KickStarter Underworld Ascendant is a disaster

[Harthwain]

Apparently they're working on another game with Square Enix. (It would be funny if it's Thi5f. Likely not, because the studio's focus is apparently narrative-driven games.)

They could be making narrative-driven parts (the main storyline, for example), while leaving the rest fairly open to the player. It may not be likely, but it's technically possible.

 

[MasterLobar]

They worked on so many things at once while the only game they prepared to actually bring to the market was completely broken.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

They worked on so many things at once while the only game they prepared to actually bring to the market was completely broken.

With how often crowdfunding has been used to bolster a studio's general reserves of cash... you have to wonder how much of 505 Games' money intended for the development of UA went to SS3 instead. For that matter, Google's for that VR TD thing Underworld Overlord.

"AAA quality at the AA price tag” Hmmm...

 

[Silentstorm]

Meanwhile, forgetting that releasing a bad game by itself could already slightly damage their reputation, but releasing a terrible broken game at start would be much worse, they just apparently were so full of themselves that they felt they could work on other projects and release UA as it was at the start and not get hurt by it.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

UA wasn't exactly "the start".

 

[ironmask]

They could be making narrative-driven parts (the main storyline, for example), while leaving the rest fairly open to the player. It may not be likely, but it's technically possible.

I have seen cutscenes for the Life is Tumbler spinoff and you do not want them to make a story for thief, trust me.

 

[MasterLobar]

Top threads on the Steam forum, more than one year after launch:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/692840/discussions/

"Resolution changes to 1280x1024 after changing keybings"

"Menus unresponsive - Game needs to be pulled!"

"The game has crashed my computer, twice, before even starting the game proper"

This isn't the state after they launched it. This is the state after half a year of updating and after they officially announced that was it.

 

[LESS T_T]

Chris Siegel's post on QtT last month: https://forum.quartertothree.com/t/...ught-to-you-by-zombie-looking-glass/76311/942

yeah chris left the industry.
20 years was enough.

According to his Linkedin profile, he has joined a fantasy sports company. He seemed like a sports fan, so good for him I guess?

 

[MasterLobar]

Most of all good for the industry.

 

[Hines]

https://forums.otherside-e.com/t/physical-awards-update/10070/24

Hey folks, I’ve been off on some needed time off so catching up on things now.

Unfortunately, some of the figurines broke in our shipping to FanGamer. We’re going to have some new ones made and painted, but that’s going to delay fulfillment a bit longer. I don’t have the specific schedule for how quickly the new figurines can be made and then painted, but it’s at least a handful of weeks. Will keep you posted.

 

[Viata]

At this point it feels like kicking a dead horse.

 

[MasterLobar]

"Some" of the figurines broke. Can they at least ship those that didn't break?

 

[Eli_Havelock]

At this point it feels like kicking a dead horse.

KICKstarter - Ha-ha!

Can anyone believe that Fangamer sent them pictures of all those broken figurines and totally didn't stash some away for later on eBay? Lets see these broken figurines.

 

[Nyast]

Imagine getting your hands on one of those figurines. That may end up being an epic collector going in history, for all the bad reasons. Maybe it'll be worth thousands of dollars in the far future, just like the ET cartridges are nowadays !

 

[rusty_shackleford]

"Some" of the figurines broke. Can they at least ship those that didn't break?

how do you ship something that doesn't exist

 

[taxalot]

The saddest thing is the few people who were actually trying to do a job working on this, who will now have to explain this on their resume blaming management and the "other guys".

 

[Bad Sector]

The saddest thing is the few people who were actually trying to do a job working on this, who will now have to explain this on their resume blaming management and the "other guys".

Nah, nobody really cares about the stuff you didn't do, they care about the stuff you actually did and if they manage to have some work examples they shouldn't be affected. At most, this will be an interesting discussion topic for lunch breaks . Even experience working on a disaster is better than no experience at all.

If anything, it may help:
- "hey, that part reminds me of what we did in UA"
- "oh, ahm... really?" (*puts note down to review that part*)

 

[Eli_Havelock]

https://www.pcgamer.com/after-over-...-underworld-ascendant-still-isnt-fun-to-play/

An article was written.

 

[Butter]

IDK guys. Razorfist loved this game so much he's streamed it once in a year and a half.

 

[Nyast]

https://www.pcgamer.com/after-over-...-underworld-ascendant-still-isnt-fun-to-play/

An article was written.

Ahah, the comments in that article are priceless..

They're an extremely capable and talented team

Oh yeah I don't question the skill of the team

I'll still look forward to the work these guys put out, because they've earned a lot of good will

This team is capable of so much more; it's a shame the game didn't come together in the end.

So yeah, the game is horrible but the team was talented and it wasn't their fault, just bad management, lol.

 

[Theodora]

it wasn't their fault, just bad management, lol.

I don't know a whole bunch about this game's development in particular but that is absolutely a thing that happens. Bad managers waste people's times, make people redo work over and over, burn people out and make them unproductive; etc. the list is pretty much endless.

A lot of gamedev would benefit from a more horizontal management system. Sure is doing Motion Twin good.

 

[Glic2000]

I would DEFINITELY question the skill of the team that made UA. Also, I would question their honesty, their integrity, their level of taste. I would question whether they even played Ultima Underworld.

So many things to question...

 

[Nyast]

it wasn't their fault, just bad management, lol.

I don't know a whole bunch about this game's development in particular but that is absolutely a thing that happens. Bad managers waste people's times, make people redo work over and over, burn people out and make them unproductive; etc. the list is pretty much endless.

A lot of gamedev would benefit from a more horizontal management system. Sure is doing Motion Twin good.

I wonder if management is responsible for the wonky dancing chains or the skeletons that stop moving and that you can't hit anymore ?

I mean don't get me wrong, I don't think management was good. What I'm saying is that both management and developers sucked

 

[LESS T_T]

Well, you probably can say the team was not good but I'm not sure you really can blame individual developers here. The management had put them a great burden with mismanagement and budget problems. Also it seems they had to wear many hats. I imagine at least they should be better than this disaster.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

I'm sure there was some talent on UA.

It just seemed to be lost somewhere between the design of achievements for skill points and stacking boxes more fucked than ~20 years ago, that those involved thought "This is great!" and got Warren Spector to continue turning into a prosthetic Peter Molyneux.