I've gotta conclude that Cirion just has that Midas touch. Everything they've made has been better than what's come before. Part of it is the ability to cross every t and dot every i in designing interactive worlds- Hell, HBS doesn't even move it's NPCs around between missions.

Which is not to say I haven't been on the bad side of a few bugs. One time, Sable decided to upload his conciousness to an ESP, who couldn't jack out. Another time, he straight up stole a rifle from me, despite being unable to use it. What'd he do with it? Who knows, Sable's a wierd dude.

There's moments where I squint and opine that this or that stylistic choice didn't work very well,
but they're vastly outnumbered by times when I really like what's going on, and want more of it.

Very impressive amount of quality for a single creator.

Not as good as the phenomenal Antumbra Saga, but still an excellent campaign. I look forward to your next project!

Just played this through, enjoyed it immensly.

Are you people high?
I'm barely into this thing, and I'm just about to give up: The tactical encounters are terribly unbalanced and amateurishly planned, which is a shame, because the writing had me hooked from the first minute.

EDIT: That's it, I give up. What's the point of a good story, if the characters cannot survive the first chapter?

Considering all the positive reviews, I figured this to be a safe bet.
Very disappointed.
This is the first and last UGC I will ever play.
Way to go, chipheads.

Honestly, Lapunir, as I said in my own review, I found the combat rather easy for the most part. I don't know why you would have so much trouble. Perhaps if you went a bit more in depth with your experience the creator could help you out.

@lapunir

a basic character should have at least
Body 3 (30 HP)
Quickness 3 (4 if developped as a gun-toting runner)
Strength 3 (if developped as a melee-bashing runner)
Range Combat 3 (4 if specialised in guns)
and 2 or 3 points in Dodge and whichever range weapons you want to use

a great buff is to raise Charisma to 4 (+1 Etiquette), and then have Summoning 3 so you can choose a totem.
unaffected by Essence, it'll provide single-person or AoE magical bonus

here is a typical profile for a runner that I like (because I want to experience as many aspects of the game)

Body 3
Quickness 4
Range Combat 4
Dodge 2
Rifle 2
Intelligence 3
Decking 3
Charisma 4
Conjuring 1 (for astral vision at first, then Shield and Haste spells later on)
Summoning 3 (totem : Bear for its AoE healing attribute

I'll raise my Quickness and Range Combat by +2 with 2 cyberarms (Essence go from 5.5 to 5)
as soon as possible (even selling off stuff if necessary)
and devote my Karma to raising my Intelligence + Decking to 5+ in order to get a very aggresssive deck

once done, fell free to raise your body to 4


Tactically, you must always try to stay hidden behind cover that protects from the shots AT YOU
having a cover while being shot from behind or sideways is useless
best is to let your opponent come AT YOU, like hiding behind a side street or a wall (so they have to move towards you to see you, thus expanding Action Points and ending in open sights when your turn start)

always concentrate fire to elimate enemies in plain sight, not those in cover
use your skills (like auto fire on an easy % to hit enemy with lots of HP or bonus % to hit for one you absolutely wants to finish off)
moving next to your ennemies (or best, sending a big hulking trog swing his machette at them) is a good way of forcing then to relocate to a less protected cover
in addition, hitting someone in melee force them to lose whatever cover they had. even better : melee weapons have a decent chance of making them lose AP
without APs, your enemy will be considered in plain sight (ie: without cover) for this turn + next turn

when you have a team, attract the opposition, then go hide in a room with 1 door, and stay out of sight
cast trap spells at the entrance (Fire Wall, Air Barrier and the likes)
the ennemies will have to get through it in order to see you.
those that survives or have AP remaining will be showered by your guns in auto-mode
and you wrap it all with a good Phoenix flaming sauce

use Healing to remove the latest wounds (or Bear totem to remove all latest within an area)
use medkits of your team to make sure your members all have 50%+ of heir max HP (min 20 HP)
those medkits will be renewed once the run is over
use YOUR medkits only when none other are left : they are your last safety


all my runs at Shadowrun (vanilla and UGC) are done at least at Hard level
it's more challenging
except for one passage (with Phoenix alone and without medkit during the heist), I never encountered any impossible-to-solve situations
sometimes, it was challenging, sometimes it was a breeze
but always very fun (no foot-licking fetsh, just my honest take)


try to follow my advices.
start the game at EASY if need be
but if you still can't clear it, I don't think that the problem is with the UGC


Have fun,

TL;DR 9/10, would massacre racists and lose my skin again.

I just finished the piece, after having completed the Antumbra Saga, and I feel like not leaving my thoughts would be a disservice to cirion.

First, the cons. There were bugs and a few glitches, but then cirion said that it was complete but in beta, so I can let a few of those pass. Some, though, were a bit obnoxious, like having to restart levels because certain things didn't trigger. Also, not sure if the Hong Kong engine is to blame for this, but I found that the high hit percentages didn't count for nearly as much as they used to; I've never missed so many times with 75%+ chances to hit. Finally, I found the set pieces to be a bit small in terms of the facilities and the offices and such, which took away from the sprawling feel that could have been there.

Now, onto what I enjoyed about The Caldecott Caper.

First off, the story is a more personal one than the Antumbra Saga, and one that I'd argue is more personal than Dragonfall or Hong Kong. The stakes start off small and close to home and don't rise until later in the story. Per the shadowrunner norm, something that should be simple blows up to become anything but, and I loved that approach. Also, the story shows why what's going on is your problem almost immediately, with no room to create characters that simply don't care one way or the other and derail the story. The personal touches with Kora, Rafik and Persi made the character feel like a person with an actual past instead of a blank slate or, worse, a mess of intended ideas that don't work. Furthermore, the character's personality was fleshed out with each interaction with the crew they were assembling, and I also loved this as I was learning about not only an interesting cast, but also about this runner who was bringing them together. Very good work.

Speaking of the cast, nothing to complain about here. They might not have hit the same high points as, say, Glory from Dragonfall, but they definitely work for the story being told. Each member was fleshed out as a person, their races made sense given the setting, and they all had understandable motives and backgrounds that worked in the setting. More importantly, though, they felt like they fit in the Shadowrun universe, each of them reflecting important themes and ideas in the setting and political strata, and this is where I'll say that the mod does a better job than Hong Kong in making a clean, sharp, living cast. The group has been affected by the politics and environment around them, and it shows. None of them feel like they were dropped into the story for the sake of filling a slot.

The mod has romances, and they are optional per cirion's own comments in the FAQ. What I like here is that cirion didn't go the expected route of Mass Effect or other RPGs where the romance is active by default. Instead, there's a choice at the beginning that sets the player's criteria and the mod plays out in accordance with that. This approach felt novel and definitely better than the usual tripe from other games that follow the fomula. As to the romances themselves, I liken them, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, to a nice dress on a beautiful woman: short enough to get attention, long enough to cover everything, and fits what it's on just right. I felt that the romances were a good addition to the mod, and they didn't feel out of place at all. If romance is your thing, you'll like the effort given here, and if it isn't, you can opt out early without the usual drama other games put you through.

My last point that I liked was the ending, particularly the epilogues. Dragonfall and Hong Kong left one dubious about how much of an effect their actions had on the world, especially with such short entires and clipped descriptions. TCC shows that the scale you were fighting on did indeed have an effect on the region in which you were operating, and more importantly, it felt like a return to the cyberpunk themes instead of pinning everything on the fantasy aspects. Racism, power, science gone bad, and a clear show of what the wrong thing in the wrong hands can do all felt perfectly in line with the setting and felt stronger for not leaning heavily on the supernatural. That's up to the player's preference, of course, but to me it felt like a breath of fresh air.

An inspired mod, definitely worth the time and the price. I look forward to whatever else the creator has planned, because he/she has shown that they understand the setting and can truly tell a great, fitting story.

I've never bothered to comment on a Steam mod before, but I will for this. The Caldecott Caper is easily as good as any of the Harebrained Schemes official campaigns. It includes original uses of the UGC editor, fantastic characters and dialogue, immersion and references to the Sixth World throughout the campaign, and an engaging plot that leaves you wondering what will happen next. The cherry on top is an apparent absence of bugs including a significant lack of spelling mistakes. Truly, The Caldecott Caper is a must play for anyone who enjoys Shadowrun.

Hey dev, are you sure you did not overblown the difficulty? I started as mage, which means I don't have any decent spells and at start, I need to defeat stronger and more numerous enemies. At that is several times at once. Without equip. On top of that, there are not enough hints on what is before me and what should I expect (unlike in offic campaigns). Often, negative response to gang mean that char is attacked instantly which, as char cant be in cover at that time, means that he is in mercy of random roll (i.e., critical -> dead char).

My first mission was for Sable. And I have to load VERY often. Like that time when enemy hackers hack into matrix, so you log in, see IC. After turn trying to take them down realize that those are your ICs (hey, they are red, enemy hackers are red, enemies that you cant see in meat space have red silueties as well and red circles around them, so enemies are red, but those are with you) but suddenly they are attacking you, because that hacker, which you couldn't see if you went left, took control of IC, which you couldn't see.

I would say that playing game which rules you learn only after they kick you into balls is bad game (and thus bad design). But reading discussion, it seems that a lot of people are into BDSM, so whatever.

Edit: Also, it might be me, but I felt that introduction to story is very heavy handed and player is forced too much into character and story. Namely into bonding with people player does not know but character is supposed to know and they know the character. And player is forced into highly-emotional situation with these character. Which is just bad.

I just have to reply to this. I love the HBS shadowrun games, and they are all decent length. But an unfortunate side effect of the style of game is that after you have played it once, there is no reason to go back and play again unless you specifically want to try another skill path. WHich is what makes the Cirion mods so great. I haven't played this one yet, but i can wait to now that i have discovered it. I loved the Antumbra Saga, almost as much as dragonfall and more than base hong kong. When awesome things are made it is important to recognize it so more awesome things like it are made.

The "easy mode" is still prety difficult by comparison to HK or DF but I'm old and not as good as I used to be. The relentless combat had me shoving medkits down the new deckers throat from dying so often. That and the lack of a gun on him was killer. Only put in a few hours into the campaign but asides this gripe, this is just about as good as Dragon Fall in terms of campaign quality.

Oh and you took my portrait for my character with Rajik. :P

It's been really great to see the growth from the beginning of Antumbra to now. Very, very cool work. I like the swing at Bioware-style companions, and further exploration of the Cali Sprawl has been fun.

Hell, man. I'd pay for these as DLCs. Not as polished as HBS' stuff to be sure, but I've certainly bought games at full price that delivered less of the good stuff.

My second attempt was more successful. I droped my pistol skill as magick weapon had better chance to hit anyway, chosed default mage build, so I got additional spell (heal) and was able to build drain life, which appears to be critical (kill everyone but last enemy and then heal yourself). And campaing appears to have really good quality, however there still seems to be rough edges. For example, when Phoenix fired her flame and this flame jumped to everyone else as well, person you were supposed to protect as well as party members. Can you give us a warning? description? Something? Why some people think that if you hide effects of abilities from player, it makes better game?

Originally posted by Malek:

The "easy mode" is still prety difficult by comparison to HK or DF but I'm old and not as good as I used to be. The relentless combat had me shoving medkits down the new deckers throat from dying so often. That and the lack of a gun on him was killer. Only put in a few hours into the campaign but asides this gripe, this is just about as good as Dragon Fall in terms of campaign quality.

Oh and you took my portrait for my character with Rajik. :P

Been playing this a bit more and I'm noticing a charismatic build has little to no place in this. It gets you a few extras but the combat avoidance that was a bit ... more the norm? if you will for Shadowrun Hong Kong seems non existant here. Even with one that gets by in SR:HK with 1 to 2 combat a mission, this one, with the same build and making the charisma checks, has a minimum of 5 combat scenes.

Man, the optional "repel enemy deckers" mission when you first get your decker is really too tough.

I actually KNOW how to deck... have played every single shadowrun, plus many many UGC over the last few years.... this is the hardest decking challenge... ever.

one, you're missing an ESP (there are two slots for ESPs), and the ESP you get is the WORST one you could possibly choose.
two, you face not one opposing decker, not two... but THREE. wtf?

I've tried 4 times to stop the first decker from reprogramming the IC drones, with zero success.

after that, not only are you facing 3 enemy deckers... but your own IC as well.

sorry, but it's just overkill. I'm usually dead by turn 3 or 4, even with cover.

playing on normal, btw, since most UGC devs tend to make their packs a lot harder than regular camps, and this is no exception.

here's what I would change... the ONLY thing I would change, and this would still be a good challenge:

give your decker an attacker program. he has a slot free, and the tarball from the attacker would actually give you something of a chance to hold off the deckers from reprogramming your drones.

otherwise... it's just an excercise in frustration. no. really.

also... even on normal, your IC seems to miss when attacking enemies nearly every time. at least 80% miss chance. not so when turned on you though.

overall, it's doable, but soooo frustrating as to be entirely unenjoyable, and entirely dependent on good luck, since firewalls don't do anything. It would be different if they say, removed an AP, but they don't, and you can pass through them diagonally, so they aren't even a barrier. even with the BEST case scenario, an enemy never takes more than 2 hits form a firewall, and that's only 50 damage.

you're a sadist, sir.