OtherSide Entertainment launched the Kickstarter campaign for Underworld Ascendant earlier this morning. Their starting goal is a modest $600,000, although they have announced stretch goal milestones of $750,000, $900,000, $1,050,000, and $1,200,000. We’ll get to those in a moment, but first, here’s the description of the game that graces both the Kickstarter page and the redesigned Underworld Ascendant website:

In 1992, Ultima Underworld changed the rules of what a fantasy RPG could be. It introduced the concept of 3D immersion, a player-authored experience, and a richly dynamic world to explore. Its influence led to a whole generation of games such as Thief, Deus Ex, BioShock, Skyrim, and Dragon Age.

Underworld has been hidden away in the deepest vaults of its publisher for two decades. Only now have the original creators unchained the franchise, freeing it to innovate yet again.

Backing the game grants you unprecedented front row access to the creation of the next epoch of this storied masterpiece, Underworld Ascendant. With your help, here’s a glimpse at what we can together build:

• Exquisitely Realized Underworld – Plunge into The Stygian Abyss: dark, ripe with dangers, full of ancient secrets to discover. A vast subterranean fantasy world made startlingly real and alive.
• Dynamic Factions – Become embroiled in an epic plot, as rival factions vie for dominance in struggles that ebb and flow across The Stygian Abyss. Your choices will alter the outcome in subtle and dramatic ways.
• Improvisation Engine – Delight in player-authored gameplay taken to a whole new level, with a suite of technologies that empower you to solve challenges with astonishing ingenuity. Be the ‘MacGyver’ of a fantasy world.
• Hero to Call Your Own – Jump right in as a Fighter, Thief or Mage. Then as your Avatar grows, freely mix and match across any skills to develop a unique hero, tailored to your style of play.
• Pushing Boundaries – Stretch Goals will innovate on co-op play with a friend; letting you build your own corner of The Stygian Abyss; and more.

So the game is set in the Stygian Abyss…the setting, notably, of the original Ultima Underworld. Also, if you’re curious about that Improvisation Engine that is mentioned above, some additional detail about it is provided:

Do you enjoy the freedom of choice in sandbox games like Deus Ex or Elder Scrolls? The team at OtherSide in large part invented this style of experience with the original Ultima Underworld — now they intend to take it to the next level.

At the heart of Underworld Ascendant’s distinctive gameplay is the Improvisation Engine, which gives you an array of tools to think up your own ingenious solutions to challenges.

For instance, how to cross a subterranean river guarded by deadly lurker?

What’s your clever solution?

Underworld Ascendant‘s Improvisation Engine encourages you to experiment and unlock your creative potential. Devise clever techniques that even the game’s designers haven’t imagined yet!

Now, about those stretch goals…currently, the game is being produced for Windows only. The first stretch goal adds OS X and Linux ports, among other things:

$750,000 STRETCH GOAL REWARDS (Locked)

Necropolis of the Ancients – New area of The Stygian Abyss to explore! Darkness upon darkness; ancient beyond reckoning. Only the stout-hearted enter this accursed city. Those who dare may discover arcane treasures.

The Haunt – This new monster is ethereal and powerless in the light, but in darkness will doggedly pursue its chosen victim, while its ghostly rattle attracts unwanted attention.

Silver Ankh of the Undead – Stand still while wearing it and lessor undead will ignore you, mistaking you for a corpse. A Kickstarter EXCLUSIVE in-game reward item.

Mac & Linux versions – We will create Mac and Linux versions of the game.

Localizations and better music are included in the next stretch goal:

$900,000 STRETCH GOAL REWARDS (Locked)

Companion Creatures – Players will be able to have a faithful little creature tag along on their adventures. They are not much use in a fight, but they can help in other unexpected ways. And they are cute.

Vorpal Bunny or Mini-Brain – To coincide with companion creatures, get one of these rare and exclusive breed to tag along. Which one? Fans VOTE to decide! A Kickstarter EXCLUSIVE in-game reward item.

Language localizations – We will localize the game in French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Enhanced, dynamic music & SFX – More musical tracks and SFX, and a more sophisticated dynamic contextual in-game audio system.

This stretch goal level may be of particular interest to Ultima fans:

$1,050,000 STRETCH GOAL REWARDS (Locked)

The Underswamp – Dank and dangerous, The Underswamp is home to some of the odder inhabitants of The Stygian Abyss. For those who know where to look, there is a wild, earthen magic to be found.

Lizardmen – These tribal creatures hunt in groups across The Underswamp. They are cunning, and speak a strange tongue of clicks and clacks. Perhaps you can befriend them and learn their ways?

Rotworm Skin Swamp Boots – These boots allow for somewhat faster trekking through swamps than usual, and are quite fashionable in or out of the muck! A Kickstarter EXCLUSIVE in-game reward item.

Underworld Builder Toolkit – All fans get access to the Toolkit, the essential suite of tools our design team is using to create the areas of the Stygian Abyss. Build your own areas and share them with friends!

A toolkit? Thou hast our rapt attention, OtherSide.

Use the Underworld Builder Toolkit to craft your own corner of the Stygian Abyss, and share it with friends.

Rapt. Attention.

Now, there had been some discussion about whether or not Underworld Ascendant would feature some sort of multiplayer component. This stretch goal provides the answer:

$1,200,000 STRETCH GOAL REWARDS (Locked)

Co-Op Play with a Friend – This is a big one, folks! Now bring along a friend on your adventure. Play together online, tag-teaming the challenges. Or if your buddy is offline, a magical spell will bring them in as an ethereal doppelganger, run by an AI.

Odoriferous Throwing Net – A small, throwing net that friends can toss back-and-forth to each other. The holder of the net will tend to attract hostile beasts to themselves. What fun! A Kickstarter EXCLUSIVE in-game reward item.

Deeper Lore & Backstory – We’ll add design resources to the team to plunge deeper on the backstory and arcane secrets of the Underworld. A lore aficionado’s dream come true!

More extensive Avatar customization – Greater variety of faces, hairstyles, tattoos and accouterments to choose from during character creation, and to show off to friends. Can also try out with new looks as your character grows.

And the multiplayer will even work, apparently, when your friends are offline:

Need a fighter’s prowess in combat, a mage’s spell craft, or a thief’s lock pick skills? Invite a friend to join you online for a cut of the loot. All your buddies’ offline? Use a Doppelganger Gem to borrow a friend’s character as an invulnerable ethereal companion AI. Afterward, your friend will receive a message, with video highlights and rewards.

Anyhow, the Kickstarter pledge/reward levels are…fairly typical, as compared to other RPG crowdfunding efforts we’ve seen over the last year or so. For now, $20 gets you a digital copy of the finished game, the soundtrack, and a couple other bits of bonus content. Early beta access starts at the $35 level, early alpha access at the $50 level, and boxed copies of the game are available starting at $100. If you want the parchment map of the Abyss, that is included in the $150 Collector’s Edition pledge reward.

There are 29 days left to back Underworld Ascendant…but why wait?