Isle of Storms

Notes from Isle of Storms Experience:

1. Arabella gives a great many underscored word choices. I have difficulty getting about one third of them to activate a green cursor for word selection using the mouse. Just a little too much sensitivity.

2. Arabella offers so many underscored words up front, that when the truly impactful part arrives (the Avatar having to make choices), it can seem a bit buried in text by that time. A careful reader will have no issue. But is there an opportunity to distinguish the test of the three principles differently? Different text color? Camera position change? Arabella sending the Avatar to a second NPC for this? Could Arabella welcome the newcomer and send them to the Lunar Rift, and then also meet them there for this second conversation?

3. The Isle of Storms is a tale of two places. On one hand, it is strikingly fantastical in location. On the other hand, the scene can feel remarkably light on lore outside of the Arabella dialog. In some regards, the same scene could play out in a barn. Why is this scene starting on Isle of Storms? Why there? Are there opportunities to add more lore hooks here? A diary page from Lord British when he first arrived? A book of the three principles? A ruined overlook where the Avatar is instructed to look down on the work he or she is about to explore? Or to the heavens around?

4. The game crashed to Windows desktop leaving the scene (seems to be a common issue these days).

5. The lunar rift is cool. It might be cooler if could show hazy images like the Guardian of Forever in Star Trek TOS. Imagine the player catching a glimpse of Lord British battling Darkstarr in a haze in the center of the ring before fading. It might not even have to be explained, just give the Avatar a glimpse of something mysterious. This feels important to me to create a feeling of something more to come, as the starting quests that follow are pretty mundane.

 

Great feedback!! I love the suggestions for the Lunar Rift.

In its current state the Isle of Storms looks very nice, but there is no explanation or justification for its existence. It's just weird. In the old Ultimas the gypsy wagon made much more sense.

 

Loved the gypsy wagon! Gypsy wagons are both creepy, mysterious, intriguing and homey all at the same time.

 

I've seen several new players report that the lunar rift in that scene isn't always active. Having a blocker in the first 2 minutes of game-play is a particularly bad bug.

 

We would need to find a reproduction case for the players that see it this way.

 

Great feedback! Thanks!