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KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Prototype Thread

Shaewaroz

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It seems Otherside has accuired more star power for the Kickstarter campaign. The fools whose deside to pledge based on Garriot's endorsement deserve to be ripped off anyway.

Nonetheless, I think it's appropriate that the new UU will be at least in some way tied to Garriot.
 

Jaesun

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Nonetheless, I think it's appropriate that the new UU will be at least in some way tied to Garriot.

As long as it is ONLY lore wise then fine.

If they suddenly contract molyneux disease (of which Gariott is a current carrier) then there is absolutely no hope at all...
 

tuluse

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I think Specter and Garriot will have a lot of pull with people.

(even personally, I think the bile spewed at Specter around is uncalled for. Who cares that he made some shitty Mickey Mouse games, at least he wasn't calling them RPGs and being hailed as the next step forward).
 

Doctor Sbaitso

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My left nut for a worthy revival of the series. I am equally and moreso hopeful for a rekindling of Looking Glass Studios. Those guys were revolutionaries. If they still have their stuff we are in for epic shit.
 

Jaesun

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Jaesun said:
As long as it is ONLY lore wise then fine.
I don't expect it to be anything more than that, God forbid!

THAT is what I am terrified about. Period.

Gariott and Specter ONLY see things from a sales stand point. They have completely lost their way and forgot what makes a GOOD and enjoyable cRPG for a player. Like creating worlds where the Player can do what ever they want, and they try to accommodate what the player will do (see Deus Ex etc...).
 
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Shaewaroz

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My left nut for a worthy revival of the series. I am equally and moreso hopeful for a rekindling of Looking Glass Studios. Those guys were revolutionaries. If they still have their stuff we are in for epic shit.

Don't let your nostalgia glasses distort your judgment. Otherside is not Looking Glass and never will be. Those guys are scattered all over the place and even if they'd get together today they wouldn't be able to reproduce the magic from 20+ years ago.
 

Infinitron

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http://ultimacodex.com/2015/01/iamt...hroud-of-the-avatar-set-in-the-same-universe/

#IAmTheAvatar: Are Underworld Ascendant and Shroud of the Avatar Set in the Same Universe?
BY WTF DRAGON · JANUARY 21, 2015


underworld_ascendant_600.png

SotA_header.png


As noted earlier, OtherSide Entertainment have been using the #IAmTheAvatar hashtag on Twitter to promote Underworld Ascendant. Evidently, this caused some curiosity and speculation, because they then felt the need to sort-of clarify the term’s meaning on their forums:

What does that mean?

As the Avatar in Underworld, your mission is to do great things and undertake herculean tasks for the greater good. But it isn’t always huge heroic leaps is it? It’s also the little things. Like fostering relationships, gathering and trading goods, crafting necessary items. You get the idea. So all deeds which lead to the end result, great or small, make up the Avatar.

Our mission as the Underworld community is to do the same. We’re on a quest to raise the Underworld. This will happen in both grand gestures like high profile news or through smaller steps, like a retweet or telling a friend about how Ultima Underworld affected your gaming experiences. However you chose to contribute to the quest, you are the Avatar.

We are honored that you are on this journey with us.

Which…probably triggers as many questions as it answers, really. We’ll likely learn more on February 4th, which is when their Kickstarter campaign begins. They even released a promotional banner to drive home the date:

underworld-ascendant-kickstarter.jpg


Anyhow…I don’t think it’s entirely a coincidence that you, the player, will take on the persona ofthe Avatar (or an Avatar) in both Underworld Ascension and Shroud of the Avatar. But here’s where it gets interesting, as I hope you’ll see momentarily. Someone asked Richard Garriott, via Twitter, about Underworld Ascendant:

Huzzah! @OtherSide_Games brings back #Ultima Underworld! How close to @RichardGarriott 's lore will it be?

The Codex’s own Browncoat Jayson jumped in with a quick reply to this, explaining what OtherSide can and cannot do with the game at the IP level:

@PlayingTurtle @RichardGarriott @OtherSide_Games Well, it's #Underworld just not #Ultima. Still looking forward to it!

But then Richard Garriott added this little tidbit of information:

@browncoatjayson @PlayingTurtle @OtherSide_Games We are still working together on joint fiction, so we continue history together!

Joint fiction? Continue history together? It’s not an outright admission, to be sure, but it does seem to strongly imply that the two games may end up being set in the same universe, upon the same world, telling two different parts of a common, larger story.

I should probably also note that the $1.8 million stretch goal during Shroud of the Avatar’sKickstarter campaign had four parts to it:
  • A serialized novel by Tracy Hickman as a prequel to the SotA storyline
  • A massive, interconnected underworld with a unique story and ecology
  • An apprentice system that would allow “Master”-level players to help lower-level players advance more quickly
  • Cloaks with full cloth simulation
To date, two of these four goals have been delivered: Blade of the Avatar was indeed written and released, and Shroud of the Avatar does indeed feature cloaks with full cloth physics to them. Notably absent? Well, yes, the apprentice system…but also the underworld. There has been nary a mention of it in any Update of the Avatar published to date, nor even a hint of concept art pertaining thereto.

So I, for one, can’t help but wonder: what if Shroud of the Avatar’s underworld experience will be delivered by Underworld Ascendant?
 
Unwanted

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Don't let your nostalgia glasses distort your judgment. Otherside is not Looking Glass and never will be. Those guys are scattered all over the place and even if they'd get together today they wouldn't be able to reproduce the magic from 20+ years ago.

Nonsense. It isn't magic, it is intelligent, uncompromising design. Definitely reproducible.

Also, they've got most of the original underworld team back together as mentioned earlier in the thread.
Looking Glass 2.0 can happen, not as in every single individual who ever worked at the studio reunited through Otherside, but a new era of innovation and quality can happen, if only they can be adequately supported (and that is wishful thinking unfortunately).
 
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I think Specter and Garriot will have a lot of pull with people.

(even personally, I think the bile spewed at Specter around is uncalled for. Who cares that he made some shitty Mickey Mouse games, at least he wasn't calling them RPGs and being hailed as the next step forward).

I'd like to see Spector in a pure production role. Let him be the guy who understands the genre well enough that he knows what you can make with $X, and keeps things on schedule.
 

Perkel

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I want to be Dragon Avatar !

:avatard:

edit:

so how Shroud of Avatar is going ?
 

Doctor Sbaitso

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Don't let your nostalgia glasses distort your judgment. Otherside is not Looking Glass and never will be. Those guys are scattered all over the place and even if they'd get together today they wouldn't be able to reproduce the magic from 20+ years ago.

I choose hope and optimism. Judgement comes later.
 

Gentle Player

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As much as I love Ultima, I'd rather the new Underworld would not feature the Avatar. I'd like to see the brilliance of UU design without the restriction of playing a fully virtuous character. Yes, in the past games you could take an unsavoury approach to a few things, like poisoning the goblin king and killing the Pit champions for the blackrock gem, but following a Virtuous path was almost always the best way to go, both in terms of experiencing content, XP rewards, and general satisfaction. That was fine for UU, it was how it should have been, but for the new game I would like to see a more nuanced approach to dealing with other characters. Not necessarily an "evil" approach - which is usually handled idiotically in computer games anyway, edginess for the sake of being edgy - but something less black and white, with an emphasis on the survival aspect of dungeon-delving and how that can play into one's interactions with NPCs. I don't think the Avatar is terribly suited to that, but then again with good writing and design anything is possible. Oh well, this will be
:takemymoney: :d1p:regardless, unless something disastrous happens.
 

Infinitron

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As much as I love Ultima, I'd rather the new Underworld would not feature the Avatar. I'd like to see the brilliance of UU design without the restriction of playing a fully virtuous character. Yes, in the past games you could take an unsavoury approach to a few things, like poisoning the goblin king and killing the Pit champions for the blackrock gem, but following a Virtuous path was almost always the best way to go, both in terms of experiencing content, XP rewards, and general satisfaction. That was fine for UU, it was how it should have been, but for the new game I would like to see a more nuanced approach to dealing with other characters. Not necessarily an "evil" approach - which is usually handled idiotically in computer games anyway, edginess for the sake of being edgy - but something less black and white, with an emphasis on the survival aspect of dungeon-delving and how that can play into one's interactions with NPCs. I don't think the Avatar is terribly suited to that, but then again with good writing and design anything is possible. Oh well, this will be
:takemymoney: :d1p:regardless, unless something disastrous happens.

It's not the Avatar from Ultima they're talking about
 

Gentle Player

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Oh? What is the new Avatar then? I though Garriot's new game was just a pseudo-Ultima reboot but without the trademark. Never mind me, then.
 

Grim Monk

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Why didn't Garriott simply use the "Akalabeth 2" for his Kickstarter?

Its would seem like he probably owns the IP:
http://af.gog.com/game/akalabeth_world_of_doom?as=1649904300

It would have been a nice jab at EA...

"I built the Ultima Universe from THIS
Akalabeth_%2528AppleII%2529_01.png
starting in 1979!!
"All EA managed to do was to ran it into the ground."

"Now I'll go back to the beginning and do it all over again."

Introducing: Akalabeth 2: Mantle of the Avatar


Then this game could be "Akalabeth: Underworld"...
 
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mindx2

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Have to admit that this makes good financial sense for OtherSide. With SotA Kickstarter base already in place it should help make the first few KS days look good as many of Garriot's real estate customers will pledge. First few days momentum are critical for KS success.
 

Abelian

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An interesting turn.

As part of changing Ascension to Ascendant, OtherSide changed the runic tagline from "Jamon is awesome" to the more sensible "Depths Awaken".
 

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