KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

[Tweed]

I was already leery of this game when I found out it was tied into the same universe as Garriott's retirement plan MMO. Now I know I can skip it altogether.

And just think this is the same company who is supposed to be making System Shock 3.

 

[Zep Zepo]

And just think this is the same company who is supposed to be making System Shock 3.

When this flops, and believe me it will. There will be no System Shock 3 and Warren will be back on the unemployment line as the studio closes.

Zep--

 

[Max Heap]

I was already leery of this game when I found out it was tied into the same universe as Garriott's retirement plan MMO. Now I know I can skip it altogether.

Come to think about it: Isn't SotA set in a post-apocalyptic Britannia?
Cause I once saw a map of Novia with the shattered continent of Britannia around it.
And some Memora in this game talks about a cataclysm that happened.

Is this the cataclysm from Ultima 9? Or is it the one from the original Ultima 9 plot happening at the end of the series? Is it the same that raised Novia from the sea?
What actually happened to Britannia? I mean this IS the original stygian abyss. That's been mentioned several times.

Also Ishtass from UU1 supposedly survived the cataclysm within the stygian abyss? (according to the memora).
But he was a character in UU which happened around Ultima 7. Yet the cataclysm happens in Ultima 9 (?) or later.
So do Lizardmen just live like 200 years, which I assume was the time between those two games?

Why did people return to the Stygian Abyss in the first place? Apparently some people left after the cataclysm.

Boy I sure wish this game had a dialogue system so you could actually ask these things.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

Is there a connection between SotA and Ultima (and New Britannia and regular old Brittania)?

 

[Nyast]

Let's talk about RPG character stats, to be more positive. That game has incredibly deep RPG elements... err.. wait...

Nope, sorry, there's no character stats, at all. In fact there's no character stats sheet / menu that I could find.

There's a skill tree to "unlock", but most skills are evolutions of a few basic skills. Played BT4 ? That's similar, but worse.

Now it can be a cool adventure game. Unfortunately there are no NPC dialogues. They're just saying a line or two and.. voila, done.

Fortunately, it can be saved by cool missions / jobs. There's just a little problem there: you can only access a single mission at once. That's right, if you're in the middle of a mission and want to switch to another one, well you're out of luck. Either complete the current one, either backtrack to Marcaul ( the hub city ) to accept another one.

Think I'm kidding ? Joke's on you. Wait until you have that game in your hands. BT4 will look like the game of the year compared to this.

Added bonus: loading times between levels are ten times worse than BT4. I didn't think it was possible, but they're making the impossible possible.

 

[RNGsus]

Shit. UU was before my time, so I've only been waiting for an Arx successor, but I'm run out of hope. Monomyth is it, I guess.

 

[Nyast]

Did I mention that the levels do reset every time you go back to Marcaul to get "another mission" ? So there are 5 missions going to Upper Erebus, on my second mission it's already a chore cause I've already visited most of the level but I have to do it all over again.

I'm not sure if that's a design decision or a bug related to saving the game. The fact that I can't decide which is which is telling a lot about how much confidence I have about this game's design.

 

[Junmarko]

Is there a connection between SotA and Ultima (and New Britannia and regular old Brittania)?

If you played the prequel, Ultimate Collector, you'd know this.

 

[Mustawd]

Is there a connection between SotA and Ultima (and New Britannia and regular old Brittania)?

Doubtful. Doesn't EA own the Ultima IP?

 

[BEvers]

Did I mention that the levels do reset every time you go back to Marcaul to get "another mission" ? So there are 5 missions going to Upper Erebus, on my second mission it's already a chore cause I've already visited most of the level but I have to do it all over again.

I'm not sure if that's a design decision or a bug related to saving the game. The fact that I can't decide which is which is telling a lot about how much confidence I have about this game's design.

Imagine a Thief game where the first five missions all take place on the same map, but with a different item to steal each time. Without respawning enemies you'd just blitz through them.

 

[DeepOcean]

Jesus, limited save + buggy game, that is a match made in heaven.

 

[Tweed]

Did I mention that the levels do reset every time you go back to Marcaul to get "another mission" ? So there are 5 missions going to Upper Erebus, on my second mission it's already a chore cause I've already visited most of the level but I have to do it all over again.

I'm not sure if that's a design decision or a bug related to saving the game. The fact that I can't decide which is which is telling a lot about how much confidence I have about this game's design.

I'm starting to feel physically ill.

 

[evdk]

Time to reinstall Arx Fatalis.

 

[Mustawd]

Wow those Lizard men look awful. Just awful.

 

[Siveon]

I'm really bummed this is turning out bad. FPP Action RPGs are my bread and butter.

At least this Dark Messiah clone is coming out.

 

[Mustawd]

We shoulda listened to Zep Zepo.

 

[V_K]

Unfortunately there are no NPC dialogues. They're just saying a line or two and.. voila, done.

Time to reinstall Arx Fatalis.

 

[Junmarko]

We shoulda listened to Zep Zepo.

"When the Lizardmen look off, something aint right folks...believe me" - Zep

 

[Zakhad]

Are there any veteran game developers who haven't been disappointing in their modern output? Can't think of a single unqualified success.

 

[Melan]

 

[Junmarko]

Are there any veteran game developers who haven't been disappointing in their modern output? Can't think of a single unqualified success.

Yes. A great man, who Zep also doubted.

 

[RatTower]

So, how is combat?
In particular melee and apart from the fact that enemy HP is currently unbalanced.

 

[skacky]

Combat is as basic as it gets. Bait the enemy into attacking while backpedalling, attack, rinse & repeat. You cannot lose while doing this unless you get stuck against geometry, which happens ALL THE TIME.

 

[Nyast]

So, how is combat?
In particular melee and apart from the fact that enemy HP is currently unbalanced.

It's hard to call it combat. You have a light and a heavy ( charging, by keeping the mouse button held ) attack. Presumably different weapons have different damage stats but nothing is displayed in the inventory so can't know for sure. Hit feedback is atrocious and AI so bad that it'll frequently stand still in front of you while you attack, or get stuck into a column ( hello pathfinding ) while you're hammering it. When it hits you it does heavy damage, so you die in 2-3 hits if you're not careful. You can try dodging, but only if the enemy is in melee range. For some reason dodging archers fire seems impossible for now. There's only one type of enemy in 3-4 hours so far: undeads.

Basically it plays like a buggy version of Daggerfall.

 

[m_s0]

Here's the feedback I posted on their forums. Yeah, BT4 ( when it was in ALPHA ) was in a x10 better state than this game is a MONTH AWAY FROM RELEASE.

Allright, my turn after 3 hours of playing.

First of all, I have criticized the game for various design decisions I do not agree with. Teleporters being on the top of my list. Not being a true Ultima Underworld is the same.

I'll put all of that aside and speak purely on technical terms, what state the game is in, a month prior to its release.

It is a fudgeing disaster. There is NO WAY everything will be fixed by the release. No way in hell. This isn't even being at alpha level in terms of polish / robustness.

Let's see:

...

Yup, this sounds like the game needed a few more years.

Considering it took... 4 years overall to get to this point I'd love an honest, detailed post mortem.