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Game News Harebrained Schemes' next games are Soulslike dungeon delve Necropolis and a new Shadowrun campaign

Infinitron

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Tags: Harebrained Schemes; Necropolis; Shadowrun Returns

Last month, I noticed that Harebrained Schemes were hiring developers for a new game. The mention of 3D worlds and procedural generation made it clear that this was not a new Shadowrun game in the works. Today they revealed what that was all about. Harebrained Schemes' new project is Necropolis, a procedurally generated "diabolical dungeon delve" with third person perspective action RPG combat. The game has a website and a devblog, but the real information is at its presskit page:

Welcome to Necropolis - a game of brutal combat and survival, set in a magical deathtrap that shifts and reconstructs itself around you. Will you find the exit, or die trying?*

*SPOILERS: You'll probably die trying.

The archmage Abraxis took his secrets to the grave.

There, in the depths of a huge complex constructed by magic, lies the greatest collection of magical items and treasure that the world has ever known. After all his conquests and victories, Abraxis retreated to his Necropolis to work his magic, in darkness far removed from the rest of civilization.

The mazes and corridors of the Necropolis shift and change at the whim of the Brazen Head, a magical intelligence created by the archmage. Part butler, part taskmaster and part tormentor, the Brazen Head mocks, goads and pushes adventurers deeper and deeper into Abraxis' domain.

This is because, unlike most tombs, the Necropolis invites adventurers in; it needs them. Those who die within its walls feed the magic that powers the shrine. It is a trap, a self-perpetuating machine feeding on souls. Dead adventurers spirits turn arcane wheels, and their corpses are repurposed as Automatons; magical marionettes that prowl the corridors searching for intruders.

And the Necropolis is much, much bigger on the inside than the outside. Oh, and it shifts and changes at the whim of the Brazen Head. And it’s filled with Abraxis’ greatest enemies, and every monster ever encountered during his adventures. Did we not mention that?

Thousands have entered the Necropolis. Legend says, somewhere inside, undead and immortal, Abraxis presides on an onyx throne. In ten centuries, only one adventurer has escaped, and I’m afraid he emerged quite mad. But you... I’m sure you’ll make it out just fine. You seem like the adventurous type.

Features
  • AN ADDICTIVE THIRD-PERSON COMBAT SYSTEM. At its core, Necropolis is an action game. Unlike other popular Roguelikes, Necropolis features a combat system based on timing and animation. It’s fast and deadly - learn to anticipate enemy attack patterns, time your actions for maximum effect, and use smart combinations of heavy and light attacks to defeat your enemies. You can’t just button-mash and win.
  • AN EVER-CHANGING DUNGEON. Every playthrough offers new threats, room layouts, magic items and more. The system is designed to shift and change, even as the adventurer moves through it, and there are areas that allow the player to change modify or “reroll” their current layout.
  • SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Collect components to create magic potions, and locate mystical books to upgrade your adventurer with runes and spells. The Necropolis is a living labyrinth filled with mystery and wonder; can you unlock all its secrets?
  • A LIVING ECOLOGY OF THREATS. Monsters interrelate in the Necropolis. Learn to exploit a Monster’s favorite food, or least favorite predator.
  • STYLISH VISUAL DESIGN. The world of Necropolis is one not quite like any other. Necropolis features a dark, low-poly aesthetic full of strange shapes, funky colors and unexpected constructions.
The release date is "2016". But yeah, while this might be a cool game, it's not the kind of experience we typically prize on the Codex. Luckily, there's another game that Harebrained Schemes didn't announce today, even though its existence is publicly visible on their Job Openings page. That's right, a new Shadowrun campaign! And for real, this time - though who knows, maybe they were hiring for it all along. I guess we'll learn more about this later on.
 

pakoito

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Yeah, it sounds pretty great actually.
Still baffles me how nobody has come up with a proper Real Time Roguelike With Heavy Combat yet. Closest contender was Rogue Legacy and it was lacking punch on itemization.

There are a couple more coming (Hyper Light Drifter, Below, Chasm) but I suspect they'll be platformy, light and storydriven. And also Wayward Souls on phone, but apparently it's a bit underwhelming.
 

pakoito

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To be honest the perfect game would be Shadow Over Mystara: The Roguelike, but getting those clutch Capcom controls ain't easy.
 

Machocruz

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To be honest the perfect game would be Shadow Over Mystara: The Roguelike, but getting those clutch Capcom controls ain't easy.
Mine would be Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup with at least mid range production values. The concept of having areas - optional and mandatory- that require certain resistances to survive is something I need to have in a prettier game. Imagine your path choices (which there would be more of) in Mystara being influenced by what gear you have at the moment. And of course you can revisit areas if you luck upon good gear and resists.
 

Curious_Tongue

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Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014
necropolisBeneath.png

necropolisKeyArt.png


Looks like a Double Fine thingy.

Pass.
 

tuluse

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Still baffles me how nobody has come up with a proper Real Time Roguelike With Heavy Combat yet. Closest contender was Rogue Legacy and it was lacking punch on itemization.

There are a couple more coming (Hyper Light Drifter, Below, Chasm) but I suspect they'll be platformy, light and storydriven. And also Wayward Souls on phone, but apparently it's a bit underwhelming.
The Diablo games?
 

pakoito

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Still baffles me how nobody has come up with a proper Real Time Roguelike With Heavy Combat yet. Closest contender was Rogue Legacy and it was lacking punch on itemization.

There are a couple more coming (Hyper Light Drifter, Below, Chasm) but I suspect they'll be platformy, light and storydriven. And also Wayward Souls on phone, but apparently it's a bit underwhelming.
The Diablo games?
Direct control is required for Heavy Combat. Diablo or Dota have indirect controls.
 

pakoito

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I guess I didn't know what heavy combat was.
The one where you press a button and hope for the attack to land or else you ded. I'd said Dark Souls but that term has been abused lately, so...Monster Hunter? Ninja Gaiden?
 
Last edited:

Blaine

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Grab the Codex by the pussy
Are they seriously fucking putting a God damned polesmoking shitting campfire in practically all of these new "Soulslike" games?

Fuck this, I'm getting a new hobby. Fuck you, and fuck you, fuck you in particular, fuck you, you weren't complete shit but fuck you anyway, fuck you, and fuck you.
 

ironyuri

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Are they seriously fucking putting a God damned polesmoking shitting campfire in practically all of these new "Soulslike" games?

Fuck this, I'm getting a new hobby. Fuck you, and fuck you, fuck you in particular, fuck you, you weren't complete shit but fuck you anyway, fuck you, and fuck you.

Yeh, they even put those campfires in The Witcher, 2 years before Demon's Souls and 4 years before Dark Souls appeared. Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?

Tutorial_campfires.png


We-need-to-go-deeper.jpg
 

Blaine

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Grab the Codex by the pussy
It's just painfully derivative bullshit. The campfire is particularly symbolic in the Souls games and a focus of some of the promotional materials. Lots of games have spaceships, for example, but this campfire phenomenon is directly comparable to a hypothetical scenario in which every Metroid clone deposits the protagonist into the gameworld via dropship.

Also, fuck you.
 

Blaine

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Grab the Codex by the pussy
Not after Babby's First Linear PlaySkool RPG-Lite, I won't. I did appreciate the turn-based mechanics, though.

They've proved they can potentially develop a proper RPG. My moneybags will be on standby until then.
 

PotatoElemental

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Dark Souls in Unity?

shutupandtakemymoneys.jpg


But seriously, new Shadowrun campaign, if it's as good as, or by some miracle better than Dragonfall, is really good news. I wonder if they'll make more changes to the engine.
 

Infinitron

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I was too tired last night to notice this ( :blush: ) but that Job Opening says the project has to be greenlit. That it's still up there after the announcement of Necropolis is good news, but I guess it's not a 100% sure thing yet.
 

Wizfall

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I was too tired last night to notice this ( :blush: ) but that Job Opening says the project has to be greenlit. That it's still up there after the announcement of Necropolis is good news, but I guess it's not a 100% sure thing yet.
:x
 

TwinkieGorilla

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Oh. So they're not bankrupt yet? Cool!
 

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