Eternal gloom exists for the player-characters, and therefore the players, rather than being literally the case for the broader setting, although even for the latter there is meant to be widespread environmental devastation with any golf courses, gardens, and parks likely being artificial creations maintained only by extreme wealth. Certainly the color cover art of the Cyberpunk 2020 books reinforced the notion that the players would always be active in the night (or daytime so overcast/rainy as to be indistinguishable):Yes. And what about "the glittering cittadels of the riches, the fine food, the beautiful scenarios"? You know, the unsufferable contrasts intrinsic to any cyberpunk society ever depicted in a novel
From the Night City Sourcebook:
"The most exclusive corporate-owned suburb in the area, EE caters to only the highest ranking Corpzoners and their assistants. Although it's been nicknamed a "beaverville", the name doesn't really apply to this stately sweep of million dollar homes, lush gardens and parks, huge greenbelts and golf courses, and private AV-pads. EE dwellers are among the very richest people of the Night Ci Area, and have the security and power to make sure they stay undisturbed."
Playing golf at 2:30 am or under eternal acid rains seems a bit unlikely
Law-enforcement ("cops") was one of the eight roles available to player-characters in the original Cyberpunk 2013 rules and one of the ten roles available in Cyberpunk 2020, as was the "corporate" role for someone in the service of a megacorporation rather than the remnant of a government.
If one takes the time to actually read the Night City sourcebook, a clear idea forms in his mind: It's mostly a beliviable place, a city that reflects the society who inhabits it. You got combat zones and peaceful sub-urbs, business centers and recreational districts, shitholes and artificial paradises (heck, there is even a park in 2020 version!). And players are meant to visit all these places one day or another.Eternal gloom exists for the player-characters, and therefore the players, rather than being literally the case for the broader setting, although even for the latter there is meant to be widespread environmental devastation with any golf courses, gardens, and parks likely being artificial creations maintained only by extreme wealth. Certainly the color cover art of the Cyberpunk 2020 books reinforced the notion that the players would always be active in the night (or daytime so overcast/rainy as to be indistinguishable):Yes. And what about "the glittering cittadels of the riches, the fine food, the beautiful scenarios"? You know, the unsufferable contrasts intrinsic to any cyberpunk society ever depicted in a novel
From the Night City Sourcebook:
"The most exclusive corporate-owned suburb in the area, EE caters to only the highest ranking Corpzoners and their assistants. Although it's been nicknamed a "beaverville", the name doesn't really apply to this stately sweep of million dollar homes, lush gardens and parks, huge greenbelts and golf courses, and private AV-pads. EE dwellers are among the very richest people of the Night Ci Area, and have the security and power to make sure they stay undisturbed."
Playing golf at 2:30 am or under eternal acid rains seems a bit unlikely
Cyberpunk 2020 included an adventure supplement called Night City Stories (cover art in my previous post) which included a number of descriptions for the GM to read to the players, as well as some solely for the GM. Although not all these descriptions indicate the atmosphere, of those that do include such text:
The player-characters are expected to operate in typical Cyberpunk conditions, not generally be strolling out in the sun.
Cyberpunk 2020 included an adventure supplement called Night City Stories (cover art in my previous post) which included a number of descriptions for the GM to read to the players, as well as some solely for the GM. Although not all these descriptions indicate the atmosphere, of those that do include such text:
"Chapter One: The Call to Arms - In which the characters receive a strange telephone call, run about in the rain, ..."
"The thousands of lights in the Night City docklands were not just comforting."
"The constant hiss of the rain bouncing high off cracked asphalt is now the only sound you can hear."
"Above Wilbur's constant chatter, the sound of splashing footsteps can be heard, the sound of a single man running towards the building...Rain drips steadily from the brim of his hat as he closes the door and turns to face you."
"Chapter Two: A Night to Remember - In which the characters meet two women in one pair of shoes, run about in the rain, ..."
"It's late, Baker Street is quiet, and the rain has slowed to a dull drizzle which hangs in the air like mist."
"A long black sedan hushes along the rain-soaked street and pulls up in the arc of soft light which emanates from a nearby street lamp."
"The light which spills through the door is the only illumination for a block and a half which isn't a street light or headlamps."
"The roof of Central II is the largest Night City heliport and as you approach you see perhaps a dozen black-windowed helicopters drop out of the bleach-boned glare that is Night City daytime."
"As Caitlin Jones watched through the hazy droplets of water which covered the images, she realized that it wasn't just rain that was falling...Wiping tears and rain from her eyes, Caitlin hit the ignition."
"The exterior of the hotel Pallazo is busy this time of night."
"Her thoughts were punctuated by the slow and regular dripping of rain water from the roof to the floor."
"Just a shadow in the darkness, the hunched man falls only a hundred meters from the fountain."
"Late at night in the Infocomp offices, Caitlin Jones worked under a single lamp, compiling the data she had just obtained."
"The rain buffets constantly against the shaded glass of the windows and you settle in for the night."
"When you arrive at the address, Holly leads you towards a dark alley."
"As you approach, the floodlights at the front of the building kick on, flooding the area with light and sending beams into the night sky."
"The rain has turned to grey sleet and everything has stopped moving."
One description of daytime sunlight and otherwise it is always either night or raining, if not both.
Cyberpunk 2020 included an adventure supplement called Night City Stories (cover art in my previous post) which included a number of descriptions for the GM to read to the players, as well as some solely for the GM. Although not all these descriptions indicate the atmosphere, of those that do include such text:
"Chapter One: The Call to Arms - In which the characters receive a strange telephone call, run about in the rain, ..."
"The thousands of lights in the Night City docklands were not just comforting."
"The constant hiss of the rain bouncing high off cracked asphalt is now the only sound you can hear."
"Above Wilbur's constant chatter, the sound of splashing footsteps can be heard, the sound of a single man running towards the building...Rain drips steadily from the brim of his hat as he closes the door and turns to face you."
"Chapter Two: A Night to Remember - In which the characters meet two women in one pair of shoes, run about in the rain, ..."
"It's late, Baker Street is quiet, and the rain has slowed to a dull drizzle which hangs in the air like mist."
"A long black sedan hushes along the rain-soaked street and pulls up in the arc of soft light which emanates from a nearby street lamp."
"The light which spills through the door is the only illumination for a block and a half which isn't a street light or headlamps."
"The roof of Central II is the largest Night City heliport and as you approach you see perhaps a dozen black-windowed helicopters drop out of the bleach-boned glare that is Night City daytime."
"As Caitlin Jones watched through the hazy droplets of water which covered the images, she realized that it wasn't just rain that was falling...Wiping tears and rain from her eyes, Caitlin hit the ignition."
"The exterior of the hotel Pallazo is busy this time of night."
"Her thoughts were punctuated by the slow and regular dripping of rain water from the roof to the floor."
"Just a shadow in the darkness, the hunched man falls only a hundred meters from the fountain."
"Late at night in the Infocomp offices, Caitlin Jones worked under a single lamp, compiling the data she had just obtained."
"The rain buffets constantly against the shaded glass of the windows and you settle in for the night."
"When you arrive at the address, Holly leads you towards a dark alley."
"As you approach, the floodlights at the front of the building kick on, flooding the area with light and sending beams into the night sky."
"The rain has turned to grey sleet and everything has stopped moving."
One description of daytime sunlight and otherwise it is always either night or raining, if not both.
...
Which is all fine in narrative driven games like those in the Shadowrun Returns series. Given that this is an open world sort of game though, it'd be retarded to keep things limited to nighttime (although by all means missions could be tied to nighttime when it is thematically appropriate, even GTA3 did that).
You're either willfully obtuse, or simply amazingly stupid, to continue to proclaim that because the Night City setting is not literally shrouded in darkness 24 hours per day that the player-characters aren't expected to operate almost exclusively in gloomy conditions, as described in the Cyberpunk 2013 Welcome to Night sourcebook: "And it always rains. Every day should be grim, gloomy, and overcast. The stars never come out. The sun never shines." All the more so for seeming to think your position is validated because, in the Night City Stories adventure module, a mere 94% of descriptions indicating time of day or weather conditions are either at night, in the rain, or both.
The Night City 2020 sourcebook, unlike its Cyberpunk 2013 predecessor, was written in the style of an in-universe guide to the city, meaning that it describes various locations as they appear to visitors or the general inhabitants who live there, but it should be the rare situation in which the player-characters are operating as run-of-the-mill Night City inhabitants strolling around in sunlight.
Moreover, this is confirmed by the depiction of Night City in color cover art:
