Update 4
Meet some of our team[edit]
Feb 6 2015
I wanted to start introducing some of the folks helping to make Underworld Ascendant a reality. First up, our concept artists. These are the superbly talented guys who help envision the look of The Stygian Abyss and its inhabitants.
Robb Waters worked with our team at LookingGlass in the 1990’s, doing some of the most memorable concept art for the System Shock games (including SHODAN), as well as for Thief (including the main character Garrett.) More recently Robb did a bunch of the concept art for BioShock and BioShock Infinite, games which won awards for their visual style. Here’s a couple pieces Robb has done so far for our game:
Shaddy Safadi, art director of his own concept studio One Pixel Brush, has been behind some of most stylish game art coming out in recent years, including for Uncharted 2, BioShock Infinite, Last of Us, and PlanetSide 2. A few pieces Shaddy’s done so far:
CLICK HERE to check out more concept art.
Getting a superb look for a game is more than just fancy rendering and high-end hardware. Great concept art can inspire more than mere pixels can. We are still refining the visual style for the game, it’s an iterative process, but we are off and running towards reaching a high bar. The concept artists are keeping notes and works-in-progress. This will all get rolled into a special Concept Art Portfolio. All Backers who pledge at the Adventurer tier or higher will get a digital copy for free.
Also wanted to introduce you to Warren Spector, who I’ve had the enormous pleasure to collaborate with since the 1980’s. Warren was our Producer on the original Underworlds, and worked at LookingGlass as well. He may be best known as the creative vision behind Deus Ex, and more recently Epic Mickey. Warren has never been timid to challenge conventional thinking about game design, and as a creative advisor to our team he keeps us on our toes. Here’s Warren waxing poetic about what we’re doing with our Improvisation Engine, which underlies one of the most distinctive aspects of gameplay in Underworld Ascendant:
Finally, thrilled that on the third day of our campaign we have over 5,000 Backers. You are the vanguard! The fans who recognized the vision of this game, and stepped up first. We are honored. All the help in spreading the word and sharing the vision is greatly appreciated.