Game News Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter Update #6: Campaign passes $1mil, 13 days to go

[Aeschylus]

I hadn't noticed this until now, and it seems no one else here has either, so...

They apparently had enough people asking about what edition of the rules they would use, and came up with an answer:

Which version of the Shadowrun rules are you going to use?
Let's start here--Shadowrun was never about the rules. It's about the game world. If you need proof, look at the 1st Edition rules. They were. . . lacking. But the world caught on and the rules improved. So we intend to be true to the world and take our rule cues from the 2nd and 3rd Editions. They best represent the 2050 era time frame.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

Still not much about the actual game. And only 9 days to go.

 

[Stinger]

Well, at least he says that the backer exclusive content will be opened up to the whole community. Hopefully he sticks with that for any future content he makes.

 

[Licaon_Kter]

I'm on the edge too, not so familiar the universe but damn the vagueness of the gameplay keeps the wallet closed, yeah nice Linux port but what's the game like actually?

 

[General Maxson]

Yeah, FFS, I want more info on the game people are paying him to make, not shadowrun universe, webpage, or "generosity" of the backers... Although at least that they have agreed to cut with the dlc bullshit is

 

[Aeschylus]

TBH, I'm not sure they even really know what the game is going to be like at this point beyond some high-level design concepts. They definitely should try to release some more details as the last week rolls in though.

 

[General Maxson]

TBH, I'm not sure they even really know what the game is going to be like at this point beyond some high-level design concepts. They definitely should try to release some more details as the last week rolls in though.

Yeah and it was such a turn on in the beginning, graphically rich 2d turnbased rpg, in X-Com style, with a great setting. And then they started to talk less and less about the game and more and more about other various shit. So I don't know what to think... I guess I'll wait yet more. To be honest vagueness scares me more and more. Maybe they want to produce popamole but are smart enough to leak as little info as possible?? I'd really like they answer that Codex interview...

 

[Crooked Bee]

I'd really like they answer that Codex interview...

I'd really like that too. But realistically, it seems they simply wanted to do a very small-scope mobile game at first, but now that they have lots of money and lots of PnP Shadowrun fans supporting them they're frantically trying to come up with something more substantial. That's the way it looks to me, at least.

 

[Shannow]

Well, at least he says that the backer exclusive content will be opened up to the whole community. Hopefully he sticks with that for any future content he makes.

Yeah, that compromise seemed a bit like you can take the dev out of the publishing industry but you can't (completely) take the publishing industry out of the dev. At least they listen and try as best as they can.

Also what Crooked Bee said. I assume they first wanted to do something that's more or less on KotC level. Now everybody seems to expect something much more involved and larger in scope. Seems they a) don't want to dash those expectations (and thus lose donations) b) are looking how much money they can collect and if they can provide something closer to those expectations with those funds.

Since I never expected anything more than combat between KotC and ToEE level, and mission based gameplay with some rudimentary story and editor (which is pretty much what they promised from the beginning) I'm not worrying. The "only" potential problem I see with this development is that they over-reach and thus fuck up...

 

[Grim Monk]

I'm currently with Licaon_Kter and General Maxson on this.

The vagueness, plus the (for Apple & Android tablets "and PCs") bit is off-putting...

 

[Burning Bridges]

It makes absolute sense the way they handle the extra mission. Not make it exclusive because that would piss off people, but still make it "somewhat exclusive" to lure in more people to back the game now.

That way they show that they listen to fans and still make more money. Smart.

As a kickstarter developer they are learning fast, this is another example. This time they spotted the shitstorm in advance.

Just to be clear: we are not going to use any of the Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter money to fund the Shadowrun Universe website.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Yeah and it was such a turn on in the beginning, graphically rich 2d turnbased rpg, in X-Com style, with a great setting. And then they started to talk less and less about the game and more and more about other various shit. So I don't know what to think... I guess I'll wait yet more. To be honest vagueness scares me more and more. Maybe they want to produce popamole but are smart enough to leak as little info as possible??

I have made up my mind and have become a backer of Shadowrun. Probably not going to retract my pledge either, except something really stupid happens. There are simply no other games that look sound this promising. And while it is a risk, this one is a calculable one, and the possible reward is huge. After all, the game may still be absolutely fantastic. Also, Jordan Weisman.

 

[General Maxson]

Yeah and it was such a turn on in the beginning, graphically rich 2d turnbased rpg, in X-Com style, with a great setting. And then they started to talk less and less about the game and more and more about other various shit. So I don't know what to think... I guess I'll wait yet more. To be honest vagueness scares me more and more. Maybe they want to produce popamole but are smart enough to leak as little info as possible??

I have made up my mind and have become a backer of Shadowrun. Probably not going to retract my pledge either, except something really stupid happens. There are simply no other games that look sound this promising. And while it is a risk, this one is a calculable one, and the possible reward is huge. After all, the game may still be absolutely fantastic. Also, Jordan Weisman.

Yeah, Germans like their Shadowrun...

I'll wait for them to make another video about actual game before pledging. What worries me is that many codexers think this will be some simplified game and I don't want that. I know I can't expect a deep rpg like Wasteland 2 in Shadowrun universe, but I don't want some casual game. When I look at the original video and if he doesn't lie it seems like it'll be a great tactical rpg game, with story, dialogue, and interesting locations to explore. But people seem to be expecting a less complicated game (probably because of iOS, and that they haven't made a proper rpg yet) and that worries me.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

I don't like the look of the guy. His video's feel iffy...5 minutes of arse-licking and zero substance.

 

[Jaesun]

They are in the middle of crunch time on the current game they are working on, which would explain the short videos.

 

[Burning Bridges]

It would also explain why Jordan currently looks like an alcolholic in rehab, in the first video he looked so much better.

 

[Jaesun]

It would also explain why Jordan currently looks like an alcolholic in rehab, in the first video he looked so much better.

 

[General Maxson]

They are in the middle of crunch time on the current game they are working on, which would explain the short videos.

Videos aren't short, they are just devoid of any game information. o_O

 

[Jaesun]

They are in the middle of crunch time on the current game they are working on, which would explain the short videos.

Videos aren't short, they are just devoid of any game information. o_O

Again I think they are still in shock over the overwhelming support for a SR cRPG game and are probably re-writing the design doc. That would be my guess why.

 

[General Maxson]

They are in the middle of crunch time on the current game they are working on, which would explain the short videos.

Videos aren't short, they are just devoid of any game information. o_O

Again I think they are still in shock over the overwhelming support for a SR cRPG game and are probably re-writing the design doc. That would be my guess why.

I certainly hope so! But if you look at their first video it doesn't seem to me they didn't intend to make a nice rpg in the first place, as all the stuff they said was very good to me, and very anti-casual.

 

[Jaesun]

Well hopefully whey will be more specific in upcoming interviews. But again they are a tad very busy now.

 

[General Maxson]

Well hopefully whey will be more specific in upcoming interviews. But again they are a tad very busy now.

They won't be busy in a few days? Because kickstarter ends in little more than a week.

 

[Antares]

But he has stated what they are gonna do! I think he has at least.

In the Padinga Interview
http://padinga.com/2012/04/17/the-g...ew-featuring-shadowrun-returnsjordan-weisman/
transcribed here http://game-in-bed.tumblr.com/post/21385990305/jordan-weisman-on-padinga
Jordan Weisman stated:
“This is a quazi-isometric view… I guess it would be similar to what you saw in the SNES title…not 16bit graphics, but from a perspective standpoint. Or the other comparison we’ve touched on is an old PC game called X-com, where if you have to conjure 1 image of the game we are going for. It’s very tactical, it’s a little farther pulled back from the SNES where you can actually control a party of players and one of the things we’ve talked about a bunch is that in Shadowrun the skills that your character has allows them to see the world and interact with the world in very different ways. Like the Street Samurai is the master of physical combat and he can see the aspects of the world that can be used in that physical weapon combat realm vs. the Shaman who can see the Astral Plane and see another reality overlayed over the physical world. Or the Decker who can see the electrical and matrix control lines that connect all the different pieces together that they might be able to manipulate to change things on the battlefield, or in the environment. So the idea is to let the player use the different eyes, or different perspectives, of the different characters to really create a very rich tactical environment and hopefully doesn’t just come to play when, as they say in Shadowrun, the Drek hits the fan, but also during that legwork part, when you are doing your mystery dynamic, to figure out where to go.”
”So its kind of a bit of a throwback, but a very modern take on an older genre.”

and in this interview he states that they will rip off the dialog system from snes with keywords? that you can ask about?
http://jchutchins.net/site/2012/04/04/podcast-interview-with-jordan-weisman-on-shadowrun-returns/

He really seems like a cool guy that has done lot's of cool stuff + the team isn't half bad

it has the possibility to be really cool imo

PS first real post kind of - be nice to me if I fuck up something please!

 

[Morkar Left]

I thought the game is gonna be like the former shadowrun rpgs (snes and genesis) with the exception of having tb combat and that overlayer stuff. Am I completely off with this assumption?

 

[Crooked Bee]

I thought the game is gonna be like the former shadowrun rpgs (snes and genesis) with the exception of having tb combat and that overlayer stuff. Am I completely off with this assumption?

The thing is, no one seems to have a clue.

 

[General Maxson]

I thought the game is gonna be like the former shadowrun rpgs (snes and genesis) with the exception of having tb combat and that overlayer stuff. Am I completely off with this assumption?

Question- Will the game be at all like the SNES or Genesis versions?
”Because the SNES, which is my preferred version as well…I think the open world nature of the Genesis version was pretty cool, but it was too early and people didn’t really know how to do open world stories, so the story in the SNES I think just came across better and a lot of the interactions were cleaner. The combat in there was a little clutsy, because it was handled in real time. Ours will kind of have two phases. When you are in the combat phase its going to go to turn based so you really can, like you could in X-com, maximize the tactical information you are getting and make a solid plan to pull it off, rather than trying to do it in real time. And real time, with controlling multiple characters is just always problematic, so I think that’s a big change.”
”To facilitate those multiple characters on your run, we are going to be pulling the camera back a little bit, so you get a little bit more of the environment, compared to the SNES. But I think one thing that we are going to try to pick up on and push forward from the SNES is the conversation engine which, at the time, was really pretty innovative. And we think that’s a good starting point for us, with our conversations.”