Updates

Play Release 126!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 126 goes live May 30th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 126 (R126), we offer many-legged portraits, human and otherwise.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

New Britannian Film Stars

Way back in 2018, while Travian Games and Portalarium were still involved in the production of Shroud of the Avatar, a series of short promotional videos were created and published as part of the marketing campaign. One of those videos was called “Player Town Party” and was set in Darkshire Hills cast entirely by players, 28 in all.

Much effort was put into preparing and executing the event. Cerus of Travian Games worked with Ravalox to coordinate and record the event. There was crafting, dueling, and dancing; a group of players even formed a band and performed during the recording to show off the instrument synchronization feature.

At the end of the video the cast can be seen having an artist capture the event on canvas. Though the canvas was lost soon after the artist completed the work, it has been found and, with the help of Caravaggios Wolf, the canvas has been restored and made available to the folks at the Crown Mercantile shop and warehouse to be added into their extensive Crown Store catalog.

The cast members will be receiving the title of “Film Star” along with their own copy of the painting. If you see one of New Britannia’s Stars during your travels, don’t be shy about asking for an autograph!

The video can be seen here:

 

More New Bug Brigade Rewards

The Bug Brigade has gained four new rewards for distribution in future months: a pair of portrait-oriented insect paintings to intersperse with the three existing landscape ones and a pair of butterfly chairs in new colors to complement the original one. We’ve also made choose-one bags of existing rewards for those who’ve already received all the scheduled items in various categories. The official reward schedule in the forum post will be updated to include these soon.

 

Read more…


Play Release 125!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 125 goes live April 25th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 125 (R125), we offer days with frog and troll.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Scottie Recreates His Elegant Wooden Lion Chair

[From a Forum Post by Scott Jones]

Salutations!

I’d meant to post this a bit earlier, but alas life seems to get in the way (honestly, I’ve had my nose pressed onto FAR TOO many different grindstones, and it’s been difficult juggling everything)! But I’ve been wanting to create THIS particular item for quite some time! Back in the days when a lot of local player events were going on in Austin, I was honored to host quite a number of our players at my own humble home! As a result, they were able to get a gander at some of the interesting artifacts that fill my house, and especially some of my favorite relics of furniture, costumery, and other decorations that I’ve always enjoyed taking to SCA encampments and wearing when attending medieval and renaissance fairs both near and far! One type of furniture I have always treasured (and which is often commented upon by guests) is my late medieval-styled, lion-headed, wooden folding chair …of which I was lucky enough to acquire three!

Mine are not true historical artifacts, but instead the result of some really good work (I believe coming out of India, at the time) which was being sold at a place called Pier 1 Imports long, long ago, back in the late 80’s, when I first joined the SCA! You can still find chairs like this being sold from time to time, but CERTAINLY not at the insanely low prices I got mine for when Pier 1 decided they were done carrying them, and sold them all of for the stultifying price of $15 EACH!!!!! The design is based on one of the MANY different styles of these chairs, such as the Sedia Savonarola, which was a late medieval folding chair that originated in Northern Italy and became popular during the 15th and 16th century! Certainly go check out such chairs online to see the plethora of styles that existed!

Read of my work and see the result in my forum post.

Anyway, when all was said and done I was really happy with the outcome, and I’m hoping you enjoyed my little creative journey I took making something for you fine folks that I’ve been wanting to make for quite a while! As always, I’m not exactly sure how the “powers that be” will be making it available to you all, but I do know that it should be coming your way fairly soon! Thanks again for your interest in my endeavors!

Scottie ^_^

 

Release 125 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 125 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R125 is a content month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R126 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 125!

Read more…


Play Release 124!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 124 goes live March 28th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 124 (R124), we offer many traditional spring signs of life but also a reminder of death.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Join the Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

We will be holding our annual Egg Hunt event in game! Join Laney and other Devs for any of the one-hour event windows on Saturday, March 30th in Mount Midir:

We have scheduled the event windows in such a way as to allow Avatars from all over the world to participate.

Good luck!

 

Scottie’s Work on the New 2024 DarkStarr Metronome

[From a Forum Post by Scott Jones]

Greetings and Salutations folks!

It’s been a bit since I’ve had the chance to reach out and post about stuff I’m working on! And there are a few things I’m working on that I need to wait for a bit before I can reveal the coolness! But lucky for me I just finished something that, though not incredibly elaborate of a task, is delicious enough to present! Of course, this post is just about me and my workflow, as well as my creative thoughts about the task, so I can’t really conjecture about when this will become available or how folks will be able get one into their hot little hands,…but I WILL be showing you some blow-by-blow images reflecting the steps I took to essentially give the old, original DarkStarr Metronome a new and updated look to revel in the classic style of DarkStarr’s glory as our resident Lord of Chaos (and Gothic Fashionista :D).

The inspiration, of course, is the fact that Starr recently celebrated another trip around the sun in our real world, and we thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to honor him in the game with a thoughtful re-working of his old, somewhat brown/bronze-ish Metronome into a more sharp and stylish color-scheme with an extra bit of decorative “flourish” thrown in?” I, for one, always recognized the early, original version as something worth revisiting for the sake of a visual update, at least texture-wise. Here you can see it below!

I really don’t recall the mind-set, at the time, which guided the original artist towards that particular color-scheme, but it certainly always had that “copper and bronze steampunk” sort of aesthetic appeal. Its original motto inscribed at its base, “AS TIME PASSES DEATH APPROACHES”, added a wonderfully sinister edge to the already macabre design and somewhat rusty appearance of its inner workings and gear/scythe combination that gets exposed as part of its “tick-tock” timing mechanism within. Fun stuff! But how to re-visit and offer something a bit different while still maintaining and respecting the initial design?

Read of my work and see the result in my forum post.

Take care for now, folks, and I’ll be back soon to post a little something about some other stuff I’m working on! I hope to make it a habit once again!

Yours truly,
Scottie ^_^

 

Release 124 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 124 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R124 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R125 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 124!

Read more…


Play Release 123!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 123 goes live February 29th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 123 (R123), we offer a little space and a lot of water.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Build a Bazaar With the New Market Lots!

Sometimes you want just small space with no home for an open-air shop. A nice tent, a few stalls… portable and low-maintenence! Our new Market Lots are 10 by 8 meters: the same frontage and just a smidge over half the depth of a Row Lot.

Here is a sample market showing a variety of possible uses:

After a few internal adjustments to some that almost fit, all but the largest tents will fit on a Market Lot, as well as all the craftable stalls and awnings, albeit with some player resizing needed for the larger ones.

  • Tent (Craftable)
  • Welcome Tent
  • Small Canvas Tent (Craftable)
  • Medium Canvas Tent
  • Small Elven Tent (Craftable)
  • Medium Elven Tent
  • Small Knight’s tent
  • Large Knight’s Tent
  • Great Knight’s Tent
  • Triangle Kobold Tent (Craftable)
  • Small Kobold Tent (Craftable)
  • Medium Kobold Tent
  • Virtue Oktoberfest Tent
  • Wide Market Tent
  • Blue Stall Awning (Craftable)
  • Green Stall Awning (Craftable)
  • Red Stall Awning (Craftable)
  • Barn Stall (Craftable)
  • Tall Barn Stall (Craftable)
  • Thin Barn Stall (Craftable)

…as well as a miscellany of sheds, gazebos, pavilions, wells, and outhouses. Some decorated lot examples are below:

Expand for more pictures:


Market Lot decoration limits are:

  • Exterior Objects: 100
  • Exterior Lights: 4
  • Containers: 20
  • NPCs: 1
  • Basements and Dungeons: None!

A 10-pack of Market Lot Property Markers is available for Governors and Stewards in the Crown Store.

As one may always claim a lot with any deed that size or above, and as these lots will be created only by placing Property Markers in Player-Owned Towns, all existing deeds can claim these as they are the new smallest size. However, taxed deeds for Market Lots can be purchased in the Crown Store and upgraded to tax free for Crowns of the Obsidians:

  • Deed, Market (POT, Taxed): 1,100 COTOs
  • Deed, Market (POT, Tax Free): 2,100 COTOs

We hope you find this new lot size useful and inspiring!

 

Live Free on the Sea: POT Tax Free Water Deeds

Village, Town, City, Keep, and Castle POT Tax Free Water Deeds are now available through upgrade of existing non-Founder deeds with Crowns of the Obsidians. You don’t have to be a pirate to hoodwink the tax man, though it helps!

The upgrade values for these new deeds are:

Deed, Village (POT, Tax Free, Water)  5,500 COTOs
Deed, Town (POT, Tax Free, Water) 11,000 COTOs
Deed, City (POT, Tax Free, Water) 22,000 COTOs
Deed, Keep (POT, Tax Free, Water) 44,000 COTOs
Deed, Castle (POT, Tax Free, Water) 88,000 COTOs

Note that the only Water Keep and Castle Lots currently available in Player Owned Towns are the baked-in ones; placeable Property Markers for these sizes are soon to be created but, unlike the baked-in ones, will not be toggle-able to an island for land home placement.

 

Release 123 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 123 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R123 is a polish month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R124 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 123!

Read more…


Play Release 122!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 122 goes live January 25th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 122 (R122), we offer a chance to put your best foot forward and a hope that no one heard it.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

See and Don’t Be Seen in Sneak Scene

Barkeeps in port towns across New Britannia have made their basements available to all sorts of nefarious people who value the ability to come and go without notice. They might have a key, if you ask, to access a place where specialists in skulking hone their craft. Drunken whispers have overshared that those frequenting this ‘sneak scene’ will claim avoiding combat is more important than direct confrontation. Some people might suggest this place is neutral ground, with both assassins and spies putting aside their differences in order to make use of these elaborate training facilities. It might, perhaps, be wise to do any such training before partaking of the barkeeps’ wares, not after.

Find these training grounds under taverns in:

  • Blood Bay
  • Broochash
  • Celestis
  • Goti
  • Etceter
  • Fortus End
  • Kingsport

 

Strut Your Stuff in Mount Midir

Are you the best-dressed Outlander on New Britannia? Catnip Games will be hosting a Shroud of the Avatar fashion event. Show off your best outfit and maybe go home with a trophy! No matter what the outfit is: battle gear, evening wear, seasonal style, or just relaxing, flaunt your best, cleverest custom outfit. There will be three members of the Catnip Games team judging players’ outfits as they demonstrate their style and ingenuity.

The stage is set! Join us in Mount Midir on February 24th at 2pm CT for this very stylish event!

More information will be posted in the forums with signup directions and details.

Read more…


Play Release 121!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 121 goes live December 14th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 121 (R121), we offer frigid and feathered little ankle-biters.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Mysterious Portal Appears in Novia

There have been reports of a portal that has started to appear at random locations all over Novia. We have sent Wladziu, our Senior Field Investigator, to explore and report on what this phenomenon is. Word is that the portals have been seen in every region of Novia, but only in one location at a time. The portal does not seem very stable and we suspect it will not be accessible for long. If any courageous adventurers happen upon this portal, please look for signs of our dear Wladziu and the team; we have not heard back from them since they set out to investigate.

 

Sneak Scene Preview

In some taverns, rumors are shared of a place where specialists in stealth hone their craft. Drunken whispers have overshared that those frequenting this “sneak scene” will claim avoiding combat is more important than direct confrontation. Some people might suggest this place is neutral ground, with both assassins and spies putting aside their differences in order to make use of these elaborate training facilities, but you didn’t hear it from me!

 

Release 121 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 121 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R121 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R122 in the new year. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 121!

Read more…


Play Release 120!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 120 goes live November 16th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 120 (R120), we offer bronze and golden threats.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Ten Years of Monthly Releases

We are fast approaching the ten-year anniversary of Release One. December of 2013 marked the appearance of The Chicken Room, the first scene players were able to access while the game was in early development. Last Spring on April Fools’ Day, we resurrected the room for that one day, playing a trick on anyone who logged in during that 24-hour period by redirecting their login choice (no matter what they selected) to go to an updated version of the room. We added a secret door that led down to a door which took the player to wherever they had originally chosen upon login. There were Easter eggs to find, some literal and some not: some came away from the experience with a new pet chicken while others had chicken for dinner that night.

Next release, we are planning an extended livestream to celebrate the ten years of monthly updates. We hope to have some guests on the stream to share memories and regale us with stories and lore in addition to the usual release update information, special sales, and contests! Word is that the chicken room may make an appearance as well! No, we aren’t going to redirect players into the scene (this time.)

We look forward to everyone joining us on December 15th for this very special livestream!

Read more…


Play Release 119!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 119 goes live October 26th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 119 (R119), we offer treasure for the coffers, treasure for the mind, and a nice place to go back to when you’re done gathering them.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Find a Treasure Map and Set Off for Adventure

In the coming days, you may find a mysterious map along your travels: perhaps on an enemy, in a chest, listed on a player vendor, or given to you by some kind and/or baffled guild-mate. Junior Treasure Hunters across Novia all know to go to Selleck, to be found along the Port Harmony docks, to learn about seeking what it leads to! There’s a guy who really knows where his shovel is. He’ll make sure you know how to use one before sending you out with some helpful hints. There may be valuables ne’er seen before! There may be guardians to battle! It’s a good thing that explorer’s shovel is a weapon…

This first round added to the game includes decrepit maps that will lead you into low-tier zones accessible to players of every level and blood-stained maps that will lead you into zones frequented by players hunting other players. Be sure you trust your party members!

 

Be Transported to a New Tutorial Encounter

Helpful Automatons now have an inventory-themed tutorial they can provide to any Avatar.

The tutorial is a series of one-on-one lessons in a solo scene which any Helpful Automaton can teleport you to upon request. It’s primarily informational, but there are some basic activities which shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. If needed, though, a teleporter at the site will allow you to return to town at any time, even before the tutorial is concluded, and you can always return to the tutorial scene and continue where you left off. Students who complete the tutorial are given a reward.

Helpful Automatons can be found in Soltown, Castle Atos, Kingsport, Port Harmony, and other NPC towns around the world, and more units will be added to other cities over time.

Read more…


Play Release 118!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 118 goes live September 28th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 118 (R118), we offer an improved shopping experience, but not in Jotungrund.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Support Breast Cancer Research with New Make a Difference Items

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, going live October 1st, our Make a Difference Store is having a few items added to its breast cancer charity section. Catnip Games donates 20% of the net purchase price of items in this section to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Starting on the first of the month, a Pink Fireflies 3-Pack will be added!

October 1st also heralds the return of the Pink Katana, which was removed from the in-game store when the Make a Difference store relaunched; a new Pink Katana Pattern 6-Pack has been created to go with it.

Our own reminder, as the month is about awareness, not just donations: despite all the pink, breast cancer is not ONLY a woman’s disease. Men have vestigial breast tissue and can develop cancer as well. It’s rare, but they tend to have worse outcomes because it’s not something they are routinely screened for and so it’s generally caught later in the disease process. If you’re a man who’s noticed any odd changes to your chest, please don’t ignore them!

 

Improvements to the Vendor Listings in Zone Window

The Vendor Listings in Zone window has seen some performance and usage improvements from DevilCult this month:

The window will no longer be destroyed when closing it; it will now just be hidden. A message will appear in chat upon opening the list informing you that you may close the window and let it load in background. While the list continues loading, it might still affect the game a little depending on how many vendors and items are being loaded. Once the list finishes loading, another chat message will appear showing the number of items loaded and the number of vendors in the town, letting you know that it’s ready for use.

Data caching for the vendors (though not the listed items) has been added: when leaving a town and then returning within an hour, that list will still be downloaded but will need to repopulate the items, which can still take some time.

The scroll bar will now resize correctly with the window. Finally, the dark ‘loading’ overlay has been enlarged so players can’t click the columns to sort or the refresh button until the whole list is loaded, which was delaying its completion.

We hope these changes help you search for that rare conversation piece or deadly dagger!

Read more…


Play Release 117!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 117 goes live August 31st at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 117 (R117), we offer challenges and coins. En Garde!

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Courage Club: New Arena, New Challengers, New Rewards

Courage Club has gotten a series of improvements! Note that some of these were suggested and encouraged by players, but things got a little out of hand and we added some extra bells and whistles.

Courage Club is a secret fight club where avatars can prove their mettle by fighting several enemies, one at a time, in a small, private arena. There are Courage Clubs in Aerie, Central Brittany, Mud, Resolute, Valhold, and Westend; talk to the local guards to get a Courage Club Key and find a hatch to enter, generally near the guard offices.

After some heavy excavation, the Club has expanded its small boxy fighting pit into a bigger, rounder arena. This improved space has attracted more and tougher participants:

Previously, players would fight five enemies of random capabilities and ever-increasing threat and the last enemy was a champion with a unique name. Now, that’s Bracket 1! (You only need to complete Bracket 1 to receive the Banner of Valor. Also, completing or slinking away from Bracket 1 will now modify your virtue once a day, rather than only the first time.)

The NEXT three enemies, Bracket 2, are tougher, with a named and possibly uniquely-styled champion as the third opponent. Then there’s Bracket 3: three of the toughest competitors, with the final being a champion with a unique name AND appearance.

Remember to ransack the fallen: the defeated of Bracket 1 drop Courage Club Bronze Coins, Bracket 2 drops Courage Club Silver Coins, and Bracket 3 drops Courage Club Gold Coins. Make sure you collect them for a bonus reward! The referee will trade ten Bronze Coins, seven Silver Coins, and/or seven Gold Coins for a reward.

You can choose to trade the coins in for gold and experience once a day, as three separate daily quests, OR trade them for decorative versions of the same coins as often as you have enough: a Commemorative Courage Club Bronze Coin, Silver Coin, and Gold Coin. These coins are always slowly spinning on their edges and have a visual effect glow (but are not a light source).

(Known issue: for now, you’ll need ten each of gold and silver coins to trigger the turn-in for these commemorative coins, even though you only need to hand in seven.)

There are four new leaderboards to track these underground feats: a main one for Courage Club fight totals but also ones tracking fights against the final champions of each bracket.

Perhaps this is why the Oracle knows about Courage Club! If you participate in Courage Club and then ask the Oracle about courage, she might have some feedback on your performance. Who doesn’t like to watch a good fight? I wonder who she roots for…

 

Release 117 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 117 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R117 is a polish month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R118 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 117!

Read more…