7 ms·

Shadowrun Returns: an old-school turn-based RPG on Kickstarter

87 points by tomislav 15y ago

dallas 15y ago
I've backed a few great tabletop RPG products on Kickstarter/IndieGoGo.
sbarre 15y ago
This morning's update talks about the interface and UI, and they describe it as "X-Com like"... So excited.. No Linux or multiplayer in the first version though.. But I'd rather have a solid and detailed core product, and get MP in v2, if v1 works out..
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  There doesn't seem to be mention on a Linux version at all, rather just a Mac version. I have to wonder, if you create a Mac version of a game how difficult would it be to port it to Linux? I understand that games designed specifically around Windows (and therefor DirectX) are going to be a pain to port over to a platform without DirectX. Surely though Mac versions of games are all based on OpenGL and most Linux distributions have OpenGL support too (as well as both being Unix type OSes) so surely the port is not that difficult? It almost seems justified to have some project that aims to make it easy to port Mac games to Linux, if that was the case then you would see a massive increase in the number of Linux games available.
  - fufulabs 15y ago
    They are using Moai (getmoai.com) which is a cross-platform LUA based open-source game engine. It outputs to Android, iOS and Chrome. From what i gather you can develop+test games on Mac or PC but it doesnt compile to them much more so for Linux. The Chrome part may play in linux but not so sure about that.
    - jiggy2011 15y ago
      Interesting, I had a quick look at the moai docs and the library mostly looks like a wrapper for OpenGL and it already targets android which has a Linux kernel.
  - homosaur 15y ago
    There's no official announcement yet, but the unofficial plan is to support Linux once the Mac version is out the door. They definitely want to do it.
    - sbarre 15y ago
      The email that went out this morning to funders specifically said (in bold) "No Linux version, no multiplayer" in the first version.. Even if they get more funding, the "Stretch goals" are all around more content and more tools, not new features or new ports..
Tichy 15y ago
I don't understand what exactly they are proposing: a new computer game? The remake of an existing computer game? Or a reprint of the pen & paper RPG?
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  I think it will be a brand new computer game based on an existing pen & paper RPG. According to the video other games were made based on the same RPG (I never played any of them) but the video hints that these were not so popular with the "true" fans of the original RPG and this game aims to right those wrongs. At least that's the impression I got.
  - bulletsvshumans 15y ago
    In my experience people like the Shadowrun game on Sega Genesis (it's one of my personal favorites actually), but not so much the Super Nintendo one. And the recent Shadowrun first-person shooter borrowed the Shadowrun branding without much of its essence, angering people who were expecting a deeper Shadowrun experience.
    - lzy 15y ago
      I actually really enjoyed the Super Nintendo version and I was too young (at that time) to try the Sega Genesis version. Anyhow, I've decided to pledge $60, for the game, the t-shirt and the docwagon.
tibbon 15y ago
What I find most interesting about this Kickstarter trend is that it is proving game publishing companies wrong. Publishers think that it isn't worth the money/time to build games like this. They want the next Angry Birds/Modern Warfare, full of DLC upgrades, in-app purchasing and facebook spam with the core gaming experience being secondary at best. While the investors/publishers don't think its worth it monetarily, users are demanding higher quality games and putting their money where their mouth is. Its also a huge shift. Instead of guessing what gamers might want, putting money in, and seeing how the game does- this enables developers to get their idea fully vetted monetarily and demand-wise upfront, then take the time to develop the game.
- huggyface 15y ago
  They want the next Angry Birds/Modern Warfare, full of DLC upgrades I chuckled at this as one of the kickstarter levels on this project gets you enhanced abilities. Really, though, does everything have to be so binary? Isn't HN above this "stereotype the worst of the worst and cast it as the only alternative" false dichotomy? There are plenty of incredible games that publishers have supported. And in this case these guys are claiming that they're going to create a PC and a Mac version for $400,000? Really? Most "real" game cost many millions of dollars to bring to fruition.
  - jiggy2011 15y ago
    $400,000 seems like a reasonable amount to make a game. Maybe not a super polished AAA game, but it seems they are being ruthless about cutting features to keep it in budget. for $400,000 you could easily retain 4 people to work on it full time for a year.
  - defen 15y ago
    > And in this case these guys are claiming that they're going to create a PC and a Mac version for $400,000? Really? Most "real" game cost many millions of dollars to bring to fruition. I got the impression that they were making the game anyway (for PC and tablets), and are going to use the kickstarter money to provide a Mac version, level editor, translations, additional character types, and possibly an additional city. Could be wrong though, it's not 100% clear and I agree that $400,000 can't possibly be enough to make a whole game of this magnitude.
fufulabs 15y ago
Wow! a bunch of people put in $10,000...
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  It wouldn't surprise me if that was the developers themselves and that was the money they used to buy their rights back.
  - jerf 15y ago
    That doesn't make any sense. They're going to claim their own $10,000 slots and pay Kickstarter their cut on their own money?
    - jiggy2011 15y ago
      Your right I guess, I didn't think about that. Having said that if I was going to donate that kind of money to something I'd probably just cut them a cheque rather than putting it through a website.
    - huhtenberg 15y ago
      By the way - the cut appears to be 5%.
      - wccrawford 15y ago
        Plus the payment processor's cut. Another 5%.
  - mkramlich 15y ago
    I doubt that's the explanation. But I don't doubt that either it's (a) astroturfing (fake), or (b) there really are a few people out there who are fans and have FU money to spend. (Think: FU money in the hands of successful techie biz owners, they do exist, and they have played computer games.)
pinaceae 15y ago
Shadowrun is such a great universe, that mixture of classic fantasy elements like elfs, orcs, magic with cyberpunk ala neuromancer really hit a nerve. wonder why there never was a movie or tv series in such a setting, seems way cooler than vampires. kickstarter seems to become the ycombinator for gaming, which is awesome in its own. will be interesting if they'll ever compete.
sbinetd 15y ago
It slightly irks me they moved from "Linux support is definitely on the table too!" to "a Linux version [...] beyond the scope of the project." But not quite as much as their move to add more technical content when they reach one million, rather than the expansion into GNU+Linux support. I do however understand their reasoning. Their cold, realistic and undoubtedly true reasoning.
joshaidan 15y ago
I'm wondering if a good idea for a startup would be to take the Kickstarter model and flip it backwards. Fans propose projects they would like to fund, others fund it, then the respective rights owners see this interest and receive the money for the project. There is a downside to this, which is the respective author might not be motivated anymore for the project and thus would do a poor job. Or worse, the company owning the rights to the projects, may decide it's not worth selling it back to the original author and therefore create their own version that's not up to par with the author's vision. Perhaps this could be avoided by specifically targeting the original author so that only s/he could receive the funding. But ultimately, I guess the problem is that if it's proven there's a huge interest in a project, then the current rights owner may be more reluctant to give up the rights or only at a much higher cost.
mrinterweb 15y ago
I still play the Shadowrun pencil and paper game weekly with a group of friends. I will definitely support this kickstarter.
jmcgough 15y ago
A bit off topic, but the new google glasses keep making me think of augmented reality in Shadowrun 4th Edition. So cool :p I'm really glad this kickstarter got funded, the Shadowrun universe has always been one of my favorites.
zdgman 15y ago
I am glad that more developers are deciding to do this and putting more control into the hands of their consumers. The biggest benefit to the developer here is that they have paid for initial development up front AND they get to sell this game on Steam and other market places once it releases. Even with a moderate PR push from any one of these companies if they sell 100K copies at 10 dollars a piece (or even less) they have come out WAY ahead on this project. Obviously a big publisher like Activision or EA is going to scoff at something like a 10 Million dollar profit when they need to fund the rest of their operations + split that revenue with the developer. They take risks but only when they know the chances of meeting their return percentage is higher than a certain threshold. What was the last game you can remember from a big publisher that took a huge risk?
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dromidas 15y ago
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm BACKIN THAT SH! That is all.

87 points by tomislav 15y ago

I've backed a few great tabletop RPG products on Kickstarter/IndieGoGo.

This morning's update talks about the interface and UI, and they describe it as "X-Com like"... So excited.. No Linux or multiplayer in the first version though.. But I'd rather have a solid and detailed core product, and get MP in v2, if v1 works out..

jiggy2011 15y ago
There doesn't seem to be mention on a Linux version at all, rather just a Mac version. I have to wonder, if you create a Mac version of a game how difficult would it be to port it to Linux? I understand that games designed specifically around Windows (and therefor DirectX) are going to be a pain to port over to a platform without DirectX. Surely though Mac versions of games are all based on OpenGL and most Linux distributions have OpenGL support too (as well as both being Unix type OSes) so surely the port is not that difficult? It almost seems justified to have some project that aims to make it easy to port Mac games to Linux, if that was the case then you would see a massive increase in the number of Linux games available.
- fufulabs 15y ago
  They are using Moai (getmoai.com) which is a cross-platform LUA based open-source game engine. It outputs to Android, iOS and Chrome. From what i gather you can develop+test games on Mac or PC but it doesnt compile to them much more so for Linux. The Chrome part may play in linux but not so sure about that.
  - jiggy2011 15y ago
    Interesting, I had a quick look at the moai docs and the library mostly looks like a wrapper for OpenGL and it already targets android which has a Linux kernel.
- homosaur 15y ago
  There's no official announcement yet, but the unofficial plan is to support Linux once the Mac version is out the door. They definitely want to do it.
  - sbarre 15y ago
    The email that went out this morning to funders specifically said (in bold) "No Linux version, no multiplayer" in the first version.. Even if they get more funding, the "Stretch goals" are all around more content and more tools, not new features or new ports..

Tichy 15y ago

I don't understand what exactly they are proposing: a new computer game? The remake of an existing computer game? Or a reprint of the pen & paper RPG?

jiggy2011 15y ago
I think it will be a brand new computer game based on an existing pen & paper RPG. According to the video other games were made based on the same RPG (I never played any of them) but the video hints that these were not so popular with the "true" fans of the original RPG and this game aims to right those wrongs. At least that's the impression I got.
- bulletsvshumans 15y ago
  In my experience people like the Shadowrun game on Sega Genesis (it's one of my personal favorites actually), but not so much the Super Nintendo one. And the recent Shadowrun first-person shooter borrowed the Shadowrun branding without much of its essence, angering people who were expecting a deeper Shadowrun experience.
  - lzy 15y ago
    I actually really enjoyed the Super Nintendo version and I was too young (at that time) to try the Sega Genesis version. Anyhow, I've decided to pledge $60, for the game, the t-shirt and the docwagon.

tibbon 15y ago

What I find most interesting about this Kickstarter trend is that it is proving game publishing companies wrong. Publishers think that it isn't worth the money/time to build games like this. They want the next Angry Birds/Modern Warfare, full of DLC upgrades, in-app purchasing and facebook spam with the core gaming experience being secondary at best. While the investors/publishers don't think its worth it monetarily, users are demanding higher quality games and putting their money where their mouth is. Its also a huge shift. Instead of guessing what gamers might want, putting money in, and seeing how the game does- this enables developers to get their idea fully vetted monetarily and demand-wise upfront, then take the time to develop the game.

huggyface 15y ago
They want the next Angry Birds/Modern Warfare, full of DLC upgrades I chuckled at this as one of the kickstarter levels on this project gets you enhanced abilities. Really, though, does everything have to be so binary? Isn't HN above this "stereotype the worst of the worst and cast it as the only alternative" false dichotomy? There are plenty of incredible games that publishers have supported. And in this case these guys are claiming that they're going to create a PC and a Mac version for $400,000? Really? Most "real" game cost many millions of dollars to bring to fruition.
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  $400,000 seems like a reasonable amount to make a game. Maybe not a super polished AAA game, but it seems they are being ruthless about cutting features to keep it in budget. for $400,000 you could easily retain 4 people to work on it full time for a year.
- defen 15y ago
  > And in this case these guys are claiming that they're going to create a PC and a Mac version for $400,000? Really? Most "real" game cost many millions of dollars to bring to fruition. I got the impression that they were making the game anyway (for PC and tablets), and are going to use the kickstarter money to provide a Mac version, level editor, translations, additional character types, and possibly an additional city. Could be wrong though, it's not 100% clear and I agree that $400,000 can't possibly be enough to make a whole game of this magnitude.

fufulabs 15y ago

Wow! a bunch of people put in $10,000...

jiggy2011 15y ago
It wouldn't surprise me if that was the developers themselves and that was the money they used to buy their rights back.
- jerf 15y ago
  That doesn't make any sense. They're going to claim their own $10,000 slots and pay Kickstarter their cut on their own money?
  - jiggy2011 15y ago
    Your right I guess, I didn't think about that. Having said that if I was going to donate that kind of money to something I'd probably just cut them a cheque rather than putting it through a website.
  - huhtenberg 15y ago
    By the way - the cut appears to be 5%.
    - wccrawford 15y ago
      Plus the payment processor's cut. Another 5%.
- mkramlich 15y ago
  I doubt that's the explanation. But I don't doubt that either it's (a) astroturfing (fake), or (b) there really are a few people out there who are fans and have FU money to spend. (Think: FU money in the hands of successful techie biz owners, they do exist, and they have played computer games.)

pinaceae 15y ago

Shadowrun is such a great universe, that mixture of classic fantasy elements like elfs, orcs, magic with cyberpunk ala neuromancer really hit a nerve. wonder why there never was a movie or tv series in such a setting, seems way cooler than vampires. kickstarter seems to become the ycombinator for gaming, which is awesome in its own. will be interesting if they'll ever compete.

sbinetd 15y ago

It slightly irks me they moved from "Linux support is definitely on the table too!" to "a Linux version [...] beyond the scope of the project." But not quite as much as their move to add more technical content when they reach one million, rather than the expansion into GNU+Linux support. I do however understand their reasoning. Their cold, realistic and undoubtedly true reasoning.

joshaidan 15y ago

I'm wondering if a good idea for a startup would be to take the Kickstarter model and flip it backwards. Fans propose projects they would like to fund, others fund it, then the respective rights owners see this interest and receive the money for the project. There is a downside to this, which is the respective author might not be motivated anymore for the project and thus would do a poor job. Or worse, the company owning the rights to the projects, may decide it's not worth selling it back to the original author and therefore create their own version that's not up to par with the author's vision. Perhaps this could be avoided by specifically targeting the original author so that only s/he could receive the funding. But ultimately, I guess the problem is that if it's proven there's a huge interest in a project, then the current rights owner may be more reluctant to give up the rights or only at a much higher cost.

mrinterweb 15y ago

I still play the Shadowrun pencil and paper game weekly with a group of friends. I will definitely support this kickstarter.

jmcgough 15y ago

A bit off topic, but the new google glasses keep making me think of augmented reality in Shadowrun 4th Edition. So cool :p I'm really glad this kickstarter got funded, the Shadowrun universe has always been one of my favorites.

zdgman 15y ago

I am glad that more developers are deciding to do this and putting more control into the hands of their consumers. The biggest benefit to the developer here is that they have paid for initial development up front AND they get to sell this game on Steam and other market places once it releases. Even with a moderate PR push from any one of these companies if they sell 100K copies at 10 dollars a piece (or even less) they have come out WAY ahead on this project. Obviously a big publisher like Activision or EA is going to scoff at something like a 10 Million dollar profit when they need to fund the rest of their operations + split that revenue with the developer. They take risks but only when they know the chances of meeting their return percentage is higher than a certain threshold. What was the last game you can remember from a big publisher that took a huge risk?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

dromidas 15y ago

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm BACKIN THAT SH! That is all.