Underworld Ascendant - Dungeon Playground

The first dungeon prototype will be made available to backers of Underworls Ascendant, who backed the game at a high enough level.

In the last Newsletter we talked about physics-based world for Underworld Ascendant. Now we're ready to show what this means with an early peek...

Tomorrow we're releasing the very first build to Backers at the Lore Seeker and higher pledge tiers, who get as one of their perks early access to play these first prototypes. In a few weeks we will roll this build out more broadly to Backers at the lower pledge tiers. Details will be emailed out directly to Backers on how to download the build.

The Playground prototype all about physics-based puzzles set in a corner of the Stygian Abyss. The visuals have been intentionally dumbed down, since we're avoiding trying to set any sort of visual bar with this prototype, and instead want to focus on just the gameplay aspects. So be forewarned, it looks as plain as vanilla can ;)

The fun is in the physics puzzles, where we challenge you to solve tricky bits using an early pass of the Improvisation Engine. Even at this early stage, there are dozens of ways to solve challenges, some which I'm sure our team has not yet discovered. Will you? The prototype also features a first pass on the magic system, which likewise feeds into the open-ended nature of solving challenges.

In addition, a new Studio Art Director, Nate Wells, has joined the team.

Nate has joined the OtherSide team as our Studio Art Director. Nate has been the Art Director on some pretty impressive titles, like Irrational's Bioshock & Bioshock Infinite, Naughty Dog's Last of Us and most recently the new Rise of the Tomb Raider. Nate got his start back at LookingGlass as a level designer and artist on Thief & System Shock 2. We are thrilled to have another one from the LookingGlass fold!

Thanks Kristoph.