[Experience] 'Ultra Age', a successful PC porting of indie developers

NeXTTage's 'Ultra Age', which was attracting attention as a console market challenger by domestic indie developers, returned to the PC version about seven months after the launch of the console platform.

'Ultra Age', which was launched in cooperation with Next Stage and Visual Dart, is a high speed action game that has been regrettable in stories and graphics, but it has been well -received for the good action. The new PC version is characterized by a lot of improvement, including graphics and sound that was unfortunate in the existing console version.

According to the previous developer roadmap meeting, the company focused on improving the overall gameplay satisfaction by improving the graphic quality and improving the frame optimization while preparing the PC version. In addition, the sound was regrettable, improving the voice dubbing and modifying the main character's character design, focusing on the realistic implementation.

The PC version of 'Ultra Age', which succeeded in entering the console market, was given the opportunity to experience the preview code from the developer before the official launch. I would like to take time to take a look at the changes in the game.

First of all, the biggest feature of the PC version is the improved graphics. The Ultra Age in the console version was developed with Unreal Engine 4 and presented a relatively compliant graphic. However, it is true that it was awkward and unfortunate to see it as the latest game released in 2021. Therefore, at the time, it seemed to have been compromised in graphics to be faithful to the action game due to the nature of indie developers who had limited capital and time.

The PC version of Ultra Age has been improved in these graphics. The graphic quality is improved by the background of the game and objects such as grass, wood, and rocks, making it look more realistic than before. In fact, comparing the console version and the graphic quality of the PC version, I could realize that the PC version has changed more smoothly.

Is it lively as a whole? The rocky rocks naturally caught up with moss, or the grass and trees became richer than before, so they could accept graphics more naturally than ever before. In addition, the effects of light and shadows seemed to have survived.

However, the light and shadow effects contributed to adding liveliness as a whole, but sometimes it caused the heterogeneity. Occasionally, the contrast to light and shadow was too excessive, so only a certain surface looked bright, or a color that bounced to the surrounding objects appeared. If this part is improved later, it will be better than before.

In addition to the graphics improvement, the main character's character 'Age' was also confirmed. The console version of 'Age' is a pretty good handsome type from the side, but when you look from the front, it shows a simple rural young man, unlike the sophisticated tone, with a small eye and a flat nose.

On the other hand, 'Age', which has a massive plastic surgery in the PC version, dyed the hair from brown to black, and was reborn as a sleek hands -on face from the front. It was so much different that I felt heterogeneous when I saw it just changed at first, but I honestly think it was much better than my previous face.

The voice that was somewhat awkward in the emotional delivery was all newly recorded, so I could feel a more naturally conversation than before. For example, if the old voice felt like reading a hard Korean book, would it seem to be watching a new voice? The voice can be selected between Japanese and English, but both of them are not bad. Therefore, you can choose according to your taste.

The PC version customized graphics settings and frame optimization improvement were also available. Among the games that are re -released from the console version to the PC version, the improved graphics were often seen that the frame optimization was not properly achieved. When the optimization problem is serious, it may be the most important problem for the 'Ultra Age' in the action genre because it may be negative regardless of the fun of the game.

Fortunately, the optimization of the PC version was very clean. The graphics option settings are also subdivided, and the frame is also 30, 60, and the maximum monitor -based maximum, so in some ways, it is possible to play more comfortable than the console version. I played all the graphics options and played, but it rarely occurred when the frame dropped and disrupted the action. Occasionally, when many monsters appeared in no time, or when the scene changed in the cut scene, it felt like a trick, but the gameplay was not inconvenient.

The following is a change I felt during the actual gameplay. In the early stages of the console version, there was no game difficulty. Everyone played in the same situation without any difficulty adjustment, and many users were dissatisfied because they had a higher action difficulty than they thought. The Next Stage added a difficulty adjustment device through an update, but the PC version was designed to be able to adjust the difficulty from the start.

Depending on the difficulty, there is a difference in the frequency of the enemy's attacks or the number of monsters hitting at once, and if you are not familiar with 3D action, you can choose a comfortable game play by choosing easy or normal difficulty. For reference, the difficulty can be changed in the middle of the game, so if you adapt to the game to some extent, you can experience the urgent battle through difficulty control.

In addition, unlike the console version, there are some changes in the level design. For example, there are many areas where many monsters appear in the beginning, but in the past, there was no separate save area in the middle, so when I died, I had to fight again from the beginning. In order to prevent this, the save point was installed in the middle and the section that started again when dying was adjusted to feel that the convenience of the gameplay was improved regardless of difficulty.

The most important keyboard & mouse manipulation, which is the most important PC user, was stable enough to feel the inconvenience compared to the controller. If you are new to 'Ultra Age' in a PC version, I think the keyboard & mouse manipulation is natural. The mouse sensitivity was first set, and there was no feeling of chewing keyboard operation.

Many developers want to enter various platforms to secure the marketability of the game. However, porting requires more work than expected. This is because each platform varies from recommended specifications, operation methods, and UX. Therefore, if there is no special reason, it is often ported and released as it is. In particular, unlike major developers who can afford capital and time, indie developers who have a lot of restrictions may be better to choose a stable method rather than progress.

The release of the PC version of Ultra Age was welcoming regardless of the outcome of the work, but despite the resignation of indie development, it was improved on the unfortunate parts. If you have a long and short, if you have a long and short time, you can get the feedback from the users in a short time and quench to increase the completeness of the game.

Compared to the console version, the final result was clearly improved in the positive part. Except for character modeling, which has a light source effect and a slightly relaxed character, the game has increased overall. As we have already received good evaluations in the action, I hope that if Next Stage is steadily developing technology with the launch of the 'Ultra Age' console and the porting of the PC version, it will be able to show more wonderful results in the next work.