Starr Long has posted the instructions for Shroud of the Avatar’s seventh pre-alpha test release, colloquially referred to as Release 7.

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 7 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, June 26 at 10:30 AM Central Time. Release 7 access will end on Sunday, June 29 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.

What an epic month this has been! We launched new pledge content, new pledge tiers, a stretch goal store, showed at E3 while at the same time we did not slow down one bit on getting this release done. In fact, this release we missed fewer goals and delivered more extra content than any previous release! In contrast, past E3 preparations for previous projects have lasted for months and included throw-away work for marketing purposes. This is a testament to how we are making this game, which, as you have seen from the E3 coverage, is something we feel as strongly about as we do the game itself. Of course a huge part of the “how we are making” is you, our loyal backers.

As per usual, instructions to download and install the game client can be found here, while a list of known issues can be found here. If you already have the game client installed, there is of course no need to delete and re-install it; simply opening it and letting it download the latest game updates is sufficient.

These seem to be the major changes that Release 7 will introduce:

• 3D Overworld Map System: We are switching our dual scale navigation system from the 2D version you have seen so far to a 3D version more like what we showed during Kickstarter. This initial release will mainly be about the visuals, so players will still be represented as markers and there will be no random encounters. Since this is first release with this version of the map it is missing many features including visible roads, hex grid, animating avatars, encounters, etc. (all of which you can expect to see in future releases).
• Player to Player secure trade: Did you discover something cool you want to give your friend? Need to share some potions with a party member? Did you craft something amazing you want to trade? Secure trade is the answer, and will allow you to make exchanges of goods between you and other players. Note that gold cannot be traded currently but that will come soon.
• Water Lots: We will be adding water lot functionality to the game. This includes 7 water based buildings including: Citizen Cabana, Edelmann Cabana, Knight’s Lighthouse, Lord’s Houseboat, Duke Island Castle, Baron Galleon, and Baron Frigate.
• NPC Collision / Responsiveness: We will be spending time on polishing NPC collision and general movement responsiveness to combat things like NPC standing inside you, spreading out when attacking, avoiding players while moving, etc. While we did some iterations on this in R7 we still don’t feel this is where it needs to be so we will continue working on this in R8.
• Animals: Currently all our animals (bears, wolves, etc.) are purchased assets and the skinning, rigging, and animations for them is not meeting our quality standards, so we are going to reskin and rig them so that we can redo their animations. Stag and Bear are now complete. Canines (wolves and dogs) will start going in Release 8.
• Player Housing Built-in Lighting: We have gotten consistent feedback that it is too hard to get player placed lights in the right configuration to really light the player houses. So starting with R7 we will begin placing built in lights (chandeliers, sconces, etc.) to provide a base lighting level for all the player houses. These lights will turn on and off just like regular lights and can be augmented with player placed lights as well. Long term these lights will be decorative objects that can be removed, moved, etc. but currently they are permanent fixtures.
• Scenes: A few new scenes will come online, including Player Towns on Islands (to feature water lots) and the first scene on the mainland (The Graff Gem Mines). We also replaced the entrance map to the Ravensmoor dungeon with a new map based on one of Stephen Daniele’s early concept pieces (see below). NOTE: The Lunar Rift in Owl’s Head now takes you to the Graff Gem Mines, NOT Kingsport. Also the Kingsport rift is disabled.

There are other changes as well; review either the full post from Starr or the event entry here for more details. Notably absent from this release will be PvP duels, which had originally been planned for inclusion. As well, I don’t see where — if anywhere — Starr mentions gaining experience points for crafting in his post; that too had been a planned feature.

Of course, the feature that most people seem to be excited about is the return of the 3D overland map.

Along with the Release 7 instructions, Starr Long released an image of the Raven’s Moor dungeon. I’m not sure where in Novia it’s supposed to be situated, but I do know that it’s the name of the dungeon depicted in the “Skull Island” concept art released during the Kickstarter campaign. Here’s that concept piece, and the in-game image, side-by-side:

I will admit to being just a little underwhelmed. Not that it looks bad; the scene as it has been built is of excellent quality. But it certainly doesn’t capture the ambiance of the art on which it is based.