Warren Spector working on new Underworld game

Notable games developer Warren Spector is assisting the crowdfunding revival of the Underworld series as a creative advisor.

Spector’s new role was revealed in an update to Underworld Ascendant’s Kickstarter page, spotted by GameSpot. 

The game is being developed by Otherside Entertainment, a studio founded by Paul Neurath, who previously co-founded Looking Glass, the studio behind the original Ultima Underworld games. Spector previously worked as producer on the Underworld Games, and worked on other Looking Glass titles such as Thief.

"Warren has never been timid to challenge conventional thinking about game design, and as a creative advisor to our team, he keeps us on our toes," Neurath wrote.

A video on the Kickstarter page shows Spector championing Underworld Ascendant’s new Improvisation Engine.

"Most other games, even to this day actually, rely on designing crafting clever puzzles," he says. "Even puzzles have multiple solutions at times, but what Looking Glass did is really pioneer the idea of creating simulated environments where players are given a small set of tools that have logical uses and the world responses to that tool use in logical but not pre-planned ways.

"We now have the tools and the computing powers to create simulations that are much deeper."

Underworld Ascendant’s appeal still has 25 days to go, but it has already raised $358,000 of the $600,000 needed.