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CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.0 + Phantom Liberty Expansion Thread

Gargaune

Magister
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Mar 12, 2020
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That might be the mistake though, thinking they needed to have Keanu as the main game for the publicity. I mean it's not as if the game was lacking in hype is it? At the point of the Keanu reveal, the hype was already through the roof. The world and its mother was already set to buy the game anyway. And at the point of the Keanu reveal, did anyone expect more than a cameo, as the icing on the cake?

IOW, maybe they just over-thought it. (It would be interesting to see if the post-Keanu-reveal preorders were all that different from the pre-reveal, like some giant leap.)
Sure, the game was in development long enough to accommodate multiple internal reboots. But I guess I'm just interested in the point where things went wrong to account for what we go, and I believe that was well after Reeves was already a definite part of the core game, specifically when they expanded his role. Based off what we see in the game today, I suspect this hypothetical "previous" iteration of the narrative design, with an open first chapter and a Silverhand-centric rest, would've worked well and they'd have still had enough Keanu™ to use him for publicity.

As for Reeves himself, I object to Hollywood castings and the longterm marketing effects on the industry, but I can't fault him for wanting "more work" and I felt his performance was good. The issue is that CDPR decided to cram a square peg into a round hole when they expanded his role and didn't fully track what they needed to shave off. At a minimum, they should've done what you suggested and downplayed the urgency of the Relic's threat to V, staggered its reveal with the progress of Chapter 2.

But yeah, your scenario is possible too, and my AI-endgame might just be wishful thinking. We may never know :)
Chin up, a former dev will squeal sooner or later. It's just too juicy a story to never make it into the public.
 

Wesp5

Arcane
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Well, shouldn't this be easy for some modders to implement once CDPR stops supporting the game?
No, there's pervasive quest flows, dramatic assets, modders just don't have the tools for that sort of thing, not for a seamless refactor.

I know nothing about modding Cyberpunk, but in Bloodlines for example there is a simple variable called Story_State which follows the main quest and is set in maps or dialogues. If there was something similar in Cyberpunk we would only need to join the intro to the main game, maybe skipping the montage, and then trigger the heist mission when a certain high street credit is reached! The main problem that I see is that in the thus enlarged part before the heist, Jackie would have been at our side and they pretty much did not plan for that.
 

Gargaune

Magister
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I know nothing about modding Cyberpunk, but in Bloodlines for example there is a simple variable called Story_State which follows the main quest and is set in maps or dialogues. If there was something similar in Cyberpunk we would only need to join the intro to the main game, maybe skipping the montage, and then trigger the heist mission when a certain high street credit is reached! The main problem that I see is that in the thus enlarged part before the heist, Jackie would have been at our side and they pretty much did not plan for that.
It's not that simple, there are other complications (like Jackie) that you'd need to address. You'd also have to change world states to open up Night City, suppress Johnny's appearences and provide alternative guidance in applicable quests, scour the entire dialogue tables for pruning V's references to their situation, build new interactions for prologue characters like Misty, Mama Welles etc. rebuild quest availability triggers from scratch and so on.

It's just not really feasible for a mod project, what's done is done and CBP2077's narrative structure was shipped to revolve around Silverhand being in the mix right after the game takes the training wheels off.

Oh, and CBP's modding scene is a yet progressing car crash of nested dependencies.
 

Wesp5

Arcane
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It's not that simple, there are other complications (like Jackie) that you'd need to address. You'd also have to change world states to open up Night City, suppress Johnny's appearences and provide alternative guidance in applicable quests, scour the entire dialogue tables for pruning V's references to their situation, build new interactions for prologue characters like Misty, Mama Welles etc. rebuild quest availability triggers from scratch and so on.

This might be true, but then some modder might still be able to change it. On the other hand I can understand why CDPR did not go this road: It might make more sense for RPG gamers like us, but mainstream GTA or CoD players who bought CP might have been very dissappointed being forced to play hundreds of hours open world before Keanu Reeves even appears in the game!
 

Gargaune

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This might be true, but then some modder might still be able to change it.
I'd suggest taking a look at the current state of the CBP modding scene before getting your hopes up. Don't get me wrong, it's remarkable how much modders have build on top of what little CDPR gave 'em, but we're not in Bethesdaland anymore.

On the other hand I can understand why CDPR did not go this road: It might make more sense for RPG gamers like us, but mainstream GTA or CoD players who bought CP might have been very dissappointed being forced to play hundreds of hours open world before Keanu Reeves even appears in the game!
Not necessarily, this is why I've referenced BG2 repeatedly, you can set soft target ranges and let the player decide when to press that button. You could've had Chapter 1 ostensibly work as a Street Cred grind but set the minimum level quite low, three or four hours' worth in, and then Jackie would tell V to let him know when to set up the meet with Dex. But CDPR must've figured Reeves coming back and voluntarily asking for a bigger part was too good to pass up, so they decided to put Johnny in everything, including making him a functional part of much of the open world side content. Fair enough, that has some design upsides too, but then they should've at least moved that urgent "the Relic's killing you" realisation to Chapter 3, like gurugeorge said.
 

Kjaska

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You mean like what ?
Hard limit on the types of interactions possible in the game world. You can only pacify enemies, drive vehicles and "press F to pay respects" on the different objects in the world that have just 1 possible interaction baked in. Any complex cool action you do is part of a set piece or mission (brain dancing, uploading viruses, scuba diving etc.). No faction systems to lay the foundation for MaxTac, Trauma Team or proper Gangs. No 3rd person view support.

Most of criticism i saw was mostly coming from people expecting GTA
Most popular thing right now in GTA is to roleplay.

transforms from action game into something closer to MGS5 and action is not rewarded but stealth and thinking is.
You can do this already. Game even rewards you more credits for missions, if you can do it undetected.

On other hand thanks to structure of game it is way easier to add new content to C77 than to something like TW3. For one you don't need to create new land as there are bajilions of buildings you could make interior for and just connect it to "locked door" you see often in city. GIGs are now received as sms same as resolve of it so you don't need to record any voice for them.
I highly doubt the modders will be able to create anything more than copy-pasta looking interiors and second rate writing for basic gigs. I can see modders adding secluded areas that are only accessible via elevators (low impact on the feel of the world), but I don't see them populating the unused buildings accessible via door on the street (high impact on the feel of the world).
 

Wesp5

Arcane
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You could've had Chapter 1 ostensibly work as a Street Cred grind but set the minimum level quite low, three or four hours' worth in, and then Jackie would tell V to let him know when to set up the meet with Dex.

Yes, this would work nicely, but who would not take the first chance to continue on their first playthrough ;)?
 

Sarkile

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You could've had Chapter 1 ostensibly work as a Street Cred grind but set the minimum level quite low, three or four hours' worth in, and then Jackie would tell V to let him know when to set up the meet with Dex.

Yes, this would work nicely, but who would not take the first chance to continue on their first playthrough ;)?
Me, but I'm weird like that.
 

jfrisby

Cipher
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Mar 21, 2013
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong
That's just the old grapple hook mod from Jedi Knight or Quake... the physics don't even look as good, somehow.
 

Caim

Arcane
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Aug 1, 2013
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Dutchland
Monofilament is supposed to cut through almost anything, so he'd be ripping up parts of the freeway there :)
It also tends to be described as generally frictionless, so he'd cut through the overpass and plummet to his death. I'd enjoy watching that more than this dumb video.
Sounds like a quest in a Fallout game where you help someone invent something, but if you have a high enough Intelligence stat you can tell them "bro stop it this is gonna get you killed", which won't actually get him to stop and does get himself killed (with you looting some kind wrist-mounted gun that shoots piercing monofilament wires). If you also have high Charisma to actually get him to stop and do something else with the materials you find for him, he'll help you craft hand grenades that detonate in a cloud of monofilament wire that deals armor piercing regular damage instead of explosion damage.
 

Kjaska

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I find myself booting the game up from time to time just to drive around the city a bit for some relaxing moments. Encountered my first non-story Sandstorm weather effect:

cyberpunk_sandstorm_ai.png

Unfortunately it's a cheap cosmetic effect that provokes 0 reaction from the AI.
 

Gargaune

Magister
Joined
Mar 12, 2020
Messages
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I find myself booting the game up from time to time just to drive around the city a bit for some relaxing moments.
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I've done the same, just driving around at night, trying to keep the Quadra from spinning her ass while I listen to Pacific Dreams and gawk at the pretty RTX like a cat at a laser pointer dancing donut.
 

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