Tx for the link.

Looks like they're changing the armor system - so that means they're changing the core game mechanics after all! Maybe this means they will change the inventory system as well...

Come to think of it, I never really figured out how armor actually worked in SRR...

They are changing the inventory system, however the exact details are not available yet:

Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut Dev Diary #1: New Missions & Content

Here's the specific quote:

We’re also giving you the ability to customize the weapon, spell, and consumable loadouts for your companion characters, but I’ll leave the details on that for a future Dev Diary.

It's not Mass Effect but what could be interesting is more in depth to relationship between team members. In Dragonfall for ex. you can already tell Dietrich that you were very close with Monika, more than friends, even lovers. Now in Glory side story she has something into girls or less strict life in cult...

Sounds like that might do the trick and then some!

Also interesting is the ability to choose upgrades for characters at certain points, including as rewards for completing certain character-specific missions.

Though to be honest the details of the new missions is already awesome enough to make me want to buy it - if I we weren't going to be getting it for free of course! First FTL Advanced Edition, now SR:DF DC - we're getting spoilt by devs this year!

... No. Just... no. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I thought the ending for the most part stayed the same, with Berlin falling. If that is the case, then it was a damned brilliant move that offsets the rest of the ending marvelously. Everyone at the hideout mentions how the dragons want people to feel powerless, but that their actions have shaped the world, proving that feeling wrong. Lofwyr turning up at the end forces the player question that conversation with the party and whether they were correct (since, you know, they kind of were being used as pawns of a dragon the whole time), and being unable to do anything to stop Berlin from falling contributed to that effect; it's not quite "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown", but it was well done. If they are planning additional endings where Berlin stands, it flies in the face of what the narrative did in the original.

Again, I could be totally misreading this tease from the devs, if not flat out wrong on my base premises, but I don't know.

They haven't specified one way or another, but if you poke around in the data files, there is one ending that appears to have been cut and has placeholder text (or it's a very sarcastic ending). If they're restoring this ending plus adding another one, it does maintain the integrity of the narrative.

I think I can guess what the second ending is from poking around in the editor and looking at some of the cut conversations for a certain ork whose name begins with "A". It probably involves making A's boss realise their mistake, only to have A proceed with the plan anyway. That's my guess. Either way, the plot is preserved.

If you want to read the cut ending, it's <Shadowrun Returns Path>\Shadowrun_Data\StreamingAssets\ContentPacks\berlin_campaign\data\misc\epilogue_earlyexit.bytes and can be opened with any text editor.

You can also look at these conversations in the editor: a3_Endgame_s5-A…Intro and a3_Endgame_s5-A…Confrontation (fill in the rest of the NPC name).

So, I would give the devs the benefit of a doubt! I don't think they're inventing brand new endings, I think they're restoring some cut endings that can already be found by nosy players.

Yes I remember seeing this when poking around a while ago and had completely forgotten about it!

From what I can gather and remember, there's also some stuff in there about the corporates initially backing A's boss, but then wanting to back out at the last minute - possibly dependent on player's actions during the game? If I'm not mistaken, there's some text about A's boss getting irritated by this and going ahead anyway.

Then as fictrix said, there's some more text about A's boss having a change of heart and wanting to abandon the plan, and A disagreeing in what sounds like an extremely heated argument (to put it mildly).

There's also a series of conversations between the player and a farming couple in the Kreuzbazaar - the Becks I believe they're called. In the current game, only one of them is visible and isn't interactable. The conversations are interesting and I don't know why they were cut - they flesh out some of the happenings of the Kreuzbazaar (and some of its denizens) in a bit more detail than we currently get. So it's possible these might be worked back in (and possibly other new ones as well, since they talked about making expanding the backstory for a number of other characters as well).

I had a peek at a3_Endgame_s3<BOSSNAME>Journal to check. It appears there was an option for the player to convince A's boss that the plan was morally reprehensible. A's boss bitterly realises that the investors have been pulling the strings all along. A's boss tells A to abandon the plan. The resulting disagreement leads to A continuing the plan anyway.

Yes, it's Haven-Global_Becks_01 and it's a really interesting read! It provides some insights into the Kreuzbasar, but also gives an overview of Berlin in general and where your little slice of heaven fits within the tumultous Flux-State. I hope they restore it.

I also hope they fix up Kami's dialogue. If you look in Haven-Global_Kami she has some interesting things to say about the Gesundbrunnen (weapons theft) side quest… and it might make you feel really, really bad or really, really good depending on how you chose to resolve it.

What? Where? I don't remember seeing them anywhere, but it's been a while since I played the game.

Mrs Beck is in the garden behind the Taliskramer/tailsmonger shop. She cannot be interacted with, but the actor is named "Becks Wife" in the editor. Mr Beck isn't anywhere in the game, but is referenced in the unused Haven-Global_Becks_01 conversation.

Yep caught that too. I actually sort of restored it with a mod I made for myself - my main aim was to fix up some of the karma inconsistencies, at least from my POV - I got the karma fixes in (they were easy), but I don't think I got the convo totally correct (still didn't trigger properly).

I also found a mysterious crate which looks like it was supposed to mysteriously appear at your hideout if you have pleased the mysterious Lodge enough (similar to how if you please Shadow guys by sending enough stuff to the phone booth, you get a freebie from the Doc).

From what I could tell, the box didn't appear because the triggers that it uses weren't being set properly. Not sure if this is a bug or if they intentionally decided to discontinue it. I managed to bring it back with a fair bit of hackerish some effort, but it's not really worth it as apart from the outfit you get (which gives you +1 to all attributes and/or skills I believe) it's not worth it.

That's very strange, I haven't had any problems receiving that crate. After I successfully fulfill any 2 missions from The Lodge, the box has always appeared for me (on multiple playthroughs a few months ago on the 1.2.6 patch). It might be best to submit a bug report for that on the official SRR forums.

I am intrigued by the possibility of The Lodge finding out more about you in the Director's Cut as mentioned in Dev Diary #1. I really hope this means that the 'Plex backstory that you feed Dietrich gets a follow-up from The Lodge.

Back on topic, they've revealed some new things about the combat mechanics:

Dev Diary #3: Combat Mechanics

Loaning items to companions and revamped AI sounds very, very promising!

A bloody shame that they don't seem to allow me to give items to my teammates during a mission. Then again, there is apparently one more dev diary coming, so who knows, maybe they will address it. Not really sure how I feel about all this mucking around with the established combat mechanics, though.

Really?! Then again, I did this way back, which must have been prior to 1.2.6, although I could have sworn it was with 1.2.6 since that patch was out for ages if I'm not mistaken. Either that or I simply didn't realise it was there - no one informs you about it, it's just sitting there, so it's entirely possible I just didn't notice it.

Does it pop up after ANY two missions from the Lodge have been fulfilled - by which I mean immediately after the second completed mission - or does it only appear after all missions with potential Lodge involvement are completed? I ask because I thought it was the latter since the gizmo from the Doc doesn't appear until after all the Schatten-thingo missions are over with - even if you've submitted two sets of data for those guys, I don't think you get the present until after you've completed the third mission (even though whether you submit more data or not at that point is irrelevant for the purposes of getting the gift).

It does sound pretty cool - I'm impressed by the major revamp they're doing here! I can't really think of anything that they're doing to the game that I don't like (that probably being a massive understatement).

The idea of loaning items to characters is good - personally I'm not sure I would have really liked it if you could just change their gear as if it were your own. Sure most other RPGs do this, but it makes more sense for the other characters to buy their own stuff, yet at the same time have the ability to pass them some gear you pick up on the way (which you'd otherwise only sell if it's not suitable for your character).

I hope that we'll be able to "loan" these items during a mission, so that if we find a kick-ass spell/gun/etc we can just pass it to our buddies at the time. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like that will be possible...

It's the latter. Fulfill any 2 objectives, but wait until all potential Lodge missions are finished.

The conditions for the Global_Setup_AddLodgeRewardBox trigger are:

* Has not opened box
* Completed any 2 Lodge objectives
* Finished Humanis
* Finished MK VI
* Finished Bloodlines

Yes, I really hope you can at least choose whose inventory to deposit items into when picking them up without having to enter combat mode. I guess we'll find out when it arrives next week!