Playing SS1 for the first time. What should i expect?

fetgalningen on 21/12/2015 at 23:43

Usually i do an annual Shock 2 play-through at Christmas, but I'd though why not play the first in the series. What should i expect compared to the second installment? Any pro tips?

D'Arcy on 21/12/2015 at 23:58

Expect a harder challenge, if you play on the highest settings (do play at least with the plot level at 2 - don't use 3, as it will simply impose a seven hour limit to finish the game). And having to actually read/listen to the logs and e-mails in order to find out what to do next, because the game surely won't lead you by the hand and provide you with a 'to do' list.

As for tips, more or less the usual 'conserve your ammo' on the earlier stages of the game. Also, try not to spend too much time on the Maintenance level the first time you get there, since you don't have any experience playing the game. Just go for the Laser Rapier if possible, then get the hell out.

terrannova on 22/12/2015 at 00:06

For early in the game, save your MagPulse ammo specifically for the Hoppers, that gun is a one hit wonder against those things.

Save your game often.

Set Cyberspace to an easier difficulty, not worth getting frustrated in that place.

D'Arcy on 22/12/2015 at 00:16

I love cyberspace... but perhaps for a first time player, playing on the highest difficulty setting isn't advised.

fetgalningen on 22/12/2015 at 10:23

Difficulty level 2, right, and watch out for maintenance! Here goes.

fetgalningen on 22/12/2015 at 11:11

Just destroyed my first cyborg drone or w/e it was. Yay! The dartgun did the trick, having a hard time seeing how much ammo i have left in various weapons. How does the SparQ operate, is it a limited use weapon or does it feed on your energy? Also, how do i cross contaminated areas safely? I'm at some hatch that opens up when you press a button, but don't want to risk moving through just yet.

driver on 22/12/2015 at 11:51

Sparq uses your main power supply, there's no weapon degredation like SS2 so you don't need to worry about your guns breaking. Some people take a couple of Sparqs at the beginning because they can overheat, so swapping between them allows you to fire more often.

Re: ammo, I'll just quote myself from a thread a little while back.

Quote:

The tabs on the lower left and right include and 'Item' panel (Second one down, IIRC, under 'Weapon'). I'm not sure exactly how to set them to show your ammo count, but if you collect a magazine and drop it onto the info panel when it's open then it'll show you all the different kinda you're carrying and how many of each. It can also show info on various drugs by doing the same thing with med patches etc.

For specific weapons, the colour of the the dashes indicates whether you have more magazines than it's currently displaying. If they're red, you just count the ones you can see, orange and you've got what you can see + 8, Green means you have + 16/24/32 or more than you currently see.

The box itself changes colour when you're almost out of magazines. It's green when you have more than 3, orange at 2 and red for only 1 remaining.

Depending on the level of contamination, some areas you can just run though and as long as you're not in there too long then the contamination will just 'wear off' and you'll take a bit of damage which a medipatch will fix. In more dangerous areas you'll need an enviro suit (you'll find one about 1/3 into the game) and a Detox patch or two to clear the contamination/radiation from your body.

:edit:

With regards to healing, make use of the surgery machine on the first level and save up on your healing items. There's only 3-4 of them in the game so a little backtracking now will help you later on.

terrannova on 23/12/2015 at 04:50

Usually I won't use energy weapons unless I just have a TON of spare batteries, or a few I-CAD batteries in the inventory I need to get rid of. But the best thing is to use standard physical weapons until you locate an energy recharge station. Mark it on your map. Then go ahead and use a little more power in your energy weapons, when your energy gets low instead of using a battery just run on back to the recharge station.

There's a number of different energy weapons in this game, most of them are fantastic. :)

fetgalningen on 23/12/2015 at 10:03

Been saving the energy as well yeah. Only had to use some on some kind of cyborg so far. Will figure out how to mark stuff on the map, cheers Terrannova, and everyone else for needed advice.

It's a fantastic game so far, really liking how they managed to portray the sense of rummaging through the narrow corridors and tunnels of a space-station.