[Starr Long posted this on the forums today]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 2 access for all backers at First Responder / Adventurer level and above begins this Thursday, January 23, at 10:30 AM Central Time. Release 2 access will end on Saturday, January 25, 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.

We are happy to say that not only are we are going to deliver just about every single Release 2 item (except for Shopping) but that we also were able to put in some extras. Here are those deliverables again, along with some extra notes and the bonus deliverables in italics.

RELEASE 2: January 23 – January 25 2014

Crafting : We will be opening up crafting for testing with more than 100 recipes. Chests full of crafting resources will be provided. Crafting will initially focus on refining and production for smithing, tailoring, and carpentry.

: We will be opening up crafting for testing with more than 100 recipes. Chests full of crafting resources will be provided. Crafting will initially focus on refining and production for smithing, tailoring, and carpentry. Shopping : Shopkeepers will be open for business for selling and buying.

Town 2 : An additional municipality (likely village sized) will be open for business! Entering the swirling blue portal in the ring of stones will take you from one town to the other. We chose Kingsport for Town 2.

: An additional municipality (likely village sized) will be open for business! Entering the swirling blue portal in the ring of stones will take you from one town to the other. We chose Kingsport for Town 2. List Inventory : For those who prefer spreadsheets to immersion. The inventory battle royale continues! Setting this option will change all containers into lists except for crafting tables (coming in R3).

: For those who prefer spreadsheets to immersion. The inventory battle royale continues! Setting this option will change all containers into lists except for crafting tables (coming in R3). Character Customization++ : Characters from R1 will be wiped, but you will now have even more options when creating your character! Now there are even more ways to look unique, including: facial features, scaling, and more content (hairstyles, head shapes, skin tones, hair colors, etc.) We were also able to include helmets and offhand items (torch and shield).

: Characters from R1 will be wiped, but you will now have even more options when creating your character! Now there are even more ways to look unique, including: facial features, scaling, and more content (hairstyles, head shapes, skin tones, hair colors, etc.) We were also able to include helmets and offhand items (torch and shield). Jumping : Tired of not being able to jump that fence? Well tire no more as we now have jumping. And not just any old jumping but player controlled height jumping. A quick tap on the spacebar barely lifts the player but holding down the spacebar allows the player to clear those pesky walls with a high jump. Long term jumping will use focus and will likely be affected by weight carried.

: Tired of not being able to jump that fence? Well tire no more as we now have jumping. And not just any old jumping but player controlled height jumping. A quick tap on the spacebar barely lifts the player but holding down the spacebar allows the player to clear those pesky walls with a high jump. Long term jumping will use focus and will likely be affected by weight carried. Run Speed : Many of you commented on the slow run speed so we increased it by 50%, which feels much more satisfying. We will continue to tune this and balance it with an upcoming Dash skill that uses Focus as well as the Sprint buff in the Light Armor School of combat.

: Many of you commented on the slow run speed so we increased it by 50%, which feels much more satisfying. We will continue to tune this and balance it with an upcoming Dash skill that uses Focus as well as the Sprint buff in the Light Armor School of combat. Mac & Linux : OSX and Linux support is now working (with a few caveats). The game currently requires a two button mouse and while a trackpad technically works we are not fully supporting it yet. For Linux, Unity only officially supports Ubuntu so if you are running other versions it may not work.

: OSX and Linux support is now working (with a few caveats). The game currently requires a two button mouse and while a trackpad technically works we are not fully supporting it yet. For Linux, Unity only officially supports Ubuntu so if you are running other versions it may not work. Recipe Log: We had originally planned to put crafting in R2 without a recipe log but quickly discovered how amazingly not fun that was. Discovery is great but not having any record of that discovery is just punishing. So we got in a recipe book that will track your recipes.

So now that it is clear what you can expect we should also be as clear about what you should not expect:

Configurable Controls : We completely understand the myriad reasons why players desire the ability to play the game with different control schemes and we are working on providing that functionality, but it will not be ready until Release 3 at the earliest.

: We completely understand the myriad reasons why players desire the ability to play the game with different control schemes and we are working on providing that functionality, but it will not be ready until Release 3 at the earliest. Shopping : We originally planned to have the beginnings of the NPC section of the economy including currency (gold) and NPC shopkeepers. An unfortunate side effect of adding Jumping in was that it took away time from these systems which have caused us to push them out until Release 3.

: We originally planned to have the beginnings of the NPC section of the economy including currency (gold) and NPC shopkeepers. An unfortunate side effect of adding Jumping in was that it took away time from these systems which have caused us to push them out until Release 3. Crafting : The crafting system is in the game as a framework, but is still missing some key components like resource gathering, repair, and enhancement. We are also not doing any skill checks yet, so results are always 100% successful. Long term, the percentage chance to make items will depend on a myriad of variables and can result in a variety of results including: making the item desired, making a simpler version of the item that will need to be enhanced, or making a damaged version of the item that needs repair.

: The crafting system is in the game as a framework, but is still missing some key components like resource gathering, repair, and enhancement. We are also not doing any skill checks yet, so results are always 100% successful. Long term, the percentage chance to make items will depend on a myriad of variables and can result in a variety of results including: making the item desired, making a simpler version of the item that will need to be enhanced, or making a damaged version of the item that needs repair. Performance : We have only done rudimentary optimizations and we do not yet have a full suite of fallbacks (LODs, etc.). This means the game will be quite slow on older machines, and due to memory usage might be unstable in certain conditions (like densely decorated areas). With each release we will be doing further optimizations and adding to our fallbacks to improve performance.

: We have only done rudimentary optimizations and we do not yet have a full suite of fallbacks (LODs, etc.). This means the game will be quite slow on older machines, and due to memory usage might be unstable in certain conditions (like densely decorated areas). With each release we will be doing further optimizations and adding to our fallbacks to improve performance. Game Loop : Even though we have clearly stated that there will not be a complete game loop (adventure, loot, spend, craft, quest, etc.) until Release 4 there is still some expectation of those activities. For R2 there is just character creation / customization, NPC conversation, home decoration and the beginnings of crafting.

: Even though we have clearly stated that there will not be a complete game loop (adventure, loot, spend, craft, quest, etc.) until Release 4 there is still some expectation of those activities. For R2 there is just character creation / customization, NPC conversation, home decoration and the beginnings of crafting. Advanced Player Housing: There are some advanced features for player housing including waterfront properties, basements, home exterior decorations, and ceiling decorations that are not yet integrated. Expect to see these appear in future releases with the goal that by Release 4 they should all be present. While waterfront housing is not working yet, we wanted you to still be able to view the three waterfront houses we created so you will find them in Kingsport as static buildings that you can visit.

Below my signature you will find instructions and known issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with and we are proud to be on this journey with you.

Sincerely,

Starr Long

Executive Producer

RELEASE 2 INSTRUCTIONS

Setup:

Download and run the PC SotAInstaller.exe here: http://goo.gl/KVYzpF If you still have the R1 install then all you need to do is patch, no need to re-install.

Mac download

Linux download We recommend having at least 4GB of free disk space on the drive you install to, though the game will only download about 850 MB of data. Either allow the installer to auto-run on complete, or run either the desktop shortcut named “Shroud of the Avatar” or the “Launcher.exe” located in your installed Portalarium directory. Once the launcher is finished, the game will start. (optional) Leaving the launcher running will help us and others by providing some of your bandwidth to assist others in downloading the client.

Login:

Enter your www.shroudoftheavatar.com registered login information – If you are a Kickstarter backer and have not yet linked your kickstarter pledge to your account, you will not be able to gain access (instructions for linking your Kickstarter account). If you have not backed the game yet, you will need to register and login on www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Pledge” button in the right side-bar, and purchase a pledge at the $45 Adventurer level or above. Choose your play mode – Currently, the only valid option is Single Player Online. Click Enter Game to enter Avatar creation, and begin playing.

Controls:

‘W-A-S-D’ keys control Avatar movement Double tap ‘W’ key to engage in auto-run Holding both left and right mouse buttons will move the Avatar forward Pressing the ‘SPACEBAR’ key will cause your Avatar to jump, the longer you hold down the ‘SPACEBAR’ the higher the Avatar will jump Mouse movement + holding right click controls the camera view The top right menu contains icons that can be left-clicked to perform the following actions- Crossed swords & shield: Access Avatar character information

Bag: Open up inventory

Gears: Options menu

Question Mark: Bring up help page

Sealed Letter: File a bug report Avatar character management- ‘C’ key or left-clicking the crossed swords & shield icon in the top right menu will bring up your Avatar’s character information

‘B’ key or left-clicking the bag icon in the top right menu will toggle open/close your inventory bags To switch between inventory modes, open up the options menu (left click the gears icon in the top-right corner menu bar) and click the game tab, than the ‘Use List Inventory Mode’ check box.

‘R’ key opens the recipe log

‘ESC’ key exits all open interfaces Objects in the world that highlight the cursor when hovered over can either be interacted with by double left-clicking or picked up by left click + dragging the mouse. Some examples of interactions: Doors can be opened through interaction

Chests can be opened and looted through interaction

Light sources can be toggled on/off through interaction Decorative items, crafting components, and equipment can be moved via holding left click+dragging items to their new desired location and releasing the left mouse button. To wear equipment, open the Avatar information screen (‘C’ key) and drag equipment onto the display avatar or corresponding highlighted equipment slot and release the left mouse button.

To decorate, make sure the avatar is within a housing lot (denoted by a runic sign post) then left click+drag objects from the Avatar’s inventory into the world then release the left mouse button when the object is green to place it in the world. A red object will not be placeable.

The ‘Q’ and ‘E’ keys will rotate the object. Holding the ‘LSHIFT’ key while using ‘Q’ and ‘E’ to rotate will slow down the rotation for precision placement

To remove decorations, left click+drag an item from within the world back into the Avatar’s inventory.

To craft an item, first double click the crafting table that corresponds to the item you wish to make. Once the crafting table is in use, drag each component and tool you want to attempt to craft with onto the crafting table from your inventory. Once all of the necessary components are placed on the table the “craft” button will highlight and an item will be created once it is clicked. Iron Longsword example crafting recipe: Iron Longsword (Blacksmith) – 1 Smithing Hammer, 1 Chunk of Coal, 1 Iron Longsword Blade, 1 Iron Hilt Iron Hilt (Blacksmith) – 1 Smithing Hammer, 1 Chunk of Coal, 2 Iron Ingots Iron Longsword Blade (Smelting) – 1 Smelting Tongs, 1 Blade Mold, 3 Iron Bars, 1 Chunk of Coal Iron Bar (Smelting) – 1 Smelting Tongs, 1 Bar Mold, 1 Chunk of Coal, 4 Iron Ore Iron Ingot (Smelting) – 1 Smelting Tongs, 1 Ingot Mold, 1 Chunk of Coal, 1 Iron Ore Chair Decoration example crafting recipe: Chair (Carpentry) – 1 Carpentry Hammer, 2 Wooden Board, 1 Wooden Pole Wooden Poles (Milling) – 1 Wood Rasp, 1 Wooden Board Wooden Board (Milling) – 1 Cubit Measure, 1 Wood Log

Stacked Items (Crafting Ingredients): If you are holding down the CTRL key when you click-and-drag a stacked item, you will remove only one item from a stack of items. If you instead hold down the SHIFT key, you will be presented with a dialog that asks how many you would like to move. To converse with NPCs, simply stand near the NPC you wish to converse with, and hit the ‘ENTER’ key to bring up your chat log. Type what you wish to say to the npc within the chat box, and hit ‘ENTER’ again to send the text, which also exits text entry mode (as is standard in current MMOs). The chat log can be scrolled through by left click+dragging the slider on the right side of the chat window

In the Options menu you can disable the requirement to hit Enter before each text entry (as it was in R1) To report a bug, either left-click the sealed letter icon in the top-right menu or open up your chat log (‘ENTER’ key) and type in /bug followed by your bug report and the ‘ENTER’ key. This will copy your bug report and game information to the clipboard and bring up the SotA bug forum where you can paste the clipboard into a post for us to receive. Before posting in the forums please follow these guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IgbhfeXt8mTLZaY7cXGf3m-Pf-3BodoRK1-sVuHlHr8/edit The ‘F11’ key will take a screenshot of the game and save it to your installed SotA directory To find out the current position of the Avatar in game open up the chat log (‘ENTER’ key) and type in ‘/loc’ followed by the ‘ENTER’ key. This also copies out the location to your clipboard so that it can be pasted elsewhere as needed. You can click the green triangular gems in the corner of the chat window and the top right button panel to lock or unlock the auto-hiding of those UI elements. To move or re-size the chat window, left-click + drag the window borders as desired (left border to move the window and right border to resize). The ‘F4’ key or left-clicking the options menu “Quit” tab will exit the game.

Link to Most Current Version of Release 2 Instructions

RELEASE 2 KNOWN ISSUES

Graphical:

LODs (level of detail) objects are still being implemented so players may occasionally experience objects visually ‘popping’ out of existence or between visual states. Camera will occasionally clip through walls when near them. When using a multiple monitor setup there may be issues with the default window placement in windowed mode. Quitting the game will remove the player Avatar before fully quitting, this should be fixed in a future release. Logging into the game takes a little while to load in characters and geometry, there will be some visual popping and general framerate issues for a short duration after logging in. Some facial hair options do not look correct with some head shape options

Gameplay:

Combat is turned off – will be enabled in Release 4. Changing the house on a lot will clear out and delete currently placed decorations, there is a warning that will ask before clearing. The maps will reset upon entering/leaving (either through quitting or returning to login). Most hand sized items should be able to be picked up by the Avatar with a few exceptions: by design stacks/bundles of items (book stacks, vegetable/fruit boxes, etc) will not be lootable and as a bug certain items that already have interactions (light sources, etc) will not be lootable at this time. Some doors are only opened by using a switch (sometimes hidden)- currently there isn’t yet a visual accompanying a locked door, but there is a locked door sound that will play when attempting to open. In some cases, when falling, the Avatar will be placed instantly on the ground instead of falling the full distance. If the Avatar is idle for an extended period of time (roughly 30 minutes or so) the game will auto-logout. In the future this feature will likely be accompanied by an idle warning msg. Gaining too many items/decorations can cause character data corruption preventing players from being able to log in and a fix is being investigated. Characters are currently blocked from entering water via invisible barriers. In a later release we will have swimming along the surface of water (as long as you are not too encumbered). Jumping interactivity, height, and animations are all placeholder while we tune based on feedback. Crafting items can be difficult to find once placed on the crafting table. If you are having trouble crafting a recipe, make sure that all of the correct components are on the crafting table (carefully looking for incorrect components).

Dialogue:

We continue to log your interactions and add to conversation responses as you engage in conversation with NPCs. Owl’s Head NPCs should be much more fleshed out. Kingsport NPCs are less so but still incorporate some of the input from R1. Due to characters from R1 being wiped, you are once again a new visitor and Guard Michael will once again interrogate you on your arrival in Owl’s Head. Feel free to answer differently this time! NPCs will now occasionally talk to each other, and in rare cases themselves. Line of sight for non-player characters is still not incorporated for R2, so you will still occasionally see NPCs talk through walls. However, NPCs will turn to face you and animate while talking to you (or other NPCs). If you are behind an NPC, it may not notice your presence until you speak up (this is by design). You can now click on an NPC to talk to them specifically. Please note that targeting cursors on NPCs currently do not display indoors; this is a known issue. You can still click on the NPC to target them but it will not display a targeting highlight circle. A bug which caused NPCs to pick a random line of dialogue instead of the entire dialogue in very long speeches has been fixed. This is most notable with Myra and Nob in Owl’s Head. NPCs will now react if you run into them. Owl’s Head: You can now complete Morton and Dreyfus’ tasks. NPCs in Kingsport will help you with these. Owl’s Head: There are now several ways to handle Morgan’s request, based on player feedback. Owl’s Head: Winslow screams considerably less, possibly because he was finally moved to the sleeping quarters. Occasionally he will still interrupt when talking to Enmar (and vice versa); clicking on the NPC you wish to talk to will fix this for now. Owl’s Head: Bentham finally figured out how to unlock his tower, and is now busily working inside.

User Interface:

During character creation the chosen hair color does not yet apply to eyebrows. When playing full screen and using multiple monitors, the user can move the mouse cursor outside of the game window- this functionality is only intended to work in windowed mode or borderless windowed mode (which has yet to be implemented). Remappable keys will be coming in a later release. Crafting tables do not appear as lists when in list inventory mode. Inventory list items can jump around unnaturally and get put in bad positions when dragging around an inventory list with a scrollbar, where the scroll is not set to the top of the list.

Performance:

FPS counter is not always accurate. There may be framerate issues and slowdown in game, optimizations are still in progress.

Patching:

If the patcher process is terminated while updating (e.g. computer/patcher crashes) user may need to uninstall and reinstall to finish the patching.

Linux:

Linux version is downloaded via direct download, there is no patcher at this time. Use 32bit executable on 32bit machines and 64bit on 64 (can be checked with uname -m). Officially we only support Ubuntu, however it should run on other distributions but might require some work. nVidia users: nouveau works, but is slower than the official drivers and might crash; full-screen and resolution switching might be buggy with nouveau. AMD/Ati users: radeondrmfb works, but is slow and might show graphical artifacts, use official Ati/AMD drivers instead (e.g. fglrx, however do not use experimental drivers). Both nVidia and Radeon users might experience graphical issues dealing with transparency on game objects. Mouse cursor doesn’t hide on camera movement, fix being investigated. Mouse cursor might be rendered incorrectly on radeon cards. Switching graphics mode, resolution and full-screen might be buggy on radeon cards (switching back from full screen can cause graphical anomalies – work around to switch out of x11 and back). Cloth sims don’t work on this build, is being investigated for R3. This will affect the way capes look There is a known issue with logging in on systems set to a locale other than en.US. As a temporary workaround set LANG=en.US and restart. This will be fixed, ASAP.

Mac:

Mac version is also downloaded via direct download, no patcher. Full screen mode doesn’t block Dock when moving cursor to middle bottom of screen. We only support two button mouse currently. One button mouse support will be coming in a later release along with remappable keys. Mac client isn’t developer signed, so if you have the default gate keeper settings set, you won’t be able to directly run the app. If you control-click when you click on the file, it should allow you to open. Once you do that, you will be able to run the app without issue

Link to Most Current Version of Release 2 Known Issues