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Ultima Underworld series being revived as Underworld Ascension by Paul Neurath

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N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
At a new studio called OtherSide Entertainment.

Polygon said:
OtherSide Entertainment is resurrecting the Underworld series of dungeon crawling role-playing games with Underworld Ascension, the newly formed studio revealed today.

Paul Neurath, a veteran of games like Ultima Underworld and the former co-founder of System Shock and Thief developer Looking Glass Studios, founded the independent development studio, which acquired the Underworld brand and is looking to hire developers.

“With Underworld Ascension, we are excited to be bringing back the Underworld franchise, making it more vital than ever before," Neurath said.

Developer Blue Sky Productions' Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss was released in 1992. Neurath served as the game's designer, while Richard Garriott directed and Warren Spector produced the RPG. OtherSide's Underworld game is headed to PC at an unannounced date.

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Source: http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/1/5860464/underworld-ascension-otherside-entertainment

Edit:

othersider1kpz.png
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Stumpokapow said:
Odd that the article doesn't specify whether EA is involved or has licensed the name.
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I'm kind of wondering about that.

EA did license out the rights to Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online to Broadsword Entertainment, so it's certainly possible.
 
O

Orayn

Member
!

This is pretty huge. Neurath has a very impressive track record and UU's importance cannot be overstated.

Stumpokapow said:
Odd that the article doesn't specify whether EA is involved or has licensed the name.
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Some kind of clean break like inXile acquiring "Torment" separately from Planescape or the D&D license maybe?
 
M

mclem

Member
Colour me highly intrigued. Albeit also cautious. But I'm a massive fan of the Underworld series, and he's got the credibility, and the PC marketplace is going through a nice renaissance of classic-style CRPGs right now...

...I want this to work. Badly.
 
M

mclem

Member
KainXVIII said:
Hope its will be good.
stacks_image_13106.jpg
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All hail lord british?

My word, if I've still got the knack after all these years...


That tweet is terrifying, because I instantly went from "A lot of the old team are back together" to "LOOKING GLASS ARE BACK". I think that's probably an overstatement, but it's a gloriously delightful idea to dwell on.
 
O

Orayn

Member
BlueTsunami said:
Time is a circle. The PC space is sooo good right now.
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"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a dev team formed in the city of Boston. Their game was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."
 
E

elohel

Member
I dunno why I'm excited but I am

Loved underworld but really hope this doesn't end up being crazy pay to play or something
 
V

V_Arnold

Member
Orayn said:
"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a dev team formed in the city of Boston. Their game was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."
Click to expand...

Oh, and your avatar is Mat now? :D How fitting for this quote :)
 
M

mclem

Member
Vagabundo said:
Who's publishing?

If EA then DONOTWANT>.<

Otherwise interested.
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If Ubisoft can do justice to Might & Magic, I'm not automatically averse to EA doing similarly with Underworld. That said, it does imply that they've acquired the Underworld rights, not just licensed them.
 
O

Orayn

Member
Messofanego said:
I'd always heard of the Underworld influence on many games, so good news that it's back in some way.
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Yeah, the influence of Ultima Underworld is pretty huge. It has its own little branch in the FPS family tree that some GAFers worked on a while back.

N8jCvSU.png


It could be considered indirectly responsible for the Souls series, since those are descended from King's Field, which was a sort of stripped-down action-y version of Ultima Underworld.

Also, we partially owe the existence of Doom's game engine to John Carmack seeing an unfinished version of UU in 1990 and deciding he could write a faster texture mapper.
 
L

Lord_Balkan

Member
Messofanego said:
I'd always heard of the Underworld influence on many games, so good news that it's back in some way.
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It has. They basically pioneered how the First Person RPG works. The elder scrolls is HEAVILY influenced by Ultima Underworld. Games like Elder Scrolls, Bioshock 1, Thief, Stalker, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Arx Fatalis, and Dark Messiah all have roots stemming from Ultima Underworld.

Ultima Underworld was also technically more impressive than Wolfenstein and they both came out at around the same time. Both had texture-mapped polygons, but Underworld had slopes/staircases before Doom and you could actually look down/up instead of always being at a right angle.

For anyone that doesn't know, it is very outdated in terms of controls and visuals, but it is worth playing / trying out. It is currently on GOG. It is really fascinating going through it from a design perspective.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
naumov91 said:
For anyone that doesn't know, it is very outdated in terms of controls and visuals, but it is worth playing / trying out. It is currently on GOG. It is really fascinating going through it from a design perspective.
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I enjoyed what I played of Thief 1, so I don't think those things will hinder me from playing. Thanks.

Which games are worth recommending?
 
L

Lord_Balkan

Member
Messofanego said:
I enjoyed what I played of Thief 1, so I don't think those things will hinder me from playing. Thanks.

Which games are worth recommending?
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Ultima Underworld 1/2 are a lot more archaic than Thief. But both are pretty awesome. The original System Shock is a lot better in terms of age, since there are mods that update the UI and add things like mouse control and such.

If you haven't played Arx Fatalis or Dark Messiah those are very good. Though I recommend not exactly using a strategy guide, but reading some tips for Arx Fatalis, since you can really screw yourself over.
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
I think I'd be a bit more excited at a new single-player traditional Ultima but still cool news nevertheless.
 
T

tmarques

Member
Hopefully they won't feel the need to dumb it down for current audiences. UU2 is still in my Top 5 ever.

Seems like as good a place to ask as any - was there a way to break out of the jail cell if you incarcerated twice? Or was it basically game over without a game over screen?
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
naumov91 said:
Ultima Underworld 1/2 are a lot more archaic than Thief. But both are pretty awesome. The original System Shock is a lot better in terms of age, since there are mods that update the UI and add things like mouse control and such.

If you haven't played Arx Fatalis or Dark Messiah those are very good. Though I recommend not exactly using a strategy guide, but reading some tips for Arx Fatalis, since you can really screw yourself over.
Click to expand...

I've played Dark Messiah, only heard of Arx Fatalis but should check it out since it's Arkane.

Are the GOG versions the best working versions?
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
djtiesto said:
I think I'd be a bit more excited at a new single-player traditional Ultima but still cool news nevertheless.
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Ultima Underworld WAS a single player Ultima, just from a first person perspective.
And it was outstandingly good at it. In a way that TES will probably never will.
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
This could be some shit.

And yes, for those who don't know, Ultima Underworld is probably one of the most important games in terms of what people are playing right now. Without it you probably wouldn't have BioShock, Elder Scrolls, the Souls games, Thief, Deus Ex, or Dishonored.
 
L

Lord_Balkan

Member
Messofanego said:
I've played Dark Messiah, only heard of Arx Fatalis but should check it out since it's Arkane.

Are the GOG versions the best working versions?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend Arx Fatalis on Steam. I had numerous issues with it (same with the thief games). So much so, I re-bought them on GOG and now they work effortlessly. In some QA @ Quakecon I believe, some Bethesda guys said something along the lines of, they were really worried about Morrowind's success because they played Arx Fatalis and thought it was a better game or something. It might have been the looking glass / dishonored retro panel or something.

So yeah, GOG is the way to go.

Arx Fatalis is great. It was actually meant to be Ultima Underworld 3 and sometime in development they couldn't finalize the licensing, so they rebranded it Arx Fatalis.
 
Wiktor

Wiktor

Member
RedSwirl said:
This could be some shit.

And yes, for those who don't know, Ultima Underworld is probably one of the most important games in terms of what people are playing right now. Without it you probably wouldn't have BioShock, Elder Scrolls, the Souls games, Thief, Deus Ex, or Dishonored.
Click to expand...

Ultima as a whole is the single most important IP in gaming. Nothing else really comes close.
 
Unmoses

Unmoses

Member
While I enjoyed 1, UU2 was one of the first memorable experiences for me switching to "living in the world" instead of "looking down on it" not only for ultima but for gaming.. Add to that the interaction and it was sublime. And then came system shock :) I really hope this goes
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
I don't expect top tech, but I hope this will look just decent enough while keeping all the strong points in Ultima Underworld's classic level design.
It that will be the case I'm going to freak out.
 
Wiktor

Wiktor

Member
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
I don't expect top tech, but I hope this will look just decent enough while keeping all the strong points in Ultima Underworld's classic level design.
It that will be the case I'm going to freak out.
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Considerig how well both Grimrocks look I'm not worried. Keeping it to dungeons should allow even small team to create beautiful visuals.
 
F

FlyingSaucer

Banned
AdrianWerner said:
Ultima as a whole is the single most important IP in gaming. Nothing else really comes close.
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To this day I still suspect Ultima to have served as an inspiration to Zelda - the virtues system (in their three principles form of Truth, Love and Courage) = triforce. And there was an hook in U5, it can't be coincidence ;p
 
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