Shadowrun Shadowrun: Hong Kong Pre-Release Discussion [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Roguey]

They don't anticipate adding additional time but we all know it's gonna happen.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I look forward to purchasing this game when it is complete.

 

[Jaesun]

I look forward to purchasing this game when it is complete.

Not going to back this?

 

[imweasel]

I look forward to purchasing this game when it is complete.

Back now for 15 dollars instead of buying it later for 20-25 dollars.

And now you're gonna tell me that you'll buy it during a steam sale. A cheap key from Russia.

 

[Bubbles]

>>>shadowruns where we pick how to approach it
Did you play the Aztechnology run in Dragonfall - Director’s Cut? Looking for something different than that?

>>>opportunity for straight female or gay male runners [to flirt with]
This is NOT a stupid question, nor is it minor to us. As a lot of gamers grow up (like us), they look for characters in games who they can relate to - Characters of color. Female characters. LGBTQ characters. And historically, they’ve been hard to find in comics, movies, and games... but it’s getting better. In SRR and DF, we worked hard to create an inclusive set of characters for you to interact with because we want our stories to reflect reality though the lens of Shadowrun’s dystopian sci-fi-fantasy mashup. Can we do better? Of course. We’re working hard to improve every part of our game and this is no exception.

>>>personal missions for every companion
We already have plans to expose Racter and Wu’s personal backgrounds. They're part of shadowruns already planned (similar to how Dietrich's background was tied into the Humanis run in DF) and we're confident all our crew members will feel fully fleshed out.

The other characters' personal side missions fell outside our budget.

>>>Beta access reward
Running an external beta is very labor and time intensive and often the beta version is lagging behind the production version by a significant amount of time, making your feedback less useful. We read your bug and issue reports with a lot of, "Yup, fixed that. Yup, fixed that." and so it can feel on both ends like wasted effort. That said, we are considering it.

>>>extra slots for cyberweapons
We're not going to comment on the specifics of the new cyber stuff right now. We're going to save that for a future KS Backer's Update.

>>>excitement, terror, and extra people
Excitement? Oh yeah. Terror? Not this time. The stuff in our funding goals list has been planned out and budgeted. This is our third+ Shadowrun game and we know how to make it. Extra people? We actually call it out in the Matrix funding goal: "If we hit this goal, we'll add more people to the team to revise the look, feel, and gameplay of the Matrix." And yes, those people are already identified.

>>>12 hours of gameplay
First, as many people have noted, playtimes vary wildly by player. We're trying to be honest and conservative with this number. We said Dead Man's Switch (SRR) was 10-12 hours but many players reported as much as 17. The final play time is unknown right now because you guys are doing a great job of unlocking side missions. And who knows how high this thing can go?

>>>in-game effect for driving your Essence down to zero
Can't promise anything, but we're definitely listening.

>>>archery weapons
None planned at this time but Hawkeye is pretty cool, isn't he?

>>>t-shirt tier
No. We've found out from our two previous Kickstarter campaigns that t-shirts are a far more challenging and time consuming than one would think.

Beta! Beta! Beta!

(it is interesting that Racter's personal side mission did not "fall outside their budget" when the character himself was only a stretch goal)

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Beta! Beta! Beta!

(it is interesting that Racter's personal side mission did not "fall outside their budget" when the character himself was only a stretch goal)

Like they said, it's probably because it's rolled in with something already planned for the campaign. So adding a few moments where he clutches his pearls as the PC throws frag grenades into the orphanage he grew up in or some crap isn't as involved as making an entire new area and run/quest.

Which I'm certainly cool with. Hopefully they do a lot of flavor for all the party members for all the runs. Similarly I'd be cool if they dropped (For the campaign, leave it in the editor of course) hiring the silent runners. Since you can't inflate your party size with it it just seems kinda stupid to say "You know what Glory, no, I'm leaving you at base and I'll hire this shitty street samurai for cash money dollars instead". If they want to do something LIKE that then make it Thief-like in that you can buy the services of other runners that do shit to soften up your target and/or get you information. Hire a decker to get you in through a back door of the building automatically, hire a street samurai to make a ruckus and lead security away so you can slip inside and do your shit quickly, whatever. Things that change the basic layout of a mission (Usually (Not sure if they'd want to but it would be cool if it sometimes works against you. Like the street samurai making a ruckus backfires because they bring in additional security from lonestar or whatever)) in your favor.

From my dicking with the Shadowrun editor that's theoretically doable but it'd be fiddly. You'd have to add triggers on everything to check if such and such had been bought and triggered, and if so then this spawns but not THIS because THIS only happens if THAT was purchased and triggered, etc. Depending how in-depth you wanted to make shit it could add a lot of work to each run.

I probably should look at Hong Kong's editor when it's released and see if they've cleaned it up much. Got pissed at SRR's editor near release and haven't looked at it since. May even be better in Dragonfall DC but damned if I know.

 

[Jaesun]

They don't anticipate adding additional time but we all know it's gonna happen.

Just like Pillars of Eternity?

 

[roshan]

For something based off Hong Kong, there's a distinct lack of folclore imagination in these character designs

Why don't you go to HK one of these days and see if there is any visible trace of folklore anywhere.

 

[Bubbles]

Why don't you go to HK one of these days and see if there is any visible trace of folklore anywhere.

http://www.ilovesoho.hk/shops/folklore-hk

 

[cfisher2833]

>>>opportunity for straight female or gay male runners [to flirt with]
This is NOT a stupid question, nor is it minor to us. As a lot of gamers grow up (like us), they look for characters in games who they can relate to - Characters of color. Female characters. LGBTQ characters. And historically, they’ve been hard to find in comics, movies, and games... but it’s getting better. In SRR and DF, we worked hard to create an inclusive set of characters for you to interact with because we want our stories to reflect reality though the lens of Shadowrun’s dystopian sci-fi-fantasy mashup. Can we do better? Of course. We’re working hard to improve every part of our game and this is no exception.

Ugh, I really hope we don't end up with another Bioware on our hands. I really don't want Hong Kong to turn into another fucking waifu simulator.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Ugh, I really hope we don't end up with another Bioware on our hands. I really don't want Hong Kong to turn into another fucking waifu simulator.

Don't you talk shit about mai Eiger-fu.

 

[Jaesun]

Ugh, I really hope we don't end up with another Bioware on our hands. I really don't want Hong Kong to turn into another fucking waifu simulator.

No. Unlike BioWare HBS are not idiots.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

No. Unlike BioWare HBS are not idiots.

Well, Dragonfall (while it can of course be kind of justified through the Berlin-setting) was dangerously :incloosive:
It's not only other characters I'm talking about, it's more about my options as a player.

 

[Jaesun]

What other options do you need?

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

My favourite example is when that Ogre tells about how she assaulted the dude who was making "offensive" jokes about her, and I can only choose to either kinda agree or agree with her that he deserved it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Cyber-turkey? WTF?

Next campaign in Istanbul confirmed

 

[Sykar]

Racter is kinda strange nickname for a Russian, if that's even a nickname.

That's to say, I'm somewhat amazed at backers' enthusiasm. Sure, I, like others, liked Dragonfall, but I've never realized that it resonated with so many people. I'd thought that DMS damped many people's enthusiasm for more SR games and so they probably wouldn't have even tried playing Dragonfall. It seems that I was rather spectacularly wrong though.

That's because the majority of backers knew that the DMS campaign won't be spectacular since they themselves asked HBS to focus more on the editor and less on the campaign.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Next campaign in Istanbul confirmed

My secret agenda has been revealed!

BTW that robo-turkey was from some thanksgiving blog before DMS's release if I remember right.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

That's because the majority of backers knew that the DMS campaign won't be spectacular since they themselves asked HBS to focus more on the editor and less on the campaign.

I didn't know because I generally don't read anything about anything I back beyond the initial pitch/stretch goals. Hell, I didn't even know Pillars of Eternity had guns until I saw the stream today. DMS made me cry.

(still finished it though. fuck clowns and fuck bugs)

 

[Kem0sabe]

Why don't you go to HK one of these days and see if there is any visible trace of folklore anywhere.

I doubt we will find many black midgets, japanese samurai ghouls, and other assorted shit. Whats your point? It's an rpg, in a cyber magic version of one of the biggest cities in asia... even Deus Ex HR had more style in their characters

 

[GarfunkeL]

I don't know the Shadowrun lore, therefore i have to ask here this question: Is Hong Kong in Shadowrun still controlled by the GB? I mean that could explain the crew names.

I should dust off the books but going off my flaky memory, GB still held Hong Kong when the world went to shit. But by 2050, Hong Kong is an independent free trade zone, kinda like Seattle and Berlin - which is why it's fertile ground for shadowrunners and why they are the 3 most popular settings among P&Ps as well.

Also, has there been any info about possibly raising the party limit? The engine can support more than 4 party members easily enough, as can the GUI. Even going from 4 to 5 would be nice. Or at least make it modifiable in the editor, so hopefully someone will change the official campaigns later on, like the way DF was altered to accept the DMS character - but the guy didn't make the campaign any more difficult meaning it became a total cakewalk.

 

[Sykar]

I didn't know because I generally don't read anything about anything I back beyond the initial pitch/stretch goals. Hell, I didn't even know Pillars of Eternity had guns until I saw the stream today. DMS made me cry.

(still finished it though. fuck clowns and fuck bugs)

I liked the initial part of the story up to uncovering the Emerald Ripper but the rest was pretty forgettable.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

I liked the initial part of the story up to uncovering the Emerald Ripper but the rest was pretty forgettable.

I personally loved the DMS-Story! Liked it much more than the one of Dragonfall!
But it's a matter of taste I guess.

 

[roshan]

I doubt we will find many black midgets, japanese samurai ghouls, and other assorted shit. Whats your point? It's an rpg, in a cyber magic version of one of the biggest cities in asia... even Deus Ex HR had more style in their characters

I live in the region and travel to HK often for work. You can find anything and everything in HK except "folklore". It's a bustling, hypermodern city and a melting pot. Lots of blacks there specially in shady places like Chung King mansion. I read an article that mentioned that 90% of electronics imported into subsaharan Africa pass through channels at Chung King.

Love to see a cybermagic HK but would like it to be some sort of reflection of the actual city, not packed with generic and stupid Chinese cliches.

 

[Surf Solar]

Let's hope this time they'll implement a proper inventory section. That was my only major gripe.