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Game News Shadowrun: Hong Kong Kickstarter Update #11: Sequel "mini-campaign" announced as stretch goal

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Tags: Harebrained Schemes; Jordan Weisman; Mitch Gitelman; Shadowrun: Hong Kong; Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Shadows of Hong Kong

For a while now, people have wondered what stretch goals the Shadowrun: Hong Kong Kickstarter campaign would have after the revamped Matrix at 700,000 dollars. The guys at Harebrained Schemes seemed reluctant to commit to anything, but now they've come up with something quite unexpected - another campaign! To be specific, a high-level "mini-campaign" that will take place after the main one, using an imported character. But we only get that if the campaign reaches one million dollars. The latest Kickstarter update has the details:

So.... what happens after $700,000???

We get this question a lot (like, a LOT!) and today is the day we're gonna answer it!

We have our plans set for the story we want to tell in Shadowrun: Hong Kong, but if we’re lucky enough to reach the enormous sum of $1,000,000, we’re gonna create an additional 4-5 hourShadows of Hong Kong Mini-Campaign that takes place after the SR:HK story ends. Not only that, the Shadows of Hong Kong Mini-Campaign will allow you to IMPORT your high-karma Hong Kong character for a challenge only a prime runner could accept.

The Shadows of Hong Kong Mini-Campaign will come out sometime before the end of 2015 and will be free to Backers at the $15 pledge level and up. And you’ll receive as many copies of the Mini-Campaign as you are eligible for at your reward level. For example, if you get 3 copies ofShadowrun: Hong Kong at the $150 level, you’ll also get 3 copies of the Mini-Campaign.

Make sense? Good!

But no matter what funding level we reach, it's BONUS TIME!

Everyone who backs the project at the $35 Reward Level and above will get access to an AUDIO COMMENTARY TRACK from the Shadowrun Development Team. Hear the writers, designers, artists, engineers, and composer discuss how the game was made, the challenges they faced, and the fun they had while making the game. The audio commentary will arrive in an update after the game is released.

AND everyone who backs at the $35 Reward Level and above will also get TWO HIGH-RES DIGITAL POSTERS that, when placed together, combine into combine into a beautiful Shadowrun Panorama. The first poster contains a Timeline of Shadowrun History. The second contains a Glossary of Shadowrun Slang. Tell your friends!

Again, we can't thank you enough for the outpouring of support for a project we're delighted to be working on. Look for another peek behind the scenes soon, and please let us know if there's some element of game development at Harebrained Schemes you're interested in hearing about.
Really trying to shake off the mid-campaign lull, aren't they? In other news, the Rock Paper Shotgun guys have posted the first part of a new two-part interview they did with Jordan and Mitch. It's not particularly interesting, except for the admission that the original Dead Man's Switch campaign had 75 percent(!) of its originally planned content thrown out. That explains some things, now doesn't it?
 

naossano

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So, for 15 $, you get not only a full game, but its DLC, even before it is released.
I want to give them more, but at that point i have all i want.

Although, if what you get for the low price is great, i feel very underwhelmed by the stretch goal itself.
Adding a DLC doesn't feel like improving the base game and its mechanics.

About the Astral plane, it was mentioned in the comment that they answered about it so i looked into those.

It is not their more recent comment, but i got what they said here.


-------

Hey all!

@SPUD @Pegasus >>>psychology of getting more pledges

Thanks guys. We definitely get your point. Not our first Kickstarter rodeo. ;D

For us, this isn't about psychology. It's about focusing on what's important - getting proper funding to add to the game we're making for you. We have a solid plan and announcing more funding goals to try and get the most money we can extract is not what we're about. I really appreciate @S. D. Tortorice's comment about putting any additional money put into ensuring the quality of the game we've described with its expanded goals. Focus leads to quality.

A lot of people talk about Astral Space in the comments here and on the forums we haunt. We've done the diligence and priced it out and it's a big number - about $1.5m - and it would require us to rethink our approach to the core of the game. I'd prefer to wait for the right time and create a story/campaign that's truly focused around this idea so we can do it justice. We don't want another Matrix.

So, will we announce more funding goals? Maybe. If and when we're ready. But right now, let's focus on getting the Matrix the treatment it deserves.

Mitch

----------------

That doesn't sound like a total refusal.
 
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dukeofwhales

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I wish the audio commentary was in the $25 tier, or was an optional addon. I don't really want any of the stuff in the $25 or $35 tiers apart from that and it seems pretty ridiculous to pay more than double my current pledge just for a commentary.
 

Disgruntled

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Gah, this is like the corrupted wish of what I wanted them to do. Bank that money for a big campaign not a mini-dlc addon. Under this form, the dlc will be a fulfilling extension for those playing it already packaged with the base game. If you get Hong Kong on release day, going back to an old save 3 months later to do a few hours is like asking for blue balls.
 

GarfunkeL

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Insert clever insult here
Or,

and I know this sounds crazy

but hear me out

or,

you use those 3 months to finish few more playthroughs, so that when the mini-campaign arrives, you'll have a number of different archetypes to select from to run through it.
 

Disgruntled

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Im not expecting that amount of re-playability based on my experience with Dragonfall. The game needs more branching paths and companion choices for that to be an enticing endeavor. For me at least.
 
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I know what you mean, Disgruntled, I was hoping for a second full length campaign too, but some people will prob be inspired to have another go at Hong Kong and then continue into Shadows when it's released. I've done that plenty of times when expansions have been released. Not to mention the people who buy Hong Kong 4+ months after the kickstarter, finish it, and then purchase Shadows a few minutes later, or together with Hong Kong.
 
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GarfunkeL

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Well, I finished DMS with a shaman-mage hybrid and then as a weapons specialist. I did DF with a pure mage and a cyber-melee troll. Then DC came out so now I'm playing it as a decker-rigger hybrid, alongside a weapon specialist. So personally I don't have a problem with lack of replayability.
 

Disgruntled

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The re-playability is not really the biggest point of conflict for me. Its rather wasting time and money on a mini-campaign when it would see much greater use for something bigger. $300, 000 is a decent starting point for a bigger campaign.
I understand that Harebrained cant blatantly start funding a second project from money pledged towards hong kong, nevertheless fans of the series would not protest too much against a proper "sequel".
 
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
In the main Hong Kong thread we've reached the following conclusion:

THIS is extremely interesting.
For a high level campaign, they need to create new abilities, new items, new spells, new weapons,... All for the sake of playing outside the ballpark of a 12-15hours campaign. Which means that after the mini-campaign next year, they will have the lay-out for an extended campaign ( should be something like a 25-30 hours game) and all the sales from H-K and its DLC, so enough dough to fund a larger following campaign, with, in bonus, maybe another KS campaign early next year for high level goals like stealth or astral plane.

It's a step by step way of preparing a future larger game.

HBS getting their feet wet before diving in.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
They're making an expansion pack. Why are so many people complaining about an expansion pack?

wrong_with_you_people_office_space.gif
 

tuluse

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Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
They're making an expansion pack. Why are so many people complaining about an expansion pack?
Tiered ks content is not well received generally. For the most part everyone wants everyone who contributes to ks to get everything that's made.

I don't see a huge problem with what they're doing, but you have to admit it's kind of a not-so-slippery slope to Star Citizen style fund raising. Give us $15 you get 1/3 of the game, $30 you get 2/3 and $45 you get the full game, what a deal!
 

Diablo169

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Yeah I'm actually fine with this being free for backers. It's exactly the same thing they did with owners of the Dragonfall DLC. You got DC for free.
 

DeepOcean

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Well... if they are avoiding things they can't accomplish, I understand, better than promise something and run out of funding but anyway... mah stealth and astral plane.:negative:
 

naossano

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Still checking their answers.

>>>more consequences
We want that too! We're happy with the consequences in DFDC but would love to do better. It's one of the reasons we're working to keep our plans focused so that we can focus on things like consequences, RP, etc.

>>>dead mans switch directors cut
No plans for this right now.

>>>rights ownership of FASA properties
Don't hold your breath. The Borg does not release captives so easily... :)

>>>praise for DMS' detective noir
Thanks! Jordan was really after that tone and it was really fun to write. Glad we could deliver.

>>>character selection UI - one click to select, two clicks to center
Not on our list but we'll discuss it.

>>>move more freely between areas in Honk Kong
Not on our features list. Movement between neighborhoods/locations will behave similarly to DF.

@LordW, re: combat
>>>Cover
If you hover your cursor over an enemy, the UI will tell you if he's flanked or in the open.

>>some way to tell if they are heavy armored
If you hover your cursor over an enemy, you'll see a row of white boxes. They flash when the enemy is hit. That's the enemy's armor blocking damage. It was added in DFDC.

>>>sniping from long-long distance
Lots of maps are small, as you said. This is on purpose for environmental/tactical reasons. You need to switch weapons for the right situation. We want you to get excited when you realize you have a solid sniper lane. We'll do better on that in the future. Oh, and larger maps doesn't necessarily mean visually bigger. The hotel in DF was one large map of 5 floors.

>>>Upgrades for weapons
Love the idea. Not in scope for this release. You still be able to buy a different version of a weapon that includes the upgrade but you won't buy a scope and then decide which weapon to place it on.

>>>Point system (more AP for more...stuff)
We actually had that in DMS but decided to go the direction we did to streamline gameplay. I get the "more control" idea but it felt too finicky for 2013. And before anyone asks, no, we can't release that incredibly old version. ;)

>>>AOE damage
We can look into the balance on that.

>>>Chris Avellone for a mini-campaign
Chris is a really nice guy and we love his work but no "stunt" writers for us. We'll stick with McIntosh.

>>>loading times
We hate long load times and we'll do our best to bring them down.

>>>SR:HK price on Steam, GoG, Humble at launch
The $15 reward level comes with 3 soundtracks and wallpapers that won't be part of the game when we sell it later. That's your bonus for backing the project now rather than later. We can't say the final price right because we don't know how big the game will be by the time we're finished. By backing us now you contribute to creating a bigger/better experience for everyone, including yourself, at this price.

And finally, a note about the Matrix funding goal:

We want it too.

--------------------------

Apparently the mini-campaign is fan idea. That doesn't make it right, although. They make the ultimate decision.

>>>loading times
We hate long loading times. We'll see what can be done.

>>>mini-campaign funding goal
We like the idea but it would need to come out after HK ships.

>>>open-sourcing the editor
Yes, we considered that. It takes time to do that, though, and everyone’s on deadlines right now. We’ll have another chat about it soon.

--------------------------------
 

Kem0sabe

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HBS standard answer seems to be "More story, less RPG".

Maybe in a few years they can release their dream project... Shadowrun the adventure game.
 

Roguey

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They keep getting requests for a campaign that allows character importing so it makes sense for them to actually deliver that.
 

himmy

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I guess it's not the worst thing that could happen, but I would much rather have those 4 - 5 hours of content as side-quests, rather than as a separate campaign.
 

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