KickStarter System Shock 1 Remake by Nightdive Studios - actually a remake again

Level 6 had the groves.

The biggest difference I'm seeing (though I cannot confirm it at this point) is that enemy models seem to be ragdolls now, instead of a fixed point covered by a 2D sprite.

I'm also somewhat disappointed by what appears to be a very slow development time. The first gameplay video came out 3 months ago and showed the SW quadrant of Level 1, but even with new screenshots they don't seem to have progressed very far from that point, with D'Arcy's office being the most distant point I could identify.

Let's say it'll take them a few extra months to wrap up Level 1. If the apparent development time to remaster ONE level out of TEN is 9 months...well, do the math yourselves.

 

They probably have a skeleton crew working on something they could show for a Kickstarter campaign. Once they get funding the development pace should pick up.

 

Awesome. Finally something interesting.

 

"Well this will be another shitty remake"

*screenshots posted*


damn it looks good

 

So far I only see style and no substance.

 

They might expand their team after their KS campaign is over, but it does seem like all of their dev staff has been allocated to this project. Notice how utterly quiet they are about their Turok 2 remaster (which was apparently already in development back when their remaster of first game appeared on Steam), or how Turok 1's level editor is seemingly put on hold (back in January-February it looked as if release is imminent).

 

It's only been a couple of months, they're working on multiple platforms, plus you're assuming that whatever they've announced so far is all they're working on, and on top of all of that System Shock is a far more complex project than those remasters. They're basically building a new game from scratch here, not applying a new coat of paint.

Though personally I don't care about Turok at all, so it works for me if they abandoned those projects.

 

SHODAN themed PC hardware or OSVR support?

 

I noticed that as well, it almost makes the screen shots look like they were scanned in from a magazine.

OSVR, from what I have read Razer has quite the war chest to fund Indie devs that support their hardware.

 

This effect is absent in these screens.

 

From Reddit AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4pbc01/iama_founder_of_night_dive_studios_stephen_kick/

Their KS goal is $900K.

 

My immediate takeaway: their Kickstarter strategy is based on the climate of 4 years ago. "Wasteland 2 did it, so can we."

 

Eh, seems like a bit of a high goal, but they might make it. System Shock is one of those classics that's "cool" to know, like Planescape: Torment that everyone keeps namedropping.

 

900k for a remake? They are out of their minds.

 

Underworld Ascendant barely hit that, and that campaign was headed by none other than Paul Neurath, a much respected veteran. While System Shock is a hotter name than Ultima Underworld as far the modern market is concerned, especially when you factor in the Bioshock connection, I'm skeptical they'll succeed. Best hope their gameplay videos are top-notch and their marketing on point.

 

UA is barely remembered anywhere other than dex.
Also it didn't have good pitch.

With current work on SS1 and proper pitch they will get easily 3-4mln.

Also lol at "crowdfunding negativity". Time and time again people proved that they don't give a shit about anything other than projects they want to fund and most of them actually do understand that projects can fail. It is usually bystanders who don't give their own money that are first to criticize crowdfunding.

 

I don't disagree there. I remember people not wanting it to reach certain stretch goals, companion bunnies, a distinct lack of hardcore/thinking man's gameplay focus that these games are known for (as far as real time action games go), and an unpolished gameplay video. A bit underwhelming considering its dev team pedigree. I'm still ever so slightly hopeful the game will be good though, and I'm hopeful for this project too.

 

Yeah, Bioshock is still the hottest thing both for journos and for the average gamer. and to the much lesser extent they can also play on connection and influence on Deus Ex or Dishonored...

 

Last two answers from the AMA:

 

Eh, I'm one of those folks that actually loved that Descent with Tron-like visuals shit, and I really think that such a representation of hacking was a perfect match for System Shock's brand of cyberpunk. So I'll be pretty disappointing if their new Cyberspace turns out to be something very different from that original one.

 

good evaluation overall, however one correction: apparently according to the AMA they do have collective industry experience. Experience is overrated anyway. Many great games back in the day were made by relative newbies.

Is that intentional wordplay or?

 

I hope it still has the same aesthetic, it's just that I hated hacking in SS because of the clumsy-ass controls. Gimme something that plays like Descent in a modern sourceport and we're golden.