Author Topic: Set the mood  (Read 734 times)

Dimetime

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Set the mood
« on: October 14, 2011, 09:16:06 am »
The prospect of being able to one day in the short future see the Sixth World brought to life through my computer monitor in MMO fashion is one that began with me in 1997 when I first stepped foot in a little game called Ultima Online. I was firmly entrenched in SR 2nd edition and had played the 1993 SNES and 1994 Genesis editions of the console games. When I first looked around in Ultima on that fateful island of Moonglow I thought to myself that the only way this could possibly be cooler is if this was Shadowrun Online.

You can probably imagine the rollercoaster moment when in pulling up an MMO news site in the early 2000s and seeing the new break of an in development MMO and seeing the letter S-H-A-D-O-W in the title. That rollercoaster began a steep, violent descent with the next letters of B-A-N-E followed. The gaming gods had pulled a cruel one on me that day.

Fast forward 9 or so years later and I wake up to yet another headline beginning with those powerful letters. �Oh no, not again I thought. You tricked me once. Not a second time,� I thought. Braced to read on to see that Shadowbane was making a comeback under a new company with new financial backing, I was greatly surprised (shocked actually) to see that it was indeed Shadowrun Online this time.

  �Sneaky, tricksy Game Gods!�

Now having had a night to sleep on the news my mind has spent the majority of the day wondering what the world will look like. How will the setting be represented artistically? Here�s what I hope.

I would like to see a grim, dark at night and muted during the day world. When we are in the low income areas of the world I want there to be trash on the streets and puddles of water that you wouldn�t want to step near much less step in. I�d like to see npcs representing all facets of life in the slums: BTL dealers, gangers from a variety of gangs, wag slaves on their way to and from work and all manner of folks just trying to survive anyway (and by anyway I mean past PG-13 and stopping short of NC-17) they can.

Shadowrunners know that today could be their last. I�d like to think that in the majority of cases that point of thought is not self-inflicted. It is, instead, a condition of the world in which they find themselves living. The case being as such, the world should carry that hostile visage and gleefully dole out doses of despair and heartache. It should be a constant reminder to Runners of why they are out there doing these jobs: to add just a little more light, a little more comfort, more understanding of their existence.

And a ton of creds wouldn�t hurt either.

A couple of other ways I think that could be used to set and maintain this kind of tone is to make use of in game news outlets. Have a �daily news feed� sent to the players outlining the violence that goes on in the city. Heck, some of those could even be used as mission starters for players. Also incorporate random events (as random as possible in subject matter, but more random in the place and time of occurrence) where players my experience two gangs fighting out in the street, or witness a robbery of a store. These could also be ways in which, if the players intervene on one side or another, they get an option to develop a new contact as well.

Now, this is not to say I don�t want the use of vibrant colors. If one thing this Seattle is known for are its neon signs at night.  That said, when things are supposed to represent something dark, be it an aesthetic or an emotive, then have it truly be so.

Those are some of my initial thoughts on the world I want to inhabit. I�m curious to see what others have in mind.

  ;)
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primetide

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2011, 11:39:01 am »
Well that is certainly a very elaborate and well thought through description. I think we are aiming at a similar tone, with perhaps a bit more variety based on places. I want some really really scary outdoor stuff...so everyone knows why they stick to the cities ;)
And I want some action setting as well, where it just bullets zipping every way.

That being said, we do have a limited budgets to build the world, so this may just have to be toned down with regards to complexity and the amount of stuff we do at first. newsfeeds are a great idea, but sustaining them is a load of work...especially if you want to localize in several languages...we will see.
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Sangius

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2011, 01:13:34 pm »
Maybe one could automatize it and make it incorporate mainly the biggest runs of the community in the week - that might motivate players even further. I actually thought of an anarchist radio in berlin, but that really would be a lot of work ...
« Last Edit: October 14, 2011, 01:30:10 pm by Sangius »

primetide

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2011, 01:58:07 pm »
we are lloking into a quick and workable way to have some sort of automated feedback loop from game events into the game...but I guess this is one of the things taking a bit of a backseat versus actual gameplay and stuff
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Dimetime

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2011, 08:29:04 pm »
I would love to see wilderness environments as well and if they had paranormal creatures moving about them, waiting for their next meal to wander by...all the better!

I agree that many of the things that help establish mood and ambiance fall in line behind gameplay however I think that their role in the backseat is that of the kid that is constantly asking "are we there yet?". By that I mean they should always be on the fringe of thoughts while incorporating gameplay elements. If you can add just a little touch of spice here and a little touch of spice there while getting the "meat and potatos" done, it produces a more flavorful dish.

But yes, the core mechanics are certainly the most important to nail down.
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Yardarm

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2011, 08:18:19 am »
we are lloking into a quick and workable way to have some sort of automated feedback loop from game events into the game...but I guess this is one of the things taking a bit of a backseat versus actual gameplay and stuff

you have several hundred (at least) rabid fans, waiting to participate in any kind of persistent Shadowrun world. select a few qualified individuals who can create and manage a (bi?)weekly newsfeed.

I would ask absolutely nothing to have a chance at participating in something like that, and I can assure you there are other, far more qualified runners out there who would jump at the very chance.

primetide

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2011, 10:35:18 am »
still needs to be coordinated and worked into the game ...anyway...thi sis a questoin for later
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sitasan

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2011, 09:38:18 am »
+1 Yardarm

you have the opportunity to use and incoporate the shadowrun fan base on to the game by giving them the chance to do something to improve the feeling of beeing in the sixth world...it would be an error not to use it...plus it will be free for you.

im sorry about my english, im french natural born language and do a lots of mistakes...

primetide

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2011, 05:21:32 pm »
believe me we do really actually think about a peer reviewed system fro content cfreation of that kind. It is one of the more ambitious parts of our project. Will we find a solution? No telling yet...
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Dimetime

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2011, 09:45:28 pm »
I think utilizing player resources in certain areas is a good idea. For one it creates a stronger community in that the players know other players are taking part in making the world "come to life".

I guess I should clarify that here I'm talking as far a "fluff" additions. The last SR campaign I ran I actually came up with "local news feeds" where I would write short to medium news articles (ranging from sports, business, "breaking news", home & office, etc.) and print those out and pass them out to my runners as various times during that nights play session.

That might be a capacity in which CP could pull from the community with having a way to count on "reporters" to send in news and CP devs would function to edit (make sure it was approriate) it and publish.
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ghostmode

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Re: Set the mood
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2011, 10:45:01 pm »
Dimetime, I did the same thing in my last campaign. I'd copy/paste whatever was in my yahoo news feed and edit it to fit the SR setting(changing names, dates, context, dropped hints for plot hooks) then I would hand out copies of the news feed to all the players). It was really easy to do. and actually added a lot of color to the opening of the game.
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