SSR: System Shock Kickstarter

[6746155709679ZylonBane]

I won't lie, one of the first things I'll be looking for is whether the item description text still appears o. n. e.  l. e. t. t. e. r.  a. t.  a.  t. i. m. e.

[6746155709a9bRocketMan]

I think I speak for all of us when I say, we'd be disappointed if you didn't.

[6746155709c87icemann]

Will we be hosting the demo here?

[6746155709e39voodoo47]

the limited timeframe would suggest they don't want it being distributed forever, but I'll ask.

[674615570a07eJosiahJack]

Screenshots actually look ok other than the strange contrast and overly dark areas...still. 
Magnum and the pistol were merged into one, just magnum?  Not enough info to tell.
You can only hold 10 stacks of anything?  Weapons too?  Seems extremely limiting but does have the bonus of added realism...can't help but think I'd do some item hopping runs similar to Halo weapon swap-hopping to "carry" 3 weapons with you though not quite as silly.  There is also the benefit of mapping each slot to a number key (Quake anyone?) but what about activating hardware like shield, lantern, and jumpjets (ok I guess you could double jump for this).

HUD has nice balance though.  Like that the magnum displays ammo on the back of the slide, better to be a hammerless action anyway for military/security use...easier to react quickly.  Adding a note under the map for which quadrant you are in is an interesting addition, might borrow that.

[674615570a25aedx]

The download is live https://store.steampowered.com/app/482400/System_Shock/, but I haven't tested it yet to see if it is working properly.

[674615570a387voodoo47]

a hotfix is supposedly coming up real soon, so you may want to wait for just a little while.

[674615570a490ZylonBane]

Hotfix for what issues?

[674615570a58fvoodoo47]

"minor bugs", according to Discord.

[674615570a7a9la0s]

It is buggy as hell, crashing to desktop constantly and the texture quality is stuck on low regardless of how many times I change it. It is a bit of a mess, and plays a bit worse than the Unity-demo wayback when.
I know it is pre-Alpha but the chunky look pared with the pixelated aestetic hasn’t aged well. Or doesn’t look that fresh anymore.

It really looks Bioshock-ish with it’s chunky aestetic, the gameworld feels smaller even with the FOV to max. Medical never felt claustrofobic or boxy, if that makes sense. It has the same world feel like The Outer Worlds’ indoor levels.

But it is Shock 1. That’s positive.

[674615570aa82Nameless Voice]

Seems pretty good so far.
Good atmosphere, the graphics look modern and yet the levels are immediately recognisable.
I wouldn't call the game feeling claustrophobic a bad thing for a System Shock game.

The UI has some issues, such as the aforementioned text appearing one character at a time, and it being needlessly hard to pick up items from containers as you have to drag them over to your inventory.

The combat doesn't feel good.  The pipe doesn't seem to have much weight, you just click to swing rather than being able to hold it down for more control, you can't block, and the enemies don't really react to being hit.
The sparq looks nice, but the fact that it continues to play the full firing sound without doing any damage when you're out of power is annoying.

Sadly, there's no cyberspace in the demo.

Ladders are hard to navigate on, since pressing forward always goes up and backwards always goes down, regardless of which direction you're facing.
(Amusing because I had a very similar system when I coded ladders into my own game, and I switched it around so that forwards climbs in the direction you're facing because the controls were too confusing otherwise.)

Didn't encounter any real bugs or issues other than the screen going black for ages with background sounds after the splash screen, before the game itself started to load.
I was quite pleased to see the option to choose between toggle and hold crouch.

[674615570adf5unn_atropos]

huh?
[huh.jpg expired]

[674615570af96Kolya]

Crashed for me too. Right when I met the medic. Before that I knocked out a zombie who got his hand stuck in a wall and wouldn't stop to jitter. Oh well, minor stuff. Bu the crashing is a downer. Also I couldn't get into the healing unit? But I think it healed me anyhow.

[674615570b0b8Nameless Voice]

Yeah, the healing unit is weird.  It plays a really long animation, healing you at a certain point in that animation, but you can just walk away after activating it and it will heal you at the appropriate time anyway.

[674615570b1d9Kolya]

What bugged me in the combat was: The hacker used to have arms for days! He could knock out zombies or reach items at the other end of a room. Now he's a T.Rex apparently.
[didimiss.png expired]

[674615570b2d2Nameless Voice]

I noticed that as well, the range on the lead pipe is really low.

[674615570b4beGawain]

I played whole level without crashing.

Reloading and switching bullets can't be remapped. I eventually got it to reload heavy slugs by bashing keyboard. Can't say what key did it.
I couldn't find any way to switch bullets or sparq power in inventory.

I there is "take all" button when looting, but I would like to have it as key too.

No grenades
Too dark (black)
I expected the cyborg surgeon to attack me when I hit one of its patients. It didn't.
There should be little more reward when looking trough bodies at dead ends. It seems there is almost no loot in bodies.
No skates.

[674615570b5e6Nameless Voice]

There were gas grenades, but I'll admit I forgot to actually try using one.

I never found any pistol, though.  Where was that?

[674615570b6f6RocketMan]

So is this thing actually going to be fixed in the next day and a half or... do I just download it now?

[674615570b814icemann]

I'm way too into Phoenix Point right now. I think I'll wait till the next demo.

[674615570bba9voodoo47]

Hotfix 1 is available now for System Shock which fixes the following issues:

1) First Mutant should no longer attack the player through the 451 door,
2) Portrait Logs will be affected now by the Users tint setting,
3) Improvements to Humanoid Mutant and Cyborg Drone behaviours,
4) Audio additions for Bio-contamination and Radiation,
5) General improvements, control binding improvements, and crash fixes.

time to go for it, if you were still waiting.

[674615570bf40Gawain]

I never found any pistol, though.  Where was that?

If I remember correctly it was in the dark "cellar" next to the locked bulkhead door (behind it is the level exit elevator).
Or it was in the maintenance section where are lots of tubes..
It was on one of those surgical side tables. There was pistol and two clips.

Where was the gas grenade?

[674615570c083JosiahJack]

Somebody please make a video...I'm too busy making an entire remake that works.  And more medical, srsly?? 

[674615570c1ebvoodoo47]

about 5 fps on my rig (old, but was expecting at least 15). also, tied to the steam launcher, so no use trying to back it up in any way - as soon as it's disabled in steam, it won't be playable.

gotta love middleware.