CountZeroInt
Banned
So even a Microsoft Program Manager got so irate about Shadowrun being an FPS and being so insulting that he was offering the studio manager to come punch him in the face.
Since then it seems like things have mellowed out a bit and this fellow and a couple of his RPG friends got to visit FASA and playtest Shadowrun.
http://www.philiprichardson.org/blog/default.aspx
http://spaces.msn.com/adnauseam/
Since then it seems like things have mellowed out a bit and this fellow and a couple of his RPG friends got to visit FASA and playtest Shadowrun.
http://www.philiprichardson.org/blog/default.aspx
http://spaces.msn.com/adnauseam/
Running in the Shadows
(this is my first attempt at writing an entry via the blogging feature of Office 2007. Sorry if it craps out in some bad way, and you get 500 copies of this post, or something)
Theres a bit of backstory involved in this post. The post in general entails high levels of geekery, including references to role-playing games, video games, and the all important geek topic of what is and what isnt cannon in a given fantasy universe. If you arent interested in at least one of these topics, this is probably one of those posts you can skip.
Lets see... some years ago, Microsoft bought FASA Studios, mostly for the Battletech IP, which along with the Crimson Skies IP, has seen moderate success on the PC and Xbox. Along with the acquisition came the Shadowrun and Earthdawn RPGs. Shadowrun was an RPG that first appeared in the late 80s, and combines fantasy and cyberpunk, neither of which is terribly innovative on its own, but the Shadowrun combination meant Elven hackers, wizards with spellbooks on PDAs, and big ol trolls with bigger machine guns. It had video game releases on NES and Genesis many years ago, but in recent times, FASA has been quiet about what they were doing with the brand. Turns out theyve been quietly working on something for a few years now, but they waited until the E3 expo last month to show anything.
What they showed surprised a lot of people, but not in a good way. Their game was a first person shooter, set some 30 years before the original Shadowrun game, and moved from the original default city of Seattle and into Brazil. It didnt look like the Shadowrun most people knew. How do you introduce magic and spellcasters into a shooter? How does a decker or a rigger, both staples of the Shadowrun universe, fit in to a shooter? Most typical Shadowrun adventures deal with finding something, or stealing something, or sneaking in somewhere, with some exciting shootouts along the way, but as a whole, a shooter? It just didnt make sense. Theyve bastardized Shadowrun, the detractors said.
I wasnt enthusiastic about what I saw at E3. On an internal RPG discussion list (yeah, we have corp supported discussion folders for RPGs. one of the minor perks of working with 30,000 other geeks) my friend Philip posted I heard the butchered it. Did they butcher it? and I responded If by butchered, you mean changed the date from 2050 to 2021, moved the game to Brazil instead of Seattle, broke the game down to either youre an Elven Shaman or Elven Mage, and reimagined trolls as lizard skinned, bull horned brutes then yeah, I guess they butchered it. Philip took things a step further. On his blog, he posted a pretty scathing entry, ending it with If you work for FASA and you are reading this then I welcome you to take the shuttle over to my office and punch me the face. Seriously: I won't be offended since your damn game just kicked me the metaphoric balls. Harsh.
So apparently, when you blog something like that, heres what happens: The manager of FASA studios, only two levels removed from Peter Moore himself, sends you an email saying can we all come over and punch you in the face, or just one of us? Instead, why dont you come over for lunch and let us show you the game. See if you change your mind.
Phil agreed of course, but then had second thoughts. Would they really show him the game, or just slit his throat and leave his body in the dumpster? What if they all lined up for their turn to punch him in the face? He opted to bring along Tim and I, just so thered be witnesses if things turned sour. That lunch meeting happened today. Im typing this, which you can take as a sign that none of us had our throats slit. We got to see the game, and play the game, and my impressions are different than they were based on just the E3 trailers I saw.
Different enough that they warrant their own post, immediately following this one.
Legwork: Hacking FASA
Just getting into any of the Xbox related buildings at Microsoft requires an invite. While employee badges will get you in to just about any campus building, at any time of day or night, they wont get you in to any of the Xbox buildings. Or Bungie, or FASA. We had a golden ticket though, and her name was Dana. Through the lobby we were first greeted by a couple of big (5) replicas of planes from Crimson Skies. We went around a corner and into the Fasa studios proper, which were furnished with a bunch of the old cockpit pods from the Battletech virtual pilot game center places. I remember trying one of the places in Vegas back in 1994 I think? I recall there were a bunch of pilots there that were really into it.. one guy had a flight jacket with medals on it and they all referred to each other by their call signs. I guess the game centers werent too successful, as all the pods were now in use as decorations. I tried not to be too fan-boyish as we went passed, but I did peek in to one of the pods, and saw that the flight sticks and controls were still present. Cool.
We also walked passed a wall covered with concept art for Shadowrun. Im a big fan of art like this, and really would have liked to spend several minutes just checking it all out, taking in each sketch, drawing, and full color piece, but we were still unsure what kind of reception to expect, and I thought it best to just stay with our host. If I ever get an invite back, Ill try and spend some time checking out the wall. As we walked passed, Dana looked back at us weve used you as a fund raiser, and collected $5 from each person that wants to punch you in the face. Theyre all lined up back here. We laughed nervously, unsure how serious she was. She told us that there was a playtest going on, and that they would take us in to one of the rooms to watch. The rooms are set up across the hall from each other. One door is labeled Corp and the other Tribal, for the two factions in the game. I could hear gunfire coming from behind the doors, which I hoped was coming from the playtest, and that we werent about to walk in to the Flame-Blogger-Execution-Chamber. Just before we entered, we were introduced to several more FASA folks, including the community manager. Hes the poor guy taking all the heat in the online forums from the diehard Shadowrun fans. They described to us a little about what was going on inside the rooms. Each room was set up with 8 stations, with an Xbox and a PC at each one. The playtesters were on Xbox today, but they test on PC as well, depending on which build is more stable on a given day. You could tell that these guys played the game a lot. There was lots of communication about what they were doing, movements and tactics by the other team, etc. There was some mandatory trash talking, too (I got sniped by Snoop? Dude, theres no way hes fast enough to snipe me. Hey, even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes.). Dana and the others we met on the way in explained to us what we were seeing. Theyd point out interesting things on the heads-up-display, like a players available mana or essence, or describe a spell effect we were seeing.
I decided something after watching for about 45 seconds. This game was Shadowrun. Big guns, little guns. Trolls with katanas. The magic effects were modified to fit into a shooter, but they were there and recognizable. The game we were watching was constant firefight action, not a stealthy Splinter Cell type game. I asked if the frenetic pace was typical. Depends on the map, and the gametype, someone explained. It actually varies based on where the teams are with regards to the current objective, with this gametype. We have another gametype thats more strategic. This map is also a little small for 8v8, so youre seeing lots of engagement. We watched for a while, our hosts pointing out things that were happening as we went. They mentioned several times that this game was about teamwork. You needed a balanced eam, with a mix of races, magic and tech to be successful. Between matches, the players would talk up what they were doing, who was buying what, to get ready for the next round. They pointed out one player using a new power, one he had just coded and was using for the first time. I wont give it away, but for RPGers, theres a pretty common reconnaissance technique Shadowrunners use before going in somewhere, and this was the shooter style implementation. They were all excited about it and kept giving props to the dev that worked on it. After a bit, they suggested we go grab some lunch and talk somewhere not so riddled with the sound of gunfire.
They apologized for their cafeteria on the way over. It was small, but typical for a campus trough. We grabbed food and joined our 5 hosts at a table. They asked us what questions we had. I went first.
Ok, youve captured the feel of Shadowrun, which doesnt really show through in the E3 trailers, but I saw it today. I still want to ask though, why a shooter? Microsoft already has 2 studios putting out shooters, why do another?
Because we havent done one yet. The pride and passion about their work was immediately apparent. FASA studios has been about great multiplayer experience, so we know we can do this well. I had to agree with that point. My experience with their games has been primarily on Xbox with MechWarrior and Crimson Skies, but both those games offered great multiplayer and innovative gametypes. It was clear that all these folks were gamers. They talked about their WoW characters. They talk about RPGs theyd played, and other games theyd worked on. One of our hosts explained that playtest sessions like the one wed seen take place twice a day, every day. The first 16 people to show up go in to the rooms and start playing. They only had one map they played at first, but they still had to turn people away every day. For two and a half years. Thats dedication to making the best product they could. For two and a half years, they had one map, and twice every day they turn people away from the playtest because they have enough.
We asked them about Live Anywhere this will be the first game that will allow players on Xbox to play with players on PCs. We asked them about some of the changes theyd made to the Shadowrun cannon. They became a little more serious at this point. Many people inside FASA werent happy with the concessions theyd made. It came down to time/money/resources issues. There were things they wanted to do differently, but couldnt. Heres a secret about Microsoft the company doesnt have big piles of money, the board of directors do. Individual product groups have very tight budgets and have to fight for and justify every $ they spend. When youre a big product like Office, its easier to get money, which means more developers, more testers, and more features. When youre a smaller product group and your total forecast revenue would be a rounding error for the Office team, you have to make do with what you have. Thats what happened to FASA. Theyre dealing with some legacy groundwork in the game changes to the cannon they made to support features that theyve now had to cut. Most of the player races in Shadowrun are in their game, with one glaring omission they just dont have the resources to add it in, balance it against the other races, and still finish their product. They dont have the luxury of pulling a Bungie well ship when were ready. Bill Gates stood up and announced that theyd ship on Vista and Xbox at the same time, at the Vista launch. Since they cant extend their date, and they cant get more resources to work on it, they have to cut some things out in order to make their dates. No one at the table was happy about it. Clearly, they all were very proud of what they were able to accomplish, and wanted very, very much for people to like their game.
After we finished lunch, they asked the coolest question ever: Did we want to go give the game a try?
Showdown: Hands on with Shadowrun
We made our way back to the playtest room, where the playtesters had cleared out to go back to their real jobs. Our hosts came with us, some of them pairing up with us to coach us through the game, others sitting down to join the game to give us someone to shoot at.
I need to make something clear that I had it backwards until I got a chance to see and play the game myself. Everyone who saw the trailer and said thats not Shadowrun Shadowrun would be xxx is doing it backwards. FASA took a different tactic. They wanted to build a shooter. Thats what they do best. Then, they took the Shadowrun IP off the shelf, and figured out how to fit some of the Shadowrun coolness into it. This is a game that will appeal to FPS fans first, and Shadowrun fans second. For fans of both, its like peanut butter and chocolate: two great tastes that taste great together.
We picked teams, and they explained to us a little about the different races. Elves, for example, are the most magical race. They have the most essence, which means they can cast more spells before running out of mana, and their mana recharges faster. They also move faster, and they recharge health when theyre not being shot at. Elves move a little slower when carrying big weapons. Makes sense, I guess. The dainty little dandelion eaters dont have the muscle to haul a big gun around, and with the lowest health of all the races, are really more suited to hit-and-run guerilla style tactics. Trolls have the most health, but theyre slow. Dwarves also have some very nice powers that make them unique and fill another specialized role on a team. Like they told us earlier, a successful team will have lots of different types of characters. When a game starts, you get a shopping menu, not unlike Counterstrike. You only start with just a little money to spend. Will you buy a rifle? A resurrection spell? A smartlink? The game has actually started when the shopping menu comes up, so you dont want to spend too much time deciding. Different things you do in the game will earn you more cash, like killing opponents or capturing the flag. If you resurrect a fallen teammate, you get money for it, and you also take half the money they earn after you resurrect them. Its a nice strategy twist you can still make lots of money playing in a pure support role for your team. The shopping model effects the pace of the round, too. In early rounds, each team is limited to cheap weapons and spells, so the game is a little more strategic. As you start earning money for the bigger effects and guns, the action gets hotter and faster.
I dropped most of my money on spells, and the way these are implemented is a nice mix of things that fit well in the game, but still have a Shadowrun flavor. When you die, you drop your weapons, and I died a lot, so investing in spells that I retained from round to round make more sense. You map your spells to the triggers on the Xbox controller, so its really easy to drop a healing tree where your teammates need it. The teleport in particular is very well implemented. When you hit the button, it hops you ahead in whatever direction youre heading. If you jump and teleport, youll end up on the floor above where you were. If youre running towards a wall, youll appear on the other side of it. I was able to pick up on using it pretty easily, and hopped through a wall to fire my shotgun at the troll guarding the flag on the other side. As he turned around to shoot back, I backed up, teleporting through the wall again, leaving him no one to shoot at. Since I was staring at the wall Id just teleported through, I could see the effect of the wall melting back in to place behind me. I like that effect. I said. yeah, its cool. Said my host. the guy that wrote it is right there, he added, pointing out one of the guys we were playing with. Again, these guys were very proud of what theyd done.
For the next round, I decided to grab a sniper rifle and take advantage of my newly perfected teleport skills to get to a vantage point for some headshots. I popped a couple rounds into the head of a troll that was peeking around a corner. Nice shot! I heard someone say. if you crouch when firing, your accuracy goes up. A nice touch, I thought.
Phil had a meeting to get back to, so we had to wrap up our visit and make our way back to main campus. We chatted a bit more as they walked us back out.
I was again struck by how proud they were of their product, and how much time theyve put in to it. I get the impression that they were genuinely surprised by the vitriolic feedback theyve gotten, and their feelings were hurt by it. The danger of working for years on a project in secret means that you can lose touch with your target customer, and I wonder if theyd forgotten how much a departure this was from the RPG. Theyve been defining Shadowrun as a shooter for the past 2+ years, and have forgotten that the rest of us define it differently. They shouldnt change their game its great at what it is. They need to work on their messaging. This is a game for FPS fans looking for a new twist. The Shadowrun RPG fans should look at this as a way to introduce more fans to their beloved tabletop game.
What do you think? Do you like it? These questions were asked several times during the course of our visit. They really love this game. They really want it to be successful, and for other people to love it too. You could see it in their eyes, in their questions, the pleading: Like our game, please.
Dont worry FASA, I do like your game. I wont be the only one.
As mentioned earlier I had lunch with the Shadowrun team today. I was invited over to FASA studios (part of the Microsoft Game Studios) because I'd had some passionate things to say about their new game. I also brought along a couple of other gamers: Adam and Tim who are also long term SR fans. Although I should point out that we are NOT rapid fans. I'm actually selling up my Shadowrun books since I'm playing less RPGs nowadays. If anyone is interested please email me. I'll cut you a special deal if you work for FASA (I'll even through in a receipt so you can expense it).
At first I was a little nervous and hoping I wouldn't have to invole the name of Robert Scoble to avoid any blog induced retribution. Fortunately everything was very friendly and light hearted so there was no need for Robert to appear in a super hero costume.
So I played the game and let just say this: it's good. Yes folks: it's share price increasingly good. I can't blog about specific features but I can say I enjoyed it and I have low pain threshold for crappy games. It is an excellent and well thought out squad based shooter. It will appeal to PC and Xbox gamers alike and shared PC/Console gamespace will change the way people think about online gaming.
Now, on to the difficult bit: The Shadowrun universe. I know have a good understanding of how the team arrived at the current storyline (why a squad based shooter actually needs one is a matter of debate). I have to say that the game itself actually works really well in 2050 'classic' Shadowrun. There are couple of tweaks (needed for a squad shooter - but these are entirely neccessary and forgivable). The stuff which was shown at E3 does not do justice to this game. Here is a quick summary of the 'fan offensive' level of the game:
Artwork: Feels like Shadowrun. Good Job! The SR universe has a lot of different types of artwork (as Tim pointed out yesterday). From the gritty stuff in the early source books to the more cartoonish work in the more recent editions.
Gameplay: Feels like Shadowrun. One particulary moment struck me as 'very' Shadowrun: When I saw an Elf meld through a wall carrying a submachingune.
Backstory: Needs some work here. A bit of butchered Shadowrun. My advice to FASA: Cut it out. You don't need much backstory for a squad shooter!