Author Archives: dallas

dallas

About dallas

Made some games. Lots of games.

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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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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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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Update of the Avatar #68 – 04/11/14: Anniversary Recap, New Asset Pack, More Basements, Duke & Baron Crowns, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • One-Year Anniversary Recap
  • Dev+ House Pack #2
  • Lord of the Manor’s 2-Story Castle Stone Basement
  • Founder Duke Crown
  • Founder Baron 2 & 3 Crown
  • Benefactor Baron Bed
  • Benefactor Tunic
  • Village Stone Arena Basement
  • Castle Stone & Timber Split-Level 5-Story Basement
  • Rustic 2-Story Village Home
  • Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Overhang Village Home
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 17
  • Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons and Release 5 Access Keys
  • Upcoming Events

SotA_Campaign1

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! (Did We Happen To Mention “Thank You?”)

The One-Year Anniversary Telethon was an amazing success, raising over $95,000 and setting a new record for post-Kickstarter single-day funding! The day was filled with tons of community interaction, prize giveaways, and the usual zany antics that seem to be a common theme running through SotA Telethons. If you missed the live streams, you can watch the recorded videos here.

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HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!


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It is hard to believe that it was one year ago today, April 7th, that we completed our successful Kickstarter campaign! What a fun and tumultuous ride that 30-day campaign was, with all of our Early Founders helping drive us to almost double our funding goal! If it weren’t for all of you, none of us would be here today!

The tremendous support that all of you have shown over the past year has been phenomenal! Not only did you help kickstart Shroud of the Avatar, but throughout the year you have continued to pour your support into the project with your participation in the forums, your crowdsourced art and music, helping enlist new backers, and your ongoing funding support through pledge upgrades. Your passion, commitment, generosity, and sheer love for what we are all building together is the fuel that drives all of us on the dev team on a daily basis!

We started the One-Year Anniversary celebration last week with our one-hour daily Developer Hangouts, leading up to our all-day telethon today, as well as re-opening Release 4 to all our backers, all day today (it’s open now, so jump on in)! You’ll find more details about today’s broadcast schedule and events below.

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Update of the Avatar #67 – 04/04/14: Too Hot in the Hot Tub, R4 Perspective, Easter Goodies, Duke Castle, Baron Rewards, and More!


Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

  • The Coconut Horse and Too Hot in the Hot Tub!
  • Release 4 Perspectives
  • Duke Castle Home
  • Baron Rewards
  • Easter Goodies
  • Rustic 2-Story with Balcony Village Home
  • Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Great Hall Village Home
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 16
  • Alienware R5 Weekend Access Keys and $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
  • Upcoming Events
  • This Week In The News
  • Only 3 Days Remain to Purchase/Upgrade/Gift Founder Pledges

The Coconut Horse and Too Hot in the Hot Tub!

SotA_CoconutHorseIt all started innocently enough with the question “Should we do anything for April Fool’s?” That simple question spun out to an incredibly fun and elaborate “not” prank where we made real stuff then pretended it was real, but fake at the same time. We wanted everyone to wonder for several days if we were pranking them for April Fool’s or if the items were real. It was meant to be the ultimate head fake, where at the end (which is now) we could reveal that it was in fact all real, and not a prank. We went so far as to create a new movement mode in the game that is activated by equipping items. In this case it was coconuts that would trigger a skipping animation. This is a real system that we can expand later. We also built the hot tub. The story was that the coconut horse was to be a thank you for the fundraising and the 1-Year Anniversary gift while the hot tub was to be an Add-On Store item.

We realized if we announced an Add-On Store item, but didn’t actually put it in the Add-On Store, that you would all almost immediately realize it was a prank. So we put it in the Add-On Store as a limited quantity and marked it sold out, before the update even went out! The update also went out very late in the day on April 1st whereas most April Fools pranks occur early in the day. It went out so late that most our European backers didn’t even see it until April 2nd.
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When it went out, we got lots of complaints about not being able to buy the hot tub. Complaints ranged from “I was at work!” or “My username starts with an “L” so I was too far down the mailing list to get it in time.” Some folks seemed truly angry about the hot tub being sold out before they got to buy one. Darkstarr, being the Lord of Chaos, reveled in this pandemonium. The team heard Starr yelling things like “I feast on their outrage!” or “My chaotic powers grow with each complaint!” We continued to poke at this prank by mentioning the hot tub when we launched the Add-On Store Credit Conversion, as well as during our video hangouts.

With this update, we can reveal that this was an April Fool’s prank, but not really, because both the coconut horse and the hot tub are real! There is now an unlimited supply of Ye Olde Hot Tubs available in the Add-On Store, and we’ve added the Coconut Horse as a basic reward for all SotA backers!

Thank you all for having a sense of humor about the entire thing.

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Add-On Store Credit Conversion Now Available


[From a public forum post by dallas]

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Now you can sell back your Hot Tub if you decide it’s too hot in the hot tub!

Tassilo published a new version of the SotA website yesterday that includes the add-on item meltdown feature. This allows you to sell back any of your digital add-on items for Store Credit. This only works for Add-On items and you cannot convert pledges to Store Credit.

If you accidentally sell back an item, you can repurchase it immediately, unless that item is no longer available in the Add-On Store (such as the Darkstarr Moondial).

You will be able to apply Store Credit toward the purchase (or gifting) of Add-On Store items, or toward the purchase or (or gifting) of a Pledge or toward the purchase of a Pledge Upgrade (but not for pledge payment plans). Remember, once you’ve used Store Credit toward a pledge, it cannot be converted back to Store Credit.

The system is pretty straightforward to use. Just login to the SotA website, go to your Account page, and you’ll see a “Convert to Credits” button next to each of your Add-On items. Press the “Convert to Credits” button and you’ll be asked to confirm your choice.

Once you’ve converted the item, it will be removed from your account page and you will see the value you paid for the item added to the Store Credits value displayed in the box at the top of your account page.

You can now use this Store Credit in the Add-On Store or to purchase or upgrade a pledge. Once you select an item to purchase in the Add-On store, or select a pledge to purchase or upgrade, you will see a change in the Payment Form layout to now include a line for the available Store Credit. the amount applied toward the purchase will default to zero (0). You can click in the Store Credit box to type in the amount of available Store Credit you would like to apply (or change the value with the up/down arrows that become visible when you mouse over the Store Credit box).

That’s it. Please check out the system if there are items you wish to convert to Store Credit (like your Hot Tub) for use on other items or pledges and if you encounter any problems with the system please report it to support@portalarium.com.

dallas


Shroud of the Avatar Sets Crowdfunding Record in March


SotA raised $333k in March, making it the highest crowdfunding month to date for the project (not counting the initial Kickstarter month of April 2013)!  All additional funds we raise are applied to the development of the game, allowing us to expand the size of the team (which has grown to 31 members), and increase the amount of content and features.

One of the features we all wished we had enough time and budget for was the addition of mounts in Episode 1, but it just isn’t in the cards. However, we have raised enough funds to give all backers the next best thing: coconuts that sound like horses when banged together! You even get to pantomime trotting around like a horse while you bang them!

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Join the Pool Party in the Final Day of Shroud of the Avatar’s Release 4 Weekend!


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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

It has been an extremely successful Release 4 weekend, with thousands of backers logging in to play the new content. Release 4 includes the first iteration of our combat system (auto swing with equipped weapon), the Overworld Map navigation system, 10 scenes to explore (including towns, wilderness, caves, and dungeons), quests, loot, resource gathering for crafting (and more recipes), player housing in multiplayer mode, swimming, Mac/Linux patching, and multiplayer performance enhancements!

There was a pretty crazy “pool party” yesterday afternoon and into the night! Here you can see Lord British contemplating whether he should join:

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Ah, the temptation was too much for Lord British to resist:

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