Updates

Community Spotlight ~ The Sights and Sounds of Melchior


This week’s Community Spotlight shines on the very talented Melchiormeijer!  Not only has he provided us with some pretty amazing Unity Art Assets for the game, but now he is wowing us with his SFX work!  I had a chance to interview him earlier this month, and I thought you guys would love getting to know him a bit more just as much as much as I did!

cairn6  micLo09  globeUnity7

FireLotus:  If you were an NPC in Shroud of the Avatar, how would describe yourself?

Melchior:  Well, if you would be looking for that NPC for some specific reason he would probably be the hardest to find in the game. Not because he’s hiding, but because he’s off doing something different every time you log in. He’s interested in almost anything, can be busy with the smallest insignificant thing for hours until it’s perfect. If something seems to be impossible to solve, this guy would find the weirdest way to solve it. BUT he WILL solve it.

Same thing when I’m working or creating 3D and sound assets for SotA. i can tweak some things on a small insignificant item that is almost too small to actually see. Like my bobbers for instance  . One of them is a cork with some letters on it. You will probably never be able to read those letters, but i spent WAY too much time on them to get them perfect.

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Update of the Avatar #72 – 2014.05.09: 100k New Britannians, Dev Team Growth, 4 BotA Chapters Left, Wedding Attire, Extended Monthly Payments, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • One Hundred Thousand New Britannians!
  • Development Team Growth
  • Only 4 BotA Chapters Left!
  • Dev+ 3ds Max Rigged Avatar Model
  • Extending Monthly Payment Plan
  • Wedding Dress & Tuxedo
  • Store Credit Gift Coupons
  • Add-On Store Multi-Select
  • Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
  • Upcoming Events

One Hundred Thousand New Britannians!

It is a testament to the exploding interest in Shroud of the Avatar across the entire world-wide gaming community that the number of New Britannians on the SotA website has surpassed 100,000 and keeps on growing! Long live New Britannia!

SotA_100k_NewBritannians

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Update of the Avatar #71 – 2014.05.02: R5 Perspectives & R6 Revisions, Benefactor Baron Home, Founder Emotes, Crafting Table Asset Pack, Castle Arena Basement, BotA, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • Release 5 Perspectives & Release 6 Revisions
  • Benefactor Baron City Home
  • Founder Teachable Emotes
  • Recruit-A-Friend Emote
  • Dev+ Crafting Table Unity Asset Pack
  • Castle Stone Arena Basement
  • Rustic 2-Story with Loft Village Home
  • Wood & Plaster 3-Story Village Home
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 20
  • Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
  • Upcoming Events

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Release 5 Perspectives

From Lord British:
Lord_British

We made it! The team was scrambling till the 11:59th hour, and the last few bits made it in during our live patches, but it all worked out! Release 5 went very well.

Once this gem in the rough was in YOUR hands though, you did some MIGHTY impressive things with it. We turned on persistent housing that would not roll-over every hour and added quite a few new player towns, and you ran with it! The RP’ers and homesteaders could finally begin to dig in, and what they created was outstanding! We even saw the 1st player town, Pax Lair, which was also the 1st player town in Ultima Online…

[Read the full post in the forums]

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Community Flashback ~ The Bear Tavern


Once in a while, we like to check back in on our Community Spotlight Sites and see how they’ve grown.  This past week, I had the privilege of chatting with Vallas over at The Bear Tavern as they celebrate their one-year anniversary.

Bear Tavern 1So, tell us a little about The Bear Tavern.
The Bear Tavern is a community which is building towards the establishment of a fully working Tavern within Shroud of the Avatar. Our aim is to build a landmark, providing everyone a place to freely interact with others in a neutral environment. We aim to become a prominent feature within the lore of New Britannia, both as a leader in our craft as well and a contributing member of the wider community.
We operate primarily across both East Coast US and EU timezones. We have a broad membership, which we intend to expand even further as time goes on.. Read more…


Update of the Avatar #70 – 2014.04.25: Play R5 Now, Mad Hermit’s R5 Video, Founder Emotes, Referral Rottweiler, BotA, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • Come Play Release 5 Now!
  • The Mad Hermit’s Video Guide to Pre-Alpha Release 5
  • Founder Teachable Emotes
  • Recruit-A-Friend Rottweiler Hunting Dog Pet
  • Amazon Interview with Starr Long
  • 5 Days Left for Easter Bunny & Confetti Eggs Basket
  • Shingle-Roof Village Home
  • Wood & Plaster 2-Story Village Home
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 19
  • Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
  • Upcoming Events

Come Play Release 5 Now!

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Release 5 successfully launched yesterday, April 24th, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and exploring the new content!

Lots of new stuff to check out in this Release, including 35 (of 171) Combat Skills (such as Whirling Blades, Crushing Blow, Death Touch, Flame Fist, Healing Touch, Resurrection, Ice Fist, Lightning, etc.), more starting recipes for crafting, on screen compass, 9 new player towns with new house types, new creatures (Chest Mimics, Skeleton Archers, Satyr Mages & Satyr Archers), a journal, overland map polish, new Vale scenes, and over 600 lots for players to claim with persistent ownership throughout the weekend (so stake your claim and show everyone your awesome decorating abilities).

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Release 5 Update & Instructions


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[A Public Forum post by Starr Long]

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 5 access for all backers at First Responder level and above, and those with Weekend Access Passes, begins this Thursday, April 24 at 10:30 AM Central Time. Release 5 access will end on Sunday, April 27 at 10:00 PM Central Time. Starting today, you can begin installing and patching (see instructions below), but login will not be enabled until Thursday morning.

We are happy to report that we were able to add a bunch of new content and features, while iterating on existing ones. However those deliverables didn’t quite end up matching our original goals. The sheer scope of getting skills working, while also responding to R4 feedback, made us radically shift focus for Release 5. Below are the original R5 deliverables, along with some extra notes and new deliverables in italics.

RELEASE 5, April 24 – 27, 2014:

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Community Spotlight ~ Avatars Radio


AvatarsRadio Logo4

I am happy to shine this month’s Community Spotlight on Avatars Radio!  Created by the Shroud of the Avatar community FOR the Shroud of the Avatar community, Avatars Radio is dedicated to serving the needs of our community while playing some of the best crowd-sourced music the community has to offer!  cheerAnd they not only play music from the game, but welcome player created submissions for clever station identifiers, sound bytes, and are looking for some DJ talent to fill out their ranks. You may even recognize one of their newest guest DJ’s, (that fiery lass over there ~>)  who will be making her On-Air debut this Friday, April 25th at 5 pm CDT, spinning tunes from Fire Lotus Tavern during R5.

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Update of the Avatar #69 – 04/18/14: Happy Easter, R5 Coming, DND#1 Contest, In-Game Crests, LotM Crown, Mortar & Pestle of Prosperity, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • Only 6 Days Until Release 5!
  • Richard Garriott’s DND #1 Contest
  • Limited Edition Art Print?
  • College of Arms & In-Game Custom Crests Pledge Reward
  • Founder Lord of the Manor Crown
  • Mortar & Pestle of Prosperity
  • The Enhanced Town Stone Arena Basement
  • Rustic 2-Story with Loft Town Home
  • Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Town Home
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 18
  • Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
  • Upcoming Events

Happy Easter!

Today we are hosting the Duke and Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour, and tomorrow our visiting dignitaries will be joining us for Portalarium’s Family Easter Celebration in Castleton (Richard’s lakefront property on beautiful Lake Austin).

From all of us at Portalarium, we wish you and your families a Happy Easter!

SotA_Happy_Easter

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Richard Garriott’s DND #1 Contest!


teletype

Richard Garriott created one of the very first computer based role playing games in 1977.

The game was inspired by a bet between Richard and his father Owen.

Richard had already written many smaller programs and simple games on the teletype he had access to since 1974. His early programs included calculating radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. Variations of this early “ray tracing” code he wrote won him numerous science fair competitions up through international competition. Still games were his obvious early passion.

Richard’s father told Richard, that if he could create a whole working role playing game, that he would split the cost of an Apple ][ computer with him. The result was DND #1!

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