Game News Shadowrun: Hong Kong Kickstarter campaign to launch on January 13th

[Darth Roxor]

Was that before or after they decided to make the game longer than they originally planned ?

After.

It was first supposed to be short-ass DLC or sth, and then they changed it to 'about as big as DMS'.

 

[General Maxson]

I'm on the fence here. Doesn't seem to me they'll make a much expanded DMS or Dragonfall, seems like more of the same. I was hoping for something bigger, especially since it's PC only now. I guess they need a huge budget for a real shadowrun crpg (if they even want to make something like that).

 

[The Great Deceiver]

After.

It was first supposed to be short-ass DLC or sth, and then they changed it to 'about as big as DMS'.

Yeah, I think that was the official estimate they gave on the day of the initial release. It was nearly double that in practice.

 

[Volrath]

I'm on the fence here. Doesn't seem to me they'll make a much expanded DMS or Dragonfall, seems like more of the same. I was hoping for something bigger, especially since it's PC only now. I guess they need a huge budget for a real shadowrun crpg (if they even want to make something like that).

 

[The Great Deceiver]

Looking at the rather brisk pace of pledge increase they may have misjudged the fanbase - looks like there's real interest and perhaps they should've aimed higher.

Though that's highly speculative at the moment, let's see how fast they'll reach the initial goal. But from the looks of it, it'll be today.

 

[General Maxson]

What do you not understand? Sorry but these games seem like rpg-lite compared to games I liked from the past. Is it budget or is it their unwilingnes to make such a game?

 

[Ulminati]

Kickstarter is using some new transaction system, you might be able to back it now Darth Roxor ?

OK PC exclusive (goodby shitty tablet memory limitations), Tracking what the player does (implied choice and consequences) I'd say they are on the road to INCLINE.

I think the codex should definitely do a codex fund for this, just to let HBS know they are going down the right path.

Can we set one up DarkUnderlord ?

Needs more pledges that introduce shitty great codex memes before we can do a fundraiser.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Looking at the rather brisk pace of pledge increase they may have misjudged the fanbase - looks like there's real interest and perhaps they should've aimed higher.

Why though? Setting a low goal is basically just going for flexible funding, particularly in a follow-up where the base systems are already built.

 

[Sensuki]

I don't think a low target is a bad thing.

 

[Orma]

Faux leather bag for 150 shekel? Fucking drek

 

[mindx2]

No boxed edition..... I wish they understood the nostalgic tug that those things elicit in people such as myself. I'll now be pledging at a much lower tier which is unfortunate as I was ready to pledge more...

 

[uaciaut]

No boxed edition..... I wish they understood the nostalgic tug that those things elicit in people such as myself. I'll now be pledging at a much lower tier which is unfortunate as I was ready to pledge more...

Get the faux leather bag and pretend it's the boxed edition.

 

[Kem0sabe]

The girl in the video had some nice boob physics when she said "its gonna be awesome", would love to see next update focus on what she brings to the team (beyond the obvious).

PC Only Release
Shadowrun: Hong Kong is being developed for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems only. We have elected to focus all our efforts on PC in order to deliver the best game we can without the current processing and memory limitations of tablets. This focus allows us to have higher-fidelity visuals, larger map sizes, and more stuff on screen.

Finally ditching tablets and phones for better hardware support.

Here's an initial list of stuff we'd love to add to Shadowrun: Hong Kong. With your generous support, this list will continue to grow!

• $100,000 - Enhanced Player Controls! In addition to all the new Tech, Magic, Weapons, Consumables, Creatures, and Enemies we're already planning, if we reach our initial funding goal, we’ll add a bunch of interface upgrades. These include the ability to decide which team member picks up an item in free-move mode, item swapping between party members, a player-initiated turn-mode toggle so you can position your team before you enter combat, and a spread-range indicator for shotguns and sweeping melee attacks.
  
  
• $150,000 - Animatic Scene Transitions! These are short animated slide shows with voice narration that play at key points in the story - the opening, end of Act 1, end of Act 2, and at the end.
  
  
• $200,000 - Racter joins your team of runners! Racter is a Russian rigger with a wry smile who relates better to his custom drone than he does to people. We'll tell you about Racter's unique gameplay abilities and player-influenced upgrade paths when we get closer to unlocking him.
  
  
• $250,000 - More Animatic endings! If we hit this goal, we'll be able to create multiple animatic endings for the story to reflect the choices you make in the game.

• $300,000 - Gobbet's personal side mission! Dive deep into the backstory of your team's resident Rat shaman. Gobbet's absurdist philosophy and impulsive nature have led her on a twisting path through life. In her personal mission, you'll get the chance to walk that path with her and see for yourself where Rat takes you.

Bunch of presentation crap thats not what an update on Dragonfall needs. They need to focus goals on making the experience into a proper full scale RPG, more robust engine.

Overall, very poor presentation, not enough detail on the KS, rehashing old screenshots of the previous games, no new material to captivate players. These guys sound desperate for money more than anything else, seems that the KS was rushed out the door.

 

[Bubbles]

No boxed edition..... I wish they understood the nostalgic tug that those things elicit in people such as myself. I'll now be pledging at a much lower tier which is unfortunate as I was ready to pledge more...

Why don't you get the pleather bag at $150 and pretend it's the CE box?

Get the faux leather bag and pretend it's the boxed edition.

See, this is common sense stuff.

 

[taxalot]

Yes.

Hmm... 30 minutes, 11K raised. Not bad at all.

One hour in, 35k . By the end of the night, this might be funded.

 

[mindx2]

Why don't you get the pleather bag at $150 and pretend it's the CE box?



See, this is common sense stuff.

Not the same, man... not the same... where's my map, spiral bound manual, trinket, etc.... .

Yeah, yeah, I know that stuffs not as important as the game itself but I just can't bring myself to pledge those hundreds like I've done for other KS without that boxed tier.......

edit: Zombra I didn't forget you my friend, I pledged just enough to get you a copy...

 

[Jaesun]

HiddenX if we do a codex fundraiser, do you think the Watch would be up for another friendly competition?

The more money we both make for this, the more INCLINE we get.

 

[Quigs]

My recommendation based purely on value :

The Digital Toolbox sucks. 5th edition kind of sucks. The toolbox is a bunch of handy sheets and maps that are great to have in person for your weekly tabletop RPG session, but having them digitally is pretty pointless.

The out of print PDFs are meh. You can find them at your local gaming convetions in print form for 2-5 bucks each. Otherwise, pick them up at Drive Thru RPG for cheap


Messenger Bag isn't worth 150 bucks, but it is pretty fucking cool looking.

The collectible figures are a bit odd. Shadowrun was releasing a miniatures combat game called Sprawl Gangers. They had some molds made up by a CoolMiniOrNot, then later decided to have the miniatures produced by a cheaper manufacturer. When Shadowrun asked for the molds/computer assets from CoolMiniOrNot, they told Shadowrun to go fuck themselves. So Shadowrun no longer had the cash to start the project up from scratch, and had nothing to show for it. The game was supposed to hit stores in Fall of 2013. http://www.catalystgamelabs.com/2012/12/21/the-year-of-shadowrun/ Now some miniatures are popping up by way of the kickstarter... I'm interested to find out where they came from.

Name in the Novel : ... Meh. The good writers have left or are dead. The line is being run by a mormon with his head up his ass. I wouldn't want to be associated with anything new called Shadowrun.

 

[Zetor]

I don't see editor improvements anywhere on that page... and those physical tiers are way too expensive. I also hope they have some stretch goals waiting in the wings when these ones are met... as well as providing some more info, because the current KS page is vague as shit. /grumpytroll

(Still backed, though, because duh.)

 

[Viata]

"The project is budgeted, fully staffed, and on-schedule for a mid-2015 release"
If only true. Still, waiting for steam version to be able to buy it.

 

[The Great Deceiver]

Why though? Setting a low goal is basically just going for flexible funding, particularly in a follow-up where the base systems are already built.

There's only so much you can add with stretch goals. They might actually become victims of their own success and end up adding superfluous features. We've seen it quite often with various other kickstarters, where it turned out that the developers really didn't plan ahead and goals were quite obviously made on the spot (more cinematics, orchestral soundtrack etc.)

Also, I could be wrong about that, but I think that with most kickstarters the rate of pledge increase drops after the initial goal is reached. Mostly due to the fact that there's a subset of people who don't really understand stretch goals - "Why does it need more money, it's already funded."

But perhaps they've planned accordingly and are prepared for this - it's just that it hasn't been the case with most of the kickstarters I've observed and that's why I'm concerned.

 

[HiddenX]

HiddenX if we do a codex fundraiser, do you think the Watch would be up for another friendly competition?

The more money we both make for this, the more INCLINE we get.

Shadowrun Returns was GotY 2013 at the Watch. But 2013 was a very weak year for RPGs. I personally was a disappointed by that game.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut seems to be much better. I don't know if Myrthos wants to do a fundraiser again. You have to ask him.

 

[Jaesun]

I don't know if Myrthos wants to do a fundraiser again. You have to ask him.

Fair enough, and I know doing such is a bit of more work for him.

Oh well, we would just kick your ass.

Again.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

There's only so much you can add with stretch goals. They might actually become victims of their own success and end up adding superfluous features. We've seen it quite often with various other kickstarters, where it turned out that the developers really didn't plan ahead and goals were quite obviously made on the spot (more cinematics, orchestral soundtrack etc.)

True. I'm actually hoping they blow through these goals and come up with better ones, to expand the game more significantly than all this cinematic bs. That could generate some momentum. You're right about pledges possibly dropping off after a goal is met but given that they're no longer unknowns I'd expect many players to use this as a preorder system and still pledge.

Guess we'll see - but hope they think hard about these damn stretch goals.

 

[SwiftCrack]

:russia:
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