Kickstarter

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Kickstarter Description

In 1992, Ultima Underworld changed the rules of what a fantasy RPG could be. It introduced the concept of 3D immersion, a player-authored experience, and an open-world to explore. It is among the all-time greatest PC RPG’s ever made. For two decades this legend has been hidden away in the deepest vaults of its publisher. The game’s original creators, who founded LookingGlass and also designed the classics System Shock and Thief, have at long-last unchained the franchise. Joining the original creators are leading developers who have played key roles on modern greats, such as Dishonored, Last of Us and BioShock Infinite. Together the team is bringing to life the next generation of this landmark franchise, Underworld Ascendant! Backing the game grants you unprecedented front row access to the creation of the next epoch of this storied masterpiece. With your help, here's a glimpse at what we can together build: Exquisitely Realized Underworld – Plunge into The Stygian Abyss: dark, ripe with dangers, full of ancient secrets to discover. A vast subterranean fantasy world made startlingly real and alive. Dynamic Factions – Become embroiled in an epic plot, as rival factions vie for dominance in struggles that ebb and flow across The Stygian Abyss. Your choices will alter the outcome in subtle and dramatic ways. Improvisation Engine – Delight in player-authored gameplay taken to a whole new level, with a suite of technologies that empower you to solve challenges with astonishing ingenuity. Be the ‘MacGyver’ of a fantasy world. Hero to Call Your Own – Jump right in as a Fighter, Thief or Mage. Then as your Avatar grows, freely mix and match across any skills to develop a unique hero, tailored to your style of play. Pushing Boundaries – Stretch Goals will innovate on co-op play with a friend; letting you build your own corner of The Stygian Abyss; and more. The labyrinth depths beckon. Dare ye enter? Some of the Stretch Goals unlock Kickstarter exclusive, in-game digital STRETCH GOAL items. Upon achieving a Stretch Goal, all backers at ADVENTURER Tier or higher will automatically receive such STRETCH GOAL item. While these items are fun and exclusive, mainly they are just cosmetically unique. None provide a competitive edge over players who might not have them, so as to keep the game balanced for all. Go HERE for full description of Stretch Goals. The original Ultima Underworld was released in 1992. Players and critics were blown away by this innovative take on a fantasy RPG. It was the first game to have a texture mapped first-person 3D world. Beyond its cutting-edge visuals, it heralded an era of sandbox, open-world play. The Underworld series continues to this day to inform modern game design. Here are a few games that credit it as an inspiration: Here’s what some leading game developers say: Richard Garriott (Ultima, Shroud of the Avatar) – “For those of us lifelong gamers that go back to the early days the Underworld franchise, created by Paul Neurath, represents a watershed event on what an immersive 3D true role-playing game can be. Personally I am as excited about Underworld returning as any game I can imagine.” 'Ken Levine (BioShock) – “Underworld had a transformative effect on my understanding of what games were. It was the first time I ever felt ‘inside’ of an imaginary world. It was the game that primed all my creative ambitions.” 'Chris Roberts (Star Citizen, Wing Commander) – “Underworld was the first truly 3D textured first person game… it influenced pretty much all first person 3D games that came afterwards.” CLICK HERE to read more about what legendary game developers are saying. Far more than a dungeon crawl, Underworld Ascendant is a next-generation sequel to the legendary fantasy RPG’s Ultima Underworld & Ultima Underworld 2. It not only modernizes the series’ visuals and user interface to take full advantage of the today’s powerful PC’s, it innovates in bold new ways. Next Generation 3D Immersion Here's how we’re going to raise the bar with the visuals of the game: THE UNDERWORLD AS A CHARACTER No other game has such a vivid imagining of an underground fantasy realm as Underworld Ascendant. The Stygian Abyss is a vast world unto itself… Plunder ancient temples, navigate subterranean rivers, gaze in wonder at the masterwork of jade dwarven halls, scale plunging ice caverns, trek through enchanted forests of giant mushrooms, dare shadowy tombs of the undead, and much more. Alive with bustling underground societies: enclaves of human renegades scavenging for survival, villages of the mysterious shambler “mushroom people” performing arcane rituals, dwarven factories producing the finest arms and armor. Face monstrous creatures like the ripper, a vicious, ambulatory plant whose bark is prized by The Stygian Abyss’ intelligent races; stay clear of mass migrations of ravenous rotworms; dodge the giant spider’s sticky webs it casts through the air. Alter the environment to your advantage. Flood an arid plain to help the damp-loving shamblers expand their territory, gaining their favor. Changes you make can ripple across the game's reactive, ever-changing ecology, producing startlingly unpredictable results. The Stygian Abyss makes the typical fantasy game’s above-ground assortment of medieval towns and wilderness seem stale by comparison. A DYNAMIC, PLAYER-DRIVEN NARRATIVE Get drawn into an epic story with ties to the original Ultima Underworld games. Play as The Avatar, a human newly arrived from our earth through a mystical Runegate. As a “stranger in a strange land” you will: Meet shrewd characters, with their own motivations and agendas. Some may be swayed to your cause, while others may manipulate you. Encounter rugged dwarf frontiersmen, fierce dark elf renegades, and strangely alien shamblers. Each faction holds a valid claim to The Stygian Abyss. Which side will you join? Will you unite, or destroy? Entangle yourself in a tale of intrigue and conflict as three fierce, rival factions struggle for control. Your choices will determine the ultimate fate of The Stygian Abyss. The 3 main factions who vie for dominance of The Stygian Abyss Runegates connect to other worlds as well, including the lands of the Shroud of the Avatar. Over the eons travelers have spanned these worlds, including a band of rogue dark elves who set themselves up in The Stygian Abyss. Discover how these worlds have intertwined over the ages. THE IMPROVISATION ENGINE Do you enjoy the freedom of choice in sandbox games like Deus Ex or Elder Scrolls? The team at OtherSide in large part invented this style of experience with the original Ultima Underworld -- now they intend to take it to the next level. At the heart of Underworld Ascendant's distinctive gameplay is the Improvisation Engine, which gives you an array of tools to think up your own ingenious solutions to challenges. For instance, how to cross a subterranean river guarded by deadly lurker? Unwise player tries to swim past, meets their watery doom. Clever player tosses rotworm downstream to distract lurker. Clever player charms giant cave spider to carry them up and over. What’s your clever solution? Underworld Ascendant's Improvisation Engine encourages you to experiment and unlock your creative potential. Devise clever techniques that even the game's designers haven't imagined yet! INTENSE COMBAT & INVENTIVE MAGIC Enjoy swordplay and spell casting that are distinctly dynamic and inventive… Experience engaging first-person combat. Launch yourself into fluid, running battles where maneuvering and timing are everything. Utilize your environment to stack the odds in your favor. Collect magical runes bristling with power. Learn to combine them to surprising effect. Discover potent spells like Charm Creature, Hailstones, and Clairvoyant Eye. Experiment to customize and improve their effects. Obtain rare and powerful weapons and armor. Align with the dwarves to acquire masterfully-crafted plate mail. Trade with dark elves to gain access to an arsenal of enchanted weaponry. CREATE YOUR OWN CHARACTER CLASS Think outside the box of formalized character classes and concoct your own one-of-a-kind adventurer. Jump right into the game choosing from a Fighter, Mage or Thief. But from there you are free to customize your Avatar to your individual play style. Mix and match your favorite skills and perks. Create a mage skilled at stealth, a fighter who can summon spectral allies, or the ultimate thief. Join a faction and gain special perks that improve your abilities to alter the environment, traverse obstacles, or craft traps. STRETCH TRADITIONAL RPG BOUNDARIES Stretch Goals will allow us innovate even further, adding companion creatures, co-op, user-crafted content, and more… Crave fellowship and a companion creature? Vote for the addition of a vorpal bunny or mini-brain. Use the Underworld Builder Toolkit to craft your own corner of the Stygian Abyss, and share it with friends. Need a fighter's prowess in combat, a mage’s spell craft, or a thief's lock pick skills? Invite a friend to join you online for a cut of the loot. All your buddies’ offline? Use a Doppelganger Gem to borrow a friend's character as an invulnerable ethereal companion AI. CLICK HERE to learn even more about the game, and to see more videos, concept art, and more! The OtherSide Entertainment team members have worked on over 25 award-winning games. This includes such standout games as Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex, GEX, Neverwinter Nights, Dishonored, Medal of Honor, Uncharted, Last of Us, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and BioShock Infinite to name some. The team is headed up by Paul Neurath. Paul was the founder of Blue Sky Productions, where he came up with the concept of Ultima Underworld and oversaw its creation. Later Blue Sky became LookingGlass, one of the most renowned indie studios of the 1990’s. Paul continued to innovate, overseeing the development of such beloved games as System Shock and Thief. As founder of OtherSide Entertainment, Paul orchestrated the return of Underworld, and is once again setting the creative vision for the latest incarnation. OtherSide takes a collaborative approach to development with small, tight-knit teams. Joining Paul is a team of superbly talented and proven game developers. Some played key roles on Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief and/or on more recent landmarks in the genre that have been influenced by these games. All share a passion for bringing Underworld back! CLICK HERE learn more about our team members. After many long years we rescued the Underworld series from the publisher vaults. With your help, we can embark on the next chapter with Underworld Ascendant. We got the ball rolling with some funding of our own to get development underway, building a playable prototype over the past 4 months. But to take the project through full production and deliver the core PC game, we will need the Kickstarter funding from our fans. It goes beyond the funding. We’d like you to join us on this creative journey, experiencing first-hand the surprises and fun of genuine innovation. This means having you VOTE on decision around features, items, and creatures. Participating in our forums, livestreams and developer blogs. Depending on your pledge level you will have early access from beta builds to as early as pre-alpha prototype builds. Don’t be shy. Discuss on the forums, vote on the website! Get involved! We want to hear your thoughts and ideas! Software development is never certain, even more so when you’re trying to innovate. Projects can run late, run into technical hurdles. And it takes more than just getting the program to work, you’ve also got to make it fun! Never easy. Our team does come to this project having delivered over 25 award-winning games, including the original Underworlds, and other more recent games in the genre. There’s a fair chance that we created or influenced some of the most-loved games in your collection. While this track record is no guarantee of success with Underworld Ascendant, it does give us a distinct edge. Also we’re using tools, like the Unity Engine, that help offset some of the risks, and allow us to more rapidly prototype, test and iterate. We have been in development for four months now, and already have a number of our key systems in the prototype working. Next, we’ll stage our system trials to narrow down unknowns. At each step, your participation will help in refining the game further, which helps up the odds we’ll deliver on the fun. Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

Below is visual summary of each Pledge Tier. You can also read more in-depth descriptions of the Rewards HERE. The Dark Elves of the Stygian Abyss are long sundered from their kinsman in the distant lands of the Shroud of the Avatar. This ‘Kinsman’ buckler has a solitary moonstone that will glow with the warmth of kinship if held by kin in both worlds. For any Backers who get a Kinsman Buckler in both games, theirs will glow as well. Even without the glow, this is a finely-crafted buckler that is agile to use, and offers effective protection considering its small size. It turns out that Bart had a wife. After Bart was turned into a chattering skull, his soon to be deceased wife insisted she too would be. The two can talk up a storm! Sadly, Jabbering Bertha got separated from Bart. Indeed, taken through a portal to the land of the Shroud of the Avatar. For any players who get Bertha as an Add-On in both games, the two will be reunited, and swap some unique quips. Not only that, but Bertha will put on her lipstick for Bart. Please just don’t make any ‘lipstick on a pig’ jokes, Bertha can be sensitive about her looks. Now you can get a set of Banners, one for each of the 3 factions in the Abyss.These digital Add-Ons are vibrant standards that, when raised by the player, help rally the enthusiasm of nearby members of that faction.Wielding the banner of your favorite faction can give your allies a slight edge in any contest of wills.Just remember not to raise the banner for the other side; unless you relish an extra dose of challenge. High-quality, maroon Underworld Ascendant t-shirt.Limited edition, Kickstarter exclusive. Comes with a witty slogan, chosen from a fan submission, on back of shirt.Will only be made available to our Kickstarter backers! Free shipping in US, $15 International. Must pledge at the $35 tier or higher to be able to select this Add-On. Tracy Hickman’s Underworld Ascendant novel, which tells the story of how the Dark Elves made an exodus to the Stygian Abyss to escape their wizard overlord. DRM-free digital download version for $5. Tracy Hickman’s Underworld Ascendant novel, which tells the story of how the Dark Elves made an exodus to the Stygian Abyss to escape their wizard overlord. Hardcover special COLLECTOR’S EDITION for $45. FREE shipping in the US, additional $15 for International. Notes on Add-Ons To add any of these unique items, when you are logged into your Kickstarter account, click on the blue MANAGE button at the top of this page. From there you can choose to set aside additional pledge funds for the Add-On. Once the Kickstarter campaign is over we'll be sending out a survey through which you will indicate which add-ons you want to buy with your pledge. Where can I go to discuss the game with other fans? Our community forums are up and running at http://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/ Is this a “spiritual successor” to Ultima Underworld? Is it Ultima Underworld 3? Or what? Underworld Ascendant is a genuine part of the Underworld series. We have the rights to use all of the elements of the original Underworld games, except for the Ultima brand itself. The characters, monsters, settings, and stories from the original Underworld games are all available for us. What’s the story with some people getting these backer exclusive items? The backer-exclusive items found in stretch goals and pledge tiers will be fun and distinctive awards, but we’ll work to make sure that these provide no competitive edge over players who might not have them, so as to keep the game balanced for all. How will I get my poster/boxed set/physical item? We’ve partnered with manufacturing and shipping professionals to make sure physical goods delivery goes smoothly, leaving us to focus on what we do best. Shipping to the United States is free. International shipping will require $15 above your selected pledge level. So, for example, if you select the $100 pledge level, your total pledge should be $115 with international shipping. I have a favorite feature from the original games. Will it be in Underworld Ascendant? Our team is committed to staying true to what made Underworld great. But we will also keep making it better! Letting us know what’s important to you is a great reason to join our forums at http://www.othersideentertainment.com/forum/ The Pioneer and Pioneer's Progeny pledge levels mention getting the game at a discount. What does this mean? If you pledge at the Pioneer or Pioneer's Progeny level (and all levels above, of course) you will get a full digital copy of the game. The discount reference refers to the fact that at the $20 and $25 dollar levels the price is less than what the full retail price will be upon the game’s release. Will the game be DRM-free? We plan to have a DRM-free PC release, as well as a Steam version. I get extra copies of the game with my $100+ pledge. Do these copies come with backer rewards or exclusives? The extra copies of Underworld Ascendant provided at pledge levels of $100 or more are "vanilla" copies of the game. They do not come with any of the rewards that are provided at those pledge tiers, including things like in-game items or alpha/beta access. I pledged at a tier granting Alpha/Beta/Pre-Alpha/Prototype Build access, and I'm on Mac/Linux. Will I be able to access these builds along with PC players? When we release the prototype, pre-alpha, alpha and beta versions of the game to backers who pledged at tiers granting access to them, Linux and Mac users will get those versions as well. The reality of development and QA resources may mean that the Linux and Mac versions will be a little rougher than the PC versions, but Mac and Linux users will be jumping into these versions as soon as PC players do. What exactly do I get in the digital only DIGITAL PROTAGONIST pledge tier? The DIGITAL PROTAGONIST pledge tier is a DIGITAL ONLY pledge tier that rewards ONLY the items listed here. This tier does not grant any rewards from lower tiers. Tiers above the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST pledge level do not get anything from this tier. This pledge tier gives you the following digital rewards: Digital copy of UNDERWORLD ASCENDANT + Extra digital copy of UNDERWORLD ASCENDANT for a friend + Set of 3 beautiful digital WALLPAPERS + digital SOUNDTRACK + Digital STRATEGY GUIDE + Digital copy of UNDERWORLD MAP + Digital download of MAKING OF UNDERWORLD ASCENDANT VIDEO + Digital GAME CONCEPT ART PORTFOLIO with design notes from the team + Digital copy of the ORIGINAL ULTIMA UNDERWORLD and ULTIMA UNDERWORLD II for the PC + Get for FREE any digital STRETCH GOAL item that gets unlocked + RUBY BACKER BADGE for forum, with EXCLUSIVE access to special developer online roundtables during development of the game to share your design thoughts + EARLY ACCESS to pre-alpha build *KS EXCLUSIVES* - in-game GOLD AVATAR'S RING which glows red when an enemy is nearby, and green when a friend is close + Magic expanding ADVENTURER'S BACKPACK to lighten your load in-game + SILVER SAPLING SEED you can plant in the Underworld, which grows a magical refuge for the night + LYRICAL LUTE that plays a lively turn when strummed which will raise your spirits even in the darkest depths of the Abyss + AMETHYST ANKH AMULET your character can wear in-game that plays a soft melody when treasure is near + Copper-trimmed AVATAR'S ROBE you can wear in-game, which increases your charisma. Sentinels will bow in your honor + all digital Add-Ons

Other Media

External Links

• Underworld Ascendant on Kickstarter

See Also

• Kickstarter Updates
• #IAmTheAvatar