Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: chinagreenelvis on <01-06-11/1506:18>
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Because an MMORPG based the current gameplay models (WoW, EverQuest, Guild Wars) would be considerably lackluster and awkward, I can't foresee this coming together anytime in the next ten years.
What I'd really like to see is Rockstar Games given the SR gaming license, to develop a Shadowrun game for single player experience with a simple, single-mission style multiplayer component, much like what they have going with GTA, Red-Dead, and soon, LA Noir.
Shadowrun needs a physics engine, and Rockstar has the best. The only thing lacking is the ability to switch between first and third person modes, both in and out of vehicles.
Shadowrun needs a huge, cityscape environment, populated with believable NPCs and policemen that will end you at the slightest infraction. Rockstar has been doing this for years.
They pay attention to details, they make games with re-playability that allow you to make decisions that alter the course of the story in subtle ways, hell - they practically created the "do random missions for people willing to pay you" genre of video games, and they don't skimp on the character development and over-arching storyline. Should I even have to mention the downloadable content and the ability therein to play in the same game as an entirely new character?
If SR ever makes it back to the PC and console gaming arena, I think whoever gets it going would do well to take a HUGE cue from what Rockstar has been doing. Make it a success, and the multiplayer component could easily be expanded to something that resembles an MMORPG and even trumps the current model for one.
There are so many other reasons the Rockstar format lends itself to the SR universe - I could literally go on and on.
Last I checked, Smith & Tinker were sitting on the rights. Not sure how long they'll have them, but they'll go back to Microsoft at some point. I'm sure the chances of Rockstar ever getting involved are slim to none, but it would be a dream come true for me, certainly.
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Well, remember that Jordan Weisman and his pet company Smith & Tinker currently got the licenses when Microsoft screwed the pooch over FASA studios and The CounterStrike Clone Which Shall Not Be Named. And with Weisman being a founder of SR and Shadowrun, I think I actually look forward to whatever he does with it. Shame they're still saying they're focusing only on the BT game, but then again that was announced two years ago.
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Actually, their new focus now appears to be a Marvel Superheroes/Facebook (http://www.smithandtinker.com/) game... :-\
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I'm not a fan of the RockStar Games because of their general game concepts. However, I do agree that if a company could do a ShadowRun game properly, they are the leader of the pack. It would be the only title I'd buy from them as of right now!
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Im all for advancing SR in any way shape or form. But Id hate to see SR become another WoW/City of Heros/etc ripoff that causes a future PnP edition to become nothing more than a video game on paper, like DnD 4th ed (in my opinion).
Shadowrun a la Baldor's Gate, I'm hip. But I admit, Im not exactly a video game fan, I find that no matter how visually well crafted they are, I find them mentally limiting.
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Actually, their new focus now appears to be a Marvel Superheroes/Facebook (http://www.smithandtinker.com/) game... :-\
Huh. Well maybe that's to get the capital that Nanovor didn't give them. But I think the worry isn't misplaced, the BT game seems to have stalled, the only stuff on it was July '09. Mmmph, another stalled/potentially canceled game based on a RPG license I liked. It's the freaking failed-ass Werewolf game all over again.
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'm not a fan of the RockStar Games because of their general game concepts.
And don't forget that their games tend to be ugly as sin to boot.
It's the freaking failed-ass Werewolf game all over again.
*sigh* I remember that. Man, what a let down.
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I think my biggest argument in favor of Rockstar's format is that just as in most MMOs, you wind up doing a lot of courier type missions early on which simply involve getting from A to B and back and even more advanced missions still rely on that mechanism not only as part of the requirement but also because simply getting from one mission to another inherently involves some method of real-time travel as the prime means. It's my opinion that a game that relies on those mechanics should make the act of getting from A to B fun enough that someone could still enjoy the game without ever doing a single mission; or consequently, even after all of the missions are completed.
Current MMORPGs don't seem to have mastered this as well as Rockstar games have.
In a modern-day MMORPG, the only things to keep a player occupied between missions are:
- pretty scenery
- killing things that can be easily ignored
In Rockstar games, you have:
- immersive environments that encourage and reward intimate exploration
- challenge in moving from one area to another (cars can run into you, you can fall off ledges and cliffs, crowds can slow you down, all of the above become obstacles when in-vehicle, disrespecting traffic laws raises your wanted level)
- entertaining denizens (npcs) that randomly autopopulate areas and unpredictably engage the player and one another; they wreck cars, they get in fights, they yell at you, they speak to each other, they get arrested
- the ability to utilize fun-to-drive vehicles that physically interact (albeit in generally destructive ways) with the environment
- the ability to explore watery areas by swimming, to enter buildings through doors
- interactive interior environments (you can go order food from a vendor or restaurant; you can go bowling; you can play pool; you can wager money; you can work out, you can go to a bar and get drunk)
- player and environment physics (ragdolls for bodies that go limp when struck, vehicles that operate as if they have real weight, you can run, jump, climb ladders, scale walls, leap from great heights and suffer damage from collisions and impact
- a world that not only allows but responds to chaotic behavior [you can go rob a clerk, but the police will be alerted to you; you can be arrested, you can escape]
I can't imagine a Shadowrun game where the only fun part about getting from A to B and back again is hunting awakened critters and ghouls along the way. (Though in certain environments that should certainly be an option!)
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snip
I like the way you think. That could be an extremely fun game if executed correctly.
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SIMS 4 Shadowrun Edtion
<---- Ducks to avoid Assault cannon fire
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Game Creation Outline
This is a simple reference for creating a plan for your players and hopefully a general outline for creating a MMORPG game
Section 1: character creation. Standard creation rules and the use of all (available) core sourcebooks.
Section 2: (VG only) training the players/characters for the controls of their character in the game.
Section 3: missions. Initial mission setup and suggested types of mission per character numbers.
Section 4: downtime. Character advancement, equipment upgrades and spending money/karma.
1) Character Creation.- This is done using a standard 400 build point system and/or a computerized character generation program.
a) Race: choose from the races and meta-varients available
i) Elf
ii) Dwarf
iii) Human
iv) Ork
v) Troll
vi) Artificial Intellegence
vii) Shifter
viii) Stats:
b) Attributes:
i) physical
ii) mental
iii) other
c) skills:
i) active
ii) knowledge
iii) language
d) Qualities:
i) Positive
ii) Negative
e) Contacts
f) Equipment:
i) weapons/armor
ii) magic/matrix
iii) gear/transport
2) Training: (for video game only)
a) Magic
b) Matrix
c) Vehicle/drone
d) Combat:
i) Armed/unarmed
ii) Magic
iii) Matrix
iv) vehicle/drone
3) Missions:
a) Solo: (Single or paired character missions)
i) Courier-carry object from point A to point B
ii) Wetwork-assasin
iii) Observation/distraction-intelegence gathering
iv) Bodyguard-protection
b) Team: (small or medium)
i) Courier
ii) Protection
iii) Extraction
(1) Rescue
(2) Kidnapping
(3) Equipment
(4) Data
iv) Wetwork
c) Raid: (Multi team/large number individuals)
i) Bug hunt- (team with multiple enemy flood)
ii) Battleground- (Multi-team, multiple enemy flood)
iii) Wild hunt- (team on team hunt, capture the flag)
iv) Bar brawl- (multiple individual, multiple enemy flood)
d) Rewards:
i) Karma
ii) Money
4) Downtime:
a) Advancement –Spending karma
i) Stats
ii) Contacts
iii) Qualities
iv) Magic
b) Upgrade - spending money
i) Equipment
(1) Commlink
(a) Hardware
(b) Software
(2) Weapons
(a) Customize
(b) Ammuntion
(3) Armor/clothing
(4) Lifestyle
(5) Other gear
ii) Contacts
iii) Background
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I think Bioware might be able to do the SR universe justice. KOTOR and Mass Effect are both excellent examples of RPGs on computers done right. I don't know if they could do an MMO, but I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
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I think Bioware might be able to do the SR universe justice. KOTOR and Mass Effect are both excellent examples of RPGs on computers done right. I don't know if they could do an MMO, but I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
We shall see Bioware's MMO skills when Star Wars:The old Republic comes out this year (In theory)
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I hesitate to say "it can't be worse than the last one," but I've been proven wrong before...
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For proof of that just look to Uwe Boll's movies. *shudders*
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For proof of that just look to Uwe Boll's movies. *shudders*
Please don't mention him (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0093051/). I don't know what's scarier: his sequel to In the Name of the King starring Dolph Lundgren or the fact that he's made a movie about Auschwitz.
Edit: The Auschwitz movie. By a wide margin. <shudder>
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Tho hath spoken of thy devil and so hath they...
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Ahhhh! *hisses*
(http://www.iconsnunanastasia.com/feasts/crucifix_500.jpg)
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On topic: http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=637
:D
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Rockstar could add something to the game environment, but I don't see a good integration of SR rules in their engine (cyber/bio/magic/ip/etc). I think Bethesda or Bioware would be the best bet.
IMHO MMO's are to formulated for certain types of gamers and game styles (namely those who like to collect a lot of stuff and constantly aim for the next ability). SR can't fulfill those criteria without some major rule rewrites, like class and levels would have to be added. As well as everyone would probably have to be awakened or street sammie and then rules for unlimited ability gaining would have to implemented on both sides, with karma and essence being tossed out the window. I don't remeber MMO's being skill based, but any skills that could survive would have to be lumped into the ability category and gained at certain levels with it's associated class.
I've only played about a dozen different MMO's to see if I could get into them. To me they aren't for hardcore gamers (I know that sounds like an oxymoron with how many hours most MMO'ers put into their games, but it is a more casual game style). Not that SR can't be casual, but it would have to appeal to a larger audience.
I would hope whoever would get around to making the game would come up with a graphic engine that can support SR rules without converting them to GURPS or D20. I would like to see them make it a community supportable game with online worlds hosted on their IP (or even on players PC's). That was a highly successful format for the Neverwinter Nights series (even though it's coding could have been a lot better).
A few years ago someone had started converting SR to D20 and was doing the code for Neverwinter Nights (since it's a modified D20 based code), but they deployed to Iraq, or wherever, and were never heard from again (I hope they're ok...). Their modules were good, but, just not completed (they had started developing code for D20 modern with a SR feel).
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On topic: http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=637
:D
http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=571
-k