Shroud of the Avatar – Update of the Avatar #207
Greetings Fellow Avatars, sorry this is late but things have been crazy busy!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
Release 37 launched December 15, with some backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s new content to explore, including:
- Superstition Canyon Rebuilt
- Ardoris Polish
- Tons of Performance Improvements
- Town Sieges
- Obsidian Bundles
- New Crown Merchants: Obsidian, Kobold, and Caretaker (aka Spooky)
- New Custom NPCs: Ardoris Guards
- Loading Screen Hints
- R36 Lot Deed Raffle Winners
Release 37 Player Instructions
Release 37 Known Issue
Xenos Polish (cont.)
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]
Hello my fine folks!
As I continue to develop the details of Xenos, my thoughts keep going back to the rocky entrance through the coastal hills from the Elysian Plains southwest of the city… Though many will choose to visit the land of Elysium by ship from the mainland of New Britannia, thus arriving at the port of Xenos, those adventuring out into wilderness and rolling hills of Elysium and returning again will enter from the south, passing through forested acres festooned with the tents of travelers unable to pay for richer housing within the city.
Since the draw of Xenos is the Lottery, and the laws of the land allow fair passage to all races, assuming they behave in a civilized fashion, the tents of the people of many lands can be found here, as well as the occasional encampment of friendly elves and kobolds. This will hopefully be a place where many different tales can be found and shared, and the hopes and dreams of supplicants awaiting their chance at the Lottery of Artifice can be wistfully imparted upon those who will listen.
Though I have not fully polished the encampments, here you can see my first pass at the variety of tents spread through the meadows and thickets.
This being one of the main roads leading into the city, it will eventually receive the same treatment I am giving to the other primary thoroughfares, namely the paving stones lining each edge of the cobbled pathway, as well as the upraised borders with dusty foot-trails etched along the grassy way to either side. The well-traveled road leads past the ancient caravanserai stationed near the edge of the Lagoon of Pleasures which I showcased in an earlier sub-post.
This building (one of the larger “desert” style homes, actually) I have adorned with various Greco-Roman features and details, and have reserved it as a place for the more quaint travelers to barter and trade. Within will eventually be found the same types of tented merchant stalls as can be discovered along the busy docks near the town center…
The idea with a caravanserai, however, is that the visiting merchants with their wagons and caravans would actually reside (at least temporarily) in one of the many different rooms available in this building, and pitch their wares in the stalls either within the inner courtyard (accessed straight through that little door you see below), or upon the second story roof balcony overlooking it from above…
Not far to the east of here several neighborhoods stretch away toward the plains and the bay, and if one were to gaze out over them from atop one of the many taller building found here, one could see the northeastern aqueducts stretching like a crooked stone snake from the taller heights into the residential areas below.
Though it may be interesting to see the placeholder houses I have chosen to display, these will eventually become the domiciles of whomever has purchased those plots, and the spaces in between will be dotted with little gardens and follies decorated with bits of ancient ruins and artful statuary of my choosing, while the coasts will have steps leading into the water, and platforms here and there bedecked in flowering plants and tall sculpted junipers.
Those who enter the city from the north, however, will enjoy the finely sculpted stone docks of Xenos, and its busy port full of market stalls, garden paths, and the Grand Gate leading into the Forum of the Lottery itself! Only the dazzling city of Ardoris, who shares with Xenos the need for aqueducts, has a similar flavor and mystique, with its paved streets and many alleys.
But it is the historical nature of Xenos’ very foundations which entice the traveler with thoughts of the cultures that thrived here long ago, ancient even before the rise of the Obsidian Empire,…older than the catastrophe that shattered the moon itself. In the images below you can see the work I’ve done re-creating the docks, making way for the colorful merchant stalls near the piers, and lining the streets and walkways leading into the city center with decorative plants and statuary.
Soon the barren areas you can see in front of the shore-side housing will be similarly accoutered!
Here we begin walking inward toward the Forum itself, through the Grand Gate, beneath the statue of Boreas, and between the guardian Shedu which gaze forward toward those who seek admittance. Beyond the Grand Gate is a domed rotunda held aloft by ancient pillars and surmounted with an oculus open to the sky. It rests within the inner courtyard between the gate and Forum, and is a place where those who wait for the ceremonies meander and greet one another.
Above the Grand Gate you can see the insignia of Xenos, its broken-shackled hands holding aloft the gear-work icon reminiscent of the wooden gears and cogs of the many waterwheels found within the city at various points, providing power to the aetheric generators that feed various buildings and services here and there.
Again, this courtyard, with the rotunda and its statue-adorned fountain, are still a work in progress, and will eventually be even more filled with decorative plants, pathways, and other things to please the eye,…as will the rest of this central area as a whole. And all of these details, as I design them, will spill out and inform the rest of the city, and will enrich even the outlying areas of rural estates and ruin-littered countryside. There’s so much more to come!
Thank you for your patience with this process, and hopefully your excitement for these additions is well rewarded! Yours in earnest endeavor…
The Making of Vauban Pass
Vauban Pass is one of the numerous Control Points that limits travel between regions in Novia. It is located between the Grunvald and Drachvald regions and is controlled by the Undead armies of Anapa. Vauban Pass started as a clone of Sanctus Spine but is being completely rebuilt for Release 38. When completed this will make all the Control Points unique scenes.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]
Hey folks! I have a new un-cloned level to show you that I’m currently working on for release 38! The new look for Vauban Pass is inspired by the Hindu Kush mountains, and will include a small village, a spider’s den, a graveyard, and some catacombs.
The Pass
The Mountains
The Village
The Spider’s Den
The Graveyard
The Catacombs
As always, feel free to leave feedback!
~ Chris Wolf
Level Designer
