High Tech and Low Life

[Avatar Of Woe]

Hey guys, just to let you know I've started hacking things together for the Shadowrun Total Conversion.

 

Thing is I've hit a snag, and I'm liable to hit some more as development continues, so this thread is to discuss workarounds for everything that goes wrong, anything you'd really like to see, adventure fluff submissions, questions and whatever. Just toss in any idea you have, and someone somewhere will find it useful eventually.

 

 

Lets start with this: As part of the mod, I'd like money and lifestyle to matter.

 

For money, I need to reduce money regularly and track the amount of money to do stuff like increase stress when you can't pay rent, etc.

 

For lifestyle, I need to be able to effect rent (the amount of money regularly removed), be able to change lifestyle (from homeless, to poor, to middle class, etc.), and provide an effect for each lifestyle as a way to encourage players to move up the list.

 

I can't think of how to simulate this behavior in the mod tools. Any ideas?

[Schwarzbart]

For Regular payment (wasnt it in advance payment in Shadowrun?) I would make a "Holiday" adventure once a month there you also could place the change betwean livestyle. + you can give out the temporary bonus for the livestyle in this adventure

[Avatar Of Woe]

Schwarzbart, so you'd want to see something like this once a month?

 

 

<Coffin Motel Event>

Main Text

 

zzz...

zzz...

zzzap!

 

*THUMP*

 

“Drek!”

 

An electric shock jerks you awake and your head slams into the ceiling a few inches above.

 

You rub your head awkwardly but the coffin is too close to your sides to reach properly.

 

A green light is flashing into your face, you blink until your eyes make out the words on the screen.

 

“Reservation Expired. Renew Y/N?”

 

The coffin gives you another painful shock just to check your awake.

 

Exit1: Say “Yes”

Test: Money => 100

Success: You pay for another month of claustrophobia in a can and are rewarded with the smiling face of a corporate logo. The light in your eye thanks you for shopping at Aztechnology Transit Hotels and hopes you'll enjoy your stay. You turn your head and go back to sleep.

 

Add or Retain Emotion: “Life in a Coffin”.

 

Failure: You briefly see a message flash on the screen “Error: Credit Exceeded” and then you're rudely flushed out of the cubical.

 

Looks like you need to find somewhere else to squat tonight.

 

Expand Stress

Remove Emotion: “Life in a Coffin”

Force Start: Lifestyle Event

 

Exit2: Say “No”

 

You crawl outside and leave.

 

Remove Emotion: “Life in a Coffin”

Force Start: Lifestyle Event

 

 

 

<Lifestyle Event>

You're shopping for new digs. What do you choose?

 

Exit1: Just pick a building that hasn't fallen down yet. (Street Lifestyle)

Add Emotion: “Life on the Streets”

 

Exit2: A high density, fully automated Coffin Motel. (Low Lifestyle)

Prerequisite: Money => 100

Add Emotion: “Life in a Coffin”

Reduce Money by 100

 

Exit3: An apartment in the hotel district (Middle Lifestyle)

Prerequisite: Money => 500

Add Emotion: “Life in Boringburg”

Reduce Money by 500

 

Exit4: The penthouse suite of a full-service hotel (High Lifestyle)

Prerequisite: Money => 1000

Add Emotion: “Life at the Top”

Reduce Money by 1000

[Schwarzbart]

Its how I think you can probably handle it the easyst way within the limitations of the Moding Tool.

[Avatar Of Woe]

If nobody minds then I suppose it will do. Lifestyle assets can be handled a similar way, go on an adventure and be rewarded with a garage.

 

Another important thing, I gather from this post by the Legate that Daily Classes are mandatory.

 

The game requires several things- a University, Colleges, at least 6 Classes, I believe.

 

Can anyone think of ways around having classes, or of ways to use classes in a Shadowrun setting?

 

I was thinking of making classes like “Eating” “Sleeping” “TV” etc. or integrating them into the Lifestyles somehow, but these are silly ideas. Anyone got a better one?

[Legate of Mineta]

Day Job?

[Avatar Of Woe]

Day Job?

 

Shadowrunners are criminal mercenaries.

 

Why risk your life for money when you can have a normal job?

[Legate of Mineta]

Heh, I was thinking of that drawback 'Day Job'.

 

You can run a quick test, though- create an AMO with all the requirements except Classes, and see if the Client will run without. You may be able to get away without any Classes at all...

[Avatar Of Woe]

You can run a quick test, though- create an AMO with all the requirements except Classes, and see if the Client will run without. You may be able to get away without any Classes at all...

 

And with that, he did.

 

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that it takes less then a minute to publish Official Content if it has practically nothing in it. The bad news is that I can't start the game with any combination of the requirements listed above.

 

Legate, are there any requirements that you haven't told us about?

[Legate of Mineta]

Woe;

 

Not off the top of my head- try filling in a few other details, such as an Instructor for the Classes, the Legate for the University, and Regent for the Colleges. Essentially, make sure that all information on the General tabs are filled in. Possibly, you may want to make a Background for each Background Type as well.

[Avatar Of Woe]

try filling in a few other details, such as an Instructor for the Classes, the Legate for the University, and Regent for the Colleges. Essentially, make sure that all information on the General tabs are filled in. Possibly, you may want to make a Background for each Background Type as well.

 

Done and done, though most of the entitites do nothing or Expand Stress. I've replaced the OfficialContent folder with the published file, start a new game, and get a message saying application will be terminated.

 

Has anoyone been able to get a blank official content file to work?

[Legate of Mineta]

Woe;

 

Hmm, I'll see what I can dig up. From memory, that's all we needed in our first tests...but the client has also come a loooong way. Maybe it needs graphics for the Colleges, etc.?

[Avatar Of Woe]

Well, it's not a problem with images.

 

I suspect that an object name is hardcoded, but that's just wild speculation.

[Legate of Mineta]

Woe;

 

It shouldn't be...but then again, it does sound like it.

[89157Z]

I just wanted to say that although I don't know what advice to offer I am nevertheless watching this thread with interest. Not only does a Shadowrun mod seem like a cool idea, I'm also going to mine threads like this for techniques and information to use in my own efforts at modding.

[Avatar Of Woe]

I just wanted to say that although I don't know what advice to offer I am nevertheless watching this thread with interest. Not only does a Shadowrun mod seem like a cool idea, I'm also going to mine threads like this for techniques and information to use in my own efforts at modding.

 

Excellent, more modders can only be a good thing.

 

And if you can't contribute to this project directly, you can still post your own experiences around the forum. It's still the early days, so it's like an untouched wilderness waiting for hackers to discover it's secrets.

 

But enough talk, let us mod.

 

For Science!

[Avatar Of Woe]

Design Update: Cyberware

 

Cyberware, and later Bioware, is a huge part of Shadowrun. Firstly it's the great equalizer for mundanes against magic. Secondly it permutes the setting in every way, you can't walk down the street without seeing someone with a robot arm or fake eyes, and public opinion spans the full range from revolution to idolization. Thirdly it's an excellent metaphor for the dehumanizing effect of technology run wild, and part of the larger theme of being manipulated by things far greater then the individual.

 

Basically it just isn't Shadowrun without the 'ware. So how are we to model this?

 

I've three questions that need to be sounded out before deciding, chime in if you have any thoughts or opinions.

 

1) Do you want your Cyberware to be permanent or interchangeable?

 

This is the difference between cyberware as a one-shot action and cyberware as an item. As an action it allows you to keep your inventory free for other things, though I don't know what those things would be yet. As an item you can use the convenient body slots in the inventory screen, take advantage of the shopping system, and probably mix and match effects in a more flexible way.

 

2) Do you want to see Essence and Magic loss?

 

A huge part of the whole dehumanizing thing is that it's literal. Essence loss means that every piece of 'ware you use take another chip from your soul, bringing you closer to the inanimate machine that The Man wants you to be. As a side effect it also takes you further away from the living force of Magic, so mages lose their powers in addition to emotional death.

 

But we don't necessarily have to do that to the player. Would you prefer Essence Loss without the Magic Loss? Or the option of becoming a magical cyber-juggernaut with no restrictions at all? Or would you like to go all the way to the extremes and become the mythical Cyber-Zombie Shadowrunner? Vote your favorite, and we'll decide how to implement it later.

 

3) Finally, how extreme do you want your range of Cyberware? That's a wide open question I'll sub divide this one for ease of use.

 

Nightmare-ware: Do you want to replace your hands with steel tentacles? Wear cyber-limbs proportioned closer to an elephant? Mix your genes with cats, lizards and bears? Scoop your brain out and live though remote controlled drones?

 

Subtle-ware: Do you think Cyborgs should have more subtle assets? Like bone reinforcement, discrete implanted data-jacks, pheromone enhancers, replacement limbs that look and function like a very healthy human?

 

Side-effect-ware: Do you think that having parts of you that you knew weren't real would drive you mad? Do you think that forcing unnatural powers on your body should provoke a bad reaction? Things like Wired Reflexes that make you faster then lightning, but twitchy and prone to moving before thinking. Bullet proof skin that removes your sense of touch. Eyes that can pinpoint the hairs on a fly from a mile away, but get bombarded with Spam advertising when you walk down the street.

 

Fashion-ware: Cyberware thats just for fun. Things like skin that changes color with your mood, Cat ears for no reason, or a masterfully sculpted bum. The kind of things that you would expect bored young people with lots of money, no sense of style and access to high tech surgeries with a hankering for the bizarre.

 

 

:phew: Long post.

[89157Z]

I love Nightmare-ware, but it opens a can of worms. For instance, the remote-control drones thing is liable to induce the cyberzombie decay of body and/or mind (which I don't recall being especially mythical, but something that the corporations would occasionally force on people to get a high-functioning, fully expendable asset that is dependent on them). Also consider that there's nothing 'unliving' about mixed genes, so what would it do to your essence and magic? Imagine a shaman that uses surgical and genefixing techniques to alter himself into an image, mind and body, closer to his totem. Should he lose essence for becoming unnatural?

[Nyaa]

1) Interchangeable cyberware would be more faithful to the original and make inventory, shopping, and equipment more fun to play with.

 

2) Magic loss, no restriction sucks.

 

3) Nightmare ware is a hell yes, I would guess that works like Side-effect-ware except dropping charm like crazy. Fashion ware on the other hand, will raise charm.

 

Subtle-ware should be weak or expansive.

[Iselwin]

I'll chime in with a remark that if a project ever comes to halt due to Academagia modding limitations, I'd be much obliged to offer my (ASCII, console-based) Academagia-imitating engine and my coding skills as a much more flexible alternative .

[Avatar Of Woe]

Also consider that there's nothing 'unliving' about mixed genes, so what would it do to your essence and magic? Imagine a shaman that uses surgical and genefixing techniques to alter himself into an image, mind and body, closer to his totem. Should he lose essence for becoming unnatural?

 

Those are some interesting questions! I feel that while gene splicing may not technically be unliving it is most certainly unnatural, same as all forms of bioware. I believe one of the books (can't remember which, 3rd ed Street Magic maybe) described essence loss as something like moving further away from your Astral Image, which is a byword for your soul. Basically changing your physical form through invasive surgery or gene splicing would cause your body to be dissimilar to your soul, thus making it harder to overlay your spiritual existence with your physical existence. In other words you would be further removed from your soul. Or something like that.

 

As for a shaman emulating his totem, I'm reminded of some of the trials you had to go through to learn Meta-magic. It sounds like a spiritual journey of transformation, where you sacrifice some of your raw magic (through essence loss) to learn more about the nature of magic (by gaining meta-magic techniques). That could make for an awesome story if done right.

 

Just my 2 cence.

 

 

I love Nightmare-ware, but it opens a can of worms. For instance, the remote-control drones thing is liable to induce the cyberzombie decay of body and/or mind (which I don't recall being especially mythical, but something that the corporations would occasionally force on people to get a high-functioning, fully expendable asset that is dependent on them).

 

I suspect that the rules are different in some of the latest 4th ed books, which offer full conversion cyborgs (at least I think they do, I haven't read them), but usually packing yourself with ware didn't make you a zombie, just briefly insane and then dead. A true cyber-zombie was an abomination, a person whose spirit was bound to their own corpse, capable of magic with tons of Nightmare-ware augmentations. They were so heinous that they would warp astral space around themselves, making magic impossible.

 

I haven't a clue about remote drones. I hope to include them, but I don't have many ideas yet.

 

 

I'll chime in with a remark that if a project ever comes to halt due to Academagia modding limitations, I'd be much obliged to offer my (ASCII, console-based) Academagia-imitating engine and my coding skills as a much more flexible alternative

 

Now there's a generous offer! Do please tell me more about your engine.

[Iselwin]

Now there's a generous offer! Do please tell me more about your engine.

 

Take a look:

http://rapidshare.com/files/433345708/Demo.zip

 

It is pretty functional already, even though this exact project has almost no content in it (I am really bad at making game content). But there's some pretty beefy stuff supported internally; the only problem is, all current dialogues\events are hardcoded, since I had no need for externalizing data in one-man project. The bright side: syntax for dialogue\event files wasn't decided yet, so if you ever take on the offer, we can work out a universally convenient description format. Bad side: you aren't getting any GUI, all the writing will have to be done in good ol' text editor, though I will be able prepare some templates.

 

Dialogues themselves can set\read global triggers and counters, take in account your spells, items, skills, stats, make RNG rolls, call trader window and combat mode, and, of course, can always be expanded upon, so you'll most certainly have more than enough to play with .

 

p. s. Music and sounds are supported, graphics are not and won't be.

[Avatar Of Woe]

Take a look:

http://rapidshare.com/files/433345708/Demo.zip

 

It is pretty functional already, even though this exact project has almost no content in it (I am really bad at making game content). But there's some pretty beefy stuff supported internally; the only problem is, all current dialogues\events are hardcoded, since I had no need for externalizing data in one-man project. The bright side: syntax for dialogue\event files wasn't decided yet, so if you ever take on the offer, we can work out a universally convenient description format. Bad side: you aren't getting any GUI, all the writing will have to be done in good ol' text editor, though I will be able prepare some templates.

 

Dialogues themselves can set\read global triggers and counters, take in account your spells, items, skills, stats, make RNG rolls, call trader window and combat mode, and, of course, can always be expanded upon, so you'll most certainly have more than enough to play with .

 

p. s. Music and sounds are supported, graphics are not and won't be.

 

Is the demo supposed to do more then cycle through three screens, or am I doing something wrong?

 

Are you willing to share the source code?

 

And what's the restriction on graphics?

[Iselwin]

Is the demo supposed to do more then cycle through three screens, or am I doing something wrong?

 

Are you willing to share the source code?

 

And what's the restriction on graphics?

 

Press <Escape> to confirm your choice of a character.

Source code - sure.

Restriction: zero graphics .

[Avatar Of Woe]

Press <Escape> to confirm your choice of a character.

Source code - sure.

Restriction: zero graphics .

 

Any chance of mouse support?

 

What do think about throwing in some roguelike RPG type exploration, using maps in ascii style?

 

Seriously, what do you have against graphics? Or at least seperating the console into a three column format or something?