KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

Wall running and parkour are part of the warrior tree, which they intend to be super-heroic.

 

[imweasel]

They are putting a lot of gameplay options in the game. Looks really promising. Me like.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Yeah, this looks good.

 

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

I'm french so there's no Mountain Dew in supermarkets, but you guys talk so much about it that I begin to crave it.
Mountain Dew and Doritos should put you on a payroll, like Andy Warhol said, there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Fucking zombies, will you stop it already? You're not edgy, you are stupid teens being used. Doritos Moutain Dew Doritos Moutain Dew Fat Nerd. Ok, we get it.

Mountain dew is just fanta with caffeine and twice as much sugar. Pretty bland. You're not missing much. Get an energy drink, or some coffee, instead.

 

[Infinitron]

Hey, this came out early:

Issue #17, December 21st 2015


ME SMASH!
The foray into combat has begun! We’ve got an internal Prototype where you can now smack things with… well, at the moment, a stone axe. Not glamorous, but does the blunt work.

As with the other game systems, our goal with combat is to give the player a range of interesting choices on how to approach a problem. At the same time, we don’t want seventy-five buttons for the player to memorize. The trick is in striking the right balance between tactical depth and keeping the system streamlined enough so that players can readily get a handle on combat.

We also realize there are different types of gamers out there. Some love moving though a 3D space like an over-caffeinated ninja. Others prefer to be more careful and slower-paced about their actions. On the team, Chris is a twitch gamer. His idea of perfection of movement is Ninja Gaiden or running around in Mirror’s Edge and Titanfall. Tim isn’t as much a fan of twitch gameplay, preferring more paced and tactical thinking in his combat.

Since we’re a role-playing game at heart, we’ll be leaning more towards tactical pacing for Underworld Ascendant.

Seems appropriate considering the rocky terrain, don’t you think?

A good example of more tactical pacing would be the sword fight from the film Princess Bride. In it, two masters use both their skills and the environment in an intense match, but don’t fly around a la Iron Monkey.

Boot to the Head skill

One way to introduce some twitch gameplay into the system is to have a handful of ‘twitchy’ abilities deeper in the skill tree. This way, players who enjoy these aspects can get it, if they work for it.

One concept we’re diving into is “running combat”: battles that span across spaces, where terrain, elevation and obstacles paly into the tactics. Objects can become part of the fight; from picking up and throwing a wine bottle to causing a stalagmite to fall on your enemy. Sometimes disengaging and moving off is the best idea. What we’re trying to avoid is what we call “chopping wood” combat. Where you stand there, click the button and… whack, whack, whack, the enemy dies.

Like with all of our design elements, this is an iterative process. We build the foundation, then start adding on layers. The initial core is mostly complete for basic combat. After that, comes testing, refinement, and, if needed, redesigning parts that don’t pass the fun test. We plan to have a playable build featuring core combat for backers to try out early next year.


PROTOTYPE EARLY ACCESS

​

As you know, we released our early Prototype “Playground” build to high level backers last month, and have made a number of updates and bug fixes to it since then.

Starting today, we’re offering early access to the Prototype build available to all of our backers who pledged at the Pioneer or higher tier as a $5 Add-On. With this Add-On, you’ll also earn a $5 credit good towards a future pledge. To learn more details, goHERE.


AN OLD FRIEND

Like all holiday seasons, it’s great when old friends comes by for a visit… even if they’re megalomaniacal AIs.

Yep! In case you missed it, we’re excited to announce System Shock 3.

​

If you swing over to the SS3 teaser site, you can hear voice actress Terri Brosius (System Shock 1 & 2, Dishonored) reprise her role as the voice of SHODAN and see an early peek at the evolving ‘next generation’ look of the character by concept artist Robb Waters.

System Shock 3 is currently in the very beginning stages of concept development and we won’t be digging fully into game production for some time. Our studio focus today remains squarely on Underworld Ascendant. But we thought it’d be fun for ourUnderworld Ascendant fans -- many of whom are fans of the System Shock series as well -- to get a peek at what will be coming down the road.


FINAL THOUGHTS AS WE CROSS INTO 2016

We can’t thank you enough. The fans have allowed this motley crew of dreamers to follow our passion. In the games industry this is a rare gift. With that in mind, we’ll continue to work hard on Underworld Ascendant over the coming year to make a great game, worthy of its pedigree, for you to enjoy.

We’ll be taking a bit of a needed respite over the upcoming holidays. As such, you can expect our next newsletter on January 11th.

In the meantime, Happy New Year!

 

[Infinitron]

Hmm, I don't see the prototype available on my personal Backerkit page yet. Just on this "public" one: https://underworld-ascendant.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/backers/2472908

Don't want to accidentally spend money on this when I have $5 credit from Bard's Tale IV.

 

[Infinitron]

The wallrunning has been added to the current build: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=979.0

I just pushed an update to the playable.

The last few weeks we've mostly been working on other features, but it has received some love in the form of bugfixing and a new movement ability.

Wall-running.
To Wall-run simply sprint forward (Shift + W) at about a 30 degree angle from a wall and jump into it.
(This gif is a good representation of it)
https://twitter.com/General_Willest/status/678257912133873664

This feature is a 1st pass, so it may be buggy. Let me know how it goes!
Also, you can jump off the wall if you hit space while wall-running.
You can also enter a wall-run by swinging off a rope and jumping into a wall at a good angle.

 

[Infinitron]

Prototype's up on BackerKit properly now.

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=982

Where do I find my Code?
The code will be with your digital downloads on Backerkit.

Is there a MAC version?
Sorry only Windows PC at the moment. If you use Bootcamp on your Mac--it may work but this is completely untested.

Is this the pre-alpha or Alpha build?
No. This is a prototype. Pre-Alpha and Alpha will actually have a look into the Abyss. This is more of a proof of concept for the magic system and other gameplay systems.

Are you asking us to pay to betatest?
No. Sure it is helpful to get feedback, but if you just want to peek in and see what making the sausage looks like to system designers than have at it. You will also see this prototype grow over the coming months. Some might not seem all that exciting but you need to build a foundation before building the house. That is what you are seeing here, the foundation of Underworld. During our kickstarter we talked about showing the sausage being made. It may look ugly and honestly a bit scary if you don't know what you are looking at. Over the next couple of weeks we will post some discussions on what you are seeing.

Q: Will the "Playable Prototype" purchase from Backerkit be just for the "Playable Prototype" or will it extend through to the Alpha and Beta's?

Just the playable prototype.
I expect to have 2 major updates to it over the next 30-60 days.
Then Pre-Alpha at some point in Q2-ish.

 

[Infinitron]

All right, got my prototype key.

 

[Infinitron]

New podcast: http://spong.com/podcasts/tsf/734/The-Sausage-Factory-Episode-83-OtherSide-Entertainment

Paul Neurath has been making games for over 30 years and he has co-founded OtherSide Entertainment and by doing so brought about the creation of Underworld Ascendant, the 3rd game in the Ultima Underworldseries, which does not have the word Ultima before it. This is because EA still own the rights to the Ultima series and so the 3rd game in the series cannot take on that moniker. Be that as it may, OtherSide Entertainment has forged ahead and crowd funded a new game based within the celebrated Underworld series from the late 1990s. Show host Chris ORegan talks to Paul about his long history in the industry including his time at Looking Glass Studios.

Will listen to this later.

 

[Zep Zepo]

:Hype De-Intensifies:

Zep--

 

[Mustawd]

Cute puppy.

 

[Infinitron]

First 38 minutes are about Paul's career and random musings. UA talk starts after that. Survival aspects, environmental storytelling, runic spellcasting, blah blah.

I like how Paul showers compliments on Bioshock Infinite early in the interview and slams it for being too linear later on. He also repeats again how he didn't like the way Deus Ex structured its player choice.

Possibly relevant note from earlier in the interview: An anecdote about how Thief had no AI and was completely unfun until 1.5-2 years into development, at which point it became awesome almost overnight.

Balance: Doesn't matter so much as long as there aren't any clearly crap choices. To make certain choices more appealing, Paul says they're looking into making it more rewarding to deal with stuff in a weird way. Like a fighter will gain more if he doesn't just hack and slash an enemy to death. (Exactly "more" of what is still unclear)

Other than that, not much new here.

 

[Infinitron]

Issue #18, January 11th, 2016


IT'S 2016!
In 2015, we were successful at our first Kickstarter, assembling the core team, and erecting all the scaffolding that games are built upon. The groundwork for the key systems are in place: character building, magic, movement, and combat. We’ve also tackled the pre-production for the narrative and key characters, the three factions and denizens of the deep you’ll encounter, the lay of the Stygian Abyss, and the other fantasy world design elements that go into The Underworld.

As the New Year begins, we’re busy making the transition to full production. The focus shifts to building out all the game play elements. Right now, we’re barreling along on two tracks: art and design.

Our designers are heads down prototyping the quest and narrative systems, building out character skills, and working out how to create spaces that take advantage of those skills. We’ve even started coming to grips with the major characters in the game and the main plot points.

It’s fun to see a team switch gears from “Wouldn’t it be cool?” to “We all agree that is cool. Let’s build it and prove it!” Seeing an idea on paper isn’t nearly as awesome as seeing it the game engine. One of the most rewarding things as a producer is being the guy who gets the first look at everything. It’s like opening presents every morning when we reach this point in development. From something simple like getting a new shader for stalactites to testing out wall-running and ground-sliding for the first time, it’s never boring.

I think I had this guy as a miniature in 1986.

The other track is art. After Nate Wells joined us as Studio Art Director late last year, we revisited the look for the game and decided to evolve to something that would be more distinctive. Something that captured the vibe of an old school dungeon crawl, but at the same time brought something new to the genre. Nate arrived at what he terms an “authored” art style, where The Stygian Abyss looks as if it were crafted by mages of yore who more-or-less terraformed the environment by their mighty mystical hands. The art team is busy working on the evolved look. A couple of sneak peeks are shown here, but we should have a playable build with the new look to share soon enough.

Stalagmite? Stalactite? I still get these confused.

Things are going to get even busier for us as we transition to full production; but it’s a good kind of busy where we’re firing on all cylinders and where we’ll have more to share with you each month going forward.

– Chris Siegel, Sr. Producer



IN OTHER NEWS

Because things are getting busier with the team as we transition into production, we’re switching Newsletter updates every three weeks instead of every other. It takes non-trivial time to do these updates and we want to balance that against progress on the game. We may switch back to biweekly updates later if we find we can balance that and folks really want them more frequently, but we want to test this out for the time being.

We decided to hold back the second round of updating the Prototype build until today, in order to make sure Steam was in a good place after the recent snafu. It should be updated and ready to try out by the time you read this. Remember, if you haven’t gotten access to the Prototype, you get it via an Add-On on BackerKit. To learn more details, go HERE.

Our plan is to continue to crowdfund on BackerKit and PayPal, likely through this summer. We have a few more stretch goals that we’d love to reach and are tantalizingly close to unlocking The Wailing Haunt. Less than $10,000 away now!

 

[Infinitron]

Consequences of having a low budget - your producer is also your level designer. For now, at least: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1027.msg16744#msg16744

So, Chris, et al.

Now that you're entering full production, I'm curious. Who is going to be doing the actual level design and creation at OtherSide?

LOL...right now..me. I got my start in game design as a level/mission designer, and to be honest it has been fun to ramp up on the new 'ways' to make content. Some of it is what I wanted back in the day, some of it honestly I had more freedom in the old BSP days. But what you sacrifice in freeform, you get a 1000 times better looking world. Nate, Dave and the other artists are making the scupts and prefabs, Will is finishing them off with the technical, and I'm using all those bits and putting them together.
In the long term, we will be hiring someones.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Unlike Zep Zepo, I don't see any real problems here. A small team of professionals with awesome experience credentials is very likely to churn out something good...even if it takes a little longer than "planned" by those same professionals.

The only real option to take here, is to "wait and see".

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Agreed. Wait and hope for some.

 

[Infinitron]

Issue #19, February 1st, 2016


MOVE LIKE A MONKEY, FLY LIKE AN EAGLE, STING LIKE A BEE!
Good news! Today, we’re updating the Underworld Ascendant Prototype build with new gameplay features. First up? More advanced movement modes. The team at OtherSide are fans of Jackie Chan movies, Parkour star David Belle, and American Ninja Warrior. Being able to move through a space with grace, flow, and just feeling awesome doing it are all goals for movement in Underworld Ascendant.

When a game has great movement controls, like in the old Id games Doom andQuake, they become an extension of the player. No thought is needed for basic navigation and it opens up the player’s ability to become more creative and skilled at getting around the world. In recent memory, Mirror’s Edge did this especially well. In it, the Parkour skills chain together beautifully and when you master the controls, moving around the game world has an almost ballet-like feeling.

Mirror's Edge by EA

Our lead designer Tim and engineer Will have fashioned the bones we can build upon for a robust movement system. They’ve decided – at least, for the moment – to have full body awareness. That means that the body of the player is visible and reacts like any other physical object in the world. Momentum matters. Run faster? You jump further. Chain jumps together and you keep your momentum going. Stop for a second and your momentum is lost. If you pause while jumping wall-to-wall, you start sliding down the side of the wall. Sliding down a slope is fast and running up a slope is slower than on a flat plane.

Just these few motions give us some pretty interesting ways of navigating the environment…

sliding

wall run

Secondly, we’ve stood up the beginnings of combat. There are three attacks so far: a light swing, an overhead swing, and a stab. There’s a bad guy wandering around the space who’s just itching to be hit.

Most RPG games have you cleave your way through battles without too much thought. Looking at my Fallout 4 play-through, I’ve killed over 4,000 enemies. Yikes! Maybe I’m the reason the Commonwealth isn’t prospering.

Tim is working hard to make each encounter meaningful and impactful. We’ll also keep the combat encounters intimate, giving more opportunity to show off unique features of the monsters and opponents. If you look back on the simple combat of Ultima Underworld, they were all pretty intimate affairs.

That’s the feeling we’re going after – but with more robust tactics, movement, and better use of the 3D space than was technically possible in the original games. Enemies with have ‘tells’ so the player can learn to react to them properly. We’re still looking at other complexities like locational damage, status effects, dodging, and blocking. How complex we push the AI in combat is being experimented with, but we expect them to have far more options than “ARRGH kill the player!” and “Oh, no! I’m hurt! Run away!” If they have spells, they’ll use them. If they’re carrying a magic weapon, you can be sure it’ll be equipped.

There’s one last thing we have to talk about today…

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE NEW ART STYLE FOR THE ABYSS!

Here’s a sneak peek at the new art style that our art director Nate has been driving at, which we’re terming the “Authored Look.” We think it’s showing wonderful potential and we’ll be revealing much more soon. Be sure and tell us what you think of this sneak onour forums!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1054.msg16914#msg16914

A couple of things:
We haven't pushed the build yet, later this afternoon.

That screenshot was a placeholder--it's real, but a couple of weeks old. I'll post some current ones later today, and the update on the website will have the newer shots.

Enjoy.

Time to beat on the Parkour track is 00:56 by my son.

 

[Infinitron]

Here are the screenshots: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1055.0

That second one looks kind of like the Ultima Underworld box art.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Cool, but still looks a bit like this

 

[Infinitron]

Cool, but still looks a bit like this

Possibly that's because the art is literally sculpted in virtual mud: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1027.msg16921#msg16921

 

[Excommunicator]

It's looking detailed but very plastic-y. They need to tone down the specularity and use some decent texture art

Also they're being very liberal with the polygon count. I'm not sure that's a good thing at this point

 

[Sacred82]

I hope we can still stab things with a blunt weapon, UU style

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I look at those screenshots, and what I'm most wondering about is what is producing the lighting. Is there a lava stream running through the room?