Harebrained Schemes General Discussion Thread

[Roguey]

You can always give all the enemies boss AI so they'll attack more than once per turn.

 

[Prime Junta]

I honestly don't care for SRR combat. DF and HK were very both easy even on the hardest difficulty setting, and it's really repetitive. Just spamming the same attacks over and over again.

The extra mission they published now has optional combat that actually is hard. There's one side mission where you can side with one group or another or piss off both, and if I piss off both I haven't been able to beat it yet. (My party and ability selection isn't optimal for that fight ofc.)

 

[supervoid]

the best anyone has done with the editing tools is a really bad remake of the SNES game.

Not true, there are nice adaptations of PnP adventures and people who are making more of those, also good original content like Nightmare Harvest and other. SNES remake is vapourware nobody cares about at this point.

 

[orcinator]

They've been improving steadly

But that's wrong, the only notable improvements were in Dragonfall but they only amounted to making the writing better, letting you use party members for skill checks and having one choice instead of zero, the game was still a linear visual novel with easy nuXcom combat like the first one. Hong Kong was mostly the same as Dragonfall down to having the game revolve around doing random side quests while someone else does things actually relevant to the plot, but they also made the combat even easier and the matrix more retarded so I have no idea how one can say they've been improving when they mostly stagnated.

 

[Archibald]

Wasn't "using party members for skill chekcs" thing a bit inconsistent? I remember some maps where in one spot I could use my decker's stats while in another spot I couldn't for some reason.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

It must have been pre DC thing. In DC I could use Blitz for everything related to decking

 

[Abu Antar]

Necropolis releasing this summer.

 

[Infinitron]

We’ve been busy little bunnies here at the studio and we thought that

this was a great time to tell you about all things Harebrained.

Oh! And between Harebrained Reports, you can always keep up with us our new and improved HBS website!

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Shadowrun
Shadowrun Complete Collection on Sale Now thru July 4!


In case you haven't heard, the Steam Summer Sale is on now - but only through July 4th! This is the best time EVER to get in on the action! If you don’t have all of our Shadowrun games yet, you can now receive an additional discount when you complete your collection on Steam. The Complete Collection bundle automatically knows which games you don't already own, then calculates all the stacked discounts to give you the rest at the best price possible!

And if you’re new to the series, this is the BEST time pick up the Complete Collection since everything is on sale! Already have it all? Be sure to tell your friends to go grab them so they can have as much fun running in the shadows as you did!

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NECROPOLIS: A Diabolical Dungeon Delve
Arrives July 12th! Special Pre-Purchase Offer on Steam and GoG

NECROPOLIS comes out on PC in less than 2 weeks and it’s available for pre-purchase on Steam and GOG right now! Pre-purchase any time before July 12th and we’ll thank you with a digital copy of the NECROPOLIS Original Soundtrack when the game is released! Here's a sample of the score from composer Jon Everist.

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Come one, come all to the NECROPOLIS CO-OP DEATH JAM!

The OFFICIAL livestream event!



To celebrate the PC release of NECROPOLIS on July 12th, we’re throwing our first ever CO-OP DEATH JAM featuring some of the biggest names on Twitch and YouTube including ManvsGame, Margaret Krohn, and Team Soulbrandt! They’ll team up for a twelve hour high energy co-op action livestream and dive into our procedurally generated rogue-lite dungeon to see how far they can get before death takes them. Teams will compete for a special Brazen Head trophy (created by our very own Mike Cech) and bragging rights!

We’ll have awesome giveaways for folks watching at home including Steam keys, bottles of Limited Edition NECROPOLIS branded Jones Soda, and copies of the awesome Iam8bit Special Collector's Edition (see below!) throughout the entire event!

The OFFICIAL livestream event for NECROPOLIS: A Diabolical Dungeon Delve will be Saturday, July 9 from 10am-10pm PT in partnership with Bandai Namco and hosted by our sister company, Hyper RPG. (Read more about them below!)

Be sure to save the date and join us for the fun!!

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A Collector’s Edition You Can Hold in Your Hands!?!



We’re really excited to partner with Iam8Bit to create a special NECROPOLIS Collector’s Edition!

They’ve come up with a really fun package that includes a game key (Steam, PS4 or XBOX), the digital original soundtrack, a customizable Death Certificate, and a cool vinyl copy of the soundtrack with a jacket cover that doubles as a boardgame! We think it’s pretty awesome!

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BATTLETECH Development Continues!

Since our last Harebrained Report, the BATTLETECH team has shared a ton of new information about the game across several Kickstarter updates. Learn more about the Customizable DropShip Home Base from Mike McCain, Prototyping Turn Order from Jordan, and last but not least, check out this meaty update about Campaign Setting Details from our Design Lead, Kevin Maginn.

All caught up with the Kickstarter updates? Join us for our monthly BATTLETECH Dev Q&A on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 2pm PST and bring any questions you might have. Save the date for our next Q&A on Wednesday, July 13 on Twitch.tv/HyperRPG.

After the show, head over to Comstar: the Global Battletech Community Forum to chat with new and old Battletech fans to talk about all things Battletech. Mitch and members of the team are in our Ask the Dev sub-forum all the time answering questions and it’s been great seeing the amazing community forming there. We encourage you to head over to check it out.
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Hyper Rabbit Power Go!


Harebrained Schemes’ sister company, Hyper RPG is a hyperactive, interactive community-driven livestreaming channel on Twitch that features kickass RPGs, innovative tabletop & the latest video games. If you’re not familiar with Twitch, think of Hyper RPG as a live TV channel with daily programming that you get to participate in!

The channel has a variety of entertaining shows including RPGs, creative shows with VR and minis painting, geek and gaming news, trivia games, and an upcoming American-Gladiators-meets-Pathfinder show.

Not surprisingly, two of our favorite shows on the channel are Shadowrun: CorporateSINs (Wednesday at 6PM PT) and Death From Above (Fridays at 6PM PT).

Shadowrun: CorporateSINs follows the adventures of a rag-tag group of runners as they make their name in the 6th world. As shadowrunners, Team MMFEC is, of course, subject to the whims of the corps and their employers, who rarely have their best intentions in mind. Known for their constructive-destruction approach to problem solving, MMFEC always gets the job done! Catch up on all the past episodes on Youtube but here’s an episode of CorpSINs that we love to get you started.

Death From Above is the first-ever BattleTech RPG featuring dramatic tabletop battles with 3D-printed ‘Mechs that take REAL damage during the game! The show stars our very own BATTLETECH designer, Tyler Carpenter, as gamemaster and Mitch, as the crusty commander of a lance of mercenary MechWarriors called Mason’s Marauders who traverse the Periphery making friends, foes, and C-Bills. Here’s a great episode of Death From Above to give you a taste! BTW, audience members who tune in live can influence the game and troll the players. You should really check it out.

Twitch.tv/hyperrpg

Monday-Friday 10am-10pm Pacific

twitter.com/hyper_rpg

BTW, Matt says hi.

 

[almondblight]

Looks like they're interested in making an Earthdawn RPG.

 

[Roqua]

Is this Battletech game an rpg? Or at least have heavy rpg elements? Did their non-rpg game flop? I hate to be a dick but I hope it did. Fucking console trash shit for retards. Actually, I don't hate being a dick. I hate not hating - and oh lord do you monkeys give me a lot to hate.

 

[Roqua]

NECROPOLIS comes out on PC in less than 2 weeks and it’s available for pre-purchase on Steam and GOG right now! Pre-purchase any time before July 12th and we’ll thank you with a digital copy of the NECROPOLIS Original Soundtrack when the game is released! Here's a sample of the score from composer Jon Everist.

OH MY GOD A FUCKING SOUNDTRACK!!!! YES!!!!! THIS WILL BE SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL THE STUPID PROFESSIONAL MUSIC I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO LIKE AN IDIOT!!!!! GOODBYE STUPID GOOD MUSIC AND HELLO MUCH MORE BETTER EVEN GAME MUSIC!!!! HOW DO I PREPURCJASE TO GET THIS HOT DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sacred82]

Do we have news about hipster shit games like Necropolis to piss off Roqua specifically or

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

http://steamspy.com/app/384490

Necropolis
Owners: 46,753 ± 5,449

It's not a massive success, but without knowing how much money they used on it it's impossible to know if it's a flop or not.

 

[Blackstaff]

http://steamspy.com/app/384490

Necropolis
Owners: 46,753 ± 5,449

It's not a massive success, but without knowing how much money they used on it it's impossible to know if it's a flop or not.

It's a 30 dollars game too. And there is (or will be) a console release.

 

[Rahdulan]

Looks like they're interested in making an Earthdawn RPG.

I wonder if they would actually play up the Shadowrun connection more.

 

[Infinitron]

Time sure flies when you’re making video games!

It’s been 6 months since we’ve said hello so we thought we’d reach to let you know about all things Harebrained!

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Winter Steam Sale Starts Today



Still haven’t had a chance to play all the Shadowrun games?

No problem! You can get the Complete Collection or just the ones you don’t have yet - all on sale!

Or grab them all for your RPG-loving friend that hasn’t played them yet and gift them hours of running in the Shadows!









Looking for a fun co-op multiplayer instead? You can adventure alone, or with up to 3 friends in the NECROPOLIS.

It’s a magical deathtrap that reconstructs itself each time you play.

NECROPOLIS combines third-person action with Rogue-lite dungeon-delving for a game that’s fast-paced and addictive, yet diabolically hardcore.

(Warning: “Just one more time” mindset can be addicting.)








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BATTLETECH



We are so excited that PCGamer included BATTLETECH in their list of 2017 games they’re most looking forward to!

Because, honestly, we are, too!



Back in August, we shared this Super Pre-Alpha video of the hands-on demo that we brought to GenCon and then PAX West.

As you can imagine, we’ve come a long way since then and we just put out a monster of an Kickstarter update including

how Melee is going to work in the game

as well as the huge list of things that have been added to the game since we showed off the Super Pre-Alpha.

And, if you’re not afraid of spoilers, a few weeks ago we introduced the main characters in our Mercenary campaign

as well as information about the story in the Kickstarter update in early December.



Our next big milestone will be opening up the Private Beta for Kickstarters later this winter.

If you’re kicking yourself now because you didn’t back the game and you think it’s going really cool, don’t despair!

You can still become a Reinforcement Backer to get in on that Private Beta or just grab the game.



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LIMITED EDITION

BATTLETECH MERCH WEBSITE LAUNCHED



During our BATTLETECH Kickstarter campaign, we heard from fans that they’d love to see

more physical rewards like the ones that were offered during the Kickstarter.



We are pleased to announce that Harebrained Schemes has obtained a license
from Topps Inc, to create and sell a LIMITED amount of BattleTech merchandise.





Due to limitations in the license, we’ve set a Minimum Order Quantity for each item and will only manufacture exactly what is ordered.

Think of it kind of like crowdfunding - until we have enough committed orders,
we won’t make the item or complete your credit card payment, and then we’ll only manufacture what is ordered
-- which also means that every item is a Limited Edition and will never be produced again.

The first wave of crowdfunded products on is NOW available!




Head on over to BattleTechGear.com now to place your order and then
tell all your BattleTech lovin’ friends so we hit our Minimum Order Quantity!


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And, Finally!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/crimson-skies-sequel-pc

Jordan Weisman is talking to Microsoft about a new Crimson Skies

During Microsoft’s E3 conference at Gamescom this year, the publisher announced its console would soon be able to play original Xbox games. The game Microsoft used to show off this feature was Crimson Skies, a series that’s sat untouched for 14 years.

That wouldn’t be the case if its creator, Jordan Weisman, had his way: “I'd love to do another PC flight game,” he tells us.

Speaking to us recently, Weisman talked about seeing his game up on screen at E3. “I got a warm heart by the reaction that got, both in the auditorium and online,” Weisman says. “It was nice to see that people still think fondly of that game and that property.”

Weisman left Microsoft in 2002, over the years setting up a number of studios. Currently, he’s the CEO of Harebrained Schemes, a studio hard at work converting BattleTech, the board game he created in the ‘80s (and the series that spawned MechWarrior) into a turn-based strategy game on PC.

Despite leaving Microsoft, Weisman is still in contact with the people he knows there. Though the Crimson Skies reveal was a surprise to him. He says he didn’t have anything to do with the backwards compatibility announcement during Microsoft’s E3 conference - “except that I'm always over there championing the IP.”

It may have been 14 years since the last Crimson Skies game, but Weisman revealed that he’s “been in discussion with [Microsoft] for a long time for Harebrained to have some ability to work with the IP. We've not succeeded in that yet but I remain ever hopeful.”

Weisman has two plans for the series if he could get his hands on it again and says that “in an ideal world we'd be able to do both.” He was lead designer on the original PC game and creative director of Microsoft Games when the Xbox game was made, so naturally the third person flight sim-style of Crimson Skies is close to his heart - “Our goal with the PC game was that we wanted it to feel more like a plane, I think the Xbox took that one step further and more arcade-y. I'd love to do another flight sim,” he says.

However, before it was on PC, Crimson Skies was a board game. And, like Weisman is doing with BattleTech, he can see Crimson Skies coming back as a turn-based strategy game. “I'd also love to do a step back to the strategy a little bit,” Weisman says, “where now you've got a fleet of planes and a zep and do more of a strategy tactical game. Where you're a pirate doing the Zeppelin combat in a larger fashion. I'd love to do that game, too, one day.

“I may not be able to do either but we can dream.”

 

[Immortal]

I don't care about robots. Go back to Shadowrun.

 

[Lyre Mors]

How about making something original that is actually good (unlike Necropolis) instead of rehashing old IPs?

 

[Infinitron]

Oy LESS T_T, we missed this last month: http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12...-developer-mitch-gitelman-a-ign-unfiltered-26



http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12...quel-says-executive-producer-a-ign-unfiltered

CRIMSON SKIES: HIGH ROAD TO REVENGE 'DESERVED A SEQUEL,' SAYS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER — IGN UNFILTERED
"That team deserved a sequel."

Mitch Gitelman, who served as an executive producer on Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge at FASA Studio, believes the Xbox title should have received a sequel.

"High Road to Revenge deserved a sequel. That team deserved a sequel," Gitelman said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered.

However, Microsoft wanted to have each development team work on a single game, and since FASA Studio was juggling multiple franchises at once, the Crimson Skies series did not continue. "At the time, Microsoft decided, and Shane Kim specifically decided, that each studio would focus on just one game—and we were doing Shadowrun and Crimson Skies simultaneously, and still working on MechAssault and stuff—and just collapsed it all down," Gitelman said.

For more on Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, find out why it earned a spot on IGN's list of the original Xbox's 15 best exclusive games.

Stay tuned for more from our IGN Unfiltered interview with Gitelman, including his insight into why the MechAssault franchise didn't continue, as well as why the 2007 release of Shadowrun featured Xbox/PC crossplay.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12/20/why-mechassault-franchise-didnt-continue-a-ign-unfiltered

WHY MECHASSAULT FRANCHISE DIDN'T CONTINUE — IGN UNFILTERED
"It didn't turn into the franchise that Microsoft was looking for."

Mitch Gitelman, who previously worked as the head of FASA Studio, has shed a bit of light on why the Xbox-exclusive MechAssaultfranchise didn't continue after the first sequel, subtitled Lone Wolf.

MechAssault developer Day 1 Studios worked with FASA to create two games for Xbox set in the BattleTech universe, but after the sequel, Microsoft decided to pull the plug on the franchise.

When asked on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered if the franchise didn't continue because MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf didn't sell well enough, Gitelman replied: "Yeah, exactly that. It didn't turn into the franchise that Microsoft was looking for. That's all."

Gitelman continued: "At the time there was sort of a sales bar. You don't hit that sales bar and it's like, 'Okay, that was that.'" It's a mentality the former FASA Studios head said he didn't agree with at the time, and one he still doesn't agree with today.

Now, as the co-founder of Harebrained Schemes, Gitelman is reviving the BattleTech franchise for PC with XCOM-style management and heavy mech combat.

Don't miss our full IGN Unfiltered interview with Gitelman to learn more about his time at FASA Studio, including insight into the studio's 2007 Shadowrun first-person shooter, which was the first title to feature Xbox/PC crossplay.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12/21/why-shadowrun-2007-featured-pcxbox-crossplay-a-ign-unfiltered

WHY SHADOWRUN 2007 FEATURED PC/XBOX CROSSPLAY — IGN UNFILTERED
"They wanted to show their commitment to PC, but we had been developing it for Xbox."

FASA Studio's 2007 first-person shooter Shadowrun was the first title to feature Xbox 360/PC crossplay, and former studio head (now co-founder of Shadowrun Returns developer Harebrained Schemes) Mitch Gitelman has revealed how the feature came to be added.

"What my bosses [at Microsoft] were looking for was a big PC game," Gitelman said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered. "They wanted to show their commitment to PC, but we had been developing it for Xbox, and all of our decision making was Xbox-related, controller-related, and the controls were just great at the time."

So Microsoft asked him to make Shadowrun a PC game instead, but he was trying to make a great Xbox game. In an effort to appeal to his bosses while still making an Xbox game, he proposed the idea of making it crossplatform. He said a "visionary memo" written by original Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach about the future of connected entertainment, was the inspiration that led him to pursue crossplay functionality for Shadowrun.

"[It] was connecting the dots. And then I realized, 'Oh, this is the way to really get the game elevated at Microsoft and get lots of marketing dollars behind it,'" he added, noting, "it had nothing to do with the fans. It had nothing to do with them or what they wanted or what they expected; it's the single biggest learning of my career."

For our thoughts on the the game, read IGN's Shadowrun review.

Be sure to check out our full IGN Unfiltered interview with Gitelman to learn more about his time at FASA Studio, including details about the single-player campaign that was cut from the 2007 Shadowrun first-person shooter, as well as insight into why Microsoft decided to end the MechAssault franchise after the release of Lone Wolf.

 

[Infinitron]

Watched the interview. Mitch is a sharp and inspiring guy, but only about 10-15 minutes of the video are about the Shadowrun RPGs & BattleTech, and he doesn't go into any detail about them at all.

Codexers might be interested to know that Mitch credits Andrew McIntosh for the good writing in Dragonfall.

He also says that BattleTech "isn't an RPG, there's no branching plots, there's not even multiple endings". But right before that he also says that if you choose not to participate in the main plot of the campaign by assisting the deposed queen who is trying to reclaim her throne, then she'll lose the civil war, so I dunno. I guess that's a thing that happens during the campaign, so it doesn't count as an ending?

 

[Metro]

http://steamspy.com/app/384490

Necropolis
Owners: 46,753 ± 5,449

It's not a massive success, but without knowing how much money they used on it it's impossible to know if it's a flop or not.

A year plus on we now know it's a flop.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, Necropolis is also briefly mentioned in the interview. Mitch says they were forced to release it too early.

 

[agris]

HBS is a studio that releases some good games, held back by the investments they make in poorly thought out products like Necropolis and Golem Arcana. Seriously, who plays table top with their friends and wanted that product? They flushed money down the drain. Same with Necropolis - no one wanted that. I would take a more in-depth Shadowrun game every. single. day. over that trite shit.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Agreed, HBS are true incline among mobile game developers.