Development Info Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter Update #9: Meet the Programmers, More Votes, Steam Greenlight

[Infinitron]

Tags: Jeff Kesselman; OtherSide Entertainment; Paul Neurath; Underworld Ascendant; Will Teixeira

The latest Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter update introduces programmers Jeffrey Kesselman and Will Teixeira, who are currently working on the game's creature AI. Here's the video:

​

The guys at OtherSide have also decided to solicit more player feedback on their forums, as Paul Neurath explains in the update:

We’re doing a set of polls to get a better sense of who our fan community is and what they are looking for in the game. For instance, how interested are you in VR? Please go over to the forums.

Your input will help us better prioritize what we’re working on going forward. When we get to 500 fans having participated in the Polls, we promise we’ll do something silly. We’ve also made a new section for Fan Submissions in the forums.

Over the coming week, we cordially invite any of you who have played the original Underworld games to post in our forums fun stories around a memorable experience you had playing them. We’ll then select several to highlight with the community.
​

VR support, huh? They've also got a poll about co-op. Looks like a good opportunity to make your voice heard, Codex. Oh, and Underworld Ascendant is also on Steam Greenlight now, so make sure you go and vote there too.

 

[Xenich]

hmm...

Not seeing any real talent here, no offense guys, but their experience wasn't a selling point, you would have been better off showing their vision, what they expect, what they want to achieve, their basic ideology, etc... That video was a MAJOR negative for you. What I took away from it was that you picked up a guy who did some poor games and worked on some projects that nobody cared about and another guy who was a tech at a game studio (that was known for fucking up a great game). Let me put it this way... Saying you were a programmer at a major studio does not earn you brownie points. Saying you were a tech at a studio earns you WTF points? I mean, look... I worked tech at one point in my life. In fact, I was even as young as Will was when I started such, but tech work is nothing to write home about, especially when you are looking at game development.

Now I am not saying these guys are worthless, but if the only thing you can show me about their value is work experience that would be lucky to land them 40k year job, well.... no offense but you guys have problems and I think you are destined for failure. I could be wrong, these guys may be idealists just not placed under the right circumstance to produce, but when I hear a "tech" say "well, I heard about this and I just had to be a part of it...", well... You aren't inspiring much.

This whole video just gives me major bad vibes about this project.

I am giving it a stamp of failure due to this. Step up, or drop out guys. This is a joke.

 

[Infinitron]

hmm...

Not seeing any real talent here, no offense guys, but their experience wasn't a selling point, you would have been better off showing their vision, what they expect, what they want to achieve, their basic ideology, etc... That video was a MAJOR negative for you. What I took away from it was that you picked up a guy who did some poor games and worked on some projects that nobody cared about and another guy who was a tech at a game studio (that was known for fucking up a great game). Let me put it this way... Saying you were a programmer at a major studio does not earn you brownie points. Saying you were a tech at a studio earns you WTF points? I mean, look... I worked tech at one point in my life. In fact, I was even as young as Will was when I started such, but tech work is nothing to write home about, especially when you are looking at game development.

Now I am not saying these guys are worthless, but if the only thing you can show me about their value is work experience that would be lucky to land them 40k year job, well.... no offense but you guys have problems and I think you are destined for failure. I could be wrong, these guys may be idealists just not placed under the right circumstance to produce, but when I hear a "tech" say "well, I heard about this and I just had to be a part of it...", well... You aren't inspiring much.

This whole video just gives me major bad vibes about this project.

I am giving it a stamp of failure due to this. Step up, or drop out guys. This is a joke.

They can't all be superstars. Most Kickstarters just don't introduce the no-names at all.

In general, "don't look too closely at what you don't want to know" is a good rule for Kickstarter.

 

[Xenich]

They can't all be superstars. Most Kickstarters just don't introduce the no-names at all. Don't watch what you don't want to know is a good rule for Kickstarter.

Not about being superstars Infinitron, it is about proper marketing of potential. I know a lot of work in the industry is done by people who wouldn't be special in the spot light and I have known a lot of people that haven't done much, but damn... have ideas that would make the greats hang their head in shame, though... at the end of the day, this is a marketing approach. KS needs to build confidence, they need people to believe that this will succeed, that this project is in good hands. I mean, I could walk into an interview with the experience of selling toothpicks on a street corner, but at the end of the interview, they wouldn't be thinking about that, they would be thinking about all the ideas, work effort, and potential I had to offer. This is what that KS has to offer. Reality is perception and unfortunately, it isn't what you actually have that people see, it is what you sell them. This is why VHS beat Beta and so many other inferior products end up trumping quality ones.

If this product is good, they need to sell it and they won't do that displaying weak points. They need to step up their game.

edit:

I personally would have sat down with Will and Jeff and discussed why they are there, what they aspire to, what they want to see result with this game. I would ask them to give examples of what inspired them ,etc... then I would have worked that into a script and had them go along those lines while I interviewed them.

I don't think Will and Jeff are hacks, they may be very talented people with great ideas, but this video? It makes me think they grabbed someone off the street to work for them.

 

[Infinitron]

That's all well and good, but I would expect a poster on this forum not to personally get "bad vibes" from such things.

If you want to get "bad vibes" about Underworld Ascendant, then worry about what they're going to be able to make with only 600k dollars, not about how snazzily their coders are presenting themselves in one-off two minute videos used as filler during the mid-Kickstarter lull. It's just petty.

 

[Xenich]

That's all well and good, but I would expect a poster on this forum not to personally get "bad vibes" from such things.

If you want to get "bad vibes" about Underworld Ascendant, then worry about what they're going to be able to make with only 600k dollars, not about how snazzily their coders are presenting themselves in one-off two minute videos used as filler during the mid-Kickstarter lull. It's just petty.

Well, we will see won't we?

Somehow I think you will owe me an apology after all is said and done.

If not, I will owe you one.

 

[Infinitron]

That's all well and good, but I would expect a poster on this forum not to personally get "bad vibes" from such things.

If you want to get "bad vibes" about Underworld Ascendant, then worry about what they're going to be able to make with only 600k dollars, not about how snazzily their coders are presenting themselves in one-off two minute videos used as filler during the mid-Kickstarter lull. It's just petty.

Well, we will see won't we?

Somehow I think you will owe me an apology after all is said and done.

If not, I will owe you one.

Owe you an apology about what? I just said this project could turn out bad. I'm just saying, base that hunch on evidence which isn't silly.

 

[Xenich]

That's all well and good, but I would expect a poster on this forum not to personally get "bad vibes" from such things.

If you want to get "bad vibes" about Underworld Ascendant, then worry about what they're going to be able to make with only 600k dollars, not about how snazzily their coders are presenting themselves in one-off two minute videos used as filler during the mid-Kickstarter lull. It's just petty.

Well, we will see won't we?

Somehow I think you will owe me an apology after all is said and done.

If not, I will owe you one.

Owe you an apology about what? I just said this project could turn out bad. I'm just saying, base that hunch on evidence which isn't silly.

For not realizing I am always right! Seriously Infinitron, do I have to sign you up for a course in my rightness? (j/k) My comment though is more on their presentation. Likely... they will hit their goal, but damn... that video was hard to watch. I went to the KS page and the text before the video sold it a bit better, but they make Will look like some Call desk guy they hired from a layoff from Turbine. First impressions are everything and how much they earn on the KS is extremely important so while you think it petty and while I think it should be irrelevant, it is important and this directly has an effect on their earning potential.

 

[Jaesun]

What they should be doing is making videos explaining all the systems and mechanics they want to put in the game....

 

[Xenich]

What the should be doing is making videos explaining all the systems and mechanics they want to put in the game....

Bingo!

The whole "I am so and so, I have done this and that..." Is only useful if those you are selling have done a lot to impress people, otherwise it is counter productive. Whats that old salesman saying: "Sell your strengths while distracting the weakness"? That is what they should be doing. Sell the product, make people see all that it has to offer. Nobody will see or care who is holding it if the product is a worthy sale!

 

[mindx2]

Seems like Garriott and Roberts are starting to help this one a little more. Here is an "episode" that was included in the last Star Citizen update:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14501-RSI-Museum-Underworld-1-2

And in SotA update #112:

As we described last week, our long-time friend and former Origin protégé, Paul Neurath, is rebooting the legendary Ultima Underworld games. It has been more than a decade long wait, but the stars have aligned and Paul has at long last freed the rights to move forward with the franchise. We're especially excited that, just as the original Ultima and Underworld shared a connection on backstory and fictional elements, so too will Shroud of the Avatar and Underworld Ascendant.

Last week we announced that we're teaming up with Underworld Ascendant so that backers of both games will get a special in-game item. This week, we're excited to announce the special item is a magical Dark Elven “Kinsman” Buckler!

This buckler, inscribed with the Dark Elven symbol, has a moonstone gem inset. If a player owns the buckler in both Shroud of the Avatar and Underworld Ascendant, then the moonstone will glow with the warmth of kinship. This signifies that the Dark Elven clans, though sundered between distant worlds, still are one. The Dark Elven Buckler is currently available in the SotA Add-On Store, and will soon be available as an Add-On on the Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter page.

Otherside Entertainment is already at 70% of their funding goal for their Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter campaign, but needs your help to reach their goal and start working toward their stretch goals! Be sure and check out the Underworld Kickstarter site, and if you are as excited about it as we are, then show your support and make a pledge to Raise the Underworld!