Stygian Sentinel 29
Hello backers,
With the dog days of summer far behind, we've been busy planning elaborate Halloween costumes, loading up on pumpkin beer and cider, and unpacking warm clothes in preparation for the unpredictable seasonal wonders that Boston weather will soon bestow on us.
And, of course, we've also been hard at work at...
Underworld Ascendant at The Boston Festival of Indie Games[edit]
Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the OtherSide booth at the recent Boston Festival of Indie Games, the first public showing of Underworld Ascendant. Attendees reported they had a great time playing the Pre-Alpha Prototype build and provided valuable feedback, which will be applied to the game's upcoming Vertical Slice.
- The original Underworld, the new, & reference sculpts between.
As a nod to the past and an example of before/after, Ultima Underworld was on-hand at the booth as well. A few attendees (adorably) mistook it for a retro-style indie game, while others exclaimed, eyes-wide, how it was their all-time favorite game. (One even offered to hug all present when we mentioned that our Austin studio is making a new System Shock game.)
- OtherSide's Chris Maire, Will Texiera, & Joe Fielder.
It was great fun meeting with fans, watching them play the game, and hearing their hands-on thoughts and input. We're definitely looking forward to showing new builds of Underworld Ascendant at future, to-be-announced public events.
Enormous thanks to the volunteers responsible for putting on the Boston Festival of Indie Games. Everyone at OtherSide appreciates the hard work you put in for the Boston area game community.
A Look Inside the Underworld Ascendant Bestiary[edit]
As mentioned before, we're holding off on showing our work on the Underworld Ascendant Vertical Slice until its far along and polished. In the meantime, we thought you'd be interested in a peek under the hood at the design work involved.
When you interact with a denizen of The Stygian Abyss in Underworld Ascendant, you're encountering many hours of work involved in bringing it to life... Modeling, animation, AI, and -- what we'll cover a bit today -- a core set of underlying design principles that dictate its role in the game.
The inhabitants come in three main forms:
- CATALYSTS - Beings who possess robust behaviors, advanced combat tactics, and, if intelligent, can converse, trade, or engage with the player. (Ex: The Lizard Men.)
- CONFOUNDERS - Creatures who enhance or detract in combat, like The Wailing Haunt or Lich, or act as environmental hazards, like The Ripper or Lurker.
- COLLABORATORS - Inhabitants with useful behaviors that the player can exploit, like the Earth Clot, a bulky, gelatinous mass that can be prodded down hallways to break traps or act as cover.
- The Ripper definitely counts as an "environmental hazard."
One of the core design principles of Underworld Ascendant is to educate the player about the rules of the simulated dungeon world without overt hand-holding. The goal of "teaching players to teach themselves" underlies the game's level design, narrative, and even the combat design.
For instance, there are four tiers of CATALYSTS, whose roles in combat...
- TIER 1 - Teach the player the basic moves & skills of the CATALYST.
- TIER 2 - Make sure the player is paying attention
- TIER 3 - Challenge the player.
- TIER 4 - Provide a fight to remember.
In the Vertical Slice, the player will not only face creatures from each category, he/she will find that a mix or an entrant from a higher tier can make for a much different encounter.
- The Vorpal Bunny has a few useful talents.
Next month, we'll give a fresh behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the Underworld Ascendant Vertical Slice. This time, about the game narrative...
Meet the New Staff[edit]
We've been woefully remiss in publicly welcoming the latest members of the OtherSide team, who joined over the last few months to help with Underworld Ascendant and Underworld Overlord.
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CHRIS MAIRE - A programmer with a background on AAA and indie games (including his own Gravity Ghost and more), Chris combines hard-fought wisdom and can-do spirit. He's an active member of the local Boston game community and an aficionado of metal. |
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CARL AHLUND - As the Design Director of Underworld Overlord, our "be-the-bad-guy" dungeon management game for the Google Daydream mobile VR platform, Carl works with our external mobile developers to define the player experience, tune the fun of each level, and balance the game's ramping difficulty. |
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THOMAS SCHLAPP - Our new QA Team Lead, Thomas comes to us with experience working on RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online, as well as creating his own card games. He is also a CSM and CSPO, and has a Masters of Science in Forensic Psychology |
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JT KUCERA - The latest add to the team, who began just last week, JT is a senior QA tester who has endured such grueling OtherSide hazing rituals as eating lunch in the building cafeteria, learning about the history of Concord grapes, and everyone generally being nice, polite, and respectful. |
Please join us in welcoming them to OtherSide!
In Other News[edit]
ICYMI - Here are a few things you might find interesting and/or entertaining:
- PC Gamer commemorated the recent 19th anniversary of Ultima Online with "5 stories of murder and theft that prove Ultima Online was one of the best MMOs ever".
- GaminGHD posted a video about Ultima Underworld's important role in the history of games, titled, "Ultima Underworld - The most important game you should play."
- The Ultima Dragons, one of the oldest online fan-created gaming clubs, are holding a Kickstarter for its 25th Anniversary Bash.
That's all for this time! Next month, in addition to the Vertical Slice narrative peek, we'll have an update about your Kickstarter-related questions, such as the plans for the developer online roundtables, insider's developer blog, and more.
That's all for this time.
Until next!
Best,
The Team at OtherSide