Foreboding, as letter-openers go.

The Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter campaign is getting very close to the base funding goal now, with less than $28,000 left to go (as of this writing). Which is great news, overall; the game will succeed in its funding, and hopefully will be able to bolster its finances with additional crowdfunding later on.

Stretch goals…still don’t see all that likely to be attained, although OtherSide Entertainment did observe the following in their latest campaign update:

If half of the 10,000 backers each stepped up their pledges by $10, we’d be well past that mark and into the first stretch goal overnight.

Getting past the $600,000 mark helps motivate those fans who are hesitant to pledge until the base goal is met to join us. We are virtually certain to reach the $600,000 at least a few days before campaign ends. Each day sooner that this happens is another day sooner to pull in these waiting-in-the-wings fans, which will in turn give us more momentum to reach higher stretch goals.

Hopefully, then, Ascendant can reach its funding goal very soon; today, ideally. It’s also worth noting that, in the same update, OtherSide announced a new reward tier:

For those of you who have expressed a desire to back Underworld Ascendant, but are not seeking physical goods, we have a special announcement. Today we are opening up the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST pledge tier, a digital only backer level for $125.

The DIGITAL PROTAGONIST tier will give the backer all digital rewards included in all tiers up to the AVATAR level. This means, backers at the DIGITAL PROTAGONIST level will receive all digital items (music, map, strategy guide, just to name a few) found in all tiers up to AVATAR, as well as all the Kickstarter Exclusive digital items in those same tiers. This includes the AMETHYST ANKH AMULET from the LEGENDARY HERO tier and the COPPER-TRIMMED AVATAR ROBE from the AVATAR tier.

And in the same update, they also commented on their plans for the combat system in the game:

Each battle will be fluid and dynamic, with the player having choices to make, tactics to adjust. As players master that art of warfare, they will gain new skills that layer into these choices. Some skills will make them simply deadly, but others will open up new tactics they can try using.

It is worth highlighting that in Underworld Ascendant combat will not be a fast, twitch experience. Even though gameplay is played out in fluid first-person 3D, the pace will be slower than a “shooter”, giving players more time to make tactical decisions.

Likewise, it will not be a game about pixel precision landing of blows. Your fighter’s character skill will factor into the success of landing blows, more so than your quick twitch ability. If you are role-playing a master swordsman, we want you be able to actually fight just like a master swordsman, even if you’ve never hefted a real sword in your life.

Paired with the Improvisation Engine, combat in the game is not just about whittling away your opponent’s hit points. With maneuvering, knowledge and planning the combat possibilities are practically endless, and ensure that Mages aren’t the only ones who fight with flashy tricks!

They also include a short narrative that describes a player attempting to defeat a Dire Faerie, using targeted attacks to e.g. cripple its ability to fly away by damaging its wings. Which would, if they are able to pull it off, certainly make for more involved, strategic combat than the original Underworld games offered.

It’s the final week for the Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter. If you haven’t done so yet, now would be a good time to back the project.