Citadel - System Shock Fan Remake

[6742ef52c9a81JosiahJack]

So, basic enemy AI is working for the invisible mutant.  I made it extendable so i could also say that basic AI is done for most projectile enemies.  Also search is starting to take shape.  Still hammering out the way items are populated within search containers.

[6742ef52c9b9fcomcast123]

Nice! Are you planning to have a demo soon? And is it hard to implement cyberspace and such? Just asking.

[6742ef52c9d57The Stiga]

That's a good milestone to have achieved. Having a functional template for general AI should allow enough flexibility for it to be a simple matter of tweaking parameters for different enemies. If time allows, you can then experiment with additional enemy specific code, but for now you will be able to essentially bench test the enemy mechanics.
If I recall correctly, the enemies of the original game where pretty slow, so I'm wondering whether this will effect the fluidity of the 3D animations. A common problem when bringing 2D sprites to 3D models is the effect of slow motion when they are animated in parallel. You zero g mutant looked good though, so I have faith in you 

[6742ef52c9e50The Stiga]

Sorry I meant your animation for the invisible mutant on indieDB looked good...

[6742ef52ca258JosiahJack]

your animation for the invisible mutant on indieDB looked good...

Thanks!  You should see the animations for the doors, those are in 3D now too.

A common problem when bringing 2D sprites to 3D models...

  I didnt know it was common! 

[6742ef52ca384xerxes]

hello

if you dont mind but i think im gonna make some hard modifications

will mix some textures and sounds from SS2

also im gonna change most scripts and prefabs for free assets taken from unity store

im not rly sure about what you are doing since you are recreating the whole SS1

on the other side im more encouraged to make some kind of SS3

so i hope i can use the stuff you uploaded in git for this

[6742ef52ca4a5JosiahJack]

If you want to use my assets and code as a base for SS3, go for it!
Most of what I have is probably going to be GPL licensed officially (Depending on some dependencies, I need to verify some sources first to see if they are SA) although a CC-BY is what I would really want to release the source under because I don't care what you do with it so long as something awesome comes out of it and you don't pass it off as your own.

[6742ef52ca59cxerxes]

i will give you proper credits ofc to you and to xdiesp for the textures extraction from SS2
basically what i most need is all the levels geometry from ss1
and then i hope to came up with something wonderfull
x)

[6742ef52ca754JosiahJack]

You can either get all level geometry from github or indiedb: Pre-Alpha Game Level Geometry  (Note: Cyberspace is not yet available.)

Also, for those expecting a gameplay video showing off NPC AI some, I plan on releasing one soon, but my fiance is in town this week so it will be at least a week before I'm free to do so.

[6742ef52ca885The Stiga]

Hey Josiah, wish I could help you out, but I have very little experience in game development (just some low level modeling and VERY basic coding) I would offer modeling some simple, static assets like boxes etc... but even then I feel that it would just slow you down :-(. looking forward to the AI demonstration.

[6742ef52ca9a5Broken Pencil]

I took a look at the blender file of all the maps. It looks like you have the entire games levels down, in terms of geometry. Have you thought of implementing some sort of email system (Akin to Deus Ex)?

[6742ef52cab1eicemann]

Sticking with the established way it was done in System Shock 1 and 2 would be best imo.

[6742ef52cad17lerenwe]

Well, would you look at that. I was playing ND's enhanced edition of System Shock, and found myself thinking: "Hmmm, know what would be cool to do? Exercise myself to Unity and C# by trying to do some kind of prototype remake of SysShock."
But before that, I wanted to check if this kind of project wasn't already existing and BAM, there you are.

So, hey, I'm a bit busy with other stuff in my life, but I would absolutely LOVE to contribute to this project as much as I can. I just finished a 3-year Game Design school where I learnt a lot. I also learnt a bit about production management and I know how to use Unity. I can script in C# and JS, I'm not really what you could call a badass programmer but I can always find a way to do what I want. Also, I'm used to work with github, and I see that you're using it

Sooo, maybe I could be useful? Don't hesitate to PM me =)

PS: Sorry for any weird stuff, English is not my mothertongue ^^

[6742ef52cb2a7JosiahJack]

I took a look at the blender file of all the maps. It looks like you have the entire games levels down, in terms of geometry. Have you thought of implementing some sort of email system (Akin to Deus Ex)?

  I'm implementing the entire system as it was in the original, with minor enhancements that hopefully aren't too much of a shock.   

Sooo, maybe I could be useful? Don't hesitate to PM me =)

  Check your messages.  I'm always looking for helpers.

[6742ef52cb3d2JosiahJack]

Still here...just checking in...got some more people involved now helping with code and enemy creation.  Going great..sorry I haven't posted any gameplay yet. I've been pulling some all nighters and then got sick. I wonder if thats related to me working too much?  Anyhow getting lots of progress on the lighting and inventory/search system.  Salt the Fries.

[6742ef52cb4e2The Stiga]

Thats great news, was tempted to ask how progress was going but didnt want to intrude. and thanks for keeping us posted!

[6742ef52cb6c7Synaesthesia]

Make it PBR compatible, please. I have a lot of textures I'd like to make for this.

[6742ef52cb7eaJosiahJack]

The materials use the Unity 5 Standard Shader for all objects.  It is simply a matter of drag and drop to add a normalmap, detail map, etc. Image: http://docs.unity3d.com/uploads/Main/StandardShaderNewEmptyMaterial.png

[6742ef52cb90eSynaesthesia]

Yep! So long as you're not modifying anything, I can create stupidly realistic textures for the game. Since you're using the original levels, though, would it be possible to proxy in each polygon? I'd like to replace some of the textured segments with actual geometry. Like the medical cabinets, for example, or the field generators. There's quite a few textures that would be significantly better as a combination of geometry and texture detail.

[6742ef52cbc31JosiahJack]

Since you're using the original levels, though, would it be possible to proxy in each polygon? I'd like to replace some of the textured segments with actual geometry. Like the medical cabinets, for example, or the field generators. There's quite a few textures that would be significantly better as a combination of geometry and texture detail.

  Yes.  I may have to seperate each texture anyways in order to get the per texture info to work for messages such as "Can't use molybdenum panelling", though not on a per wall/face level necessarily.  I can split out individual faces as a separate object though if you let me know.  All level geometry is in separate blend files currently for each level. Any separate object within the blend file is imported into Unity as an object within the editor that can be deleted, moved, or have its mesh replaced individually.

[6742ef52cbd3aSynaesthesia]

That's great! If you can keep it modular, we can build high-res components for each level and truly remake the game without needing to rebuild it yet again from the ground up.

[6742ef52cbe6dJosiahJack]

Aircraftkiller, I strongly encourage you not to desaturate your textures though. PBR is great except for where it thinks grayer = realistic (Battlefield 3 for instance).  In the case of SS1, Citadel is a rather oppulent space station (chandeliers for instance), with rich colors, bright reds, colorful dials, etc.   Most scifi nowadays is all dark grays with gray blue leds and gray blue screens and gray blue words.  Its old.  I prefer a happy station, thank you.

[6742ef52cbf70Synaesthesia]

I was planning to use the same RGB values as the textures and keep all of the aesthetics, while only enhancing detail when none exists or is too simplistic.

[6742ef52cc31cRocketMan]

Realistic is a bit too broad a word to justify using vibrant colours.  I do agree with you however.  I think Citadel has a lot of colour in it.  The thing is, if you take a picture outside the window of my office right now, you get a lot of muddy, low contrast colours... and that's realistic.  But it's a parking lot and overcast sky with industrial buildings in view.  A space station is meant to be highly functional.  Functionality implies ergonomics, easy to read warnings, lights, screens, signage, being able to distinguish little details.  All of this suggests an intelligent use of colour and lighting.  I would assume (even without SS1 as a base), that important things will stand out and as far as Citadel goes, this is the future and it is a full fledged living and working environment with a ton of support systems so it makes sense to have some colour.  We may not have striking evidence of that today with the space station for example, but don't forget we have engineering challenges we haven't figured out yet, like temperature regulation, which prevent us from making things look a lot more appealing and friendly than they currently do.  In the future, such nuisances would be behind us, one would think.