Citadel - System Shock Fan Remake

[6742c2e16a172RocketMan]

Meatspace!!!

FTW 

[6742c2e16a31aRocketMan]

1 of the 2 original encounters probably cannot be deleted because it's heavily referenced in the logs but the 2nd one can... if you're adding more in other places.

Maybe the first one can remain a practice reaver.

[6742c2e16a491Hikari]

I say keep both of the reavers-in-a-box as 'this is a cortex reaver.' Maybe have one linked to a cyberspace form and the other not. I dunno. I like the idea really since it wold be in keeping with lore and would probably be a godsend on higher difficulties.

[6742c2e16a623JosiahJack]

Having cortex reavers next to cyberjacks would make sense.  The two current locations will remain the same, though the 2nd one up on the bridge in the multicolor screen column room I might have differently to make interesting.  The reaver by Parovski and crew will of course remain in its ominous overcorpse-hovered position of awaiting further instructions.

I may add one on the reactor level as a miniboss after the destruct code is entered.  And one on level 8 in the prison area maybe.

[6742c2e16a722RocketMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUOB8MN4Kc

[6742c2e16bb87Aurora]

AI question.

Should AI take cover?
Or simply move towards player, stop for projectile attack, keep moving.

Please make sure that the player can not abuse this to totally incapacitate an AI while attacking it with melee weapons, unless you actually intend this. In System Shock 2, you can kill robots very easily by meleeing them up close, as they stop shooting and start backing away from you when you get too close. Similarly cyborg midwives, one of the supposedly more intimidating enemies of the game, just freeze up and do nothing when you crouch in front of them and melee them up their crotches. Consequently they are easier to kill than pipe hybrids or even annelid worms.

While System Shock is not Doom - far from it - I should mention one of the things Doom did right as an FPS which was never properly understood by the makers of later FPSes. Doom incorporated the perfect balance of melee-based and ranged enemies, where most of the latter fired dodge-able projectiles. On top of that these enemies were further divided into those which you may want to risk charging towards with fists or chainsaw, and those that you want to stay far away from. Examples:

Pinky: a melee enemy that you want to melee attack
Cacodemon: a ranged enemy that you want to melee attack (chainsaw stunlock)
Hell Baron: a ranged enemy that you may want to melee attack (chainsaw stunlock, which occasionally fails)
Cyberdemon: a ranged enemy that you want to stay the hell away from (cannot stunlock nor stop its attack otherwise)

The best FPS games out there, Doom included, would throw a mixture of these enemy types at the player to provide a true challenge. Spamming a single enemy type in one area results in rather boring gameplay, as it becomes unnecessary to switch weapons and you only need to take one enemy type into account in your tactical maneuvering. The enemies should be mixed together to work.

To get to the bottom of what I am trying to say; if System Shock 2's robots and cyborg midwives are intended to be easily melee-able, then they should never be thrown at the player on their own, like a tank never goes without infantry support. Even a single psi reaver floating about would make it much more difficult to 'stunlock' the robots and cyborgs, as you would have to be dodging extremely powerful energy particles all the time. Alternatively there could be a few pipe hybrids and protocol droids running about, or lots and lots of spiders, which would force the player to keep moving on - however, without overwhelming the player with a bullet hell of particles, as all of these are melee enemies, in contrast.

System Shock 1 has a very diverse range of enemies that you could create interesting mixtures and combat pairings from, assuming that you will be recreating all of them. You could have ranged enemies with very quick responses, dodging the player's particles and running away from grenades. The cyborg assassin especially could be such an enemy. However, to avoid letting the player abuse such enemies' cover-taking AI, they should go hand in hand with another enemy type. That enemy type should be one or more of the following: A) stronger, B) faster, or C) numerous, and it should plain simply not care even if the player threw a nuke at it; it should keep attacking and advancing. A heavily armoured Security-2 bot comes into mind.

Special 'mid-boss' enemies like the cyborg enforcer should have an AI that employs a mixture of tactics; dodging if it's worth it, as with its high HP it doesn't need to avoid every particle shot from a random peashooter. However, even if you're lobbing powerful particles or grenades at it, the cyborg enforces shouldn't just keep dodging infinitely. It should be smart enough to realise that the player will just force it behind a corner and abuse its cover-taking mechanic, and avert this by going 'fuck it' and attacking and closing in on the player anyway. This would make it a truly intimidating enemy that has no achilles heel.

My two cents anyway.
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[6742c2e16c2b1Join2]

While System Shock is not Doom - far from it - I should mention one of the things Doom did right as an FPS which was never properly understood by the makers of later FPSes. Doom incorporated the perfect balance of melee-based and ranged enemies, where most of the latter fired dodge-able projectiles.

Totally agree. The AI types are spot on in Doom. It's something like 30% melee, 50% projectile, 20% hitscan, and is a big part of why Doom is still great today.
I added a bunch more projectile and melee attacks where appropriate as well as refinement of how they function in Deus Ex, because the AI wasn't up to par and the combat was overwhelmingly hitscan-based. Shock 2 had the the formula down quite nicely too, but of course it's less notable because combat consists of blasting one enemy at a time in a corridor.
Shock 1 I remember AI that are also dominantly hitscan, and also don't hunt you down too well like they do in Doom. 

[6742c2e16c471JosiahJack]

System Shock Enemy Balance:
Meelee only: 6
Hitscan only: 5
Projectile only: 2
Both Hitscan and Projectile: 6
Both Hitscan and Melee: 4
Special: 1 (autobomb   )

I may take some of the hitscan attacks and turn them into fast moving projectiles.

[6742c2e16cb4bAurora]

System Shock Enemy Balance:
Meelee only: 6
Hitscan only: 5
Projectile only: 2
Both Hitscan and Projectile: 6
Both Hitscan and Melee: 4
Special: 1 (autobomb   )

I may take some of the hitscan attacks and turn them into fast moving projectiles.

I think you are on the right track there - hitscan enemies should be more of a special type. Projectile-based enemies are more interesting to dance around with, and at least provide a fighting chance where your health is low. Since you are making System Shock again, you may as well make it into a better game.

[6742c2e16ccecJosiahJack]

Level Lighting....more pictures!  These levels are fully lit.  With the largest levels fully lit and partially doored and partially itemed, I'm feeling the need for some enemies soon.

[6742c2e16ce80Synaesthesia]

How far off are we until there's something to test out? I really want to play around with creating texture and mesh replacements!

[6742c2e16cfe5JosiahJack]

To create texture and mesh replacements you need to do that in the editor.

1. Go download everything: Github/JosiahJack Citadel

2. Go download Unity 5.3: Unity 5 Personal (FREE)

3. Open Unity 5

4. Add a project, pick my github folder wherever you downloaded it to.

5. Open CitadelScene.scene

6. Find all textures in the textures folder and all materials in the materials folder.

7. Go to town!

[6742c2e16d0cfSynaesthesia]

Can individual wall panels and such be replaced with geometry with the way you've set up the game so far?

[6742c2e16d22dJosiahJack]

Sure though not how you might be thinking.  Only by editing the blend file for that level and, here's the sad part, you can't replace a wall once to replace all walls using that texture.  You'd have to replace each instance of that wall with your own prefab, by hand.  Tedious, but definitely something that should be done  to further enhance the moddability of the game and encourage making HD packs further on.  The levels are broken down by texture into separate objects for each separate texture amd each separate disconnected piece.

Everything I do for this project I keep future moddability in mind hence the extra mile to create prefabs wherever possible and with many customizations available.

[6742c2e16d372lerenwe]

Hey man,

In all the System Shock Remastered hype, I wanted to check back your progress on this project and it looks more and more promising, I'm so glad we'll have both these experiences to introduce new player to this gaming gem =)

I'm really impatient to try out this enhanced version, you all have my congratulations for the programming and the 3D modeling, it looks really neat =)

Btw, I don't remember if I or someone else asked this so: how do you plan to bring back the music? I would love to still have the dynamic OST from the DOS version while having it sounds more like the MAC OS version, it's so difficult to make it sound right with MIDI...

[6742c2e16d463Join2]

Kudos to Kick for letting this project breathe, even alongside the KS. He's really done a lot of things right since the SS2Tool event.

Josiah, carry on the good work, you one man game remaking machine.

[6742c2e16d5bbZylonBane]

What SS2Tool event?

[6742c2e16d6dfRocketMan]

That whole kerfuffle over the tech ninjas being credited with the stuff SS2Tool did, among other things.

[6742c2e16d7d3ZylonBane]

IIRC that was mostly over him taking credit for things NewDark did.

[6742c2e16d90cRocketMan]

That's correct but the way he worded it resulted in a few sites here and there writing articles that mistakenly credited Kick and his team with SS2Tool as well.  That and there was some other bullshit I won't go into that was pretty despicable, IMO.  But he has partly redeemed himself since then, which I guess is the positive side of things.

[6742c2e16db36Hikari]

Goes a long way, at least for me personally, that both he admitted he fucked up and that the people that were actually wronged (IE Koyla, maker of the tool so far as I know) decided to let the matter go.

[6742c2e16df44Kolya]

IIRC that was mostly over him taking credit for things NewDark did.

No, that wasn't the problem. At least LeCorbeau never complained as far as I know.
And actually, after that initial NightDive release, me and voodoo built an SS2 version for NightDive's GOG/Steam distribution that included New Dark but excluded other SS2Tool changes.
Remember that SS2Tool existed before New Dark and before DDFix. It's never been a one fix patcher.
Anyway, that's all water under the fridge now. It's a nice way to show respect for the community that Citadel will exist alongside SSR. They're two very different projects after all. I guess most people will want to have both versions (I do) and so they will only add to each others fame. Win-win and all that.

[6742c2e16e38fRocketMan]

Anyway, that's all water under the fridge now.

[Where does he get these one-liners?]

 

[6742c2e16e48cHikari]

Same place Batman gets all of his wonderful toys?