Agon's Community Talent
Today's weekly recap is focused on the official launch of ACT - Agon's Community Talent.
This program opens the doors to all artists out there who wish to make their mark on the world of Agon, earning recognition and some money in the process. We are starting this program in an effort to drive more revenue through the Nithron Coin Shop while rewarding community members that help make that happen. The sales of items and services in the Nithron Coin Shop goes directly towards funding development. Our artists will also get a cut of each sale to support the work they do on new assets seeing as they work on a volunteer basis.
How to Submit Entries
Individuals who wish to join ACT must first submit an entry for review. You can submit any entry that falls within the current categories we have listed, and over time we will expand that list to include more options.
Entries should be submitted to ACT@bpgstudios.com
Becoming an ACT Member
Once an entry is submitted our lead artist Sean will give it an initial review. If it is a kind of art asset we can utilize we will send the applicant both an invitation to our private Mattermost channel, where artists will be able to interact with our art team and get their assets ready for submission, and an official NDA/contract that must be signed.
After an entry is finalized and fully approved it will get added to the Nithron Coin Shop for purchase. The individual who submitted the entry will become an official ACT member and will keep access to the Mattermost channel for further entry submission. They will also receive recognition and monetary rewards for their submissions which are outlined in the next section.
Recognition and Payment
Once you become an official ACT team member you will reap the following rewards:
1) Receive a monthly payout of 10% of all sales from entries
2) Earn a unique "ACT Member" forum tag
3) Get listed as artist on Nithron Coin Shop entries
4) Be the first to own your entry in-game
Currently Acceptable Entries
Weapon and Shield Models - These will be used as alternative looks or "skins" that players can choose to change the appearance of their currently equipped weapon. We will provide templates for sizes once a design is accepted.
Cosmetic Head Equipment (masks, hats, hoods, etc) - We have head models that can be used for fitting between each race and gender that will likely be provided after a design is accepted.
House Items - The idea here is to allow for new cosmetic house items that users can decorate with as well as replace existing items with. Themes would be a great addition so users could get an entire set of house items (E.G. Alfar design safe, bank, bookcases, etc.)
Other - If you have ideas you would like to try then send them via email and if it is a possibility we will provide the necessary information so you can get started.
Armor Skins - Skinning existing armor can be done by someone willing to work with existing textures. We can discuss the details further and it is best to send an email if you express interest in this.
- All 3D art assets must be submitted in .obj format
- All 2D art assets must be submitted in .png format
Weekly Development Recap
We are releasing a communication on our one-year anniversary and will be rewarding those of you who have been subscribers for the past year. As we mentioned in our last update there was some development work required to prepare for today's launch of ACT which TJ and Neil worked on over the week. We also have been getting some of the initial combat changes planned for the Combat Paths expansion ready for deployment on the Public Test Server. We are planning to have these ready for next week so we can begin public testing.
Jesse continued his work on the upcoming Paperdoll and Inventory UI updates. The team also did more work on back-end systems required for Dynamic Housing which will be the foundation for the Territory Control System.
Combat Paths - Design Threads
This week we also released an initial overview, along with a follow-up post, on the upcoming expansion of Rise of Agon's specialization system. This system, which we call Combat Paths, is designed to add more choices for players to be able to specialize their character to cater to the playstyle they enjoy. It is not designed to create classes or force a small selection of spells/skills and instead it is meant to create more options for players to compliment a variety of playstyles.
You can find each discussion in the Design Discussion section of our forums. For a look at the most recent follow-up post, head over to the official thread.
Focus Group for Testing
Due to the importance of Combat Paths and our promise to you to be open through this process, we plan to create a focus group for player testing. This focus group will be open to anyone to join, and those who test changes and provide constructive feedback will be rewarded with Nithron Coins for their efforts. It is important to note that this group is being created as a place to foster discussion and to provide feedback, and those who fail to do so will lose their membership to the group.
When we put the first changes to combat on the Public Test Server we will release an invitation to a private Mattermost channel designed for testing purposes. This is where players can interact with our developers, provide feedback on changes on the server, and have a dialogue to ensure the system accomplishes the goals we have set for it. We strongly encourage you to join and take part in the testing, as the more people involved in the process the better.
We want to point out that Combat Paths is heavily focused on design work, not development work, which means we are continuing work in the background on the Territory Control System. TCS is much more development heavy than Combat Paths will be, and we will release smaller patches on the PTS with combat changes to get needed testing done while the team works on TCS behind the scenes.