Update 21
Time to Rumble[edit]
Feb 26 2015
Mastering of the Art of War[edit]
In most fantasy RPG’s, fighters are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Rather than relying on their brains, they use their ample brawn. Wading into a battle, slashing and smashing every foe in sight.
Nothing wrong-headed with that style of character. Can be great fun! Underworld Ascendant welcomes players who want to play a straight up, traditional fighter character. But fighting can go much deeper than simply brawn. Finesse. The tactics of maneuvering back-and-forth with an opponent in a flowing, dynamic engagement. Mastering a weapon. Learning your opponent’s weakness, then using that against them. Players who choose to focus on fighting will be able grow into masters of the art of combat.
What does this mean in terms of game play? Here is one illustrative example…
[Caveat. Please understand that we are still in prototype phase. What is described below is our best guess at how combat will likely work well. But as we have learned from making games such as Ultima Underworld and Thief, often you discover further along in development that changes from the original design plan are needed to achieve the best gameplay. So this is just a starting point.]
Romulus, a master swordsman, has just turned a corner to spy a Dire Faerie, hovering in the middle of a large and high-ceiled chamber. The Faerie has not yet noticed Romulus, so he decides on a stealthy approach to try to get close, unnoticed.
Romulus closes in quickly, and is nearly on top of the Faerie before it becomes of aware of the fighter’s presence. The Faerie spins and tries to fly away, but Romulus is able to land a blow to one of the Faerie’s wings before it can get out of reach. The damage to the wing makes the Faerie’s flight unsteady; harder for it to maneuver outside of Romulus’ range. Romulus has achieved his first objective of the battle, to neutralize the Faerie’s advantage of flight.
Now he closes in for the kill. Since Romulus has fought Faeries before, he has learned some of their weaknesses. The game reveals this by showing a glow on the Faerie’s left chest, which is especially vulnerable.
Romulus closes in to try to land the killing blow…
This is just one way this battle might evolve. Each battle will be fluid and dynamic, with the player having choices to make, tactics to adjust. As players master that art of warfare, they will gain new skills that layer into these choices. Some skills will make them simply deadly, but others will open up new tactics they can try using.
It is worth highlighting that in Underworld Ascendant combat will not be a fast, twitch experience. Even though gameplay is played out in fluid first-person 3D, the pace will be slower than a “shooter”, giving players more time to make tactical decisions.
Likewise, it will not be a game about pixel precision landing of blows. Your fighter’s character skill will factor into the success of landing blows, more so than your quick twitch ability. If you are role-playing a master swordsman, we want you be able to actually fight just like a master swordsman, even if you’ve never hefted a real sword in your life.
Paired with the Improvisation Engine, combat in the game is not just about whittling away your opponent’s hit points. With maneuvering, knowledge and planning the combat possibilities are practically endless, and ensure that Mages aren’t the only ones who fight with flashy tricks!
Announcements[edit]
We reached 10,200 backers! Amazing!
This means every backer will receive their very own, in-game Chattering Bart. No one is more excited than Bart himself, who, while in the possession of the Shamblers, hasn't had a human friend to talk to in generations! And remember, for every 200 backers we get above the 10,000 mark by this Saturday noon (EST), one pithy comment written by a backer and posted in our FORUMS will be added to Bart's repertoire of snide quips, with one already in the can. Bart's got a lot more to say, do you?
For those of you who have expressed a desire to back Underworld Ascendant, but are not seeking physical goods, we have a special announcement. Today we are opening up the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST pledge tier, a digital only backer level for $125.
The DIGITAL PROTAGONIST tier will give the backer all digital rewards included in all tiers up to the AVATAR level. This means, backers at the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST level will receive all digital items (music, map, strategy guide, just to name a few) found in all tiers up to AVATAR, as well as all the Kickstarter Exclusive digital items in those same tiers. This includes the AMETHYST ANKH AMULET from the LEGENDARY HERO tier and the COPPER-TRIMMED AVATAR ROBE from the AVATAR tier. The new Lyrical Lute we introduced yesterday will also be included!
Of course, no physical goods from those tiers will be included, which means pledgers of the digital only tier will have no shipping costs. If this sounds good to you, please think about pledging at the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST level today!
Today we are entering the FINAL WEEK of our campaign. It’s been a wild ride. There are now more than 10,000 of us strong on this ride, and more coming in every minute. Yesterday was the best day the campaign has seen in over 2 weeks!
With this being the final week of the campaign, it’s time to shift into a higher gear…
We’ve got some awesome stretch goals, which many in this community want us to reach. We can deliver on at least some of these stretch goals if we can make a big push during this final week.
We have been holding steady at an average of $55 pledged per backer, with less than a dollar swing since the first week of the campaign. Some folks have already pledged all they can afford. We are humbled and deeply thankful to them for doing so.
Others folk are able to step up to higher tiers. As of this morning, we are less than $35,000 from reaching the $600,000 in base funding. If half of the 10,000 backers each stepped up their pledges by $10, we’d be well past that mark and into the first stretch goal overnight.
Getting past the $600,000 mark helps motivate those fans who are hesitant to pledge until the base goal is met to join us. We are virtually certain to reach the $600,000 at least a few days before campaign ends. Each day sooner that this happens is another day sooner to pull in these waiting-in-the-wings fans, which will in turn give us more momentum to reach higher stretch goals.
So please consider stepping up during this final stretch. It’s the most tangible way today you can leave your mark on what we are together building with Underworld Ascendant.
The Team at OtherSide