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A Royal Illumination on Release 5

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Lord British, Apr 29, 2014.

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  1. Lord British

    Lord British Lord British SOTA Developer

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    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.

    The addition of combat and magic skills opened up another exciting aspect of Shroud of the Avatar, and players were finally able to start hunting in earnest, both alone and in packs. Others spent their time gathering enough resources to make their own items from scratch. Obviously much more work is needed from our end to really open up these system, but we’re ready for the task! In the end, I was very pleased to see the game beginning to feel like a real game, not just a demo. Even the new lighting, including the darkness of night, seems to be well received.

    Now, we need to focus on polishing the above systems for the next cycle! Combat, crafting, lighting, textures, hair, and many other systems are in high need of some scrutiny, so we will be fine tuning them instead of the scramble to cram in more features like the past few releases. The team is really looking forward to digging in, shining up, and expanding on the systems we have already put in. That’s not to say that exciting new stuff won’t also be coming in, but perfecting will trump inventing for each of us over the next few weeks.

    Can’t wait to see you in R6!!!!

    Ad Astra!
    - Lord British
     
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  2. By Tor

    By Tor Avatar

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    The game continues to improve exponentially with each release. I can't wait to see what SotA looks like in R6!
     
  3. Sean Silverfoot

    Sean Silverfoot Avatar

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    Looking forward to R6 and continued development! Enjoyed the villages! Hope to see more diverse ones shown.
     
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  4. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    I think this is the right approach. I also believe this will be a very common theme over the next year especially when it comes to BALANCE of combat, magic, crafting, pvp, etc...

    You can't very well add new things when the things you already added have been proven to be unbalanced. (I'm not saying you've done or will do this. But I've seen this happen in A LOT of games, and I hope the team takes care to take a step back like this when it's needed.)

    Bring on R6!
     
  5. rild

    rild Avatar

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    I was impressed and inspired once again. The sense of place in New Britannia is taking root, and I got a breathy and familiar exhilaration going back this time.

    Very much looking forward to R6 (and hopefully more time to play)! A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved.
     
  6. Ravenclaw [BEAR]

    Ravenclaw [BEAR] Avatar

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    That is great news. I believe that is the best way to go as well. Keep up the great work.
     
  7. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    I had a blast with r5. Well done Pax Lair!
     
  8. redfish

    redfish Avatar

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  9. Kaynith Stormcaster

    Kaynith Stormcaster Avatar

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    Huzzah! Indeed R5 was much fun all around! Can't wait for R6! :)
     
  10. Winfield

    Winfield Legend of the Hearth

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    Thanks for the persistent housing this time! Our first shot at making PaxLair (an open player town) in New Britannia was a lot of fun!

    We were able to pull several people together in a fine meadow in Valemark for a few days. We met a lot of new people and saw old friends too! The highlight was a royal visit from you, Lord British, and many from the community -- ALWAYS a great honor and motivator. In future releases, we will try new things to see what works (and does not work) including:
    • easily meet the neighbors (mailboxes, books, reach them on the SotA forum if we recognize their names, camp on their doorstep, "friend" names based on their house sign and then Whisper to them when they come online, etc.).
    • attempt to hold some big festival and even craft/repair/trade/sell items as player vendors/crafter (secure transfers between players and using local crafting tables).
    • watch more wonderful sunsets together.
    • mow the grass (*smiles*)
    It's a great adventure! We of PaxLair thank you Sire, your team, and the community!
     
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  11. Dermott

    Dermott Avatar

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    The sun has set on R5, and once again I want to say thanks to Lord British and the team for what they are doing!

    [​IMG]
     
  12. OrionSnake

    OrionSnake Avatar

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    Looking forward to R6! An advance THANK YOU to the entire team for their hard work.
     
  13. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    No word on the overland map? I had hoped to hear some explanation and opinions of the devs about the criticism regarding the overland map.
     
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  14. Sir_Hemlock

    Sir_Hemlock Avatar

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    Excellent! I had a lot of fun testing R5 and am glad the focus will be on refining the tested systems a bit more first.
     
  15. DyNaMiX

    DyNaMiX Avatar

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    Release delays can always be rough topic to raise. But this is one fan who is quite happy to wait a little longer for a better experience. :)
     
  16. Eriador

    Eriador Avatar

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    No word about mimics? That was the best! :p Great.
     
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  17. TheMadHermit

    TheMadHermit Avatar

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    R5 was another huge success! Looking forward to R6 and beyond! Keep up the great work.
     
  18. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    ""New Britannia!""
    What wonderful a wonderful world :rolleyes:
    Great Job Portalarium ;)!
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
  19. smack

    smack Avatar

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    Congrats on a successful Release 5! Looking forward to seeing the polish on existing content/systems and how high you'll continue to raise that bar on them. But one comment about the lighting...


    The new lighting was a great first step and I love the darkness that came with it. But there's one thing that's always bugged me: the color of the night sky itself (texture) is way too bright and washed out. The stars don't shine and twinkle against a deep black sky. And the moon just doesn't pop, as it doesn't contrast with the night when it also appears washed out. Something to consider fixing for R6 before you implement real celestial motion of stars and other planetary bodies? :)
     
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  20. SmokerKGB

    SmokerKGB Avatar

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    Thanks Richard, looks like everything is going just fine...
     
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