SSR: System Shock Kickstarter

[6744973ceff12icemann]

Good find . Very good find.

I'd love to see some SS1 source ports.

[6744973cf0259icemann]

In more sadder news, I just received this Kickstarter update for the reboot:

In March of 2016, Nightdive Studios released our video of our vision of System Shock Remastered. Done in Unity it was an immediate hit with almost a half million views on YouTube. In June of 2016 we launched a Kickstarter campaign to make the vision into a reality. It was tremendously successful with over 21,000 backers contributing over $1.3 million to the campaign. We put together a development team and began working on the game. But along the way something happened.

Maybe we were too successful. Maybe we lost our focus. The vision began to change. We moved from a Remaster to a completely new game. We shifted engines from Unity to Unreal, a choice that we don’t regret and one that has worked out for us. With the switch we began envisioning doing more, but straying from the core concepts of the original title.

As our concept grew and as our team changed, so did the scope of what we were doing and with that the budget for the game. As the budget grew, we began a long series of conversations with potential publishing partners. The more that we worked on the game, the more that we wanted to do, and the further we got from the original concepts that made System Shock so great.

Ultimately the responsibility for the decisions rests with me. As the CEO and founder of Nightdive Studios, a company that was built on the restoration of the System Shock franchise, I let things get out of control. I can tell you that I did it for all the right reasons, that I was totally committed to making a great game, but it has become clear to me that we took the wrong path, that we turned our backs on the very people who made this possible, our Kickstarter backers.

I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but NOT ending the project. Please accept my personal assurance that we will be back and stronger than ever. System Shock is going to be completed and all of our promises fulfilled. 

Stephen Kick



This does not sound good at all, and touches on much of what we've be debating as of late.

[6744973cf051eOlfred]

Maybe he read what the bunch of grumpy old men on here wrote about the path that was taken and then he got scared 

[6744973cf0771dertseha]

For me it mainly means that the hinted source-release of SS1 (1994) is still nowhere near "possible" level.
(My scale is roughly "No", "Well, no", "Could be" (= hinted), "Possible", "Soon", "Need to clear legal stuff", "Oh, you still cared?" )

[6744973cf0910voodoo47]

well, the SS1 source code release has been hinted for quite a while, and pretty much confirmed on Discord a few days ago, so lets hope that is still happening.

as far as the reboot goes, well, I guess recognizing that they are losing their way is kind of a good thing.

[6744973cf0a4bSection]

I'll accept it so long as the project is not canned. This is the hype for me, and I am really eager to see remake\remaster\reboot whatever this is, I just want that. Hopefully the end result will be worth the wait, and I'm trusting Night Dive on this decision. Though, I was okay with the change of style, really. Let's see what they will bring up to the table next time.

[6744973cf0bd2fox]

That's certainly going to be a tough pill to swallow for backers but ultimately I have respect for this decision (should it be truthful). Too many people would try to gloss it over or blame others.

[6744973cf0d39Zanderat]

Hmm.  Time will tell.   Does this affect SS3 at all?

[6744973cf0e48voodoo47]

I wouldn't think so - afaik, NDS are only giving the legal goahead, the rest is upon Otherside alone.

[6744973cf0fb5WhyNott]

If you ask me, they should have probably stuck more closely to the tight remake as shown in the original demo. System shock is a game that pioneered half of the mechanics that we now take for granted in modern video games, it doesn't need a "re-imagining", just updated controls and presentation. IMO, that CEO made a really good decision, and not an easy one to be sure.

Lets be honest, was anyone really happy with the kind of stuff they were showing in these backer videos? I mean, its pretty clear they just wanted to make their own game and sell it as a system shock reboot.

[6744973cf115bZylonBane]

May as well have the full set:
- System Shock
- System Shock Enhanced Edition
- System Shock Source Port
- System Shock Remake
- System Shock Reboot

[6744973cf141eMarvin]

Figures. Personally, I'd have loved to have them move away from a faithful remake but I guess the backers wouldn't have accepted that, ergo this tough and understandable, but ultimately somewhat foolish decision. These flaws, if one wants to call them out, have become more and more obvious for a longer while now, they should have switched direction much earlier.

Probably they've simply run out of money, haven't secured another publisher and now have to scale back again to a by-the-numbers remake.

[6744973cf17d4edx]

Hmm.  Time will tell.   Does this affect SS3 at all?

Speaking of:

https://twitter.com/OtherSide_Games/status/964644341200445446

@OtherSide_Games
Recently, news reached us that @NightdiveStudio has put their System Shock remaster project on hiatus. Nightdive says they’re working to get the project back on track and we hope they do so – we want to play the game!

Several of us at OtherSide helped create the original System Shock games and, being fans of the series, we were looking forward to Nightdive’s remaster. To be clear, this has no impact on OtherSide’s development of System Shock 3.

The two projects are completely separate, being made by different teams and companies. System Shock 3 is progressing nicely and we are looking forward to delivering a wonderful next chapter in the franchise for fans.

[6744973cf1951icemann]

If this ends up being cancelled then I'd strongly urge Night Dive to stick with just re-releasing other peoples games and getting better at it.

[6744973cf1d8dfox]

Lets be honest, was anyone really happy with the kind of stuff they were showing in these backer videos? I mean, its pretty clear they just wanted to make their own game and sell it as a system shock reboot.

Looks to me like things got very muddled and aimless after the Kickstarter came through and the amount of pre-planning was lacking already. I don't know if they ever had a manifesto but not having/sticking to a clear vision is efinitely at the root of this malaise.

That second last backer video communicated exactly that but the significantly more restrained last video had given me some faint hope that they got on track / have some plan - not so much by what was shown (which was okish) but by not showing that aimlessness again. Maybe that was the first sign of getting their heads straight. Still, they will need to get back to the beginning, use this experience (maybe seek more assistance by some veterans) and first settle on their game design documents before moving to the next steps.

I guess most of the KS-money will be gone by now (and I always thought that it's not going to cut it by a long shot) so getting things financed is going to be a challenge this time around.

-----------

RPS: "System Shock Remake development being ‘refocused’"

Let this be a reminder that as safe a bet as any Kickstarter may seem (the System Shock Remake had a playable demo and copious footage to show for it), the games industry is an unpredictable place, and any big project like this is fraught with risks. As good as the odds may be, backing a Kickstarter should always be considered a gamble, not an investment or a discounted pre-order.

[6744973cf1edcicemann]

Never spend what you can't afford. That's my motto.

I chipped in what I could afford to lose. Obviously I'd hoped that this would succeed, and it very well may still. But you go in to these things with the knowledge that everything may go pear shaped later. Has on a rare few that I've backed (eg Confederate Express).

[6744973cf2119Synaesthesia]

Here's some art done for the project, now on hiatus: https://www.artstation.com/flewda

Overall the quality is good, but I really don't like the design direction taken with it. Doesn't look or feel like System Shock at all to me.

This, however: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nx4vX

I could live with this. I dare say this is probably the best "updated look and feel" I've seen of the game. If it stuck to this aesthetic they'd have a real winner.

[6744973cf25bfunn_atropos]

This, however: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nx4vX

I could live with this. I dare say this is probably the best "updated look and feel" I've seen of the game. If it stuck to this aesthetic they'd have a real winner.

Yeah, there (or almost there) it is. Modernized, but recalling the original look. Had they shown environments like this in their videos, maybe the backlash wouldn't have been to tough. And an even better situation for them would have been; "Alright. We faithfully rebuilt the original game. Here's footage for that. But we want to do some more like xyz".
This way backers could have been satisfied because everthing promised was delivered, mild purists hopefully okay with it because they recognized the game and everyone else new to the franchise would have been fine with one way or another.

Hopefully they can still do that and use some of their new assets for it.

[6744973cf275cSynaesthesia]

Here's another one: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/leAXJ

This looks absolutely nothing like the aesthetic of System Shock. Artistically, it's great work and well done overall, but compared to the original source it's completely unrecognizable.

More like this is going to start hitting ArtStation as laid-off artists post what they were working on.

[6744973cf2bb9icemann]

This, however: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nx4vX

That pic is just Alien(s) / Space Hulk inspired. I don't see the "Shock" in there.

Here's another one: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/leAXJ

Looks like a person spent a bit too much time with a virtual boy.

[6744973cf2ceaSynaesthesia]

That Aliens/Space Hulk inspired concept art looks identical to Level 3, aside from upgraded aesthetics. I'd play the shit out of that. If If I wanted 1994 back I'd go boot up SS Portable.

[6744973cf2ffdhemebond]

That pic is just Alien(s) / Space Hulk inspired. I don't see the "Shock" in there.

It literally says "Maintenance Level 03" in it.

[6744973cf324cZylonBane]

It literally says "Maintenance Level 03" in it.

If it literally said "Ice Cream Sandwich", would that make it an ice cream sandwich?

[6744973cf34beJoin2]

I still think modernised Shock monster/cyborg designs should be a step closer toward brutal realism, much like those in Virus (1999). <- link provides examples

say what you want about the script, acting, whatever, but the monster design in that film was amazing. So cool to the extent it even had spiderbots.

Now compare to SSR's proposed direction and it's just a bit meh, even if original Shock 1's monster designs were cartoony. That was more out of necessity you'd think. forced cyborg conversion shouldn't be pretty.