Cyberpunk 2077

Ok, its not Cyberpunk 2020, it's Cyberpunk 2077... I can live with that.  It seems a little too far in the future, but its definitely doable, and an advancement in the timeline was necessary to make the level of Cybernetics acceptance commonplace, to give cybertech legacy as it were, and to have a city as new as Night City be believably the sprawling metropolis we all see it as.

There is a new website for the gamer, and it looks beautiful.  It's too early to say conclusively, but it seems a very real possiblility that this game is going to fullfill all my hopes and dreams for what I want a video game to be.  What I want, what I almost need from a Cyberpunk video game, is easy to say, it won't be easy to accomplish.  I want a sandbox as big and diverse as San Andreas.  With nomads as a prime and very popular role (my favorite personally), there needs to be some type of open wasteland expanse outside the city.

I want the character and vehicle customization of Saints Row 2, and I want the game to not only have an immense array of vehicles and weapons, but I want to be able to store and organize them.   Character customization at least as deep as Saints Row 2 is also a necessity, as I want to play my favorite characters from my own cyberpunk games.  Cybernetics as a cosmetic option, as well as cyber providing mechanical bonuses are a must.  Vehicles are a must as well in a game like this, because in Cyberpunk, as well as any other near future game, discovery, exploration, choice, and action are the backbones of the game.  A large amount of vehicles to choose from almost becomes integral, for reasons of personal style.  AV's of course are a must.

The game also has to have at least a passable form of hand to hand combat, something along the lines of Sleeping Dogs would be ideal, but I understand the game is already straining as is...

Its important to me that the game not be first person perspective.  I want to be able to see my character being awesome, I don't want to be limited to looking at a gun barrel or a pair of hands.  3rd person perspective is the way to go. 

I know a lot of people are all about multiplayer... but I really think this game is better served as a single player game... however, that being said, what would be truly amazing, is a four player co-operative play mode and free roam... something like the Saints  Row series does, only with more than one extra person.  I say four person, because that is the size of the average tabletop group.

Oh, and for the ultimate experience, Mike Pondsmith's smooth husky voice needs to be given voice credit work as the games narrator, so it feels like the game is being referee's by the main man himself...

Now of course the reality is, that I want, no I crave these things with every fiber of my being, CDPR may not go in this direction with even a single of my desires... only time will tell.

But what they have said has made me hopeful, and if you want more information for yourself, incluiding word from Maximum Mike Pondsmith himself, you can now keep tabs on the game at the official website:
http://www.cyberpunk.net/

You can also follow the game devlopment on their official facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/CyberpunkGame

I am so very very excited...

Fanzines lost to antiquity...

Does anyone out there have a copy of Punk 21 issue 1, or Input Output, or Edgerunner issue 1? These are all very very rare Cyberpunk 2020 fanzines, long out of print, some only distributed very locally... but I am desperately trying to get my hands on them.

 If you have access to them or just know someone who does, please get in touch with me...

Video Games... and I lament

I finally procured and recently finished playing Deus Ex, and while the graphics, premise, and overall feel were simply amazing... it had its share of problems.   It claims open world, but this is false, and there seems to be no way to accumulate all of the ulockable items in the game in any meaningful way.  While each level is presented in an open format, you cannot freely travel between the levels.  So in the end the whole thing really becomes pretty linear.  A railroad adventure with tracks that are just a tad wider.  Also it suffers from something I find enfuriating in games, end bosses who don't have to follow the same rules of physics and reality that the main character does.  The main bosses must be defeated in a pretty specific manner unless you have somehow managed to become extremely powerful, or are able to store and save all your really powerful guns and the ammo for them.  Of course doing so often means you have to leave the cooler guns behind, which means you won't get to keep them for the next level, unless you remember exactly where you dropped them.  And the end of the game is pretty dissapointing as well, in that it does not offer a choice of replay+, nor does it offer anything to do other than a dlc package which strips you of everything you have, and has no real connection to the rest of the game. 

Also, a minor gripe... the arm blades are cool, but they are way too long to be concealed in the character forearms... they make the same mistake with wolverine most of the time. 

My next video game will be Sleeping Dogs, I only pray its able to wash the dissapointment of SR3 out of my mouth.  SR2 was the greatest sandbox game since San Andreas, and I was looking forward to SR3 with more excitement than I ever had for a game before.  It was going to be bigger, better, and full of cyberpunk elements like Aerodynes, virtual reality, clones, ooo lala... And it has all those things, but they came at a serious and often unnecessary cost.  The customization was nerfed across every aspect... clothing, cars, character... its all at about 50 percent of the options you had before, in the case of clothing the choices are merely a fraction of what they were in SR2.  The storyline is a bi-polar incoherent mess.  The city is uniformly bland, with little to no difference between different parts of the city, and the seas and skies are devoid of life.  The amount of vehicles and items you unlock is lessened, and if you don't like them you can no longer delete them from your garage, nor can you delete DLC vehicles.  Not as big a deal since most of the DLC is worthless in my eyes, but more on that later. 

The game does have its good points.  The new engine makes for stunning graphjics, and the driving phsyics are vastly improved, although you cant bring a car to a dead stop... The new hand to hand animations are awesome (except for one where the MC poses after performing a takedown), but no one in the game will actually fist fight you, so it seems like a waste.  It has a great new option to save, import, and trade your characters, which is a bit of brilliant design.    But again, all this comes at a cost.  Mnay of the much loved activities are gone, like fight club and Fuzz.  There are no races at all, nor are their any taxi, police, firetruck, or minigames of the like.  There are very few enterable building, and very few shops in comparison to previous games.  The endings to the game are extremely dissapointing as well.  I could almsot forgive all of that, but the game seems to focus way to much on juvenile humor, and its lost its edge completely.  Instead of continuing the story from the previous games in any sort of believable manner, the game goes out of its way to be silly, with a gang of mecian pro-wrestlers as the main antagonists, and a Mascot and his army of furries as a main focus on the entire theme of the game... it gets even worse with the mission DLC's, all of which continue to take the game further into silly juvenile nonsense.  The non story DLC is the biggest slap in the face of all, as its all disc locked content... meaning you have to pay for things that are already on your game disc.  They have already announced SR4, and it appears it will continue in this manner.

In the end, Saints Row The Third is the best most dissapointing game I have ever played.  I have lost any desire to support Volition and THQ in the future, and with the exception of the Cyberpunk 2020 game coming from CD Projekt Red, I will never again pre-order a game.

But at least I have GTA5 (who hopefully have learned their lesson after the complaints about GTA4) to look forward to, and of course, my dream come true, the Cyberpunk 2020 video game.

Gamers On Games: Upcoming Mike Pondsmith interview

My pal Dave Simpson (and friends) and his video blog "Gamers on Games" has an interview lined up with Mike Pondsmith. They are asking for questions on RPGNET:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?652305-Interview-with-Mike-Pondsmith

So if you ever wanted to know anything, or have questions about the possible future for R. Talsorian games, please feel free to submit a question of your own.

On the DF2020 side, it seems that the File Project and forums are down again.  110.mb is the worst host I have ver seen.  Almost zero customer support and ridiculous downtimes.  I am still waiting on news of a site move to a new host from a friend who offered, will keep you posted.

I am still hard at work on the Guide To The Combat Zone, its coming along slow but steadily.  So glad I am getting this out of the way first, as its the largest and most crowded (location and gang wise) section of the city as it relates to my Amalgamated Night City Map.

Get your NC Amalgamated maps here...

Ok, while the File Poject and forums have been down, I have been receiving a ton of requests for the full Sized Night City Amalgamated Map.  It is too large to send via e-mail, but thats ok, I have a new dropbox account, so anyone who wants it can simply go here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yq1l5tjw4hwlgto/Cyberpunk%202020%20-%20Datafortress%202020%20-%20Night%20City%20Amalgamated%20Map.jpg

This should make downloading it easy.

If you are wanting any of the other files from the File Project (like the latest version of Interlock Unlimited), just shoot me an e-mail at wisdom000(a)gmail.com, or reply to this post with your e-mail, and I will get them to you.

I have finished the Gangs section of the Combat zone, it alone is 124 pages... I am working on finishing the rest of the Guide to the Combat Zone now, it will be the first of many guide sections, which will hopefully detail the entirety of the new map.

Hello everyone... I wanted to apologize for my absence and let people know whats been happening.

Firstly, I apologize for the Forums and the File Project being down, they are on the same server, whose host has been down for over a month.  I recommend never using 110.mb.com for anything.  I would have moved them already, but I am waiting to hear back from someone who made an offer about possibly hosting the entire site.  So until I hear back on that, I ask that you be patient... if you need a file from the File Project, get me your e-mail and I will try and get you anything you need.  Warning, some files are big to send via e-mail, like the Night City Amalgamated map, and I am looking at alternatives.... but if you need the latest version of Interlock Unlimited, or any of the other files, just contact me and I will e-mail it to you.

Secondly, I would like to say I am sorry for being silent for so long... my grandfather died recently, my mother has been having some health problems... and for 2 months the temperatures in Arkansas were hitting an average of 106 every day.  Since I keep my computer in my garage/gaming room... using it was kind of torturous, as I could not see the screen past the dripping sweat in my eyes.  Also, unemployment is starting to get to me.

But now that the temperature has gotten nice I have been hard at work again.  I have pretty much finished the Gangs of the Combat Zone section, now I am working on detailing the Combat Zone itself.  As part of the ongoing project of creating a guide for the expanded night city map, sort of a Night City sourcebook update, I have gone through all of the canon published books and adventures, and will be including all of the viable NC locations and and gangs mentioned in the books.  If you have a location or gang you would like included in the project, please feel free to e-mail me with its details, and I will ad it to the project (giving you full credit of course).  (Combat zone gangs are pretty much done, but if you have a location in the Zone you want included then act fast.).

Also, to everyone writing me and asking me if I am part of the Video Game, or of the New edition of the RPG (anounced here), no... while it has been a lifelong dream to be published in connection with this game, sadly neither Mike Pondsmith, nor the CD Projekt Red team have contacted me in regards to participation in either project.   Mike did tell me he sent the VG developers to my site though, so I can always hold out hope that something I created may show up in the game, or be referenced...

Anyway, thank you all for being patient, I hope to be updating the site with the new material soon.

Video Game news.

New interview with CD Projekt Red about the Cyberpunk video game and the industry in general:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...future-of-drm/