KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

[Ash]

Zep's position is that these guys were, from the start, absolutely incapable of delivering and that they have been fleecing everyone from the beginning. That's what 'Zep is right' means.

And it's still my position. If you can't see it and unretard yourself, I can't help you.

Zep--

I still want to know, precisely, what information you base that conclusion on. To be so adamant right from the start, well you must know something we don't.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Lots of things I imagine... track record of previous kickstarters by industry old hats, General Kickstarter failures across the board, historical evidence that once game devs are older they lose touch with innovation, track record of those same older game devs in their Pursuits since their masterpieces, yada yada.

I get all of that but those people aren't Looking Glass. I'm going to judge them on the merits of what they deliver, but not before.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Actually I would take the same stance with TSI and their spiritual successor to the gold Box series. Who gives a fuck about timelines if they deliver the goods.

 

[Zep Zepo]

I know a con when I see one.

They also shilled up with Garriotts SotA con, EARLY.

I can't make you see, you must open your own eyes.

Zep--

 

[Ash]

I can't make you see, you must open your own eyes.

Actually, you can. Just lay down a compelling argument and save us all the time of getting invested in this project, and we can divert our attention to potentially more worthy projects and support incline in the few crevices it may be. Heck the Dr. there just made a better argument than you ever have.

Just because they shilled up with Garriot doesn't mean fuck all. Underworld was loosely based on Garriot's game series. And they should take exposure/funding wherever they can get it, providing it isn't corrupt in practice or compromising the game design/team/management in a major way. It's not like proper Looking Glass games have ever seen great financial success, after all, and they have few supports to lean on despite being absolutely legendary devs, otherwise they wouldn't have been relegated to working for Zynga or producing decline like Bioshock and whatnot.

True incline is esoteric.

 

[Zep Zepo]

Continue 'playing' your text updates.

Zep--

 

[Melan]

All these recent updates have been Lizardmen this and Lizardmen that. Which shows they are excited about their Lizardmen - fine - and Lizardman linguistics - also fine. But we haven't been getting much info on the ecological simulation aspects / subsystems of the game, so they are either under wraps, or they have taken a backseat. That is cause for concern, because it is one of the pillars of the game. The Lizardman language is solidly UUW1 stuff, right from 1992. And that's "been there, done that".

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1350.msg21441#msg21441

Next update will focus on gameplay! Combat, stealth, and/or the Improvisation Engine as a whole.

 

[LESS T_T]

Apparently Steve Pearsall ("the IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and working with the rest of the team on game design", also former Looking Glass guy) left the company this month: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-pearsall-7b910/

 

[Infinitron]

Screenshots from current internal build: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1353.msg21608#msg21608

 

[Ash]

Apparently Steve Pearsall ("the IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and working with the rest of the team on game design", also former Looking Glass guy) left the company this month: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-pearsall-7b910/

The hell? Another?

I hope everyone is prepared to potentially acknowledge that ZEP ZEPO was right

Spoiler

 

[Melan]

Sharp edges. 2/10, would not bang.

Spoiler

 

[Junmarko]

Apparently Steve Pearsall ("the IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and working with the rest of the team on game design", also former Looking Glass guy) left the company this month: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-pearsall-7b910/

The hell? Another?
I hope everyone is prepared to potentially acknowledge that ZEP ZEPO was right

Maybe he wasn't given enough creative input.

"IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and...." - sounds like he was assigned to do menial work.

Why hire an ex-Looking Glass guy to do mainly website/social media?

 

[Thonius]

Sharp edges. 2/10, would not bang.

Spoiler

More like UV made wrong.

 

[Ash]

Apparently Steve Pearsall ("the IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and working with the rest of the team on game design", also former Looking Glass guy) left the company this month: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-pearsall-7b910/

The hell? Another?
I hope everyone is prepared to potentially acknowledge that ZEP ZEPO was right

Maybe he wasn't given enough creative input.

"IT guy, webmaster, assisting with social media and...." - sounds like he was assigned to do menial work.

Why hire an ex-Looking Glass guy to do mainly website/social media?

Because, if I recall, that was his profession at LGS too: IT side of things.

Edit: except project leader on Thief. The rest of his roles were primarily IT-based. Although "project leader" probably entails a lot of IT and management-related stuff too.

https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,6870/

 

[Mustawd]

Sounds like a shit job tbh.

 

[Darkzone]

Sharp edges. 2/10, would not bang.

Spoiler

More like UV made wrong.

I wonder why they have cutted the arch in three parts.

 

[Nyast]

Looks slightly cartoonish ? Can't say I'm a fan.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It's a pity they didn't pay Erol Otus to use the aesthetic of his D&D illustrations. From the visuals they've released, they seem to have gone a bit in that direction, but they might as well have gone for that aesthetic wholeheartedly.

 

[Infinitron]

http://otherside-e.com/wp/update-a-new-look-at-underworld-ascendant/

UPDATE: A New Look at Underworld Ascendant
March 22, 2017
Joe Fielder

As you know, we’ve been focusing our efforts on The Challenge of Ishtass, where the player is first introduced to the bevy of choices available to them with Underworld Ascendant‘s player-authored Improvisation Engine gameplay.

We’re happy to report that we’ve progressed into the bug-fixing and polish phase. The team has been feverishly addressing gameplay feedback by Paul and Warren. It’s been at times challenging work, but we’ve been making tangible progress on combat, stealth, magic, AI, and more.

A New Look at Underworld Ascendant
We’re deep in the thick of it all, so for this month’s update we have a much-requested look at our art director Nate (BioShock, The Last of Us) Wells’ latest headway on upping our visual bar.

The areas pictured below are still receiving additional polish, lighting, and VFX passes, but we hope you’ll agree that they’ve come far since we first showed them off.


Prove yourself in The Skill Shrine…


Meet the Improvisation Engine in The Challenge of Ishtass.


Your goal: The Silver Sapling. How to get it is up to you.





We recently gave a glimpse at these shots to a few industry colleagues and were asked, “Is that Unreal? Is that concept art? Are those renders?” The answers: No, no, and no. They’re untouched, in-game screenshots and the game engine is Unity 5.

Starbreeze to Publish System Shock® 3


ICYMI – OtherSide recently signed a publishing deal with Starbreeze (Payday, Chronicles of Riddick) for the eagerly-anticipated System Shock 3, which is currently being worked on down at our Austin studio under the guidance of Warren Spector.

We’re pretty darn excited to be working with Starbreeze, who were responsible for developing great games like Payday and Chronicles of Riddick, and joining a line-up that includes titles like DoubleFine’s Psychonauts 2.

You can read all the details right here.

In Other News…
And finally, a few things you might find interesting:

• inXile’s Torment: Tides of Numenera recently came out for Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One! (PC Gamer‘s review called it “a fitting follow-up to a beloved RPG.”)

• OtherSide’s own Thomas Schlapp and friends are Kickstarting Zero Sum, a sci-fi competitive card game. Worth checking out!

• Speaking of Warren, he recently participated in a PC Gamer Immersive Sim roundtable discussion (with developers like Harvey Smith, Ricardo Bare, Steve Gaynor, and more) and gave at talk at GDC about The Making of Deus Ex.

Until next time!

Best,

The Team at OtherSide

 

[Infinitron]

New date on the vertical slice: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1353.msg21708#msg21708

We are gonna slip a bit. Got interupted by a couple of snow storms and this System Shock deal thing.
Beginning of April. Really we are just in polish it up phase...but there is a bunnch of polish that needs to be done.

 

[LESS T_T]

Speaking of Warren, he recently participated in a PC Gamer Immersive Sim roundtable discussion (with developers like Harvey Smith, Ricardo Bare, Steve Gaynor, and more)

Tom Francis wept.

 

[Excidium II]

The fuck does snow interrupt, are they in the construction business or making a videogame? Just work from home.

Retards buy this shit...

 

[Infinitron]

Shoveling snow is serious business:

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The fuck does snow interrupt, are they in the construction business or making a videogame? Just work from home.

Retards buy this shit...

Actually the new England area got slammed with multi-foot snows. Last week. Last year they got 6 feet in under 48 hours I believe. It's a thing.