Thoughts on Owl's Head and the Pre-Alpha game thus far.

graphics look excellent, still need some tweaking in game tho, i cant figure out how to turn my items to place in certain places, but other than that, i will probably invest more now that ive seen how it looks! Awesome tesla tower! I was looking around in case Yuri tried to gank me! (C&C) reference!

 

I tried but the Boss Chicken hit me with a special peck attack for 10, 000 hp.

 

I love this sneak peak, I hope that we get some more dialogue for NPC's this way.

 

Please, it is fair to read the release 1 instructions first, especially the part known issues: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/sota-game-guide.html
Lot of things are known, also that the conversation system is in early stage.

I like this early build and it is more than i've expected. I also like the animals, from my pov they could be more. That makes the world more alive.

 

That is the whole point of this release, talk to them, staff are listening to everything you say, big brother hears all.

 

I never thought horses were going to be necessary due to the duel map and would patiently wait until other episodes.... but today I have changed my mind. I need a horse or some roller skates to get around this town. Other than it obviously being a bit buggy and floaty... it meets my expectations and I can't help feel like I'm in Ultima. I like bees.

 

On it.

 

Ups.. are the devs going to read everything we have been saying to the NPCs?? I have been a bit rude to them.. sorry

 

I'll just start a list of pluses and minus then.

- pluses -

• graphics are quite nice is some areas especially when effects are active
• music is sounding decent, the sounds seem familiar though..
• the feeling looking somewhere then wanting to go there and find something is good (eg. look across town and then go there opens up new areas to explore)
• exploring the town is somewhat reminisent of some older Elder Scrolls game like Oblivion
• NPC interaction is very good for Alpha
• day and night lighting is excellent
• exploring town feels good and lets you feel like your exploring and finding items like big swords to equip and armors
• Decorating Homes !!! I think this is going to be one of the most loved features!

- minuses -

• animation feels like it needs work, but this may be a part of the style so I could just be me
• no jumping is a big part of immersion for me
• no hopping down ledges or over small obstalcles is annoying same as jumping
• Town song could be tad longer, it feels like it's always starting over when exploring the town ( and it sounds really familiar)
• not all objects can be interacted with (eg. items around the stables)
• Animals don't feel particularly realistic and lack sounds when touching or getting close (eg horses)
• some textures feel old and low quality (stone textured walls)
• GUI elements missing (map, mini map + compass, full resolution @1920x1080)
• no basic NPC sounds makes npc's sonically lifeless (expect sounds of joy, sadness, sighs, happy, joking etc....)
• NPC conversations are extremely limited in depth and somewhat repetitive
• Building layout (I know that it's just alpha) doesn't seem appropriate (eg some buildings just seem to stick out IMO) like the Viking Hut next to Knights House, or the Tree House right in the middle of town and the Wizard home... I would like to see more consistency later on..
• No ground-target moving? I would like to see that
• Can't seem to drop equipment on the ground like weapons and armor

 

I KNOW.

 

My first impression has been a very pleasant one. It has a few quirks but that is to be expected at this stage. However I feel the positives greatly outweigh the negatives ten times over. I am very pleased I helped back this game and I look forward to future development.

 

Yesterday I kept talking to them then saying hello to Lem Was checking to see if he was reading

 

I really like the vibe of the game. It feels like an Ultima already. I like Owl's Head, it's really nice.

Technically, yes, a long way to go, but with a years more development and real people playing this game, this could be a whole lot of fun.

I love the conversation system, even tho it was more broken than I expected atm. It really really does help immersion.

I would suggest doing something about the conversation pop up thing tho, it goes against the immersion idea. Just make us hit enter to talk to people.

 

I see alot of posts that keep coming back to jumping.

 

thanks!

 

I admit that I'm deeply impressed. Given the time that the team had for this very first release, and given the fact that there are many, many months until the official release of the game, this is really impressive. Following Dark Starr's encouragement to spread the word, here's a little video with initial impressions (accompanied by the stunning voice of Iolo) that has been compiled together with a very positive article for a German UO and SotA fansite: Link
I hope it will attract even more fans and potential backers. The game's current progress really deserves it.

 

Ok, my first quick impression after running around the city, exploring, talking to the people and decorating an Edelman House: I love it so far!

Things that I love:

1. The Discussion System is Awesome! When I've some time tomorrow, I'll log on and ask all the questions I can think of, so they become hopefully implemented (btw. you better let your guards know, what a paladin is =p )

2. The Housing is excellent: It's a lot of fun to put all those candles, books, food, etc. on shelves, tables, ...

3. Entering Houses without Loading Times and Black Screen makes me very happy!

4. The town lives: The birds, the fireflies, the sheep, the people running around, the light through the trees, the asteroid belt, the Vulcano, etc.

Things from the Pre-Alpha, that could improve (I won't mention technical stuff here, since it's pre-alpha; so I expect some stuttering, low performances, glitches, etc.):

1. The Interface: I miss the option to turn left and right with q and e. Also I miss the option to run fwd when I press the left and right mouse button at the same time. Another idea would be walking through Double Click to a selected spot. Or something like automatically putting things into your main bag through double click or putting things into specific bags (by pressing Shift or Ctr+Number of the Bag+Leftclick)

2. Running from one side of the map to the other map takes quite a while. This could become tedious, when you have to run the same distances over and over and over again. Horses, magic, speed boots or speed potions could help (but you have to be careful with those since they could be abused in PvP)

3. I'm not the biggest fan of jumping in most RPGs since its all to often abused and results in annoying players jumping around all the time, but I liked the controlled jumping in Ultima 9, where you could jump and climb precise with your mouse cursor

Will post more stuff later after playing some more...

But at the moment, I'm staying hyped for SotA =)

 

Well it's probably because there's a bunch of low fences in the game people want to jump over instead of running around. I had the same experience.

 

Exactly this: I got mad at one point, wandering through a lot of housing lots, that there wasn't at least a little bit of parkour capability. Being able to hop the low fences at least seems reasonable.

 

If the avatar can handle the magic arts I'm sure he or she can hop a fence.