Shadowrun Returns - Delayed to Next Month

Couchpotato

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The Kickstarter for Shadowrun Returns has word from Harebrained Schemes that the release of their turn-based RPG is delayed until July 25th, after being planned for this month.
Here it is: The Official Release Date for Shadowrun Returns is July 25, 2013.

We know we’ve been saying June for some time, but now that we’ve reached this final stage of development, and although our Kickstarter funding was spent some time ago, we've decided to invest additional time in bugfixing and polishing the game. That means a longer crunch period for a tired team, but everyone agrees that it’s worth it.

One of the most common pieces of Backer feedback we've received over the past year is that we should take the time we need to ship this game. We really appreciate that, and we know we've thanked you already about a hundred times already, but we're doing it again because we mean it. Thanks.
You gifted us with your trust as well as your funding and we take that responsibility very seriously. You gave us the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than ourselves and something we think is worth all the time, sacrifice, and hard work. Soon, we’ll give it all back to you.

Important Note for Kickstarter Backers:

Your Steam key (for Windows & OSX) will be available a day early, on July 24th, from the HBS Accounts website, though the game will not activate until July 25th. (If you need help getting access to this site, contact info@hbs-studios.com.) On July 25th, you will also be able to download your DRM-free version of the game and all Kickstarter digital rewards directly from the HBS Account website. More information about physical rewards delivery will be forthcoming in a separate Kickstarter update.
More information.
 
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This looks great. And a delay of one month is nothing really.
 
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1 month!! Canceling my pre-order!

Just kidding, even of it came out this month I couldn't play it. Too busy at work so this delay fits my schedule.
 
I didn't pledge but the lack of communication from these guys and others with similar games in development (wasteland 2, dead state, etc) has gone from decent to pretty weak over the months of development, especially considering most of the are crowd funded.

Anyways, everything I've seen about this game except for their shady handling of KS/DRM/DLC looks pretty good and I'm tempted to preorder but it would be nice to see some more gameplay footage.
 
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Had no idea it was this close. I have to question how much meat there can be on this game after such a short development time.
 
It will be a short game, I'm pretty sure. However, the Berlin campaign will come up as an Addon (inclusive for backers) and hopefully we'll see a quality modding scene.
 
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Yeah, I suppose.

But I prefer the world/lore/setting and actual systems/mechanics to receive a lot of time and effort. Making a somewhat barebones system and campaign and then offering up additional content for the future has never been quite my thing.

I guess we'll see.

I love cyberpunk and Shadowrun to death - but I don't much care for their character art and I have to say I'm more sceptical about this than most of the other promising KS projects.

Looking forward to feedback from the Watch.
 
It's only €12,59/$12.59 on Steam. I backed this one on Kickstarter, but I would have bought it anyway at this price.
 
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Yeah, I suppose.

But I prefer the world/lore/setting and actual systems/mechanics to receive a lot of time and effort. Making a somewhat barebones system and campaign and then offering up additional content for the future has never been quite my thing.

I agree although I am more lenient than you when it comes to shorter games - But I hope the systems hold up, that is my main conern.
I think we have to be somewhat realistic with regards to these KS games though, even the well funded ones have a shoestring budget by industry standards, and the majority have "Ramen Noodles every day!" levels of funding.

Well, as you said, we'll see soon enough.
 
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I agree although I am more lenient than you when it comes to shorter games - But I hope the systems hold up, that is my main conern.
I think we have to be somewhat realistic with regards to these KS games though, even the well funded ones have a shoestring budget by industry standards, and the majority have "Ramen Noodles every day!" levels of funding.

Well, as you said, we'll see soon enough.

Yes, you're right - I might be expecting too much.

I do have a tendency to appreciate length in RPGs quite a lot. It's not by choice, really, it has to do with being inherently greedy when it comes to immersing myself.

I need the illusion of the experience potentially lasting forever - or just a very long time. Otherwise, the fact that it will end soon is something I can't put out of my mind. A weakness, to be sure, but not much I can do about it.

That said, I think some of the other KS projects show a lot more promise - and seem to be quite extensive. Something like Star Citizen sounds positively amazing. I truly hope it turns out well.
 
I didn't pledge this one but it's on my watch list. If the reviews are decent I'll buy a copy.

I didn't pledge because I don't care about tablets, games for tablets and their ports.
And I'll buy it only if reviews are stellar.
 
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Their original target was $400k and they eventually made $1800k so presumably the game would have been very basic indeed if they had just scraped their goal.

Maybe Shadow Returns and following that Wasteland 2 will be the acid tests as to whether it's feasible to make good strategy games on even high Kickstarter budgets with modern tools, especially Unity (both SR & W2 use the Unity engine).

The obvious comparison, outside Kickstarter, is with XCOM Enemy Unknown (great game IMOP). That game had a long development time (half a decade and counting) and a much larger budget, I reckon, (hard to guess, but probably well over $10m). And even then there are quite a few compromises in terms of scale, length and mechanics.
 
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Definitely - Expeditions: Conquistador was a good start, but how well WL2, Shadowrun returns and PE deliver (and how what they deliver will be received by backers as well as non-backers) will be decicive for how the KS - CRPG scene develops over the next year(s).
 
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Got my Steam key today, they are sending them out ahead of time. No preload though, the game will unlock on the 25th, and the DRM free version will also be available then.
 
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