Shroud of the Avatar releases first test version to backers

Richard Garriott's crowdfunded game Shroud of the Avatar has released its first test build to backers, letting them create a character and explore a town.

7

Shroud of the Avatar is giving out the first tastes of gameplay, even as the full launch remains a year away. Those who backed Richard Garriott's Kickstarter can now download the "Release 1" client and start fiddling around with a few basic options.

Release 1 lets you create a character, explore the town of Owl's Head, converse with NPCs, try on equipment, and select a house. Owl's Head will have scattered chests of furniture and decorations to pick up, letting you class up the joint. It's single-player only, but developer Portalarium promises future releases will include multiplayer online modes. You can visit the official site for instructions on how to download the client.

"We are pleased with our progress, and we are excited to show our fans what we’ve created in the short amount of time we've been working on the game," Garriott said in the announcement. "It's still very early in development, and this is not your traditional development model. Since the game is crowd funded and crowd sourced, we feel it's important to give our community an early glimpse of the game's progress... earlier than what you'd normally see in traditional game development. But this is important because player feedback at this stage will be utilized in helping us understand any changes we need to make and to possibly reaffirm that we are on the right track."

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 13, 2013 10:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Shroud of the Avatar releases first test version to backers.

    Richard Garriott's crowdfunded game Shroud of the Avatar has released its first test build to backers, letting them create a character and explore a town.

    • reply
      December 13, 2013 10:37 AM

      Anyone try it out?

      • reply
        December 13, 2013 10:49 AM

        I'm honestly scared it is going to suck really hard. I don't want to ruin my Ultima memories Ascension hurt bad enough.

        • reply
          December 13, 2013 11:04 AM

          I know, I'm still telling myself that this is nothing and it will suck, because I don't want to get my hopes up and then have my soul crushed. Ultima V is probably my favorite game of all time and I've put countless hours into III - VII.

      • reply
        December 13, 2013 10:52 AM

        Looks pretty good. Huge nostalgia bonus for the inventory bag for me. I don't like the movement, it feels sluggish. And the music is a bit annoying on repeat but overall I really missed an RPG that has a brighter colorful world and isn't all lotr'd up.
        It's only on release 1 now, I think most systems won't be in until release 6 or so.

        • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          December 13, 2013 11:24 AM

          Not sure what else ya can do then walk around and talk to npcs. Oh and look at the houses. I noticed you can't walk through bushes right now which is annoying, but they got it blocked off so ya can't go too far.

        • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          December 13, 2013 11:27 AM

          And yeah the backpack is nice just like the Ultima games and UO. I picked up a couple of chests, and got a tent, bedroll and a brazier.

      • reply
        December 13, 2013 11:09 AM

        downloading the patches now - will let you know

    • reply
      December 13, 2013 11:49 AM

      Completely random thought, but this looks like warhammer online "Altdorf" main square.

      http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2008/045/reviews/520538_20080215_screen003.jpg

      Can't find many better images but thats all i could think at first blush :)

Hello, Meet Lola