Underworld Ascendant Updates #15-21, $568,822 and Counting

Since the last time we checked, a large number of updates has been published for the Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter campaign, which is currently very close to reaching its $600,000 base funding goal.

Update 17 and update 20 mostly deal with rewards, funding milestones reached by the project, and the steps the developers are taking to make sure the campaign gets better coverage, while update 16 celebrates the approval of the game on Steam Greenlight. A snippet:

As some of you already know, Underworld Ascendant has been Greenlit on Steam! Only took a week. Not sure if that’s a record, but mighty fast. Huge thanks to all the fans who gave the game a big YES and helped bring us to the attention of the tens of millions of players on Steam. We are still in early prototype development, so many months to go before we’d have a build for Steam. But sweet that we’ve got a slot warmed up and waiting, for when we do.

In update 15 the team announced that Tracy Hickman, of Dragonlance fame, would be working on a novel based on the game’s universe but set hundreds of years before the game’s actual storyline. We also learn that the Mac and Linux ports of the title have been rolled in the base funding goal and aren’t stretch goals anymore. I’ll quote the team’s reasoning for the decision:

Over the last 2 weeks a number of folks have been asking about Mac and Linux versions. From our forum poll on platforms, we’ve also learned that a larger percentage of you play on Mac or Linux than we had anticipated. There is also some information suggesting that a non-trivial number of people who have come to check out the Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter page move on as soon as they see that we’re only showing Windows support up front.

So. we have decided to roll Mac and Linux support into the base funding goal. There are tradeoffs when moving around features within a budget, but this seems worthwhile. One tradeoff is that it will likely mean we’ll need to hold off for a month or possibly longer to release the Mac and Linux versions following the initial Windows release (staging it this way helps to minimize budget impact.)

If making this change brings in new backers and funding, then it will all be a wash, as we’ll be that much more likely to go past our first stretch goal. We do suggest that our Mac and Linux backers take a peek at a tier or two above where they are currently pledged…

Update 18 explains the team’s plans to bolster the visual fidelity of the final title with the help of Unity 5, update 19 explains the magic system, while update 21 delves into the game’s melee combat system. A couple of words from the latter:

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.

This is all for now, but we’re going to keep you updated about this Kickstarter campaign in the next few days, especially now that it’s entering its last week.