Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Zangi]

Red Solstice 1 was kinda....eurojank. Like the visuals and gameplay were mostly good, but there's a lot different things stuffed into one game. Rules, skills, fiddly things like dropping single magazines of ammo for people, multiple firing modes, injuries, leveling up, combat suits that function like classes, shit loads of friendly fire due to copious amounts of explosives with large detonation radius, weirdo random bosses with specific things you have to do to kill them that go completely unexplained, nebulous objectives that aren't well explained....alll while being done under the gun of a wave timer where shit just gets out of hand eventually, and having to move across a large map between objectives while keeping everyone together and working as a team.

Oh hey, that sounds a bit like some WC3 custom maps I used to play on... NOTD I think?

Anyway, I'm a sucker for weird shit like that. Might have to take a peek at RS2.

Pretty sure it was based off that or something very similar to NoTD custom maps.  Basically mod makers going commercial if I remember correctly.


Anyways, I tried out Enlisted over the weekend.  It was fine for the first few battles.  Mostly infantry based combat.  Then I started to get matched in rounds with armor and planes throwing explosions and suppressing fire everywhere.
Hankering for something similar to Enlisted/Tiger Knights, I found Conqueror's Blade.  Not as much explosions everywhere, but is definitely RPG-ish in levels/gear/quality of troops.  It may actually be worse then Tiger Knights in that regard, but at least matchmaking tends to put you with people theoretically closer to your level.

Joined a party with higher level folks = me matching into high level battles.  My lowbie units can only temporarily hold the line, while dealing nearly no damage to higher quality troops unless under specific condition. 

I still find it fun-ish, at least for now.  It will turn sour if I get destroyed too easily on a constant basis.

[nenjin]

I'll add that RS2 actually has a SP campaign that supports up to 8 player coop as well. It feels like more effort went into that than the one-off MP games you can play. The campaign is strongly reminiscent of XCOM2's battlescape. There's regions, you have a mobile base, you gotta spend time to get to new regions, to get new missions, build some shit, while trying to keep the infestation rate down, or nuke a region from orbit if it gets out of control. There's research, gear manufacturing....it all feels like somewhat knock-off XCOM2 gameplay.

We would have done that instead of just straight MP, but there's still some bugs to be hashed out.....

*deep blurb inc*

You see, probably my biggest complaint about RS2 right now is you have to do specific things to rank up. You can still "level" and gain perk points to spend on the skill trees even if you don't "rank up." But if you want to go from Sergeant to Master Sergeant (for example), you have to do something like "shred 3 points of armor with an explosive" or "stun 3 enemies" by the mission's end. It reads very simple but that conceals a lot of issues like, guys that actually are armored may show up once or twice in the early waves, and you won't see a concentration of them until late game. And you're essentially competing with your team for all those kills. Oh and many classes don't natively have access to something like explosives, it's something they probably have to find in the map. Good luck being like "Hey guys, no one shoot that armored guy because I need to plant a claymore so I can blow up his armor so I can.....oh he's already dead." And somethings double stack on the accessibility problem. Like needing to stun guys. Well, in order to stun, they have to be a big enough enemy that they have a suppression bar. In order to stun, that suppression bar has to be full. Once it's full and you hit them with a weapon that inflicts stun, you stun. Except most of the early troops that have suppression bars die so fast that their suppression bar doesn't ever fill up. Sometimes people shoot and kill them with weapons that don't inflict suppression at all. (Most weapons that can inflict stun don't inflict suppression!)

So.....back to the SP campaign. It uses your MP profile, right from the get-go. And when you first, first play the game, it doesn't initially unlock all your potential skill trees until you've ranked up at least once. Which in the beginning is super simple. However when you load into your SP campaign, and it grabs your MP profile.....it still treats you like you just started the game. Oh your profile is there, sorta. But if you check your skill tree, it's reduced like you just started the game. It wants you to rank up once. Which will use your MP profile to determine what that takes. So you start a campaign essentially hard locked behind high level requirements to unlock shit you already have.

*Jackie Chan angry confused face*

(FWIW, "ranking up" only seems to control which color palettes you can make your armor. So far at least. I may make a big deal out of something so minor, but choices like that tend to stick in one's craw, especially if they're a bit of a completionist.)

As I said, there's a fair bit of intentional, wonky, "this is my vision" jank in this game. There was more of it in RS1 that's now been dialed back. But everyone disliked this rank up objective thing. It's not that the game isn't flexible enough to easily get them done once you know what to do....but I play Medic pretty much exclusively. We don't get grenades. So in order to complete the "shred armor w/ explosives" thing, I had to switch to another class and just spam the fuck out of grenades to ensure I got it done, because of the competitive/semi-random nature of combat spawns and everything else.

Like I'm sure I'm not getting something about the interaction of my MP profile and the campaign profile. I'm sure it makes sense in some dev's head. Or maybe it's just bugged. So while I recommend it, you gotta prepare to deal with some design decisions that can easily rub you the wrong way.

[Robsoie]

Following the freebie release on gog, currently playing the first game of the Shadowrun Trilogy (Shadowrun Returns) that is the less liked of all the 3 by far (while DragonFall and Hong Kong are universally beloved apparently with more feature, more possibilities, content etc)
Returns feels more like an introduction to the shadowrun universe

From my current playthrough, Shadowrun Returns main campaign is really completely linear, you're always railroaded to what to do out of a couple of optional objectives on a few missions, i only had managed to find a single optional side mission (i guess i"m near the end) , a "rescue a guy working for a competitor so we could enslave him to work for us"

Playing on normal difficulty, i find it also surprisingly very easy (playing a melee character),the xcom like battle lack a lot unfortunately in the tactical department (maybe because my melee character lack options too, i just slash people hard until they die while support character shoot them)
Only problem i had was in a later mission in which there was a run through the matrix with a hired decker in which i had overlooked most abilities and could finish it before the alarm, but replaying it while using the decker stuff went a lot easier

But that said, the plus side is that the story is good so far, it"s a nice classic detective murder mystery that end into a bigger plot. 
Characters while not fully explored have some personnality and some dialogues are interesting (but i'm not sure if choices really matters in the events unfolding)

I guess playing with a character that focus on more cyberpunk stuff and items (instead of the "put everything in STR, in Melee and some Dodge guy i created) it could open more possibilities, though the maps are still very linear with very  npc to interact with actually

Notice that the main campaign of Shadowrun Returns has been ported as a custom campaign (with some changes) for the 3rd game of the serie (Shadowrun Hong Kong) named "Vox Populi"


edit : if you are being stuck in one of the endgame parts , the "The Hunt Begins" mission and see no more path to continue

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's the mission with the Harlequin guy tagging along your team.
After killing everything on your way, you end into a large room, kill the people there, then wait for a few turns and 2 walls of that room will break.
Kill what come from those walls.
Then nothing, there's no path that open and no amount of waiting turn will do anything. 

The solution : go back to the previous hallway that lead directly to this room.
If you are in the hallway and everyone in the team is present, wait and a wall will break, giving you the next step.
But important : you have take all your team and stack them together in that corridor, i found that doing anything else will not trigger that wall breaking.

[Robsoie]

Learned of a rather awesome-sounding very ambitious mod for Shadowrun Dragonfall named "Shadowrun Unlimited"

Spoiler: Description (click to show/hide)

Shadowrun Unlimited is an expansive mod for Shadowrun Returns. It is an entirely original story and aims to create a "sandbox" Shadowrun experience. It is heavily influenced by Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis, so if you were a fan of that game, make sure to check this out. The project has been named "Unlimited" because it doesn't have a specific "end" point, and will continue to expand and evolve over time until it is a fully realized Shadowrun simulation."
Shadowrun Unlimited is designed to be more than a simple campaign; it's the world of Shadowrun.

    Sandbox style gameplay.
    Replayable Runs, assigned randomly by fixers from their "pool" of runs. The number of runs is around 30, and growing with each new update.
    Players gain Street Cred for completing runs, along with Karma and Nuyen rewards. Street Cred allows the player to access higher level fixers and merchants.
    Completing runs will cause the player to gain both Heat and Notoriety. Heat causes Lone Star to spawn with greater frequency, and Notoriety will cause them to attack you on sight (once a certain threshold is reached). Heat can also be increased by setting off alarms during runs.
    Players can rent a variety of Safe Houses. Safe houses allow the player to rest and recover their health, as well as lower their Heat rating. More expensive safe houses provide access to cheap support items, more efficient healing, and eventually character buffs. Players can purchase an upgradeable safe house and customize it as they see fit.
    Assault Rifles, SMG's and Shotguns are illegal. If the Lone Star stops you with one of these weapons they will attempt an arrest, violently. This can be avoided by acquiring a forged Weapon Permit.
    Players can buy DocWagon contracts, which allow them to respawn inside the same zone upon death. The better the contract, the more respawns that are allowed, and the cheaper the service charge. This is however optional for new characters that are having trouble making ends meet.
    Characters with high Charisma are able to negotiate for a little something extra when they are offered a job.
    Designed for new characters. Slower paced gameplay, with money "sinks". Don't expect to max out your character in one sitting, and getting started in Seattle isn't going to be easy. But once you get your feet wet, you'll be making steady money.
    A Taxi System that can be used to travel between all the hub zones.
    NPC runners can be hired and follow you throughout the world until the job is complete (or they are defeated). Players no longer hire runners on a per-map basis. Getting runners killed will increase their future hiring costs, but performing successful runs with them will level it back out.
    A Commlink System that allows players to call their contacts, such as fixers, runners, and of course the taxi. Runners hired over the phone will arrive at the player's location within a few seconds. *The Commlink is accessed by clicking on your character, outside of combat.
    There is a basic journal system built in. Whenever you activate your commlink, a brief message will appear guiding you in the right direction.
    A day and night cycle to help bring the world to life. Watch the sun rise and set as you sit idle. Transitioning zones speeds up the process. Some encounters will only happen during certain times of the day.
    A branching story that will take players down different paths depending upon the choices they make. These choices will exclude other options, and create proper repercussions to decisions. And once this story runs it's course, I will begin building another. No need to import characters into a new UGC, you can just wake up in your Safehouse and kick off your next adventure.
    A global Matrix that can be accessed from any jack-points in the world (aside from run maps). Deckers can now hack into the Matrix before a run starts and open MagLock doors, disable security cameras, and more before the team arrives at the run location. When not hacking the Matrix for a run, deckers can earn extra cash by delving into data nodes and retrieving files. There is a certain fixer hanging his hat Downtown that is willing to pay for stolen data files.
    Six special matrix programs, that act like matrix-only attributes. Masking, Exploit, Spoof, Delete, Edit, and Browse. They expand the potential of the matrix, as well as expanding decker growth potential beyond the two skills. Players can now upgrade their Deck Storage to allow for more data files to be downloaded when raiding Datastore.
    A unique system is hidden in the world that allows players to weaken their characters in exchange for special rewards, effectively allowing infinite karma spending.
    Integrated Tracker's Street Samurai's Catalogue. Fleshed out the rest of the items such as spells and cyberdecks to fall in-line with the same financial scale as Tracker's cyberware.
    Created 5 new Skills to expand how the game is played: Stealth, Negotiation, Fast-Talking, Electronics, and Lockpicking.
    This UGC is not "finished". The current story is not complete, and the world is not completely "fleshed out". This is completely playable, but is under a constant state of development with on average, a large update every week (not including bug fixes). This game will probably never be "done" as I will always be expanding upon it, so don't be afraid to jump in now.
    If you like this UGC don't forget to give it a thumbs up! And if you have any ideas, or would like to lend a hand, look at the discussions below and... well you should be able to figure it out. ENJOY!

From what i read the latest version of this mod is on github :
https://github.com/JamesB192/Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip

Here's how to install the latest version for the recent gog freebie

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

To get the latest version, for "Shadowrun Dragonfall".
go there :
https://github.com/JamesB192/Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip

Press the "Clone" green button and select "Download Zip"
It should download a file named "Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip-stableish.zip"

Open it , take the folder named "Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip-stableish" that is inside that zipped file

Assuming you're using the gog freebie like i do,
Move that "Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip-stableish" folder to
C:\GOG Games\Shadowrun Dragonfall\Dragonfall_Data\StreamingAssets\ContentPacks\

(so you obtain C:\GOG Games\Shadowrun Dragonfall\Dragonfall_Data\StreamingAssets\ContentPacks\Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip-stableish\ )

Now launch Shadowrun Dragonfall.
Go to Contents , select "Run Shadowrun Editor"

Click on File then on "Edit Content Pack Search Path"
in the "Select Content Directory" window that appears, there's a little green + button, press it and browse to
C:/GOG Games/Shadowrun Dragonfall/Dragonfall_Data/StreamingAssets/ContentPacks
then press the button "Choose"
Now that the correct path is added, press OK

Click on File then on "Open Content Pack" , then browse to
C:\GOG Games\Shadowrun Dragonfall\Dragonfall_Data\StreamingAssets\ContentPacks\Shadowrun-Unlimited-rip-stableish\SR-Unlimited\
And select the file named "project.cpack.txt" then press Open

Wait for a minute or two so the editor finish to load the pack.

When it's done, click on File then on "Publish Content Pack Locally"
Wait for a minute or two so the editor finish its job.

Once done, you can quit the editor, then qui Shadowrun Dragonfall.

On the next launch, in the menu select "Content" and you'll be able to play Shadowrun Unlimited

[AzyWng]

Haven't played much SR Unlimited yet, but I might in a bit.

[DG]

snip

Thanks for the write-up and links, I appreciate it. 

[Stench Guzman]

Did they ever remake the Shadowrun SNES game using the Shadowrun Returns engine?  I thought there was some fan project on that some years ago.

[Robsoie]

I don't know for Shadowrun Returns, but on Shadowrun Dragonfall there's this SNES Shadowrun Reboot :
https://www.nexusmods.com/shadowrundragonfall/mods/8

For the anecdote, in the SNES version of Shadowrun (that was different from the Genesis version at the time) , the player character was named Jake Armitage.
And in the main campaign of Shadowrun Returns,  "Dead Man Switch" (or in the port of this campaign renamed "Vox Populi" for Shadowrun Hong Kong) , you will get  some run with him.

[dragdeler]

Still sad that the SNES version kept freezing on me in that highrise office where you kinda need some assistance and grenades. I got a sd2snes (snes fx pak from krikkz) too, dunno if it's my rom or what but when it happened to me like 3-4 times I gave up.

Ill probably play SR hongkong right after I loose interest in my tombkings total warhammer campaign. Or is it advised to play the other shadowruns first?

[Sirus]

Having played the original cartridge version all the way through, I can confirm that it wasn't an issue I ever ran into. Could be a ROM or emulator issue I supposed.

[Aoi]

I played an emulated SNES version of Shadowrun through a while back, so there's some version/combo of things that works fine.

And man, was keeping certain characters alive through the endgame fights a ridiculous headache for effectively no payoff.

[Robsoie]

Ill probably play SR hongkong right after I loose interest in my tombkings total warhammer campaign. Or is it advised to play the other shadowruns first?

SR Dragonfall and SR Hong Kong are said to be the absolute best and can be played independantly without problem (and they all have their own user made campaigns anyways for extending the fun after completion).
I'm currently into Dragonfall and i truly enjoy it so far. 

for SR Returns, it's apparently best played as the mod Vox Populi on SR Hong Kong as i read it improves its weak points and it seems there's more content too.

I completed the SR Returns version of the campaign ( Dead Man's Switch) and while the story was good (a noir-like detective murder mystery that of course lead into something bigger) it was unfortunately very linear and too easy (where Dragonfall is not) , i don't know if Vox Populi breaks a bit its linearity.

[dragdeler]

Makes me kind of mad that it would perform better on emulator than flashcart plus orginal hardware... Might have been the rom, might have been the flashcart options (like setting EU rom to run at 60hz though if I wasn't a total illeterate 4 years back I would have preferred US roms). But since I cant just port my savegame to another rom, whatever.

[nenjin]

Now that you mention it, I sorta do remember a freezing problem in that section to. But I finished the game a couple times so I must have found a way around it.

[dragdeler]

On an orginal cartridge + hardware??? Because that would be a good enough reason for me to give it another go... But a retro console like that freezing up is genuinly scary to me, I like that box, got it for christmas in 1995.