Underhive wars is going to be awful - heres why

So I will start this post with a bit of info, im in my 30's now and only an occasional PS4 gamer, I used to game loads when I was a teenager and I was at my local games workshop every saturday and sunday from about the age of 12 - 16.
I was a big fan of warhammer and 40k but I really loved necromunda even though it wasnt played very much at my store, it just seemed awesome.

Anyway fast forward 15 years and I saw the trailer for underhive wars and I actually got super excited. I have blood bowl which I thought was fun for a bit but not really that great, ive played a few of the warhammer pc games and again thought they were ok but never considered they'd make a Necromunda game. After watching the trailer I got really interested and I checked this site weekly looking for updates / bits of information / anything to see how the game was coming but alas nothing.

Having now seen that the game has officially been announced for release in 2019 im really worried and I feel like this is a feeling shared by a lot of people in the forum. We had the trailed in february last year which I think got a lot of eyes on this project but the thing that the initial excitement seems to have washed over is that there was no actual game play in the trailer, its essentially just a flashy bit of CGI.

fast forward to June we have a couple of pictures released which at least look like gameplay but thats it. The guys creating this game are obviously working as hard as they can but I cant help but think that if this game was created by a bigger publishing house that we'd have a lot more info about this game and dare I say it, even a better game in the end? with the fact that we've had the occasional information dropped in by developers who as I said before are clearly working their socks off to tell us they essentially dont have the budget to employ someone to deal with marketing this game or putting up information as they go along I cant help but think its going to be a bit a massive dud. Dud games are fine when you dont care about them but I guess with Necromunda its a bit of my childhood that id like to relive a bit - (the closest thing I can liken it to is the Transformers movie, I was a massive fan as a kid) with Necromunda being so nuanced with so many little details that need to be translated to the game I cant help but think the limited budget of the developing team is going to end up with a substandard product thats going to miss all the great things that Necromunda meant to so many and just end up being a general mass market appeal rpg (of which there are loads already out there) I guess Im just a bit sad.

thats not to say only games developed by big studios are good and small ones bad but I mean ive not heard of any testing / consumer interaction / demos going out to anyone which again I think is all budget limitations.

Anyway I guess in summation I think the lack of feedback / information by this point is truly worrying and I think we all need to expect an absolute pig of a game. If its better than that then great news but based on the last year I hate to say it but this game is going to suck.

TLDR? no budget for good game production = mostly like a bad game. Not the developers fault but I feel like they're being asked to cut a tree down with a nail file rather than an axe.

I have absolute faith in Montreal Canadians, especially given enough Molson Beer and Poutine! Surely the Polar Vortext has locked them into their studio, just like in Day After Tomorrow? Which one is Jake Gyllenhaal?

Mordheim wasn't an awful mess. Even if they made Necromunda a Mordheim skin with a few tweaks, it would be pretty good.

Necromunda may not be the game I've always pictured in my mind when I think about what it should be, but I'm certain it won't be an awful mess.

Rogue Factor has already demonstrated they are capable of delivering a complete game with Mordheim. They also went the early-access route with Mordheim and were very open with it's early development - I believe this time around they want to try a more cautious approach and wait until the game is polished before showing it off.

I do not disagree that it would be difficult to capture everything that makes Necromunda special in a video game -- but I think the speculation that the game will poor quality is completely unwarranted. I suggest you investigate Mordheim before casting judgement on Necromunda before it's even released.

Everything you said can be applied to Apex Legends, except no one knew anything about that game until a few days before it launched. People have now been selected for a closed alpha so now the ball can get rolling. Mordheim City of the Damned is a fine game so there's no reason to think Necromunda Underhive Wars won't be either.

well i played Mordheim for 750 hours... its not a mess. its a challenging game with some minor flaws. I liked that unforgiving and challenging game. You will loose Members but you will grow with each loss.

I set great hopes in Necromunda for another challenge - Hoping for a Look at the Cloosed Alpha/Beta.

@kittenpaw

@kittenpaw said in Underhive wars is going to be awful - heres why:

I have absolute faith in Montreal Canadians, especially given enough Molson Beer and Poutine! Surely the Polar Vortext has locked them into their studio, just like in Day After Tomorrow? Which one is Jake Gyllenhaal?

GO HABS GO

Well, I see what you are saying (especially in the time-frame you typed that message). Having gotten more information about the testing and the reason for their lack of handing out information/ or updating progress of the game... have you altered your expectations now?

@fragilehardass said in Underhive wars is going to be awful - heres why:

Well, I see what you are saying (especially in the time-frame you typed that message). Having gotten more information about the testing and the reason for their lack of handing out information/ or updating progress of the game... have you altered your expectations now?

You expect measured reason to sway emotional opinions? Are you new to the internet?

Super, incredibly excited for this, though I generally avoid forums.

Necromunda is my favorite game ever and the idea of how it could be on PC is ridiculously pleasing.

My concerns at this point are no real updates since 2019 in terms of media, no screenshots or video or anything else for any other gangs than Escher ( Who happen to be my personal gangers of choice! ) and Goliath. Where are the Delaques, the Van Saar, the Cawdor and the Orlocks? I would much prefer to believe that the original gangs are going to be in the initial release and that DLC will be saved for the additional gangs, ie Scavvies, Ratskins etc. It would somewhat suck to have Escher and Goliath at launch then the others trickling out over the next two years. ( No, I was not a fan of the redone Necromundas release schedule. In the original Necromunda you had all six gangs rules. ) Especially as you may end up in a Mordheim situation where you get the 'original' gangs but then DLC stops and you end up with none of the later additions, which is a huge pity as I have a great love for the PC adaptation of Mordheim.

I realize you have addressed some concerns and said that more info is coming 'Soon', but as 2019 passes further it gets more difficult to maintain optimism.

Seeing that Focus Interactive are recruiting for additional programmers, I imagine that their development speed has dropped.

At this point in time and the complete lack of any substantial interaction with the community, I'm not holding my breath for anything to be released this year before Q4.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the FI team. I've loved their strategy games (Wargame series is phenomenal) and I think they'll do a great job with it all, but I think a few gears are out of kilter.

I would like to see them release any kind of information relating to the game and I've said that repeatedly on here. Concept art, character renders, environments, etc. Anything at all to show us something of the development process, rather than just the few people on here posting up thoughts and hopes for the game.

If you want to maintain a healthy community before the release of a game, there needs to be interaction with that community. Perhaps they are bound by GWs renowned IP protection, but surely it would be beneficial for potential sales to try an stir up and maintain interest from the community.

As it stands, there has been almost no new information in the last 12 months since a handful of screenshots were released. They've shown the game in action at events to the press, but even the press didn't get to write about it or publish anything (correct me on that if I am wrong).

I'll guess we'll just have to keep on waiting for something... anything.

The thing I think we can all hold onto here is that, regardless of information, we know they are working on it so therefore the progress bar will be ticking forwards. I for one am hanging tight, news will land.

Lets also remember that 2 months ago there was a closed alpha, while i dont know if this phase is finished, it shows promise i think!

puts pom poms down and walks away

@naloac Right now the community is in really rough shape. Rogue Factor has been advertising for a Community Relations Manager for a long time now, and hasn't filled the position. I've been in contact with the devs from time to time to let them know how badly they need to fix this, and even volunteered to do it temporarily on a volunteer, ad-hoc basis just to do some basic community outreach and communication. They didn't go for it.

If you do know anyone who is looking for a job in that field, have them apply with Rogue Factor. It can't hurt.

I am not too worried about Necromunda. I believe progress is being made, and that ultimately it will be a pretty good game. It may even be a great game. They did have the closed Alpha test not too long ago, and it was advertised here on the forums (not the best place for eyeballs with the lack of other activity, to be sure). There's even hope for a 2019 release, but what the odds are on that I don't think anyone here could say. Probably not as high as we've hoped.

We have a Marketing and PR Manager who is in the forums and the discord channel, just so y'all know 🙂 He's been with us a few weeks now settling in and will be in touch in due course 🙂

@sharkxpunch said in Underhive wars is going to be awful - heres why:

We have a Marketing and PR Manager who is in the forums and the discord channel, just so y'all know 🙂 He's been with us a few weeks now settling in and will be in touch in due course 🙂

Awesome news!!!! 🙂
Can't wait to finally get to hear/see more about the game!

Good news indeed.

I wasn't aiming to be pessimistic in any sense, I guess after wanting to see a digital iteration of Necromunda for so long and getting far too excited early on that the excitement is waning a little. A large part of that was the photos from various events where reviewers were shown the game in action from an early build and yet we got to see extremely little publicly.

Still waiting in hope 🙂

No negativity taken, never fear 🙂 I totally understand the desire to see more, we hope that when we do share more that it hits the spot for y'all.

@sharkxpunch

Will yall have an E3 presentation by any chance?
I've been trying to be patient, but its hard to when it looks this great.

Also, is there any news as to when we might get to see that road map or some more info?
I'd really like to hear some new info on this.

Hello!

So our PR manager will be dealing with all that kind of information, I am actually moving from Rogue Factor so I'll be in the forums as a customer now! 🙂

@sharkxpunch No doubt you won't be in a position to disclose anything to us upon that happening, but I guess we can welcome you to the fray as one of us! 🙂

The existence of an early alpha does show forward progress, I just wish there was more available to the community, even if only to further spur fanaticism 😃