Stygian Sentinel 16
Issue #16, December 7th 2015
Rolling out the Prototype to more Fans[edit]
As you know, we recently released the Underworld Ascendant Playground as a pledge reward for backers who backed at Lore Seeker and higher tiers. Huzzah!
This Prototype build is meant to provide an early peek at core game mechanics, like physics interactions and magic. In it, the player is taught the fundamental rules and given a series of goals, then let loose to find their own means of solving them. It's been fantastic seeing all the inventive solutions that fans have come up with. This is
- exactly
the kind of experimentation that we intend to foster in Underworld Ascendant.
Soon we're going to make the Prototype available to even more fans. For everybody who pledged at the Pioneer tier and higher, you will be able to get a $5 Add-On through that gives access to all future versions of the Prototype builds we release. This Add-On will also come with a $5 credit towards any future Add-ons or additional Pledges.
We've already made a host of improvements to the Prototype, based on fan feedback and bug fixing. We intend to continue for many months to come, so you'll get to see first-hand how your input makes a difference.
We'll be sending an email to eligible backers shortly when this Add-On is ready.
Something Wicked This Way Comes...[edit]
We’ve got some exciting news to share. Something else besides all of the incredible developments occurring behind the scenes on Underworld Ascendant. Thing is, we want to have some fun revealing the news. See if you can guess at what it might be. Go check out the teaser site as we do the reveal over the coming week here.
Notes from The Underworld[edit]
In case you missed it, here are a few recent interviews with the OtherSide team:
- Breathing New Life Into The Underworld - Creative director Paul Neurath and design director Joe Fielder talk Underworld Ascendant with the folks at Unity.
- Back to The Underworld - An in-depth discussion with Paul about Underworld Ascendant's Improvisation Engine and more.
- Underworld Ascendant Video Interview - Producer Chris Siegel has an on-camera Q & A with Underworld Ascendant fans.
Add us on Twitter to keep up to date on everything!
It's the Holidays![edit]
It's the holiday season! Hanukkah has already begun, Christmas is around the corner.
Historically, humans have always had holidays around the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year. Most of these holidays celebrate light in some way. For example, the Romans celebrated 'Saturnalia' with drinking, gift-giving, bonfires, candles, and role reversals for slaves and masters. It lasted three to seven days or more, depending on how successful the emperor was at legislating. Saturn was the original creator of man in the 'Golden Age,' when there was no winter and everyone was happy.
A celebration of light. Makes you wonder, what are holidays in a world that doesn't use the sun as a reference? Are there seasons in the Underworld? Harvests? What kind of gods do these races worship? Did Cabirus bring Saturnalia with him? Or perhaps he had another favorite holiday, like Brumalia, a Greek solstice celebration thanking Dionysus... in the very Dionysian way of drinking and debauchery.
Thinking about these kind of details makes world building fun. We may never expose them directly in the game, but when you're creating, in effect, entire civilizations, you end up spending a lot of time looking at what's going on in our world and placing the lens of the Underworld in front of it.
Since we're in full swing of our own terrestrial holidays, we've put together a few ideas of what we want for the holidays, what we wish for, and a recommendation or two to help you guys with your holiday merriment!
Paul Neurath, Founder
What do you want for the Holidays? Time to play all the great games that have come out this year.
What's your Holiday Wish? I want the Star Wars movie to be better than I anticipate. So I can watch it again and again!
What do you recommend for presents? The Samsung Gear VR! VR for 99 bucks that runs off of Android phones!
Chris Siegel, Sr. Producer
What do you want for the Holidays? It's a great year for gaming! I still don't have Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, and the latest Assassin's Creed. I usually give myself a few full days at the end of the year to game like a bachelor. Any of the above games will fill that niche nicely.
What's your Holiday Wish? I say this every year, but some peace in the world would be nice. Cliche maybe, but it's really what I want. I spent the first part of my career in television news and I've seen the good and evil of humanity up close and personal. I wish we spent more time on the good. So, this is what I do. A random act of kindness. I do this once or twice a week. Buy the coffee for the person behind you. Carry some stranger's groceries to the car. It's small, but I think it helps. Even if it only makes someone smile for a second. You'd be amazed on the effect. A smile is a small, but powerful thing. Honestly, it's why I'm in gaming. I want to make smiles, and I don't juggle very well, so becoming a clown wasn't an option.
What do you recommend for presents? It's a Star Wars year! Remote control vehicles for the holiday are a staple. The amazing part about the Sphero BB-8 is that it actually works and doesn't break. He lives on my desk and sometimes wanders the halls.
- Every kid wants a pet Rancor!
Nate Wells, Art Director
What do you want for the Holidays? A completed jacked-up SurfaceBook. Then I could not only telecommute naked, I could telecommute naked from Starbucks.
What's your Holiday Wish? That the Point Break movie includes Bodie using a Pit Bull as a weapon against Utah during the foot-chase scene. It won't be the same without it.
Tim Stellmach, Lead Designer
What do you want for the Holidays? I've been holding off on getting myself Fallout 4 or Pandemic Legacy. I also want time to make myself a good 90-degree drill plunging jig. I'm sick of fussing with drilling nicely squared holes, but I'm not woodworker enough to justify a drill press.
What's your Holiday Wish? I've got a whole list: the hungry fed, the thirsty given drink, strangers taken in, the naked clothed, and the sick and imprisoned attended to. I can't claim authorship of the list. My actual Amazon wishlist is heavy on organizations that do this kind of stuff.
What do you recommend for presents? Well, assuming the people reading this run with the sorts of folks who like Underworld, I'm going to end up repeating Fallout 4. Or, if you want something just very good, that everyone should love: try "Thing Explainer," the new book (by that funny stick drawing guy) that explains things with only the ten hundred most used words.
Joe Fielder, Design Director
What do you want for the Holidays?' Continued refinement on core features, plot overview w/ character motivations, sample script for all major characters, and... Wait. This isn't about milestones for the game? Wrong window!
Uh... A nice pair of shoes, picked out by someone with significantly better shoe game than me.
What's your Holiday Wish? For everyone to have a safe and relaxing time with friends and loved ones over a hearty meal. Failing that? To go see Hateful Eight.
What do you recommend for presents? It's all about Fallout 4. I say this free of local pride: Boston makes an exceptional nuclear wasteland.
- Historical shot or in-game footage? Either way, a wasteland!
Jeffery Kesselman, Sr. Programmer
What do you want for the Holidays? One of these! The Feel Three is a new motion platform specifically designed for use with VR headsets. Add a Wheel or a HOTAS joystick system or just a gamepad it looks like a blast.
What's your Holiday Wish? An end of prejudice and racism not only here, but everywhere. What do you recommend for presents? A Printbot Play 3d Printer! Everyone needs a 3d printer!
Will Teixeira, Mad Scientist
What do you want for the Holidays? Robot Parts!
- This makes me nervous. The dude has a Cyberdyne sweatshirt he wears all the time. - Chris
What's your Holiday Wish? Battery tech advancement! (I assume to run his robot parts. Next, he's going to ask for a plasma gun. - Chris)
What do you recommend for presents? A musical keyboard that lights up to teach you songs. (Seriously, they exist now and they are awesome.)
We thank you all for your generous gift of support, and wish you all happy holidays. It's been an incredible year, which is what our next update will be about: a retrospective of everything that happened this year for OtherSide and to Underworld Ascendant.
Best,
The OtherSide Team