CD Projekt Red Reveals Cyberpunk

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

The new game is being developed by a second CD Projekt Red team composed of veterans of the first two Witcher releases, and like those games, Cyberpunk will be "richly detailed, non-linear" and aimed at "mature and demanding players" who will shape the game world with the choices they make. Cyberpunks will make their way through the world as one of a wide range of different classes, armed with a variety of cybernetic implants, high-tech weaponry and more.

Now this is incredible gaming news. Everything I read about Hitman: Absolution made me wince and want to weep for the tragedy of it. Everything here is frikkin fantastic. "Mature and demanding", not "mass market appeal". Thank you CD Projekt Red, thank you thank you thank you. Other developers, learn from these guys and maybe we start to buy your games again.

 

[MammothBlade]

Excitement level: LEGENDARY

I can't wait to find out more about this. Will it compare to Deus Ex, or even surpass it?

 

[dancinginfernal]

Manny Pacquiao Broke his knee during his practice Bad day for pacman so his next fight VS Bradley Will be Cancel

For More Details Go to ESPN-go.com

Or This Direct Link

http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/topics/_/page/pacquiao-vs-bradley [MakeCash10.com]


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Isn't Captcha supposed to stop this shit?

 

[Zeckt]

I want to be different so I'm going to say this project dissapoints me! Oh, who am I kidding. It's awesome.

 

[Haywoot]

This. As an owner of Cyberpunk 2020 RPG and an avid roleplayer & GM, I've been waiting for a video game based on the CP2020 for years and now I only hope they don't take anything from that god-awful Cyberpunk V3 and that they really do keep some of that strange out-dated retro-feeling of the original game.

My other wishes for this game:
- Open-world Nightcity with a lot of sidequests, random encounters and places to explore
- Co-op adventuring (up to 4 players?), not just combat but actual RPG adventuring with social encounters, non-linear routes and non-combat approaches to different situations etc.
- Deep customization of player characters from physical appearance, bodymods and clothing to cybernetic implants, biotechnological improvements and augmented special abilities with the addition of on-the-fly changeable booster chips and cyber limbs

Damn, I really hope this game will be THE game for CD Project RED, not just another lousy half-assed throw at the cyberpunk genre... Yes, I'm looking at you Syndicate...

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

This. As an owner of Cyberpunk 2020 RPG and an avid roleplayer & GM, I've been waiting for a video game based on the CP2020 for years and now I only hope they don't take anything from that god-awful Cyberpunk V3 and that they really do keep some of that strange out-dated retro-feeling of the original game.

You know about this particular RPG they're bringing to digital life? What can you tell us about it? I only really understand d20 but would love to hear whatever you can fill in about anything we might expect. Skills, combat, levelling/xp, morality, etc. Tell us tell us.

On another note, I don't know if 4 player co-op is my first wish for a cyberpunk RPG. I'd prefer a solidly crafted single player game I can get lost in. There would probably need to be too many compromises for a decent co-op mechanic.

 

[AKDread]

im very interested on CDProjektReds take on Cyberpunk, but i believe that they will not disappoint anyone with any of their games so far

 

[Haywoot]

You know about this particular RPG they're bringing to digital life? What can you tell us about it? I only really understand d20 but would love to hear whatever you can fill in about anything we might expect. Skills, combat, levelling/xp, morality, etc. Tell us tell us.

On another note, I don't know if 4 player co-op is my first wish for a cyberpunk RPG. I'd prefer a solidly crafted single player game I can get lost in. There would probably need to be too many compromises for a decent co-op mechanic.

Yes, I've played about a half a dozen different campaigns within the Cyberpunk 2020 setting and with it's original and some house rules. The RPG's content has a distinct focus on the PUNK aspect of the cyberpunk genre and a lot of the original materials are written from a street level point of view with a rebel heart. The distinction between good and evil is really blurred as most player characters constantly break laws and harsh violence is part of their everyday lives. You can play as a cop, but as corruption and police brutality is widespread in Nightcity (the main location of the original game) you might not be able to avoid bending the law or breaking it. Still the "good guys" fight the corporate machine and the "bad guys" are neck-deep within the corporate machine.

The game doesn't have an actual levelling system but your skills improve with improvement points (IPs) that are awarded from different things. Character development also comes in other forms as there are a lot of things to buy/steal/gain. The game incorporated Humanity -points to give the game a distinct twist: when getting cybersurgery and improving your character with different cybernetic, bio- or nanotechnology implants you risk of losing different amounts of humanity in form of humanity points. This affects directly to your character's empathy-stat that can drop down to zero if the character implants himself with too much stuff. Empathy also stands for sanity in this game so your character becomes a cyberpsycho if he tries to go "full borg" without precautions.

There's a lot of info at the game's Wikipedia-page, so I'll just throw the link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk_2020

As a reply to your concern about the co-op, I would say that it would be a really great addition because the RPG is usually played with a very diverse group of player characters. One might be a traditional hard-boiled solo, a high-end mercenary with cyberlinked smartguns etc., while one could be a fixer of illicit/limited info & VR-software (dealer), one a rockerboy who plays in a rebellious chrome-metal band and one a techie who builds his/her own cybernetic modifications. However, if every player character would be the same or almost the same (different variations of solos for example), then I wouldn't be into the co-op one bit...

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

snip

Thanks for that great info on the game. Sounds like there's potential here. If CD Projekt can create magic with a "typical" fantasy setting, now take that ingenuity, an established ruleset and a cool universe to inhabit. Is it near-future Earth then? Or another world entirely?

The humanity points thing reminds me of Space Siege. Yes, I played it, alright? There, the protagonist had various opportunities to trade his man parts for the machine variety, losing "humanity" or something like that in exchange for becoming tougher. It affected the ending, but (to my knowledge) not a lot else. Truthfully, in that case it was quite pointless. Simply knowing that the game is completable without the "extra power" relegated this to an arbitrary choice. Unlike f.ex, Deus Ex where different upgrades alter gameplay and the player's approach to a level.

Co-Op RPGs can work, MMOs revolve around parties of tank/healer/damage. Your example actually sounds really good. :-\ If they can make levels designed with opportunities for one player to stealth while the other distracts a guard and a third hacks a computer and stuff like that, yeah....I'll take it Like Deus Ex perhaps, but with each player fulfilling maybe 1 or 2 roles only, not all of them

What was that 360 (or was it xbox) single player game where the player controlled a team of 4 agents of some sort, each of whom had a unique ability that we had to swap between to progress through the levels? Eden something?

 

[Haywoot]

Co-Op RPGs can work, MMOs revolve around parties of tank/healer/damage. Your example actually sounds really good. :-\ If they can make levels designed with opportunities for one player to stealth while the other distracts a guard and a third hacks a computer and stuff like that, yeah....I'll take it Like Deus Ex perhaps, but with each player fulfilling maybe 1 or 2 roles only, not all of them

Exactly! Co-op roles in Cyberpunk could go like this:
The Solo acts as the brawn of the team, carrying the big guns and armor while sporting combat-oriented implants and being threatening to NPCs (intimidation in social encounters would break some NPCs). The Techie is the healer/support of the team, fixing cybernetics, applying medical equipment and crafting custom boosters (chips, drugs, temporary mods, etc.) for the team to use. The Fixer would be the intelligence/acquisition specialist of the team, who could use resources to buy intelligence (i.e. blueprints/maps to unknown areas) on the fly, bribe/persuade NPCs and acquire various special equipment off the street. The Net Runner is naturally the hacker of the team, bypassing security systems, hacking networks/computers for valuable information and turning enemy defences against themselves or even hacking into enemies and causing their cybernetics to haywire.

Also each role could be customized to fit the player's preferred play style (i.e. the Solo could be a silent assassin, Neo-style gunfu-master or a heavily armed/armored tank or the Techie could be a jury-rigging explosives expert instead of a cybernetics freak). Now tell me this kind of co-op wouldn't be cool in a well designed package?

 

[Micah Weil]

The question I have is...are they using Cyberpunk 2020 rules and tech, or are they going with that nonsense Cyberpunk v3 that came out in '05? Because, seriously, there is SO MUCH MORE you can do when you factor in the humanity loss of replacing your meat with metal.

 

[GiglameshSoulEater]

ha american protagonists fighting for america? someone isnt familiar with the cyberpunk rpg. american government may still exist but its no where near as powerful as one of the megacorps. its a very fractured society and a very international game as well.

No, I am not familiar with it (though a weakened government is common in cyberpunk), but they could still have an non-american protagonist for once. Maybe a Brit who isn't evil or the snarky tech-guy. Or hell, some nationality with English not as the primary language. A bit of variety, especially in the ethnically-diverse societies we live in now.

The question I have is...are they using Cyberpunk 2020 rules and tech, or are they going with that nonsense Cyberpunk v3 that came out in '05? Because, seriously, there is SO MUCH MORE you can do when you factor in the humanity loss of replacing your meat with metal.

I question this. Getting prosthetics shouldn't cause 'humanity loss'. If you get a false arm, you don't start strangling puppies or something because I already do. Surely only brain surgery could even hope to change your ethical views?

 

[Keava]

The question I have is...are they using Cyberpunk 2020 rules and tech, or are they going with that nonsense Cyberpunk v3 that came out in '05? Because, seriously, there is SO MUCH MORE you can do when you factor in the humanity loss of replacing your meat with metal.

I question this. Getting prosthetics shouldn't cause 'humanity loss'. If you get a false arm, you don't start strangling puppies or something because I already do. Surely only brain surgery could even hope to change your ethical views?

You aren't just getting prosthetic. Getting unmoded, simple cybernetic hand replacement doesn't have any consequences rules wise, no Humanity Loss modifier. However, getting a hand that has built in chainsaw or extra pair of arms below your normal ones had 2d6 Humanity Loss points tied to it (every 10 points you loose 1 point of Empathy).

The fluff reasoning is that the more someone changes their body into machine the less they care about "fleshy humans" and it's not really against what psychiatry knows about human behavior. Events in your life don't have to directly damage your brain to have effect on your psyche. Also, not every single poor sod that went to Empathy 0 becomes a psychotic killer, the spectrum of consequences includes pretty much every known psychiatric condition, from delusions, schizophrenia, paranoia all the way to psychopathic tendencies and uncontrolable desire for bloodshed.