Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- Duke & LotM VIP Design Roundtable
- Share Your Screenshots on SotA’s Steam Community Hub
- More Release 12 Scenes
- $5M Backer Bonus Reward
- SotA Community is Rockin’ It!
- Get Your 15% Bonus
- Holiday Specials
- Last Chance Exclusives: Cooking Pot of Prosperity and Magic Sigil Cloak
- Alienware Sponsors $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon
- Upcoming Events
Duke & LotM VIP Design Roundtable
Today we were honored to host several of our Dukes and Lord of the Manors for the VIP Design Roundtable and Portalarium Studio Tour (part of the Duke and LotM pledge rewards).
The design discussions started around noon and kept going till dark! Our VIPs had lots of amazing feedback to share during the roundtable and team breakout sessions, covering every aspect of the game. At the end of the day it felt like we’d just scratched the surface of their wealth of design insights!
Duke Henk Birkholz (aka Wahooka) showed up a little early, so in the true spirit of a crowdsourced project, we immediately put him to work helping Richard relocate his desk and workstation to a different room:
Share Your Screenshots on SotA’s Steam Community Hub
We also put Duke Joe Tate (aka Violation) to work helping us publish the SotA Steam Store Page and Community Hub.
In the true spirit of game development, it failed to publish on the first try! But not to fear, it worked on the second try!
The game cannot be purchased on Steam until November 24th, but the SotA Store Page and Community Hub are now live and accessible by the public, ready for your discussions, screenshots, artwork, videos, guides, and reviews!
Community members have already posted some great Release 11 screenshots and videos to the Steam Community Hub. We invite all of you to help us showoff the game to the Steam community and get ready to post your great Release 12 screenshots next week when R12 launches (Nov. 20th). Here are the steps for capturing screenshots and posting them to the SotA Steam Community Hub:
1. Run the Steam version of Release 12 when it launches on November 20th (if you haven’t redeemed your Steam Access Key then click here for instructions)
2. Press F12 while in-game to take a screenshot. Steam stores the captured screenshots on your local computer for each session.
3. Press SHIFT-TAB when you are ready to upload the screenshots you have captured, and click on “VIEW SCREENSHOTS” from the Steam menu that appears:
4. Select the images you wish to upload (add a caption if you like) and select “UPLOAD”
5. Next you select “Public” visibility so others can see your great screenshot (this menu is disabled in-game until SotA launches on Early Access on Nov 24th, so you can skip this step for now)
6. Select “UPLOAD”
7. After they are uploaded, select “VIEW ONLINE LIBRARY”
8. Steam will overlay an in-game browser, allowing you to manage all the screenshots you’ve uploaded. Click on the “Manage screenshots” button, click the checkbox in the top-left corner of each screenshot you wish to share with the community, then click the “Make Public” button:
9. Press ESC to close all the Steam windows and you are back to the game screen and the screenshots you made public can now be viewed by the entire Steam community! Yay!
Here’s the link to the SotA Community Hub if you want to check out your screenshots online: http://steamcommunity.com/app/326160
Once you’re at the Community Hub, select the “Screenshots” tab, and then select “MOST RECENT” from the “SHOW” menu, and your screenshots should be near the top:
More Release 12 Scenes
Here are a few of the new scenes you might encounter in Release 12…if you can discover where they are!
The R12 Grand Tour Quest
Just as in our past few releases, we’ve included a Grand Tour Quest in R12 designed to guide you through all the new content. Just in time for Thanksgiving, you will be able to get this Pilgrim’s Hat by completing the Release 12 Grand Tour Quest. This reward can only be unlocked during Release 12 (did someone say rares?), so be sure to log in to R12 starting next week and talk to all the Tour Guides!
$5M Backer Bonus Reward
As a special thank you to all of our amazing backers that helped us reach $5M funds raised a couple weeks ago, we are adding this Steampunk Hat to the basic rewards of all pledges! We can never thank all of you enough for your generous support that is helping make Shroud of the Avatar the best game it can be!
SotA Community is Rockin’ It!
Last week we introduced you to some of the exceptional music from our community of composers that is showing up in Shroud of the Avatar. If you had not noticed in that first group of musical compositions we showcased, the titles I requested for the compositions were also a description of what I wanted the pieces to sound like. While the composers were also allowed to provide a few sentences to describe the piece, I had really hoped that the musical pieces would sound like their names and vice versa. This naming standard also helps us keep track of what is done, and what remains. This week, we showcase 5 more of the musical compositions that you are already hearing inside SotA:
Kobold Industry: https://soundcloud.com/kailef/the-clockwork-storm-final-sota-kobold-industry-submission
Another masterful piece from Jarrod Kailef, perfectly captures the sound environment we are looking for when players discover the cleaver constructions of the Kobold race. Humans in our world owe a lot to the industry and intelligence of the Kobolds.
Loss of Honor: https://soundcloud.com/doug-yassen/loss-of-honor-shroud-of-the-avatar-final-mix
Douglass Yassen created this wonderful piece which will be found in one of the ruins of ancient Britannia. Sad indeed that the virtues have been forsaken. The loss of Honor is but one of the deep tragedies of the new world.
Mysterious Cavern: https://soundcloud.com/peter-boiko/mysterious-cavern-3
Peter Boiko has crafted a great track here that nicely blends the environmental ambiance we are looking for in mysterious caverns, while also having a captivating and mysterious melody!
Over Hill and Round the Mountain: https://soundcloud.com/richarddaskas/over-hill-and-round-the-mountain-final-version?in=richarddaskas/sets/shroud-of-the-avatar-sota
Richard Daskas perfectly captured this exploration and discovery piece which players will hear as they explore new Britannia. The sun is shining and the world is growing in wonder, what will we find round the next bend or over that far hill?
The Garden of Sorrow: https://soundcloud.com/tinottt/the-garden-of-sorrow
Faustino Sanchez II’s garden of Sorrow will sound perfect in the Necropolis, while players explore this underworld meeting it undead gods and unrestful spirits.
We have so much more to share with you, I am overwhelmed by the creativity and quality of music created for Shroud of the Avatar by YOU, our amazing community!
– Lord British
Steam Access Keys Now Available for All SotA Backers
SotA will launch on Steam Early Access on November 24, but we’ve made Steam Access Keys immediately available to all our backers as part of their basic pledge rewards! Once you’ve redeemed your Steam Access Key you’ll have the option of playing SotA either with the Steam client or the regular client (or both).
Click here for instructions to redeem your Steam access key and installing the Steam SotA client…
Only 18 Days left to get your 15% Black Friday Bonus!
If you were thinking of pledging your support to the development of Shroud of the Avatar, upgrading your existing pledge, or purchasing an add-on item, player owned town, or stretch goal item, now’s a great time to do it! From now thru Black Friday Weekend we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! Here are the details:
For all new purchases (including pledges, pledge upgrades, add-on items, player owned towns, and stretch goal items) between 12:00 am CST October 10, 2014 and 12:00 am CST December 2, 2014, we will add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! You can use your Store Credit toward any additional purchase (including pledges, pledge upgrades, add-on items, and player owned towns).
[NOTE: The 15% bonus is calculated every day at 1:00 pm CST and added to your Store Credit account; Store Credit cannot be applied toward stretch goal items]
For example, if you have the $45 Adventurer pledge and really want to upgrade to the $90 Royal Artisan pledge which includes Episodes 2 and 3 as pledge rewards, you would normally pay the extra $45 for the upgrade. But using the 15% bonus you can immediately save $5. To do so, you would first purchase $40 worth of Store Credit Gift Coupons (via PayPal, Amazon, Bitcoin, or credit card; excluding existing Store Credit) then use the “Convert to Credits” option on your account page to transform the Store Credit Gift Coupons back into Store Credit. Within 24 hours an additional $6 bonus ($40 x 15%) would be applied to your Store Credit account, bringing it up to $46. You would then use $45 of your Store Credit to upgrade to the $90 Royal Artisan pledge.
Holiday Specials
Yep, it’s that time of the year again. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve brought back some holiday favorites, including the Taming Turkey Call, Taming Reindeer Call, Menorah, and Cornucopia, and this week we have even more seasonal specials:
This beautiful Yule Tree will create a festive mood in all who see it. Perfect for both in-door and out-door decorating! Available for a limited time in the Add-On Store!
This magical box of 50 snowballs regenerates annually during the holiday season. One Replenishing Snowball Box is included in the basic rewards of all pledge tiers. By popular demand we added it to the Add-On Store so you can get extra Snowball Boxes (thus insuring a steady supply of snowballs in between the holiday regenerations). Available for a limited time in the Add-On Store at 33% off!
Get ready to celebrate the holidays with a bang with your own Replenishing Fireworks Box! A magical box of 50 fireworks that regenerates periodically. Available for a limited time in the Add-On Store at 33% off!
You can get all 7 of the 2014 holiday items at an even greater savings with the 2014 Holiday Bundle! Includes Taming Turkey Call, Taming Reindeer Call, Cornucopia, Yule Tree, Menorah, Replenishing Fireworks Box, and the Replenishing Snowball Box. Available for a limited time in the Add-On Store.
Last Chance Exclusives
Every week going forward we are removing select items from the Add-On Store, so if you want them you better get them before they are gone! Over the past few weeks we’ve phased out the Scissors of Prosperity, Cubit Measure of Prosperity, Combat Sigil Cloak, Crafting Sigil Cloak, Shingle-Roof Village Homes, Rustic 2-Story with Balcony Village Home, and the Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Town Home. This week, the following items are available for an additional 20% off, and then will no longer be available in the Add-On Store.
This unique, indestructible, cooking pot increases the ability to make higher quality foods. While cooking pots with similar effects can be crafted and purchased in the game this particular pot never needs repair.
If you loved the Magic Sigil, then you’re especially going to love it adorning this beautifully crafted cloak!
Alienware Sponsors $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon
Alienware’s powerful gaming rigs are a perfect match for Shroud of the Avatar! To show their support, Alienware is sponsoring $20 SotA Pledge Upgrade Coupons to members of their Alienware Arena community!
These coupons can be used to start a SotA pledge account (for new backers), or to add $20 to an existing pledge account. If, for example, you have a $90 Royal Artisan Pledge, you can use the Alienware coupon to bump you up to a $110 Virtual Collector Pledge.
Pretty sweet deal, right? So, hurry over to the Alienware Arena website and get your $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon now!
[NOTE: Only one Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon can be used per account. Coupon does not apply to Add-On Store items]
Upcoming Events
2014.11.14 – Duke & Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour
2014.11.15 – HoBLotH II: Legends of the Hearth
2014.11.20 – Release 12 Access
2014.11.24 – SotA launches on Steam Early Access
2014.11.26 – Monthly Video Hangout: R12 & R13 Discussion
2014.11.27 – SotA at Dreamhack (Sweden)
2014.12.18 – Release 13 Access
2015.01.22 – Release 14 Access
2015.02.19 – Release 15 Access
2015.03.13 – SotA at SXSW Interactive
2015.03.26 – Release 16 Access
<3 The Steampunk Hat!
Me too!
Love the new scene screenshots
All the hats are cool and all, I’m really hoping for a maiquien head or something where I can display them all on my walls or something.
Hat stands are a great idea…also maybe a hat rack that fixes to the wall or a free standing one like a coat stand.
I’m really enjoying that there is a screenshot of me, in my birthday suit, seen in step #9 above
Is the Steampunk hat a light source? If so it better need coal to light up!
If this doesn’t happen, I’m going to be extremely disappointed. GREAT idea!
Love the Steampunk hat. Get my Tom Petty on.
The roundtable was actually a rectangle?
Its a roundtable constructed with fewer polygons.
Seriously, what is the deal with all the Hats?
We don’t need a second TF2.
I’m not thrilled about the name of the “Pilgrim” hat. How about just calling it a “Buckle” hat instead?
The house in the new scene is the house I want to own. I love the whole scene….looking forward to finding it.
I also like the house / scene. That’s the place I’d want to dwell in!
Lol, the steam punk hat is just too cool, now if only the googles could be worn.
Steam Punk hat is cool, but it’d be cooler w/out the Goggles.