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Re: Underworld Ascendant

#122
Flatfingers wrote:
Idunno wrote:
Cornflakes_91 wrote:spot waldo the exited flatfingers

:lol:
It's telling that I can tell when what I'm reading is a Flatfingers post without actually paying attention to the name of the poster. :shh:
Hey, it's called style, baby. 8-)
And you have quite the distinctive one, now don't you, Flatfingers? :ghost:
Image The results of logic, of natural progression? Boring! An expected result? Dull! An obvious next step? Pfui! Where is the fun in that? A dream may soothe, but our nightmares make us run!
Post

Re: Underworld Ascendant

#123
Isaac Asimov used to get dinged periodically by people saying he had "no style."

That didn't keep him from writing some pretty good books. :)

On the other hand, Robert Heinlein had an inimitable and instantly recognizable style... but he certainly was not "all style"; his stories remain extraordinarily readable and enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Between those two extremes, the one thing about style is that it can't be forced. If it exists, it emerged naturally because the creator knew what he wanted to say and knew how to say it. "Style" is just the word we use when that happens.

I have no idea where any of my stuff falls on that scale. I just really enjoy thinking about game design and writing about it and talking about it. If that enjoyment comes through, I'm glad.

ANYWAY, back to Underworld Ascendant.

The producer of the Looking Glass games, as well as Deus Ex, Warren Spector, had some great game design advice. Anyone interested in this sort of thing will probably enjoy reading the linked article.
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Re: Underworld Ascendant

#125
Charley_Deallus wrote:you all better try selling the game to me before I forget I backed it...
Underworld Ascendant will do your laundry!

Underworld Ascendant will give you massages!

Underworld Ascendant will teach you LTSL!

Underworld Ascendant will pay your taxes!

Underworld Ascendant will make your breath minty-fresh!

Underworld Ascendant will keep your refrigerator stocked with delicious beverages!

Underworld Ascendant will write your term papers for you! And they'll be good!

Note: Underworld Ascendant will not actually do any of these things. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Batteries not included.
Post

Re: Underworld Ascendant

#126
Flatfingers wrote:
Charley_Deallus wrote:you all better try selling the game to me before I forget I backed it...
Underworld Ascendant will do your laundry!

Underworld Ascendant will give you massages!

Underworld Ascendant will teach you LTSL!

Underworld Ascendant will pay your taxes!

Underworld Ascendant will make your breath minty-fresh!

Underworld Ascendant will keep your refrigerator stocked with delicious beverages!

Underworld Ascendant will write your term papers for you! And they'll be good!

Note: Underworld Ascendant will not actually do any of these things. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Batteries not included.
Sounds like that node based interface. :ghost:
Image The results of logic, of natural progression? Boring! An expected result? Dull! An obvious next step? Pfui! Where is the fun in that? A dream may soothe, but our nightmares make us run!
Post

Re: Underworld Ascendant

#127
Idunno wrote:
Flatfingers wrote:
Charley_Deallus wrote:you all better try selling the game to me before I forget I backed it...
Underworld Ascendant will keep your refrigerator stocked with delicious beverages!


Note: Underworld Ascendant will not actually do any of these things. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Batteries not included.
Sounds like that node based interface. :ghost:
SOLD! Good thing I can't read any of that fine print /sarcasm
Image "Everyone needs to have their avatar's edited to have afros." -Charley Deallus
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Re: Underworld Ascendant

#132
I have to say, one of the things I thought "Well, that isn't too great" were graphics in the video, but their latest update stated that they were focusing on that later (and some games they have experience with comforted me). Gotta love email updates.
Image "Everyone needs to have their avatar's edited to have afros." -Charley Deallus
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Re: Underworld Ascendant

#133
Placeholder art is pretty common for internal builds and prototypes.

But there are a couple of important differences between OtherSide and other game developers.

One difference is that the OtherSide team have made a conscious decision to interact closely with the fans of the original games and the new fans they hope to earn. Not only did they reveal the prototype, they've been interacting with us on their forums every single day.

That may dry up after the Kickstarter ends. But they've said that just as their games are conversations with their fans, their development process will be as well. So far I've seen no reason to disbelieve them.

The other difference is that the games they make are not like other games. Where most other games are about you following the path the developer wants you to take, Looking Glass OtherSide games really are dialogues between the developer and the player: the developer creates interesting challenges and opportunities, and the player uses the systemic tools of the game world to devise creative solutions to those scenarios.

That means the prototypes and early versions of Underworld Ascension are much more about firming up ideas for the dynamics and mechanics of the game than about awesome graphics. They're moving the Unity 5; the graphics will be fine... but it's very OK for them to be placeholder at the moment.

So what I'm suggesting is that we're seeing a game that looks like "meh" now because 1) right now it's about the function, not the form, and 2) OtherSide want to be more open with their development progress than most other developers.

What they need is for fans to understand that this decision to show off stuff now means it's not going to look like the final finished game will look. They're trusting fans to deal with that in a responsible way.

I don't know if they'll succeed with that. But I admire them for making the attempt.
Post

Re: Underworld Ascendant

#134
Flatfingers wrote:Placeholder art is pretty common for internal builds and prototypes.

But there are a couple of important differences between OtherSide and other game developers.

One difference is that the OtherSide team have made a conscious decision to interact closely with the fans of the original games and the new fans they hope to earn. Not only did they reveal the prototype, they've been interacting with us on their forums every single day.

That may dry up after the Kickstarter ends. But they've said that just as their games are conversations with their fans, their development process will be as well. So far I've seen no reason to disbelieve them.

The other difference is that the games they make are not like other games. Where most other games are about you following the path the developer wants you to take, Looking Glass OtherSide games really are dialogues between the developer and the player: the developer creates interesting challenges and opportunities, and the player uses the systemic tools of the game world to devise creative solutions to those scenarios.

That means the prototypes and early versions of Underworld Ascension are much more about firming up ideas for the dynamics and mechanics of the game than about awesome graphics. They're moving the Unity 5; the graphics will be fine... but it's very OK for them to be placeholder at the moment.

So what I'm suggesting is that we're seeing a game that looks like "meh" now because 1) right now it's about the function, not the form, and 2) OtherSide want to be more open with their development progress than most other developers.

What they need is for fans to understand that this decision to show off stuff now means it's not going to look like the final finished game will look. They're trusting fans to deal with that in a responsible way.

I don't know if they'll succeed with that. But I admire them for making the attempt.
I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't really see anything different here in terms of the developers and how they communicate with their fan base, and how other developers say they'll communicate with their fan base either. Especially for something on Kickstarter. They all seem to make these claims.

The gameplay doesn't really seem all that different either, I can find all sorts of examples, again especially on Kickstarter, where developers say the same thing as it relates to the game they want to make. Emergent gameplay, no set path, everything reacts dynamically.

I've yet to see anything that really compels me to back this. This is where some really snazzy graphics would come in handy...
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Re: Underworld Ascendant

#135
I completely understand their idea to focus on the gameplay and mechanics first before visuals. tbh, if the game came out with graphics only slightly better than this but with all of their mechanics and gameplay goals completed, I'd be pretty happy. Reading the updates and information about the game keeps me feeling that I made the right decision.
Image "Everyone needs to have their avatar's edited to have afros." -Charley Deallus

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