The Alpha has been coming along well, and the testers have been a huge help. <S> Most of the work has been in making sure things are stable, optimizing performance, and ironing out the graphics.
With that in mind, here is a comparison of where we were and where we are, with specific regard to the trees.
Here is an early screenshot we released of our progress. Note the blobs in the trees as they get farther from your view.
As we progressed, we felt the trees could be done better and so Hitech and Waffle decided to take another swing at them. Here is where we are today. Yes, the count and placement of the trees has changed, and might continue to change, but we feel the look of the trees, as they get farther from your eye point is better now.
The different frame rates are due to the two different computers used in taking the screenshots.