Basic FAQ - Multiplayer, Berlin, 'robo-doc', etc

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Firstly - If something's either not covered here or you want more detail, I'd suggest heading over to the official forums at www.shadowrun.com - large knowledge base, a friendly community and if you start playing the pen-and-paper game, you can find help, advice and discussion for that there as well.

Fiction Anthology & Soundtrack: The digital extras from the Deluxe Edition are downloaded by Steam, you can find where by doing this:
- go to Steam Library
- right click on Shadowrun Returns
- select Properties
- click Local Files
- click Browse Local Files
NOTE: if you are Kickstarter Backer or a pre-order from the Harebrained Schemes web site before the game went on sale on Steam, youl'l get all your digital rewards from the HBS account web site (which you should have received an invite to from HBS).

Other places to find UGC: In addition to Steam Workshop, you can find UGC uploaded to the following web sites (so far):
http://shadowrunreturns.nexusmods.com/?tb=mod&pUp=1
http://www.moddb.com/games/shadowrun-returns/addons

Multiplayer: Possibly somewhere down the road but not planned at this stage.

Languages: Game currently supports English, French, Italian and Spanish languages with Russian and German expected late January 2014.

Stealth: You can sneak around (you can even see a bit of it in the Launch trailer - player-character moving forward through a building and a speech bubble appearing over a nearby guard asking "Did you hear something?") but there is no actual stealth skill to spend Karma (basically XP) on. There are silenced weapons and shamans can learn spells to create distracting noises or to create zones of silence.

Achievements and Trading Cards: No plans for achievements but Cards have recently been added.

Modding: The editor does not support the creation of whole new skills, archetypes or gameplay mechanics - although you could fake some of the latter with triggers and dialogue (such as adding a workbench for modifying weapons - use dialogue to interact with it and triggers to remove the old weapon from the player's inventory and add a newer version). You can add new weapons and spells, but not new graphics or graphical effects. You can add your own 2D art assets for the backgrounds and, according to some of the Kickstarter backers who got the editor early, there is now a button in the editor for doing so.

Loot: Random loot can be added with the editor for content creators who desire it in their campaigns but it is not part of the base Seattle campaign that HBS has made. While it varied from group-to-group, loot was generally not a notable part of the original pen-and-paper game.

Saving: At launch, the game only had a save-on-load-screen system. It now has a more conventional save-anywhere system that was patched into the game at the same time as Dragonfall's launch. Note that this is not part of the Dragonfall expansion, but added to the game itself. You do not need to own Dragonfall in order to use the save-anywhere system.

Edition of the PnP game used: The system is brand-new and tailored for the video game, but draws its inspiration primarily from 2nd and 3rd edition. The Seattle campaign is set in 2054, so this is firmly set in Shadowrun's classic era from its days as a FASA product.

Linux version & non-English versions: These will be released a few months after the Windows version's release.

Camera Settings: The game only has a single isometric view point - no camera rotation due to the backgrounds being entirely 2D (and adding additional view points for camera rotation would quadruple the file size of a scene).

Keyboard Controls:
http://shadowrun-returns.wikispaces.com/Keyboard+Controls

Graphics Options: The best way to see these before getting the game yourself would be to watch TotalBiscuit's WTF Is video on the game, which you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b-ggUSvo4

Fix for Audio Hitching/Dropped Frames: Discovered by trey2s:
http://www.reddit.com/r/shadowrunreturns/comments/1j2q6i/audio_hitchingdropped_frames_fix/ It doesn't work for everyone, but it's worth a try. I'll add a more reliable solution once it's discovered.

"Add the following to the launch options (right-click 'Shadowrun Returns' in your Steam Library and select 'Properties'): -force-gfx-st

The dropped frames are caused by some sort of multi-threaded processing bug with the Unity framework renderer. This command line parameter forces single-threaded processing and should fix the hitching without noticeably reducing performance."

Fix for audio playing after closing game/
Problem: "I was having an issue where the audio would crash and stutter when i exited the game. I had to restart my PC to get some silence. "
Explanation: This was tracked down to the Asus Xonar DGX drivers enabling "GX Mode" which is their broken EAX compatibility module.
Solution: When i disabled "GX Mode" the audio did not crash when i exit the game. I actually updated my drivers to Uni Xonar 1.70 and selected the "Low DPC" version which disables GX Mode by default.

Importing characters to User Generated Content: Content creators have three options for the player - letting them import an existing character, letting them make a brand new one or using one made by the content creator. I believe the creator can select any combination of those as well, but I haven't checked out the editor for myself yet. Either way; it should say on the Workshop page of whatever UGC you're downloading.

Telestrian Elevator: Being vague about the title since there's a risk of spoilers, but you'll know the bit when you get to it. You do not interact with the elevator doors themselves, but via a Matrix JackPoint in one of the side-offices. Get your decker in there and he can get the lift running.

Cyberware: Seen this come up a few times on the forums here and, while I don't know if this is what everyone's been talking about, it's one restriction on 'ware that I found in the game's help menu.
The main limit to cyberware is your Essence. For every full point of Essence you lose, any spells you can cast will get an extra turn to their cooldown. In addition; you can never go below Essence 1 - if a new piece of 'ware would take you below that, the game won't let you install it. It's a little more restrictive than in the PnP game (where you can get right down to 0.1 Essence) but SR:R also has much less 'ware available overall so it evens out.

Save File Location: Save files appear to be stored in program files/steam/userdata/######/234650/remote/saves. There are two folders in userdata on my computer, both with just a string of numbers for their names, but only one has a folder inside them with the name "234650".

Adding Custom Portraits to Seattle Campaign: Someone found out how to do this and you can find the guide to it here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/234650/discussions/0/864974467227721515/

Robo-doc: It's been coming up a lot lately; questions about a drone with a grenade launcher, the description for which mentions 'healing grenades'. The weapon description is joking; it's your bog-standard grenade launcher that militaries have been using since the 1950's or so. How this drone heals people is via a medkit it has in its inventory, same as how a mundane metahuman character would heal someone. The drone automatically restocks these between 'runs for free so don't worry about not knowing how to replace it. The drone also comes with a pair of concussion grenades in its inventory that also restock for free.
This also applies to any drone that is mentioned to have an alternate function, such as the Smoker. It is armed with a conventional mortar and deploys smoke via smoke grenades in its inventory.
Full loadouts for the Smoker and Robo-Doc were posted in this thread by Talon and the post can be found here for those wanting the specifics: http://steamcommunity.com/app/234650/discussions/0/864974276833864828/?tscn=1375649176#c864975249594337967
For reference; even as late as the mid-2070s (twenty years after Shadowrun Returns), the technology does not exist to make healing grenades. Nanites do exist by that point and are used in the medical industry, but have to be injected.

Berlin Campaign: Now called Dragonfall, this has been anounced to release on 27th February 2014. I don't know what people have heard about it, but this will not be a major overhaul of the game mechanics - it will be a second campaign, more open than Dead Man's Switch was, more comparable to the Sega Genesis game, though it will not be open-world or sandbox. It will also include a tileset for the editor to better reflect older cities like Berlin.
Kickstarter backers who pledged above a certain amount are getting it as part of their pledge (so they don't have to pay anything and will be sent a Steam Key for it via email the same way they got a key for the base game).
There was no time it was included in a Steam pre-order of the base game. More details about what pre-order options included it can be found here, courtesy of RC: http://steamcommunity.com/app/234650/discussions/0/558746995184715225/#c558747218059363614

My Username Since a lot of people have made this mistake, I'll just point out that the "B'oh" in my username is a tag for the gaming group I'm in, the Bohage, my actual username is just "ShadowFighter 88".

I hope this thread helps and I will be happy to add to it and correct it as-needed.

EDIT: Also, let's try and avoid using this thread for debates, arguments or the like. I'm just trying to make this informative, not a venue for personal gripeing.

[Millertime]

Well I'll answer my own question about the Deluxe edition contents.. I decided to take a chance and get it. The PDF is 194 pages and quite awesome.

[Steven Brattac]

is a fine game i love it i play a decker rn phantastic done but i want a save not a end mission autosave i have sometimes 15 minits to play and cannot waste my time to replay on and on due only the last checkpoint is saved please remove taht console ♥♥♥♥ out of thisi Gem ty m8

[BionicDance]

Could someone explain how the armor system works? When I buy new armor, I cannot seem to equip it; there is a '<' symbol next to it, which I assume means I lack some attribute or something isn't high enough, but it doesn't say what, and there was no indication that I couldn't use the armor while buying it.
This...seems like a bit of a flaw in the game. Or maybe I'm just missing something that isn't obvious.
Can someone explain this please?

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Sorry guys - in Australia so I only got up about an hour ago (and the National Broadband Network recently going in on our street seems to be interfering with conventional internet connections, internet connection was down til about ten minutes ago). I'll add this into the OP but I'll post the stuff here now while I think of it.

Also, I mentioned the anthology and soundtrack in the OP, near the bottom. I don't know how to get these through Steam as I'm getting my copies off the HBS website due to being a backer. If anyone else can get a solid answer to these, please post it and I'll edit it into the OP.

Linux version & non-English versions: These will be released a few months after the Windows version's release.

Camera Settings: The game only has a single isometric view point - no camera rotation due to the backgrounds being entirely 2D (and adding additional view points for camera rotation would quadruple the file size of a scene).

Graphics Options: The best way to see these before getting the game yourself would be to watch TotalBiscuit's WTF Is video on the game, which you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b-ggUSvo4

Any questions about gameplay; I'll get to once I've actually had a chance to play the game.

[Lachra]

K I found in the in-game ?help menu a description of the different camera modes.

FIXED: camera/screen stays focused on character, I believe 3 levels of zoom?
FREE: camera can pan where-ever you want, and can set zoom manually with mouse wheel, or 3 levels of zoom with the (Z) key.
AUTO: is just like FREE, but the camera automatically goes back to your character(s) during an event for that character(s).

Now we just need to find out about that Projection Mode in the graphics options.

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Lach Rae Dawn eredeti hozzászólása:

K I found in the in-game ?help menu a description of the different camera modes.

FIXED: camera/screen stays focused on character, I believe 3 levels of zoom?
FREE: camera can pan where-ever you want, and can set zoom manually with mouse wheel, or 3 levels of zoom with the (Z) key.
AUTO: is just like FREE, but the camera automatically goes back to your character(s) during an event for that character(s).

Now we just need to find out about that Projection Mode in the graphics options.

What is Projection Mode, anyway?

[BionicDance]

As near as I can tell, Projection vs Orthagonal is the difference between perspective and fixed.
In other words, Projection mode has a subtle 3D feel to it, while Orthagonal is much flatter.

[SnallTrippin]

"It will also retain several of your previous checkpoints so that you can jump back a fair way if needed (such as forgetting to visit a street doc and getting into a major fight with minimal health)."

If it keeps older saves why do I have no saves after a hardware crash? I played for 4-5 hours and now have to start all over again...And of course my hardware problems aren't fixed (As I'm poor) so I have to stop playing and copy and paste somewhere? Does it delete old saves or something as it makes new ones? I have 0 in my save folder and I never (I only checked the load screen once) noticed more than one choice to load...sigh.

[flagyl2]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this (we need a glossary :) ), but I'll give it a shot-within the context of the game, what does 'wiz' mean? I was offered that dialog option to close a conversation. I wanted to be polite, so I did not choose 'wiz' to be safe. Is it a derogatory word?

Thanks in advance.

[Allanwarre]

YEAH!! Multiplayer, really going to love you more guys if you do this, plus is going to make more people to buy it and i could invite friend to have some adventure in seattle so i think this should be a priority, hope you want answer me with your opinion

[SnallTrippin]

flagyl2 eredeti hozzászólása:

I don't know if this is the right place to post this (we need a glossary :) ), but I'll give it a shot-within the context of the game, what does 'wiz' mean? I was offered that dialog option to close a conversation. I wanted to be polite, so I did not choose 'wiz' to be safe. Is it a derogatory word?

Thanks in advance.

Wiz is good. Like awesome. I forget exactly what it means. Like Wizbang or something..

[flagyl2]

SnallTrippin eredeti hozzászólása:

flagyl2 eredeti hozzászólása:

I don't know if this is the right place to post this (we need a glossary :) ), but I'll give it a shot-within the context of the game, what does 'wiz' mean? I was offered that dialog option to close a conversation. I wanted to be polite, so I did not choose 'wiz' to be safe. Is it a derogatory word?

Thanks in advance.

Wiz is good. Like awesome. I forget exactly what it means. Like Wizbang or something..

Thnks Snall. I appreciate it.

[Koojav]

I wouldn't mind the autosave feature if it would also happen before each fight. I got into two fights in the first zone after morgue and lost the second fight. I had to repeat previous fight and talking to all the people in the town I've already met.

While I understand the need to repeat lost fight I don't see why should I repeat previously won encounter and talking to people where I will obviously pick same dialog options.

Currently I consider the autosave feature broken.

EDIT:

I've just made a small test. I've entered a location, spoke to a few folks and quit to menu. Once I reloaded I was at the start of that location with all conversations reset. WTF? I can't even begin to imagine a game like Fallout 1 or 2 where any previous progress (conversation based) would get lost because I needed to quit a game.

This ♥♥♥♥ is broken.

[ForestDragon]

Achievements will be cool! I will buy the game with achievements...

[ForestDragon]

Oh, and Trading Cards too!