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Richard Garriot (Richard Garriott), aka Lord British, is used to being the first. At first he created one of the first computer role -playing game in history (Akalabeth 1979 release), which laid the foundation for the world’s first long-playing series (Ultima), then in the fourth Ultima The first to offer the players a non -trivial plot, different from the simple “go and kill the main reptile!”, A system of moral values ​​and the possibility of moral choice. Finally, it was he who invented the term mmorpg and created one of the first truly mass and high -quality games in this genre that is still alive. This, of course, is about Ultima Online.

It is not surprising that it is Lord British who is now going to create the first RPG, which will unite a rich plot, moral choice and a full-fledged online component. And which, unlike Star Wars: The Old Republic, will not require a monthly subscription for all this joy from the very beginning. All this will offer Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, about which Stopgame correspondent.ru talked with the executive producer of the project, the former design director of Ultima Online Starrom Long (Starr Long).

Shroud of the Avatar will not have a system of experience. Instead, we will be able to develop skills as they are used.

Another “kick at the start”

Project Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues Started in March this year with the campaign on Kickstarter, where the authors Ultima almost twice exceeded the plan and collected 1.9 million dollars. Then they received almost 600 thousand dollars through their own site and began active development. When asked why Lord British decided to return to the genre, from which he seemed to have already left and even managed to fly into space, his friend and his closest partner simply answers: “Because he always made a bet on a deep plot and a detailed simulation of the surrounding world. And now there are still few such games. Most are focused on action. At the same time, the genre is experiencing a real Renaissance, including thanks to Kickstarter and the activity of indie developers. And this is a great chance for us to return and show a master class “.

That is why Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues The authors themselves call the spiritual heiress of the games of the series Ultima, created in Origin Systems, Inc. “Those who are familiar with them will feel here at home. And the new ones will receive RPG, in which there is a detailed simulation of the world and a fascinating story that tells more than just about the murder of bad guys, ”he assures Starr Long.

On all four sides

So, first of all, they promise us a deep, interesting plot. It is already known that he will write it Tracy Hikman (Tracy Hickman), the famous author of the Dragonlance series. “History will be very similar to what you saw in our classical games. The characters who initially seem bad may well be good, and the border between good and evil is often vague, ”says our interlocutor.

Respectively, the plot, as usual in Garriot, will offer different ethical paradoxes, moral dilemmas and the possibility of choosing directly affecting the plot. At the same time, the scriptwriters will not lead the player by the hand. On the contrary, there are fundamentally there are no quests, interrogative signs over the heads and other similar instructions. The authors want the players to first investigate the world and themselves look for plot paths.

Fortunately, action Shroud of the Avatar It will unfold on a separate continent, most of which, according to the executive producer, will be available for research from the very beginning. And only individual, most important areas will open as they pass.

As in many games of the series Ultima, We will have to drive the texts of replicas and questions ourselves, communicating with the NPC in order to get some important information and, for example, to find out that recently a couple of villagers disappeared in the nearest cave. That is, good knowledge of English for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues will be critical of. Also, the “poke method” will have to find out how dangerous a particular enemy is – they have no visually designated levels of development.

The director is himself

The second distinguishing “ultimatum” line of the new project Lord British will be the almost complete freedom of the player in a detailed virtual world. First, there will be no classes here. “Instead of the class system, we offer a choice from a wide range of skills that will make it possible to create a truly unique character based on your game style. The simplest example: you can choose and use only combat skills in a particular situation, if you want to play as a traditional warrior, or you can mix them with some magical skills if you want to develop as a hybrid of a warrior and a magician, ”says he says Long.

Secondly, c Shroud of the Avatar There will be no clear indications of what to do and how to live. You can fight, look for exploits and adventures, or you can study different crafts, chop trees, buy houses and force them with your own hand -made furniture. Or sell these tables and chairs in the local market.

Yes, yes, the game promises a full-fledged real estate market, the worked out “crafting” and its own trade system. So, to make the same chair, it’s not enough just to chop firewood: we need a recipe, workshop, machine, a list of ingredients and the desired level of the corresponding skill. And in order to build your house, you will first have to purchase a “merchant” to Earth. And even if you then demolish or sell the building, the land will

remain in your property. True, you have to pay tax for housing. But in the house it will be possible to put a merchant (“vendor”) selling your goods.

Online for every taste

Virtual houses, the detailed “crafting”, the ability to trade in their markets in the market, the study of peaceful crafts – all this is characteristic primarily for online projects. And indeed, as we have already said, Shroud of the Avatar will be a full -fledged network game, combining “single” and online. True, this is all the more interesting than, for example, in the same Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In total, 4 game modes are provided. The first is the usual “single” that does not require an Internet connection and does not allow the use of the character that is stored on your computer, somewhere else. The second mode is “Single game on the Web”. You can connect to the server and see the results of the impact and stay of other people in the world Shroud of the Avatar. But players do not see each other.

In addition, the network mode for friends is promised: here, of course, you can play with your comrades, see them and call in Pati. Finally, there will be a full online section – if you choose it, you can see almost everyone who is on the server, although in this case a certain filter is provided. “We will sort the participants by their freodlists, the styles of the game and other factors, and, accordingly, the server shows what it considers to be necessary to show this particular gamer,” Starr said.

However, in the open network mode, chaotic PVP is not provided. Instead, we will receive special quests that allow us to fight with other adventurers and participate with them in full -fledged battles “wall to wall”.

Now Shroud of the Avatar It looks very seductive: the project offers a truly unique concept that allows you to enjoy the game and those who love solitary adventures and connoisseurs of a virtual hostel. Another question is how successfully all this will be able to realize. We all remember that the last project of Lord British, Tabula Rasa, actually failed. And yet there is a feeling that this time everything will work out. After all, here the level of responsibility is much higher: Richard and his team work directly for the players who trust them, donate money and who, according to our interlocutor, are much smarter than most of the leaders of game publishers.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, never believe the written. This is how you will see a game that directly shouts something in the spirit of “Advent I, Adventure!” – spit in her eyes. She is not adventure, but the most ordinary arcade with some adventure raid and a couple of symbolic puzzles. At least for Adam’s Venture: The Search for the Lost Garden This statement is true.

Developers from Vertigo Games succumbed to several fashion trends of recent years at once. Firstly, c Adam’s Venture The story canvas was originally divided into episodes – hello for Telltale. Secondly, we again observe the “something at the junction” of various genres. Well, so, all advanced developers already know that pure arcades and quests were boring to players. The players themselves, perhaps, are not in the know, but who will ask them.

Archaeological relapse

For a long time, we did not accompany the brave archaeologists in traveling to the center of the Earth/to the Egyptian pyramids/behind the treasures of the Templars/to visit Lucifer (emphasize you like). Never beaten and completely unconnected topic lies in wait for us around the corner. The protagonist, together with his useless partner, Evelyn and obviously a “left” professor is looking for paradise. The real Eden is the one from which some Adam and Eve were already kicked out for a brawl. Search leads our adventurer to the mysterious gates. Naturally locked. To open the doors, you need to collect seven fragments of an uncomplicated puzzle, and for this you will have to drive into gloomy caves, recall quotes from the Bible and outwit the dark forces following the path of an uninvited guest.

As you can see, the plot is original. Everything in it is harmonious – and the hefty gates, on which not a single humanoid has stumbled upon, and the lightest puzzles instead of normal barn locks, and a classic set of “auxiliary heroes”. By the way, neither the professor of unknown sciences, nor the girl is by no means eager to run after Adam and help him with the dangers of the cave. Because the functions of the “associates” others. The beauty should build eyes and, on occasion, be an innocent victim. And the unseemly intentions of the scientist are generally demonstrated from the first minute, so everyone except the hero himself and his friends understand perfectly who we have the main traitor.

In many knowledge ..

Yes, we have to admit: the introductory part of the game looks terrible because of the fresh dialogs, stilt characters and the evidence of the situation. However, from the moment Adam is left alone with a cave, waterfalls and traps, we suddenly begin to feel some interest in what is happening. Half -dark transitions, a hero with a torch in his hand, mysterious voices are priests, but here, it turns out, there is an atmosphere! Which is very sudden.

So you have to eat this atmosphere with spoons for lack of gameplay. Judging by the complexity of the tasks, Mr. Adventure would fully deal with all his affairs on his own. Most of the time we just make our way forward in different nooks, bridges and crevices. It is rare when you need to bend and crawl under the low arch of the next grotto, you have to jump over the abyss even less often. So there is no hint of full arcation here.

The adventure part looks even more strange. It seems that the developers counted on an audience consisting of alternatively gifted religious fanatics. In the end, you can collect a biblical quote from rolled discs on a column with the simplest selection. And it is not at all necessary to run to the highest original in order to urgently refresh your knowledge. A normal person usually understands where the beginning of the phrase is and where is the end. And even if not, each verse is divided into only three fragments. Not so many options for error.

There are also light and musical riddles. In terms of complexity, they are quite comparable to sports orientation on three -centenary areas. The most difficult type of “puzzle” is running around. She is the most boring.

Overseas developers have recently been allowed to allow themselves to be allowed to cram their creation with abstruse quotes from nowhere, then they torture the poor localizers indescribable … Ah, excuse me, an unequivocal game of words. Here’s how you order to decipher the name of today’s object for the Russian ear – Adam’s Venture: The Search for the Lost Garden?
It is not surprising that specialists from “New disk” They transformed the poor Adam into a Ventura, thereby giving the main character the phonetic similarity with the unforgettable detective Ace Ventura performed Jima Carrie. Freshly baked namesakes are not only not twins, but not even relatives.
We understand that Adam is not Ed, if only because Adventure is encrypted in the name Adventure is not the only “nominal” surprise from developers. It is no coincidence that the hero’s girlfriend is called Evelyn, and not Mary or Betty.

Egg in a chest, chest – here it is

It seems that before starting to create your imperishable, creators from the studio Vertigo long and carefully studied all the signs of a good game. Probably someone told them that Advenchur should certainly be easy and unpretentious. And another evil genius, perhaps, assured that “Easter” are mandatory in the real masterpiece. Developers – people responsible. Want “eggs”? You have them! As a result, chests with rotten surprises are scattered across the cave.

Of course, they stand in the most prominent places, and even illuminated by flickering lights. Inside – wise sayings that give us an additional hint. In case we can’t orient ourselves in three pines in three pines.

But the caves look colorful. Here are the usual sinister corridors, illuminated only by torches, and waterfalls, and very fantastic blue crystals on the walls. Immediately, nearby – rusted elevators and bridges, trolleys of clearly technogenic origin. Some kind of symbolism: images of lions and snakes on the doors, “singing” wind. And life would be beautiful if not for people. Very angular figures of characters, too much lack of movement. Maybe it was better to make a reserve zone out of a paradise?

After passing, there are many questions for the developers. Perhaps the most important thing is why to make another nasty archaeological epic, if on the basis of the existing material it was possible to create a quite good first -person horror? Why so rudely destroy the finished atmosphere with your own mistakes? Nightmare dialogs, ugly models of heroes, the standard introductory … and creators Adam’s Venture Never to go to heaven for developers, where profit is calculated by billions, and crowds of fans dream of an autograph.

Pros: good atmosphere;Colorful cave landscapes.
Cons: Template plug;stamped characters;no dialogs;Posterly simple puzzles.