KickStarter Underworld Ascendant is a disaster

[Nano]

Why won't it just die.

 

[LESS T_T]

Walter Somol (Marketing/Business VP) is leaving Otherside: https://forums.otherside-e.com/t/walter-signing-off/10308

Hi folks, today is my last day at OtherSide. This is bittersweet news for me. It’s a great team here of awesome and talented people that I will miss working with. On top of that, I’m really excited about the new project the studio is working on and will eagerly await more news about it. With that said, the studio is mainly focused on game development now and has less of a need for someone like me, at least for the time being. I am moving on to a new opportunity that I’m really excited about, hence the bittersweetness (more about that another time).

Thank you all for being and remaining our fans. Alyssa, who has popped into the forums and Discord recently, will be keeping you all updated going forward, particularly in the near term on UA Kickstarter fulfillment.

Keep gaming and stay healthy and safe during these times.

Walter

FWIW he was the only one from the top level talked to the community for a while.

 

[MasterLobar]

He seems to confirm that the company mothballed SS3 (not mentioned at all) and that they are now instead working on a "new project."

They worked on SS3 for over 3 years, got $6.8 million from Starbreeze for development, said it's "more than halfway completed" in February 2019, showed several trailers at gaming conferences and claim they have a playable pre-alpha.

But hey, let's walk away from this one and start something new entirely. Because why not.

 

[LESS T_T]

Boston team supposedly worked on this new project almost 2 years. So it's not "new" from a production timeline standpoint.

IMO at this point, if they don't want to give up, retaining Boston project would be more sensible approach.

Scrap the Boston project and let Boston team take over SS3 ->

• They lost the opportunity (however small it is) to capitalize the Boston project that they worked on almost 2 years
• They have to go through the same struggle of finding publisher/investors to finish SS3 anyway
• If I have to guess finishing SS3 would be more expensive than finishing the Boston project. So now keeping afloat Boston team becomes more expensive than when they were working on their own project (plus the cost of adapting the team for SS3)

Go with the Boston project and let Warren Spector find a way to revive SS3 ->

• They have opportunity to capitalize the Boston project. If this goes well it may lead to funding SS3 later
• At the same time Warren can keep finding a way to revive SS3 without worrying how to keep afloat Boston team

 

[kangaxx]

Why won't it just die.

I'm prepared to bet that they want to remain "open" to cling on to stewardship of the System Shock IP. If they close, Star Breeze can get someone else in.

 

[MasterLobar]

With respect, Less, this makes no sense.

Scrap the Boston project and let Boston team take over SS3 ->

• They lost the opportunity (however small it is) to capitalize the Boston project that they worked on almost 2 years
• They have to go through the same struggle of finding publisher/investors to finish SS3 anyway
• If I have to guess finishing SS3 would be more expensive than finishing the Boston project. So now keeping afloat Boston team becomes more expensive than when they were working on their own project (plus the cost of adapting the team for SS3)

I don't think they "worked on the Boston project" for 2 years. Maybe "thought about it" and copyrighted "Thick as Thieves" whatever that's supposed to mean. Had they really worked on it for 2 years, that would mean they started working on it months before UA launched when it was already clear that UA - their only game that could make some money in the foreseebale future - was an unplayable mess. And after launch, it would mean that they worked on this pipedream project while fixing UA for 6 more months and having just lost the SS3 publisher. They clearly worked on SS3 for several more months after Starbreeze walked away.

And unless The "Boston project" is something like Underworld Overlord, it's hard to see how an almost entirely new project would be less expensive than publishing some downscaled version of SS3.

And they do all of this without a partner or publisher for the "new project"?

Go with the Boston project and let Warren Spector find a way to revive SS3 ->

• They have opportunity to capitalize the Boston project. If this goes well it may lead to funding SS3 later
• At the same time Warren can keep finding a way to revive SS3 without worrying how to keep afloat Boston team

What's Warren's sales pitch supposed to be? "Please give us more money for what Starbreeze doesn't want to do anymore, any btw, we don't care much about it. Instead, we're doing something else entirely."

I am also wondering where the money for an entirely new game with perhaps some conceptual foundations is supposed to come from.

What I think they might be trying to do is polish UA a bit more, recycle as much as possible and essentially republish it with new characters/some new stuff and call it "Thief".

 

[Infinitron]

Walter Somol (Marketing/Business VP) is leaving Otherside: https://forums.otherside-e.com/t/walter-signing-off/10308

Hi folks, today is my last day at OtherSide. This is bittersweet news for me. It’s a great team here of awesome and talented people that I will miss working with. On top of that, I’m really excited about the new project the studio is working on and will eagerly await more news about it. With that said, the studio is mainly focused on game development now and has less of a need for someone like me, at least for the time being. I am moving on to a new opportunity that I’m really excited about, hence the bittersweetness (more about that another time).

Thank you all for being and remaining our fans. Alyssa, who has popped into the forums and Discord recently, will be keeping you all updated going forward, particularly in the near term on UA Kickstarter fulfillment.

Keep gaming and stay healthy and safe during these times.

Walter

FWIW he was the only one from the top level talked to the community for a while.

If they no longer need a marketing/business VP, does that mean they now have a publisher filling that function for them? :fabulouslyoptimistic:

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Let's hope this "new project" is not some game that could be related in some way to Thief (the original one).

 

[rusty_shackleford]

That new project?

Underworld Ascendant 2.

 

[LESS T_T]

They've got a full-time senior concept artist: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensaintonge/

She worked on UA as a freelancer.

Senior Concept Artist

Company Name OtherSide Entertainment (Full-time)
Dates Employed May 2020 – Present
Employment Duration 1 mo

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The "concept art" in UA was... was... I don't have the word.

 

[Skdursh]

Has this game gone through any renovations yet that make it enjoyable or is it still complete fucking garbage? What's the general consensus, avoid entirely or give it a chance? Will I experience crushing disappoint if what I expect is something of a cross between Ultima Underworld I/II and Thief 2?

 

[index.php]

Has this game gone through any renovations yet that make it enjoyable or is it still complete fucking garbage? What's the general consensus, avoid entirely or give it a chance? Will I experience crushing disappoint if what I expect is something of a cross between Ultima Underworld I/II and Thief 2?

 

[Max Heap]

That new project?

Underworld Ascendant 2.

I mean...
People got a lot of enjoyment out of this thread...

 

[Thal]

The "concept art" in UA was... was... I don't have the word.

Really, the concept art was the least of its problems.

 

[Nano]

I still remember when the devs were showing off those lizard asses.

 

[agris]

And running polls to determine the lizard language. For a game that doesn’t have dialogue trees, or even written text outside of subtitles.

 

[LESS T_T]

You can see her portfolio here: https://www.artstation.com/saint-onge

Though I don't see UA-related things there.

 

[Glic2000]

And running polls to determine the lizard language. For a game that doesn’t have dialogue trees, or even written text outside of subtitles.

What a huge trolling effort that was! It never even occurred to people the game might not have dialogue trees!

 

[LESS T_T]

Walter Somol (Marketing/Business VP) is leaving Otherside: https://forums.otherside-e.com/t/walter-signing-off/10308

He joined the big house: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wsomol/

Epic Games Store Biz Dev

Company Name Epic Games (Full-time)
Dates Employed May 2020 – Present
Employment Duration 1 mo

 

[Nyast]

Has this game gone through any renovations yet that make it enjoyable or is it still complete fucking garbage? What's the general consensus, avoid entirely or give it a chance? Will I experience crushing disappoint if what I expect is something of a cross between Ultima Underworld I/II and Thief 2?

You'll suffer a big disapointment because both UU and Thief are story focused with rich lore. Ascendent is an empty shell. It does have semi-decent levels, with a lot of verticality, plat-forming etc.. but it's basically empty. The only lore elements are saurians in the HUB, that tell 1-liners when you stand in front of them, and graffities on walls that tell the story of a sister trying to catch up with her brother. That's literally it. No interesting loot to find, few secrets, generic trash mobs ( and repetitive ones at that ), basically the game's a bore-fest unless you're just in for the level exploration elements ( like I did, with pain ).

 

[Smerlus]

I think i prefer backing projects that don't release at all.

 

[LESS T_T]

Otherside Boston hired a new Senior AI Programmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-cox-2308835/

Previously worked at Rockstar New England over 11 years:

I primarily worked on the animal behaviors and animation for Red Dead Redemption. I worked on enemy AI combat and animation for Max Payne 3. I implemented human locomotion avoidance and vehicle navigation for GTA 5.

Somehow they've been hiring much needed experienced and specialized programmers.

He left Otherside and joined People Can Fly as Lead AI Programmer.

Senior AI Programmer

Company Name OtherSide Entertainment
Dates Employed Jun 2019 – May 2020
Employment Duration 1 yr
Location Concord Ma

 

[Efe]

its amazing he could find a job after (lack of) ai in underworld ascendant.

 

[LESS T_T]

its amazing he could find a job after (lack of) ai in underworld ascendant.

He joined after Underworld Ascendant and supposedly was working on the unannounced stealth game. (Also as noted he worked at Rockstar over 11 years, I imagine it would triumph whatever he did at OSE in his resume.)