Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Game News Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter Update #35: Development Plans, Lizardmen Vote

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
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
Tags: Chris Siegel; OtherSide Entertainment; Underworld Ascendant

In the first Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter update since the campaign concluded, producer Chris Siegel talks about the game's development schedule for the next year.

We made it! What a strange and wonderful ride the past few months have been. What an amazing community we have. It is so refreshing to see a community full of positive energy and genuine excitement about what we are embarking on over the next couple of years.

As producer guy, I now have to step up to the plate. My job, well my primary job, is to keep the whole thing on track. I know people have already been asking for release dates for the game and alpha builds. There is no set in stone dates yet. Let me explain why.

We will use agile principles for development. Everyone on the team is familiar with them already, so we should be able to jump in pretty quickly. Also with the size of our team we should be able to stay really lean when it comes to some of agile’s busy work…i.e. I’ll be doing the paperwork.

Now according to agile principles, the worst day to make a decision is the first day. Why? Think about it; This is the day we have the least amount of information. We know what the project is, but we don’t know much else. We don’t know peoples workload, we don’t know all the systems we need to build, etc. etc. The more you know, the more concrete a decision you can make.

Makes sense right? That is not to say a line in the sand is a bad idea. Of course it’s not. If you don’t have one you end up in the dreaded endless development cycle. That is no fun for anyone.

So, I’ll put two lines in the sand:

Prototype build sometime during Q4 2015.

Pre-Alpha build sometime during Q1 2016.

Now, I can hear a couple of my developers going ‘pfft, we can be ready before that’ but my job is to plan for every eventuality, including the unexpected and unknown. The prototype is at the end of this year because I want the team to not feel any stress while in pre-production. This is one of the most important phases of development. What are we building? What are we trying to achieve? What is the backstory of our races and how does that effect development? 1000 exciting questions we have to answer in the next few months before we put pixel to program.

And going forward we'll try to keep you in the loop as much as possible about just what those answers are.
Pre-alpha in early 2016, eh? That late 2016 release date doesn't seem very likely anymore. Well, as long as they can afford it. In the meantime, OtherSide are holding a vote on the appearance of the Lizardmen, whose original look was too fish-like for some. So go over to their forums and tell them if you'd rather have T-Rex Lizardmen instead.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Pre-Alpha a year from now but somehow they'll go from pre-alpha to full release in the same time? Yeah, no. I wish them luck but this is why I'm basically done with Kickstarter.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
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
Why care about release dates as long as other games keep coming out while you're waiting
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
'cuz they aren't. Games are taking too long to come out!
 

Zeriel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
13,378
Pre-Alpha a year from now but somehow they'll go from pre-alpha to full release in the same time? Yeah, no. I wish them luck but this is why I'm basically done with Kickstarter.

I don't know what world you live in, but games often go from alpha to release in less than a year, it's fairly typical. Getting to alpha is the lionshare of the work, the polishing aspect of beta and working towards release can sometimes be a monstrosity of delays but that tends to be more the case with huge games, they're developing a tight first person shooter with RPG elements here, I don't see the schedule being absurd or anything.

Unless you work for Blizzard, and then going from alpha to beta takes 10 years.

Like Infinitron, my only concern is whether or not they can carry this thing to release with the funding they have. Waiting has never bothered me.
 

Sonus

Educated
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
84
It will be interesting to see what this small team does in a 30-month cycle or less, like they did in the 90s, but with a modern engine, and perhaps intent,to not look outdated among contemporaries, yet obviously not multi-million AAA quality, nor cartoonishly stylized.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
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
2017 to play the game for me then.
Anyway, what game is taking/took the longest time after its kickstarter has been funded? PoE?

Broken Age, of course. It's still not complete. :M

PoE is going to have about the same development time that Wasteland 2 did.
 

tuluse

Arcane
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
11,400
Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
2017 to play the game for me then.
Anyway, what game is taking/took the longest time after its kickstarter has been funded? PoE?

Broken Age, of course. It's still not complete. :M

PoE is going to have about the same development time that Wasteland 2 did.
Was Banner Saga's original plan episode or did they split it up after KS too?

There's also Jack Houston and the Necronauts of course he started after DoubleFine and it's basically one dude making the game.
 

Xenich

Cipher
Joined
Mar 21, 2013
Messages
2,104
"We will use agile principles for development."

/facepalm
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom