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This game will be a funny experience for me, everything is moving for they making a really underwhelming sequel of Ultima Underworld, it won't be as feature rich, they probably ran out of money and alot of shit was cut, best case scenario will be an Ultima light game much closer to Arx Fatalis than an Ultima game BUT there is so much potential in there for some moody dungeon spelunking, if they at least delivered on some moody dungeon crawling with expansive level design reminding me of the ole Looking Glass games... I would be disappointed but I could still get some good out of it but with the way the development of this game was, even that is looking fabulous optimistic so far.
Note that this area can be ABSOLUTELY pitch black without a light source, and I tried to frame it in the light of a hallway where I planted the sapling to give you an idea of how far ahead you can see. Ignore the rapid red flashing around the edges, I was running while injured and hadn't found any food in awhile.
It looks like a pretty major level blocker is preventing us from hitting our Beta milestone this week.. I was hoping we could release the Backer Beta this Wednesday after we hit the milestone on Monday, but everything may be delayed to next week :sob:
Real life happens sometimes, and that's understandable. The good news is that we have more time to polish, at least
It looks like a pretty major level blocker is preventing us from hitting our Beta milestone this week.. I was hoping we could release the Backer Beta this Wednesday after we hit the milestone on Monday, but everything may be delayed to next week :sob:
I think it's the subtle light around the player, so when you're moving around in pitch black, when you get close to a wall, it'll get slightly illuminated.
Right, just like the originals. This is a very important development as it allows incorporation of real darkness in level design through the bubble lighting, as opposed to placing implausible clusters of candles and unattended torches all over the place to light the level. Good news.
First, we'd like to thank all of our external playtesters who tirelessly helped us discover some bugs we missed, as well as great feedback that is going to help us polish the levels going forward. Thank you for all of your support and patience!
We finally passed a big internal Beta milestone last week, and this means that our workload going forward will be:
1. More polishing. A lot more polishing.
The fun part about cleaning up an immersive sim-style game like this is how all of the attention to detail needs to go in at this stage. This means tweaking physics so not everything breaks with a single collision ("elephant in a china shop," was one of the most popular phrases passed around between the Backer Alpha and the playtest builds), cleaning up and tightening more of the levels, and then tying together the world with hand-placed narrative and making sure we review each of the levels with the updated state of the world changes.
2. The Backer Beta build! This is still being polished up, and I'm gathering all of the documentation necessary to make sure that returning players from the Backer Alpha have a list of changes that have gone in, as well as some instructions for any backers who are less familiar with how UA works.
3. Newsletter! This should launch the same day as the Backer Beta... that's all I'll say for now.
So keep your inboxes open!
4. We're still working out an exact date and time, but sometime this month we'll be holding a Reddit AMA with some of the members of the OtherSide team! We'll be gathering questions in advance for anyone who can't make the date or time live, and post a link here once we've gathered more information. Now might be a good time to start brainstorming...
The kickstarter was 3 years ago. Otherside got 1.5 million out of it.
After roughly 1.5 years 505 was announced as the publisher.
You can probably figure out who paid for that other half of those 3 years.
And also how much (Boston, MA has some high average salaries for programmers btw).
They'll probably push it back to next week.
Then they'll have exactly one month to get the feedback in.
Less even considering that folks also need to play and review the whole thing first.
The beta is apparently coming very soon (tomorrow?)
Both the Newsletter and Beta should be out very soon (newsletter is waiting on the beta)--ideally by the end of this week so you guys can try it out over the weekend.
UPDATE: Backer Beta, New Narrative, The Old Underworld, & More
Hey everyone,
With November quickly approaching, it’s time to highlight some aspects you can look forward to seeing in Underworld Ascendant!
Starting with, of course:
BACKER BETA NOW AVAILABLE
Our Backer Beta build is now available for Journeyman level backers and above! ($35+)
Please log into your BackerKit to access the Steam key under the Digital Downloads page. This is currently available for only Windows; we will update our Mac and Linux backers when a build is available!
Note that unlocking the Beta access on Steam does NOT mean you are locked into downloading Underworld Ascendant on Steam for your final digital download when the game launches. We are still in talks with GOG about a DRM-free release.
If you had access to the Backer Alpha/Pre-Alpha build, you do NOT need a new Steam key. The Underworld Ascendant app should update on Steam to the Backer Beta Build.
For more information on what’s in the build, what you can expect, and a feedback form, check out our site here.
THE BACKBONE OF THE ABYSS: THE SURVIVORS
Over the last several months, our narrative team (writer/director Joe Fielder and writer Crispin Boyer) have been working with OtherSide Austin studio head Warren Spector to further refine and finalize Underworld Ascendant’s story.
For example:
Several new roles have been added, as we’ve expanded the population of characters within the Saurian town of Marcaul to include mediators to the Factions and more.
The player’s nemesis Typhon is no longer a slumbering primordial nightmare, but is now an active taunting threat, full of menace and… wow, yeah, he’s actually really damn scary.
The game now includes VO support for Memora, which are captured memories from major characters detailing important events and secrets of The Stygian Abyss. These are found as quest items in main quests and also hidden in dark and often difficult to access areas that only the clever and capable can find.
Final recordings took place several weeks ago! Those have since been processed, implemented within the game, and delivered to our Localization team for translation.
We are currently bearing down on locking down all in-game text, including bits of series lore and lizardman graffiti hidden throughout the lower levels of The Stygian Abyss.
Last, but not least, we’re proud to announce our phenomenal voice cast, which includes such talents as:
STEPHEN RUSSELL – Stephen is well-known to longtime Looking Glass fans from his role as Garrett in Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age. He’s had many other memorable roles since then, such as Nick Valentine and Codsworth in Fallout 4, Corvo in Dishonored 2, and more. In Underworld Ascendant, Stephen plays Cabirus, a ghost from the series’ past who acts as your enigmatic advisor.
IMARI WILLIAMS – A voice performer with such game credits as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and XCOM II, Imari plays Typhon, the ‘Father of Monsters,’ who was imprisoned by Zeus beneath The Stygian Abyss and the player must stop from breaking free. Imari was chosen for the role from dozens of auditions because of his incredible timing and thunderous, bone-rattling performance.
FRYDA WOLFF – A voice talent known for her work in the Mass Effect series, World of Warcaft, XCOM 2, and more, Fryda plays Aelita, the charmingly-opportunistic Outcast who runs The Midnight Forum, a key location in Marcaul where the player chooses contracts from the Factions, trades equipment, and more.
DAVE FENNOY – Perhaps best known to game fans for his stellar work as lead character Lee Everett in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 1, Dave plays Resherak, the keeper of the Memoreum, a vast repository of survival knowledge in Marcaul where the player trades their discoveries in exchange for memories of great heroes of the past.
KERI TOMBAZIAN – A performer with credits ranging from Grand Theft Auto V to Batman: Under The Red Hood, Keri plays the two important roles in Underworld Ascendant: Saurian Mediator Haprukala AND the Expedition Faction Leader, Executor Rubric.
LIAM O’BRIEN – A talent known for his work in Critical Role, World of Warcraft, Pillars of Eternity II, and the Mordor series, Liam helped bring to life many of our Saurian and Chthonian characters and also plays a role… we’re not discussing quite yet.
TERRI BROSIUS – A well-known name to fans of Looking Glass games, Terri plays SHODAN in the popular System Shock series and contributed to Thief: The Dark Project, Thief: The Metal Age, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, and Dishonored 2. She plays the role of the Deep Elf Faction Leader in Underworld Ascendant.
Our voice cast also includes the talents of SARAH ELMALEH (Gone Home, Final Fantasy XV) NEALKAPLAN (BioShock Infinite, StarCraft II), and FRED TATASCIORE (Mass Effect, World of Warcraft) whose roles we’re also not revealing quite at this time.
We can’t wait for you to hear them all in-game!
UPDATES & VARIATIONS IN THE ABYSS
We’ve mentioned in previous updates that we’ve been expanding the variety of enemies and potential allies you can encounter in the Abyss, and who better to start with than our favorite Skeletons?
Our Tier 1 and Tier 2 Skeletons can now equip a couple of different weapons, which should give you pause when assessing any encounter with them. Make sure you’re aware of their range and the risks of engagement, especially if a Skeleton seems to look slightly different…
Additionally, notice how the armor and design of an enemy may give you a hint about how they’ll interact with a stranger. Take, for example, the Chthonians…
(Please note that these are 3D renders of the characters T-posing! This is not how they will appear in the final game.)
As we near Beta, we’ve been making substantial updates to the game from its Alpha-state to really breathe life into it. With these new enemy variations, new level passes, systems improvement and revisions based on Backer Alpha and external playtest feedback, we continue to draw closer to our vision of The Stygian Abyss.
For example, here’s a sneak peek at some UI revisions to come:
KICKSTARTER REWARDS
We’re also very excited to share an update about some of our physical Kickstarter rewards! We’re aiming to ship these so our domestic (USA) backers receive their physical goods as close to our November 15th launch date as possible. Please note that international backers may receive their goods later due to customs and shipping timeframes.
LEGENDARY HERO backers and above ($150+) will receive their physical boxed copies featuring this exclusive box art by Denis Loubet, the original artist for the Ultima Underworld® box art.
(Note that the Underworld Ascendant watermark will not be a part of the final presentation. That is a placeholder!)
As a little thank you to some of our highest backers and our publisher, 505 Games, we just shipped out some signed 8×10” posters! More potentially on the way…
Remember to make sure your shipping address is updated on your BackerKit!
If your address needs to be updated, please email us as soon as possible at support@otherside-e.com .
INSIDER BLOG: Combat with Carl
This month’s Insider Blog is about how the combat system is tuned and crafted based on enemy types, written by one of our Designers, Carl Ahlund! This post is available for Explorer level backers and above ($50+).
As a reminder, we are still looking for external playtesters! Join us on Discord to sign up for an exclusive playtesting opportunity and stay updated on a daily basis on our progress.
Please note that all screened playtesters must be able to communicate with us via Discord or our OtherSide forums and that this opportunity is Windows only. If you have any questions about the signups or potential conflicts of interest, you may email us at support@otherside-e.com .
Cheers,
The OtherSide Team
In Other News…
Our fellow Kickstarter-passion-project, BARD’s TALE IV: BARROWS DEEP, is out now! InXile Entertainment brings Bard’s Tale’s latest installment to Steam, and we couldn’t be more excited!
If you’re looking for a fantastic RPG that stays true to its roots with a fresh format, witty narrative and fun combat, look no further than PATHFINGER: KINGMAKER. Huge congratulations to the team at Owlcat Games!
Welcome to the Underworld Ascendant Backer Beta build!
Please keep in mind that this is a Beta and the build is still undergoing optimization. Since June, we’ve been bug-fixing, tuning, polishing and getting all of the systems working well together.
We are looking forward to your feedback. It’s a lot easier for us to understand and parse well-thought out and articulated feedback through our official Backer Beta survey. In particular, constructive criticism and respectful argumentation are greatly appreciated. All feedback will be read thoroughly.
Only JOURNEYMAN backers and above ($35+) will have access to the Backer Beta build.
Your feedback is critical to us at this stage, so once you have finished playing the Beta, please fill out this survey!
This build includes:
PLUTO’S GATE
THE SAURIAN’S CHALLENGE
MARCAUL
UPPER EREBUS
UNDERSWAMP
TITAN’S REACH
SKILLS
Note: You can only exchange your Memora for skills with Resherak in Marcaul (or if you find him in the Abyss). All skills are currently available in the build.
ITEMS
Armor (Basic)
Note that most of these will equip automatically if they are better than your current armor
Weapons
Jewel of Befuddlement – Throw this at an enemy and they will be temporarily stunned and forget they saw you.
Flint Arrows
Bow
Water Arrows – Does not deal damage to enemies. Can put out fires.
Blast Arrows – Deals minor damage. On collision, a blast of air will be released.
Tripwire – Anything that walks into a tripwire will receive damage, including yourself! Select the tripwire and click Left Mouse to have the placement indicator appear. Move against a vertical surface where the placement indicator is tinted white and click again to place it. If the placement indicator is tinted red, that means an opposing surface is not close enough, and the trap can’t be placed there.
Memora – A magical means for capturing memories. Raw Memora is used as currency. Memora containing key information or survival skills is greatly valued. (A Memora containing secrets is a quest item in the Upper Erebus mission)
Silver Sapling – Plant it anywhere in dirt. You will always respawn at the Silver Sapling. It can only be in one place at any one time, so be mindful of where you re-plant it!
Food
Be sure to eat food ingame to learn their effects!
Wands
Move Wood – Cast once to bring a wooden object towards you.
Bind Spirit – Charms living creatures and shackles the Undead to the ground for a short period of time.
Bind Wood – Immobilizes wooden objects in place for a short time.
Move Fire – creates a throw-able orb of fire
Be sure to pay attention to rune combinations and write down your own!
Item interaction – when you grab an object, we display an indicator line that shows where you are holding that object. That anchor point can impact how and where you can place the object. Sometimes it’s easier to “push” objects than “pull” them.
Item Highlighting – we’re investigating being able to turn off the object highlighting for those that wish to do so. The option is not in this build.
Reward Screen – We welcome your feedback on how well the stats listed here reflect your playthrough, as well as your understanding of how you’re being rewarded.
Narrative and Quests – Most of the beginning narrative is revealed in this build. Play at your own risk! Certain narrative spoilers have been omitted until final release.
Save System – This is currently undergoing work. Note that the Silver Sapling acts as a RESPAWN point within a level and not a SAVE POINT.
KNOWN ISSUES – there are many more, these are the more likely you’ll encounter:
FOR ALIENWARE USERS: The game may crash if you do not delete the file “AlienFXManagedWrapper3.5.dll” in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Underworld Ascendant Betas\UA_Data\Managed (or wherever you have their games stored)
There are some occlusion issues in Pluto’s Gate, Marcaul, and Titan’s Reach.
There is a floor texture that has some issues in Pluto’s Gate.
“Added to Backpack” is triggered when you first load into Marcaul, even though you haven’t picked up anything. This is handling your unarmed slot as “an object” you picked up, even though it isn’t.
Picking up items tooltip appears before player is able to pick up any items.
Some water bottles bounce off of torches.
Some graffiti is blocky due to font issues.
Fog might show some rectangle shapes when observing it from a distance.
V/O can sometimes stack in Marcaul.
Player is unable to skip/exit the credits.
Players can set their names to names with over 50+ characters.
Some chests appear open. Upon selecting them, loot magically appears.
The Trade UI has some issues with dragging items from one faction to another, stacking on top of other items. The system is currently being worked on and improved on.
Dragging items and stacking them onto of other items in the hotbar/inventory causes them to vanish.
Selecting Social in Options After Closing Options Shows Blank Panel.
Caching video for unlocking feats/imprinting memora is on by default in the Options.
BUG SUBMISSION
If you encounter bugs, please follow these steps:
Open the PAUSE MENU
Select the “BUGS” option, which will open a new tab with a menu.
Enter the title of the bug and basic description. Push SEND.
Barely anything so far, looks like they're either not allowing video capture or nobody is bothering to stream.
A few first impressions from the forums:
There are too many voices in my head talking to me in this game, and far too few instances of being able to talk to an actual physical being.
None of the NPC's that talk to me actually allow me to have any kind of conversation with them. The ones that are walking around won't even talk at all, whether or not I click on them.
Anyhow, the keybindings are still unavailable. This seriously worries me at this late stage of the games development. More importantly, the lack of a proper save system is really destroying the games appeal for me. Only being able to save stats and inventory in Marcaul just doesn't cut it.
"I'm assuming you mean no recorded dialog, but there *are* standard text trees, yes? This would be ok with me..."
No, I have not seen any dialogue conversation options with any NPC's, voiced or text tree based.
When I said there are too many voices in my head, I was referring to Cabirus + Typhon, who both talk telepathically to you. Typhon as a disembodied voice is a new addition who was not present in the Backer Alpha. He laughs at you and taunts you and tells you all about how everything will burn and how powerful he is and stuff. He does this shortly after the tutorial begins, at at least another couple points during the tutorial, and what seems like every time you leave Marcaul with a quest, among other instances. I personally can't stand the angel and demon on my shoulder/inside my head situation. Especially the Typhon side of it, as all he does is issue taunts and other general villain gloating. I think Cabirus had been toned down since the earlier versions that backers had complained about, but Typhons contant statements more than erase any toning down that was done, in my opinion.
As for the physically present NPC's, there are two types in Marcaul. Lizard men who walk around, and Lizard men who are basically stationary. The ones that walk around refuse to talk or interact beyond pulling their sword out if I bump into them too hard. The stationary ones will usually make some kind of voiced statement(s) when you get close enough, and these statements are either quest progression in nature or general repeatable idle talk. You cannot engage in coversation.
Just had a quick go of it. It ended with a BSoD. Doesn't run very well (Tried on both high and ultra, and it ran about the same) and there's still some kind of mouse smoothing enabled that I can't seem to find an option for so I can disable it. The physics are incredibly janky, as are the controls. I've gotten stuck on geometry quite a bit, and even had to jump on to the last step of a staircase in order to ascend it. Managed to kill a skeleton with my corpse, as it killed me (respawned and got a physicskill feat).
There's a lot of blank/missing textures and the pop-in for different LODs is really aggressive. There also seems to be some occlusion issues, as I've had chunks of walls disappear as they approach the edge of the screen. This happened especially in the tutorial.
The skeletons are also incredibly hard to kill compared to the alpha. For me at least, they take maybe 20-30 hits to kill with a pristine rusty sword, whereas they can kill me in 3-4 hits.
505 probably will publish retail console release of System Shock 3, as they've been doing with other Starbreeze published games (Dead by Daylight, Raid: World War II, Overkill's The Walking Dead). I've been wondering if the publishing deal of UA is something to do with that.
