KickStarter System Shock 1 Remake by Nightdive Studios

[ciox]

^

"We're really love Bioshock games!"

Spoiler

"Never heard of System Shock though."

Spoiler

Yeah, it was such an obvious warning sign that it seems ridiculous in retrospect, that they'd post that as if it fit perfectly and also apparently waste money on a string quartet to play it, ridiculous, the shit-posters must think I like it or something though.

Why the fuck they didn't hunt down that Chicajo guy (his remixes are kinda good) instead of going for their crappy versions? A remix for a remaster would have been nice.

Mission creep, huh?

Well, they weren't going to remake it properly in any case, and at least they had the guts to pull the plug after realizing they were in a unholy mess. I didn't give 'em a dime so I can appreciate the honesty!

Chicajo was in bad shape during 2016 https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=9740.0
I liked his remixes too even if some said they had too much "funk".

The last stuff he was working on was great

 

[Ash]

Yeah, it was such an obvious warning sign that it seems ridiculous in retrospect, that they'd post that as if it fit perfectly and also apparently waste money on a string quartet to play it, ridiculous, the shit-posters must think I like it or something though.

No. I was just expressing that the music was bland boring generic declined shit. In the same way people rating your post "decline" aren't expressing that the quality of your post is declined, but rather the music within it is.

 

[Infinitron]

If you're having a boring weekend, the comments on the Kickstarter update are a pretty fun read: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2115044

Here's what happened:

1 - Money taken for "original vision"; i.e. modernized System Shock. That's what we all thought we were paying for.

2 - Then somebody sat up and said, "You know, there really isn't a market for this game beyond the Kickstarters. It's a niche product. After this, the project just won't bring any more cash."

3 - Then, another (or maybe the same) somebody said, "You know, if we *reimagined* System Shock, and dumped it into Unreal, we might be able to peddle it to publishers to make more money."

4 - Development changes midstream. I was pissed, too.

5 - Meanwhile, PREY, a remarkable game (and essentially SS3), does a belly-flop in the marketplace. So does Deus Ex 2.1.

6 - There now being no market for single-player immersive sims, SS-reimaged is roundly ignored by publishers.

7 - Feb. 18: "We're on hiatus, SS KB backers. Eat a hot choad in the meantime."

Somebody needs to kick whoever came up with item #2 on the list squarely in the bollox. That decision doomed the project right there.

Honestly, I'd be willing to bet one of these two things happening now (seen them both before):

1. Nightdive will send fewer and fewer updates, mostly containing fake "straight talk" about tough decisions being made, and new "community managers" introducing themselves. Then, after a while, things will quiet down and one day, Nightdive will have closed shop. No game, and no chance to get any money back, because there is no company anymore.

2. They'll work with whoever is left and deliver some sort of glorified tech demo and label it a game, just so they can claim they delivered something. Again, no refunds.

What pisses me off more than the money being gone is the way they're communicating it to us: Kickstarter backers get a short message, without any details and containing BS like "we were too successful" and putting the team on hiatus. At virtually the same time, a Polygon article appears that quotes an anonymous source saying that the KS funds are used up, and that 15 contract workers will be laid off permanently. I'd imagine that's most of the team. So you're willing to be straight with Polygon, but not with your backers? That's just disrespectful.

 

[Roguey]

Night Dive closing up is a bit too pessimistic since they still have their "buying abandonware and polishing it up for sale" scheme.

 

[Dayyālu]

Chicajo was in bad shape during 2016 https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=9740.0
I liked his remixes too even if some said they had too much "funk".

Fuck. The hilarious thing is that they used some of his files on the GoG SS1 pack (if I remember right the MIDI files have a readme from the man). WE SURE AREN'T USING THE WORK OF THE COMMUNITY TO SELL TO THE COMMUNITY WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FREE OF CHARGE, AREN'T WE?

 

[Morgoth]

All I ever asked for Night Dive to do was to take Shock1, make it Win7/10 compatible, make a new high-res UI, wide-screen support, updated audio and music and voila!

Instead, they made a silly brawler in UE4 and then went broke.

 

[Hines]

One good bit of news is that Night Dive are planning to release the source code for the original game.

 

[Ash]

Upcoming source port? Perhaps that would be citadel they've nabbed up? Might explain why the dev has been quiet lately too.

Nah that's a remake, my bad. So many System Shock projects lately.

I wonder what it could be?

 

[Siveon]

I wonder what it could be?

A source port.

 

[Ash]

well duh you two. I'm wondering whether they picked up on Hank Morgan's System Shock source port efforts, are handling it all internally from scratch, or even something else. It seems unlikely they've been doing it all themselves from scratch and haven't adopted someone else's efforts because time is a lot of money, and there isn't much to be gained financially by doing this. Unless that's where I am wrong?

 

[Wulfstand]

A source port would be great. I've been meaning to play the original for a while now, I'll wait for the release and give it a go.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Fuck. The hilarious thing is that they used some of his files on the GoG SS1 pack (if I remember right the MIDI files have a readme from the man). WE SURE AREN'T USING THE WORK OF THE COMMUNITY TO SELL TO THE COMMUNITY WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FREE OF CHARGE, AREN'T WE?

I still wonder if there are people out there that don't realize GOG has been doing this from the start?

EDIT: Typo.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

 

[Daedalos]

I'm throwing money at my screen, but my UE4 system shock 1 and 2 remake is not booting up on my comp.

;_;

 

[Infinitron]

What if the source port of original SS1 ends up being the game they release to backers instead of a remake, in order to fulfill their commitment and avoid a lawsuit?

 

[taxalot]

What if the source port of original SS1 ends up being the game they release to backers instead of a remake, in order to fulfill their commitment and avoid a lawsuit?

There can only be one Beamdog.

 

[LESS T_T]

I don't think they would do a PR disaster like that. (And talking about lawsuits that's a deception, isn't that?)

 

[Latelistener]

They do hold on the SS source code like it's a golden goose.
I mean, IIRC they promised to release it a long time ago.

 

[ciox]

They do hold on the SS source code like it's a golden goose.
I mean, IIRC they promised to release it a long time ago.

Yes, they have it and it's beyond sad that the source seems to hold on to its bargaining chip status, despite changing hands.

 

[MuscleSpark]

SS uses the same engine as Ultima Underworld right?
What are the odds of adapting said source code to port UW to modern systems? (Underworld Exporter is too rough and doesn't behave like the original.)

 

[Ash]

All I ever asked for Night Dive to do was to take Shock1, make it Win7/10 compatible, make a new high-res UI, wide-screen support, updated audio and music and voila!

Instead, they made a silly brawler in UE4 and then went broke.

That's close enough to what they did with SS:EE. I was expecting way more than that, and with the Unity demo they were close to that expectation (but not quite). Then they switched to UE4, and switched design direction too and near enough
everyone wasn't happy with where it seemed to be going.

SS uses the same engine as Ultima Underworld right?
What are the odds of adapting said source code to port UW to modern systems? (Underworld Exporter is too rough and doesn't behave like the original.)

Slim. It'd be a shitload of work despite the engine architecture being somewhat similar.

 

[LESS T_T]

Actually Nightdive might have worked on some kind of UU re-releases: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-grayshon-44581778/

Technical Lead
Nightdive Studios

[...]

I have written Windows standalone installers for the following companies:

• Tommo Inc. (30+ Games)
• OtherSide Entertainment ("Ultima Underworld I and II")

These installers have been sold on Amazon and The Humble Bundle website.

That doesn't sound like extensive source ports, yeah. Also there weren't re-releases of UUs on Humble and/or Steam, so I'd guess Otherside will release the "new" versions alongside UA (and also as part of bundle or deluxe edition).

 

[LESS T_T]

And now art pieces are coming out: https://www.artstation.com/flewda

SparqBeam: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qyy6n

Having worked on the System Shock remake for the past year, I had the privilege to work on some pretty cool pieces along with some really great artists. Here is a more modern take on the iconic Sparq Beam.

"Rivet Gun": https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZvvOR

The Rivet Gun was a new weapon based on design documentation from the original System Shock. This was a really unique design with some very challenging cuts/angles to work with, but that really added to the character of the gun. Designed as a heavy-duty industrial tool, this thing caused a lot of damage to the enemies.

Props and environments:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kbbmd
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/PwwNn
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/LPPr0
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Pwwgo

You can see plenty more at the artist's page.

 

[Latelistener]

^

 

[J_C]

LOL, I have just read about this, glad I never wanted to back this trainwreck. You know what, this is proof that many modern developers are nowhere near the old gods developers. They had a relatively simple job, remake an old classic, only upgrading the stuff that was needed to be upgraded. A group of dedicated modders could do this FFS! But of course they turned out greedy, they wanted to show how great they are. They switched engine, they wanted to release this on consoles, they wanted to reimagine it instead of remaking it. Who asked them to do this? Not the backers, that's for sure. They should have known that after running a successful kickstarter, they shouldn't fuck with the core promises, they had a responsibility to the backers. This is similar to the Broken Age stuff from Double Fine, but at least they finished the game, even if they strayed a bit far from the base promise.