The latest Ashes of Creation development update previewed the Tower of Carphin, a previously-teased dungeon that is lore rich and in the works. The team also streamed other development updates and answered community questions as usual, but the Carphin preview and the Story Arc system feature significant new info.
Creative Director Steven Sharif dove into the Carphin lore and how Story Arcs will change the world around you based on player choices and actions. Prefacing the introduction of the associated previews, Sharif noted that this is in alpha, so that is something to keep in mind,but given that they’re ready to unveil these systems and features is still meaningful.
The Tower of Carphin had been teased in previous streams, including for Extra Life, but now intrepid is ready to introduce a little bit more. One thing that Intrepid has always emphasized is that the world of Verra is intended,as a sandbox, to be quite dynamic.
The Story Arc system is on the narrative side, and it also means that when you enter the world, things will look different depending on the state the world is in. This means things like which races are controlling the nodes, how many nodes are currently under control, and a number of other player actions. Ashes of Creation won’t have quest hubs, so they have had to create a system that responds to the world and creates content based on player actions in the sandbox.
“The world decides in the state that it's in that we're going to now play this module,” and people entering the world when the world has different conditions will likely have different experiences. One example they showed off was a bridge that you might find in different states, where it might be easier or more difficult to pass depending on world circumstances.
The full preview is a lengthy one, but there’s so much packed into it that Intrepid even separated out a 4K version of just the Carphin and Story Arc system preview. You can watch that above, and head to Ashes of Creation for much more.