KickStarter Mechajammer (formerly Copper Dreams) - cyberpunk RPG from Whalenought Studios

[udm]

Alright, so I finished the demo which was way shorter than I thought (that's what she said). Putting aside the LGBTBBQ nonsense and the lack of high-T portraits, the game mechanics are bland and leaning towards popamole. Turns out that the exciting, new simultaneous turn-based system is just.... *drum roll*.... real-time with pause. Shooting takes up 1-2 turns, while moving takes up 1 turn. (EDIT: well it's not really traditional RTWP either; Maggot provided a better explanation 5 posts down)

I do like a few things though, like how every weapon has multiple attack modes (you can even throw weapons at enemies). The art style, music and "visceral feel" of the game are on point too, although the UI takes some getting used to and is, arguably, a visual mess.

Can't believe I backed this on Kickstarter for $100

 

[Ivan]

Eh, I think everyone gets burned at least once backing a project that sounds great on paper. Heck, some projects I've backed never made it to release!

Also, if a project does speak to your heart, back/support responsibly...

 

[hello friend]

Alright, so I finished the demo which was way shorter than I thought (that's what she said). Putting aside the LGBTBBQ nonsense and the lack of high-T portraits, the game mechanics are bland and leaning towards popamole. Turns out that the exciting, new simultaneous turn-based system is just.... *drum roll*.... real-time with pause.

Fuck. This was one of the games I was the most excited about. Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

 

[Ninjerk]

Turns out that the exciting, new simultaneous turn-based system is just.... *drum roll*.... real-time with pause. Shooting takes up 1-2 turns, while moving takes up 1 turn.

Yeah, they gave up on that pretty early on, no?

 

[PEACH]

Turns out that the exciting, new simultaneous turn-based system is just.... *drum roll*.... real-time with pause.

you have to admit it's a bold choice reinventing the square wheel

 

[Maggot]

I haven't played any of the demos but I was under the impression the simultaneous turn-based system was just copying roguelikes where every action takes a certain amount of time and everything else gets to act during it as well, not RtWP and I see nothing about it that strikes me as RtWP.

 

[udm]

I haven't played any of the demos but I was under the impression the simultaneous turn-based system was just copying roguelikes where every action takes a certain amount of time and everything else gets to act during it as well, not RtWP and I see nothing about it that strikes me as RtWP.

Yeah I guess that would be the better description, my bad hello friend. I jumped the gun too fast on that statement.

 

[Outlander]

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

This is why I hate kickstarter.

Now I will have to sell my key on Ebay or something. I wouldn't have that problem if I didn't back this shit on trashstarter in the first place.

 

[Oberon]

One thing I don't get about the non-binary thing... Wouldn't a troon just want to play as a real female? :/

 

[udm]

Yes, and that's why the portraits are all so effeminate/soyboy looking. The non-binary gender is probably for mega autists who identify as one of the other letters that's not L, G, B, or T.

 

[Meepo]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Such combat CAN be interesting with proper encounter design. Unfortunately, the only enemies in demo are squishy melee zombies, so it's just click-click-click to shoot them one by one.

 

[Thac0]

Can't believe I backed this on Kickstarter for $100

Was Serpent in the Staglands really that good to put this much faith in a game that looked like garbage since the first gameplay video?

 

[udm]

Can't believe I backed this on Kickstarter for $100

Was Serpent in the Staglands really that good to put this much faith in a game that looked like garbage since the first gameplay video?

I thought they'd improve on what they'd learned from SitS, but well...

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Mechajammer has simultaneous combat, just like RTwP. That is fundamentally different from the sequential combat in turn-based games.

 

[Dexter]

Let's try Infinitron's (second?) most favorite "Pronoun" game. Cringe Indie art style, some sort of unholy alliance between effortless low-poly 3D and pixel graphics. Dialogues happen with thought bubbles you click on. There's some dialogue dumps about things the player is unfamiliar with and has no connection to early on, ETA to capable Stronk Black Womyn like two minutes. Unsure what all the buttons do, since it ain't explained. Clicking RMB apparently engages combat even though there are no enemies around and the only way I saw out of that state is clicking the green gun at the bottom left of the screen. Combat system seems Eh, feels like some sort of RTWP that auto-pauses between attacks, you just right-click to shoot or bludgeon and things die as they come closer. Mousewheel Up brings up different kinds of attacks. Enemies look like some sort of ghouls. You have to Left-click on compartments on the wall to open them, this works less often than you'd think and you have to reposition characters to be able to do so. F picks up items. Stumbled on some other bugs like got stuck in a close zoom while looting a fridge-looking thing and had to figure out holding MMB and dragging the mouse zooms in or out and misspellings within the first few minutes. You just kinda walk around by clicking aimlessly and kill shit, which isn't particularly fun till the Demo ends in just a few minutes. There's a driving section near the end, says it's a bike but looks more like a buggy to me. You control it with WASD like Micro Machines just a lot worse, W to Accelerate and A, D to turn left or right. Controls about as well as it sounds. Real GOTY here.

Some Screens:

Spoiler

Adam? It says "Mika". They wouldn't just be "deadnaming" the poor lad here, would they?

"Right click to attack and enemy or target."

 

[hello friend]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Such combat CAN be interesting with proper encounter design. Unfortunately, the only enemies in demo are squishy melee zombies, so it's just click-click-click to shoot them one by one.

Well, that is at least cause for allowing the possibility of hope.

 

[buffalo bill]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Such combat CAN be interesting with proper encounter design. Unfortunately, the only enemies in demo are squishy melee zombies, so it's just click-click-click to shoot them one by one.

Yeah, the best iteration of the beta (like a year ago?) had much more difficult enemies and more interesting terrain. SitS suffered from endless trash mob combat. Imo they shouldn't dumb down the difficulty in this game to causal-level, nor should they fill the game with boring easy combat encounters with an occasional difficult encounter thrown in sometimes. Much better to make all the combat difficult.

Agree that turn-based with simultaneous-resolution is a perfectly acceptable way to build a game, as in traditional roguelikes. And I really think it could work here if they make the combat harder.

I also kinda hate the narrative design they have, though, which no one seems to have mentioned. Way better would be something like the Genesis Shadowrun—less linear, less spoon-fed plot, etc.

 

[Maggot]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Mechajammer has simultaneous combat, just like RTwP. That is fundamentally different from the sequential combat in turn-based games.

Simultaneous resolution does not disqualify something from being turn-based, unless you think tabletop games like Battletech are played in real-time.

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

Rtwp is absolutely unplayable.

It's not RTWP though, why people keep saying that? Out of combat the game is in real time. In combat it is turn-based with simultaneous resolution, like in traditional roguelikes.

Mechajammer has simultaneous combat, just like RTwP. That is fundamentally different from the sequential combat in turn-based games.

Simultaneous resolution does not disqualify something from being turn-based, unless you think tabletop games like Battletech are played in real-time.

Mechajammer has "simultaneous turn-based" combat, but not "sequential turn-based" combat, which is turn-based combat in the classic sense.

Ergo, combat in Mechajammer and RTwP games is simultaneous, while in your classic turn-based game it is sequential, which is why many people are claiming that Mechajammer has RTwP combat. "Simultaneous turn-based" combat and RTwP combat look and play quite similarly.

Anyway, it is funny how much the mere mention of RTwP can trigger people with the reading comprehension of a five year old.

 

[udm]

I also kinda hate the narrative design they have, though, which no one seems to have mentioned. Way better would be something like the Genesis Shadowrun—less linear, less spoon-fed plot, etc.

Interesting that you should mention this, as this was what my second thought while playing the demo (my first thought was "what's up with the UI?"). A lot of games designed by millennials seem to have this narrative device where they are in-your-face info dumps, often overly dramatic. It's like they follow the Marvel/Disney playbook where the drama has to be turned up at every opportunity.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Who cares if the combat is tb or rtwp when either way it's trash? This year has provided some amazing demos (Skald, CS, Space Wreck for example) and this wasn't one of those.

UI is awful too, and there doesn't seem to be much else going on. My hopes for this being any good are gone.

 

[gaussgunner]

Can't believe I backed this on Kickstarter for $100

Was Serpent in the Staglands really that good to put this much faith in a game that looked like garbage since the first gameplay video?

No. It was a flawed gem, just good enough to get everyone's hopes up for Copper Dreams. The RTwP combat and lowpixel graphics sucked and now they're repeating those mistakes.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[PEACH]

Got around to playing the demo and somehow walked away no more informed about the game than I was beforehand.

Would've been nice to present a scenario that made the most of the systems in play but instead you follow a linear path, shoot brain-dead enemies and then it ends. Not sure why they bothered including chargen at all.

Space Wreck did a much better job selling itself with its demo, you walk away with a clear understanding of what it is and can easily imagine how a full game might play out. Rather than usher you though a rushed sequence it drops you into a highly interactive environment where you can poke and prod at all the elements of the game's design to your heart's content.

I already paid for the game and I'm happy it's creeping closer to release so I'm not trying to sound dismissive here but they squandered a good opportunity to showcase the game with this one, as usual.