Published by EnragedGnome July 11th, 2007
in technical, Vista and XBOX 360.
Kimona has updated an earlier announcement to include new information about the second title update.
TITLE UPDATE #2 CONTENTS:
Vista Only:
1) Fixed some user interface issues on the dedicated server administrator console.
2) Fixed some user interface issues on the Live menus.
3) Silver players will now show up on the recently played player list of Gold players.
4) Fixed a hard lock that could occur under certain conditions when accepting a game invite.
Vista and 360:
1) Implemented improvements to matchmaking. We expect a 200-300% improvement in wait times. We’ve also added clearer status messaging.
2) Improved sync times. When a new player joins a game, the synching wait will be reduced.
3) Made changes to improve party system. Parties should be split less now, and when splitting is absolutely necessary, we attempt to regroup the party later.
4) Changed some of the achievement descriptions to make goals clearer.
5) Improved bot AI.
This is an overview of the changes. We’ll post a full list when the update is closer to release.
The update is currently undergoing the Microsoft certification process which typically takes 2-3 weeks to complete. Hopefully that means we’ll have a full list of improvements and changes in the very near future.
As promised, the second update is much meatier and should help alleviate many gamer’s frustrations. A 200-300% improvement in wait times? That’s pretty impressive. The party-splitting issue was a topic of hot debate just after release, but many players later agreed that the problem was not as bad as initially perceived. Hopefully this update will settle that issue as well.
If you don’t see everything you wanted on this list, don’t fret just yet. This is only an overview of changes for the second update. I expect to see at least one more patch coming down the line in the relatively near future. How else does FASA plan on giving the victors their spoils? Perhaps they will bundle the new bot names in with other fixes.
Tags: kimona, update
Published by rapture June 21st, 2007
in technical, Vista and XBOX 360.
Kimona sends word that the first title update for Shadowrun will go live in the following days:
As we’ve mentioned before, the team’s working on a number of title updates for Shadowrun. The first one should go live within the next day or two.
The first update will be very limited in scope. Here’s what’s on the menu:
Vista:
1) Addressed a problem with viewing Shadowrun in the Games Explorer on the Vista versions for Portugal and Finland.
2) Fixed an issue involving removing the controller while playing on Vista.
3) If you lose your connection to LIVE while playing on Vista, the UI behaves correctly now.
360:
1) Fixed a hard lock that can occur when a player signs out of a profile on 360.
2) Fixed a hard lock that can occur after starting a bot match in Chapter 4 of the training.
3) Fixed an issue that affected voice-over in the Italian 360 version.
Common:
- Fixed a small memory leak that could affect performance and stability in some situations.
This is good news as there are some issues that need addressing. Most gamers that are playing the game now accept these errors and can enjoy the game. But the fixes will be great in making good first impressions on new players. They also help increase replayability.
Here’s hoping for a standalone dedicated server that will run on Windows Server 2003 so that the PC community will grow. I mean, who hosts dedicated servers on Vista without breaking most all ISP’s Terms of Service? I know people have gone to jail over Shadowrun before. But I don’t want to. Even though the current servers are west coast servers (probably hosted on some corporate connection), they are a lot smoother than playing on Joe Schmoe’s XBOX 360. Oh, and achievements in dedicated servers, please! Dedicated server support for datacenter-host machines FTW!
Tags: kimona, update
Published by rapture June 6th, 2007
in XBOX 360.
Kimona and FASA has some fresh information about Shadowrun 360’s demo in this forum post. Summary below:
Shadowrun Demo FAQ - Updated 05 June 07
Q: Are you doing a demo for both 360 and Vista?
A: We’re definitely doing a 360 downloadable demo. We haven’t announced a Vista one.
Q: When will the demo come out?
A: 07 June 07 at 2am PDT. How’s that for specific?
Q: What features will be in the demo?
A: We want to give players a good sense of what makes Shadowrun different / fun, but we can’t give away everything, of course. The feature set we’re offering is limited, but there are no time restrictions on the demo. Here’s what you get:
* Training: Chapters 1, 2, and 3
* Solo Match and Public Match (so both bot play and multiplayer)
* One map: Power Station (which means only one game type: Raid)
* Two races: Elf and Human
* Magic: Tree of Life, Resurrect, Gust, and Teleport
* Tech: Glider, Enhanced Vision, and Smartlink
* Weapons: Pistol, SMG, Rifle, Shotgun, Katana, and Sniper Rifle
Q: Will the demo be playable outside of the US?
A: Yes! US, Canada, Mexico, much of Europe, and even some parts of Asia. And it is localized. We think Shadowrun sounds really cool in Chinese, especially.
Q: How long will the demo be available?
A: We don’t have an expiration date at the moment. We’ll update when we have one.
Q: I have a question that’s not covered here. What do I do?
A: Post on the forums. If the question hasn’t been answered already, we’ll try to cover it.
Tags: demo, kimona
Published by rapture June 4th, 2007
in XBOX 360 and Shadowrun.
Straight from Kimona on the official Shadowrun forums, the demo for this game will be out on sometime between June 6th and June 8th. No word on if the Vista version of the demo will be available at the same time or not. Here’s hoping that it is else the PC community will have to wait.
And here’s hoping that Bungie is going to show us this love as the HALO 3 beta comes to an end.
Hey folks,
We want to let you know what we know about the demo as soon as we know, you know?
Ok, let me try that again.
The demo’s scheduled to be released on XBL this Wednesday, June 6th. There’s a possibility it may have to wait until the 7th or the 8th. We don’t know for sure that it will be delayed, but we want to let you know it might be a day or two later than we thought it would be, so you can plan your evenings accordingly. 
Nothing else has changed. Still the same cool demo. Hope to see you online this week.
-Kimona
Lead Program Manager, FASA Studio
Tags: demo, kimona
Published by rapture May 28th, 2007
in technical.
Over on the official Shadowrun forums, Kimona has posted the offical release dates for Shadowrun based on region:
US and Canada: 29 May
Europe: 01 June
Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore: 07 June
Australia, New Zealand: 14 June
By the way, the game will be localized to your specific region.
Tags: kimona, release date
Published by rapture May 26th, 2007
in FASA.
Kimona talks about the business behind building a video game over on the FASA blog at IGN. It’s easy right? Good ideas should always make it into the game right? Give it a read and find out why “Hologram” won’t be a magic that’s in Shadowrun.
Tags: blog, ign, kimona
Published by rapture May 18th, 2007
in technical.
FASA has an update about the upcoming Shadowrun demo. The demo is set to launch on June 6th and it has not been affected by the HALO 3 beta’s extension (which ends on June 10th). The demo is currently going through certification. What’s going to be in the demo?
We want to give players a good sense of what makes Shadowrun different / fun, but we can’t give away everything, of course. The feature set we’re offering is limited, but there are no time restrictions on the demo. Here’s what you get:
* Training: Chapters 1, 2, and 3
* Solo Match and Public Match (so both bot play and multiplayer)
* One map: Power Station (which means only one game type: Raid)
* Two races: Elf and Human
* Magic: Tree of Life, Resurrect, Gust, and Teleport
* Tech: Glider, Enhanced Vision, and Smartlink
* Weapons: Pistol, SMG, Rifle, Shotgun, Katana, and Sniper Rifle
Kimona also says that we should keep our eyes open for launch details. Fun on the way?
Tags: demo, kimona
Published by EnragedGnome May 3rd, 2007
in videos, interviews and preview.
A couple of months ago, part of the Shadowrun team traveled through several major cities during their European Press Tour. Kimona sent word that new gameplay footage from the London stop on the tour has surfaced.
Go check out the video at Eurogamer.net — the Shadowrun part doesn’t start until 12:20. It’s well-worth the wait in my opinion.
This video is representative of what the game looked like in late February, and I must say it is very impressive. Inside you’ll find a closer look at some new environments, a short interview with Mitch Gitelman, and lots of drool-inducing gameplay.
Tags: eurogamer, european tour, kimona, video
Published by rapture April 26th, 2007
in technical and Vista.
Kimona has posted a lot of new information specific to Shadowrun for Windows Vista over on the official game forums. She covers a lot of bases about playing Shadowrun on a computer. There is also some information for XBOX 360 gamers as well although this is a Vista-specific FAQ. Go over there and give it a read if you are interested in learning more about the differences (and similarities) between PC and XBOX 360 play.
Some new information from the FAQ:
- dedicated server admins control map and gametype rotation
- you can view ping times for the servers
- PC players can play at higher framerates
- An nVidia 7800 or ATI x1800 video cards are recommended
- 2GB of RAM is recommended along with a dual core processor
- Minimum specs: an nVidia 6800 or ATI x800 and P4 3.2 Ghz
- Same achievements available for both platforms
- lots of video settings can be tweaked in-game
Finally we have some information about the Vista version of Shadowrun.
Tags: dedicated servers, games for windows live, kimona, system requirements, technical, vista
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