Ages of Athiria Newsletter, Volume 3

Ages of Athiria Newsletter - Volume 3

his month we have a few more goodies and surprises for you, including our first sneak peak into some of the race-specific music from the world of Athiria. This music highlights our next released playable race in Athiria, the Orcs. Also included is a complete Guild FAQ update which should answer some of the more pressing questions about Player Guilds in AoA.

ame Developer's Conference is almost here. We hope to meet some of you there in San Jose this week!

Yours in Athiria,
Tom DeSanctis
a.k.a. Noonway
Ages of Athiria Development Team
http://www.agesofathiria.com

Guilds in Athiria

: Will there be guilds in the game?

      Yes. Guilds will be available to enable large groups of people to formally organize.

: How does one form a guild?

      The exact number of people required to form a guild has not been decided upon at this time. However, the player that enters the command to form the guild will be asked to provide a name for the guild and will be allowed to setup the initial guild configuration. A cost is associated with forming a guild and mechanisms in the game will facilitate the collection of this cost from the initial founding group of players.

: What types of configuration options are available to a guild?

      There are many things that can help leaders operate a guild. Guilds have user-definable membership levels and multiple communication channels available to them. Access to those channels can be controlled on a membership level basis. Commands exist to facilitate the acceptance of new members, management of the guild's vault, and commanding of the guilds NPC hired resources. As with communication channels, each guild command can be set on a membership level basis.

: Can a guild own buildings and land?

      Yes. Guilds will be able to purchase land and place a guildhouse on it. It is then the guild's responsibility to keep the maintenance of the guildhouse and the land current. Owning land and houses will have maintenance costs associated with them.

: So guilds can collect dues. Is it voluntary or involuntary?

      Dues can be collected either way. This is another configuration option, and can be set on a membership level basis. Not only can you collect them involuntarily, but you can also make dues either a set amount per period, or a percentage. Complete reporting of dues activity will be available to the guild’s leaders to help them track their income (i.e. who's paid what, when, running balances for all members) and plan for future growth.

: Will guild information be available on the web as with cities?

      Yes. When a guild is created, web space will be created on our official web server to facilitate the guild's operation. Most every configuration option will be available on the web for leaders to control. Guilds will be able to publish a charter, code of conduct, and admission requirements to the web site for public viewing. Founders, officers and members will be listed on the web as well. It should be possible for a prospective member to research the available guilds on the web before petitioning a guild for admission.

: What about secret societies that don't wish to be known?

      There will be an option on the guilds web page to make that page private. Only accounts of active guild members can access the page. This should facilitate a host of secret societies and other guilds that would like to organize yet remain mysterious.

: What types of guildhouses are available in the game?

      At this time, the exact number of guildhouses available in the game is not known. Each guild house will have a vault, and will be customizable with a guild crest and interior decorations of the guild's choosing. Larger guildhouses will be able to facilitate more NPCs, will contain larger vaults, and will provide space for larger guild meetings. The maintenance cost for the structure is determined by the size of the guildhouse.

: Will a guild be able to protect its guildhouse and vault?

      Guilds can hire NPC guards to protect their guildhouse. Guards and other NPCs hired by the guild earn a wage for their services and this wage will be required to be paid by the guild. Guards are limited in number, partly based upon the number of inns (for lodging) in the immediate vicinity of the guild house. Their salary demands will rise according to the laws of supply and demand. As players open inns in the nearby vicinity of a guild, additional guards will become available for employment by the guild.

: Can guilds go to war with each other?

      Guilds can wage war against other guilds and entire cities. Cities have a decided advantage in this consensual war with the formation of units, military, siege weapons and other related game-play mechanics. It would be wise for a guild to have many allies if they want to stand a fighting chance against the might of a city. Declaring war against another guild allows those two guilds or all participating guilds to kill each other in PvP at will with complete looting rights. An option exists to restrict looting rights, for guilds that would like to "spar" against each other with no loss of equipment. This option can be set when declaring war with the other guild.

: Can I disband my guild?

      Yes you can. Hired NPCs will leave and become immediately available for hire by others. The registered faction for the guild never goes away, though there is now nothing anyone can do to effect their rating with that faction. NPCs that were employed previously will remember that faction and react to it in an appropriate manner regardless of their new employment arrangements. More details about factions will be released at a later date. Leaders of all allied guilds and cities will be notified of the disbanding of your guild as well. Methods for distribution of the guild’s assets have not yet been finalized.

: Can we align with other guilds?

      You can align with other guilds. A special communication channel is available to guilds that allow for all allies to talk together. When one of your allies declares war on another guild, leaders involved in the alliance will be notified of the event. Information will be available on the web pertaining to alliances, though this information may be specifically hidden from public view by a guilds leadership.

: What other things make guilds distinct in Athiria?

      We currently have plans to allow guilds to build their own quests for its members. This should allow the guilds to have specific membership quests, or promotion quests for members to perform. The guild questing interface will serve as a major way for guilds to get its goals accomplished. More details will be published at a later time when the entire questing engine is discussed in another newsletter.

The Races of Athiria - The Orcs

"Rintoo felt the bones in the thin elven neck crunch nicely under his firm grip. A sadistic grin crossed the Orc's face displaying an assortment of fangs and tusks that didn't quite seem to all fit in his gaping mouth. He tossed the limp corpse to the ground and glanced up in time to see the first elven tower crumble to the ground from the onslaught of the orcish army. Grinning at the destruction he and his comrades were causing, Rintoo sniffed the air and turned around in time to see the blaze coming right at him. The fire was sweeping across the plain toward the elven city consuming the dry grass of the fields and everything else in its way. With a snarl and a roar, Rintoo turned, raised his blood-soaked battle axe above his head and began his charge."

he Orcs had not always lived in tribes. But as far back as their oldest shamans could remember, they had always lived in the Great Swamp. In the southern most regions of Athiria, the Orcs built shelters in the expansive marshlands on any piece of dry land they could find. Entire communities were built on stilts in the middle of the swamp once the dry land ran out. Over time these cities would sink slowly into the mire and the Orcs would rebuild them again. More than four thousand years ago, the Orcs moved out of the swamp to try and find other places to settle. However, lacking in organization and good leadership, they were eventually beaten back into the Great Swamp by the other races inhabiting the planet.

rcs are large, highly muscled creatures. Their thick skin is often covered with sores and patches of disease and can range in hue from redish-brown to bluish-green depending on what part of the Great Swamp they inhabit. They have huge grotesque heads with large noses and small beady eyes. They have large hands and feet which they use often to bash their foes with. Not known for their intelligence, the Orcs are a warlike race and often fight with neighboring tribes over matters as trivial as a stolen piece of meat.

Listen to a sample of Orcish Music composed by Vortex.

The Music of Athiria

ortex (a.k.a. Austin Wintory, Music Composer for the AoA Dev Team) and I sat down for a discussion about the music that will be in the World of Athiria. Here's the full interview:

Noonway: What is your responsibility on the Ages of Athiria Development Team?
Vortex: I'm providing the "music assets", as far as development goes. I'll be the name next to "Music composed by:" in the back of the instruction manual. As of right now, that means scoring the technical demo, and composing music for later use the in the game.

Noonway: Give us a brief history of your musical background.
Vortex: Well, my history isn't too long (being the youngest on the team) but I try to keep it as rich as possible. I've conducted something like six or seven concerts recently of my own music for a 50-piece string orchestra. Beyond that, only small projects. Music for recitals, fundraisers, soloists - that kind of thing. I'm just happy to be able to write music for other people to enjoy.

Noonway: What is/are your favorite type(s) of music?
Vortex: I have an interest in classical music (being part of the whole orchestra scene) so that's naturally part of it. However, 99% of my listening comes from film soundtracks. Over the many years I've been collecting soundtrack CD's (not to be confused with the song compilations in the soundtrack sections of CD stores - or those "songs inspired by the movie" CD's) Film scoring is my ultimate goal as a composer - and I figure the key to success lies in the observation of others' success. Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, James Horner, and Hans Zimmer are my favorites. The variety of music they represent is tremendous. For example, Goldsmith's most recent film, "The Last Castle", represents him in a somber patriotic mode (far different than his earlier works; such as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "First Blood", or "Planet of the Apes"). Williams everyone knows for "Star Wars", "ET", "Jurassic Park", "Jaws", "Harry Potter" - the list is seemingly endless. Horner everyone knows for "Titanic", though I prefer his earlier scores - such as "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", or "The Land Before Time". Zimmer is getting up there in recognition with "Black Hawk Down" as his most recent movie (my favorite score of his is "The Lion King" - and I do mean the SCORE, not the singing and dancing, etc). I hate to prattle on about an obscure type of music - but in reality it's not. People are exposed to hours and hours of it ANY time they go to a movie (with very rare exception, the best of which is Alan Silvestri's excellent and very minimalist score to "Cast Away").

Noonway: Please tell us about your experience with RPGs and Computer Games.
Vortex: I used to be a much, much bigger gamer than I am today. EverQuest was once my top game - and that's the only real online game of any sort, RPG or otherwise. I used to play a lot of Rainbow 6 and Rogue Spear - but my cursed lack of a DSL threw me out of that arena. My favorite more recent games are Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy X. Again, composing has consumed so much of time - that I've not played much in over a year - with the exception of the a two-week period I spent obsessively working Return to Castle Wolvenstein into my schedule.

Noonway: What types of music will you be creating for AoA?
Vortex: I have every intention of creating a wildly diverse palette of music for AoA. I have already composed several prominent themes, including one which I care for enough to endorse as my main theme. But more specifically, race- and action-specific music. Such as very distinct, very basic and primitive music for the Orcs - both in battles and cities. That concept of music should exist in great variety throughout Athiria.

Noonway: Tell us more about the Orc race-specific music.
Vortex: This piece is an attempt (bearing in mind I'm using a 127 voice synthesizer) to make a very primitive sound. It's percussion heavy, with only two tonal instruments (playing atonally): A bass recorder and a bassoon. I think they add nicely to that primitive feeling. They are playing music that's basic (moving in chromatic steps - the most basic of all musical movement) and clashing, meaning that the recorder and bassoon aren't even in the same key. The percussion is mostly conga's, a taiko, some sticks (which I hear in my mind more as bones...), and very basic toms. The only "themes" are a six-note motif heard in the conga's from the beginning and repeated in the recorder a little bit - and a two-note augmented second motif heared mostly in the bassoon, though occasionally in the recorder. The simplicity of this thematic material allows for eternal elaboration - and could easily be incorporated into other pieces as well.

Noonway: Music in other games has previously been something the player usually turns off after awhile. What are you doing to make the player want to leave the sound on for AoA?
Vortex: As sad as it is for me to admit as both a music lover and composer, this is something that seems almost inevitable - BUT - I do have ideas to stifle this anyway. As my example - I choose techno - an enormously popular genre (and one that occaisonally crosses with film music, such as Paul Oakenfold's involvement with "Swordfish" or BT's scoring "The Fast and the Furious"). Techno is, by definition, VERY repetitive. I composed a techno piece once for a friend - and he critiqued it as "not real techno for its lack of repetition." I plan to enter that philosophy into AoA - a lack of repetition. That IS the primary reason music gets turned off, isn't it? We've heard those same 4 battle notes so many times that once our fight drags on to 45 minutes, we're on the teetering verge of insanity. My solution is simple, and I'm surprised to have seen so little of it in other games. The music will simply NOT be repetitive. For instance, longer battles will witness the music gradually becoming more epic and more adventurous. A five-minute battle takes more strength than a 30-minute battle, and the music should reflect that. Furthermore, the power of the enemy will be reflected in the music. Slaying a dragon will not be the same as stomping out a rat - nor should it be! As a final note - no game music (with probably Rainbow 6, Total Annihilation, and Monkey Island as the rare exceptions) do I find melodically interesting. That too will change with AoA.

Noonway: Anything else you would like to say to the readers?
Vortex: There's a saying in the film-scoring world that the most emotionally effective score is one that the audience never remembers (because it's blending with the picture so well). Nonsense! The BEST scores are the ones we remember! I think my number one favorite score, Return of the Jedi (as well as its fellow Star Wars movies) stands as proof that best scores are remembered. so, in two words, "Listen carefully!" I think you'll like what you hear.

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