle1-800x600.jpg|"''A perfect place to pick off casual castle-goers''"
Undead1.jpg|"''The Undead fight better than the dead''"
Dungeon1.jpg|"''A prayer''"
</gallery>


<ref>2000/05 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/110 On Historical Outline]: ''"There's about 40,000 years worth of historical outline in our database. It is, however, only an outline. While all the major players, major events, and chains of cause and effect are covered, the details are left for us to fill in as we go."''</ref>
=== UI Iteration 5 ===
One of the screenshots from this era includes the build information:
{{event|00.00.07.1320.r Portal:compiled Thu Feb 04 12:38:18 1999 : Release}}


<ref>2000/05 [[Stormwaltz Quotes]] - [http://ac.warcry.com/db/text/110 On Historical Outline]: ''"the fates of Atlan and Maila were determined long ago by Toby's fiction. In fact, their doom was wrought back when AC was called Empyrean. The fact that Atlan's squire survived was also established. However, the details of Atlan's last march, the name of the squire, and Maila's twilight reminiscences I made up on the spot."''</ref>
Features of this era of UI include:
* Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, with the reddish-brown used at release.
* The vital bars have icons, health's icon is an anatomically correct heart.
* The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
* Portals use the older non-transparent graphics.
* Spells are cast from the hotkey bar, rather than the spellcasting UI.


----
<gallery caption="From Turbine's beta site Screenshots Archive">
Castle-armordillo.jpg|"''A Reedshark Pup thinks he can hold the fort''"
</gallery>
 
<gallery caption="From Turbine's beta site New Screenshots">
Snap0012.jpg|"''The Castle, Besieged''"
Snap0090.jpg|"''Shallowssharks! To Battle!''"
Snap0101.jpg|"''Gathering On the Savanna''"
Snap0116.jpg|"''Acid Blasts Blister the Enemy''"
Snap0119.jpg|"''A Tumerok in Trouble''"
Snap0172.jpg|"''Olthoi, Death and More Death (Oh My!)''"
Snap0173.jpg|"''Can You Spell Olthoi?''"
Snap0193.jpg|"''The Moss Dungeon Awaits''"
Snap0214.jpg|"''Yaraq at Twilight''"
Snap0230.jpg|"''A Fine Night for Adventure''"
</gallery>
 
<gallery caption="From Microsoft Games Asheron's Call Visuals">
New_1.jpg
New_2.jpg
New_3.jpg
Snap0012.jpg
Snap0090.jpg
Snap0116.jpg
Snap0119.jpg
Snap0173.jpg
Snap0230.jpg
</gallery>
 
=== UI Iteration 6 ===
One of the screenshots from this era includes the build information:
{{event|00.00.10.2142.d Portal:compiled Tue Sep 14 13:10:24 1999 : Debug}}


Features of this era of UI include:
* Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, with the reddish-brown used at release.
* The vital bars have icons, health's icon is a heart.
* The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
* Spells are cast from the spellcasting UI.
* Melee and missile combat UI is similar to retail, but the High / Medium / Low buttons are green.


== Beta & Other Early Maps ==
<gallery caption="From Microsoft Games Asheron's Call Visuals">
<gallery widths=200px heights=200px perrow=4>
ss_b_1.jpg
File:Beta Dereth.jpg|Beta Map
ss_b_2.jpg
File:Zogblaster map aluvianrealm.gif|Early Aluvian Realm [[Zogblaster.com - Map of Aluvian Realm in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
ss_b_3.jpg
File:Zogblaster map gharukingdom.gif|Early Gharu'ndim Kingdom [[Zogblaster.com - Map of Gharu'ndim Kingdom in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
ss_b_4.jpg
File:Zogblaster map shonation.gif|Early Sho Nation [[Zogblaster.com - Map of Sho Nation in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
ss_b_5.jpg
File:Beta World Map.jpg|Early World Map
ss_b_6.jpg
File:Original Dereth.jpg|Dereth at Release
ss_b_7.jpg
ss_b_8.jpg
ss_b_9.jpg
ss_b_10.jpg
ss_b_11.jpg
ss_b_12.jpg
ss_b_13.jpg
ss_b_14.jpg
ss_b_15.jpg
ss_b_16.jpg
ss_b_17.jpg
ss_b_18.jpg
ss_b_19.jpg
ss_b_20.jpg
ss_b_21.jpg
ss_b_22.jpg
ss_b_23.jpg
ss_b_24.jpg
ss_b_25.jpg
ss_b_26.jpg
</gallery>
</gallery>


== References ==
== Pre-Beta and Beta Maps ==
From an  an internet [http://web.archive.org/web/19991022230104/http://www.zdnet.com/familypc/content/9706/e3/03online.html archive of http://www.zdnet.com/familypc/content/9706/e3/03online.html]:
=== Early Dereth Map ===
[[File:Beta Dereth.jpg|right|200px]]
This first map is perhaps the oldest known map of Dereth. Maggie the Jackcat's site calls it Beta Map of Dereth.<ref>http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/Travel/maps/BetaMap.htm</ref>


:<big>Empyrean</big>
As far as physical geography is concerned, this map features an Osteth that mostly matches the Osteth seen at release. However, some of the mountain ranges in the northwest quadrant of Osteth appear slightly different. The northern area of the Direlands also appears to match the terrain seen at release, but the mid Direlands, south Direlands, and southern landbridge are very different. Lastly, Asheron's Island is different, and much further east.
:In an effort to bring online games to the masses, Microsoft is launching Empyrean (code name) this winter at its Internet Gaming Zone. This fantasy, real-time, role-playing game takes place in a 32- by 32-mile virtual world and supports 3000 players simultaneously. If you're nervous about taking the plunge with the hard-core gamers, don't be -- newbies are considered assets, so they aren't killed off right away. Note, however, that while most of the games in the Internet Gaming Zone are free, Empyrean will charge a fee. But it will likely be worth every penny.


The Reign of Alfrega:
The map also labels geographic areas and Isparian areas.
:"Queen Alfrega, a slim, flame-haired figure dressed in winterblue silks from the Garondish lands, stood grappling with an assailant."


The Glorious Reign of Empress Kou-an
The geographic areas are:
:"The Gharu’ndim, sometimes called the Garondish by outsiders,"
* Dereth Island (the whole map)
* Lake Cragstone (Lake Blessed)
* River Prosper
* Naquet Desert (A'mun Desert)
* Land of the Tumeroks (Direlands)
 
The Isparian areas are:
* High Kingdom of Aluvia
* Gharu'n
* Sho Empire
* Viamont
 
=== Pre-Beta / Early Beta Map ===
[[File:Landscape1.jpg|right|200px]]
 
This next map is from an early promotional screenshot. This screenshot includes the map panel being viewed. Rather than the map panel seen at release, this map is down in more of a sketch style. There are also no point of interest markers on it.
 
This map does feature a marker for each town. On the map are:
* '''Aluvian''': Arwic, Cragstone, Dryreach, Eastham, Glenden Wood, Holtburg Lytelthorpe, Rithwic.
* '''Gharun'dim''': Baishi, Hebian-To, Lin, Mayoi, Nanto, Sawato, Shoushi, Yanshi.
* '''Sho''': Al-Arqas, Al-Jalima, Khayyaban, Qalaba'r, Samsur, Tufa, Uziz, Yaraq, Zaikhal.
* '''Misc''': Bandit Castle.
 
Additionally, there are markers around the following locations:
* Edge of Direlands north land bridge, Osteth side
* Edge of Direlands southland bridge, Osteth side
* North side of Lake Lithaenean
* Northern Osteth, very approximately at 75 to 80 north, 30 to 35 east.
 
Missing from the map are:
* Crater Lake Village, Fort Tethana, Kara, Neydisa Castle, Plateau Village, Stonehold, Wai Jhou
 
It is unclear if this map ever actually existed. The map panel places the character near Shoushi, and the compass has them facing northwest, but the terrain visible does not match that area. Also, according to the [[Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta#1999/9/17 Build Notes|1999/9/17 Build Notes]] from beta, that build added both the points of interest to the map and Lin, Tou-Tou, and other towns. This map contains those towns, but no points in interest.
 
=== Beta 0 Loading Screen Map ===
 
This map was featured on the connection / loading screen of Beta 0.
 
<gallery>
File:Beta World Map.jpg
</gallery>
 
=== Beta Site Maps ===
 
<gallery>
File:Zogblaster map aluvianrealm.gif|Early Aluvian Realm [[Zogblaster Archive/Heritage Groups/Aluvian/Aluvian Realm in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
File:Zogblaster map gharukingdom.gif|Early Gharu'ndim Kingdom [[Zogblaster Archive/Heritage Groups/Gharu'ndim/Gharu'ndim Kingdom in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
File:Zogblaster map shonation.gif|Early Sho Nation [[Zogblaster Archive/Heritage Groups/Sho/Sho Nation in Dereth|from Zogblaster.com]]
</gallery>


== References ==
== References ==
<references/>
<references/>

Latest revision as of 07:27, 30 July 2021

Overall Development

Various sources have put the total development time for Asheron's Call at 40 months (plus 8 months of beta),[1] 4 years,[2] and over 4 years.[3]

The beta test concluded at the end of October 1999. With an 8 month duration that would have put the start of beta testing at March 1999. Presumably, earlier testing was conducted by Turbine and/or Microsoft staff. In an article dating from September of 1998, developer Christ Foster wrote of play testers.[4]

The Beta was divided into multiple phases. There are multiple references to Beta 0 and Beta 2.[Citation Needed] There is also an unconfirmed reference to Beta 3. Presumably, there was a Beta 1.

Beta 0 was private/confidential.[5] This phase of beta was available to Microsoft Core Group, which was a group of external testers ran by Microsoft to beta test many of their games.[6] If our estimates above are correct, this phase started in March of 1999. However, the files on the Asheron's Call Beta 0 disk image have dates in the mid April 1999 range. A player was once quoted as having started in April 1999 in Beta 0.[7]

According to the Turbine beta site archive, open beta was planned to start in May 1999[8] During this phase, there was a character wipe on June 2nd, 1999.

Beta 2 was from August 3rd 1999 to October 25th 1999. Starting on on October 18th, it was open to all, with an installer freely available for download.

During beta the game placed in a code freeze, with only major bugs being fixed.[9]

More details on the early days of Turbine and development of Asheron's Call may be found at:

http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ (Flash required)

Additional infomation may be found at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20001202123100/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_01.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20001202133800/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_02.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20001214045500/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_03.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20001202141400/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000525/ragaini_04.htm
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/257659/Classic_Postmortem_Asherons_Call.php (same article, functional location)

Beta Worlds

Information on Beta worlds is spotty at best. Turbine/Microsoft rarely (if ever) mentioned beta worlds by their color name in official statements.

It seems there were the following beta servers:

  • Beta World Black
  • Beta World Blue
  • Beta World Green
  • Beta World Purple
  • Beta World Red

Black

An old IGN board post from 2008 titled A Brief History of Darktide mentions the following:

In the middle months of 99, when Beta 2 was wrapping up, Turbine opened up Beta World Black. I was pretty into the idea of a full on PVP world, since I was one of the few full time PKs in the regular beta (myself and Mortanius were the first guys to discover the Hidden Talisman dungeon or whatever where the PK alter is located), so I hit up Kewtsquirrel on ICQ and gave him a beta account and said "hey, this game is pretty rad and for the last wave of the beta they gave us all invites and the PK world is open, come have fun with me".

Another user replied:

Beta World Black = Frostfell. Darktide was Beta World Purple.

Another user replied:

Black was the PVP world. There was Red and Green first, then Black. I dont even know what Purple is, I dont remember any Purple world.

Another user replied:

No, I'm certain PVP was neither black nor red. … I think it was purple, not 100%, but I know that it wasn't red nor black.

Another user replied:

It was black.

Another user replied:

PvP beta server was BLACK not purple.

Another user replied:

Purple was Harvestgain.

In a reddit post from 2019 titled Seeking information on Asheron's Call Beta, one person replied:

Also of note, re: the servers -- even during Beta 2 there was just the one server until right near the end. If not when it finally went open beta prior to the release, then very close to.
When these servers came into be with the colours, there was also Beta World Black, which was the full PK server which of course ultimately became Darktide. Beta World Red I believe became Morningthaw, but I'm unsure on the others.

Blue

The Servers article mentions this world. User:Arkalor's revision from 18:07, August 18, 2013‎ states:

Beta World Blue was the Beta 3 server and was open to the public. It was online from 10/18/99 to 10/24/99 and was using the new September game build.

Green

The Servers article mentions this world. User:Arkalor's revision from 18:07, August 18, 2013‎ states:

Beta World Green was the Beta 2 server. It was online from 08/03/99 to ?? and was announced as having "many new features" over the previous red world.

Purple

An old IGN board post from 2008 titled A Brief History of Darktide had multiple replies mentioning Purple.

A user replied:

Beta World Black = Frostfell. Darktide was Beta World Purple.

Another user replied:

Black was the PVP world. There was Red and Green first, then Black. I dont even know what Purple is, I dont remember any Purple world.

Another user replied:

No, I'm certain PVP was neither black nor red. … I think it was purple, not 100%, but I know that it wasn't red nor black.

Another user replied:

It was black.

Another user replied:

PvP beta server was BLACK not purple.

Another user replied:

Purple was Harvestgain.

User Mythrandia on The Escapist Forums wrote:

She was created for beta world purple.

User Mythrandia on Penny Arcade Forums wrote:

…in honor of my patron from beta world purple.

Red

The Servers article mentions this world. User:Jedismj's revision from 11:26, August 8, 2008‎ states:

Beta World Red was the first of the Beta servers on the Internet Gaming Zone for Asheron's Call.

User:Jedismj's profile states:

Been playing Asheron's Call since early to mid 1999 (beta). Played on Beta World Red and Leafcul for the most part and around 9 months on Darktide. In Beta World Red, I was one of the few who solved the Fire in the Sky prophacy.

User:Arkalor's revision from 18:07, August 18, 2013‎ states:

Beta World Red was the Beta 0/1 server - the first world to be be brought online for the Asheron's Call Beta.

Zone Lobby Links

The following notes were shared by Ripley on Discord, and were said to be old notes that were passed around back in the day:

  • Leafcul: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wr
  • morning thaw: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w1
  • harvestgrain: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w2
  • thistledown: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w3
  • frostfell: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wp
  • darktide: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wg

The following links were found on an archive of an old fan website, http://abands.com/Asherons_Call/index.html:

  • Darktide: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wg
  • Frostfell: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wp
  • Leafcull: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=wr
  • Harvestgain: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w2
  • Morningthaw: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w1
  • Thistledown: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w3
  • Solclaim: http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/default2.asp?strLobbyType=w7

1994 - 1996

Turbine was founded in 1994. Founder Jon Monsarrat became the first employee in January 1995.[10] By the summer of 1995, they had completed enough development to be able to give real demos of Asheron's Call.[11] By this point, Toby Ragaini had been hired as a game designer, and he built the backstory for the game.[12][13]

1997

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 1997

"Microsoft also announced at the show it will charge daily fees for two multiplayer fighting games on the otherwise-free Internet Gaming Zone. "Somebody's got to pay for all this," said Marty Taucher, a marketing manager in Microsoft's Interactive Media Division, gesturing toward the company's spacious booth on the show floor.

The Internet Gaming Zone has a three- tier strategy. Customers can play certain board games such as backgammon against each other for free. Or they can buy a Microsoft game, such as Microsoft Golf, and play against other Golf users for free. Or they can pay a daily fee for playing multiplayer Internet fighting games.

Taucher said Microsoft is likely to charge roughly $1 to $3 per day to play Fighter Ace and Asheron's Call, two "premium" online fighting games to be released this fall."[14]


"Microsoft Corp. today announced that it is on a roll with its popular Internet Gaming Zone ( http://www.zone.com/ ). Topping the news about the Zone, Microsoft plans to expand the site by introducing its first two premium games, Microsoft® Fighter Ace and Asheron’s Call. Both multiplayer games will be previewed at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E 3 ) trade show June 19-21 in Atlanta (Booth 2616 in the West Hall, Georgia Congress Center)."[15]

"The second premium game, Asheron’s Call, is an epic role-playing game that will support thousands of players simultaneously. The fabric of this fantasy game, including advanced combat, health, magic and allegiance systems, allows players to develop characters and interact in a variety of ways that provide infinite depth and capability for replay. The rich first-person perspective immerses the player immediately in the dynamic gaming universe. Asheron’s Call, scheduled for release during the first quarter of 1998, is being developed by Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. of Westwood, Mass. Both Fighter Ace and Asheron’s Call will be free for download (connect-time charges may apply) and carry nominal daily or monthly usage fees."[15]

July/August 1997 Issue of FamilyPC

"In an effort to bring online games to the masses, Microsoft is launching Empyrean (code name) this winter at its Internet Gaming Zone. This fantasy, real-time, role-playing game takes place in a 32- by 32-mile virtual world and supports 3000 players simultaneously. If you're nervous about taking the plunge with the hard-core gamers, don't be -- newbies are considered assets, so they aren't killed off right away. Note, however, that while most of the games in the Internet Gaming Zone are free, Empyrean will charge a fee. But it will likely be worth every penny."[16]

1998

Gamepen Interview with Toby Ragaini and Jon Grande

"We have a lot of backstory that we are going to incorporate into the game world. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, since part of the excitement will be from players discovering this secret past themselves. I will say that the player’s characters are being brought to an island that was formerly inhabited by a mysterious race of people that the humans now call the Empyrean. The Empyrean were very advanced in magical and arcane lore, however, they seem to have all disappeared. Where did they go and why? No one has answered that question, although most suspect that the magical portals which dot the landscape are somehow involved."[17]

"We are dedicated to making player characters the main focus of the game plot rather than predefined AI roles or scripted characters. To this end, the storyline going forward is less defined than the back story so that we can incorporate players into the ongoing plot. Plans that we have include monster invasions, catastrophic events that add new areas to explore, and other changes that alter the content of the game world."[17]

"One interesting aspect of the game is that NPC monsters won’t all be identical. They will have skills, attributes and specialties just like players. This means that the King of the Olthoi will likely be more powerful than the average Olthoi warrior."[17]

"Right now there are 14 major types of monsters. Each of these will have many variations that will increase the total types of monsters to over 50. For example, the tumerok is an evil raiding humanoid monster. In Asheron's Call, you will find tumerok warriors, tumerok scouts, tumerok chieftains, etc. each with unique abilities of their own."[17]

"We're trying to effectively do two things: 1) continue the trend that Ultima started of boosting the production values of on-line games to rival that of retail games and 2) focus the design of game-play on the interaction between players. Playing with and against other real people is always more challenging and interesting than playing against AI controlled opponents. That's something that we've all learned from playing games like SubSpace and Ultima On-line. We're really trying to build role playing universe that rivals the depth of the AD&D games that we all used to play in college. That's an incredible elusive goal, but one that we continue to chase."[17]

"We're planning on starting our beta in the summer and shooting for commercial release this fall. We are counting on getting a great deal of user feedback in our beta and have scheduled ample time to respond to the feedback that we receive."[17]

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 1998

"Asheron's Call: An Epic Online Adventure
Asheron's Call(TM) online multiplayer game, which is scheduled to arrive on the Zone in early 1999, draws together thousands of players within a dynamic, 3-D online world. Players can create truly unique characters, with varied combinations of visual appearance, attributes and skill sets. The setting for the game is a 24-by-24-mile island with all types of terrain, including mountain glaciers, desert wastelands, swamps and subterranean dungeons. The game immerses players in an intense fantasy role-playing environment where they must choose to compete against or cooperate with thousands of other real players. An extensive system of allegiance and influence greatly enhances social interaction. The story line in Asheron's Call evolves dynamically over time based on the decisions and actions of the Asheron's Call community. The game is being developed by Turbine Entertainment Software."[18]

1999

Microsoft GameStock 99

"Evolving Story Line Asheron's Call provides an engaging back-story equivalent to 4,000 years of game history for players to discover. On-line game administrators will be actively working to advance the overall story line based on the decisions and actions of the Asheron's Call community."[19]

Microsoft Gaming Zone Interview with Toby Ragaini

"Asheron's Call takes place in a mysterious world called Dereth. People began magically appearing on Dereth about 50 years ago but were quickly enslaved by the vicious, insect-like creatures called Olthoi. Thanks to the heroism of Elysa Strathelar, the humans rose up in righteous fury, and were able to overthrow the Olthoi.

The game takes place about 10 years after this victory. It is a dangerous and exciting time. Olthoi and other monsters still lurk in their dark domains. Humans have carved out a few small towns, and brave individuals have found the artifacts of a mystical race of people called the Empyrean, who once inhabited Dereth. Is there a connection between the Empyrean and the magical portals that dot the landscape? Many mysteries like these have yet to be solved."[20]

Later Dev Quotes

"We all work using backstory developed years and years ago, mainly by Toby."[21]

"When writing 'The Reign of Alfrega' in beta, I worked out the reigns of a number of Aluvian rulers."[22]

"At ship, we had a few pieces of lore and a handful of overview docs - not much beyond that. The Empyrean development of portalspace, for example, amounted to three line-items: Asheron uses portal magic to trap BZ, Asheron creates a stable portal, Asheron brings in the bugs."[23]

"the original vision has it that he was surprised and overwhelmed, unable to close the exploratory portal to the Olthoi world before thousands had already come through. Kellin II, his usurpation of the throne, and his desire to use the Olthoi as weapons are entirely my reworking. I wonder what Toby thinks of it all..."[23]

"There's about 40,000 years worth of historical outline in our database. It is, however, only an outline. While all the major players, major events, and chains of cause and effect are covered, the details are left for us to fill in as we go."[24]

"the fates of Atlan and Maila were determined long ago by Toby's fiction. In fact, their doom was wrought back when AC was called Empyrean. The fact that Atlan's squire survived was also established. However, the details of Atlan's last march, the name of the squire, and Maila's twilight reminiscences I made up on the spot."[24]

"The person I *think* had the most infleunce was Toby Ragaini. Toby created Asheron and Bael'Zharon (originally named Aiden and Yservius Pentecost), the Empyrean, and lots of other things we take for granted today."[25]

Pre-Beta and Beta Screenshots

The following section lays out various iterations of the Asheron's Call user interface. The order is presumptive based on design elements, with the lowest numbered iteration being least like the retail UI and the highest numbered iteration being the most like the retail UI.

Sources for the screenshots include:

UI Iteration 1

These screenshots are presumably the earliest ones to exist, since they feature a UI that least resembles the UI that existed at release.

In terms of UI, the only elements from this era that survived to release are some of the iconography. In the world view window (the 3D rendered space) some dungeon models and textures, the Olthoi model and texture, and player character models and textures from this time made it to release as well.

These images feature the following character names in the chat window: Cyril, Ian, Joe, Mike, Sean, and Zach. These would presumably be the following Turbine developers: Cyril Van der Haegen, Ian Wilmoth, Joe Angell, Michael Ferrier or Michael Sheidow, Sean Huxter, and Zach Shukan. If the dates on Turbine Developers are accurate, that would put these screenshots in the 1997 to 1999 range.

UI Iteration 2

These next screenshots are presumably later than the previous group, but older than the following groups, based on the appearance of the UI.

The UI much more closely resembles the release UI, but there are some differences. The following is a breakdown of how this UI differs from retail:

Character Creation

  • On the Appearance page, there is no 'interior of building' background behind the preview of the character.
  • On the Appearance page, there is no descriptive text at the top.
  • On the Appearance page, there are facial feature textures that were not present in retail.
  • On the Attributes page, the points pool to spend on attributes is labeled available credits rather than attribute credits.
  • On the Attributes page, secondary attributes are listed as health points and mana points rather than health, stamina, and mana.
  • On the Attributes page, there is no secondary attribute listing for stamina. Instead, magic resistance is listed.
  • On the Appearance and Attributes pages, the rotate left, rotate right, zoom in, and zoom out buttons are in a different location.

Top bar

  • The vital bars have no heart (health), sword (stamina), and snake (mana) icons.
  • The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
  • All status icons (e.g. vitae) are present at all times, though they seem to be greyed out if not active. There are 9 status icons.

Inventory

  • The inventory backpack icon differs from retail. The icon is a closed tan backback with a green bedroll attached. When the inventory is open, the icon glows.
  • Scroll bar in inventory differs from retail.
  • Paper Doll shows wielded weapons.
  • Items do not fill the next available inventory slot, instead, items can be placed anywhere in the inventory.
  • Various item icons differ from retail, e.g. food items do not have an icon background.
  • Various inventory UI elements differ from retail.

Main panels

  • Of the 5 main panels, all icons are the same except for the map. It is a quill and line, rather than a compass rose. It is possible it was not the map panel at this time, and was perhaps a journal, or some other feature.
  • In the Skills tab of the Attributes and Skills panel, a skill called Linguistics is present.

Chat

  • Scroll bar in chat differs from retail.
  • Background of the chat window has a burlap/canvas texture.

3D Game World

  • No 3D accelerated graphics.
  • Portals use the older non-transparent graphics.

These images feature the following character names: Anderian, Angathnar, Beldane, Elinara, Giorlo, Glorian, Hiro Protagonist, Kira Slovak, Laridas, Marlee, Mustafa, Petra, Qalifa, Reiley, Saud Valient, Torstrim, Ulaysha, Uthweald, and Walsh.

Some of these images feature the Aluvian settlement located at what would later be Tou-Tou. In the captions, this town is called Cragstone. The chat in one screenshot mentions an unknown location called Rothdael. Another screenshot mentions the unreleased playable heritage group called Rennaj.

UI Iteration 3

The UI incrementally looks more like retail. The following is a breakdown of how this UI differs from retail:

Top bar

  • The vital bars have no heart (health), sword (stamina), and snake (mana) icons.
  • The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
  • All status icons (e.g. vitae) are present at all times, though they seem to be greyed out if not active. There are 9 status icons.

Inventory

  • The inventory backpack icon differs from retail. The icon is a closed tan backpack with a green bedroll attached. When the inventory is open, the icon glows.
  • Scroll bar in inventory is the same style as retail, but the buttons are green.
  • Various item icons differ from retail, e.g. weapon items have a diffent color background.
  • Various inventory UI elements differ from retail.

Main panels

  • Of the 5 main panels, all icons are the same except for the map. It is a quill and line, rather than a compass rose. It is possible it was not the map panel at this time, and was perhaps a journal, or some other feature.

Chat

  • Scroll bar in chat is the same style as retail, but the buttons are green.

3D Game World

  • No 3D accelerated graphics.

UI Iteration 4

Features of this era of UI include:

  • Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, but colored green.
  • The vital bars have no heart, sword, and snake icons.
  • The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Stamina, Mana.

UI Iteration 5

One of the screenshots from this era includes the build information:

00.00.07.1320.r Portal:compiled Thu Feb 04 12:38:18 1999 : Release

Features of this era of UI include:

  • Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, with the reddish-brown used at release.
  • The vital bars have icons, health's icon is an anatomically correct heart.
  • The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
  • Portals use the older non-transparent graphics.
  • Spells are cast from the hotkey bar, rather than the spellcasting UI.

UI Iteration 6

One of the screenshots from this era includes the build information:

00.00.10.2142.d Portal:compiled Tue Sep 14 13:10:24 1999 : Debug

Features of this era of UI include:

  • Release style scroll bar in chat and inventory windows, with the reddish-brown used at release.
  • The vital bars have icons, health's icon is a heart.
  • The order of the vital bars are in the order Health, Mana, Stamina.
  • Spells are cast from the spellcasting UI.
  • Melee and missile combat UI is similar to retail, but the High / Medium / Low buttons are green.

Pre-Beta and Beta Maps

Early Dereth Map

This first map is perhaps the oldest known map of Dereth. Maggie the Jackcat's site calls it Beta Map of Dereth.[26]

As far as physical geography is concerned, this map features an Osteth that mostly matches the Osteth seen at release. However, some of the mountain ranges in the northwest quadrant of Osteth appear slightly different. The northern area of the Direlands also appears to match the terrain seen at release, but the mid Direlands, south Direlands, and southern landbridge are very different. Lastly, Asheron's Island is different, and much further east.

The map also labels geographic areas and Isparian areas.

The geographic areas are:

  • Dereth Island (the whole map)
  • Lake Cragstone (Lake Blessed)
  • River Prosper
  • Naquet Desert (A'mun Desert)
  • Land of the Tumeroks (Direlands)

The Isparian areas are:

  • High Kingdom of Aluvia
  • Gharu'n
  • Sho Empire
  • Viamont

Pre-Beta / Early Beta Map

This next map is from an early promotional screenshot. This screenshot includes the map panel being viewed. Rather than the map panel seen at release, this map is down in more of a sketch style. There are also no point of interest markers on it.

This map does feature a marker for each town. On the map are:

  • Aluvian: Arwic, Cragstone, Dryreach, Eastham, Glenden Wood, Holtburg Lytelthorpe, Rithwic.
  • Gharun'dim: Baishi, Hebian-To, Lin, Mayoi, Nanto, Sawato, Shoushi, Yanshi.
  • Sho: Al-Arqas, Al-Jalima, Khayyaban, Qalaba'r, Samsur, Tufa, Uziz, Yaraq, Zaikhal.
  • Misc: Bandit Castle.

Additionally, there are markers around the following locations:

  • Edge of Direlands north land bridge, Osteth side
  • Edge of Direlands southland bridge, Osteth side
  • North side of Lake Lithaenean
  • Northern Osteth, very approximately at 75 to 80 north, 30 to 35 east.

Missing from the map are:

  • Crater Lake Village, Fort Tethana, Kara, Neydisa Castle, Plateau Village, Stonehold, Wai Jhou

It is unclear if this map ever actually existed. The map panel places the character near Shoushi, and the compass has them facing northwest, but the terrain visible does not match that area. Also, according to the 1999/9/17 Build Notes from beta, that build added both the points of interest to the map and Lin, Tou-Tou, and other towns. This map contains those towns, but no points in interest.

Beta 0 Loading Screen Map

This map was featured on the connection / loading screen of Beta 0.

Beta Site Maps

References

  1. Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call Page 4: "Project length: 40 months plus 8 months of beta"
  2. 1999/11 Microsoft Zone Archive: News & Events - Welcome from the Design Team
  3. 1999/11 Asheron's Call Beta - Letter to the Players
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/19981201042053/http://www.next-generation.com/jsmid/news/4364.html
  5. Asheron's Call Beta - Beta 0 Introduction Letter
  6. Anecdotal evidence from https://www.reddit.com/r/AsheronsCall/comments/de516b/seeking_information_on_asherons_call_beta/
  7. 2003 Asheron’s Call: Redefining The Role Of Player Killing [PDF]: "I started playing AC 4 years ago, in April '99 in Beta 0"
  8. Zogblaster Archive - FAQ
  9. Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call Page 3: "Unfortunately, we were placed in a code freeze situation during the beta test, and only the most serious bugs were fixed. "
  10. http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ The Turbine Story: Pages 1, 2, 3
  11. http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ The Turbine Story: Page 4: "In summer 1995 ... we built enough of a product to be able to give real demos."
  12. http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/ The Turbine Story: Page 4: "We had hired a game designer, Toby Ragaini, who built the back-story for the game."
  13. Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call Page 1: "As the project grew in scope, my role changed to become that of lead designer. Soon realizing the amount of work required to design a game with the scope of Asheron's Call, I put together a team of designers that envisioned and documented the characters, monsters, history, and timeline of a fantasy world called Dereth."
  14. 1997/06 SFGate - [Now You Got To Pay to Play Online / Gamemakers trying three-tier pricing structure http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Now-You-Got-To-Pay-to-Play-Online-Gamemakers-2821497.php]
  15. 15.0 15.1 1997/06 Microsoft News - Microsoft Unveils First Premium Games For Its Internet Gaming Zone
  16. 1997/07 July/August 1997 Issue of FamilyPC - Web Archive
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 1998/05 Gamepen, Desslock's RPG Guide - Asheron's Call Interview with Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer, and Jon Grande, Product Planner (Web Archive)
  18. 1998/05 Microsoft News - Microsoft Announces Launch Date for UltraCorps, Its Second Premium Title For The Internet Gaming Zone
  19. 1999/?? Microsoft's 3rd Annual GameStock - GameStock 99: Asheron's Call (Web Archive)
  20. 1999/?? Microsoft Gaming Zone - Toby Ragaini Interview
  21. 2000/02 Stormwaltz Quotes - Credit
  22. 2002/03 Stormwaltz Quotes - On Aluvian Rulers
  23. 23.0 23.1 2002/03 Stormwaltz Quotes - On Harlune and the Storyline
  24. 24.0 24.1 2000/05 Stormwaltz Quotes - On Historical Outline
  25. 2002/01 Developer Q&A - Asherons Call story line is great! But where did it come from?
  26. http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/Travel/maps/BetaMap.htm