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KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

SausageInYourFace

Angelic Reinforcement
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In your face
Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
Probably
upload_2017-5-15_12-20-46.png
but when will Zep finally get this as his custom avatar?

297.png
 

Zep Zepo

Titties and Beer
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual
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I tried to register that handle on twatter, but it was already taken. There goes my big bucks.

I did however win the Viet Lottery the other day for *30,000!

Zep--
*about a buck and 32 cents in real money...lol
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium II

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This game was supposed to be released 7 months ago...yet, they are still talking about basic bullshit that should have been decided 80% in the design doc.

I can't wait for this clusterfuck to be released...The butthurt gun b gud.

Zep--
This game is like some sort of kickstarter project satire.
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
More from Chris Siegel: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1384.msg22046#msg22046

i.e. weight..
let me chew on that.
Ah Wiz 8, my good friend Ian Currie was the mastermind of that game.

burdening weight, check. limited carry capacity, check. wear and tear on weapons and armor, check. anyone can wear it, wield it ... it will be skills and class that make it effective, check.

I like it ...

Thats pretty much where I am Trench.

Armor- yes some armor is better against some damage types...ie Chain vs. Pointy things good, Smashy things bad. As someone who grew up with Higgins armory in their backyard, I've experienced the mace vs. chainmail. Hint it does terrible things to the body( or in my case the Styrofoam backing the armor was on) and the armor gets totally mushed into the wounds. Its really nasty.

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1321.msg22063#msg22063

It is disheartening to see a dev engaging "hardware wars". Shouldn't game development be platform agnostic?

It 'should' be. But Nvidia and Intel push way forward for developers compared to AMD. Why should I hold back on amazing tech that makes development easier because one of the vendors doesn't support said feature. It also happens to be the vendor that is a very small marketshare compared.
It does make our lives harder if we include Nvidia specific things -- we need to add the ability to turn said feature off if the player isn't using the hardware that supports it. That is extra work and sadly usually stops us and most developers for using the new features/optimizations exc.
The other way around is to wait for the engine guys to incorporate it. This way it is Unity's support problem, not ours. A good example of this is a bunch of Nvidia PhysX stuff is getting added to Unity in the next release. This forces Unity to make sure the AMD machines work without us caring about it anymore.

As I said, I got my start in QA - and the scars from AMD Socket 7 machines not being able to do math right --yes they had a floating point processor ERROR, and time and again Radion cards being an absolute nightmare-broken drivers, terrible uninstallers, the worst SLi implementation for games and video...yea personally I stick with Intel and Nvidia.

Really the 'big' feature from Nvidia we wouldn't mind playing around with is the fluid system. That is supposed to be in the next Unity version. We shall see.

Well, unity being as modular as it is was pretty much a no-brainer for the systems and eng. guys. The net negative--especially with the public was the graphics and if they could live up to Triple I or whatever. It does.

...hopefully we will have more proof soon with those pics and videos mentioned....


.
.
.
.
.

(and the 'swinging mace unsuble hint' award goes to....
smiley.gif
)

Soon soon.
 

Zep Zepo

Titties and Beer
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual
Joined
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Messages
5,233
>Go West
You find a news update from a forum
>Read Update
It's the same old shit you've read before.
>Play game?
HAHAHAHA...FUCK YOU!

Zep--
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Four days ago: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1393.0

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to let you know that our next update on Underworld Ascendant is due out next week. Fans of Stephen Russell -- and, hey, isn't everyone?! -- should find it pretty special.

The first of our Insider's Blogs (which will be accessible for those who backed at the EXPLORER reward tier and above) will also be kicking off next week. That will be followed soon by the first of the Developer Roundtables (LEGENDARY HERO and above). We're just sorting out some of the final details and technical issues. More details about both soon.

Thanks again for all your support and patience! We've been really busy, so have much to share in the coming weeks. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1392.msg22133#msg22133

I love the idea of various arrow types....in Thief. And that's the issue...

....it's an odd thing to have a stand-out hallmark of one game, and all the associations, imported into another. At the very least, they would need to feel or work slightly differently. Why? Because there's a danger of importing a later game set wholesale. Equally,you wouldn't want the System Shock suite of weapons/upgrades imported across...unlessyou can find a way of keeping them in character with the game. That will be key.

I remember the first prototype of Quake, and how the weapons gave it a unique feeling (as with Doom).

It's difficult, because I can see how well the various types would suit this game, and its physical possibilities...especially the grappling hook arrows, for example (which I think would be fine....but water arrows, I dunno...?).

It's more a character-of-the-game thing. Do I sound like an old purist curmudgeon forever hung up on the first two games, or do people understand what I mean. It's a look-feel-taste type thing....?



Our soaker arrows do more than put out torches. And hey, Thief was our baby, not going to throw out a good idea just because we did it already. We have expanded on it, and hopefully made it cooler.

And yeah shooting out torches is still awesome.
smiley.gif
 

Aenra

Guest
To some extent, i can understand his "sticking with Intel and Nvidia".. on the other hand it's worrying, seeing a fucking grown up that designs 'old school' and 'our legacy' yada yada have a hard-on for such gimmicks.

Nvidia fluid he mentions.. or Nvidia Hairworks i add.. why the fuck do we need such shit in this type of game, that's one, and why the fuck do we care about such gimmicks when the very basis, the actual, overall graphical fidelity is significantly "lower" than that of other 'AAA' titles, that's two.
Really only makes sense if you conceive of this moron as your typical "mainstream", "modern" thinking developer. And if you take that route, well, lol, need i say it? About the game?

(the other alternative, ie incentives to use said Nvidia gimmicks [which do exist mind] doesn't really apply here. His wording and explanation clearly paint this as a preference rather than a bonus or additional motive).
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Nvidia fluid he mentions.. or Nvidia Hairworks i add.. why the fuck do we need such shit in this type of game, that's one, and why the fuck do we care about such gimmicks when the very basis, the actual, overall graphical fidelity is significantly "lower" than that of other 'AAA' titles, that's two.
Really only makes sense if you conceive of this moron as your typical "mainstream", "modern" thinking developer. And if you take that route, well, lol, need i say it? About the game?

Au contraire. This isn't the 90s. It's mainstream developers looking to reach the widest audience who need to worry about hitting the lowest common denominator of machine configurations.

Innovation junkies like OtherSide's ex-Looking Glass guys go indie in part because they want to experiment with technological gimmicks.
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
Time to buffing up marketing power?: https://otherside-e.com/wp/othersid...r-somol-as-vp-marketing-business-development/

OtherSide Entertainment Brings Aboard Walter Somol as VP Marketing & Business Development

Hiring of industry veteran is the latest news reflecting company’s success and growth over the last six months

CONCORD, Mass., June 1, 2017 — OtherSide Entertainment today announced the hiring of Walter Somol as the company’s VP of Marketing and Business Development. Somol comes to OtherSide from Harmonix where he oversaw at various times product management, marketing, business development and strategic partnerships. Prior to Harmonix, he worked at Xbox where he focused on forging strategic partnerships with leading publishers and developers for Xbox.

“I’m thrilled to have Walter on board,” said OtherSide Entertainment founder and CEO Paul Neurath. “He brings more than a decade of experience at the executive level. To top it off, he’s a huge fan of Deux Ex and System Shock®, games that are hallmarks of the OtherSide pedigree. Combined with our recent launch of Underworld Overlord, announcing the publishing deal for System Shock 3 with Starbreeze and a new look for Underworld Ascendant, it’s an exciting time of growth for our company.”

“I’m very excited to join Paul, Warren Spector and the rest of the talented team at OtherSide,” said Walter Somol. “The team has been behind such ground-breaking games as Deux Ex, System Shock, Thief, and Ultima Underworld, which have inspired many developers and games that followed them. It’s an honor to work on new Underworld and System Shock games, with the people that were instrumental to making the original games.”

ABOUT OTHERSIDE ENTERTAINMENT
OtherSide Entertainment is an independent game studio with offices in Boston and Austin, focused on providing players with innovative gameplay, immersive worlds, and engaging narrative. The company currently has three products that have launched or are in development. Underworld Overlord, launched in late 2016, is one of the most highly rated Daydream games and is available exclusively for the Daydream mobile VR platform. Currently in development are the eagerly-anticipated System Shock 3 and Underworld Ascendant.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://otherside-e.com/wp/update-n...creens-stephen-russell-speaks-project-update/

UPDATE: New Underworld Ascendant Screens, Stephen Russell Speaks, & Project Update
June 2, 2017
Joe Fielder

Joe Fielder here. I’m Underworld Ascendant’s game director and writer. I’ll be handling this month’s newsletter to give you the latest update straight from the development team.

A New Look at Underworld Ascendant
First up, enjoy a few new in-game screens:


Enter the Skill Shrine…


The Silver Sapling has grown considerably.


A Lizard Man meditates & levitates.

Stephen Russell Talks Underworld Ascendant, Looking Glass, & More
As previously announced, legendary performer Stephen Russell has joined the voice cast of Underworld Ascendant in the role of Cabirus, an enigmatic character with deep ties into the past, present, and future of The Stygian Abyss.

We recently interviewed Stephen about his roles in some of our favorite modern games, experiences working with Looking Glass, and work on Underworld Ascendant.

Hi, Stephen. You’ve recently been involved with some amazing games from Skyrim to Fallout 4 and Dishonored 2 to Prey. Any favorite roles?

I’ve had the good fortune to work on some really interesting, complex characters over the years and it’s the ones that confound expectations, the flawed heroes – Garrett in the Thief games, Corvo in Dishonored 2 and Nick Valentine in Fallout 4 and now Cabirus – that I find most enjoyable to voice. I love comedy, too, so any opportunity to crack wise is a good day in the booth for me. Codsworth, in Fallout 4, was particularly fun for that reason.



How did you first become involved working with Looking Glass on Thief? Any particularly fond memories about the recording process for Thief, Thief II, or System Shock?


Twenty years ago this month, a Boston casting agent sent me to an audition for a role as a Scottish spy in a game under development by a local company. Six months later, I got a call from that same company asking me to come in and do some voice work on that game. By then the concept for the game and the title character had changed quite a bit. He was no longer Scottish, but he still had that world-weary snarky dialogue that I had found so intriguing in the audition. I’ve always been grateful that Looking Glass heard something in my audition that made them reach out to me, even though the read was no longer appropriate for the character. I spent about an hour working with Eric Brosius, the Audio Director, trying out voices and we eventually settled on the one that I used for all three Thief games I worked on.

Most of my recordings at Looking Glass were engineered and directed by Kemal Amarasingham, whose Looking Glass business card, which I still have somewhere, identified him as Audio Wanker. That should tell you a bit about his sense of humor and why we got on so well. Those sessions at Looking Glass were nothing but fun and it was always fascinating for me to walk through the offices and get a peek at all the incredible creative work going on. It reminded me a lot of some of my early theater experiences, working with scrappy young companies that were all about finding a path of their own, creating as much for the joy of creation as for any monetary gain. There was a definite feeling of collective inspiration in those rooms and I’m so glad to have had that as my introduction to this work.

What’s it like working with Paul Neurath and members of the Looking Glass team again on Underworld Ascendant?

There’s a comfort level in working with artists whose work you respect and admire and with whom you’ve shared the experience of creating something profoundly original. It’s a return to an atmosphere of ingenuity, passion and creativity. Paul’s work speaks for itself and part of what makes that work so good is that he manages to bring out the best in the people working with him. I know I did some of my best work at Looking Glass and I really believe that had a lot to do with that first hour sitting with Eric and the willingness to experiment, to try out different voices and to just play. Plus they’re all really nice people and fun to be around.

What’s been your experience so far recording the character Cabirus for Underworld Ascendant?

It’s been great! It’s often been said that an actor is only as good as the material he/she’s given to work with and I do think there’s a lot of truth in that. From my first meeting with you about the project, I could tell that character development and writing were being given a lot attention up front and that’s been born out by the dialogue I’ve had a chance to see. Cabirus is, indeed, one of those fascinating, complex characters that are such a pleasure to get inside. I can’t wait to go there again!

Thanks, Stephen! We’re looking forward to getting back into the studio for more.

In the meantime, as a special treat for our backers, we have several exclusive clips of Stephen’s Cabirus VO for Underworld Ascendant – the first time anyone outside the studio has heard his work in the game.



The Latest Progress on Underworld Ascendant
As mentioned last month, we’ve been adding new features and additional polish to The Challenge of Ishtass, the area in Underworld Ascendant where the player is first introduced to the bevvy of gameplay options available to them through the Improvisation Engine.

We’ve been focusing in this area on upping our visual bar and proving out our core gameplay — for combat, stealth, magic, and combining them with seemingly mundane objects in the environment to craft creative solutions.

In recent weeks, we’ve been adding additional interactive elements like sticky glue and fire, randomized caches of objects (some clearly useful from the start, some requiring… experimentation), and working out exactly how to reward the player for creativity.

Back during the start of development, we said that we wanted you to come up with ways of solving challenges that we hadn’t even thought of yet and that the game would reward you for it. We’ve made solid strides in this area, which we believe to be essential in unlocking the player’s creativity so they experiment and explore the deep interactive possibilities in the game. We’ll share more about this in the future when this feature is more complete.

The Challenge of Ishtass will be featured in the Pre-Alpha Backer Demo, which we appreciate all of you (who pledged at the ADVENTURER reward tier and above) waiting for so patiently.

We’re finally reaching a critical mass about what’s great about this game — what makes it the next step in Looking Glass-style, player-authored gameplay. So, that’s positive news. We’re holding back the Pre-Alpha Backer Demo and our next video footage a little longer so we can implement additional elements to further round out the core gameplay and get more meaningful feedback from backers on refining it further.

At the same time, any free hands on the team has are busy building out other levels, prototyping new AI, and working out a few ways to more closely involve you in the making of the game.

And therein lies our next topic…

The Latest on Backer Rewards
Those of you who backed at the EXPLORER pledge tier and above have been informed about how to access our new Insider’s Developer Blogs, which kicked off today. We’ll be continuing those periodically with a rotating cast of developers, including myself, lead designer Tim Stellmach, lead engineer Will Teixeira, and designer Chris Siegel.

With that rolling, we’re following up on our Developer Roundtables and other direct interactions with backers. We’ll be sending out a questionnaire to those who followed at those levels, so we can get your feedback on what aspects of the game you’d most like to weigh in on. Since over a whopping 1500 of you qualify for access to the Developer Roundtables, we also want to get a sense of just how many are interested in taking part and ideal times for scheduling. (Note: Because of that volume, we intend to follow up with a survey to ensure everyone gets a chance to share their thoughts.) The first Developer Roundtable will run the final week of June.

And, as requested on our forums, we’ll be looking into ways of capturing and posting these sessions down the line. More on the technical and scheduling details, as we have them.

We’re approaching a pretty optimal time to get your thoughts, as we’re working on finalizing Underworld Ascendant’s spells, skills, consumables, interactable objects, and bestiary. Your feedback will really help inform that.

Again, thank you. We know you’re as invested as we are in ensuring that the final game is as innovative and fun as Ultima Underworld, so we greatly appreciate your patience as we hone in on that challenging, inspiring goal.

In Other News
In case you missed it:

  • Our own Warren Spector and Paul Neurath recently spoke to Glixel about System Shock. Warren also spoke about System Shock 3 and new concept art just dropped.
  • Perception, the indie horror game by ex-Irrational developers, was just released on Steam and is due soon on Xbox and PlayStation 4.
  • Phoenix Point, the new strategy game by X-COM developer Julian Gollop, is wrapping up its final days on Fig.
  • Our friends at Supergiant have announced that their new game Pyre will be released July 25th on Steam and PS4.
Until next time!
 

Aenra

Guest
Aesthetically, not quality-wise, this is a downgrade for me.

The first few screenshots we saw where a bit 'underwhelming' for today's standards, granted, but even so i liked them; as i mentioned back then, they evoked that 'old' school vibe, they had a personality and of course, they were distinctive.

You can still see some of that old vibe in these newest ones (albeit just barely), but most of it's now.. lost. Too much gloss and shine, too intense light shaders (check all the light emanating from those lamps, i mean Jeesus), too vibrant colors and overall a bit too cartoony an approach. Something has been lost, a lot has been "modernized". Do not like.

(again, just me).

/incline about Russell though, that voice.. many memories :)
 

Metro

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Only screenshots? Hasn't it been at least a year since they released a video?
 
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Only screenshots? Hasn't it been at least a year since they released a video?

They were still nailing the art style. Otherside were fending off plenty of complaints.

Personally, I'd rather have a finished game than a half-finished beta. Let them work. The mechanics sound solid. It's done when it's done.
 

Metro

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I guess it's unreasonable to expect a beta in three years these days?
 

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