Shhhh - quick, come over here - before Amanda sees....

Nah, I'm not really going behind Amanda's back - she's very generously allowing me to give you the next update from my own point of view. But I'll be passing everything by her before I post to make sure I don't say something I shouldn't.


Let's see - Plot! The game starts with you plaing the part of Mel, a street urchin with a very useful talent. Things go downhill when you agree to Amanda: you can't tell them that. and then you're REALLY in trouble! You have to make your way to or that where you meet up with or that either. Before long, you and your growing party set out to *sigh* you can't say that either which takes you from dizzying heights above the clouds, to the depths of the underworld and everywhere in between. On your journey, you removed ALL of this, otherwise there's no need for anyone to play the game and of course everyone lives happily ever after. Well, nearly everyone.

Ok - so I'm putting words into Amanda's mouth here - she didn't really remove all that stuff. It's just what I WISH I could tell you. Here's what I CAN say. When I read through the first draft (maybe 30 pages), my spine was tingling before I reached the end of the first page! And it just got more and more exciting with every revision. I'm currently working from a group of documents totalling over 400 pages! Now you know why Amanda is scarce on the forum when she's working on a game, and why I might seem a little "not quite with it" from time to time!

Galahad and Te'ijal are wonderful together - and yes, I did intend to put his name first. Unlike in AV1, where I kept him in my party only for the soul pendant, Galahad is, I think, my favorite character in Aveyond 3!

But as much fun as it's been to be involved in this game right from the start, the thing I'm most looking forward to is seeing it released and played, and seeing the forums filled with questions and game-related discussion.

Onto the updates, because I think one or two of you might be waiting for them...

• Aaron has almost finished all of the music. Another week should see this done. If you haven't already, you can check out some previews on his website - www.walzmusic.com
  
• Almost all of the maps have been created - just another day or two to go. I am finishing up the stragglers while Amanda is setting up monsters. Then we'll do a swap, and she will finish off the maps by adding all the fine details, and I'll dive into adding quests, characters and dialogue. I'm told this bit doesn't take long, so we'll go with that (I thought we'd have all the maps done in a month, so I've learned not to rely on my own judgment!)
  
• After that's done, it will be about time for beta testing to begin. Sorry I can't give you a date - I can just say "not long now". There will be an announcement in Guild Hall calling for volunteers as the time approaches.
  
• The pattern seems to be that the game is released a month or so after testing begins. Don't quote me on this though, as it depends on how many bugs the testers uncover.

• WILL Galahad ever escape from Te'ijal's evil grasp?
  
• WHO can be married in the game?
  
• and the one we're ALL dying to know - WHERE are the SQUIRRELS?