Vapourware System Shock 3 by OtherSide Entertainment - taken over by Tencent!

[BEvers]

 

[anvi]

People want a game not stickers and shirts!

 

[toro]

People want a game not stickers and shirts!

entitled white piggu

 

[Carls Barkley]

I'll take a free sticker

 

[Zep Zepo]

They haven't even sent out the "touchy feelies" for UA yet...Please wait 3 more years for your "sticker".

Zep--

 

[Glic2000]

That SS3 merch is gonna be hot with collectors when the game gets cancelled.

 

[d1r]

Is there a group picture of the developers out there?

Certainly a quicker way to find out if the game will be shit or not in these times.

 

[BEvers]

 

[LESS T_T]

From Discoworld:

Any info about that interview, that was mentioned last week?

Nothing yet; I believe it was recorded last week and we're waiting for the publication to post it!

In the meantime, we're planning something else for next week to tie people over

Also:

theres something that's been itching at my mind from the trailor. Why do all the weapons look cobbled together?

very happy you noticed that! But I'm afraid I can't explain directly :') All I can say is... they are!

Smells like crafting, yeah?

 

[Nano]

Who the fuck asked for crafting in a System Shock game?

 

[ciox]

Who the fuck asked for crafting in a System Shock game?

Probably just the unholy influence of Bioshock again.

 

[LESS T_T]

Funny all those SS-inspired games have crafting, or weapon mods at least. Deus Ex, Bioshock, Dead Space, and recently Prey.

Sounds like SS3 is pushing more of survival aspect.

 

[ciox]

Funny all those SS-inspired games have crafting, or weapon mods at least. Deus Ex, Bioshock, Dead Space, and recently Prey.

Sounds like SS3 is pushing more of survival aspect.

System Shock 2 had mods, and they were implemented in a pretty awkward way where you could choose to mod a weapon but not what mods to apply and prioritize. Whatever came after at least added a little more agency.

 

[LESS T_T]

That reminds me, recent livestream with NDS Warren talked about differences between Deus Ex and System Shock 2. (I forgot to add this to the post in SS1 thread.) Probably a hint to the direction SS3 took.



Modified from automated transcription:

They're asking, would you like to have been more involved in System Shock 2 back in the day if it didn't have a clash with Deus Ex.

Well, until that last part I was going to say it clashed with Deus Ex, so it really wasn't possible. But honestly, you know, the game turned out so well I don't know what I could have added to it. Probably not. Again, Rob Fermier and all the folks on that team... they knew what they were doing.

And also to be honest it got a little more role-playing. You know, in System Shock, I think one of its real strengths is that it doesn't play to the the standard role-playing tropes. I mean it's in the world and nothing would drag you out of that world. And I always felt like, I mean I've said this a thousand times before and I'll probably say it a thousand times again, but we have better tools to you being in a world than character classes and secret die rolls and all that stuff. So I don't really see much of a point in recreating the the tropes of Dungeons and Dragons. System Shock 2 moved pretty far in that direction so I probably would have been fighting with that team a lot and that wouldn't have helped anybody. I mean System Shock 2 ended up being a terrific game and I probably would have just screwed it up.

 

[RoSoDude]

And yet, Deus Ex had a full set of character skills, a bunch of spells (augs) to choose from, and a grid inventory system with modifiable weapons and equipment management. The biggest distinction between the RPG systems of Deus Ex and System Shock 2 is that the latter has stat/skill requirements for doing things (the only such requirement in DX is Trained Computer to hack computers). Other than that, the complaints people have about abstracted character building in Deus Ex and System Shock 2 are very similar (why can't my rifles master use this pistol, what kind of cyber-augmented soldier doesn't have basic training, fiddling with numbers isn't immersive, blah blah blah). SS2 leans a bit more into its RPG elements, but not by much.

EDIT: I should say, I won't particularly mind if SS3 goes for a more hybrid style like Prey or even the new DX games, provided that upgrade choices are distinct and lead to differentiated character builds. I don't want something like Dishonored where you start out as a god and obtain crazy superpowers on top of that, and there are only a few abilities to choose from.

 

[Wunderbar]

Who the fuck asked for crafting in a System Shock game?

it makes sense for weapons to be cobbled together from various tools if the game is set in some peaceful station with no guns lying around.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

I bet there will be also base building.

 

[JDR13]

Funny all those SS-inspired games have crafting, or weapon mods at least. Deus Ex, Bioshock, Dead Space, and recently Prey.

Sounds like SS3 is pushing more of survival aspect.

It has been said many times before, but SS and especially SS2 are weird in that everyone associates them with survival horror despite the games themselves being purebred action shooters (w/rpg elements). SS2 got that survival horror ambience but that's the extent of it. I wouldn't necessarily mind survival gameplay, but I am wary that it would clash with System Shock's iconic and irreplaceable fast gameplay.

That's an interesting opinion that I don't think most people would agree with. Personally, I'd say they stray closer to being immersive sims.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

SS2 survival horror aspects are found in its extreme scarcity of resources, vulnerability of the player, and lack of any guidance. If has the opposite of a fast shooting gameplay. You proceed slowly, carefully planning your route on your incomplete maps, hiding and waiting for the streets to be clean of enemies. None of these aspects are present in games that people consider inspired by it (bioshock, prey, dead space, etc...)

I am thinking that these old games like SS2 were just a not planned random outcome that cannot be replicated. Their same developers fail to grasp why they are so good.

 

[ciox]

And yet, Deus Ex had a full set of character skills, a bunch of spells (augs) to choose from, and a grid inventory system with modifiable weapons and equipment management. The biggest distinction between the RPG systems of Deus Ex and System Shock 2 is that the latter has stat/skill requirements for doing things (the only such requirement in DX is Trained Computer to hack computers). Other than that, the complaints people have about abstracted character building in Deus Ex and System Shock 2 are very similar (why can't my rifles master use this pistol, what kind of cyber-augmented soldier doesn't have basic training, fiddling with numbers isn't immersive, blah blah blah). SS2 leans a bit more into its RPG elements, but not by much.

EDIT: I should say, I won't particularly mind if SS3 goes for a more hybrid style like Prey or even the new DX games, provided that upgrade choices are distinct and lead to differentiated character builds. I don't want something like Dishonored where you start out as a god and obtain crazy superpowers on top of that, and there are only a few abilities to choose from.

Chances are high that SS3 will have some skill trees of perks like Deus Ex 3/4 and Prey and Underworld Ascendant.

If I had to say what it would most closely resemble, probably DX3, with a bunch of perks to select as you progress and fairly few active augs/hardware to install, unlike SS1.

 

[Maggot]

SS2 is not survival horror just because items aren't overly abundant from the outset.

 

[ciox]

SS2 is not survival horror just because items aren't overly abundant from the outset.

Counter-point: it's very close to survival horror because unless you are a veteran player, it's easy to end up in the situation where you are low on supplies, your weapons are close to breaking down, and the game's foes are searching for you after you made a noise and barking threats

 

[Maggot]

SS2 is not survival horror just because items aren't overly abundant from the outset.

Counter-point: it's very close to survival horror because unless you are a veteran player, it's easy to end up in the situation where you are low on supplies, your weapons are close to breaking down, and the game's foes are searching for you after you made a noise and barking threats

SS2 is an action game through and through and every nook and cranny is filled with cyber modules or other goodies as well as enemies dropping ammo/nanites. A noob might have to sneak around in Cargo Bay but by Hydroponics you should have your shit together. Compare it to a proper survival horror like RE1 Remake for scarcity and you REALLY need to conserve ammo.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The ammo in SS2 is quite scarce for an action game, even though they are not a the level of RE1. Plus your weapons degrade with use and the inventory is quite limited. In a playthrough at difficult levels it is reasonable to try to avoid enemies instead that engaging directly in combat, even if you play as a marine.

 

[ciox]

SS2 is not survival horror just because items aren't overly abundant from the outset.

Counter-point: it's very close to survival horror because unless you are a veteran player, it's easy to end up in the situation where you are low on supplies, your weapons are close to breaking down, and the game's foes are searching for you after you made a noise and barking threats

SS2 is an action game through and through and every nook and cranny is filled with cyber modules or other goodies as well as enemies dropping ammo/nanites. A noob might have to sneak around in Cargo Bay but by Hydroponics you should have your shit together. Compare it to a proper survival horror like RE1 Remake for scarcity and you REALLY need to conserve ammo.

It just doesn't work that way unless you wrench every single weaker enemy to death like a pro, completely side-stepping both ammo drain and weapon breakage.
The game isn't really balanced around that playstyle, and seeing noobs adopt it even if they end up reloading often because they need to melee hybrids even with decent ammo stocks is sad.
That said it's obviously not quite RE, but far from an action game like Bioshock.