Shadowrun Shadowrun Returns Pre-Release Thread

[evdk]

I can't play even the supposedly good NWN2 because of it being a clunky piece of shit. SRR being at least playable improves the odds greatly.

What?

I think he means modules.

 

[Volrath]

I can't play even the supposedly good NWN2 because of it being a clunky piece of shit. SRR being at least playable improves the odds greatly.

What?

I think he means modules.

There aren't any.

 

[SuicideBunny]

I can't play even the supposedly good NWN2 because of it being a clunky piece of shit. SRR being at least playable improves the odds greatly.

What?

I think he means modules.

There aren't any.

http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=nwn2modulesenglish

 

[Roguey]

I don't feel like spending time digging through a large list of amateur mods and trusting that positive reviews are in-line with what I think.

i get the time argument, but how is trusting positive reviews worse than trusting in some random unknown QA wageslave, especially given the current state of QA in the gaming industry?

I don't trust mod-reviewers since they're likely to err on the side of the positive. I'm more likely to get negatives from user impressions of professional products.

FYI, "The Lost Lamb" is made by a professional game developer (as in, works for a game company as a technical director and has already shipped some games).

Nice.

The other 'big mod project' is Shadowrun:Identity, which is basically remaking official Shadowrun modules (with the blessing of the creators) for SRR... which means that they will probably end up decent-to-good even if the individual SRI modders aren't stellar.

I don't trust the quality of official Shadowrun modules for the following reasons:

http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=4947
http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=4946
http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=4942

 

[Infinitron]

Jennifer Brandes

 

[Roguey]

Don't forget her husband, Chris Hepler.

PS since you know how I love going above and beyond, here are the modules the Hepler team contributed:
http://shadowrunidentity.org/Two_Solitudes.html

Excelsior: Whereas Dry Run in Super Tuesday! only bore a minor resemblance to the first Die Hard movie, this is almost a straight rip-off. The runners get trapped at the top of the Empire State Building in New York City with a Dunkelzahn representative when misguided Dunkelzahn supporters decide to make a statement by taking the building hostage and preparing to blow up the top floors. The runners have to stop them without causing any unnecessary casualties.

http://shadowrunidentity.org/King_of_the_Mountain.html

King of the Mountain: In this adventure, the PCs are UCAS Army Special Forces soldiers given the mission to find out what is happening in a mountain fortress, located in the Trans-Polar Aleut Nation, and occupied by a magical/religious cult led by a crazed, former colonel.

Apocalypse now?
http://shadowrunidentity.org/Wild_Kingdom.html

This adventure pits shadowrunners against paranormal critters in environments where the critters have the advantage.

Another escort job, this time to guard a scientist being shipped from North American to Africa against his will. The runners have to fend off several parties interested in the scientist, one of which manages to kidnap him without the runners noticing. They then have to try and get him back, but the kidnappers use paranormal guard animals, and even once the rescue has succeeded there are more paranimals to deal with.

"one of which manages to kidnap him without the runners noticing" Nice.

 

[Volrath]

I can't play even the supposedly good NWN2 because of it being a clunky piece of shit. SRR being at least playable improves the odds greatly.

What?

I think he means modules.

There aren't any.

http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=nwn2modulesenglish

You know what I meant.

 

[DalekFlay]

Doubters shut the fuck up and wait two weeks for official Codex reaction, christ.

 

[evdk]

Doubters shut the fuck up and wait two weeks for official Codex reaction, christ.

We are arguing about what the official reaction is going to be, obviously.

 

[crawlkill]

We are arguing about what the official reaction is going to be, obviously.

stab in the dark: widespread hate until the third or fourth official module comes out, at which point the spergs will start fondly recalling the good old days of Shadowrun Returns: Seattle before all this new Tokyo shit came along

 

[evdk]

Using the Codex General Reaction cue cards is cheating.

 

[Frian Bargo]

You only need to unlock the game on steam once. There is no other DRM, AFAIK

 

[crawlkill]

You only need to unlock the game on steam once. There is no other DRM, AFAIK

A lot of people (or, well, a caterwauling minority) consider having to use Steam at all unacceptable DRM. Which is sort of true, even though you could then just set it to offline mode and use it forever with no Steamly interference. I don't know. Sometimes I think indie gamers act like Waco survivalists. VALVE'S TRACKIN MY USAGES.

 

[Ninjerk]

Don't read, play or do anything ever again. You might be met with disappointment.

 

[Frian Bargo]

You only need to unlock the game on steam once. There is no other DRM, AFAIK

A lot of people (or, well, a caterwauling minority) consider having to use Steam at all unacceptable DRM. Which is sort of true, even though you could then just set it to offline mode and use it forever with no Steamly interference. I don't know. Sometimes I think indie gamers act like Waco survivalists. VALVE'S TRACKIN MY USAGES.

I understand. However, blame the devs of shadowrun for betraying and double crossing their funders in the name of greed and capitalism.

Also, just curious (I honestly don't fully get how steam works) : If you purchase and install the game from steam, could you then uninstall steam and still play?

 

[aleph]

However, blame the devs of shadowrun for betraying and double crossing their funders in the name of greed and capitalism.

kinda fitting, don't you think

Also, just curious (I honestly don't fully get how steam works) : If you purchase and install the game from steam, could you then uninstall steam and still play?

Maybe but it is extremely unlikely. The steam version of EU3 for example works without steam running, but most steam games don't. It apparently depends how much the game is integrated with steam.

 

[Infinitron]

You only need to unlock the game on steam once. There is no other DRM, AFAIK

A lot of people (or, well, a caterwauling minority) consider having to use Steam at all unacceptable DRM. Which is sort of true, even though you could then just set it to offline mode and use it forever with no Steamly interference. I don't know. Sometimes I think indie gamers act like Waco survivalists. VALVE'S TRACKIN MY USAGES.

I understand. However, blame the devs of shadowrun for betraying and double crossing their funders in the name of greed and capitalism.

Also, just curious (I honestly don't fully get how steam works) : If you purchase and install the game from steam, could you then uninstall steam and still play?

http://af.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1?as=1649904300

 

[KithKanan]

http://af.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1?as=1649904300

I highly doubt Shadowrun Returns will be on that list though, since the reason it's being released on Steam is the licensor is requiring DRM for all non-kickstarter copies.

 

[slackerwizrd]

I understand. However, blame the devs of shadowrun for betraying and double crossing their funders in the name of greed and capitalism.

I never knew Microsoft was developing SR:R.

 

[crawlkill]

I never knew Microsoft was developing SR:R.

This is the Codex. You just point your anger at the first person to come to mind.

 

[Blaine]

Microsoft owns the rights to the Shadowrun IP insofar as electronic games are concerned, and apparently it's they who've required DRM put in place.

 

[Jaesun]

I understand. However, blame the devs of shadowrun for betraying and double crossing their funders in the name of greed and capitalism.

I never knew Microsoft was developing SR:R.

Microsoft owns all the rights of Shadowrun™ and Harebrained Schemes must adhere to the rights holder's requests. What has happened here is a huge wake up call of when a developer wants to make a game (via Kickstarter) that a larger Publisher owns the trademark too. And all the bullshit that can happen. (Of note this is exactly why inXile and Obsidian specifically avoided this with their KS projects.). I'm not trying to absolve what Harebrained Schemes had to do, but this is what can happen.

That all said, still greatly looking forward to this (as well as that SNES remake in this engine). Motherfucking Shadowrun! YEAH!

 

[Blaine]

I'm not trying to absolve what Harebrained Schemes had to do, but this is what can happen.

What they did, by their own admission, was to promise a DRM-free version of the game as a crowdfunding incentive without actually knowing if they'd be able to offer a DRM-free version at all:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns/posts/453037

This didn’t come up earlier because the situation was complicated by the number of parties involved in the license and because the process was “ongoing”. Ultimately, we were able to successfully negotiate an exception with Microsoft for us to provide our Backers with a DRM-free version of the Kickstarter rewards (specifically the game and the Berlin Campaign) but that exception does not extend to non-reward DLC. So unfortunately, we cannot sell or give away DRM-free versions of the game or DLC on stores like GoG, and that’s why any future Shadowrun Returns DLC will only be available for purchase on Steam.

Where would be right now had Microsoft refused to deal? Harebrained would have been forced to renege on their promise. I'll grant that Steam is quite tame as DRM goes, but when it comes to promises made during the campaign, it's important (not just to this project) that backers' trust not be broken—and a Steam copy is by no means a DRM-free copy. There are people out there who elect not to use Steam, and now their DRM-free versions will be essentially bricked once additional modules offering desirable modding content are released.

In any case, they didn't "have to do" anything—no one forced them to promise a DRM-free version to begin with, one which they can't offer fully-featured now, and may not have been able to offer at all, had MS brought the hammer down. This counts as apologism, -1 from the potato copies total/Gryffindor/etc.

 

[Jaesun]

I'm not trying to absolve what Harebrained Schemes had to do, but this is what can happen.

What they did, by their own admission, was to promise a DRM-free version of the game as a crowdfunding incentive without actually knowing if they'd be able to offer a DRM-free version at all:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns/posts/453037

And they are still delivering A DRM free version. Good luck next time.

 

[Blaine]

And they are still delivering A DRM free version. Good luck next time.

A gimped version that won't function with any modules past the first, nor with user-made content created using assets from those modules. It becomes useless if the player in question wishes to continue to enjoy content as it's released. Harebrained failed to mention this rather important detail until well after the campaign had ended.

The reasonable default expectation when the term "DRM-free version" is used without qualification is that that DRM-free version will possess full functionality, a precedent set by hundreds of GOG's games, Humble Bundle games, numerous other Kickstarter projects, and miscellaneous games offered DRM-free by their developer/publisher. Instead, only partial functionality will be offered for Shadowrun Returns.

Harebrained fucked up—either by hiding the partial functionality of the DRM-free version, or else by making a promise they weren't certain they could keep (and they couldn't, not entirely); attempting to foist all the blame off on Microsoft is pure apologism.