Shroud of the Avatar's lead story designer revealed: it's Dragonlance author Tracy Hickman

Richard Garriott's Avatar gets a little less shrouded in mystery with the announcement of the game's lead story designer. If Lord British's fantasy credentials weren't enough, it's been revealed that Tracy Hickman - of Dragonlance fame - is overseeing Shroud of the Avatar's story. If you're a fan of '80s/'90s RPGs and fantasy novels, you probably just spilled something on your keyboard. Sorry about that.

In the accompanying video, below, Hickman describes himself as "a pioneer in the telling of story through games", so he's certainly confident in his own abilities. He goes on to state that he thinks 'gameplay' hasn't changed all that much in 30 years, and that Garriott and co. might be the team to finally make a difference in that area.

Shroud of the Avatar has nearly reached its $1 million goal, with 22 days left on the clock. Barring a cataclysmic meteor strike, it seems likely that it will reach its funding target. (Via Massively )

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.