Is a Cyberpunk sandbox possible?

[BronzeCentipede]

I've read several people say that they would like a cyberpunk sandbox, but I'm not sure that that is even possible.

A game that captures the feel of Cyberpunk 2020 must allow players to progress by doing missions for fixers. If there's no choice in missions, it feels less like a sandbox. But if there is choice in missions, that means the inclusion of lots of redundant content. Missions could be automatically generated, but automatically generated missions tend to be repetitive.

A sandbox should also allow characters to progress without doing missions for fixers. For those players, all the missions would be redundant content, unless they have an independent reason to be in the mission area.

So it looks to me that building a cyberpunk sandbox would require too much redundant content. I'd like to be convinced that I'm wrong!

 

[GVArcian]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware.

 

[kaotkbliss]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware.

I don't want it to be GTA with cyberware, I've not played any of the GTA games yet.
I would like the online game to be similar SW:G (Only better of course)

I had posted in another thread how players themselves could become fixers and pick-and-choose/mix-and-match from a collection of different components to create their own gigs for other players to run.

 

[BabaBooey88]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware.

Just wanting functional open world AI is a no no I guess..

 

[lianjifei]

Hate to remind you the current version is half baked and still in the oven.

potential yes, but a long long way to come to even finish the single player world.

 

[kaotkbliss]

Hate to remind you the current version is half baked and still in the oven.

potential yes, but a long long way to come to even finish the single player world.

I know the single player has a long way to go, but it doesn't hurt to hope for the future once single player is done.

 

[batouyukinawa]

Just wanting functional open world AI is a no no I guess..

Okay bro, lol we get it. You think the game's trash.

 

[Guest 3847602]

It's possible to make the Cyberpunk game with lesser focus on the main story or even without one altogether.
It's possible to make the Cyberpunk game with silent, less predefined protagonist who have a freedom to join any gang or corporation the player desires and shape their story through procedurally generated quests and side activities.
Something like Mount and Blade, but in Cyberpunk setting.
It's been clear from the start that CDPR haven't been making such game, though.

 

[SpookyFX]

As long as CDPR keeps their promise about mod creation then I have NO DOUBT this will be a game we play for 10 years just like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 4!

 

[Mobster100]

I've read several people say that they would like a cyberpunk sandbox, but I'm not sure that that is even possible.

A game that captures the feel of Cyberpunk 2020 must allow players to progress by doing missions for fixers. If there's no choice in missions, it feels less like a sandbox. But if there is choice in missions, that means the inclusion of lots of redundant content. Missions could be automatically generated, but automatically generated missions tend to be repetitive.

A sandbox should also allow characters to progress without doing missions for fixers. For those players, all the missions would be redundant content, unless they have an independent reason to be in the mission area.

So it looks to me that building a cyberpunk sandbox would require too much redundant content. I'd like to be convinced that I'm wrong!

Depends how they do it.

But I think the only way for it to be a very interesting sandbox is if they get help from a modding community and allow people to make their own quests etc. Because then you would suddenly have a lot of people being able to add content and questlines and new functionality to the game.

Simply look at fallout and skyrim and the amount of mods that have been made for these.

 

[INulis]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware.

What do you mean by that? You mean, open world features are bad thing?

 

[Crusher93]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware.

1. Why not?
2. It is already a GTA-type of game in a sense.
3. GTA is a very good open world sandbox game and a kind of standard in the industry in this genre.

 

[Fuse_00]

I don't know why people want this to be GTA with cyberware

What is "GTA" in your opinion?... Decent driving, smart AI, believable behavior of the city and citizens, interactions with city, mini activities?
Well yes, I expected something like that personally.

There is a big difference between fantasy settings, which most of openworld RPGs share, and modern city. The fantasy provides a big world to explore, you feel progression and enjoy the journey itself by travelling from village to village, from town to town, from dungeon to dungeon, exploring new areas and meeting new events.

For closed city, it is different. You have no room for exploration, so the city should be entertaining itself. Just imagine Novigard would be the only area in Witcher 3, or Whiterun would be the only area in Skyrim. Even if they were bigger. That just doesn't work.
Especially considering the fact Cyberpunk is pretty much linear game, and 80% of side quests are repetitive and don't provide any memorable stories.

 

[RecceJack]

The closest you can get to a Cyberpunk sandbox IMO is Saints Row 2, albeit super early.. Most people will probably disagree with this falling under the Cyberpunk genre.. But all the main genre points are very much present if anyone actually goes back over that game.

I don't think a game like 2077 or the usual Cyberpunk genre games would work as a sandbox. I've been completely baffled with players wanting to murder civilians and war with cops in 2077, this is not what you do in this genre.

This is a Cyberpunk genre game and it plays like a more open Cyberpunk genre game. Go play Syndicate & the last 2 Deus Ex games.. You could throw a few others of the last 15 years in the mix if you want to.. But this is the Cyberpunk genre. This is the best Cyberpunk presentation we have ever had. Regardless of what anyone's emotions tell them.

The genre doesn't necessarily fit the sandbox style.. Similar to the Mafia genre.. Look at Mafia 1 & 2 and Godfather 1.. Then look at Godfather 2 & Mafia 3. Even though I like those 2 games, they don't really fit. Which leaves them both in a strange no man's land.

Cyberpunk 2077 is still the Cyberpunk genre. If you made it a sandbox like GTA... Like the marketing mislead non genre fans to believe it was... You would have a game like Godfather 2 & Mafia 3.. In no man's land without an identity. Instead, it is what it is supposed to be. A Cyberpunk genre game built around the Cyberpunk RPG lore.

 

[flippimonkey]

I guess. There are ways to "hide" redundancies. Unfortunately there isn't a perfect solution to the "One Game to Rule Them All".

Sandbox wise... I think one of the biggest miss in CP2077 is the lack of a need to explore. A sandbox is as big as the time it takes the player to uncover it's secrets. The issue with CP2077 is it was mostly presented to you from go or just bombards you with calls. Taking the need to DO away from the player. Maybe....

A CP2020 sandbox needs a system where the player has to do something to uncover events as well as events need to occur without the player's involvement. It also has to be organic and require the player to DO something. The player can interact with npc's, hack public / private access points, and actively scanning the air waves (cyber add-on) to reveal events and missions in the players area. ONLY the missions the player accepts show up on the map with a way point leading the player to it. So a radius around the player can be set to have event load in because they could be like the current Fixer jobs. They could be a block or 4 away from the player. (all repeatable and randomized) Then have rando events, a lot of the NCPD / Gang shoot outs, hold ups, and bounties could pop up around the player as they are hopping around the map. (these events never "end") Make NCPD scanner missions more robust, but make it so the player has a "scanner" and can "scan" events called out just pop up as a way point on the map. Player can click on it and accept it. A Limit of 3 in an area at one time. Fixers are triggered after the player does a number of jobs and maybe certain types of jobs. So the player also has to get intel on where to find the local Fixer, and get on their good side get jobs from them. Fixers have even more complex missions that don't repeat or the player has to "reset the world" to be able to get them again.

or something like that...

 

[GrimReaper801]

Possible, yes, it most definitely is possible.

Likely? Not very much.

I wouldn't want CDPR to do it. It's not their forte. At least not at this point in time.

 

[FLyingMonkeyPaints]

IMO anything to make this game better must start with the AI.

 

[Ayinde_Palmer]

I guess. There are ways to "hide" redundancies. Unfortunately there isn't a perfect solution to the "One Game to Rule Them All".

Sandbox wise... I think one of the biggest miss in CP2077 is the lack of a need to explore. A sandbox is as big as the time it takes the player to uncover it's secrets. The issue with CP2077 is it was mostly presented to you from go or just bombards you with calls. Taking the need to DO away from the player. Maybe....

A CP2020 sandbox needs a system where the player has to do something to uncover events as well as events need to occur without the player's involvement. It also has to be organic and require the player to DO something. The player can interact with npc's, hack public / private access points, and actively scanning the air waves (cyber add-on) to reveal events and missions in the players area. ONLY the missions the player accepts show up on the map with a way point leading the player to it. So a radius around the player can be set to have event load in because they could be like the current Fixer jobs. They could be a block or 4 away from the player. (all repeatable and randomized) Then have rando events, a lot of the NCPD / Gang shoot outs, hold ups, and bounties could pop up around the player as they are hopping around the map. (these events never "end") Make NCPD scanner missions more robust, but make it so the player has a "scanner" and can "scan" events called out just pop up as a way point on the map. Player can click on it and accept it. A Limit of 3 in an area at one time. Fixers are triggered after the player does a number of jobs and maybe certain types of jobs. So the player also has to get intel on where to find the local Fixer, and get on their good side get jobs from them. Fixers have even more complex missions that don't repeat or the player has to "reset the world" to be able to get them again.

or something like that...

actually, I'd say cyberpunk is full of stuff that isn't labeled. But because it isn't labeled, people don't care. Well generally I don't think people care unless the stuff is voiced and gives exp/drops loot. A lot of the "boring" quests have stories/lore attached to them.

 

[Gross1985]

Isn't Cyberpunk 2077 technically "sand-box"? Granted, that's an antiquated term, and given what all the game offers, it's a little dubious. For all I know, this game was intended to be open-world, but they were probably striving for something that would be, like, ten years ahead of its time, which would be nearly impossible by today's standards.

People are making comparisons to GTAV.....and, honestly, no open-world game can compare to GTAV. But, there's no shame in that. I remember, in 2013, reading about Hideo Kojima seeing GTAV and "feeling depressed"; at the time he was working on MGSV, which sought to have open-world elements. Personally, he shouldn't have felt depressed, especially since the Metal Gear series wasn't about going around causing chaos in the streets, but most importantly, as I see it, Rockstar just happens to be the masters of how they make open-world games, such that most other open-world games don't come close.
That being said, I will admit that I'm worried about the future of Cyberpunk 2077. I heard that a Multiplayer component will be released in less than a couple of years (2022?), and I have a feeling that this game will go the way of GTA Online, at least with regard to how some more interesting possibilities (customization options, like for cars, etc) will be reserved for the Multiplayer component, instead of for the single-player component. If this happens, I will feel let down.

 

[Fabio_Joaquim]

Its possible yes...nowdays we have the means and the tools to make a cyberpunk sandbox game...