What is it?
The Advent: Children of Arla is an independently developed (Indie) Free-to-Play (F2P) hybrid adventure game that blends some of the best ideas from RPG, MMORPG, and Adventure Game genres. It is free to play because you don’t need to spend money to play the game initially. You may make micro-transactions in the game with the currency you earn or purchase. Credits and land deeds for the game can be purchased through our online store.
It is meant to be played alongside the published book Children of Arla, the first installment of the Advent series. The book or audiobook (available on Amazon) sets the stage for your adventure and provides a background that enhances immersion in the game. The game creates immersion through the story, quests, and scenes familiar to readers of the book.
One of the game’s most exciting features is its sub-worlds, which are tied to specific times and civilizations from our history. This historical tie-in adds an extra layer of excitement and depth to the game. For instance, Children of Arla is tied to the Mayan, Toltec, and Early Mexica civilizations nearing the end of Teotihuacan—this blending of scifi and history offers a unique and immersive gaming experience.
Please participate in our contests and challenges to win exciting prizes that are tied to real-world items and locations. These rewards add an extra layer of excitement and motivation to your gaming experience.
Step into a universe where ancient history intertwines with futuristic adventures!
Where it starts
Chapter 1 continues the story that begins with Planet Postmoderna’s first book, Children of Arla. Players are strongly encouraged to read the book before playing the game. The Advent Game is meant to be a blended media MMORPG adventure experience. The book and the game are intended to be done together for a more immersive experience. Some parts of the game are impossible to complete without reading the book.
Background
It is months after the disappearance of John Baxter on Argus. The primary Hydrackian villain, Wraithacks, has taken him prisoner and killed one of his team. John’s wife, Jessica, and their son and daughter, Jonah and Sarah, have mysteriously vanished beyond the boundary of a time-warping anomaly back on Earth. Mankind’s fate hangs in the balance behind a veil of a corporate and an alien interstellar plot.
Starting as a Settler
You are thrust into playing out one of the secondary characters of the NWC Team on the newfound planet of Argus. It’s an organic virtual world that contains many secrets. You will need to explore the landscape and uncover the secrets only hinted at in the book. People don’t die on Argus because their DNA and essence have been preserved within a genetic technology hub somewhere on the planet. This storage hub respawns settlers in critical places across the world after they may lose their life, just like in a game.
Who you can be.
Be a scout, a medic, a botanist and farmer, an engineer or miner, a security officer, or a generalist–a settler. Use this role as your exploration platform. Whichever path you take, you will be immersed in an interactive storyline that will take you to many places on Argus. Your initial objective will be to retrace John Baxter’s steps and discover what happened to him, seeking out and learning from clues hidden across the first landing zone on the planet, Base Camp.
Historical Sub-worlds or Historical Fiction
Argus contains many organic virtual sub-worlds. These are representations of times in Earth’s history (beginning with the Aztec Realm, where Klateqal, the traveler, was last seen). They are immersive and designed so players may experience the architecture and environments of those times. They also come with their own individual historical fiction storyline. Learn from what the Hydrackian Ota and Ata left for us to discover.
You will engage in many missions and quests that are related to the book and to the organic virtual planet.
Get More by Reading and Playing
Begin by reading Children of Arla. The book is your introduction to the characters and key parts of the game storyline. Many quests in the game are easier to complete if you read the story first, so don’t skip this step.
Answer these questions:
- What happened to John Baxter and his family?
- Who are the Hellions?
- Who is Wraithacks?
- What is his interest in humankind and in John Baxter?
- What happened to Klateqal and the rest of the Hydrackians?
- What does Klateqal have to do with the Aztecs and Toltecs?
Unravel the plot to destroy the humans. Save the human race and what is left of the Hydrackian species.
You might even make some money along the way as you explore Argus’ secrets and engage in the virtual world economy.
Earn and Learn
The currency in the game will be in two parts. One is the Energy Credits and Spark which, will be used to purchase items in-game. Rewards are also paid out in this way.
The second currency is the NWC Credit which, is used only for the purchase of virtual property (land and deeds). Income earned by these properties will also be paid in NWC Credits.
By design, the platform will require you to be online all the time. Since it is an MMO styled adventure game, this is a requirement.
Learn about different civilizations and times in our history. Each sub-world will be based on a period and peoples from our history. The Advent Chapter 1 will contain a temple and portal to a sub-world based on the Toltecs and Aztecs. The zone will also be tied to a historical fiction-based storyline.
Future Economy and Player Tracking (future model)
Character profiles, quest progress, discoveries, and crafted objects and sites are designed to be preserved in the blockchain. The virtual economy uses an RMT (Real Money Transfer) model, but all stable currency transactions will be recorded in the blockchain. Since the game is a single-player RPG in the early chapters, you can focus on your adventure first. Don’t worry, any major progress you make into your character and your world will be protected.
Preserving Your Character Profile and More
This fictional v-chip virtual reality device in your head is the core of your character. You use it to navigate the new world guided by the main storyline. Your efforts as a farmer, medic, engineer, or one of the other available classes will improve your skillset, and possibly your financial purse. This needs to be preserved so the intent is to mint this profile at key points into an NFT. You may be able sell it to another player on the market. This element is still in concept.
Your efforts also impact the evolution and development of the world, Argus. Every player’s efforts affect the planet’s stats and attributes. It’s almost like the planet is another player. Is it?
Temples and Sub-world Gateways
As your adventure and those of other players develop, the planet will develop. Each separate zone of the planet contains a temple. Each temple is a gateway to another virtual sub-world. These sub-worlds are representations on times in our history and are meant to be experienced and learned from. Each sub-world contains assets and resources that are needed in the main world for crafting and asset creation and minting.
Looking Forward
Your life in this RPG Adventure Game and Virtual World will only be limited by how much you ride the storyline curve and play your part in the drama of the planet. As the world
The game can be played on a desktop, mobile, and, eventually, with a virtual reality headset. This will be rolled out in phases.
Planned and Current Project Milestones
Milestone 1
Selling 20,000 copies of Children of Arla will fund 3-6 Months of Development for the Advent Project Demo. Additional funding will be obtained through investment and donations so we can finish the project. Milestone 1 is the build-out of a demo of Zone 5: Base Camp.
Current Project Needs
- C# Unity Programmers (est. $4500 USD per month each) to build gameplay mechanics
- 3D Modelers – Skills: Maya, Zbrush, 3DSMax, Mudbox (for static assets: structures and terrain/environment) (est. $3500+ USD per month each)
- 2D Artists – Skills: Photoshop, Illustrator (est. $3500+ USD per month each)
- Animators – (for animation and cutscene sequences) – this is secondary to the above items (est. $3500+ USD per month each)
- Further Game Story Mechanics and Dialog Development (est. $3500+ USD per month each)
- Economy and Currency Development (using Unity Game Resource Tools)
Milestone 2
Once the Demo is completed we will finish Zone 5: Base Camp and the neighboring areas. These include Crystal Canyon, the entrance to Temple Q and, the start of the Aztec sub-world.
Project Needs/Goals
- Build Gameplay for Temple Q and Crystal Canyon
- Refine Quests and Gameplay around Base Camp
- Refine Economy Mechanics
- More to come…
Milestone 3
We will finish the remainder of the core project. It has been estimated by an outside design studio that the overall project cost from start to finish will be between $3M and 5M USD. Each additional subworld will be a layer upon that.
Become part of this project! The possibilities for entertainment, Play and Earn (PnE) and education/external commerce and travel are limitless. We would love to have your support.
If you would like to get involved or are an investor, contact us!
Contribute and Show Support
Please help us by contributing to the project; this will help us launch faster. Any donations to the project will be tracked. When you donate, join our mailing list and let us know who you are. We want to reward contributors with virtual currency and other early Founder perks they will use in the game.
Contribute as many times as you like. No amount is too small or too big.
Learn More About the Project History
Learn more about the evolution of Planet Postmoderna and its Master Virtual World Project (known as Planet Postmoderna’s The Advent). Read more about the journey and what brought us to this point, in the Postmoderna History Blog Thread. The master project is part of a vision of providing a way for people to experience a story and not just read it. That principle is the same today as it was when I first dreamt about it in the early 1980s.
Children of Arla, is the introduction to the Virtual World Adventure Game Story. The story, world, and the characters introduced in Children of Arla are meant to be continued and experienced within the game, so don’t miss out reading it.