Shadowrun did most everything right
Posted: October 27th, 2015, 5:50 am
Hi all,
Like many others, I spend a lot of time thinking of game rules despite the fact that I am unlikely to ever make anything myself, and I have to say Shadowrun got most things right.
Cooldowns (made even better than Paper Sorcerer), small party and not solo but occasionally you must go solo, special rewards for whichever line of profession you chose, very storybased (although it did lack somewhat on freedom, something we have gotten used to, I think the perfect middleground would be something like (Shadowrun + Guardian Legend + The Witcher + Baldurs Gate) / 4 would be the perfect formula), pitched battles instead of "corner" attack a foe one by one (Red Steel 2 is also a poster child for this, in fact, I think Red Steel 2 did it better than anyone else, including Shadowrun and even Realmz), and sleek - although perhaps to sleek, a just somewhat lower pace wouldnt have hurt. And perhaps more decent non-playable character interaction and development - but then you really need a game the length of Baldurs Gate to make it work, for a shorter game to deep character immersion is just annoying.
And finally, skills become increasingly more expensive to encourage diversification of skills, but to much diversification makes you suffer, so you still invest more heavily in one line of profession AND if you chose to absolutely to go all balls in for one particular line of profession you are also rewarded when your stats precisely fits the bill (although then truly suffer when it doesnt). But thats not all - as far as I am concerned (I have not played every single game in existance) they added some truly interesting innovation to this bit. You can only have 4-6 spells equipped at all times, and 2 to 4 weapons (I think) which makes decking, rigging and fighting compete and then armor and cyber compete, and then cyber and magic compete, and so on. This REALLY makes you think twice how you build your character, or how you equip for mission etc and which allies you bring and so on and so forth.
"But cooldowns and limited equipment and sending stuff to stash is not realistic!!!"
Yeah, but taking a fistful of bullets from a caliber 45 in your face at two meters range and live to tell the tale is. My opionon is that realism is like a desert - its a good way to top of your dinner, but it cant be ALL you get to eat, and it shouldnt take the focus away from the rest of the food. IF you can make a game truly realistic and still fun to play, congrats. If you cant, always pick playability.
Well, thats my thoughts, anyways.
Like many others, I spend a lot of time thinking of game rules despite the fact that I am unlikely to ever make anything myself, and I have to say Shadowrun got most things right.
Cooldowns (made even better than Paper Sorcerer), small party and not solo but occasionally you must go solo, special rewards for whichever line of profession you chose, very storybased (although it did lack somewhat on freedom, something we have gotten used to, I think the perfect middleground would be something like (Shadowrun + Guardian Legend + The Witcher + Baldurs Gate) / 4 would be the perfect formula), pitched battles instead of "corner" attack a foe one by one (Red Steel 2 is also a poster child for this, in fact, I think Red Steel 2 did it better than anyone else, including Shadowrun and even Realmz), and sleek - although perhaps to sleek, a just somewhat lower pace wouldnt have hurt. And perhaps more decent non-playable character interaction and development - but then you really need a game the length of Baldurs Gate to make it work, for a shorter game to deep character immersion is just annoying.
And finally, skills become increasingly more expensive to encourage diversification of skills, but to much diversification makes you suffer, so you still invest more heavily in one line of profession AND if you chose to absolutely to go all balls in for one particular line of profession you are also rewarded when your stats precisely fits the bill (although then truly suffer when it doesnt). But thats not all - as far as I am concerned (I have not played every single game in existance) they added some truly interesting innovation to this bit. You can only have 4-6 spells equipped at all times, and 2 to 4 weapons (I think) which makes decking, rigging and fighting compete and then armor and cyber compete, and then cyber and magic compete, and so on. This REALLY makes you think twice how you build your character, or how you equip for mission etc and which allies you bring and so on and so forth.
"But cooldowns and limited equipment and sending stuff to stash is not realistic!!!"
Yeah, but taking a fistful of bullets from a caliber 45 in your face at two meters range and live to tell the tale is. My opionon is that realism is like a desert - its a good way to top of your dinner, but it cant be ALL you get to eat, and it shouldnt take the focus away from the rest of the food. IF you can make a game truly realistic and still fun to play, congrats. If you cant, always pick playability.
Well, thats my thoughts, anyways.