Thanks to an overwhelming response from fans of both video games and table-top role-playing, the Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter has reached it’s $US400,000 goal in a little over 24 hours.
For more than two decades pen-and-paper role-players have been losing themselves in the dirty streets and glimmering megacorps of Shadowrun, yet only four largely forgettable video games have explored the setting’s unique mix of cyberpunk and urban fantasy. Series creator Jordan Weisman would like to fix this oversight.
Culled from the video from this morning’s Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter post, it’s time to put the sins of Shadowrun games past behind us. Watching the executive producer of 2007′s horrid first-person shooter a few thousand times should do the trick.
If you think back hard enough, Falling Leaf Systems might ring a bell. It was the company of coders (read: one 19-year old kid) working hard to get programs of various operating systems working in other operating systems. For us, Falling Leaf’s project of interest was the “Alky Compatibility Libraries”, designed to permit DirectX 10 “only” games to run on Windows XP.
Unfortunately, Falling Leaf has decided to throw in the towel, sink, bath, ferret and source code. According to the latest post on the Alky blog by “CEO” Cody Brocious, he just wasn’t able to get the whole compatibility schmoozle to click. Whether this was due to it simply being impossible or too much for one man, we’ll never know.
Or maybe we will. As a parting gift, Falling Leaf has released the source code free, and is available to anyone with the balls to give it another go.
Even though it failed at its ultimate objective, Falling Leaf did manage to get the PC versions of Halo 2 and Shadowrun working perfectly on Windows XP, despite their Vista requirement. So some good did come of the affair.
It is with great sadness… [Alky Project via LinuxGames]
Looking back at my gaming stats of 2007, I logged a shameless amount of hours playing Shadowrun. I always liked the game, even if the final product lacked the polish or additional content a lot of people were looking for. Now, a few months after FASA’s closing, the game will end its forum support as well.
If you frequented the official Shadowrun forums, they are planning a new place where people can meet in an off-Microsoft type property. Honestly, given that most games have digressed to a chaotic free-for-all (with a fair share of team killing to boot), and troll katana has become absurdly unbalanced, it pains me to say that you might be better off just saying bye for good. Announcement: Forums Closing Soon [via n4g]
Those worried about the fate of Shadowrun, MechWarrior, and Crimson Skies following the closing of FASA Studios need not worry at all; the licenses for those properties have been securely in the hands of FASA, WizKids (HeroClix), and 42 Entertainment (ilovebees) founder Jordan Weisman. The announcement was made on the website of Weisman’s latest venture, Smith & Tinker Inc. back in mid-October. The company’s plans for the properties is still up in the air. We’re not quite ready to announce our plans for each property, but please be assured that our goal is to surprise and delight old fans, while welcoming new fans to these fantastic worlds.
Kotaku’s own one-time guest editor Simon Carless of Gamasutra speculates that Jordan’s fascination with transmedia and job postings on the website looking for people with Web 2.0 and online game expertise could point towards an MMO. A Shadowrun MMO? A MechWarrior MMO? Just typing the words gets me far more excited than I am allowed to reveal to you gentle, innocent readers.
Smith & Tinker’s License Procurement Announcement [Smith & Tinker via Gamasutra]
