Shroud Convention Slides: Last 12 Months, Q4, 2020

Greetings Avatars,

At the recent Shroud Convention we held several panels about Shroud of the Avatar. Most panels followed a similar format. We covered the highlights of what we accomplished over the last 12 months, what we hoped to accomplish in Q4 of 2019, and what our plans were for 2020. After numerous requests we are publishing the slides from those presentations here. Here's a summary of what we talked about (some of which Atos covered in his recent post):

Q4 2019:

• LUA Integration (Phase 1)
• New Overworld for Ep 2 (maybe even allowing POT settling?)
• Inky Integration (Phase 1)
• New CS Team Member!
• Cross Promos with other like minded Projects (Crowfall, Pantheon, etc.)!!! (Phase 1)
• Paid Ads (Phase 1)

2020:

Misc:

• LUA Integration (multiple phases, Phase 1 in Q4!)
• Player GMs
• Player Vendor Polish
• More Trophy Data (Agriculture, Trophy Heads from creatures)
• Property Rating System (thumbs up!)
• New Creatures / New Bosses / More Tameables (Nightmares, Unicorns, etc.)
• New Skills
• Cross Promos with other like minded Projects (Crowfall, Pantheon, etc.)!!! (multiple phases)
• Paid Ads (multiple phases)
  

Ep 2!

• New Overworld
• News Scenes & New Towns
• Quest System Revamp (Inky open source scripting language)
• Journal Revamp (Inky open source scripting language)
• Theater System
• Treasure Hunting with Treasure Maps
• Item Affinity & Reputation
• Taming Expansions: Pet Leveling, Pet Skills, Pet Customization
• Customizable NPCs including Convos (Inky open source scripting language)
• Expanded Permissions system for containers & doors
• In-Game Achievement System

Shroud Con Decks:

• Keynote
• Crafting
• Combat
• World
• Housing

 

Greetings all
Now this is the kind of communication that should have been happening all along. Thank you @DarkStarr !

 

I couldn't help but notice that console and mobile ports of Episodes 2 were not mentioned in the panels. Our beloved Lord British mentioned the ports in his SeedInvest pitch.
There probably are insurmountable technical challenges to cram the game into current generation consoles not to mention mobile devices. I suppose Catnip Games will reconsider the ports at a future date once the game has reached a more mature state and next-gen consoles are available.

 

Thank you Starr! I can't wait to DM a dungeon in the Outlander Welcome Center specially built for new arrivals! Remember that feeling when your party won a hard fought battle and you opened a chest filled with gems, gold, special weapons, armor and potions? My goal is to give them that same thrill.

 

What about Raids, Seige/defense scenarios, Guide warfare improvements etc?

Will they happen in 2020?

 

Many thanks for posting this and I hope it all sees the light of day. Has certainly peaked my interest !

 

This list, read alongside Chris separate narrative on more player created content (and Dev tools to support it), plus the clarification that some RvR is also on the horizon seems pretty complete to me now, I'm a pretty happy bunny, though I would be amazed - and thrilled - if all of this could be delivered in 2020.

With all of this content to come there is no other game on the horizon that offers more - Perhaps some variations and some glitzy eye candy using the Unreal engine - but in terms of real content SOTA sounds way up there.

The only other stand out project for me is Ashes. I love what they are doing with nodes (regions) and dynamic world building. It's a shame, but I think if SOTA had been able to retain the regional economy and regional differentiation (you will all recall our raging about having to fight though the passes to gain access to other regions to get to their local wares, recipes and harvests), then SOTA would have beaten Ashes to this concept in many ways.

Most folks didn't like fighting through passes and the challenge was too irritating given the regional concept was not yet fully fledged, so I don't think anyone is mourning their demise, but I'm sure if other ways to differentiate Regions could be conceived, that many of the ideas and some of the code is awaiting a rebirth of this original design concept.

 

@Chris That is a resounding huge Thank you. There is not enough paper and pen and ink or even computer to show how grateful I am to hear those words!!!!!!!!!

 

Totally agree. RvR; Castle sieges, territory stewardship, etc are my 'ideal' PVP and just about the only PVP im drawn too. Some of my most fun multiplayer experiences ever are in group co-op PVP in RvR stuff that has strategic game consequences for your chosen Guild or faction.

What about RvR to be Feudal overseers of a Region (for a set time) to gain extra exp points fighting in that region, discounts from npc vendors and maybe rents and tolls from visiting and resident players

 

Alas, this seems quite unlikely to happen. First, RVR wouldn't happen in adventure scenes. Second, there really is not other land to RVR fight over. POTs are RMT-controlled by individuals, so RVR would be about the overland map or NPC towns that largely are moot. And third, because these areas largely are moot, why would it be fun or meaningful for anyone to pay a toll to you to visit that wayward part of the map? It really wouldn't. Unfortunately SOTA just isn't designed for RVR.

 

Praise the Lord and pass the booze!

Gimme that quest/journal revamp and I'll eat a stack of humble pie in public for my lack of faith in the direction of the game development the past 6 months. I'll eat crow and lash myself with a wet noodle. I'll put myself in a pillory for the Devs to throw all manner of produce at my head and cry, "Behold the dunce!"

In the meantime, @Chris and @DarkStarr keep proving me wrong for my misgivings. I can take it! All I ask is that you not dangle a huge carrot in my face and then a year from now this is not be done...lol. Otherwise:

:::shakesfist:::

 

That's reassuring to hear and it explains the lack of a story panel at the con.
I can't wait for Tracy to show all the naysayers what he is capable of doing in terms of advancing the state-of-the-art in story telling in games. I vividly remember when he originally laid down his vision for the story line in SotA.

Tracy:

RG:

 

Great stuff! The game has come a long way, and is going to go much further yet, looks like another great year ahead. In it for the long haul.

 

EP 2: New Overworld?

Could we get no Overworld and have expanded lands instead?

 

I would LOVE to have someone show me how wrong I am about story in Ch.2, but can we fix all the problems with Ch.1 story, too? I mean, it's a great outline of a story, but it needs much more fleshing out and player agency (or at least better maintaining the illusion of player agency). I wrote a fairly extensive post about this for the truth quest back in release 44, almost all is still true. So little changed after writing that post I was discouraged from writing other ones.

For myself, someone who was really looking forward to what Tracy and Richard were talking about, the end result of Ch.1 was wanting.

(OT: also, not having nested quotes makes me "grr".)

 

Paid Ads? As in...there will be advertising put in-game?

 

pretty sure that means increasing the amount they spend to advertise the game, which chris has mentioned a few times in the last months.

 

OH...phew!!! That's a relief.