Game News Underworld Ascendant Released

[Bohr]

I remember early on one of the team (think it was 'lead engineer' Will Teixeira) talking about some other project they were doing on the side, really got the feeling they were phoning this in.

 

[Zep Zepo]

I remember early on one of the team (think it was 'lead engineer' Will Teixeira) talking about some other project they were doing on the side, really got the feeling they were phoning this in.

They made some mobile garbage to keep the lights on.

Zep--

 

[Quantomas]

I guess they focused too tightly on the minutiae of the gameplay -- their be creative idea.

Back in the days, with all the limitations of the tech, you could run with an idea and the reasonably smart guys figured out what was going to work and what not, and went to implement a halfway decent game.

It appears Paul Neurath & co were simply lost in todays technical environment, where apparently so much more is possible.

 

[Zep Zepo]

Infinitron

I could have sworn in the first or second year, they put UA on hold and sidetracked to make some money?

I could be thinking about some other washed up devs though.

Zep--

 

[Infinitron]

You might have been thinking about their VR game, Underworld Overlord. Garbage I guess but not mobile.

 

[Bohr]

No, I remember now, it was "cat simulator"

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=438.0

Cat-Shaped Life is something I am doing on the side. I only devote a few hours a week to that business.
I am full time at OtherSide and plan to continue being there full time.

For the record, If I won the lottery I would still want to work on Underworld Ascendant. This game is going to be one of the funnest games ever, and even more fun to work on with such amazing co-workers.

I joined Otherside for several reasons.
I couldn't run my own business on the side working at triple-a companies, so I felt that my career had halted.
Working at Turbine I always heard about this mystical studio called LookingGlass, and how it was structured and ran. I said to myself "That sounds like the best game company ever".
When I heard that Paul made his own studio in Mass, I thought "That's where the next big game is going to happen. I need to be there."

The games being made at my company Gamawilo are focused on having more emotion and depth to them (compared to most games today). If anything UA will benefit from my developments at Gamawilo. As for me working a lot of hours a week, I don't spend more than 20 for Cat-Shaped Life, in-fact I may spend less since that game is content heavy instead of systems.
The kickstarters weren't originally going to overlap at all, but we (Me and Kristen) chose the 1st a long time ago because then our kickstarter is during GDC, PAX East, Dev Days, Tax returns and Unity 5 roadshow.

 

[Viata]

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss was released in a fully playable state after less than 2 years of development.

Make one question how they did that. It clearly was not an easy game back then and perhaps not even easy to make it now, in the exactly same way.

 

[coldcrow]

Concerning Sandbox-Survival-RPGs/FPS I trust Arkane Studios only.

Those guys at Otherside should have had a deep look at Arx Fatalis and even Prey to realize what makes such games enjoyable to play.

Not even speaking of the technical mess.

 

[Zep Zepo]

The smart guys did it (doug and dan) the programmers, not the finger up the ass "designer" nurass or waldo spectrum "producer"

On top of all that, the 2 smart guys wrote the story too.

Zep--

 

[Zep Zepo]

See, UA is what happens when you take credit for other peoples work all your life. You start believing your own bullshit and think you can make something great like the good old days when you accidentally hired a genius who basically made your whole game.

You're so high sniffing the finger you just pulled out of your ass, you still think it was all you.

That's how you end up with a UA.

Zep--

 

[Bohr]

See, UA is what happens when you take credit for other peoples work all your life. You start believing your own bullshit and think you can make something great like the good old days when you accidentally hired a genius who basically made your whole game.

You're so high sniffing the finger you just pulled out of your ass, you still think it was all you.

That's how you end up with a UA.

Zep--

Much like the Siroteks, who lucked out with Woodhead, Blakemore and Bradley.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

Heh, it is now "mostly negative" at 38% :D ...as if they expected anything else for that parody.

I mean how is this even possible, with 4 years and $860k a dozen randomly chosen codexers could do better.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Mightmagic]

Remember that their next project is System Shock 3

With another equip.

 

[Invictus]

The Coles were incompetent, but at least the type of game they set out to make wasn't a complete mismatch with their budget. The only reason I ever thought Ascendant was realistic was because I assumed these MIT-educated Looking Glass veterans must have additional funding and a plan. But they didn't - everything was exactly as awful as it appeared on the surface.

It is fucking unfair to compare the Coles to this clusterfuck; other than Trent Cole beign this supposedly Apple 2 crack programmer they had no programing input but were mostly designers and storytellers, but having these has beens like Church; they were out of the gaming industry because nobody would have them, fucking Spector was teaching classes in the middle of nowhere ffs
The Coles tried to do the best they could by screwing up and then sticking to what they knew and could do and their game is pretty decent for all those hurdles
I truly pray to Baby Jesus this shows the sheer incompetence of Otherside and get their “System Shock” canned

 

[taxalot]

4 years and $860k a dozen randomly chosen codexers could do better.

im not sure you could do better with a dozen of carefully chosen codexers

It would be turn based, feature characters that rant about women, and be circle-jerked incensed shit.

 

[Mustawd]

It is fucking unfair to compare the Coles to this clusterfuck

Not really. A lot of the same factors exist:

-Bad tech decisions
-Bad design decisions
-Bad project management
-Bad budgeting
-Bad marketing/pricing

The main difference with the Coles is that they realized they needed more money to complete their game, and found a way to get more funding, regardless of how misguided that might or might not have been.

Otherside decided to make a game way outside the scope of their budget and decided to ship it in this state anyways.

Both were badly run projects. Conparison is apt. Quit your whining just cuz you like them.

 

[Invictus]

Regardless of my biased opinion the facts are there; Hero U was a sweet fun game that has a 90% on Steam that in spite of its limited budget and bugs at release has been well received and I sincerely hope it has sold well enough to get the Coles out of problems while Underworld Abomination will be the final nail on Otherside that forever denies they fucking up with the legacy of System Shock in the way they have with Ultima Underworld
I will replay those and Arx to cleanse the bad taste of my mouth from this fuckery

 

[taxalot]

I know I non-chalantly said I could write a review (official codexian or not), but really, the more I read about it, there is no way I can for technical reasons : if I can't save when I want, I cannot play it. This is incredibly ironic considering most people who played and loved UU1&2 now have jobs, kids, and families. That they did not pause and think about that just tell you how retarded Otherside is.

Should they fix this, then yeah, it's a game I have to play no matter how bad it is, because reasons I guess.

 

[Bohr]

Fans like it tho

 

[Nano]

I'm confused. Who is that guy and why are we paying attention to him?

 

[Hoaxmetal]

I'm confused. Who is that guy and why are we paying attention to him?

He's a mildly popular youtuber who's butthurt about rpgcodex.

 

[Zep Zepo]

So that Flarechess person is a womblyn (or a tranny, or something in between).

So please be respectful when criticizing the game, or you might make womblyn cry.

Smooth move, Otherside.

I imagine it must be a pink, blue or green hair (or all 3) of short lesbian length. Obese and with more than "her" share of tats and piercings.

Zep--

 

[Mustawd]

Regardless of my biased opinion the facts are there; Hero U was a sweet fun game that has a 90% on Steam that in spite of its limited budget and bugs at release has been well received and I sincerely hope it has sold well enough to get the Coles out of problems while Underworld Abomination will be the final nail on Otherside that forever denies they fucking up with the legacy of System Shock in the way they have with Ultima Underworld
I will replay those and Arx to cleanse the bad taste of my mouth from this fuckery

Do you bother to read anything? At what point did I say the game wasn’t finished? I even pointed out that the Coles went as far to get additional funding in order to complete the game.

And I even did that in the post above yours. Jesus. Get ur brain checked out man.


EDIT: And wtf do you mean “limited budget”? The game they made could have been made for half the money, if not less, had they managed the development correctly. Srsly. Get your brain checked.

 

[taxalot]

You can trust mustawd, he is an accountant.

They never lie.