Shadowrun Shadowrun Returns - Dead Man's Switch Original Campaign

[Silva]

Between this and Underrail I'm full of Incline this year.

 

[Falksi]

Just finished it.

Thoroughly enjoyed it for around 85% of the playtime. Great atmosphere, loved the way that the plot evolved, enjoyed the combat, found the characters fairly good, great writing too, and overall just had a blast.

The issues I mentioned earlier remained apparent regards depth, and one level was particularly tiresome, putting me off returning as a Decker as the Matrix sections were the main source of boredom. It was also a bit annoying towards the end in terms of level layout.

But for simple, turn based, casual RPG fun with an interesting plot & great atmosphere it was spot on.

Looking forward to playing Dragonfall now

 

[NotAGolfer]

I played this for about 5 or 6 hours now and I'm at the point where you can recruit your first crew (some free shaman girl and two mercenaries that cost you).
So far it's boring as fuck. Because you never get to make decisions that aren't obvious. The only thing you decide is how to specialize your character. Which in return decides what dialogue options you have to take for the most beneficial outcome. Other than that it's a boring point and click adventure with nonexistent puzzles. You always find the required item in the same area or the area before that, and there are very few things to interact with, and these environment interactions are extremely linear and obvious too.

To put it bluntly this is like one of these fucking mobile games that play themselves. I'm bored out of my mind. And the "tactical" combat doesn't help either. Because it's not tactical at all, just hunker down behind some cover and let the silly Benny Hill or beheaded chicken AI come to you.

And while the NPCs and the story seem okay so far I don't care for any of it. This game doesn't need my input so why should I care about what happens next?

 

[Tigranes]

The SR games are the pinnacle of 'OK' - they have pretty decent turn-based party combat, they channel the Shadowrun feel pretty well which lends some life to a pretty humdrum but not terrible story, and there's enough trappings of other RPG mechanics to keep things running. You should probably have skipped the original and just played Dragonfall, which feels like a more complete and accomplished version; and once you've played one you've really played them all. I found the combat fun enough for a single playthrough on the hardest difficulties, if you don't abuse the silly fact that the AI plays by asymmetric rules and effectively gets less actions than you, and if you can rush through the boring hacking mazes.

 

[Morality Games]

The SR games are the pinnacle of 'OK' - they have pretty decent turn-based party combat, they channel the Shadowrun feel pretty well which lends some life to a pretty humdrum but not terrible story, and there's enough trappings of other RPG mechanics to keep things running. You should probably have skipped the original and just played Dragonfall, which feels like a more complete and accomplished version; and once you've played one you've really played them all. I found the combat fun enough for a single playthrough on the hardest difficulties, if you don't abuse the silly fact that the AI plays by asymmetric rules and effectively gets less actions than you, and if you can rush through the boring hacking mazes.

The "OKness" of Shadowrun and how easily digestible it is reminds me of Neverwinter Nights. It's the sort of game that could have produced a lot of quality user made content if the same class of modders who used to make NWN modules weren't busy trying to make it as indie developers.

 

[GarfunkeL]

In case you didn't know, you can play the original Dead Man's Switch campaign in Hong Kong:
https://www.nexusmods.com/shadowrunhongkong/mods/21

It's not a hack job either, it works really well. Play on HARD of course. Best part is that you can create a cyber-melee street sam. I made a big dumb troll razorboy and pummeled my way through.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

In case you didn't know, you can play the original Dead Man's Switch campaign in Hong Kong:
https://www.nexusmods.com/shadowrunhongkong/mods/21

It's not a hack job either, it works really well. Play on HARD of course. Best part is that you can create a cyber-melee street sam. I made a big dumb troll razorboy and pummeled my way through.

Best pick it up before it goes off the grid.

 

[Lacrymas]

In case you didn't know, you can play the original Dead Man's Switch campaign in Hong Kong:
https://www.nexusmods.com/shadowrunhongkong/mods/21

It's not a hack job either, it works really well. Play on HARD of course. Best part is that you can create a cyber-melee street sam. I made a big dumb troll razorboy and pummeled my way through.

How do I install it, lol? There is no readme anywhere.

 

[Infinitron]

In case you didn't know, you can play the original Dead Man's Switch campaign in Hong Kong:
https://www.nexusmods.com/shadowrunhongkong/mods/21

It's not a hack job either, it works really well. Play on HARD of course. Best part is that you can create a cyber-melee street sam. I made a big dumb troll razorboy and pummeled my way through.

How do I install it, lol? There is no readme anywhere.

Probably easier to use the Steam Workshop version: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1090315383

 

[Lacrymas]

Probably easier to use the Steam Workshop version: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1090315383

I have the GOG version. Duh.

 

[Infinitron]

Best pick it up before it goes off the grid.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/comments/1090315383

Dead Man's Switch is an update of the Shadowrun Returns game released by Harebrained Schemes in 2013 after their kickstarter in 2012. We got permission from them to update it to the HK engine and add the content from the fiction anthology that was produced with the Kickstarter. We were also lucky to have the participation of several of the Shadowrun authors contribute to our update to the game. Thanks for playing!

Oh this is very nice. Wish I'd heard of it when it was new.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Best pick it up before it goes off the grid.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/comments/1090315383

Dead Man's Switch is an update of the Shadowrun Returns game released by Harebrained Schemes in 2013 after their kickstarter in 2012. We got permission from them to update it to the HK engine and add the content from the fiction anthology that was produced with the Kickstarter. We were also lucky to have the participation of several of the Shadowrun authors contribute to our update to the game. Thanks for playing!

Oh this is very nice. Wish I'd heard of it when it was new.

Damn me, that is nice.

 

[Lacrymas]

Yeah, that's pretty cool... if I can install it. I kinda wanted the old SRR models, I wanted to be a hunch-back troll, but I'd take the improvements over the models. More games should let you play more monstrous-looking races, not have them all be a smaller or bigger variation of a human.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, that's pretty cool... if I can install it.

Try this: https://shadowrun.gamepedia.com/User_Generated_Content#Downloaded_Content_Packs

 

[JarlFrank]

The SR games are the pinnacle of 'OK' - they have pretty decent turn-based party combat, they channel the Shadowrun feel pretty well which lends some life to a pretty humdrum but not terrible story, and there's enough trappings of other RPG mechanics to keep things running. You should probably have skipped the original and just played Dragonfall, which feels like a more complete and accomplished version; and once you've played one you've really played them all. I found the combat fun enough for a single playthrough on the hardest difficulties, if you don't abuse the silly fact that the AI plays by asymmetric rules and effectively gets less actions than you, and if you can rush through the boring hacking mazes.

The "OKness" of Shadowrun and how easily digestible it is reminds me of Neverwinter Nights. It's the sort of game that could have produced a lot of quality user made content if the same class of modders who used to make NWN modules weren't busy trying to make it as indie developers.

Also if the engine wasn't such a crippled thing. As much as I hate the NWN engine, at least it more easily lets you create persistent worlds than the SR engine does.

 

[GarfunkeL]

It's not difficult, you don't need to install anything. Just unzip the downloaded archive into the assets folder:

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It's not difficult, you don't need to install anything. Just unzip the downloaded archive into the assets folder:

Pretty much. Working for me.

 

[Lacrymas]

Ah, I was trying to unzip the contents of the folder, not the folder itself. Got it working.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Also if the engine wasn't such a crippled thing. As much as I hate the NWN engine, at least it more easily lets you create persistent worlds than the SR engine does.

True. It's impossible to create PW's in the SR engine, regardless of which one you use. Even having persistence in a single-player campaign is apparently a total pain in the butt, which probably explains the many bugs related to world-state in all 3 official campaigns, and why most of the UGCs try to avoid having to tangle with persistence. Fingers crossed that once HBS is done with Mechs, they'll return to Shadowrun with a new, better engine. I'm having wet dreams of SR with the fidelity of JA2 1.13 plus actual 'Net surfing (not just different coloured combat) and a proper Astral space.

 

[Falksi]

Are there any other games like Returns/Dragonfall around at the mo? Either new or old (didn't enjoy Hong Kong)

Returns & Dragonfall are still 2 of the best games I've played in the past few years and, whilst I've enjoyed a few others, nothing has come close to either of them overall.

 

[Lacrymas]

So, I've been replaying this for various reasons and came across this -

Let's ignore the fact that they will be paying her if she's writing a PhD and not the other way around. She manages to afford an education as a doctor by being a waitress? This dystopian future is better than our present reality. Not to mention that she implies sex work would be a better option if she were willing to do it, which is also coconuts.

 

[OSK]

Let's ignore the fact that they will be paying her if she's writing a PhD and not the other way around. She manages to afford an education as a doctor by being a waitress? This dystopian future is better than our present reality. Not to mention that she implies sex work would be a better option if she were willing to do it, which is also coconuts.

Maybe the stipend isn't enough to make ends meet? Also, she's a bartender. I don't know about where you live, but in the US they tend to make more money than waitstaff. And sex work definitely brings in more money for young, attractive women. Paying your way through university with sex work is very realistic.

 

[Roguey]

Cherry Bomb got hit with the feminism bat for her appearance in the game. In the short story collection, she's just another sociopathic prostitute.

Cherry Bomb by JC Hutchins was the absolute worst because it's utterly gross MRA-type shit. The titular character is also completely different from how she acts in the game; in the afterward, Weisman even apologizes for any discrepancies the short stories have with the game itself because they were all written before the game's story was completed. This one still should have been axed for quality concerns. I'm glad they did eventually became aware enough to scrap CB's horrible original concept as a sociopathic prostitute. SR itself was actually pretty decent in regards to sex and race stuff as far as I could notice.

Ah, 2013 Roguey.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

So, I've been replaying this for various reasons and came across this -

Let's ignore the fact that they will be paying her if she's writing a PhD and not the other way around. She manages to afford an education as a doctor by being a waitress? This dystopian future is better than our present reality. Not to mention that she implies sex work would be a better option if she were willing to do it, which is also coconuts.

post your character's avatar

 

[Lacrymas]

Maybe the stipend isn't enough to make ends meet? Also, she's a bartender. I don't know about where you live, but in the US they tend to make more money than waitstaff. And sex work definitely brings in more money for young, attractive women. Paying your way through university with sex work is very realistic.

To become a neurosurgeon in the US where this game takes place in, it costs between $300 000 and $600 000 depending on what type of neurosurgery you are going for. That is only for the expenses in medical school and doesn't cover living costs. What kind of bartender makes that kind of money even in the span of 8 years it takes to become a surgeon? Sex work does technically make more money, but most of it goes out to your pimp and wouldn't be faster or better in any way. Unless you have a ridiculously popular OnlyFans, I guess.

Cherry Bomb got hit with the feminism bat for her appearance in the game. In the short story collection, she's just another sociopathic prostitute.

Cherry Bomb by JC Hutchins was the absolute worst because it's utterly gross MRA-type shit. The titular character is also completely different from how she acts in the game; in the afterward, Weisman even apologizes for any discrepancies the short stories have with the game itself because they were all written before the game's story was completed. This one still should have been axed for quality concerns. I'm glad they did eventually became aware enough to scrap CB's horrible original concept as a sociopathic prostitute. SR itself was actually pretty decent in regards to sex and race stuff as far as I could notice.

Ah, 2013 Roguey.

She was hit by the feminism bat so hard that it made this dystopian future better than our current reality? Interesting ;d