KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Release Thread

[Darth Slaughter]

Everytime I see that lizard flicking his tongue in the E3 trailer, it reminds me of this:

 

[SlamDunk]

To be rated as

:

Time will tell whether Ascendant is a spiritual successor or a spiritual sucksessor.

 

[Max Heap]

Backer Alpha on Monday: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1994.msg27602#msg27602

I'm gonna take a dump and go for a run now.
That will probably take a while, so that shit better be out once I'm back...

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1974.msg27654#msg27654

I did get a chance to play the game at E3 and have to agree with everything posted. It's hard to fault a game that the creators assure us isn't done yet. But the build being shown is downright scary with the context of a September release. So I just don't understand what's going on. As a backer, I'm getting ready for disappointment. As a media person, I'm expecting a delay. If they do go forward with the September release, I don't understand why they would even label the alpha as an "alpha". At that point it's a quick beta test to fix some obvious bugs. Not to mention the supposed beta that should follow.

Game development. It'll drive you crazy. Here's hoping they pull it all together.

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1974.msg27666#msg27666

Speaking of which... Any news on the alpha?

https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1974.msg27671#msg27671

Nubuo, thanks for coming by and checking out the demo at E3. There's a good chance we may have met there then? The build is still rough but hopefully shows promise and provides a glimpse of what we're trying to accomplish . . . (I can't say anything about release timing at the moment)

Jenuall, Joe and I are catching up on it as we speak. Blame us for it's tardiness, having spent much of last week in meetings at E3 we're behind in our review.

Hoping to post up an E3 recap in a bit too.

 

[Big Wrangle]

inb4 game delayed to release on the same day as GreedFall. Who will win?

 

[Hines]

I'm fine with a potential delay. I just hope it comes together.

 

[Zakhad]

I'm fine with a potential delay. I just hope it comes together.

I think we're all OK with a delay.

The real concern isn't a late release, it's that they seem set on a... premature... release date, which suggests that they've run out of money. Seems common with this generation of Kickstarter games, happened to System Shock remaster/reboot, and Failbetter (sunless Skies) also had to lay off loads of staff due to lower than expected early access purchases.

 

[RoSoDude]

Hint?

 

[AwesomeButton]

Hint?

"Smart man" when it's the lead saying this, but "bad dog" when the developer wants more time to polish a feature...

 

[Curratum]

The tweet won't load, what was it?

 

[Max Heap]

So I guess with "Alpha on Monday" they meant monday in a week/month?
It's probably good they polish everything up properly before releasing any new material. Some of those previews might leave a bitter aftertaste otherwise.
Even though, I think the problems described in the articles weren't all that grave.

It seems like a fun unpolished janky game so far.
According to Spector there isn't a single character attribute in the game - so classic RPG elements will probably be at a minimum level. But then again, Thief did the same and is one of the best games ever made.
Not necessarily what people expected from an Underworld game, but if it's not completely bug-ridden trash it's probably gonna be fine. Not more, not less.

Too bad for the backers expecting UU3

The question is where do I get my Arx Fatalis fix now?

 

[Infinitron]

Delayed backer alpha ---> delayed final release date?

 

[Max Heap]

Delayed backer alpha ---> delayed final release date?

I'm pretty sure they will (want to) delay it.
The question is how long they can still squeeze cash out of 505 if they already agreed on a release date with them?
My gut feeling is telling me "December", but no longer.

 

[Curratum]

I can bet you a fiver right now they won't delay that much. They have been asked multiple times on their forums about possible delays and the most they could imagine was end of September, very early October.

 

[LESS T_T]

And after E3, Unity conference thing:

June 20 / 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Underworld : Lighting for Stealth Games
Lighting isn't just about making your project look good, it also can be a key component for successful gameplay. In this session, OtherSide Entertainment will walk you through their approach, both from a technical and gameplay design perspective, for the stealth action of their upcoming RPG, Underworld Ascendant.

Sam Luangkhot -
Justin Pappas - OtherSide Entertainment

(Unity usually record all the talks form events and upload them on Youtube pretty fast.)

 

[Max Heap]

I can bet you a fiver right now they won't delay that much. They have been asked multiple times on their forums about possible delays and the most they could imagine was end of September, very early October.

My guess is that's the "official" date to save face in front of the publisher.
Internally they probably know they need more time, expecting negotiations for a new release date around august.
The argument will probably be along the lines of "Now a lot of things are clearer and we can narrow down a concrete date for a finished/feature complete product"
Depends on 505 and if they'll play along. Considering how long Otherside has worked on this they probably cost that publisher quite a bit of cash.

But as I said... it's just a gut feeling of mine that that's what's going on in the background.

 

[Nano]

I can bet you a fiver right now they won't delay that much. They have been asked multiple times on their forums about possible delays and the most they could imagine was end of September, very early October.

My guess is that's the "official" date to save face in front of the publisher.
Internally they probably know they need more time, expecting negotiations for a new release date around august.
The argument will probably be along the lines of "Now a lot of things are clearer and we can narrow down a concrete date for a finished/feature complete product"
Depends on 505 and if they'll play along. Considering how long Otherside has worked on this they probably cost that publisher quite a bit of cash.

But as I said... it's just a gut feeling of mine that that's what's going on in the background.

Remember back when people thought Kickstarter meant developers would avoid situations like this?

 

[Max Heap]

Wild speculations ahead:

Kickstarter for projects like this is a pipe dream.
It's a good way to get publishers interested but the money will be gone halfway through development.
Otherside collected 860k on kickstarter. I believe last time I checked that company had ~30 employees. Even if you pay those a measly thousand dollar a month that money would be gone after less than 2.5 years.
And that's just net salary. No taxes, no insurance, no nothing. Let's not even talk about third party contractors and general costs for upholding a company, let alone keeping tools and equipment up to date.

Now the kickstarter ended in march 2015. To my knowledge the publishing contract with 505 has been made official exactly 2.5 years later (august 2017). Obviously that deal's been made much earlier.
So you can expect that Otherside was paid by 505 for roughly 1 to 1.5 years now. And my guess is they pumped between 1 and 1.5 million dollar into this project, basically covering the "second half" of development.
Considering valve's & unity's cut as well as taxes, Otherside will have to (at least) push a good 100-150k units at 30 dollars across the counter to pay that back.

Again, this is just my gut feeling, but I can understand if 505 is pushing for a release, cause 100k units is quite a lot for a niche game.
This deal's getting more risky with every day. Especially considering that the numbers I assumed are very naive/low.

 

[Curratum]

Don't forget the art guy who produced the shitty "authored look" of the game and who probably cost a fortune, enough so that they let him go because they could likely not afford him anymore halfway through development.

Also, the game was not really in development until at least mid-2016. They scrapped massive amounts of work, partly due to the above mentioned "authored look".

 

[RNGsus]

I really wish they didn't do arty shit in their first. Just deliver a solid UU/Arx the first time, establishing UA among the incline, then when you've done your job think about making UA different. Take the art direction somewhere in the next game, not the first ffs. That's just obvious to me, but what do I know.

 

[Infinitron]

Wild speculations ahead:

They recently said they have 14 employees working on the game plus contractors. They've also said the number was even less before the game entered full production around the time the publishing deal was announced, it was really just a handful of guys in a room.

So I'm not sure the publishing deal was made "much earlier". I think it was probably made around the time it was announced.

 

[Max Heap]

They recently said they have 14 employees working on the game plus contractors. They've also said the number was even less before the game entered full production around the time the publishing deal was announced, it was really just a handful of guys in a room.

So I'm not sure the publishing deal was made "much earlier". I think it was probably made around the time it was announced.

I remember seeing a staff site somewhere, on which I counted roughly 30. I thought it was Otherside, but I might have mixed that up with another company. Are you sure those 14 are the full staff though? I distinctly remember seeing business/administration related posts. But as I said, I might have mixed it up.

 

[Comte]

Wild speculations ahead:

They recently said they have 14 employees working on the game plus contractors. They've also said the number was even less before the game entered full production around the time the publishing deal was announced, it was really just a handful of guys in a room.

So I'm not sure the publishing deal was made "much earlier". I think it was probably made around the time it was announced.

So if they didn't get the publishing deal they were screwed I'd say. Probably wouldn't have seen the light of day.

 

[Max Heap]

According to LinkedIn their team has 34 members.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/otherside-entertainment

Probably also contains third party contractors though. Might also contain former employees.
Can't really look into it since I don't have a LinkedIn account.

Not much of a careerist


Either way, they're probably a bit short on cash...

 

[LESS T_T]

According to LinkedIn their team has 34 members.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/otherside-entertainment

Probably also contains third party contractors though. Might also contain former employees.

They're current employees plus contractors. Also that includes Austin team, which has currently 20 people plus contractors according to Warren Spector.