The latest Kickstarter update from OtherSide Entertainment details some of the experiments with features of Unity 5 (the latest version of said engine) the Underworld Ascendant have been experimenting with in recent weeks:

After the Kickstarter we spent a couple of weeks putting Unity 5.0 through its paces. Partly to see what was new, what was updated and what looked better. Most importantly though, to discover if Unity will do what we need it to. Underworld Ascendant will be a very systems heavy game. Our design philosophy is about building a game with real world systems under the hood to bring common sense expectations to the player. The goal is to give players new and interesting ways to interact with our world, and the engine we use to make this game needs to support all of this.

You should click on through to see a video of a test level built to showcase some of Unity 5’s new features. A lot of attention is being paid to physically-based rendering (PBR), and for good reason: this is an advanced shader concept that can make 2D textures look almost indistinguishable from a detailed 3D asset:

This technology is a game changer. When I used to be a level designer if I wanted to do panels on top of a wall, it was a pain. Extra geometry, decals all sorts of way around it. Now, I just put this texture down and adjust some settings for depth, reflection and some other stuff. Doesn’t look like a flat surface does it?

The image included immediately after this statement is the one that can be seen above. That wall is actually flat.

As an Indy team that cannot afford a 100 person art team, this technology if used correctly will allow us to have a look that can compete with AAA titles. Every time I personally mess with this I see 100 new possibilities.

While I was drooling over the new texture technology, Tim continued his experimentation with physics traps. Pendulums, spinney gear and spring traps, evil saw blade traps, a swinging door, some moving beams traps, shooting object traps, wall spikes. Jeff then added a simple damage model, and Will placed them in the world for us to play around with.

What was stunning from a producer’s point of view is how quickly these were generated, and populated. No time spent on connecting scripting for each trap, dealing with triggers, setting up rigid controls. Self-contained physical traps that react to other physics. Impressive. And really the core of that system is now done. Now the designers can expand out from that basic model and move on to more interesting interactions with the traps and physical world, and building a better deathtrap…I think I’ll apologize to you ahead of time.

Another piece of physics that Will messed around with was ropes. Part of what we want in our game is motion. Lots of motion. Part parkour, part Indiana Jones. So, rope swinging, platforms hanging by ropes and chains, rope bridges. All swing, all can be interacted with, and of course, set on fire.

The aforementioned video also shows off some of their work with ropes, traps, fire, and the like. Well worth a watch!