KickStarter System Shock 1 Remake by Nightdive Studios

[mindx2]

BTW has anyone yet received their physical copy of System Shock Enhanced Edition from Limited Run games? Cause I still haven't gotten mine.

Mine seems to be in limbo somewhere in the postal system. Was supposed to be delivered Wednesday but so many of my packages lately have stalled in the system. It has taken almost a month for some.

 

[Tweed]

Runs like complete shit on my machine even with everything turned off. The game is painfully slow-paced and feels completely lifeless with the dull generic music they've got playing in the background. Combat sucks because you need to get right in the face of whatever you want to pummel with the pipe which means no more playing keep away so you take damage no matter what.

Also experiences various oddities with lighting, the secret door not opening properly, and grenades not detonating. Also, these fucking animations need to go, I'm sorry Mister Cyborg Drone, I know you're shooting my nuts off but I need to be cool like the motherfucking Fonz' and flip my berserker patch out of it's awesome color-coded 100% biodegradable* container and slap it on my wrist like the badass I am before I can beat you with this pi-oh wait nevermind I died. Speaking of guns, where's the Sparq beam? Did they move it from the lift under the medical area? Because I never found one.

I'm glad they did away with the awful Lansing email you get at the start, but there's this weird disconnect between what you're hearing on the classic audio logs and what's going on around you since everything is so subdued both musically and environmentally.

 

[kangaxx]

I'm glad they did away with the awful Lansing email you get at the start

You mean the one where she describes the problem and makes a quip about Diego? You still get that email.

 

[Tweed]

I mean the one they had in the pre-alpha demo with the animated avatar.

 

[gerey]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

SS1 was a great game for its time, but (spiritual) sequels have improved and refined the formula substantially. Instead of the developers using modern graphic capabilities to make the levels look and feel less mazelike they waste time on stupid MUH IMERSHUN animations that are going to get very old, and very repetitive fast if there is no option to turn them off. Instead of using this opportunity to improve on the rather simplistic mechanics of the original and give players the chance to try out different builds they are instead slavishly copying the original while simultaneously saddling it with the worst excesses of modern gaming.

Also, I had to laugh when I saw the sights on the mini pistol. SparqBeam also looks like overdesigned garbage.

And combat does indeed feel terrible, there's almost zero feedback on whether you've hit an enemy or not. Where's the blood/oil splatter? Where's the hit animation? Where's some sound cue? Hell, at this point I'd take the Call of Duty hitmarker mechanic, just fucking something. And who thought it was a good idea to make the pipe have such short reach?

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

That the whole point of a Remake my man.

SS1 was a great game for its time, but (spiritual) sequels have improved and refined the formula substantially.

There is no "Great for it's time".
A work that's good, is good for all time. If a work isn't good tomorrow than that means it was never good to begin with.

Also SS1 is better than 2, so no it's successors haven't improved the formula.

 

[kangaxx]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

I've followed it fairly closely and from what I can see there are two linked reasons.

They did initially deviate from the original and tried to expand upon it. However they got stuck in a creative rut, and effectively the project got derailed.

Meanwhile people on reddit and twitter saw what was happening and started complaining that they weren't getting the faithful remake they wanted. This led Nightdive to go on "hiatus", and then come back to the project with a much stricter remit. I think that covers it.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2788174

May Update

Welcome Back Hackers


Note from Stephen!

It’s been a very busy couple of months and as you may have noticed we missed an update or two along the way, but for good reason. The team has been working hard to bring you a big update to the demo and give the public a chance to revisit Citadel Station since the last public demo we released in December. If you’ve already played you’ll have noticed a number of changes including new weapons, new enemies, reworked areas of the Medical deck, new cinematics, new animations, new FX, new audio, and so much more!

We didn’t meet all our goals, however. We had to meet some very tight deadlines to accommodate our partners. One of the major features that did not make it in was Cyber Space. The good news is that we intend to update our Demo for our backers, giving you the first chance to explore. Scroll down through this update to get a sneak peek at what it’ll look like, we hope you like it!

Be sure to check back for updates on the demo, we’re improving performance, adding animations, fx, and more during the duration of the GOG Summer Sale.

Anyways, let’s move on to the fun stuff!

Updated Demo
The GOG Summer Sale is here, and along with it our updated System Shock demo! It is available to everyone from May 27th to June 15th, so tell your friends to act fast and play the demo. However, do not fret, the demo will remain available to backers.

Just in case you have not played it yet, you can download here:

GOG

Steam

And you may have noticed, we have officially moved from Pre Alpha to Alpha!

Spoiler

In Engine Screenshots
Here are a few interesting screenshots and a bit about them.

A big part of what we have been up to recently now that most of the station has been built is environmental storytelling and… GORE! Evelyn and Jed have been creating these chunky masses to accompany the bodies and blood

FX is very important to the immersion of the game itself, we recently have brought on a new team member, so please welcome Swinny to the Team!

Although cyberspace isn’t in our current demo, it has been coming along in a big way. Howie (from the Unity demo), has been building out these amazing spaces with the team. Part of creating cyberspace is that we really had to discuss and dissect both modern and retro game mechanics to truly build out and understand the way it should come together. So far, it looks beautiful, especially in motion.

Check out our recent streams!

Daniel's Developer Stream

Demo Walkthrough with Developers

Be sure to follow us on:

Nightdive Twitter

System Shock Twitter

Nightdive Facebook

Nightdive Discord

Nightdive Instagram

See you next time!

 

[Fronzel Neekburm]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

That the whole point of a Remake my man.

No.

A remake - a good remake - takes elements of the original and builds on them. Take some remakes of famous films that have become classics in their own right: The Fly, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Scarface,... Each takes ideas and elements of the original and takes it into a fascinating new direction.

This thing is more the equivalent to something like Gus Van Sant's Psycho - a paint-by-numbers retelling that doesn't really add anything worthwhile and is nowhere near as groundbreaking as the original.

PS: Cyberspace screengrabs look like they were taken from an Erich Von Däniken documentary.

PPS: Those mutant eyes lighting up bright red like the tail lights on my car crack me up.

 

[Semiurge]

PPS: Those mutant eyes lighting up bright red like the tail lights on my car crack me up.

Makes them look like mothmen. But if they had tapetum lucidums that glow when you shine a flashlight into them...

 

[DraQ]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

That the whole point of a Remake my man.

No.

A remake - a good remake - takes elements of the original and builds on them. Take some remakes of famous films that have become classics in their own right: The Fly, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Scarface,... Each takes ideas and elements of the original and takes it into a fascinating new direction.

Given that the alternative would most likely be a cinematic cover shooter I'm not sure you have grounds to complain about slavish adherence to the original.
They already tried to depart from it and roused quite a bit of a shitstorm - IIRC for all the right reasons.
Better leave creative reimagining to those who can accomplish that.
Prolonging or giving new life* to the classics is also a noble goal.

Spoiler

In b4 original System Shock cutscene

Mini pistol is the only gun that doesn't feel completely useless.

I see you haven't found the magnum.

 

[Venser]

I see you haven't found the magnum.

Yeah, didn't find it this time around. Used it in the previous version of the Unreal demo.

 

[Nito]

I tried the demo of this last night and really enjoyed it. I particularly liked how the texturework is quite pixelated but they use shaders/lighting/post-processing to give it an old vs new look. I'm not sure if SS1 purists will like it, but it does seem pretty faithful. Some influence from SS2 has crept in in terms of UI design. I was genuinely scared/panicing/running from hordes of mutants at some points and that is a good sign. The level complexity is not a downgrade from the original, it's still very large and intricate, with each area resembling its original SS1 counterpart strongly.

 

[Maggot]

Good old passive aggressive hipster devs.

 

[Infinitron]

Heh, knowing what kind of vaporware exists on Kickstarter, it's hard not to chuckle at that. There's gameplay footage and a demo that you can download and play right now! I can think of some games whose backers wish they had that. Low standards, maybe.

 

[kangaxx]

From playing the demo it does feel like there's a long way to go...

 

[Tweed]

Another 5 to 6 years in the very least.

 

[Shaewaroz]

So it has cyberspace now?

 

[mindx2]

I still don't quite understand why they decided to so closely ape SS1, to the point the game looks like a high-definition copy of the original.

SS1 was a great game for its time, but (spiritual) sequels have improved and refined the formula substantially.

"SS1 was a great game for its time"

My goodness this phrase is just so rage inducing... . Most classic games, which System Shock is at or near the top of the list, ARE GREAT REGARDLESS OF "ITS TIME"!!!


Please show me these "but (spiritual) sequels" that have "improved and refined the formula substantially". If by refined you mean dumbed-down sure but improved....

 

[Average Manatee]

Something unique about the original System Shock is that managing the user interface in real time can abstractly simulate the player character performing actions in the world. Take reloading as an example. You need to mouse over to the weapon tab, unload your gun of any remaining rounds, and select the desired ammo type. Each button press in the sequence is instant, but the process will take a variable amount of time depending on the user's familiarity with the controls and preparedness in combat as they mouse to the correct buttons. This simulates the player character opening an ammo pouch, either ejecting or retaining the magazine in case of a dry/tactical reload, and inserting the new magazine. Someone with minimal experience with firearms will perform this sequence rather clumsily, but a trained user will keep their ammo stores ready and be able to efficiently reload their weapon in the heat of battle, just as the player can improve their speed at reloading in the UI. A reload hotkey streamlines this process and thus requires animated delays for magazine capacities to retain any purpose.

To this end, new animations can be a good thing in the context of a remake with a modernized control scheme if they add to gameplay (you wouldn't decry reload animations as unimmersive or time-wasting), but in the case of medipatches, we're already talking about an item that heals slowly over time. If having them assigned to player hotkeys is a problem, then the healing effect can be slightly reduced. If there must be an animation, it should just be the part where the patch is slapped on the the arm. Besides, the interaction paradigm in Thief/System Shock 2/Deus Ex/Arx Fatalis has a lot of interactivity occur without animations, but sound effects and even mouse gestures are usually enough to sell what's happening on screen. I don't need to see my character grabbing every item with meticulous and overdone first person animations like in THI4F; it's enough for the item to disappear into my inventory with a sound effect to imply that I grabbed it, even if my viewmodel shows me holding a weapon with two hands. Same principle applies for a lot of the interactions in the SS remake. Don't waste the player's time unnecessarily with repetitive animations unless it's intended to be a deliberate hindrance during gameplay.

Thinking about it, it'd be hilarious if you had to drag ammo from the main inventory to your weapon icon... but if you didn't line it up well enough (e.g. moved past the weapon or not far enough), you ended up throwing the ammo on the ground, simulating a fumble. And of course you'd have multiple ammo types in the inventory so if you selected the wrong one you'd have some kind of issue.

 

[mindx2]

Nice finger there gerey wish I had a few.

Still waiting for that list of awesome "(spiritual) sequels [that] have improved and refined the formula substantially"... ...

 

[ciox]

Something unique about the original System Shock is that managing the user interface in real time can abstractly simulate the player character performing actions in the world. Take reloading as an example. You need to mouse over to the weapon tab, unload your gun of any remaining rounds, and select the desired ammo type. Each button press in the sequence is instant, but the process will take a variable amount of time depending on the user's familiarity with the controls and preparedness in combat as they mouse to the correct buttons. This simulates the player character opening an ammo pouch, either ejecting or retaining the magazine in case of a dry/tactical reload, and inserting the new magazine. Someone with minimal experience with firearms will perform this sequence rather clumsily, but a trained user will keep their ammo stores ready and be able to efficiently reload their weapon in the heat of battle, just as the player can improve their speed at reloading in the UI. A reload hotkey streamlines this process and thus requires animated delays for magazine capacities to retain any purpose.

To this end, new animations can be a good thing in the context of a remake with a modernized control scheme if they add to gameplay (you wouldn't decry reload animations as unimmersive or time-wasting), but in the case of medipatches, we're already talking about an item that heals slowly over time. If having them assigned to player hotkeys is a problem, then the healing effect can be slightly reduced. If there must be an animation, it should just be the part where the patch is slapped on the the arm. Besides, the interaction paradigm in Thief/System Shock 2/Deus Ex/Arx Fatalis has a lot of interactivity occur without animations, but sound effects and even mouse gestures are usually enough to sell what's happening on screen. I don't need to see my character grabbing every item with meticulous and overdone first person animations like in THI4F; it's enough for the item to disappear into my inventory with a sound effect to imply that I grabbed it, even if my viewmodel shows me holding a weapon with two hands. Same principle applies for a lot of the interactions in the SS remake. Don't waste the player's time unnecessarily with repetitive animations unless it's intended to be a deliberate hindrance during gameplay.

Thinking about it, it'd be hilarious if you had to drag ammo from the main inventory to your weapon icon... but if you didn't line it up well enough (e.g. moved past the weapon or not far enough), you ended up throwing the ammo on the ground, simulating a fumble. And of course you'd have multiple ammo types in the inventory so if you selected the wrong one you'd have some kind of issue.

 

[LESS T_T]

The demo got an update:

System Shock Alpha Demo Patch Notes

Last Updated 06/06/2020

Version 1.22
===============
+ Fixed certain effects running infinitely and causing gradual performance deterioration,
+ First Person Ladder animations have been added,
+ New ladders have been added,
+ New inventory icons for the Assault Rifle,
+ New atmospheric fog has been added,
+ New ending elevator has been added,
+ New hit reactions when enemies are shot or struck with the pipe,
+ Berserk Patches now have their effects and side-effects implemented,
+ Toxin Barrel effects culled,
+ Mutant Ragdoll performance update,
+ Cyborg Assassins now drops their rifle on death,
+ Blood Decal visuals improved,
+ Artificial Intelligence improvements,
+ Player breathing audio has been added,
+ Explosives sound radius detection has been doubled,
+ Fixed an issue with the Medical Healing Bed movement,
+ The Hacker will now be detected by all the recharging Drones when killing one of them,
+ The Hacker's arm shadows have been disabled,
+ CPU Nodes health reduced,
+ Fixed melee weapons being allowed to activate while equipment was disabled,
+ Mutant drool now destroys itself rather than deactivates,
+ Modified lift to be able to reverse direction if something blocks it,
+ Removed navigation collision from Lift and Cyborg Assassin rifle,
+ Detach and deactivate Niagara components when both bullet and explosion projectiles are about to be destroyed,
+ Gas Grenade Effects have been added,
+ The Hacker can no longer climb onto ladders while dying,
+ Oculus Plugin disabled, VR headsets should no longer recognize the game,
+ Other smaller general fixes and improvements.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2849749

Demo Patch Notes

Welcome Back Hackers

This art-less update is brought to you by Matthew Love, who is just tired of all the art! So there will be no screenshots, no concepts, no images of any kind!

The GOG Summer Sale is still going strong and the feedback from the Alpha demo has been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to everyone who gave it a try and shared feedback with us on Discord, YouTube, and the GOG/Steam forums. We’ve been pouring over the comments and have decided to update the demo with a patch to address some of these issues!

System Shock Alpha Demo v1.22!

• Fixed certain effects running infinitely and causing gradual performance deterioration,
• First Person Ladder animations have been added,
• New ladders have been added,
• New inventory icons for the Assault Rifle,
• New atmospheric fog has been added,
• New ending elevator has been added,
• New hit reactions when enemies are shot or struck with the pipe,
• Berserk Patches now have their effects and side-effects implemented,
• Toxin Barrel effects culled,
• Mutant Ragdoll performance update,
• Cyborg Assassins now drops their rifle on death,
• Blood Decal visuals improved,
• Artificial Intelligence improvements,
• Player breathing audio has been added,
• Explosives sound radius detection has been doubled,
• Fixed an issue with the Medical Healing Bed movement,
• The Hacker will now be detected by all the recharging Drones when killing one of them,
• The Hacker's arm shadows have been disabled,
• CPU Nodes health reduced,
• Fixed melee weapons being allowed to activate while equipment was disabled,
• Mutant drool now destroys itself rather than deactivates,
• Modified lift to be able to reverse direction if something blocks it,
• Removed navigation collision from Lift and Cyborg Assassin rifle,
• Detach and deactivate Niagara components when both bullet and explosion projectiles are about to be destroyed,
• Gas Grenade Effects have been added,
• The Hacker can no longer climb onto ladders while dying,
• Occulus Plugin disabled, VR headsets should no longer recognize the game,
• Other smaller general fixes and improvements.

If you haven’t tried the demo yet, now is the time, and if you’ve already played it give it another shot and let us know if there’s some aspect of the experience you’d like us to improve. The demo is available to everyone from May 27th to June 15th, but after that, it will remain available to backers.

Check it out here:

GOG: https://af.gog.com/game/system_shock_demo?as=1649904300

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/482400/System_Shock/

Newly Available:

System Shock Remastered OST is now available to listen via streaming on Spotify!

Listen Now

Be sure to follow us on:

Nightdive Twitter

System Shock Twitter

Nightdive Facebook

Nightdive Discord

Nightdive Instagram

See you next time!

 

[Wunderbar]

Looks like they've finally started working on this game.