Underrail - Early Access Impression

Couchpotato

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The Armchair Empire has posted a new video to take a look at Underrail's early access release. If you haven't purchased the game give it a look.



Underrail is an old school isometric RPG in a post-apocalyptic world that recently came to Steam's Early Access program. Jeff takes a few minutes to talk about what he's experienced in the game so far.
More information.
 
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I like the Styg, but the graphical level of this game just doesn't work for me. I can't play Jeff Vogel's games for the same reason. Tile graphics are dead and they should be.
 
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Tile graphics are dead and they should be.
Speak for yourself ! ;) I totally disagree as for me this kind of games and graphics are awesome and perfectly serve the gameplay. Realistic and 3D graphics often distract from the main thing and tend to prevent the imagination to do its job. Imagination and fantasy are stronger than any kind of photo-realistic graphics. 2D isometric projection also force creators to rely on a different form of language in order to express their ideas and that alone has a huge impact on gameplay as well.
 
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Graphics are overrated. I'll play tile graphic based games 'til the end of my days :)
 
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I just bought it, and tried the Alpha. No complaints from me except bigger fonts would be nice. Good news is they have already been promised in a future update.
 
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Tile graphics are dead and they should be.
*sigh* Kids these days! There's nothing inherently wrong about tile-based graphics, and in the case of Underrail (being a one man indie operation) the graphics are more than sufficient for gameplay purposes - I'd even say they are good (in their frame of reference).

You don't need super-duper 3D graphics to convey atmosphere/mood or to carry a story and, most importantly, you don't need them to make a good game. There are countless main stream games with all the graphical magic millions of dollars can muster, but which are hollow and boring, providing little beyond the eye candy, which in the end are just plain bad games. Graphics do not maketh a game, gameplay does.

I'd say Minecraft is a shining example of gameplay over graphics, one which has sold stupendous amounts of copies worldwide, proving you don't need photorealism nor the latest whiz-bang of DirectX 11 to have a good game - not even in the main stream game market, let alone in indie games.

Now, get off my lawn! :shakefist:

Granted, consistency in graphics is important, which some indies lack, having to scrounge their graphics from different unrelated sources. I'm glad to see Underrail doesn't suffer from that, it has a very consistent look and isn't a mish-mash of graphical styles. In addition, easy identification is of course important. That is, you can easily recognize what the graphics are meant to represent. This is fortunately also not a problem in Underrail. Everything I've seen so far has been easily identifiable for what it is.

I, for one, am eagerly waiting for the full release of Underrail and see it as a game with great potential, a game which could be the Fallout 3 that never was. (No pressure, Styg! ;))
 
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The graphics look fine to me. I do have a lower limit to what I can take, I can't make myself play Wasteland or the early MM's, even though I suspect I would like them if I did. But Underrail looks good, I would even say really good considering the Styg has made the game practically by himself. I will probably buy it once it's complete, especially if other people on tha Watch have a general positive opinion.

That's what the Watch is for in my life, telling me what games to buy. Haven't been let down so far, the general opinion of the Watch is much closer to my own than any other sites or reviewers out there.
 
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Graphics are overrated. I'll play tile graphic based games 'til the end of my days :)

Ok but it's weird to have hired the graphic "artists" of Spiderweb games. Ha well you are right… but not fully.

The graphics are the first appeal tool of a game, and the appealing level of a game is far to be a pointless value. I just need look at my digital library of 300 unplayed games on 500.

And when I look the 100 games played less than an hour it's a confirmation that the quick appeal level of a game is important and I think that graphics are an important part of this.

During the first hour in a game, graphics will still play a solid role, if the game doesn't start strong then a medium gameplay quality and bad graphics are enough to make stop play the game. Graphics could increase a bit this duration before the give up.

After few hours of play, if the game is great, then graphics become a sort of convention you get used to and it doesn't matter.

I don't mean graphics need be photo realistic (no game is yet in fact) but there's cute graphics and bad graphics. But ok for that game it could be a detail even in its basic appeal level.
 
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Personally, I like the graphics of this and Vogel's games. I've bought this but not played it yet, I'm waiting till the full release as to not spoil myself. When that happens, I'll be burying myself in this game.


-Carn
 
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It's exactly the Spiderweb approach so it's not only they hired Spiderweb for the graphics but also obviously bought them a game engine.

And in a way it's a plus to this game because Spiderweb gave the feeling that their engine approach allow concentrate on the size and amount of contents. This feeling has been slightly tempered by Avadon 1, but it's good someone else try a similar approach and will apply a different personality and design approach.

That said, the graphics style could have been more cute I think.

Also the game designer seems not have noticed the care of "empty" management in Spiderweb games, or it's because it's unfinished. There's nothing worse than generate a feeling of emptiness. With such engine approach, it's countered with a scientific approach of spreading details on ground and walls, not too much and not too few. And clearly the video shows a failure on that point.
 
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I am still playing Geneforge 1 after 50 hours and I am only about 40% through the massive map.

Beautiful design, balancing and story telling. Even the quest design is different.

However after every few hours (3 or 4) I felt that I needed to move my eyes from the screen and look outside the window to relax my eyes and remember that I am not in a pixelated world!

I also wanted a break from the constant story telling, I wanted to do something else in this interesting world - maybe play javlin throwing with the serviles, but I couldn't!

I did not need to do that when I was playing gothic 3, I could just wander around and wonder at the beautiful waterfalls, or explore around and kill some beasts or craft new weapons.

A game designer has to balance between their resource limitations and graphic appeal and user attention span.
 
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I have really enjoyed what I've played of this game, which is the previous alpha release. I don't plan to play more until the final release, but I certainly look forward to that event.
 
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Well....if you guys all really like it when it comes out, maybe I'll rethink my position. Lurking, it feels funny to be called a kid at 50 years old, but I'll take it ;)
 
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This game looks like something I would love. Very deep stats, somewhat open world, lots of exploration. That said, I still haven't played the classic games like Fallout or Baldur's Gate much yet, so I really have to find some time to play all these great games.
 
This game looks like something I would love. Very deep stats, somewhat open world, lots of exploration. That said, I still haven't played the classic games like Fallout or Baldur's Gate much yet, so I really have to find some time to play all these great games.

If you like look of Underrail and early Fallouts you might also want to add Arcanum your list.It's in fantasy setting which IIRC is your preference over sci-fi.One worthy gaming experience despite it's flaws.
 
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I just bought it, and tried the Alpha. No complaints from me except bigger fonts would be nice. Good news is they have already been promised in a future update.

This is good news. I'll probably pitch in my cash, if this is a real improvement.
 
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If you like look of Underrail and early Fallouts you might also want to add Arcanum your list.It's in fantasy setting which IIRC is your preference over sci-fi.One worthy gaming experience despite it's flaws.

Thanks! Arcanum is on my short list of games to play. I don't mind sci-fi. I enjoyed Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, for example. But I'm definitely a Dungeons and Dragons nerd at heart.
 
Double post, but that font is REALLY small. I would definitely need that patched before playing.
I was squinting my eyes trying to read it. It's definitely a game were I put on my reading glasses. The good news is he already promised to fix it.
Styg: Thanks for the support, guys.

I'll add higher res fonts option to everything eventually, I promise. :)
Looking forward to future updates, and the final product.
 
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