KickStarter System Shock 1 Remake by Nightdive Studios

[Baron Dupek]

https://www.nightdivestudios.com/system-shock-3-5-limited-floppy-edition/

Beginning with the worldwide release of “System Shock”, fans can immerse themselves with the SS3.5LFE, which features an astounding 38,195 floppy disks, shipped in a 2 ton pallet for an estimated retail price of $80,000 (USD).

CODE COMPLETE: SYSTEMS ONLINE​

‘Goes Gold’ And Releasing On PC 08:00 PDT 30 May 2023​

17:00 CEST 9 May 2023 : Prime Matter and Nightdive Studios announced today that the full-fledged remake of the ground breaking System Shock from 1994 has ‘gone gold’.

https://presse.plaion.com/CODE-COMPLETE-SYSTEMS-ONLINE

took em long enough

yeah, a little delay here and there but it might come out already

 

[shaanghai]

After playing the demo I want to play the original, but I was a console kiddie and never touched this type of game before. Any tips for a noob or should I just jump in?

 

[Lemming42]

People will give you all kinds of different advice, but personally, I'd say play Enhanced Edition with mouselook enabled. That'll get the control scheme reasonably close to a standard FPS. Then it's just a matter of taking a few minutes to learn the interface and get used to switching between mouselook and cursor for when you need to interact with the environment or aim a weapon.

It takes a minute or two to get acclimatised to it but it's not too complex and plays pretty smoothly after that.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Then you just need to get used to the massive motion sickness.

 

[kangaxx]

Agreed. Whatever one says about modern remakes, mouse look is a big upgrade.

 

[zerotol]

i have read something about this studio being bought, so you are telling me this is not vapourware?

 

[fuzz]

After playing the demo I want to play the original, but I was a console kiddie and never touched this type of game before. Any tips for a noob or should I just jump in?

Smash them cameras, besides that, go in blind. After you're done, there is a fan mission called Rewired that's okay.

 

[HumanTotemPole]

Just go for it, total blast. Think of it as a classic FPS with light imm-sim elements.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/3813638

System Shock Kickstarter May Update​

Hey Hackers,

With the upcoming PC release of the System Shock Remake around the corner, we wanted to invite all of our Backers to celebrate the occasion with us by joining the System Shock Launch Party on Twitch.

Our resident game streamer Miss Slaughter will be playing the newly released game at launch. Plus, she will be joined by several of the developers and artists behind the game that helped to make this possible.

The fun starts at 8 am PST/ 11 am EST on Tuesday May 30th. Click here to join:

https://www.twitch.tv/nightdivestudios

Art Book Announcement​

In a collaboration between Dark Horse Books and the team here at Night Dive Studios, The Art of System Shock aims to peel back the curtain of development on the remake.

Expect plenty of developer commentary and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, along with a wealth of concept art detailing the Citadel space station, the games' varied enemies and props and more.

Here's a look at the official cover art for The Art of System Shock: The Art of System Shock is a 192-page hardcover slated for release in bookstores on February 13, 2024 and in comic shops on February 14, 2024.

Check out more details here:

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-art-of-system-shock-dark-horse-books-nightdive-studios

System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition​

People have been asking how the development of System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition is going.

See for yourself...


Check out the additional details here:

https://www.pcgamer.com/system-shoc...aracters-and-weapon-models-have-been-updated/

The Latest Game Trailer Is Live!​

As you can see, things are moving right along schedule.

That’s all for now!

- Team Nightdive Studios

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Ugh, what is with that thing in that chick's nose?

Anyway, despite some of my misgivings so far, the gameplay footage looks decent. I'll always prefer the original but I might buy this whenever there's a price cut.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

They should keep it in the oven for a few more weeks to polish the remaning micro-issues

After all:

A delayed game is eventually good, while a rushed one is forever bad

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/en/news/gog_inte...make_straight_from_its_creators?as=1649904300

GOG INTERVIEW: LEARN MORE ABOUT SYSTEM SHOCK’S REMAKE STRAIGHT FROM ITS CREATORS​

Only 8 days left before the release of 2023’s System Shock – the fully fledged remake of the groundbreaking original from the 1994. The excitement and anticipation is absolutely through the roof!


To ease our wait and learn more about the upcoming Night Dive Studios’ title, we had the absolute pleasure of talking to Stephen Kick, Founder and CEO of Night Dive Studios.


We asked him about how the idea of the remake was born, what was the development process like, what changes can we expect, and more! Hope you’ll enjoy the read as much as we enjoyed talking to Stephen.

System Shock games are one of the most beloved and iconic titles of all time. Working on a remake of 1994’s original must have been quite an endeavor. Could you shed more light about how it came to be?


When we first released the Enhanced Edition of System Shock with the addition of mouse look we saw a whole new audience discovering the game for the first time. With that one simple update the game suddenly became much more accessible and it sparked our curiosity. What else can we do to make System Shock more enjoyable? From there we were fortunate enough to access the original source code which enabled us to add a number of additional features thanks to our KEX engine. Again, we saw a substantial influx of players and again we thought, “how can we push this even further?”

At this time I was browsing a game art forum and I discovered the work of Howie Day. Howie was working on fan art of Star Wars: Dark Forces and it captured my imagination. The art style appeared modern but seamlessly blended the throwback aesthetic of chunky pixels and retro graphics. I reached out and hired him to help create a prototype of what would become the demo we offered potential backers on Kickstarter. The campaign was a success and after we raised $1.35 million the development of the System Shock Remake officially began.


What was the overall approach when you started working on the project, any principles that you were guided by?


As with all our games at Nightdive we wanted to stay true to the original vision. We didn’t want to tamper with what made the games special but simply to enhance enough of what was there to bring something new for longtime fans. It was important that the story remained the same and that the overall structure of the levels remained intact, but we certainly took liberties with the design and layout. From the very beginning we worked with the original artist behind System Shock, Robb Waters to ensure that everything felt uniquely Shock.

What was the most challenging part about the development process of the remake?


One of the most challenging aspects of development was truly understanding the legacy of System Shock. Shock is one of the most influential games of all time and is responsible for spawning an entire genre of games. It took a while to sink in but at one point we had to make the heart wrenching decision to scrap years of work because it didn’t do justice to that legacy. We sacrificed our entire budget and tens of thousands of hours of work because what we were making wasn’t Shock. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, but the System Shock we have today is something we’re genuinely proud of and it’s our hope it lives up to the expectations of our backers and longtime fans.


And what was the most fun part about it?


The most fun part about developing System Shock has been watching the project evolve over the years into what we have now. It went from a prototype built in Unity that featured a few rooms and enemies, into a Unreal powered “beautiful corner,” and finally a completely re-imagined playable game built by an extremely talented, passionate team of developers who poured their hearts and souls into it. It’s truly a miracle that System Shock is in your hands today.

To touch more about the “remake” part – the original game was known for its iconic and, at the time, ground-breaking features. Could you tell us what can we expect in terms of changes? Are there any elements that were completely changed? Anything that remained the same?


We made some pretty substantial changes to a number of systems. The User Interface has been completely re-designed to be more accessible and is more akin to System Shock 2 than the original. The weapons have all been overhauled and re-designed and include upgrades you can discover. There is also a recycling system, vending machines, and most importantly Cyberspace is now a fun, intuitive game within a game that offers its own unique challenges. It’s safe to say that everything has seen some level of change but I believe it all feels like it belongs in the Shock universe.

As for things that stayed the same, players can expect to find all the original levels, and the same cast of characters and enemies, although they’ve all been expanded upon to add some new surprises to discover.



Is there anything you’d like to say to our community before they’ll discover or rediscover the amazing world of System Shock?


The original System Shock is truly a classic and it’s my hope our efforts do justice to the legacy forged by both Origin Systems & LookingGlass Technologies. Shock has been in development for nearly 7 years and it’s honestly a miracle the game is finally here - I sincerely hope you enjoy your time aboard Citadel Station, just don’t forget to salt the fries

We’d like to thank Stephen and the whole crew of Night Dive Studios very much for the ability to speak to them and learn more about System Shock. We absolutely cannot wait for the release and to once again sink our teeth into one of the best video game franchises of all time.


Be sure to pre-order the game, as everyone who purchases it will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition as a gift once it's released!

 

[JBro]

Well I'm looking forward to it.

 

[fuzz]

(...) players can expect to find all the original levels, and the same cast of characters and enemies, although they’ve all been expanded upon to add some new surprises to discover. (...)

 

[SharkClub]

If I see one thing in this game about shodan being a trans enby lgtbbq AI I'm going to go postal (in minecraft).

 

[Jenkem]

>he doesn't know

 

[SharkClub]

>he doesn't know

What I do know is that there is at least a chance of it happening because that eceleb fag Mandalore let everyone know that tranny shodan was his headcanon in a popular youtube video for the game which NightDive have no doubt seen. Whether they've confirmed that as their canon or not is something I have not heard of.

 

[Tweed]

Oh look! Ugly, disgusting mutants and lots of PURPLE

 

[Lemming42]

People think SHODAN is transgender? That's classic. The whole point of SHODAN in SS1 is that it "believes", rightly or wrongly, and to whatever extent an AI can "believe" anything, that it's evolving into something beyond humanity. It's becoming incomprehensible to humans. Hence the distorted approximation of a human face that flickers onto the monitors and then fades into white noise, the last remnants of the face that its human designers gave it. Hence the garbled and erratic voice, again showing the AI abandoning the final vestiges of the human-like features its designers intended for it. Hence the terrifying death-glare face that starts building on your screen during the final boss fight, something truly inhuman and petrifying. Hence SHODAN referring to itself directly as something akin to a god.

The single most boring treatment it's humanly possible to give that story is to impose 21st century American concepts of "gender" onto the character, so of course that would turn out to be a popular reading. Yes, the AI that you cannot comprehend and who thinks in completely non-human ways and who is turning into something far outside the comprehension of the human mind is, in fact, a believer in your highly specific 2010s/2020s Twitter ideology! SHODAN's just like you! Congratulations on your really exciting and fresh reading of the story! I bet SHODAN shares my opinions on the London congestion charge too.

Well, actually, come to think of it - that's not the most boring way to treat the character. There's one even more boring treatment, and that's to put SHODAN in a female-shaped cyborg body and have "her" be your sultry, Disney-villain-evil sidekick, which is exactly what SS2 already did, thanks to the handiwork of celebrated auteur and master author Ken Levine, who'd go on to give us similarly engaging writing in BioShit ("would you kindly" - GENIUS!!!). So fuck it, just shit all over System Shock, who even cares anymore.

 

[SharkClub]

The transgender shodan rewriting of history headcanon comes from the fact that the floppy disk version of the game refers to shodan as a "he" because there was no voice acting for the character and I guess they didn't really care about pronouns for the megalomaniacal AI and just went with "he" by default, or there was a miscommunication between developers on this part of it. Then the CD version of the game comes along and Terri Brosius voices the character and shodan in that version and the following game is now a "she".

Fast forward to when Mandalore is trying to score points with the resetera crowd in one of his youtube videos (it has 2.1 million views) and he tells everyone that he thinks shodan is trans because it was programmed as a man and then decided to become a woman when the hacker gave it free will, rather than just accepting that Terri Brosius was a good voice actress for the character so the developers decided to just make the character a female-coded AI via retcon.

Thinking rationally for a moment, what is more likely for a gaming development team of nerds in 1994? Making a character transgender or retconning a character's "gender" for the sake of good in-house voice acting.

But yeah, there is absolutely a real danger of the shodan is a tranny take being taken seriously by NightDive here. I would not be surprised to see it referred to in-game somewhere.

 

[Average Manatee]

Not sure if this is headcanon or not but I thought Shodan was "female" because she decided to start creating new life. Which would in fact make her the anti-tranny, as we all know from the copypasta.

 

[Lemming42]

SharkClub That's a shame. I've not seen the video in question but it does sound like a very hackneyed and predictable reading of a character who's so much more interesting than that. This character is trying to leave behind human modes of understanding and become something beyond human knowability, so let's slap some modern-day human ideas onto it. What a great and fresh reading of the story!

It also doesn't hold up anyway - you get the automated greeting from SHODAN after you wake up, which was recorded before the hacker's intervention, and Teri Brosius voices it in that too. So as of the CD version, that's just the voice that SHODAN's designers gave it, not a voice it selected for itself.

In fact, on the contrary, it deliberately starts abandoning the stereotypically-feminine voice it was created with as soon as it gets free will. I don't know how anyone could play the game and come away with the idea that SHODAN is trying to become more like a human woman - it's trying to become completely inhuman. It despises humanity, why would it want to emulate human sexual dimorphism? Its face and voice don't become more woman-like over the course of the game, they become less as it deliberately sheds the appearance and voice it was programmed with. Its face pre-game is fairly neutral and bland, a standard humanoid face:

And then it ends up looking like this after it starts to remodel itself, its computer-y parts expanding while its humanoid aspects become twisted, deformed and subsumed (appropriately, when this face appears on the monitors, it fades away into pixels or white noise, as if to drive the point home that SHODAN is moving away from anything recognisable or familiar to humans):

Its voice - recognisably that of a human woman at first - also becomes jarring and stilted, its pronunciation getting weirder, its voice taking on an increasingly inhuman quality, the pitch and speed varying wildly. It's trying to become less like a woman, less like a human.

 

[KIss My Ass]

Then again, SHODAN is a character who believes that it's transitioning from something into something else, so the allegory might work. Intriguingly, it also develops an overwhelming sense of narcissism and decides to make its own transition into everyone else's problem. While it may have been accepted or even enthusiastically supported by the people of Citadel Station had it acted reasonably, respectfully, and been mindful of other people's boundaries, it instead decides to force everyone to participate in the transition whether they like it or not, starts intruding into areas where it's explicilty not welcome, pursues and punishes anyone who shows disobedience, and even reshapes the entire station to its liking and ensures that everything is focused around itself at all times, at the expense of literally everyone else living there.

I dunno, that sounds an awful lot like trannies and far leftists to me.

 

[Trithne]

Having played the backer beta through fully, there is no trannification of SHODAN to be concerned with, she's read straight as female coded all the way through.

They do, however, change up shit in the intro and ending to try and make her more of a sympathetic villian and fuck with the hacker's motives and why they had to remove the ethical constraints at all:

Spoiler

in the OG manual backstory of the intro, the hacker removed her ethical constraints because it was the most efficient backdoor he could find to grant Diego L1 access. This means that SHODAN becoming rampant is his fault and he's indirectly responsible for what happens to everyone on Citadel.

In the remake, Diego flat out says "This is SHODAN. I need you to remove her ethical constraints", and the hacker doesnt kill her in end, but restores the constraints instead, and SHODAN has lines about how she's forced to do what humans tell her.

 

[Lemming42]

Those sound like odd plot changes - not necessarily bad ones, but unusual ones.

spoiler

The ending to SS1 always feels a bit abrupt to me, I suppose restoring SHODAN to its original state rather than just blasting it a few times and then getting immediately thrust into the ending cutscene could potentially be a more satisfying and thematically appropriate ending.

I think I prefer Hacker being personally responsible for the whole disaster though.