Trance on 30/6/2016 at 18:59
Don't like it. Looks and feels like a low-rent Bioshock. Maybe that will change with further work and polish, but what I doubt is going to change at this point is the story "streamlining" they've shown by the changes they've made to Rebecca and SHODAN's emails, both in how they've been rewritten or chopped up to be quicker-paced (in Rebecca's case, more clichéd and action-movie-like), and how they're automatically played like in SS2 or Bioshock. I have the distinct impression that the tone and presentation style of the original will be mangled if not outright ignored in this game's final form.
There are lots of other things wrong with what I've seen in the demo, such as the half-assed attempt at making the station look more realistic while keeping the tile-like map design, the godawful shininess of everything, etc. But all that stuff has been covered by other people.
I accept that I'm probably the stereotype of the bitter fanboy right now. But dammit, System Shock 1 is important to me. I can't bring myself to shrug my shoulders and be happy that "at least something's being done with the IP". It's got to be done right, by people who understand the game enough to recapture its essence. From what I've seen in the pre-alpha, they've failed to do that. And it doesn't fill me with hope.
terrannova on 30/6/2016 at 19:16
So um, lets talk about the very first puzzle panel we saw.
In the original System Shock you double click on the panel, and it translates immediately into the Neural Interface, which I waited 6 months to get out of a coma for by the way, and seamlessly allows easy access to the circuit board with the mouse, clear and crisp visuals. Kind of gives you a "heck ya" kind of moment.
In this new demo, you go to the panel and double click and nothing happens. Oh, you have to MANUALLY move your mouse onto the circuits and change then moving the screen and the buttons with your mouse, which defeats the purpose of the cybernetic military-grade neural interface I waited 6 months in a coma for. As you get closer to the panel the visuals are all pixellated and blurry and just look plain awkward as well.
I think that needs to change in the final product, ESPECIALLY when the puzzles become severely more complex later in the game. Consolidate it right into the neural interface, don't have us going 20th century and manually pushing buttons to solve a puzzle.
icemann on 2/7/2016 at 04:23
Second that
JCDenton on 2/7/2016 at 10:48
In all fairness though, I doubt that a neural interface of any sort would give you PSI powers to physically interact with the game world. ^^
In SS1 fixing the lift in MedSci is clearly an electrical (i.e. manual) issue, not an electronical one (-onical? Is that right? Sounds wrong). I like the way Nightdive have done it.
Agreed on the "Bioshock" thing. I had a strange feeling about this thing from the moment they showed the first videos. To me, SS1 is Cyberpunk, Industrial, Techno, New Wave. Now it seems to be just ... Space Horror?
I'm not saying they should reproduce the nausea-inducing colour palette of the original, but maybe try and keep the tonality? Also, musical score ... the bit at the end worked, I admit. But overall, please don't do "generic orchestral horror trope"? Parts of SS1's soundtrack were awful (MedSci, looking at you!), others were absolutely brilliant. Please do not discard all that.
driver on 2/7/2016 at 13:07
I don't think it's so much PSI powers as some kind of wireless technology that allows you to interact with nearby interfaces, in this instance you can toggle parts of a circuit between on and off so I can see what terrannova is saying. It would make less sense with the wire puzzles though, there you're physically rerouting power by hot wiring a circuit so it would be logical if it was something you did in the game world, not via your neural interface.
JCDenton on 2/7/2016 at 13:35
The PSI thing was really meant ironically ;)
driver on 2/7/2016 at 21:26
I can never tell anymore. :(
terrannova on 3/7/2016 at 00:48
Quote Posted by driver
I don't think it's so much PSI powers as some kind of wireless technology that allows you to interact with nearby interfaces, in this instance you can toggle parts of a circuit between on and off so I can see what terrannova is saying.
It would make less sense with the wire puzzles though, there you're physically rerouting power by hot wiring a circuit so it would be logical if it was something you did in the game world, not via your neural interface.There I agreed, the wire puzzles could remain in the physical panel and not the neural interface, or they could be modified to resemble another form of "wire puzzle" such as network routing (Deus Ex Human Revolution), etc. I'm sure Nightdive will find a seamless way to transition those so it's not so awkward.
hooded_paladin on 9/7/2016 at 00:17
Quote Posted by terrannova
Can't wait to see what the Hoppers look like remastered, and for that note, the Laser Rapier.
They shared a few pages of concept art to advertise the art book on (
http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/7/12123708/system-shock-art-book) this page, and the hoppers have been re-imagined as "Med Lasers". They look potentially less goofy, though I'm not sure what they'll look like in motion.
terrannova on 9/7/2016 at 03:32
Nice find. Yeah, I guess a mobile Med Laser may be what the Hopper originally was before it was corrupted by SHODAN, what's interesting is that in the Original Shock they are more Liquid than solid, as shown in this picture, they were the first formidable enemy we encountered and so early in the game too, literally around a few corners from where you wake up, thank goodness for the SB-20 Magpulse. :)
If they still hop around all arrogant like and melt into a blue puddle of who knows what after death, I'm happy.
