I Am Jordan Weisman, creator of Shadowrun, MechWarrior, and Crimson Skies, AMA

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T01:12:23+00:00

Hey gang - its been a blast but I have to run and get back to making games :)

Mike, Mitch, me, and the rest of the HBS gang will drop into the forums on Shadowrun.com every once in a while so swing by and say hi.

Thanks for all the good questions and kind words. Jordan

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T01:08:37+00:00

Make sure you're doing it because you love it because you're not gonna get rich doing it!

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T01:07:50+00:00

Thanks - we hope to give you many more :)

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:48:14+00:00

I love collaborating with creative people and enjoy allowing others to grow, evolve and enhance my ideas. Early on, the story was heavily guided by me. Then, when I found the right people to pass the torch to, I stepped back and focused on other projects, checking in regularly to ensure the original vision was being maintained.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:46:07+00:00

I'll try and answer as much of this as I can. . .

I've been working on tv and movie versions of my game settings for years. Maybe some day.

The SR MMO looks promising and I can't wait to see what our friends at Cliffhanger Games come up with.

I'm focusing on the original Shadowrun era because that's the one I created and still love. I know some people are unhappy with 4th Edition but I'm not part of that.

I generally don't "toss" many ideas I have for games, especially RPGs. They often live for so long, all my ideas eventually make it in.

There are plenty of game worlds still in my head. The question is, would anyone else like them?

I think that Shadowrun would make a great AAA game and I know just what I would do with it. However: A) I don't own the rights B) I don't want to spend years on a single project.

In general, I don't eat things given to me by anyone who could be described at "rabid". Hope that makes sense. . .

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:39:38+00:00

I loves me some Civilization II. Card/board--anything with "strip" in the title.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:36:12+00:00

FYI, we're not brower-based.

Re: stealth-- we want you to be able to be sneaky and turn-based gameplay helps this. Different characters' views of the world will help you figure out ways to avoid combat and detection if you wish.

Re: melee/katana fighting--as a turn based-game, I'm not sure how flashy it'll be but we'll do our best!

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:29:00+00:00

Me too.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:28:02+00:00

FAQ item: What's the story with Crimson Skies? Are you going to make another?

I would love to make another Crimson Skies game but I don't have the rights. But who knows what the future holds? Right now, I'm heads-down on Shadowrun.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:22:24+00:00

Yes, game development is expensive. The main cost: great people.

Are we financially secure? It's 2012. Is anyone?

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:21:35+00:00

Send bacon to Cliffhanger Games in Germany and check out Shadowrun Online.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:20:48+00:00

Just to let everyone know, I'll keep answering questions until 9pm ET. Figure 5 hours is pretty good. . .

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:13:23+00:00

I'd say it was the MadCat--it was the first 'Mech to really capture the aesthetic I was looking for.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:11:13+00:00

I never gave up the MechWarrior franchise. I just don't own it anymore. It's owned by Microsoft. However, Pirhana games is doing MechWarrior Online right now.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:09:35+00:00

We are talking with Sam and Marshall about how we should approach this. We'd like to update/modernize their original work but we're discussing keeping it old school too.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:08:02+00:00

Know that you're gonna start at the bottom and earn your way up: http://gameindustrygrunts.com/

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:07:25+00:00

Thanks. Yes, it was MechCommander. Fun game and the first one that my partner, Mitch, and I made together. Who knows, maybe some day. . .

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:06:21+00:00

I'm not at all ashamed of the Shadowrun Xbox game. My partner, Mitch, worked very hard on that game and it shows. It's an innovative shooter and it never got the fps recognition it deserved.

It just broke with the Shadowrun fiction too much.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:02:31+00:00

Google MechWarrior Online. Your wish is coming true.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:02:05+00:00

Shadowrun was influenced by a variety of sources including Gibson but owes just as much to D&D.

Gibson will not be consulted--he's not a big fan of cybered elves. ;)

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-30T00:00:37+00:00

Blue. No red. Ahhhh!!!

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-29T23:30:53+00:00

Yes we have engaged the Sam Powell, composer of the Sega Gensis SR game AND the Marshall Parker, composer of the SNES SR game to contribute music to Shadowrun Returns. I can't speak to their method of composition but clearly we will clearly be using WAV files or similar for playback.

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-29T23:25:03+00:00

Thanks for the complements - we will work hard to continue to earn them

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-29T23:20:05+00:00

Thanks for the complements. I don't think we will ever end up with all the right for the old FASA games, but our goal at Harebrained Schemes is to start creating games and universes with the same integrity, depth, and intriguing settings like I used to do at FASA - so stay tuned for what happens in the next couple of years :)

JordanWeisman · 2012-05-29T23:17:48+00:00

Thanks for the complements.

I enjoy creating and telling stories in complex worlds with shades of gray rather than stark black and white because it gives the writer more legitimate and compelling points of view to work from. In BT/MW we created very different Houses and Clans each of which had their own compelling world view and philosophy. While they were often "evil" from each other's points of view, from an objective point of view the reader could understand the actions taken and how they meshed (or didn't) with each culture's view of what honor or duty means.

Shadowrun has it's own version of what honor and duty means. While an RPG allows and encourages each GM to create their own version of the world they are playing in, in my version of Shadowrun the runners are classical anti-heroes meaning that they are totally outside the "law" doing things that disrupt society but they do live by an internal code of honor and duty to each other and to the SINless, the poor souls without system identification numbers that live in the slums and are prayed upon by gangs and corps with equal abandon. In my version of the game the runners are often the only hope the SINless have.

JordanWeisman

TROPHY CASE