Yesterday, Ringleader passed me the Core content to be packaged into the Closed Alpha we're setting up. It was also my first opportunity to see the game running, as the last build he gave me crashed constantly. I installed it on my secondary homeworld 2 folder, where I test this mods files (I use my main install purely to test installation methods and for other mods).
I was first turned off by the rather awkward Slipspace effects used at the start of a game, but when the blinding light faded, what was left took my breath away. The ships are beautifully done, reminding me of EVE in the level of intricate detail. I then panned my camera around them, and despite the SAVAGELY increased quality, there were no frame rate drops like in my moments spent with the public release of Halo: Homefront.
I ran through a bunch of quick tests, since I was still on a deadline to get the Alpha ready for the testers, and only one issue came up: Capital ships don't like working together. Everything ran awesomely until I group selected my destroyers and told them to move. All they did is twitch slightly away from eac hother and stay where they were. But that's about it.
After making the Covenant race unplayable and double checking that there are no Covenant files in the Alpha build (The Alpha and Beta are going to be UNSC only) I got the bigfile made and fired it up to ensure no glitchy archiving. This time I fired up one of the custom maps available in the Alpha: Reach Orbit. Soon after I was looking at my ships, with Reach's surface displayed in all its beauty behind them. There was a noticeable drop in framerate when gazing upon its majesty, but considering I use a non-gaming notebook, that's nothing to worry about.
After double checking the bigfile, I got the installer set up, and sent messages out to our Alpha participants concerning their invitation.
Once they all have their Alphas set up, my attention will go to coordinating between the team and the testers to get any issues addressed before the public release in February. I'm kind of partial to a Valentines Day release, how about you?
