ZylonBane on 29/9/2012 at 01:58
Quote Posted by Clockface
Oh right. I'd be interested to visit other SS/SS2 forums, as the only ones I know of are here, systemshock.org, and gamefaqs.com.
I didn't say other System Shock forums. I just said other forums.
ToxicFrog on 30/9/2012 at 01:18
Quote Posted by ArclightBorealis
Just one thing that struck me from that 2.4 demo was the cutscene that plays when the player is waking up from cryo. For one, it was widescreen instead of 4:3, and then, the player character model was more detailed. All these fixes and improvements to the game, and one of those are redone cutscenes that match up with the graphics mods that were applied. Talk about extra effort.
Actually, that's not at all the case - the cutscenes haven't been changed. What has changed is how they're played.
SS2's cutscenes were always widescreen (16:9); however, at the time SS2 was made, most people had 4:3 monitors, so the cutscenes were actually saved as 4:3 with letterboxing. 2.4 adds a "crop cutscenes" option that de-letterboxes them on the fly, meaning that on 16:10 monitors they'll fill the full screen width and the letterboxing will be greatly reduced, and on 16:9 monitors they'll fill the screen perfectly.
There's been no added detail, either, but the new decoder and scaler are much improved compared to the old one, which means less blurryness and artifacting. So you're better able to see the detail that's already there. :)
It would be nice to have fully re-rendered cutscenes with high-res models and textures, though. I wonder if the source leak included the scripts and levels the cutscenes were originally generated from as well?
ArclightBorealis on 30/9/2012 at 01:52
Quote Posted by ToxicFrog
Actually, that's not at all the case - the cutscenes haven't been changed. What has changed is how they're played.
SS2's cutscenes were always widescreen (16:9); however, at the time SS2 was made, most people had 4:3 monitors, so the cutscenes were actually saved as 4:3 with letterboxing. 2.4 adds a "crop cutscenes" option that de-letterboxes them on the fly, meaning that on 16:10 monitors they'll fill the full screen width and the letterboxing will be greatly reduced, and on 16:9 monitors they'll fill the screen perfectly.
There's been no added detail, either, but the new decoder and scaler are much improved compared to the old one, which means less blurryness and artifacting. So you're better able to see the detail that's already there. :)
It would be nice to have fully re-rendered cutscenes with high-res models and textures, though. I wonder if the source leak included the scripts and levels the cutscenes were originally generated from as well?
Yeah, you're right about them being widescreen to begin with, just checked the original cutscene. But weird, the one I saw in the demo I thought for sure was different, at least the model for the player (didn't look as thin as the original model, more like the Rebirth version). Damn, I should probably check again so I don't drive myself crazy or something.
ZylonBane on 30/9/2012 at 04:06
Quote Posted by ToxicFrog
SS2's cutscenes were always widescreen (16:9)
The active region of SS2's cutscenes is 640x342, which is 1.87:1 aspect ratio. 16:9 is 1.77:1. This aspect ratio is very close to the typical cinematic widescreen ratio of 1.85:1.
So even on a 16:9 monitor, there will be some letterboxing.
YogSo on 1/10/2012 at 11:32
@ArclightBorealis:
I've not tried any of the demos that were released to showcase the new patches, but I've read they were enhanced with all the graphical mods the community has released over the years, like better water for Thief, or the SHTUP textures. So I'm betting the "upgraded cinematic" you are seeing is Muzman's (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112595) Cutscene Rebirth.
ArclightBorealis on 1/10/2012 at 15:17
Ah, so that's what it was. Thanks for the clarification.
D'Arcy on 1/10/2012 at 16:06
By the way, did Muzman ever complete any other cutscene besides cs2?
voodoo47 on 1/10/2012 at 16:10
no, I don't think he did.
D'Arcy on 1/10/2012 at 16:14
I remember that he had first shown us an excerpt of cs1, so I thought he could have finished that one as well.
Vae on 2/10/2012 at 02:54
Quote Posted by Clockface
Vae, I too would love a fan-made System Shock 2.5 or SS3, especially if it were up to the standards of Thief2x. I'd say that I'd love to see an official SS3 release, but I imagine that nowdays it would be dumbed down so much that it wouldn't be a SS shock game at all, except in name and (a few) references. Look at Bioshock - I love Bioshock and Bioshock 2, don't get me wrong they are two of my favourite games of this generation, maybe of all time, but they were so dumbed down that they didn't believe the *shock name. The world B1 and B2 shows us is so immensely atmospheric and detailed, that it's wasted on a 'mere' first person shooter (and I say that as someone who's favourite genre is the FPS). If Bioshock had had the same atmosphere and amazingly well done graphics and sound that it has now, with the levels and characters and weapons, etc, but had System Shock 2's depth of gameplay, including genuinely important RPG stats, real and intelligent story branching, and plot driven reasons to explore Rapture (Bioshock's city) then it might well have been the best game ever made. Instead they took this amazing world and filled it with a (too easy) first person shooter. Still a great game, but it could have been a defining game, one of the very few true milestones in gaming history.
Exactly true...Ironically, a well designed unofficial SS2x or SS3 would probably end up being superior to that of an official release. This is because there wouldn't be a need to compromise depth and intelligent design, in order to appease the kidz and the mentally challenged...It would be a pure and unadulterated inspiration, and one that would likely express the quintessential System Shock Universe.
Quote Posted by voodoo47
no, I don't think he did.
You know, voodoo, it would be nice to see a "SSFix" with v2.4 and other built-in enhancement options (like SHTUP)...You really should jump on this before DJ decides to steal the show with "HackerPatcher"...;)
