Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Making of Central Brittany
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 28 Postmortem
• Richard Garriott at Cartoons on the Bay (Venice, Italy)
• New (Old) Player Homes

The Making of Brittany

This the continuing update on progress on Brittany. Central Brittany is scheduled to go live in Release 29.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

CITY OF BRITTANY LAYOUT

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here to give you an update on the City of Brittany!

As Brittany approaches its final stages, I have compiled a map with all the current player lot locations and interesting locations you will find in the city. In designing Brittany I wanted every section of the city to feel unique, below you’ll see names of neighborhoods and streets that not only give an identity to the different sectors but I hope will help you guys, the players in establishing your homes and identifying with specific areas.

Looking West from Portside:

Rollo’s Parade:

Quinn’s Peak:

At the fork of Old Holtrop Road and Cotton Road:

Zaldivar Square:

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Brittany!

Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 28 Postmortem

The team had a Hangout of the Avatar this week, with Richard, Starr, Chris, Lum, and Gina chatting about Release 28 and providing a sneak peek at Release 29. FireLotus fielded lots of questions and feedback live in the chat-room and from the original post!  For every $1000 pledged during the Hangout Chris did shots while Starr either sang or danced.

Here is the video in case you missed it live:

Richard Garriott at Cartoons on the Bay (Venice, Italy)

Richard Garriott received one of two Pulcinella Special Awards for Lifetime Achievement at the 20th annual Cartoons on the Bay animation and multi-media festival where he also served on the international jury. From their webpage:

Richard Garriott de Cayeux, in art Lord British. Born in 1961 in Cambridge to American parents, he grew up in Texas. Had he not been in space on 12 October 2008, following in the footsteps of his father, a professional astronaut, he would be no less famous. Richard Garriott is, in fact, the first game developer to have created a genuine role playing game with his seminal Akalabeth: World of Doom (1979). It was soon followed by the creation that would mark his eternal fortune, giving life to an endless saga of huge success:Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (1980). The undisputed king of RPGs, with his masterpiece Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (1985), Richard Garriott makes another miracle in 1997, when with Ultima Online he creates the first MMORPG, or “massively multiplayer online role playing game,” according to the definition that he coined. It is an online interconnected world in which players all over the planet can live a parallel life, interacting and fighting. This intuition has changed forever the way people play and understand the online experience. Richard Garriott, who will be a member of the international jury at Cartoons On the Bay 2016, will also receive a much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, holding a special master class.

Richard, ever gracious, had this to say about receiving the award: “I received a “Special Award for Contributions to Computer Gaming”, specifically for the many advances brought to gaming through games I have helped lead. I was very grateful to be there and receive this award, but also noted from the stage: “I have had the good fortune to be in this industry for many years and so have had many opportunities to help advance the state of the art, but it is important to thank the teams who built Ultiima, Ultima Online & Tabula Rasa that I have worked with in making these games, many of whom I still work with after decades in this business. It is often really others on the team, who have made these advances and deserve credit for this award.”

While at the festival Richard was featured on Rai.tv in multiple segments. The first segment with Richard starts at 8:40. The second segment starts at 17:39.

New (Old) Player Homes

Several community members suggested that Portalarium turn the Wood & Stone Guard Tower used in various towns, like Kingsport (and in Player Owned Towns) into a Player Home. So they did! In the process, they added an interior floor and some windows for that floor. The Wood & Stone Guard Tower Village Home can be found in the Add On Store.

They also had some community requests to reintroduce the original Knight’s Keep from the Knight’s pledge that was replaced with a new model. This venerable old structure has been re-introduced to the game and can be found in the Add On Store.