Hollowtip on 27/9/2006 at 14:54
With Windows Vista wiping its horrid feet on the doormat of 2007, I began to wonder, just how many days does SS1 have left. With work stoping on so many remakes of the original, I'm not sure if we will see SS1 in the near future (Vista lacks support for 16-bit programs, and guess what SS1 is). So I have taken it upon myself to rewrite the original engine.
While I wish to stay as true to the original as possible, I think it would be a waste if we didn't at least update some, if not all of the assets (so they are simply a higher quality, think of light glinting of the bloodied claws of a Sec-2 bot as it swing its arm actually at you). So I am putting out this poll, to see what help there is out there. Though I have the skills to remake the engine, I lack those required for modelling and texture production (plus, my level creation skills could be better).
So please select what you would contribute to, if you had the chance.
Thx, Hollowtip
Matthew on 27/9/2006 at 15:18
Welcome to the forums, Hollowtip. It's admirable that you've decided to do this, but I should warn you that, as you've no doubt seen, the denizens of TTLG have seen a lot of posts like yours. They're much more likely to get involved and participate if you can come up with a solid plan and some work on the engine.
Sadly, I have no talents in these areas myself, but I wish you all the best!
The Brain on 27/9/2006 at 15:40
I thought that SS1 was 32-bit DOS-program, with embedded 16/32 DOS-extender. So yes, the DOS-extender won't work in Vista.
Hmm, I recall that
descenterace was doing something with it so it would work natively with windows , but I honestly don't rememember what. Something about run time windows kernel side patching. :confused:
Anyway there is (
http://hosted.thefrayededge.net/ccp/index.php) The Citadel Conversion Project for System Shock 2. And (
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tsshp/) The System Shock Hack Project (TSSHP), which is unfortunately dead.
And lastly there is (
http://sourceforge.net/projects/opde/) OpenDarkEngine, if System Shock 2 somehow refuses to work in Vista.
So I wish good luck with your project,
Hollowtip. And welcome to the forums!
Kolya on 27/9/2006 at 18:58
If SS1 won't work on Vista I'm sure people will find a relatively simple way to make it, apart from building a new game that may or may not suit everyone's tastes. Build your game, but don't make it sound like a necessity. TCCP did the same thing btw. But in the end it's really the respective people's hobby.
Bjossi on 27/9/2006 at 19:23
SS2 seems to work on Vista pretty nicely, so that may very well mean it isn't too painful getting SS1 working as well.
TheNightTerror on 28/9/2006 at 01:13
SS2 runs well on XP too, but it sure as hell isn't a breeze to install SS1 on it . . . :o
Kolya on 28/9/2006 at 03:01
Apart from the name the games are completely different. So if no one has vista installed to test this it may just be a bit too early?
Bjossi, you seem to be a friendly guy who's often ill informed. Try to keep short on posts and take the time to poke through the archives. Totally non-offensive, non-sarcastic here.
Hollowtip on 28/9/2006 at 03:26
Although it might be possible to get SS1 running in Vista, how much longer does it truely have, after all, it was made to run on the DOS operating system which was basically abandoned in 2000. A remake will not only allow the game to be produced in 32-bit, but 64-bit as well, greatly extending the use by data.
Anyway, I do have something of a plan laid out. The project is being created for my portfolio, and all c++ coding will be done by myself (though I will use some 3rd party software, such as PhysX and LUA). Its using DirectX for rendering (sorry Linux users) and will initially use the original game content almost exclusively. Once the engine is complete, I will release tools for others to create models, maps, scripts, etc.
I've decided that I won't release any files until my engine is at about the same place that TSSHP left off, which probably won't be for a few months.
Sorry about the long posts,
Hollowtip
P.S.
TSSHP was great, not only did they write thier own engine, but they documented all of thier work. I'm currently using those documents to help reverse engineer the data formats.
v.dog on 28/9/2006 at 06:57
I like the idea, but may I make a suggestion? Skip the Dark engine, and go straight to something a lot more modern, say the (
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page) Source engine?
IMO, it makes a lot more sense than just going from a completely outdated engine to a slightly less outdated engine.
edit: Sorry, missed the part where you're creating your own engine. Still makes sense to use Source or someother engine that already exists- no point in re-inventing the wheel, is there?
Ultraviolet on 28/9/2006 at 07:47
What about dual core support?
