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KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

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
The Otherside website appears to have changed: https://otherside-e.com/wp/

There's a new Ascendant page there but the old site is still up.

Kinda vague for all the hooplah.

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1316.msg20494#msg20494

Hi, all. You want more meat in the updates. I'll pass on the message. In the past, we've shown more work-in-progress visuals, but more recently we've been holding back to polish and save until we have something amazing to show. (You gave us a lot of feedback earlier, which we appreciated and have been working on.) That's not far off and I'll see what we can show soon.

Beyond that, what else would most like more of in our next update? Narrative? Stealth? Magic? Monsters?
 
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For me, off-screen (i.e. unscripted) ecologies are one of those things that sound terrific in theory, probably would be terrific in an UO style mmorpg where the interaction of other players with the environment is part of the core gameplay, but in actuality is wholly irrelevant to quality, even in terms of immersion (some of the most immersive games have wholly fixed, zero-ecology, 'only reset with new stuff if you return to the same map later in the game' styles - e.g. Deus Ex, Arkham Asylum, etc.

My reaction to the bizarrely complex ecologies in SS2 (and they are bizarrely complex when you read through the details, even though they don't claim to operate in terms of 'X creature eats Y creature') - 'wow, that's a huge and totally unnecessary amount of effort for a respawn system!'

Like, did it really matter that there's in-universe ecology-type justifications for which parts of which levels constantly respawn with a particular enemy, and which remain mostly empty once you clear them? It's not as though they created a living world first, and then it just happened by coincidence that the high-respawn zones and the types of enemies that spawn there happened to match the gameplay ambitions for that level. It doesn't matter how much math they put into it - they were always going to tweak to the point of completely remapping it, so that the high-spawn points for particular enemies were where they were needed for gameplay.

Not saying that the environment/enemy versimillitude wasn't worth it - just that you could achieve the same effect working backwards like FO:NV, designing the levels and the intended enemy and respawn type/frequency on pure gameplay grounds, and then adding in purely cosmetic (but logical and detailed) environmental explanations, no algorithms required.
 

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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
SS2 ecologies? Are you sure you're not thinking of the cancelled plans for an ecology in BioShock?
 

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Short history of OtherSide: http://www.glixel.com/news/the-makers-of-ultima-underworld-return-to-their-roots-w456304

Not so much new info but we get a photo of young Doug Church.

(Oh, and also we can learn why they made the spin-off VR game, that they have another Looking Glass alumni Steven W. Nadeau, and that Spector helped fundraising for OtherSide even before join as Director.)

How the Makers of 'System Shock' and 'Ultima Underworld' Rediscovered Their Roots

In 1992 Warren Spector and Paul Neurath invented the immersive sim – now they're trying again


Sometime in early 1990, Paul Neurath showed the team at Origin Systems – creators of legendary games like Ultima and Wing Commander – a tech demo he'd built with programmer Doug Church and artist Doug Wike. It was for a new game, presented in a way that had never been seen before – in fully-textured first-person real-time 3D. And it rocked then-producer Warren Spector's world, setting him on a course that would lead him to head the development of groundbreaking games like System Shock and Deus Ex.

"I shouldn't say this, but I remember there were a bunch of Origin folks crowded around the screen looking at it, and several of the people there shrugged their shoulders and said, 'Yeah, that's cool.' And I looked at it and said, 'Do you not realize that the entire world just changed?' I browbeat my boss at Origin to let me work on the project with Paul and the rest is history. I was hooked."

Neurath's nascent studio was called Blue Sky Productions, but it would soon be renamed Looking Glass. The 1990 demo went on to become 1992's Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, which launched two months before the technically simpler – but still impressive – Wolfenstein 3D by Id Software. The genre Looking Glass were about to mint was the immersive sim, which blended the rich choice and systematic consequence of the RPG with the sense of "being there" that comes with a first-person perspective. And Ultima Underworld and Looking Glass would directly result in the creation of some of the greatest games of all time: System Shock, Deus Ex, Thief, BioShock, and Dishonored.

26 years later, Spector is working with Neurath again, and they're collaborating on two of their most treasured creations from that golden age. But the studio is new: OtherSide Entertainment. At OtherSide's Austin branch, Spector is building a studio to make System Shock 3. In Boston, meanwhile, Neurath is working on Underworld Ascendant, a third game in the series, having spent 20 years trying to get the license out of Electronic Arts, who finally agreed on the basis that they wouldn't permit use of the Ultima name. And also a spin-off, Underworld Overlord, which became OtherSide's first release when it came out on December 8.


underworld-group-1401x788-b4156241-f62f-4ac5-a2b0-247832134dd4.png


Paul Neurath (middle) and Warren Spector (right). OtherSide Entertainment


Overlord is perhaps not what you're expecting. It's certainly not an immersive sim but it is immersive in its own right – it's built specifically for Google's Daydream mobile VR platform. Spector neatly describes it as "Dungeon Keeper meets tower defense." You play as an evil lich defending your dungeon against heroes out to plunder your treasure. You can move your view of the action by jumping between floating eyeballs throughout the level and you control your disembodied lich hand through gestures with Daydream's wireless motion controller. You can cast spells, set traps, and command your monsters to take the invading heroes down. If they get to your "animus," where your life force is stored, it's game over.

It might seem something of a deviation for a studio with a heritage like OtherSide's, but Overlord sits closer to Neurath's interests and experience than it might seem. He's been working with VR since the Nineties, when Looking Glass' System Shock and Flight Unlimited were patched with support for Forte's VFX1 and the Victormaxx CyberMaxx. These early headsets were on the cutting edge in their day, though they were cursed with bad optics, limited head tracking, and laggy performance that made users hurl.

"The opportunity to do a VR game was something I've been keeping an eye out for," Neurath says of the project, which has taken six months to build and launch. "When we heard about Daydream, we thought it was a great opportunity. It's a lot about learning. I go into a lot of games knowing I don't know a lot and that we have to figure a lot of stuff out. That can be scary but also very motivating and fun. You can get some great innovations out of that."

Overlord was conceived from an ambition to make a comfortable VR game, which is why it presents its action from switchable vantage points instead of first-person. According to Spector, he and Neurath learned during their earliest experiments in Nineties that most people simply don't want to play longform games in VR. Beyond all that, Spector and Neurath hope that Overlord conveys what VR is good at creating: "The sense that you're in that environment and can manipulate things, that's a very powerful piece of VR," Neurath says.

Working with mobile games isn't unfamiliar to him, either. His previous studio, Floodgate Entertainment, which he founded in 2000, initially worked on the Neverwinter Nights series and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic before transitioning into casual and mobile games. The studio was acquired by the then Facebook-focused game studio Zynga in 2011. "It was an interesting time, for sure," Neurath says.

At Floodgate, he started to see the challenges small studios would face in getting traction on Facebook and the App Store and the advantages having the backing of Zynga would bring. The studio was the 10th acquisition Zynga had made in just 10 months, and it collected many other greatly experienced developers, such as Brian Reynolds, creator of Civilization II and Alpha Centauri. "I learned a lot, no regrets in that sense," he continues. "[Things] obviously didn't quite pan out for Zynga. When we were acquired, it was the peak, but Facebook and social gaming didn't grow as people were projecting." Floodgate was closed in 2014.

Spector has weathered similar storms in the games industry, having sold his studio, Junction Point to Disney in 2007, only to have it closed down in 2013. "I needed some different challenges because I had been making games for 30 years," he says. He established a game development program at the University of Texas, but midway through his three-year contract, he started to get restless. "I realized I still had things I needed to make," he says. "I needed to make some games."


uascreenshot02-f64155f2-01c3-488e-918f-47b523317dba.jpg


'Underworld Ascendant' by OtherSide Entertainment. OtherSide Entertainment


Neurath called to ask if Spector would be on his advisory board alongside Doug Church, the programmer on the original Ultima Underworld demo. Spector eagerly obliged. "Underworld was a seminal experience for me," he says. He also helped fundraise for the studio, and during a fundraising trip they took together, Neurath revealed that he'd bought the rights to make a System Shock game. "I jokingly said, 'I should make that for you,'" Spector says. Two weeks later, Neurath called and ask him to make it for him.

There's a real sense that OtherSide is a group of developers who have come full circle on the ideas about player-led game design, the ideas that led to the immersive sim which first got them excited about making games. Apart from Neurath and Spector, there are plenty of developers at OtherSide with a similar pedigree: Nate Wells, who started his career at Looking Glass and served as art director on BioShock and The Last of Us; designer Steve Nadeau, who got his break working on Flight Unlimited; and Joe Fielder, who wrote on BioShock Infinite.

"We're very stubborn and we're very committed to a particular approach to games that is finally coming back," says Spector. "It's funny, back in the day, we'd look at each other and ask why everyone isn't making games like this. This is so obviously what makes games unique."

They're bringing to bear all the experience they've learned since, and applying modern technology to games that not too long ago had to fake with heavy scripting the spellbinding realness of their worlds. Today, the immersive sim gets much closer to a simulation, better realizing its promise of a world in which players can express themselves by freely and creatively solving problems.

It takes a particular kind of studio – a studio like Looking Glass, perhaps – to make games that really live up to this ideal. "Us being independent, nimble, able to be innovative and take creative risks is a strength in tackling these kinds of experiences," says Neurath. And perhaps, having weathered acquisitions and closures before, it's something he'll be able to maintain. For Spector, it’s about building a creative and collaborative culture in which it’s possible to express strong opinion. “I like to describe it as respectful argumentation. Out of arguments you get the best ideas, and from passion you get the best ideas.”

"If I couldn't make games like Underworld, System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex, I would stop making games, " he says. " I have no interest in doing anything else."
 

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On Overlord/Ascendant crossovers: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1314.msg20519#msg20519

Joe Fielder said:
Many thanks! I'll pass on your kind words to our VR team, who worked really hard to make the game a lot of fun AND ready near the launch of the new platform. (Warren Spector just said to them last week, "I don't know how you did it...")

There are a few creatures that exist in both Underworld Overlord and Underworld Ascendant, though their look and function will vary since they have different art styles and gameplay. The voice cast of UO (which included Courtenay Taylor, who was Jack in Mass Effect 2) may provide a peek at the talent of the folks we're working with in UA.

Our resident story nerd will likely sneak in a few lore tie-ins...
 

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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
Some interesting discussion of scripted vs AI-driven dynamic gameplay here: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1322.msg20563#msg20563

A few quotes:

Faction AI --
As a general rule we don't like scripting. It sort of goes against the whole philosophy. Sure some things need to be scripted out, but the current design is the factions react to actions. This isn't a new concept by any stretch, but isn't used all that much in RPG's currently which is weird. You do see fairly robust versions in say Civ games and in some older RPG/Sims like Freelancer for example..and that model was pretty simple.

I agree. We have used many ways around the scripted event i.e. taking control from the player. In Thief story pivots were inbetween missions, Shock, audio logs. We have some new ideas to try, but we also know we have a 'oh crap' that didn't work backup plan.

2. I like to think the rule in-house is to find dynamic solutions before resorting to canned solutions. Sure sometimes the canned solution is fine and easier. I expect at the end of the day there will be a blend. What ken is doing we are fully aware of, and are trying to not go down the same path. That is the entirety of his game, and not the entirety of ours. I can't wait to see what they do.

3.Like all the LGS games i expect some gating to occur.

Also, no shapeshifting: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1325.msg20598#msg20598
 
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Aenra

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I don't get this, but maybe it's age.. help me out?

AI, as in proper AI, we do not have, they do not have. So what they probably mean is some form of system that intelligently/in real time decides how to respond to player input right? Except that too is nothing but a bunch of scripts and conditions compiled together. So why do they separate AI-driven from script-based? :S
Is it just hype shit-wording?
 

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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://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1322.msg20642#msg20642

We are actually flying under the radar on purpose. We need to work, not promote at this point.
The promotion will come in time. Hey we got the new website up, so that's something. And Paul and Warren were just in Rolling Stone...that is cool.
I want to drag out a swag store in the next few months, and then this year's shows...Pax exc. It all comes with time.
As soon as I have some free cycles we want to bring back the twitch's, start the round tables soon and get the community ball rolling.
We are a small team and personally for me I have to pick and choose what gets my focus, there was a period of time I needed to bear down on development almost exclusively.
But we are back--you will see far more of Joe and I around.
 

Aenra

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He has "to pick and choose what gets my focus".
So in light of that, he wants "to drag out a swag store in the next few months".

Modern game development in a nutshell :D
This is shaping up to be an amazing game, i mean it's in the air and everything, i can feel it.
 

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I don't get this, but maybe it's age.. help me out?

AI, as in proper AI, we do not have, they do not have. So what they probably mean is some form of system that intelligently/in real time decides how to respond to player input right? Except that too is nothing but a bunch of scripts and conditions compiled together. So why do they separate AI-driven from script-based? :S
Is it just hype shit-wording?

There's no such thing as true AI yet, of course, but games do tend to use the terms scripting and AI differently. The distinction between scripted vs. AI behavior in game design (as far as I know) is generally that the first is a very tight system of 'do a, then do b, then do c' whereas the latter is more around creating less rigid systems that define potential responses to different actions but don't actually control when and how those might occur.

The latter lends itself more to the much-beloved buzzword of emergent gameplay, where devs don't need to actually predict everything a player can do and design a scripted response for it (which is impossible and almost always leads to the flaws in their scripting being exposed).
 
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SS2 ecologies? Are you sure you're not thinking of the cancelled plans for an ecology in BioShock?

Read the 'readme' txts of the mods that alter SS2 difficulty - modders found the respawn system surprisingly complex to alter, and very difficult to switch off entirely. Reason was that it's not a simple 'respawn' system, there's an ecology system going on under the hood....with the exact same outcome as a simple respawn system. The developers/progammers also refer to the respawns for each level as 'ecologies'; they took the longest, most unnecessarily complex path to implementing something simple and common-place (presumably it was originally intended to be more noticeable, and have additional gameplay effects, but ended up being cut down to a respawn system during the development cycle).
 
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I don't get this, but maybe it's age.. help me out?

AI, as in proper AI, we do not have, they do not have. So what they probably mean is some form of system that intelligently/in real time decides how to respond to player input right? Except that too is nothing but a bunch of scripts and conditions compiled together. So why do they separate AI-driven from script-based? :S
Is it just hype shit-wording?

There's no such thing as true AI yet, of course, but games do tend to use the terms scripting and AI differently. The distinction between scripted vs. AI behavior in game design (as far as I know) is generally that the first is a very tight system of 'do a, then do b, then do c' whereas the latter is more around creating less rigid systems that define potential responses to different actions but don't actually control when and how those might occur.

The latter lends itself more to the much-beloved buzzword of emergent gameplay, where devs don't need to actually predict everything a player can do and design a scripted response for it (which is impossible and almost always leads to the flaws in their scripting being exposed).

When referring to the Factor AI system in Underworld, the designers compared the idea brilliantly to Civilization. It won't be that in-depth, but I suspected they might include such a feature--since they have a simulated "ecology," as well.
 

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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
On perks: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1328.msg20687#msg20687

We try really hard to avoid 'number' skills. Tim hates them. +10% this or that..unless min/maxing is your bag, do you ever really notice when playing?
We try to have every skill/perk have a concrete in game feel to it. So there could be improvements to a skill---wall run further for an easy example.

And yeah boost damage perks are the worst.

On whether the game's development is on track, compared to other games: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1322.msg20688#msg20688

Well, Thief was pretty much the same. Smaller team here.
 

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Perks that make combat decidedly easier are trash. I'll be glad if they avoid that. So many games have perks and skills that succeed only in making the game shittier to play.
 

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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
Another late update: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1329.msg20726#msg20726

Hey, all. The next update is coming early next week and will include a look at how things are progressing on the vertical slice, plus a fan participation opportunity that I think some of you might particularly enjoy. (Hint: Bica!)

By the way, if you didn't see it on Twitter, we recorded with Stephen (Thief, Fallout 4, Dishonored 2) Russell today. I'll save the longer version for the update, but the short version is... Wow, what a talent. Can't wait for you all to hear it in-game.

Stephen's playing Cabirus, who is one of the five main characters in the game. (I think we've only mentioned two of them so far...)

We'll have a bit more about him in this week's update, which I'm working on making meatier per all of your feedback.

More soon!

Just a quick note to say the latest update is coming tomorrow.
smiley.gif

Bonus - Chris Siegel on Bioware: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1328.msg20773#msg20773

Bioware's style is not something I would be interested in building.

That said, I enjoy their games for what they are-canned stories.

If I were to pick two to play it would be Mass Effect 2-- for the sole reason that it's an action game, with a quest, that is not the heroes journey. Its the 'gather a rag tag team' trope instead. I enjoyed it. It's short, doesn't overstay it's welcome and it was a fine cookie. Tasty, not filling.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - this is probably their best game since the Baldur's Gate series. Still if you don't like their gameplay style you probably will claw your eyes out, but for the style they decided on, this is the cream of the crop. Didn't finish it--became too powerful to have any challenge and got bored--but I was close to the end.

Mass Effect 2 is a cover-based shooter, though, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I never understood why the genre got so popular in the first place. Maybe it's because I spent my youth on games like Doom and Quake, but cover-based shooting seems just inherently boring to me.

Because cover based shooters work well on consoles. The 'hard' part of FPS on consoles for the masses is moving and aiming at the same time. Cover makes it so you can aim THEN move.
 

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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
http://otherside-e.com/wp/progress-report-underworld-ascendant/

UPDATE: Underworld Ascendant Progress Report
January 18, 2017
Chris Siegel

Hello backers,

Happy New Year!

As you know, we’ve been flying under the radar for a bit with Underworld Ascendant, waiting for several major gameplay systems and our evolving art style to reach critical mass before showing everything off. And… we’re almost there.

Fans on our forums recently asked if we’d give a peek at the latest, raw work-in-progress as we get closer and we agreed. So this month, we have an in-depth progress report, a glimpse at the level design process, and more to provide the sort of behind-the-scenes look at the game development process promised during our Kickstarter.

Hope you enjoy! Please pardon our dust.

Progress Report: Underworld Ascendant

Like we’ve mentioned last month, our current efforts on Underworld Ascendant are focused on creating a tight, polished experience that demonstrates its core distinctive gameplay.

WIP-glade-300x148.jpg

A work-in-progress peek, pre-lighting and polish.

To do that, we’ve targeted an area on the second level of The Stygian Abyss, where the player is first introduced to the Improvisation Engine — the array of tools that allow you to experiment and create your own ingenious solutions to challenges.

The premise? The Lizard Men allow none entry to the key settlement of Marcaul, save the able. To gain access, you must prove yourself by completing The Challenge of Ishtass — a familiar character from Ultima Underworld, whose influence is felt throughout Underworld Ascendant.

In it, we provide you choices in combat, stealth, and magic. How you use them — to engage, evade, or manipulate the Lizard Men and horrific Mind Crippler — is up to you.

How’s it coming along? Long story short: We’ve been VERY BUSY!

glade-237x300.jpg

Concept art/modeling reference by art director Nate Wells.

On the visual front, our art director Nate (BioShock, System Shock 2, The Last of Us) Wells is working closely with our team of modelers, creating concept reference for key characters and props, and digging into the look and layout of the level.

Besides designing BioShock’s iconic Big Daddy character, Nate was responsible for creating the stunning opening levels of BioShock and BioShock Infinite, so we look forward to sharing his progress on upping our visual bar, once we complete our polish and lighting pass. We’ll report that it’s moving toward a darker, dangerous aesthetic, closer to that in the original Ultima Underworld.

On the gameplay front, our lead designer Tim Stellmach and lead engineer Will Teixiera have been dedicated to the unique combat skills, stealth abilities, and magic spells that you’ll be able to choose from.

mind-crippler-ortho-300x235.jpg

Modeling, AI, vfx, & sfx work continues on the Mind Crippler.

Those among you who are fans of Looking Glass’ Thiefgames may recall that Tim was the lead designer of both The Dark Project and The Metal Age. We’re understandably excited to have one of the developers responsible for inventing the stealth game genre working on the stealth aspects of our game AND collaborating with the incredibly industrious Will, a former gameplay programmer on Dungeons & Dragon Online and participant in countless indie game jams.

On the narrative front, our project director and writer Joe (BioShock Infinite, The Flame in the Flood) Fielder recently recorded our script with voice performer Stephen Russell, who you know from such memorable roles as Garrett in Thief, Nick Valentine in Fallout 4, and Corvo in Dishonored 2.

In Underworld Ascendant, Stephen plays the spirit of Cabirus, founder of the failed utopia seen in Ultima Underworld. His character is a mix of Marcus Aurelius and Captain Nemo and provides insight into The Stygian Abyss’ storied past and its unique role in the universe. The session with Stephen went phenomenally well and we can’t wait for you to hear his VO in-game.

Our current sprint is aimed at improving combat, refining stealth mechanics, animation and audio support to provide clear readability for those systems, implementing the narrative aspects, and perfecting the look of the Lizard Men and Mind Crippler.

Much to do!

Meet Underworld Ascendant’s Level Designer

justin-300x300.jpg

Justin, mulling over challenging level design questions OR… nursing a headache?

We’d like to introduce the most recent addition to our team, Underworld Ascendant level designer Justin Pappas.

Before OtherSide, Justin worked on the narrative-focused first-person shooter BioShock Infinite, melee combat brawler Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, and surreal VR escapades Albino Lullaby and Here They Lie.

We asked him a few questions about the level design process…

What does a level designer do, exactly?

A level designer skirts the line between design and art. A gameplay space has to be functional, but it also has to look great. A level artist makes legos while a level designer builds with those legos. A good level designer/artist relationship is founded on the understanding that the line between the two is blurry and that the designer needs to meet the needs of the artist and vice versa.

A level designer’s core duties are to not only build compelling space, making sure there is enough real estate to allow both AI and the player to move about smoothly with interesting and impact-full choices for both, but to support the core art tenants of the game.

Can the player parse all the options available to the them without feeling overwhelmed? Does this level communicate a deep orbit space station, dwarven mine or cliffside village without relying on art assets? Does the space leverage the specific attributes of the themes in a way that meaningfully impacts game play? Can a single snot-nosed archer shoot at every corner of the map uncontested?

inprogress-300x196.jpg

CAUTION: Level construction area. Level designers at work.

What are some of the challenges of creating a space that introduces the player to the Improvisation Engine?

The toughest part about creating spaces that showcase the Improvisation Engine is in cramming all those tasty options into a clear, readable space, with plenty of room to maneuver smoothly between them. We want players to effortlessly understand the buffet of choices before them, while still fostering a sense of discovery and encouraging exploration. We want players making a myriad of impactful, creative choices on the fly, not just picking a choice and being stuck with it for an extended period of time.

What’s your favorite Underworld moment?

I was hooked on Ultima Underworld in my first play session. I’d been moving very methodically, mentally mapping the space, and always keeping aware of where I was in relation to the entrance. I was gaming the game, rather than letting myself get lost in the world Looking Glass had built. I missed a jump, fell into a river and was swept downstream, over a waterfall, down a number of levels and into a deep, dark and distant underground lake.

Everything I had done to maintain orientation was out the window. The grand scale of the world was suddenly so much larger than I had thought it could ever be. Keeping track of this world the way one might keep track of a DOOM level was clearly impossible and I was finally able to place myself in it, giving into the fantasy of actually being there myself.

Fan Participation: Lizard Man Language Guide

lizardman-300x298.jpg

Sstresh tosa, sseth?

We’re still a few months left until we begin our Kickstarter fan participation rewards, but in the meantime, we wanted to invite you to take part in a fun opportunity to help out with the game.

You’re likely well familiar with the sequence in the original Ultima Underworld where the player learned the Lizard Man language.

Since the Lizard Men will play a big role in Underworld Ascendant, we intend to expand their vocabulary even further.

Want to help? Follow this link to our forums and you’ll find a handy guide to the rules of the language by our lead designer Tim Stellmach, all currently known words, and ideas on where this list may grow.

Your suggestions for new words may make it into Underworld Ascendant, either in text form or even performed by our stellar voice cast.

For full details, visit the Lizard Man Language thread on the forums.

In Other News…

And finally, a few things you might find interesting:

  • ICYMI – Glixel, Rolling Stone’s new game site, recently interviewed OtherSide’s Paul Neurath and Warren Spector about reinventing the immersive sim. Read it here!
  • OtherSide’s VR action/strategy hybrid Underworld Overlord is not only available for Google’s Daydream Virtual Reality platform, it recently received a big update. Read details from lead designer Carl Uhland here.
  • Our friends at inXile announced that their follow-up to RPG classic Planescape: Torment, Torment: Tides of Numenera will be released for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, and Xbox One later this month on January 27th.
  • OtherSide recently launched a new website! What do you think? Let us know on the forums.
Until next time!

Best,

The Team at OtherSide
 
Last edited:

Zep Zepo

Titties and Beer
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This text adventure is really great! They should make a real game, I'm sure it would be awesome!

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
https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1329.msg20800#msg20800

Hope you like! We tried to provide a meatier look at progress, based on your feedback.

Next month, we should have even more fun stuff to share as we start digging into polish.

Something that didn't make it into this update that longtime fans might appreciate?

When we first started talking about which spells to spotlight in the Skill Shrine, Paul smiled and said, "Oh, Armageddon, all-the-way..."

http://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Armageddon
 

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