System Shock System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster by Nightdive Studios

[Tweed]

All the positive votes for rsd are good, but there are so many other good mods out there too.

As a mod maker I'm so tempted to shill, but I won't

Shill. I'm always in the market for new mods to shake up my roughly annual runs through the VB.

Just don't bother with Infinite, that shit was awful.

 

[kangaxx]

Even if you fix the netcode you can't fix that mess because it was never meant for it. Multiplayer is fun to play as a joke, especially since you'll spend the first two or three minutes laughing at Goggles and then you'll spend another two minutes laughing the minute one of you leans left or right. Then comes all the friendly fire incidents and "friendly fire" incidents and trying to designate who's going to learn what.

Yes it's more a social thing than the core gameplay experience... but that should be obvious.

 

[SomeGuyWithAnOpinion]

Shill. I'm always in the market for new mods to shake up my roughly annual runs through the VB.

Here are some good mods. At least some of these are by me, so take everything in this list with a truck of salt:

• QBR Breaker disables all the respawn machines. I always hated this mechanic personally. It sucked in SS1, it sucks in Bioshock, and it sucks here too. Especially in a game with quicksaving, it's just pointless. Respawning is so insanely cheap and effective that you can essentially use attrition to defeat any hard encounter, which is extremely cheesy. Just turn them off. For the ultimate experience, unbind your quicksave key too, and don't save from the menu - rely exclusively on Autosaves. That way, you'll be forced to play through your mistakes, which makes the game far more interesting and compelling, especially with how highly-focused it is on resource management. Quickloading all the time completely undermines the resource aspect and makes the game way too easy.
• Scary Monsters is a MUST HAVE. It fixes several oversights in the game's AI that allow you to backpedal melee enemies for free hits at no risk. The game is coded in such a way that enemies "lose" attack range if you're moving backwards, because their hit detection is based on predicting your location when the swing hits, and this results in them moving forward into you endlessly while you backpedal, leaving them defenseless and open to free attacks. Even Rumblers can be taken down with the wrench this way, which is absolutely absurd. The mod page has a video showcasing many of the changes.
• SS2 Randomiser is not like other randomisers. It's not designed to make a wacky, insane, "lol so random" experience. You won't find the strongest weapons or enemies on the earliest decks. Instead, it randomises content within the maps, keeping them balanced for what the map originally had. If the map only originally had pipe hybrids and monkeys, that's what it will spawn, for instance. This is designed more for veteran players who know where to find all of the really good items and who generally beeline for them, while skipping lesser-value parts of each deck. Now, it's going to take a while to search and find everything you need, just like it did on your first playthrough. This gives the respawn system time to work and actually repopulate the maps, and drains resources over time as you're generally getting into more fights because searching is slower. However I also believe this slower pace is what the game was designed for and balanced around.
• Colored Laser Rapiers is a fun little mod to spice up your game. It doesn't really do much gameplay wise.
• No Keypad Cheese is for people who know all the keycodes (or even just the 00000 code for the hackable door in MedSci)
• Inventory Fumbler is a fun little mod designed to add back some of the minor micromanagement "annoyances" from the original game. Personally I'm not a huge fan of this mod, but I know people have had fun being ambushed while slowly recharging everything at a recharge station, for instance, and sometimes it's very fun forgetting to recharge your strength booster and being screwed in the middle of a combat section
• Lonely Shock is designed to increase immersion and integrate cyber modules into the world more immersively, while providing less handholding.
• For dealing with the Security system, you have a couple of options. Alarming Cameras is the popular one that everyone knows about, but you've also got the SCP Hard Security minimod and Security Overhaul (alternate version). All of them will provide similar experiences, so pick whichever you think is the best or the most interesting for what you're going for.

Just don't bother with Infinite, that shit was awful.

Yeah I noped the fuck out immediately when I saw that mod page. It looks like garbage.

I don't particularly like Secmod either, but Secmod is miles better than it. Secmod tries to fix legitimate problems with the game in ways I just don't really agree with, but I respect the effort, whereas Infinite seems actively determined to make the game worse on purpose in every possible way.

Even if you fix the netcode you can't fix that mess because it was never meant for it. Multiplayer is fun to play as a joke, especially since you'll spend the first two or three minutes laughing at Goggles and then you'll spend another two minutes laughing the minute one of you leans left or right. Then comes all the friendly fire incidents and "friendly fire" incidents and trying to designate who's going to learn what.

Even if they fixed the multiplayer, I'm not interested unless it also has some kind of lives system or some other way to fail and restart. Right now, even when it's working correctly, you're just encouraged to throw yourselves at the enemies repeatedly because there's no real challenge and no real way to lose.

 

[Trithne]

Shill. I'm always in the market for new mods to shake up my roughly annual runs through the VB.

Here are some good mods. At least some of these are by me, so take everything in this list with a truck of salt:

• QBR Breaker disables all the respawn machines. I always hated this mechanic personally. It sucked in SS1, it sucks in Bioshock, and it sucks here too. Especially in a game with quicksaving, it's just pointless. Respawning is so insanely cheap and effective that you can essentially use attrition to defeat any hard encounter, which is extremely cheesy. Just turn them off. For the ultimate experience, unbind your quicksave key too, and don't save from the menu - rely exclusively on Autosaves. That way, you'll be forced to play through your mistakes, which makes the game far more interesting and compelling, especially with how highly-focused it is on resource management. Quickloading all the time completely undermines the resource aspect and makes the game way too easy.
• Scary Monsters is a MUST HAVE. It fixes several oversights in the game's AI that allow you to backpedal melee enemies for free hits at no risk. The game is coded in such a way that enemies "lose" attack range if you're moving backwards, because their hit detection is based on predicting your location when the swing hits, and this results in them moving forward into you endlessly while you backpedal, leaving them defenseless and open to free attacks. Even Rumblers can be taken down with the wrench this way, which is absolutely absurd. The mod page has a video showcasing many of the changes.
• SS2 Randomiser is not like other randomisers. It's not designed to make a wacky, insane, "lol so random" experience. You won't find the strongest weapons or enemies on the earliest decks. Instead, it randomises content within the maps, keeping them balanced for what the map originally had. If the map only originally had pipe hybrids and monkeys, that's what it will spawn, for instance. This is designed more for veteran players who know where to find all of the really good items and who generally beeline for them, while skipping lesser-value parts of each deck. Now, it's going to take a while to search and find everything you need, just like it did on your first playthrough. This gives the respawn system time to work and actually repopulate the maps, and drains resources over time as you're generally getting into more fights because searching is slower. However I also believe this slower pace is what the game was designed for and balanced around.
• Colored Laser Rapiers is a fun little mod to spice up your game. It doesn't really do much gameplay wise.
• No Keypad Cheese is for people who know all the keycodes (or even just the 00000 code for the hackable door in MedSci)
• Inventory Fumbler is a fun little mod designed to add back some of the minor micromanagement "annoyances" from the original game. Personally I'm not a huge fan of this mod, but I know people have had fun being ambushed while slowly recharging everything at a recharge station, for instance, and sometimes it's very fun forgetting to recharge your strength booster and being screwed in the middle of a combat section
• Lonely Shock is designed to increase immersion and integrate cyber modules into the world more immersively, while providing less handholding.

Just don't bother with Infinite, that shit was awful.

Yeah I noped the fuck out immediately when I saw that mod page. It looks like garbage.

I don't particularly like Secmod either, but Secmod is miles better than it. Secmod tries to fix legitimate problems with the game in ways I just don't really agree with, but I respect the effort, whereas Infinite seems actively determined to make the game worse on purpose in every possible way.

Even if you fix the netcode you can't fix that mess because it was never meant for it. Multiplayer is fun to play as a joke, especially since you'll spend the first two or three minutes laughing at Goggles and then you'll spend another two minutes laughing the minute one of you leans left or right. Then comes all the friendly fire incidents and "friendly fire" incidents and trying to designate who's going to learn what.

Yeah. Even if they fixed the multiplayer, I'm not interested unless it also has some kind of lives system or some other way to fail and restart. Right now, even when it's working correctly, you're just encouraged to throw yourselves at the enemies repeatedly because there's no real challenge and no real way to lose.

Scary Monsters I already know and use, QBR breaker and the Randomiser are stuff I've been interested in seeing happen. Nice picks, I'll throw a few of these on.

 

[SomeGuyWithAnOpinion]

Nice picks, I'll throw a few of these on.

Thanks! I added one or two more.

In general I recommend having a look around the Mods and Engineering boards. Unfortunately the newbie modding guide only mentions a handful of mods, but there are so many gems on the forum that are just sitting there waiting to be downloaded and used. Some of the stuff in the Engineering forum is a little unfinished, but I have found most of it works just fine.

 

[Trithne]

RSD, Scary, Alarming Cameras and the usual SHTUP, ADaOB (although I think that's bundled into something else now), and a few minor mods are my usual fare, cbf going to the other pc to check it right now.

I'll throw on the Randomiser, Lonely, QBR and Keypad and I think that's pretty much ideal for me.

 

[SomeGuyWithAnOpinion]

RSD, Scary, Alarming Cameras and the usual SHTUP, ADaOB (although I think that's bundled into something else now), and a few minor mods are my usual fare, cbf going to the other pc to check it right now.

I'll throw on the Randomiser, Lonely, QBR and Keypad and I think that's pretty much ideal for me.

Don't use ADaOB, it's massively outdated.

RSD, Scary Monsters, Randomiser and QBR all require SCP, which is a continuation of ADaOB

Also, read this guide if you haven't already.

 

[RoSoDude]

RSD

RSD

RSD

Okay okay fine, I've heard you, I'll finally update SS2-RSD to work with the new SCP beta 6 this weekend.

But really, thanks for the endorsements. It's always nice to see my work is appreciated.

 

[Infinitron]

Happier now?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/4320315

Pre-Order Fulfillment Update for System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster​

Hello again, Hackers!

In our previous update, we confirmed that Kickstarter backers at the Humanoid Mutant tier and above will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. In addition, Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster.

For Kickstarter backers, you’ll be able to redeem your copy through Backerkit, similar to how you redeemed other rewards for System Shock. In addition, those of you who pre-ordered our System Shock remake will also receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (previously titled System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) as noted in our January 2021 update:

“... anyone who pre-orders System Shock remake will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for free and ALL Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will also be receiving SS2:EE for free.”

If you pre-ordered our System Shock remake, you will receive your free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games on launch day. We will provide additional information as we move closer to our release date announcement at The MIX Spring Showcase on March 20, along with answers to frequently asked community questions.

Thank you!

- Nightdive Studios

 

[NotAnotherUsername]

Happier now?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/4320315

Pre-Order Fulfillment Update for System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster​

Hello again, Hackers!

In our previous update, we confirmed that Kickstarter backers at the Humanoid Mutant tier and above will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. In addition, Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster.

For Kickstarter backers, you’ll be able to redeem your copy through Backerkit, similar to how you redeemed other rewards for System Shock. In addition, those of you who pre-ordered our System Shock remake will also receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (previously titled System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) as noted in our January 2021 update:

“... anyone who pre-orders System Shock remake will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for free and ALL Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will also be receiving SS2:EE for free.”

If you pre-ordered our System Shock remake, you will receive your free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games on launch day. We will provide additional information as we move closer to our release date announcement at The MIX Spring Showcase on March 20, along with answers to frequently asked community questions.

Thank you!

- Nightdive Studios

Congrats to the toy-collecting mouthbreathers at Nightdive for following through on at least one of their kickstarter promises (they can't afford the inevitable PR hit otherwise).

Also, that was some quick reporting on your end, hot damn

 

[Trithne]

RSD

RSD

RSD

Okay okay fine, I've heard you, I'll finally update SS2-RSD to work with the new SCP beta 6 this weekend.

But really, thanks for the endorsements. It's always nice to see my work is appreciated.

Wait, it doesn't work with B6? I ran literally that exact combo last night just fine.

Also I gotta give props to that Randomiser mod SomeGuyWithAnOpinion suggested. Massive changeup to the game when I can't basically speedrun it.

 

[Sentinel]

Happier now?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/4320315

Pre-Order Fulfillment Update for System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster​

Hello again, Hackers!

In our previous update, we confirmed that Kickstarter backers at the Humanoid Mutant tier and above will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. In addition, Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster.

For Kickstarter backers, you’ll be able to redeem your copy through Backerkit, similar to how you redeemed other rewards for System Shock. In addition, those of you who pre-ordered our System Shock remake will also receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (previously titled System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) as noted in our January 2021 update:

“... anyone who pre-orders System Shock remake will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for free and ALL Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will also be receiving SS2:EE for free.”

If you pre-ordered our System Shock remake, you will receive your free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games on launch day. We will provide additional information as we move closer to our release date announcement at The MIX Spring Showcase on March 20, along with answers to frequently asked community questions.

Thank you!

- Nightdive Studios

Congrats to the toy-collecting mouthbreathers at Nightdive for following through on at least one of their kickstarter promises (they can't afford the inevitable PR hit otherwise).

Also, that was some quick reporting on your end, hot damn

God damn you niggas will bitch about literally anything.

 

[NotAnotherUsername]

Happier now?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/4320315

Pre-Order Fulfillment Update for System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster​

Hello again, Hackers!

In our previous update, we confirmed that Kickstarter backers at the Humanoid Mutant tier and above will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. In addition, Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster.

For Kickstarter backers, you’ll be able to redeem your copy through Backerkit, similar to how you redeemed other rewards for System Shock. In addition, those of you who pre-ordered our System Shock remake will also receive a free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (previously titled System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) as noted in our January 2021 update:

“... anyone who pre-orders System Shock remake will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for free and ALL Kickstarter/Backerkit backers who backed at the $30 level or higher will also be receiving SS2:EE for free.”

If you pre-ordered our System Shock remake, you will receive your free copy of System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games on launch day. We will provide additional information as we move closer to our release date announcement at The MIX Spring Showcase on March 20, along with answers to frequently asked community questions.

Thank you!

- Nightdive Studios

Congrats to the toy-collecting mouthbreathers at Nightdive for following through on at least one of their kickstarter promises (they can't afford the inevitable PR hit otherwise).

Also, that was some quick reporting on your end, hot damn

God damn you niggas will bitch about literally anything.

Bitch about what exactly? That studio screwing over 10k+ people? These studios, like any company, should be held accountable for bad business practices and I'm doing my part, one anonymous petty insult at a time

 

[mediocrepoet]

Also I gotta give props to that Randomiser mod SomeGuyWithAnOpinion suggested. Massive changeup to the game when I can't basically speedrun it.

As much as I appreciate the kind words, I'm probably not going to finish developing it, tbh.

I had a big 2.0 release planned with a lot more item locations across all the maps, including trait machines and other things, bug fixes, and a bunch of other cool stuff, but the mod has hardly gained any traction over the years it's been out, nobody has donated anything, and generally the sheer amount of sacrifice and the innumerable hours to get everything set up haven't been worth it. The new version is about 80% done but I just don't want to continue.

People don't really give a shit about modders or their time, so it's time to move onto something more likely to end up in an actual future.

It might sound greedy but it's not. We only have a set amount of time on this earth and if something isn't positively contributing to enriching our lives, it needs to stop. The randomiser ended up taking way longer than its original vision and I really can't afford to spend a lot more time on it. It's already been about 600+ hours work on something that nobody cares about. It's affected my job prospects and my family life. Had I spent the time throwing together some low effort indie garbage instead, even if it didn't sell a single copy, it would contribute far more positively to a resume than a mod, and counts significantly more for respect as well - tell people you made a game they think you're cool, tell them you made a mod and they look at you funny. So I should spend my time on things that are more likely to actually help me get to where I want to go.

I get a lot of positive comments but every time I ask someone to support the mod in some way (stream it, etc) so maybe it can get some traction, nobody does. So it lavishes in obscurity.

I'm also the lead developer on GMDX currently. That's more likely to do well because it already has a very positive following. But I'm considering abandoning that too. At the end of the day I can't spend my life working thanklessly at my own expense and sacrifice on modding projects for people to ignore.

I hope that the experience you gained while working on the mods will prove valuable as you move forward with your career and hopefully you enjoyed working through the issues in the project at the same time. I doubt you would've started to begin with if you didn't enjoy it, even if you realized you needed to make a change before finalizing the projects.

EDIT: added a few words to complete my fragmented thought.

 

[SomeGuyWithAnOpinion]

Also I gotta give props to that Randomiser mod SomeGuyWithAnOpinion suggested. Massive changeup to the game when I can't basically speedrun it.

Glad you like it. It needs more exposure, so LP's or streams or whatever are welcome. The mod has been out for over 2 years and pretty much nobody knows about it.

So many cringe let's plays and such on Twitch all using the crappy default mod list and it hearts my soul seeing these people get such a horrible inferior version of SS2. Especially veterans who have to self-impose challenges (like wrench-only) to make it fun. Bro, just use some good gameplay mods.

 

[RoSoDude]

RSD

RSD

RSD

Okay okay fine, I've heard you, I'll finally update SS2-RSD to work with the new SCP beta 6 this weekend.

But really, thanks for the endorsements. It's always nice to see my work is appreciated.

Wait, it doesn't work with B6? I ran literally that exact combo last night just fine.

Also I gotta give props to that Randomiser mod SomeGuyWithAnOpinion suggested. Massive changeup to the game when I can't basically speedrun it.

It works for the most part (to the point you may not notice any issues), but there are some minor incompatibilties, ranging from broken text strings to overriden/duplicated scripts. I already fixed 98% of it on my PC, but never bothered to finish up and update.

 

[JBro]

I'm interested in the potential VR mode one of the devs showed off a while back.

 

[SomeGuyWithAnOpinion]

Okay okay fine, I've heard you, I'll finally update SS2-RSD to work with the new SCP beta 6 this weekend.