A short developer update for Underrail became available, providing some infrmation on the Lower Underrail area and headbands.

I'm currently in the process of building the Lower Underrail.



For those who don't know the Lower Underrail was the industrial/military zone of the big underground metro system before things went to hell, as opposed to the Upper Underrail which was the residential zone.

I have it mapped out on paper and am now going through each zone and constructing it in the editor. It's a lot of work without much to report so bear with me as I grind through it. At first, there won't be any quests or special points of interest (just containers, monsters, bandits, traps, and that stuff), until later I start adding the stations, dungeons and occasional random encounter. The metro train is also on the way. It will be connecting the aforementioned stations.

In other news, I've added psionic headbands to the game along with blueprint and components required to make them (creating them will require electronics and a bit of biology). These headbands can enhance one of the three psionic schools, but there are also universal ones that enhance all three (though those are generally weaker). Depending on what components are used, they can increase skill levels, critical chances, critical modifiers, and psi costs. I will add more components in the future that will have other effects or have greater effects (per quality) but with certain drawbacks.

Last week RPGFan did a hands-on preview of Underrail based on the available alpha build and were positively impressed with the state it is in.

"They don't make 'em like they used to." We hear it all the time, but when it comes to video games, I say nonsense to the old adage. Maybe the triple A companies don't make 'em like they used to, but there are so many independent game designers out there now catering to an old school audience that these days; they definitely DO make 'em like they used to. So much so that the way they "used to" could just become the way they are making 'em.

Unlike a lot of previews you'll read on RPGFan, we did not have any kind of exclusive access to the game. Anybody can go online right now and purchase the alpha of Underrail, which includes a copy of the beta, the full game, and future updates. In playing the game itself, I initially found it quite challenging compared to more contemporary games, getting smoked by the first pair of rats I came across. This was entirely due to carelessness on my part, but I asked Dejan what he thought of the difficulty of the alpha.

"In my opinion, the game is only hard if you're careless or just very unlucky. But obviously I'm not qualified to measure the difficulty, since I know the game mechanics inside out."

Consider me appropriately chided. But I agree with this assessment — the more I realized the encounters require planning and caution, the less trouble I had staying alive. This game is difficult in the best possible meaning of the word. That said, I wonder if gamers who are unfamiliar with that style of gaming will have trouble with this. Dejan was ambivalent on that point in a compelling way, speaking to his game design philosophy.

In their latest developer update for Underrail more information is provided on pickpocketing and feats changes.

First of all I revamped the pickpocketing mechanics as I promised. The way it works now is that when you are stealing items from an NPC you are filling up their permanent "suspicion meter". If you fill up this meter to the max you will be detected and the combat will ensue. The game will indicate how much stealing a certain item will raise the suspicion meter.

The rate at which you fill this meter will depend on the ratio between your pickpocketing skill and the victim's detection. Since the detection scales off of character's level and perception, this basically means that you'll have to continue investing points in the pickpocketing skill (and ideally dexterity as well) in order to be able to steal (or steal more) from progressively higher level NPCs. Also, some items are harder to steal than others (e.g. heavy weapons and armors in comparison to smaller stuff like ammo and hypos).

The way this system is set up it means that, unlike lockpicking and hacking, the outcome is not binary. Depending on your skill-to-detection ration and the difficulty modifier of the item, you may be able to steal zero, one or more items from a given target. So investing more skill into pickpocketing will always be useful. Because there's no dice involved in the calculations, this will also eliminate the need for save scumming.

Pickpocketing does not require stealth, unless of course you're trying to steal from a hostile NPC.

Thanks Screeg.

Pixabyte Video channnel on youtube has a 20 minute video preview of Underrail. Enjoy as the game gives me a classic Fallout feeling.

We take an early look at UnderRail, a turn-based isometric indie role playing game coming soon to PC.

Greenlit Gaming have a shortish preview of Underrail.

Underrail is a turn based isometric role playing game that sits upon the shoulders of classics like Fallout, Neverwinter Nights and System Shock 2. The game’s premise is that the Earth’s surface is no longer habitable, and in a last ditch attempt to survive, humanity has holed up in the underground rail systems. With no proper government to rule over the last bastion of humanity, the people have naturally grouped into factions, and you find your character in the midst of the clashes and espionage between these rivaling factions.

Vid trailer for Underrail up on youtube.

In the latest Underrail blog balancing the game is the major issue talked about.

Looking at the current release version, the biggest issue with the game currently mechanics-wise is that it gets increasingly easier once the player gets past the early stages. One of the main reasons for that, which I've already addressed in the previous dev logs, is the (over)power of grenades and other AoE attacks. The biggest issue, however, is the game's economy. Namely, that the player quickly gets rich from the insane amount of loot that he can acquire. This dev log focuses primarily on that, as well as on re-balancing some other abilities/items that I've found to be a bit too good.

The biggest change here is that I've reduced the amount of loot that is available through scavenging significantly. The biggest offenders were mid-late game dungeons (I didn't mess with the starting areas, they are fine) and also somewhat corners of urban areas that were way to easy to plunder with impunity. For the most part I haven't removed any stuff from the loot table, but have rather reduced the amount of items you get (ammo, weapons/armor and especially components) and significantly reduced the chance. So basically most places that you've looted before still have some chance of holding loot in future games (very few containers are fixed to be empty), but they won't give you large amounts of loot every time like they do now.

This, coupled with item durability cost penalty should make the game more challenging and force you to manage your resources more carefully as you should no longer have unlimited amounts of grenades, special blots/ammo, psi points, batteries, etc. When it comes the time to release the new version, I'll have to test this new economy carefully with a couple of playthroughs, though, to ensure that I haven't gone too far or not far enough. After that, I'll be very interested to hear from you guys as to what your experience was in this new economy.

Thanks Omega.

Indie-O-Rama interviewed Dejan Radisic of Stygian Software on Underrail. Just in case your Spanish is a bit rusty, IndieStatik is offering an English translation of that interview.

Indie-o-rama: Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. It’s obvious that Underrail was heavily influenced by Fallout, among other post-apocalyptic games. As we all know, Bethesda decided to go a different route with Fallout 3 or, as it’s commonly known, “Oblivion with guns”. That meant some fans were left craving for a game with the style and gameplay of the original. How much of a compromise has been met in order to acknowledge that influence, while at the same time staying true to your own ideas and concepts? Are the fans that approach Underrail expecting another Fallout, or would you rather prefer that they play the game without such prejudices?

Dejan Radisic: Well, I’m not so sure about the Fallout release timeline, but I think I started the development of Underrail even before Fallout 3 was released. Or at least I started working on the engine with the intention to build this kind of a game.

So back then there wasn’t, or at least I was not aware of, this craze with the fans that wanted the old Fallout back. And it certainly all started before this Wasteland sequel thing and all that. The game obviously draws some inspiration from Fallout, such as the mood, environments, some weapons, etc, but it wasn’t ever meant to be the new “real” Fallout. I don’t have a problem with people considering it that, though, and I believe that those who come to this game with such expectations won’t be disappointed and will find some of the old Fallout elements that are missing in the newer games. So in short, I do not mind it, but I’m also happy when people point out design differences and acknowledge the game as being it’s own thing.

Stygian Games has kicked up an update on UnderRail now that things have settled down after their Alpha release. Importing/exporting characters, some autosaves and more crafting are on the agenda:

I've changed the way the lockpicks and haxxors work. Lockpicks are now spent on successful lockpicking, so they work as a resource. They have distinct power levels and icons (+0, +5, +10) and are stackable. Haxxors work similarly like they did before, but also have distinct power levels and icons and require energy (batteries) to use.

Next up is the blueprint for chemical pistols that you'll be able to use to craft guns that fire various chemicals in various forms, if you have sufficient chemistry skill that is. A chemical pistol has two major components - collector, which determines the type of substance you can load into the weapon, and dispenser, which determines the way the gun fires the substance. For now you'll only be able to create Acid Blob Pistols, but there will be more in the future. There's also "Chemical Ammo" blueprint to accompany this. If you have sufficient biology and chemistry skills you'll be able to extract acid from acid mutants and make ammo from it.

The demo of the alpha version of Underrail can now be downloaded as part of an alpha funded campaign. This means you have to pay for it and in doing so provide funds for the developer, which is an alternative to Kickstarter as explained by himself:

I've hinted earlier that I'm considering alpha funding for Underrail and now I've officially made up my mind. I originally planned on launching a crowd-funding campaign but that turned out to have too many limitations based on where I was located, so I decided alpha funding is a better option.

The game will be available for purchase in its alpha stage on a couple of digital distribution websites, and who ever purchases alpha version will, of course, receive the final game at no additional cost when it's done. Also, I plan on releasing regular content updates throughout the game's development.

With this being in this alpha version:

If you want to know what's new in this release (since the demo) you can go check out the dev log posts from the last couple of months, but let me just quickly recap the highlights:

• Huge new urban zone consisting of 8 areas
• Big new 'dungeon' consisting of 6 areas (twice as much as the last one)
• A couple of 'mini-dungeons'
• New quests
• New feats
• Traps skill
• Some updated game mechanics
• Re-balanced economy
• Food
• More weapons and armors
• Updated crossbows (feats, special bolts, damage boost)
• Various other smaller stuff

The game is also Greenlighted on Steam.

Stygian Games has posted about More Quests and Feats in Underrail. A partial snip:

Then there are couple of new feats I got to implement. It's not much because this release I'm more focused on new areas, so expect a lot more in the future updates. I implemented a couple of melee feats because they were sorely missing in the demo:

• Pummel - sledgehammer attack that takes the target off balance, negating dodge and evasion for 2 turns
• Crippling Strike - unarmed or knife attack that deals 125% damage and reduces target's strength by 2 (stacks 3 times).
• Dirty Kick - Unarmed attack that deals damage and stuns the target for 1 turn (double that if the target is human male)
• Hit and Run - After you kill an enemy, your movement points are restored to 25 (or your maximum, whichever is lower)
• Yell - You attempt to reduce offensive skills (guns, corssbows, melee and grenades skills) of all surrounding enemies by 20% of your intimidation skill
• Shroomhead - You regenerate psi points in presence of mindshrooms when below 35% of your maximum psi

I keep forgetting to give Underrail its due...Stygian Games has posted a new update on their site and also our forums, with changes to balancing, stealth, the addition of food and new screens:

First of all I changed a bit how stealth works. You'll still be detected over time depending on your stealth skill, enemy's detection, lightning and positioning like before, unless your stealth skill is too far behind the enemy's detection in which case you won't be able to hide from them at all. This will be indicated with a silver eye above the detecting character and the true-sight is now represented by a golden eye (previously silver). The problem was that even the non-stealthy characters were using stealth excessively to move around undetected (and have guaranteed combat initiation) and it worked as long as they didn't stay too close too long because of the way the revealing speed is capped. This change should prevent that while not changing how stealth mechanics work for stealthy characters (those who invest in stealth skill and wear light armors).

Also another minor tweak to stealth - I've added a notification when you bump into other characters and fall out of stealth for that reason. Some people were confused as to what was happening, but keep in mind that if they can't see you their pathfinding won't tell them to go around you.