Author Archives: dallas

dallas

About dallas

Made some games. Lots of games.

Update of the Avatar #128 – 2015.06.05: Etceter Crag Mines, Gustball, R18 Deck Building by Envyco, R18 Postmortem, Job Openings, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • Etceter Crag Mines
  • Are You Ready for some Gustball!
  • Envyco Gaming: R18 Deck Building Tutorial
  • Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 18 Postmortem
  • World Builder/Level Designer and VFX Artist Job Openings
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • The Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


Etceter Crag Mines

In preparation for Release 19, Scottie Jones has been crafting the Etceter Crag Mines with Rick Holtrop contributing gameplay elements. Here’s a bit of the story of those mines:

SotA_EtceterMines_2

Long ago, when Etceter was nothing more than a collection of prospector shacks and tents hugging the coast of the Bay of Storms at the mouth of the Barren River, the Etceter Crag Mines were being dug deep into the nearby mountainous hills known as the Crags. At first the miners were sure their fortunes were made. The deeper they dug, the richer the veins of gold ore seemed to be.

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Awesome Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter 24-Hour Promotion!


BardsTale4_PostKickstarter

We know that many of you loved The Bard’s Tale games as much as we did, so we want to make sure you know about their Kickstarter campaign that launched today, and about their awesome offer to all backers in the first 24 hours of the campaign. As our long-time friend and colleague at inXile, Brian Fargo, announced today:

Hello Exiles,

Today is a very special day. As you may know, it marks the 30th anniversary of The Bard’s Tale, the game that started my career in game development in earnest. And now, we want to bring back The Bard’s Tale IV with the power of the crowd once again.

The original game has a special place in my heart and fans have shown me time and again they still love the dungeon crawl genre and want more. With your help, I can finally make this long-awaited true sequel to the original The Bard’s Tale trilogy, bringing you that sense of discovery with challenging dungeons and devious puzzles that you loved and cursed all at once.

BardsTale4_PostKickstarter_concept

We’re very excited about the revival of the dungeon crawler genre that Bard’s Tale IV is helping to drive. As described by inXile, it is a single-player, party-based cRPG with dynamic phase-based combat, challenging puzzles and riddles, and a game set to beautiful Gaelic music, where the Bard’s songs and melodies affect gameplay.

4a8cf4444fddb2e3a041d4f082c16fdc_original[1]

inXile also announced an unprecedented crowdfunding offer: anyone who backs The Bard’s Tale IV on Kickstarter in the first 24 hours of the campaign will receive a FREE copy of inXile’s Wasteland 2, or CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher, or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. (until 6/3 at 8am, CST).

Pretty cool stuff, right? If you’re as excited as we are to see one of the most amazing RPG series live again, then head over to inXile’s Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter campaign and pledge your support!

BardsTale4_PostKickstarter_reward


Update of the Avatar #127 – 2015.05.28: Play R18 Now!, Open PvP in Vengeance, Avatars Radio Patreon, Over $8000 Raised for Water.org, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • Play Release 18 Now!
  • Player Owned Town #2: The Open PvP Town of Vengeance
  • Avatars Radio Presents FireLotus Traditional Release (18) Party
  • Support Avatars Radio on Patreon
  • Rize Up Gaming plus SotA Backers Raise Over $8,000 for Water.org
  • New Basements
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • 4 Days Until Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter Campaign
  • Blade of the Avatar Pledge Reward and Add-Ons Expire May 31
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


Play Release 18 Now!

SotA_AvatarsRadio_FireLotus_R18_Party
Avatars Radio FireLotus Release 18 Party hosted by 4B on the island of Estercove. Check out more screenshots in the Release 18 Screenshot Gallery.

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Release 18 Instructions


[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Darkstarr

Greetings Avatars,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. We were not going to let torrential rains, high winds, tornadoes, microbursts, downed trees, blown out windows, massive power losses, or any other weather calamity thrown our way stop us from delivering Release 18! Access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, May 28 at 10:30 AM Central Time (16:30 UTC).

NOTE: Servers will be down from 9:00 AM until 10:30 AM Thursday morning in order to upload the build.

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

We are far from launch, in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports from helpful players, because they elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Release 17 included a lot of new content including the first Player Owned Town, Crafting Events, Player Titles, an Experience Doubler, and Lot Access Permissions. It was also our attempt to finish a bunch of work related to the Unity 5 upgrade. The good news is that the new content improved the play experience (for the most part). However, a lot of other issues were introduced in the process. For instance, we completely reworked our character state machine which governs everything the character does (animating, moving, fighting, spellcasting, etc.). This rework will, in the long term, make the game better by giving us better controls for things like blending between animations. In the near term, however, it broke almost everything and took us an entire week after the release to address the biggest issues.

SotA_R18_PlayerEvents_bookAdditionally, combat had been neglected for many months. As many of you have pointed out, it has been unbalanced, buggy, and almost unplayable for a few releases (and R17 actually made it worse!). On top of all that, our new user experience has been beyond challenging–punishing is more accurate, in fact. Based on those three issues, we decided to spend more time on overall improvements to combat and the new user experience. Unfortunately, that means we had to move some deliverables out of this release, but the game is now much more playable.

Also, remember we are providing new content with each release and our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar).

Without further ado, here are the R18 deliverables.

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Update of the Avatar #126 – 2015.05.22: Water.org Charity Marathon, Alive Inside Music Bundle, Abe’s Desert Biome, Play DND1 on Teletype, Bycocket Hat, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • SotA Backers Raise $4,000+ for Rize Up Gaming’s Water.org Charity Drive
  • Who’s Gaming Now Game/Music Bundle in Support of Alive Inside/Music & Memory
  • Abe’s Desert Biome Template – WIP
  • Play DND1 on the SotA Teletype
  • Release 18 Grand Tour Quest Reward: Bycocket Hat
  • Twin Spire Manor City Home Now Available to PoTs and LotM Pledges
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • The Bard’s Tale IV Coming to Kickstarter
  • Blade of the Avatar Pledge Reward and Add-Ons Expire May 31
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


SotA Backers Raise $4,000+ for Rize Up Gaming’s Water.org Charity Drive

SotA_MakeADifference_Water.org_bundle_large

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Update of the Avatar #125 – 2015.05.15: Water.org Charity Drive, R17 Postmortem, PoT Submission Form, Pledge Stats, New Asset Pack, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • Make A Difference – Water.org Charity Drive by Rize Up Gaming
  • Hangout of the Avatar: Release 17 Postmortem
  • Player Owned Town Submission Form (BETA) Now Available
  • Shroud of the Avatar SoundCloud Playlist
  • The New Britannia Theater Troupe Presents: Aurum Berries
  • Pledge Stats Update
  • New Asset Pack: Full Founders Armor Set Updated
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • Blade of the Avatar Pledge Reward and Add-Ons Expire May 31
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


Make A Difference – Water.org Charity Drive by RizeUpGaming

Rize Up Gaming (www.twitch.tv/rizeupgaming) is a company, founded in September 2012, with the intentions of curbing bullying, sexism, gender discrimination, and hate speech on all gaming platforms. Their goal is to promote fun gaming without negativity. Rize Up Gaming uses a staff of streamers to keep their channel running and to fundraise for many different charities throughout the year.

This month’s fundraiser is for Water.org, an organization that brings water to those who cannot get clean, safe water. Rize Up Gaming will be running this marathon from 7PM CDT on May 21st until 2AM CDT on May 25th with a goal of $1500 USD. On May 23rd, starting from 2PM CDT until 10PM CDT, Rize Up Gaming will be streaming Shroud of the Avatar community events and conversing with members of the community throughout the event. If you would like to donate directly to the event, you may do so on this page: http://give.water.org/f/RizeUpGaming/

logo[1]Additionally, as part of Portalarium’s founding purpose to promote good will and make a positive difference in the world, we’ve added our first “Make a Difference” charity items to the Add-On Store. For each of these items you purchase, Portalarium will donate 50% of its share of the purchase price to the designated charity. By purchasing these items, you are helping to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. These first items are dedicated to Water.org, a nonprofit organization that has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America by providing access to safe water and sanitation. Learn more here: water.org

In keeping with the water theme, our first Make A Difference charity items include:

Wishing Well – Water.org Charity

Not only does this magical Wishing Well look stylish in your yard, but when you throw coins in it there is a random chance that you will receive something in return! And as an added bonus, wearing the Water Magic Cloak increases your chance to receive an item from the Wishing Well.

SotA_MakeADifference_Water.org_wishing_well

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Update of the Avatar #124 – 2015.05.08: PaxLair Maze, Birko’s Novia Map, Community Street Names, Steam Achievements, Fez Hat Video, New Fansite Kit, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • The Building of the PaxLair Maze
  • Birko’s Customized Map of Novia
  • Community Created Street Names
  • Player Owned Town Submission Form
  • Steam Achievements
  • Bob’s Bell Tower
  • The Mad Hermit’s How To Get The Fez Hat Video
  • Thou hast been invited to the Release 17 Postmortem
  • Get the Shroud of the Avatar Fansite Kit
  • Richard & Starr on the Past, Present, and Future of Game Development
  • Blade of the Avatar Pledge Reward and Add-Ons Expire May 31
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


The Building of the PaxLair Maze

Arianna posted this amazing time lapse video in the R17 Screenshot Gallery of the building of the PaxLair Maze in Release 17. Spanning 3 lots, this is (to our knowledge) the largest 3D maze ever constructed in SotA. It was designed by Net and constructed by Net and Sindariya (“Riya”) in the Player Owned Town of PaxLair:

Riya and Net have four events planned for their maze this Release. The next event is scheduled for this Sunday, May 10, at 1:30 pm CST. See Sindariya’s R17 Events Forum post for more details.

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Update of the Avatar #123 – 2015.05.01: Play R17 Now!, AetherVision R17 twitch HQ, Packed PaxLair Weekend, PvP Grudge Match, New Deco Contest, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • Play Release 17 Now!
  • AetherVision: twitch Headquarters for Streaming R17 and the PaxLair Weekend Events
  • PVP Grudge Match: 30 Day Tournament
  • R17-R18 Deco Contest – PUB CRAWL!
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • Paving the Way: New Pavers and Fences
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


Play Release 17 Now!


FireLotus Release 17 Party in the new town of PaxLair. Check out more screenshots in the Release 17 Screenshot Gallery.

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Release 17 Instructions


[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Darkstarr

Greetings Avatars,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 17 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, April 30 at 10:30 AM Central Time (16:30 UTC).

NOTE: The server will be going down at approximately 6 AM and will stay down until 10:30 AM in order to deploy this release.

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

We are far from launch, and in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports, because players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

SotA_PlayerEvents_bookAs mentioned last release, we are still having to pay some debt incurred by our move to Unity 5. However, even with that factored in, we still managed to deliver quite a bit of new content, including our first Player Owned Town, Crafting Events, Player Titles, and Lot Access Permissions. Unfortunately, the amount of architectural changes in this release required us to do a full wipe of everything except Friends and Guilds. To slightly decrease the pain of this, we implemented an Experience Doubler that will temporarily speed up leveling (see details below).

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. So, be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar).

Without further ado, here are the R17 deliverables.

Read more…


Update of the Avatar #122 – 2015.04.24: PaxLair, New Beginnings Comic, Phoenix, R17 Dev+ QA is Live, Fences Galore, Red Fez, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • PaxLair: SotA’s First Player Owned Town
  • Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings Comic
  • Summon Phoenix Skill
  • Abe’s Solace Bridge Upgrades
  • Release 17 Dev+ QA Server is Live
  • More Fences Galore
  • In-game Community Weekend Events
  • AmbushedGamer Live twitch Interview with Lord British
  • Community In-Game Images and Videos
  • Get Your Red Fez Hat!
  • Send Gift Function Added to Account Page
  • Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
  • Changes to Store Credit Conversions
  • Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
  • How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
  • Upcoming Events


SotA_PaxLair_DevMap_1

PaxLair: SotA’s First Player Owned Town

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