Kickstarter Update #63: Campaign and Progress Update

[Hyo Razuki]

The backer NPCs really seem to be a non-issue to me. How is a western tourist in Guilin(!), one of China's most touristy regions of all, gonna break the immersion? While Guilin in 1987 certainly wasn't as packed with loads of Western tourists as it is today, but a few Western backpackers in Chobu or in the mountainside absolutely make sense.

And concerning the combat NPCs all I can say is, the Chi You Men already cooperated with the Mad Angels in Yokosuka, which consist mostly of white people, so why wouldn't a few of their "men in suits" be white?

And it's not gonna be teenagers. No white teenager or student has the money to back an NPC tier on the S3 Kickstarter campaign. It was probably men in their late 20s or older who had the ability to back those tiers.

Not trolling or anything, I really tried to see an issue here, but I don't agree there is one.

[Peter]

If anyone has an issue with NCPs being based on human people, it's an easy fix. Just send YSNET $74,000 and they can cease the inclusion of that reward, as well as let decent Shenmue fans who were kind enough in the first place to delete that money down.

I don't remember a single person complaining when the rewards were released, on the contrary, the visible influx of funds was welcome with open arms at the time.

[mjq jazz bar]

The backer NPCs really seem to be a non-issue to me. How is a western tourist in Guilin(!), one of China's most touristy regions of all, gonna break the immersion? While Guilin in 1987 certainly wasn't as packed with loads of Western tourists as it is today, but a few Western backpackers in Chobu or in the mountainside absolutely make sense.

And concerning the combat NPCs all I can say is, the Chi You Men already cooperated with the Mad Angels in Yokosuka, which consist mostly of white people, so why wouldn't a few of their "men in suits" be white?

And it's not gonna be teenagers. No white teenager or student has the money to back an NPC tier on the S3 Kickstarter campaign. It was probably men in their late 20s or older who had the ability to back those tiers.

Not trolling or anything, I really tried to see an issue here, but I don't agree there is one.

I think some people here are under the impression Shenmue is supposed to be a reality simulator. Or they're just impossible to please. Unrealistic/inaccurate NPCs has to be item # 1,275,283 on my list of worries for Shenmue 3.

[ChiefNeo]

If anyone has an issue with NCPs being based on human people, it's an easy fix. Just send YSNET $74,000 and they can cease the inclusion of that reward, as well as let decent Shenmue fans who were kind enough in the first place to delete that money down.

I don't remember a single person complaining when the rewards were released, on the contrary, the visible influx of funds was welcome with open arms at the time.

I wasn't a fan of it when it was introduced either. I think that particular reward was unnecessary. I don't like the idea of it. I hope that they manage to hide it/ make it fit as much as possible. If it fits the game, and doesn't make me go "hey...there are the kickstarter extra bits that have to be here because people paid money" then I'll be fine with it. If not, pardon me for not being thrilled about it.

[SheepheadCG]

I really doubt that they are going to do/allow stuff that sticks out and ruins the immersion for the player. Don't worry guys. Have some faith in Yu for his vision lol He will have thought about ways to make it fit in, and will have strict requirements or will just tweak it to fit.

Failing all the above, I'm sure some genius will just mod it out of the PC version anyways ;)

[Yokosuka]

If anyone has an issue with NCPs being based on human people, it's an easy fix. Just send YSNET $74,000 and they can cease the inclusion of that reward, as well as let decent Shenmue fans who were kind enough in the first place to delete that money down.

I don't remember a single person complaining when the rewards were released, on the contrary, the visible influx of funds was welcome with open arms at the time.

I wasn't a fan of it when it was introduced either. I think that particular reward was unnecessary. I don't like the idea of it. I hope that they manage to hide it/ make it fit as much as possible. If it fits the game, and doesn't make me go "hey...there are the kickstarter extra bits that have to be here because people paid money" then I'll be fine with it. If not, pardon me for not being thrilled about it.

I know someone who was ready to back the NPC reward but changed his mind in the last day because 1) it was a lot of money 2) the idea of having his face ingame was creepy after all

[Sappharad]

Remember that the NPC reward isn't just random people. From Kickstarter: "Your face will be featured on a Chi You Men member to do battle with Ryo! To maintain character setting, body style will be up to Mr. Suzuki. "

The majority of the Chi Yo Men in Shenmue 2 were just white guys who weren't Asian wearing black suits. And only 5 people backed at the NPC level. I don't see any problems with the NPC reward, you're going to fight a lot more than 5 people during the game. When I initially saw the description during the kickstarter, it made me think of the battle on the 40th floor, which this reward would seem appropriate for.

As for the random photos, they could just be random photos. Remember the fishing shop on Queen's St. which had the photos of random people and Wong holding fish. If it's a bird shop for example, maybe there will be pictures of birds.

If you're looking for reward speculations, perhaps the temple pictured in this update is where the Chinese characters backer reward is going?

I'm looking forward to when we finally get to see the game in motion again.

[LucBu]

Still possible to convince YSnet and the concerned backers or are you talking only for the pleasure of talking? Because that's an excellent idea.

I like a chin waggle. I do. If it's important to you. I don't think YS would go back on it though, after all I mean the rewards were promised so it's probably more problematic and the old gang is probably focused on photoshopping the next batch of images for January's update.

The backer NPCs really seem to be a non-issue to me. How is a western tourist in Guilin(!), one of China's most touristy regions of all, gonna break the immersion?

Kind of like this: Real photographs of real people in a game that has 3d modeled characters with a certain style. Something like that? I guess if you were being pedantic you could say photography has changed, as have the fashions/styles etc. There would be a bit of knee jerk reaction in my case I think.

If anyone has an issue with NCPs being based on human people, it's an easy fix. Just send YSNET $74,000 and they can cease the inclusion of that reward, as well as let decent Shenmue fans who were kind enough in the first place to delete that money down.

Yes. On a discussion forum in which we have nothing but discussion to do during the wait toward Shenmue, merely by discussing our own preferences (which mean not much considering we do not have autonomy over the project or the team) we owe YS net tens of thousands of dollars. That sounds about right.

I don't remember a single person complaining when the rewards were released, on the contrary, the visible influx of funds was welcome with open arms at the time.

There were a handful.

I think some people here are under the impression Shenmue is supposed to be a reality simulator. Or they're just impossible to please. Unrealistic/inaccurate NPCs has to be item # 1,275,283 on my list of worries for Shenmue 3.

For me, it's a niggle. Not a massive problem, but a niggle. Remember, an offhand comment about the backer photos being in the credits evolved from a joke about the possibility of Harambe making it into the game. It's not the most serious of declarations.

If it fits the game, and doesn't make me go "hey...there are the kickstarter extra bits that have to be here because people paid money" then I'll be fine with it. If not, pardon me for not being thrilled about it.

You're not allowed to express anything contradictory here. In this realm discussion doesn't mean discussion. Light your candle and bring your forehead down to the prayer mat dammit.

I know someone who was ready to back the NPC reward but changed his mind in the last day because 1) it was a lot of money 2) the idea of having his face ingame was creepy after all

Come to think of it. It would be strange seeing your own face, wouldn't it? Arm Beak Firing your own arm.Wouldn't mean anything to anyone else though... haha.

Remember that the NPC reward isn't just random people. From Kickstarter: "Your face will be featured on a Chi You Men member to do battle with Ryo! To maintain character setting, body style will be up to Mr. Suzuki. "

Could you imagine buying that reward and then spending the interim years getting into shape, and then you play Shenmue 3 the day it comes out and Yu has just made you a six hundred pound plumper? Gutted. And then the game gets 10/10 on every gaming website and goes down in history as the greatest game ever made and you've been immortalized as Marshmellow Man forever. Children thousands of years in the future study your Unreal Engine bloated cheeks to see what obesity was.

[Jibby]

[sand4fish]

[Kiske]

Yu Looks great!

[Yokosuka]

Special Christmas update incoming. Likely no new footage.

[delvec19]

Special Christmas update incoming. Likely no new footage.

Probably something like this

[Radar]

Special Christmas update incoming. Likely no new footage.

No spoilers, but I noticed that they used original font

[iyapol]

Special Christmas update incoming. Likely no new footage.

How do you know this?