SR MMO, what edition would you want? Options

[James McMurray]

That puts you into group one. The group who can (and should) ignore technomancers. :)

[mfb]

sure. i'll ignore them. i won't be bitter about it, because i haven't worked my ass off towards the goal of contributing to SR officially, and came goddamn close to doing so. nor will i be upset because the game has gone from something i enjoyed playing to something i don't.

[James McMurray]

So you like the things that SR4 did (for the most part), except TMs? Why then, when you can simply delete TMs from your world, is Shadowrun something you no longer enjoy?

Or was that not sarcasm, and you really aren't upset about that?

[mfb]

you could at least do me the favor of reading what i write before you reply to it.

[James McMurray]

Do you mean I should go back and find every post you've made so I can sift through for the anti-SR4 ones, or that I missed something in that post?

If it's the former, Id' rather not, and the anti-SR commentary from the 3 or 4 truly vocal people all tends to bleed together into one large whine fest. If it's the latter, then you said you wouldn't be bitter and you wouldn't be upset. I assumed you were being sarcastic.

[mfb]

you're apparently too dim to get it, and i'm tired of talking to you. this is as good a place to stop doing so as any.

[James McMurray]

That's ok. People generally give up when they realize that there's no "blinding undeniable truth" to their beliefs that makes them as blatantly obvious to others as they are to themselves. It's human nature.

Thanks for answering my questions. :please:

[eralston]

Wow, 8 pages of this...

So what you're trying to say is that you want 4th edition, but want 3rd ed decker?

[Kagetenshi]

To begin to respond to your question would first require that you please, for the love of god, clarify that vague pronoun.

~J

[Skip]

I actually liked the variable staging of SR1, which is something much easier to work into a computer game. There's too much math for relatively fast game-play, if you've played SR1 you know what I mean. Yes, most of the rest of SR1 is best left for dead, but variable staging made for a much more varied game.

Reengaging my lurking field,

Skip

[ShadowDragon8685]

I think SR4 would be best, personally. AR would look so awesome in fully-realized 3d... Plus, if you made it a first-person role-playing-game, you'd finally have an excuse for the all-pervasive HUD and interface. :)

[Kagetenshi]

I disagree, precisely because I think a game like this is a perfect opportunity to throw the HUD out the window.

~J

[James McMurray]

Even with SR3 you could have a HUD.

[Kagetenshi]

You can indeed. That's personally what I'd be shooting for—no HUD whatsoever, and certain pieces of 'Ware (Smartlink, imagelink, retinal clock, biomonitor, etc. etc. etc.) fill one in if someone gets them. With AR, there's no reason not to have a HUD, which I'm not too keen on.

~J

[James McMurray]

You still need sensor packages for your HUD. Just having AR goggles isn't enough. It would be no different then giving everyone in a SR3 setting the ability to buy a HUD.

Why are you so opposed to a HUD if it makes sense within the game world?

[Kagetenshi]

Because we've had HUDs in almost every game since Quake II at the latest (and health/ammo displays since Wolfenstein 3D). I'd like building a HUD to be a tradeoff, which it is using SR3 (mostly requiring cyberware) and isn't in SR4 (most things, especially the key things like smartlinks, can be effectively done without 'ware). Sure with SR4 you can at least explain the HUD (which, don't get me wrong, I do appreciate), but it would pretty much be default-present.

~J

[Laser]

In SR3 goggles could do almost anything eye augs could do... LL, Thermo, magnification, smartlink, even smartlink 2, if memory serves.

[James McMurray]

You can get noncyberware displays in SR3, as well as noncyberware smartlinks. The only real difference between SR3 and SR4 in that area is AR, which in and of itself is not a HUD any more than an image link by itself is a HUD.

There is no reason to assume that a default HUD in SR4 would have anything at all. For an ammo count and health readout you'd need wireless enabled guns and a biomonitor respectively. For enemy targetting you'd need a smartlink or laser sight. For enemy tracking you'd need some sort of sensor device or they'd be undetectable outside your field of view.

[Shadow]

I think a HUD could be great. But I agree wit Kage, it should not be automatic. That would also be a clever way to diguise customizing your games appearence.

[Kagetenshi]

Correct, but that's a tradeoff as well—goggles aren't appropriate for social situations, say, or walking around on the street. Contact lenses or similarly-sized items are.

~J

[James McMurray]

"Goggles" have always been available as just sunglasses. I do agree that it shouldn't be free, but instead should eb built from the ground up by purchasing various packages for it. The only thing I disagree with is the idea that a HUD is a bad idea for a game and that for some reason SR4 is worse than SR3 in this regard because of AR (which has little to nothing to do with HUDs).

[Kagetenshi]

The problem being that AR makes the capabilities that allow a HUD critical rather than optional.

~J

[Kanada Ten]

You could actually screw with the HUD in SR4 more than 3 using Spam Zones (you'd be shutting off the damn thing most often in public places) or Jammer Zones (activated inside corporate complexes and secure areas when an alarm is tripped), not to mention Dead Zones.

Honestly, a HUD is a basic function of AR, but we could also argue that AR would replace a lot of the HUD with other sensations or ques besides visual. Many of these could be turned into voice alerts (not to mention your pop-up secretary) or more subtle visual effects (which would take time to grasp, I know) for a video game format.

[e] Random ideas: Miracle Shooter as the training section of the game. 3D HUD system, rather than flat face. Have different features "off to the side" or in the "rear view" - especially things like nano healing and inventory (which would be delt with in real time, rather than a pause screen).

This post has been edited by Kanada Ten: May 12 2006, 11:03 PM

[James McMurray]

[Kagetenshi]

Brain ear leaking melted.

Tomorrow post.

~J