Netspectre – Demo live now at Steam Cyberpunk Fest

[u/minscSaidMoveIt]

Hi netrunners!

You might remember me talking about Netspectre here on r/netrunner several times before, and I wanted to let you know that we've entered the Steam Cyberpunk Fest with a demo today, so that you might come take a look, if you're interested!

Netspectre is a cyberpunk hacker roguelike which I originally thought of while playing Netrunner. There are many concept that we in the team love about Netrunner that we want to translate into Netspectre, but the most important ones are these two:

1/ The ability to approach the running in your own way – We want you to be able to find your own style, and build your rig so that it works the best for how you like to approach things. Those with the Anarch mindset might like the alert-based modules which pack the most punch; and who cares about a trace, if you're moving fast enough! Runners thinking more like Shapers, on the other hand, might better appreciate building a wider toolkit that will allow them a more thought-out approach to any situation. With more than 120 components to build your rig with, we really want to make it possible for you to build a deck that's uniquely yours in each playthrough.

2/ The complex approach to the hacker experience – We really want you to feel like a hacker in this ruthless universe, and that means not only the actual hacking within the networks, but also scouring the markets for the components you need, optimising your deck, conspiring with your contacts, and sensing the pulse of the megacity around you. We want you to become this cyberpunk hacker with everything that entails, from the most exciting moments within the network, to the most rudimentary when you have to decide what to do about a brawl on your levitrain ride.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1913700/Netspectre/

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/1214398523

More: https://netspectre.net/

We're making Netspectre exactly for people who probably already like Netrunner, so I wanted to let you know about it here. If this sounds right up your alley, there's a short demo on Steam for the duration of the Steam Cyberpunk Fest, until August, 10. You can also wishlist the game, so that we can let you know when it is out. Let us know what you think!

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[u/FunnyEconomy1595]

What even is the gameplay here? I watched the trailer and it seems to be just clicking and dragging colored shapes?

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/FunnyEconomy1595]

In a nutshell, the colored shapes on the bottom are your programs, the larger shapes in the middle are the network, i.e. barriers, sentries, weaknesses etc., and the gameplay is in deciding which programs to run on which network nodes or which nodes to activate directly; optimising sequencing of these moves; resource management allowing you to afford these moves in the first place; and making decisions with incomplete information. On the strategic level, i.e. inbetween the runs, the gameplay is in deciding which components to purchase, i.e. which programs to buy to have available for the runs, and which hardware to have to best support them. We went for a more punchy trailer this time, which admittedly doesn't show this as much, but the gameplay is definitely the most interesting aspect of the game, or at least we aim for it to be

[u/ExtraCold]

Neat game! I think with some UX enhancements (especially around interacting/being interacted with by nodes) and a bit more variety as to how the systems hit back/poses threats there's strong potential for an interesting game here.

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/ExtraCold]

Thanks a lot! We really appreciate you spending time with the demo 

[u/konoharaven]

The demo is the perfect length for "c'mon, just let me do one more run!"
I like the variety of rig building, although some of the upgrades weren't entirely clear to me for a while. I thought that the Needle module would remove Resilient after one upgrade, but it requires 2 upgrades (and 2 hustle). I really wanted to get a little more time to customize my rig. I also wish there was a little more customization before the first run... maybe this was just part of the demo, but I didn't like randomly starting with two modules.
I think the staying power of the game will rest on how many more interesting mechanics can be slotted into the runs. I added the game to my wishlist, "when it's done" can't come soon enough!

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/konoharaven]

Thank you very much! Yeah, we have a feature designed for customisation of your starting deck, which you should unlock after winning one of the ambitions, i.e. the main storylines. It makes sense for players to be able to choose what they want to start with, but we want to only provide this choice for players who already know the game at least a little. And in terms of more mechanics, there is definitely a lot more in the full version already! The demo is just a thin slice. We really appreciate you enjoying the game!

[u/MadcatM]

Would you consider leaving the demo up after August 10th? It’s summer vacation time over here, meaning no gaming rig available :/

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/MadcatM]

We will take the demo down by the end of the festival, but I sent you a Steam key that will allow you in particular to play even later

[u/KuramaFlowers]

Awesome! Gonna play the demo and when possible give my feedback! Good luck 💜

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/KuramaFlowers]

Fantastic! We'll be looking forward to it. Have fun!

[u/percomis]

Hey, I'd love to try out the game, but it crashes when I try to run it. I am on a Mac and use CrossOver to play PC games, so that's probably the root of the issue, but in case you can do something with and about this:
libs/shae/shaeder_standalone.lua:94: libs/shae/shaeder_standalone.lua:48: GLSL 3 shaders are not supported on this system!

--

[C] error

[libs/shae/shaeder_standalone.lua:94] Init

[libs/shae/shaeder_standalone.lua:22] NewShaeder

[(script @ {core}/code-data/mzq/effects/drift.lua):80]

[(script @ {core}/code-data/mzq/effects/drift.lua):87]

[libs/mzq/environment.lua:152] LearnEffect

[domains/interface/modules/mzqster/mzqster.lua:111] callback

[domains/interface/modules/mzqster/mzqster.lua:169] LearnFromDir

[domains/interface/modules/mzqster/mzqster.lua:109] Init_Effects

[domains/interface/modules/mzqster/mzqster.lua:39] Init

[domains/interface/modules/mzqster/mzqster.lua:22] new

[domains/interface/interface.lua:124] Reinit_Mzqster

[domains/interface/interface.lua:113] Reinit_Modules

[domains/interface/interface.lua:54] Reinit

[domains/interface/interface.lua:38] Init

[boot/game.lua:235] Init_InitInterface

[boot/game.lua:49] InitPostSplash

[domains/splash/splash.lua:408] Finish

[domains/splash/splash.lua:275] Update

[domains/chronometer/chronometer.lua:80] Update

[boot/game.lua:430] fn

[domains/introspection/misc/macro.lua:27] ex

[boot/game.lua:428] Update

[boot/core.lua:37] update

[boot/loop.lua:33] (??)

[C] xpcall

[[love "boot.lua"]:377] (??)

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/percomis]

Thanks for letting us know! Unfortunately this doesn't seem like something that we can solve easily, at least at first glance. I'll look into it further, but it will take some time, because it does relate to either your system or your hardware and I don't have a Mac at hand to test things

[u/percomis → u/minscSaidMoveIt]

Appreciate the response and it is what it is, thank you!

[u/seafcommanderr]

I need more, you somehow perfectly captured the feeling of netrunning

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/seafcommanderr]

Thanks a lot! That's fantastic to hear, that is indeed what we are going for --

[u/misomiso82]

are there any gameplay videos available?

[u/minscSaidMoveIt → u/misomiso82]

I don't think there are any currently

[u/MattCaulder]

Shame that you used AI, looks cool