Updates

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 15 Postmortem

March 9, 2015

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Thou hast been invited to the Release 15 Postmortem!

Please join us Friday, March 13th at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 15, recounting their favorite moments while also looking ahead to Release 16. And as usual, Fire Lotus will be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section.*

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief.

We will be giving some really awesome prizes during the 90 minute extended Hangout, and all you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. The link to the hangout will be posted here directly before the hangout begins.

UPDATE: We will have a special guest for this hangout! Our very own Tracy Hickman will be joining us!

Update of the Avatar #115 – 2015.03.06: Community Decoration Contests, Black Lepus Mask, Abe’s Overworld, Underworld 143% Funded, Crowfall Passes $1M, and More!

March 6, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Community Sponsored Decoration Contest
Abe’s Overworld Work-in-Progress
Release 16 Grand Tour Quest Reward: Black Lepus Mask
Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter Raises 143% of Goal!
Crowfall Kickstarter Passes $1 Million Stretch Goal!
In-game Community Weekend Events
Sir Frank’s Writing Contest (with Prizes!)
Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
This Week In The News
Upcoming Events

Community Sponsored Decoration Contest

Last month, community member Athanil sponsored a Release 14 Decoration Contest that 28 people participated in! Community member Lollie coordinated a tour of all the competing homes with the contestants hosting a walk-thru and describing their decorating efforts. The winners were determined by the participants voting on each other’s homes. Themo Lock was the runner up, and the following community members tied for 1st Place:

Doctor Shroud: Decorated a Druid Home in a Town Lot in Port Mirren, (Loc: -69.9, 185.0, -565.6)

Update of the Avatar #114 – 2015.02.27: Underworld Funded and Final Week Push, Crowfall Funded, Jabbering Bertha, SotA’s 1st Wedding, Rick’s Spectral Mines, and More!

February 27, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Play Release 15 Now!
Underworld Funded – Now Entering Final Week!
Crowfall Kickstarter Funded in 3 Days!
Final Week for Massively Kickstarter
First Wedding in New Britannia
Rick Holtrop’s Spectral Mines
In-game Community Weekend Events
Sir Frank’s Writing Contest (with Prizes!)
Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
This Week In The News
Upcoming Events

Play Release 15 Now!

Release 15 screenshot courtesy of *Meyaka*[PeV]. Check out more in the Release 15 Screenshot Gallery.

Release 15 Instructions – Unity 5 is Alive!

February 25, 2015

[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings Avatars,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 15 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, February 26 at 10:30 AM Central Time (16:30 UTC).

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

This far from launch, we are in a constant state of change and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

We are very excited that Release 15 represents our first release using Unity 5, the latest version of the Unity engine. Unity 5 provides us with both improved performance opportunities and graphical upgrades that will allow us to iteratively and dramatically improve the visual presentation of Shroud of the Avatar. As we have said before, our goal is to make sure Shroud is as visually compelling as we have time to make it. However, whenever we have to make a choice between simulation (turning lights on/off, picking up items from the world, NPC schedules, etc.) and visuals, we will ALWAYS choose the simulation.

Update of the Avatar #113 – 2015.02.20: Underworld Gets Tracy Hickman and Steam Greenlight, SotA Single Player Features, Abe on Overworld, Chris Talks Economy, and More!

February 20, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Underworld Gets Tracy Hickman and Steam Greenlight
Single Player Offline Features
Abe Weighs in on Crafting the Novia Overworld
Let’s Talk About the Economy!
SotA On The Road Again!
Massively Kickstarter Success
In-game Community Weekend Events
Sir Frank’s Writing Contest (with Prizes!)
Last Chance Exclusives
Gem Treasure Designs: Silver Serpent Pendant
Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items in Release 14
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
Upcoming Events

Underworld Gets Tracy Hickman and Steam Greenlight

As previously reported, our long-time friend and former Origin protégé, Paul Neurath, is rebooting the legendary Ultima Underworld games with the Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter campaign! It has been more than a decade long wait, but the stars have aligned and Paul has at long last freed the rights to move forward with the franchise. We’re especially excited that, just as the original Ultima and Underworld shared a connection on backstory and fictional elements, so too will Shroud of the Avatar and Underworld Ascendant.

We’re excited to announce that SotA Lead Story Designer and co-author of SotA’s Blade of the Avatar novel, Tracy Hickman, has signed up to pen an Underworld Ascendant novel as part of their $750k Stretch Goal:

Tracy’s talents as a fantasy author, together with his deep experience with gaming and close collaboration on Shroud of the Avatar, a world connected to ours, make him ideally suited to write the Underworld Ascendant novel. The novel is going to be set several generations before the game takes place, and tell the story of how a band of Dark Elves from the land of the Shroud of the Avatar passed through a magic portal to make an exodus into the Stygian Abyss. It will tell of their trials in this harsh and dangerous underworld, and of how they carved out a place for themselves. – Underworld Ascendant Update #15

Are You Ready for some twitching!

February 18, 2015

Our friends on the Underworld Ascendant team over at Otherside Entertainment recently posted about some fun twitch action they have going on, starting today! Here’s what they said:

…we wanted to give everybody a heads-up that over the coming 3 weeks we’ll be doing a series of sessions on Twitch, which we’re calling Otherside plays Looking Glass, Folks from OtherSide, along with some very special guests, are going to be playing a selection of classic games we worked on when we were at Looking Glass.

First up is Thief, this Wednesday at 3pm – 6pm EST. Then System Shock 2 on Wednesday the 25th (time TBD). For the finale session on Wednesday March 4th (time TBD), Ultima Underworld naturally.

During each session we will be chatting about the game, sharing behind-the-scenes anecdotes about what went into its development, and more. We will also be giving away some free digital copies of these classic games. Please come join us, and tell your friends to come along too!

Update of the Avatar #112 – 2015.02.13: Underworld Dark Elven Kinsman Buckler, Necropolis Dungeon, Verdantis Shardfall, 50k Backers, and More!

February 13, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Necropolis: The Halls of the Dead
Underworld Ascendant: The Dark Elven “Kinsman” Buckler
Verdantis Shardfall
Novia Overworld Work-In-Progress
Help Us With Your Positive Recommendation on Steam
Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 14 Postmortem
SotA Reaches 50,000 Backers!
Massively Kickstarter Success
In-game Community Weekend Events
Last Chance Exclusives
Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items in Release 14
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Payment Plans
This Week In The News
Upcoming Events

Scene from the Necropolis Dungeon

Update of the Avatar #111 – 2015.02.06: Help Support Underworld Kickstarter, Bank Slot Rewards, Carnival Mask, Time.com Top 50, $10 for $10 Bonus, and More!

February 6, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Raise the Underworld
New Pledge Rewards: Bank Slots
Receiving Pledge Rewards and Add-On Items in Release 14
Time.com includes SotA in Top 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2015
The Release 15 Grand Tour Silver Jester Carnival Mask
Limited Edition Jester Carnival Mask
Massively Overpowered Kickstarter
$10 for $10 Bonus Promotion
Novia Overworld Work-In-Progress
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
In-game Community Weekend Events
Last Chance Exclusives
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Payment Plans
This Week In The News
Upcoming Events

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 14 Postmortem

February 6, 2015

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Thou hast been invited to the Release 14 Postmortem!

A special thank you to redfish for the R14 screenshot!

Yes, we know that Release 14 is still alive and kicking, but it’s become a tradition for our team to review each release and celebrate it’s successes, while reflecting on what still needs to be improved! So, please join us Wednesday, February 11th at 3pm CDT for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 14, recounting their favorite moments while also looking ahead to Release 15. And as usual, I’ll be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section.*

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief.

And this just in! We will be giving some really awesome prizes during the 90 minute extended Hangout, and all you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. See ya then!

Update of the Avatar #110 – 2015.01.30: Underworld Kickstarter, Play R14 Now, $10 for $10 Bonus, Novia WIP, Denis Loubet Patreon, and More!

January 30, 2015

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Raise the Underworld
Play Release 14 Now and Get Your Grand Tour Hennin Hat
$10 for $10 Bonus Promotion
Standing Stones
Novia Overworld Work-In-Progress
In-game Books
Elven Tents
Support Denis Loubet on Patreon
New Britannia Theater Troupe: Live Double Feature Videos
Pledge Rewards, Add-Ons, and Banks in Release 14
Changes to Store Credit Conversions
In-game Community Weekend Events
Last Chance Exclusives
Steam Access Keys Available for All Backers
How to Cancel Monthly Payment Plans
This Week In The News
Upcoming Events

Raise the Underworld