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Game News Underworld Ascendant Update #19: Prototype Getting Combat and Parkour, New Screenshots

Infinitron

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Tags: OtherSide Entertainment; Underworld Ascendant

Today's Underworld Ascendant update announces that the game's prototype is about to get a major upgrade, adding parkour-style movement capabilities and a rudimentary combat system (along with a bad guy to use it on). Here are the details:

Today we are updating the Prototype build with new gameplay features. First up is more advanced movement modes. The team are fans of Jackie Chan movies, Parkour and David Belle, and American Ninja Warrior. Moving through a space with grace, flow and just feeling awesome doing it, is one of the goals for movement in the Underworld.

When a game has great movement controls, like the old Id games Doom and Quake, they become an extension of the player. No thought is needed for basic navigation, and it opens up for players to become more creative and skilled at getting around the world. In recent memory Mirror's Edge did this especially well. The Parkour skills chain together so beautifully and when you master the game it is like a ballet moving around the game world.

Tim and Will have put together the bones we can build on for a robust movement system. They have decided - at least for the moment- to have full body awareness. This means that the body of the player can be seen by the player, and it also reacts like any other physical object in the world. Momentum matters. Run faster you jump further. Chain jumps together you keep your momentum going, stop for a second and your momentum is lost. Jumping wall to wall if you pause you start sliding down the side of the wall. Sliding down a slope is fast, running up a slope is slower than on a flat plane.

Second, we've stood up the beginnings of combat. There are 3 attacks so far: a light swing, an overhead swing and a stab. There is a bad guy wandering about who just wants to be hit.

Most RPG games have you cleave your way through battles without much thought. Looking at my Fallout 4 play through I've killed over 4,000 enemies. Yikes. Maybe I'm the reason the Commonwealth isn't prospering.

Tim is trying to make each encounter more meaningful and impactful. We will also keep the combat encounters intimate, giving more opportunity to show off unique features of the monsters and opponents. If you look back on the simple combat of Ultima Underworld they were all intimate affairs.

That is the feeling we are going after, but with more robust tactics, movement and use of the 3D space than was technically possible in the original games. Enemies with have 'tells' so the player can learn to react to them properly. We are still looking at other complexities like locational damage, status effects, dodging and blocking. How complex we push the AI in combat is being experimented with, but we expect them to have options, not just 'ARRGH kill the player' and 'oh no I'm hurt! Run away'. If they have spells they will use them, if they are carrying a magic weapon it will be equipped.
Also included in the update is the first proper look at art director Nate Wells' new vision for the game, which OtherSide are calling an "authored look":


Over at the OtherSide forums, Chris Siegel explains what exactly that means. Like many things about this game, it's a bit ambitious.
 

Raapys

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Literally a hand-sculpted world, eh. Well, it's an interesting notion, too early to say if it'll pay off. They definitely need to do some work on the shaders though, that last pic makes it look like it's all made of plastic.
 

Howdy

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The team are fans of Jackie Chan movies, Parkour and David Belle, and American Ninja Warrior. Moving through a space with grace, flow and just feeling awesome doing it, is one of the goals for movement in the Underworld.


:hmmm:
 
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HobGoblin42

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For some reasons, their art style gave me vibes from the past...

ICH10016.jpg
 

Infinitron

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Looks like that Shadowbeast model is getting the axe in this new art direction: https://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/index.php?topic=1055.msg16934#msg16934

We felt like the first look was taking us that way. I don't think many of us were happy with the Shadowbeast, and we were pushing the photorealism on the materials pretty hard overall in that demo.
Nate's take is to have the world look crafted instead of 'real'. I spend a bunch of time holding up dungeon pieces up to my screen seeing trying to see what one would look like if it were life sized.
What I can't wait to see is creatures. One of the modelers we use has spent a ton of time making miniatures and toys so he understands exactly what we mean by an 'authored' look.
 

Perkel

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Well they do have point with Mirrors Edge. When you "get" game flow it really feels good to move around.
By end of the game i could chain non stop moves around level without much problem to get where mostly i wanted.

As for art style it looks fine. They have still lot of time to polish things up before release like changing a bit shaders and stuff.

Either way i like their focus on mechanics and i hope this won't lead to future creep.
 

Infinitron

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I think the parkour stuff is going to be integrated into character development, so you won't be able to do it by default.

I don't see the problem, how else do you make speedy rogue characters more than just crappy fighters who can pick locks.
 

Darkzone

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I think the parkour stuff is going to be integrated into character development, so you won't be able to do it by default.
I don't see the problem, how else do you make speedy rogue characters more than just crappy fighters who can pick locks.

I think that this parkour thing could be very interesting, if it is made right. Especially for Rogues.
 

Aenra

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All that parkour stuff sounds like a load of crap though.

This. I want to play an R-P-G, not a platformer/akshunie game.

edit: I look at the whole picture. We already have first person, real time and statless. Adding parkour elements on top? Worrying.
 
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Doctor Sbaitso

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UU was entirely off page at the time and yet it defined shit for a generation. Courage is good if they can bring it again.
 

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Codex 2012 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire RPG Wokedex Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Not particularly thrilled with all the Mirror's Edge talk. Sounds too much "player skill" than "character skill." If/when I get back down to Boston it will definitely be a topic of discussion.
 

Invictus

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Certainly sounds...interesting I mean whoever thought Ultima Underworld mixed with Mirrors Edge is either a fucking genious or a fucking retard
Either way I give them the benefit of the doubt for the $28 bucks I backed this for
Although a Thief based stealth system where you can climb celings and avoid combat or lay down some traps and sneaking attacks would be wonderful
 

Kev Inkline

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A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I stumbled upon this sneak peek of the heroine model (wip):
Faith_Connors.png

Not entirely convinced about the lower body armour, but she looks empowered.
 

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