Portalarium are now posting major updates concerning Shroud of the Avatar exclusively to the game’s website proper, rather than mirroring them to its Kickstarter page as well. The first such update gives us a look at the village home for Knight-level founders (that is: those who backed the game prior to May 2013). It’s a two-story dwelling, which I think was featured in the recent demo video.

The second floor of the house has a bedroom, and the upper deck is a split-level setup well-suited to the addition of e.g. chairs or crafting stations.

Here’s what the Knight’s house looks like in comparison to some other Village homes:

And here’s a comparison of floor plans:

As well, the update contains what may be exciting news to some backers: an additional 200 Village-level property deeds have been put up for sale in the Shroud of the Avatar add-on store. For a limited time, you can snap up a Village property for $150 (regular price: $200).

And yes, a basic house is included with the deed:

The Village Property Deed in the Add-On Store includes the Shingle-Roof Village Home, shown here next to an empty village lot…

However, unlike deeds awarded to higher-level backers, these add-on Village-level deeds are subject to an in-game tax:

Village Lot Property Deeds purchased through the Add-On Store will have an in game currency tax that must be paid monthly or the lot reverts to being for sale and the Lot Deed is returned to the owner. Backers at Citizen level and above receive a tax exempt Lot Deed. All lot deeds are transferable between players.

Additionally, Portalarium have clarified the order in which lots may be chosen by backers:

First priority will be given to backers [I think they may have meant “founders” here — WtFD] for lot choice. The order will be determined by amount of pledge. Backers [founders? – WtFD] will be given an exclusive window to choose their lots. Each backer [founder? – WtFD] can choose exactly one lot during the window. The next window will be given to those who purchase lots from the Add On Store. After that window lot choice will be open to all players.

Finally, here are the details on the Unity Scene Jams that Portalarium will be hosting. First: prizes!

The overall winner receives:

• Unity Pro License – $1500 value
• Oculus Rift – $300 value
• Shroud of the Avatar Baron Pledge – $3000 value
• UnityVS 1.2 License – $249 value
• Alienware Grab Bag (Backpack, mouse, keyboard, headset) – $350 value

Weekly winners receive:

• Shroud of the Avatar KNIGHT Level Pledge ($800 value! Can be divided into smaller pledge tiers for multi-person teams)
• Game box will be signed by the entire dev team
• Shroud of the Avatar T-Shirt

And here is how the Jams will play out:

Starting on September 20th and then every other weekend for the next 6 weeks, we will be doing 48 hour Shroud Scene Jams! On every other Friday at 6PM CST (UTC-6) we will announce the scene challenge details with documentation and a video message from members of the team. You then have 48 hours to create the scene in Unity and upload it Sunday night. We’ll announce the weekly winner the following Friday.

…

The Friday after the final weekend of the contest, November 8th, we will announce the overall grand prize winner! Grand prize winner will be based on the single best scene of the entire competition!

Starting times for the 48 hour jams:

• September 20, 6PM CST (UTC-6)
• October 4, 6pm CST (UTC-6)
• October 18, 6PM CST (UTC-6)
• November 1, 6PM CST (UTC-6)

At the start of each game jam we will reveal the secret scene challenge and the details! This will likely be done in the form of a document, a video, and some specific assets to help you get started. The secret scene challenge will vary each week and could be anything from Richard describing one of his ideas for a scene to a piece of concept art.

Scenes will be judged by Richard and the team based on quality, creativity, how closely it matches the announced challenge, and how closely it resembles something that would feel right at home in Shroud of the Avatar!

So…if that sounds at all interesting to you, Dragons and Dragonettes, grab a copy of Unity and get ready to create some magic.