Updates

Paypal and a Question of Virtue

Happy Saturday!

We’ve got some great news for everyone who has requested a way to use PayPal to help support our Shroud of the Avatar Project!  You now have the ability to do so by visiting  www.shroudoftheavatar.com.

The tier rewards are identical both on our Kickstarter and at our Shroud of the Avatar store. It is simply an alternative that will allow new backers to pledge using Paypal as a payment option.

We also have a short video where Richard “Lord British” takes one of our programmers through the same process he was inspired by to eventually evaluate player virtues in his Ultima games, using a set of questions. We want to know how you would answer those same questions!  If this video makes it past 25000 views we’ll post Richard’s answers in a future update!”

Also, for those Reddit fans out there, Richard “Lord British” Garriott will be hosting a IamA session on March 25th at 4 pm CST.  Be sure to join him at www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/ with your questions about Shroud of the Avatar!


Housing Update!

As promised, we’re ready to reveal more design details.  Based on feedback from the forums we’re revealing some details on housing!

Let me jump right into the stuff you guys really want to hear:

  • House maintenance and acquisition can be paid for with in game currency (KS houses have no upkeep cost ever)
  • House deeds can be traded between players
  • Houses are 100% secure for items stored in them though not always 100% accessible due to nasty sieges by evil forces
  • Houses exist in shared spaces (not instanced) and everyone will see your house and its decorations
  • Houses can be decorated both inside and out
  • Houses will be fairly limited but more will be added over time as we grow the world
  • City houses > Town houses > Village houses
  • Vendors for houses will be paid a percentage of the item that they sell (KS vendors will not take a cut of the profits)

Ok, hopefully that answered 80% of the housing questions we’ve received! For the other 20%, here are details, in written and video form:
 

House ownership involves two main elements, the property deed and the house. The deed is actually the more valuable element and when acquired will come with a house of some sort.  The deed is the claim to be a landowner in the game and allows a player to claim a lot and build a house.  Once a lot has been claimed with the deed, houses can be constructed and torn down at the player’s whim, for a cost of course, but the player need not fear losing his claimed lot.  The player can however choose to unclaim their lot at any point and reclaim their deed.  Deeds are NOT tied to the City/Town/Village in which they are sold!

There are several reasons we chose to go with a deed to a lot and make the house itself secondary.  First, due to the scarcity, the land is the valuable part, not the house.  By going with a property deed we give people the option to upgrade their houses.  Maybe they want to go with a house focused on a particular crafting element or one with a larger garden.  Maybe they just want to upgrade because new house types were added and think one is dead sexy!  Whatever the reason, we want to give people the option to switch houses.  Switching houses can also be done through in game currency and will not be cheap but far less than the property deeds.

Second major reason for using property deeds is that the game will grow over time.  Though it will be rare, we will occasionally add new villages, towns, and cities with empty lots.  This means that players will not be tied to one area.  If a new village opens up and you decide you would rather be there then you can pick up and move to the new area.

The deeds are either city, town, or village deeds.  City being the rarest and most valuable, followed by towns and then villages.  If someone chooses to, they can use their City deed to claim a lot in a town or village and town deeds can claim in villages.  Villages are good only for villages.

So what is the advantage of being in a larger town or city?  There are a number of reasons players will want to be in a big city.  First is safety and accessibility.  Big towns are more heavily defended and nearly immune to attacks.  When the city/town/village your house is in is under attack, you don’t risk losing the items inside but there could be some period of time in which it is inaccessible. You can of course join in the defense of the town to help clear the attackers or just wait until it is safe.

Another three important reasons for being in a large population center are location, location, and location!  Big cities got big for a reason and it is almost always because they are in key map areas that are highly accessible and near important resources.

To give you a sense of scale, check out this preview video of what we have planned for a typical Town:
 

Players in larger population centers also have much more convenient access to good, crafting areas, services, training, and customers!  The customers part is super critical to anyone seeking to be a successful business person. Selling goods in town and Cities not only receive the most traffic but also have the most prime spots for houses.  Players can hire vendors to stand on their property and sell their crafted or collected wares to passing strangers.

For crafters who elect not to own a house of their own, there will be bazaars available to sell the goods for a percentage of the profits.  The bazaars will only carry goods listed at them and not from throughout the lands.  The exceptionally talented homeowners will likely be able to turn a profit by buying low demand goods from one city and reselling them through their house vendors in a city with higher demand.

Houses and their decorations and trophies will be visible to all other players (unless you choose to lock it).  We fully expect people to proudly display their exceptionally crafted goods and items from their glorious adventures!  What fun is a house if you can’t fully personalize it!

So why should players want to buy a house deed during Kickstarter?  Houses acquired during Kickstarter will be maintenance free for life and come with a free vendor who doesn’t take a % of your sales.  You will also have access to several house decorations that will only be available to people during kickstarter!  Definitely the easiest, lowest maintenance method of acquiring a house.

So what happens if you don’t get a property deed during the crowd-funding phase?  There will still be some property deeds made available after the game goes live. We are currently looking at what the most fair method of distribution will be.  The three main options currently being considered are:

  • Put a deed up per week per area with an opening for a 1 week auction using in game currency.  This would obviously be VERY competitive!
  • Lottery system. Tickets are sold for a week and then we hold a random drawing to give away a few property deeds.  This will ensure that more people have a chance and makes it more exciting for the masses but could frustrate some players.
  • Land Rush!  We would set a very high but fixed in game price for deeds and let people race to get them.  This could be too rewarding for the earliest adopters and also could result in some negative side effects like organized groups or farmers working together to buy property deeds purely for resale reasons.

We are also open to suggestions from our backers!  No matter what system we choose, we know there will be some people not happy with the method chosen but we will strive to make it as fair as possible.

Houses in the offline single player version of the game will be available in most cities for an appropriate amount of in game currency and will not require a deed or significant maintenance.  Obviously, as this is the offline version, the house will not be visible to other players.

I’m sure that this glimpse into housing will prompt even more questions!  Be sure to give us your feedback here, and on our forums, and we’ll address them in future updates!

Thanks for reading this lengthy piece!

The SotA team


Developer Insights – From Concept to Art

SotA Concept At - Mountain Pass

Art Direction in Shroud of the Avatar

When we first started discussing Art Direction for Shroud of the Avatar, we felt it was critical that the virtual world be steeped in a traditional medieval fantasy feel, but have added a modern twist that we think will be a real treat for players to experience, taking them into something fresh.

There are an abundance of medieval fantasy games out there—so we asked ourselves how do we set the game apart, how do we create a unique and marketable identity in an oversaturated market?  The answer came in Richard’s natural storytelling ability.  Over the last few months, Richard developed a complex, rich story in which two worlds collide, the ancient world melding with the modern, and the world art we’re creating will reflect that in a fresh and unique way.

We started with traditional medieval elements and layered in elements of a primitive electro-mechanical future.  Our objective is to create a visual aesthetic that is both familiar and unique.  And now with the addition of Tracy Hickman to the team, his vision for the story will continue to evolve that world, and in turn, evolve our depiction of that world.

Richard’s attention to detail and sense of direction demands that all characters, weapons, objects, and buildings need to “make sense” and not just exist as eye-candy.  We are creating a world that sets Shroud of the Avatar apart from the pack– but also one where form always follows function.  We believe this design process will create believable, fascinating worlds and our art will follow that vision.

We look forward to incorporating your feedback and sharing more!

Senior Concept Artist Stephen Daniele & Senior Environmental Artist Bob Cooksey


Lord Britsh and Dupre telling stories!

You asked for more Companion Interviews.  Well, this one is EPIC! Richard “Lord British” Garriott sits down with long-time friend Greg “Dupre” Dykes! You’ll never ask, “What’s a Paladin?” again!


Developer Video Blog: Selective-Multi-Player Means Multiple Ways to Play!

Shroud of the Avatar has an innovative Selective-Multi-player system, which allows players to select the play experience they want; from a completely offline solo player mode, through a solo player online mode where you can view and contribute to the persistent world, multi-player online modes where you can select whom you explore the game with. We think this lets people play the game in a way that can feel very much like a traditional MMO, or solo player as they desire.

Here are the ways we anticipate the game can be played:

Single player offline:
This is the DRM free, completely off-line version of the game.  Your character is stored on your computer and can not be used in any of the online modes.

Single Player Online (SPO)
In the SPO mode you connect to the server, receive content updates, and can see the long term changes others are having on the world.  However, you are not visible on anyone else’s screen, nor for grouping, and you don’t see anyone else in the world.  You can switch from SPO to FPO or OPO modes whenever you like while in a city or overland map.  Some parts of the main storyline quests may temporarily force the player into SPO mode for some parts of the quest.

Friends Play Online (FPO)
In friends play online, you only see people you have flagged as friends in the game and only they can see you.  Like single player, this is just a server side filter.  For those who prefer the quieter game with friends or maybe for those who prefer a more focused role playing experience, this lets you enjoy a more limited online experience. You can switch to SPO or OPO modes whenever you like while in a city or in the overland map.

Open Play Online (OPO)
In OPO players will see everyone that the server thinks they should see.  This will not necessarily be all people in the area but should be people you care the most about based on what we believe is their relevance to you.

For the most part, OPO will feel like an MMO.  Lots of social interaction options with friends and other players.  We are trying to distinguish ourselves from traditional MMOs only in that, unlike a normal MMO players are frequently connected directly to each other instead of all data flowing through our servers. We believe this will provide numerous advantages to both players and our service, but does differ from a traditional MMO in that the upper limit of players simultaneously on one map may be restricted.


Tracy Hickman, New York Times Best-selling author of Dragonlance and Deathgate series, joins the Shroud of the Avatar team as Lead Story Designer!

Two Legends of Gaming join forces! International and New York Times Best-selling fantasy author Tracy Hickman is pleased to announce that he is joining Richard Garriott’s team as Lead Story Designer for ‘Shroud of the Avatar.’

“There is a tremendous opportunity to create something meaningful, challenging and wondrous in Shroud of the Avatar,” Tracy said. “I’m thrilled to play a part in it.”

“Tracy is not only a good friend, but also a master storycrafter whose writing I’ve greatly admired for over twenty years,” says Richard Garriott. “Tracy’s talent will add a unique richness and depth to Shroud of the Avatar.”

Tracy is known world-wide for creating the incredible worlds and stories of Dragonlance, the Deathgate Cycle, the Annals of Drakis and ‘Wayne of Gotham’. He, with his wife Laura, pioneered the use and integration of story into role playing games. He currently has over fifty books in print and is also a pioneer in the New Media publishing world of e-books and online serial publishing.

“Join us,” entices Tracy. “We’re taking adventure to a whole new realm.”


Developer Insights – Outside The Keep

SotA_drawbridge

One of the scenarios we are building starts with the player outside of a once-abandoned keep. The dark forces that had lain siege to this keep, eventually overtaking it, now defend their spoils against your attempts to retake it.

Below is the latest concept art from Stephen Daniele depicting the Fallen Keep. If you look closely, you will see that while it was under siege, one of the towers was badly damaged. This will allow the clever player (with ranged attacks) to attempt to drop the drawbridge by destroying the crank seen through the gap at some angles. There are other, less obvious ways, into this keep, to be discovered by the more exploratory player. Those other ways may leave the keep more defensible when the tides are turned yet again!

Richard “Lord British” Garriott



Developer Video Blog: Dual Scale vs Mono Scale Maps

Today’s Video Blog is brought to you by Chris Spears, Tech Director for Shroud of the Avatar.

One of the hot topics that has come up in the chats and forums is the choice of dual-scale vs mono-scale maps. Ultima 1-5, Dragon’s Age, most JRPGs use the dual scale system, where you have an overland scale and then a encounter scale. Ultima 6-UO used a mono-scale map. After looking at the pros and cons of both systems we decided to go with a much improved version of the dual scale map.

We are expanding on this as well so that areas you enter are truly more movie scene like that than just a space to fight in. Don’t think of them as a simple instanced dungeon like you might find in WoW or a dungeon from Skyrim but instead a smaller, focused 3-30 minute experience of some sort which is not necessarily just go in here and kill stuff. Many scenes will involve specific story driven moments and puzzles with no combat at all.

In addition to staying true to Richard’s earlier works, the dual scale system allows the following benefits:

More dynamic world: By breaking the 1-to-1 connection between the overland tiles and the content they are attached to and generating the overland map through data instead of baked art, we are free to change up areas of the world far more easily. Things like changing out a section of the map to be infested by a plague or have a mountain turn into a volcano is as easy as pushing new map tile data and connection information. This also allows us to easily roll out new scenes as we complete them to ensure the game stays fresh and interesting on a weekly basis.

Less painful travel: As much fun as it is to be able to occasionally just wander in the wilderness, in the long run, people generally prefer to be able to get around quickly and not have to spend an hour trying to figure out what the best way to get to the other side of the mountain is going to be. That is fun the first three times and a game exiting moment on the 23rd time. Because we’re not doing our quests as “run to this X on your radar”, there will be far more detective and foot work involved and not making that travel element a huge chore was important to not destroying the game flow.

Quicker content creation: I know the average user doesn’t think about this kind of stuff but it is huge in the reality of game development. Budgets are not infinite so speeding up content creation means we get more stuff done in the same amount of time with fewer bugs and more polish. End result is we can give you guys a bigger, smoother game experience with fewer bugs and quicker fixes when we do find things!
Easier content delivery: Breaking up the world into little chunk simplifies content delivery to the end users and also patching.

Lower machine requirements: Giant seamless worlds are a challenge for even the most powerful computers out there. By splitting up the world into focused scenes we greatly lower the machine requirements.

More scaleable multiplayer experience: Most people are shocked to hear that one of the most expensive systems on large scene MMO servers, is mob/character visibility. Not the actual ray testing to see if they can be seen but the logic of figuring out which entities should be updated of others actions. Chopping the world up into smaller, bite size chunks greatly simplifies those calculations.

Allows us to more easily insert single player experiences into the multiplayer version. Because the multiplayer version of the game shares the majority of the single player quest line, there are times when we need to isolate the player from a party situation for storyline reasons. These situations won’t be too common but there are just some things that an avatar must do alone!