Stygian Sentinel 10
Issue #10, September 14th 2015
Popping Up For Breath[edit]
We’ve been extra busy the past 2 weeks working on the next iteration of the playable prototype. So apologies for not having much news to share.
Progress on the prototype is coming along nicely. The creature AI is now solid, with creatures being able to track you, maneuver across a range of challenging terrain, and close in and attack if they are so inclined. We’ve got a fun twist on the sort of stealthy AI we did with Thief, here where it is you being stalked by a stealthy predator.
We’ve been pushing Unity 5 hard, and extending the engine with some new capabilities to handle our particular needs for Underworld Ascendant. Together with the talents of our now half-dozen strong art team, we’re raising the visual bar for sure.
An initial round of voice acting has also been completed, and are doing some cool things with ambient audio, which you’ll hear in the playable. Along with this we’ve been refining the narrative elements.
Lots of activity!
Other News[edit]
Together with our friends at ArtCraft, we are delighted to announce a Crowfall / Underworld Ascendant special cross-promotion. Fans who have pledged at least $30 towards each game, or make new pledges of at least that amount over the next 2 weeks, will receive a pair of $10 coupons good for future pledges in each game.
The coupons can be used towards upgrading your current pledge tier, or for any Add-on. Coupons valid through September 25th, so get ’em while they last.
Redeem your coupon or pledge now!
If you’ve not checked out Crowfall as yet, which is a wonderfully innovative take on a fantasy MMO, please do.
We have a Winner!
In the last newsletter we asked fans to guess what the structure above might be? Some creative guesses, and funny ones, including:
Wyntarr - How about a fiery river of souls? It looks to have a sort of ethereal mist around tendrils of lava like formations. SocketPop - Clearly, this is two lava giants, from the back, with their arms spread wide. They may be engaged in interpretive dance, but I'd like to think they are pretending to be airplanes, and making the sounds to boot. 7th-key - Luminescent spider webs on a lava tree. solistide - It's the inside of a gigantic lava worm; those tubes are filled with lava life blood, and the blue is the cooling fluid to prevent the worm from melting into goo. Wibbleboy - I'm afraid that none of you are even close. This is a picture of the paprika coated chicken which is the favoured snack of the goblins which reside in underworld tunnels.
Many of you guessed close enough. It’s a massive structure composed of flowing lava, formed and twisted into a tree-like shape by a powerful magic artifact, harnessed by the dwarves towards their arcane purposes. More to come on this later this fall…
In the meantime, we have a winner of an Underworld Ascendant T-shirt, randomly chosen from among the forum members who posted a guess: SirhcOran, wear your T-shirt proudly!
Finally, a Shout Out to Outer Wilds, a space exploration game by Indie studio Mobius Digital that has some pretty nifty innovations. They have just 3 days remaining on their crowdfunding campaign. Check it out.
The OtherSide Team