SSR: System Shock Kickstarter

[6745617335408ZylonBane]

Hence why it's called "Backer's Beta", not "Backer's Demo".

[6745617335852icemann]

Hence why it's called "Backer's Beta", not "Backer's Demo".

Ah true. Was more thinking of general state, the bad intro etc, and not content amount wise.

I'll wait for the finished version.

[6745617335b3aXkilljoy98]

So I have played the backer beta, via someone close I know, who decided to wait for it

So far gameplay is enjoyable, tho music is still something I find lacking

Hadn’t beat it yet but have gotten to reactor so far

[6745617335e2bJDoran]

I will still be buying the console version, to encourage NDS to port more games to consoles. But I won't be going into it with stellar expectations.

Still, even if it turns out to be terrible (which I really don't think will be the case) then we still have the fantastic System Shock: Enhanced Edition (albeit still with the basic cyberspace environment). Plus Josiah Jack's upcoming version.

I'm coming to understand how this remake turned out the way it did.

I was just thinking that same thing.

[6745617336095icemann]

Hadn’t beat it yet but have gotten to reactor so far

Reactor for me is one of the most iconic bits in SS1 largely down to the mechanical feel of the level, and the fantastic music. If the music is completely gone, I may rage quit right there.

Be like the Hydro levels of SS2 with the dread-evoking music instead replaced with general ambience. It's not the same at all.

[67456173364b4sarge945]

Memo to self: Add kebabs to SCP.

Still probably healthier than the meat you can get at your local kebab place at 4 in the morning

[67456173366e9Nameless Voice]

Played a bit more.

One thing I find a bit odd is that there are two different places where you can see the descriptions of your hardware, but neither place seems to tell you how much power it uses.

I also don't understand why interaction logs (like "cup picked up") go into the same single-line text box that shows you what you're looking at. rather than being logged on the left in the same place that warnings go.  It a) makes the interaction logs easy to miss and b) makes you have to wait for them to finish before you can see what the next item you're looking at is.

[674561733684cZylonBane]

After all this time, I have a feeling that Night Dive is very much taking a "You're not the boss of me!" attitude toward bug and usability issue reports.

[67456173369ccvoodoo47]

oh yes, I remember, I've done that too! some quarter of a century ago, when I were 16 or so.

needless to say, a crash and burn or two later, I've come to the realization that when someone is telling me that I'm a moron, that person actually is my best friend, and maybe I should listen before yoloing the thing. well, we'll see..

[6745617336aeeicemann]

It does mean that the remake is likely to be a big disaster. What Nightdive does after, will be the big test. If this crashes and burns, will we still see a remake of SS2 in the future? Will they still take on actual full blown indie projects, or go back to just doing remasters / versions compatible with modern systems of older games?

[6745617336c0fSectoid]

Hi, does anyone who has access beta want to write down some impressions? What do the next levels look like, how much have they changed, what is the AI of the opponents? What is different compared to the enhancement edition? Do the games still exist in the game now, like in the original version? To be sure, no big spoilers for the rest Thanks

[6745617336d9bNameless Voice]

Apart from the pixellated looks - which I've made my opinions on well-known in the past - the art direction is great.

Research is more of the same, the original layout (with a few minor changes), with all the walls and terrain heavily detailed.
It does still suffer a little from the fact that SS1 is a '90s-style dungeon crawler with rather maze-like levels, only amplified a bit by it being hard to spot important items and switches because the detail is busy with lights and glows that draw your eye.

AI is fairly simplistic, and the game in general feels fairly easy so far (though I am only playing on normal difficulty.)

I'm also a little disappointed in how the melee combat feels, but as I've just spent a lot of time playing Darktide (which has some of the best melee combat in any game ever), I'm probably making an unfair comparison.

[674561733707eSectoid]

Nameless Voice Thank you,
I found the last public demo simple and Ai was weird... for example the Cyborg mantis was very slow and went to the ground immediately. He never once surprised me. And that's quite a shame if they already added him to the game. So it seems that everything is the same in the beta version...

[67456173371daXkilljoy98]

I beat the System Shock Backer Beta

Tho I kinda messed up with something and in the credits it only listed me as K, because back then I only had my intitials on my kickstarter and I didn't know that is what they'd put, so I'm not listed as Katrina, just K :p

[67456173376b1Xkilljoy98]

SPOILER WARNING (also some of this may change in the final release, idk)

---------------------

So overall thoughts and feedback:

- Level changes are neat and make levels feel new, but overall layout is the same, some levels have more or less obvious changes than others but all are different in some way. Some levels are closer to the original, while others change more, but levels still largely feel the same but with new details and rooms. Some more obvious changes (that I am more mixed on) include, the groves have a lot less grass now and are more stone, beta grove is less infected, and instead the infection only comes out when you kill plants. The Bridge also doesn't have the virus anymore, but now is all black. Cyberspace as we all know has a different look, one that I have mixed thoughts on, as I miss the wireframe look of the original but on its own I kinda like the new look, but for SS1, idk, the game still plays fine but I guess it gives off a bit off a diff vibe at times, but kinda a similar one too.

- Gameplay felt good/fine, better than what had been in previous demos, I missed the cut weapons but the ones that were there and the new ones were nice to use. Overall gameplay loop is similar to the original.

- Intro is lacking and lacks the energy of the original and isn't that playable

- Enemies felt good/fine to fight against, most are there from the original along with a few new ones, but a few from the original are missing. Some redesigns were fine, others not a big fan of, I would have preferred all designs be similar to the original but in the moment to moment gameplay it doesn't affect things too much

- There are some annoying bugs, like clipping through elevators sometimes, diego's head missing sometimes in the intro, diego not teleporting and rather just appearing, diego log not having the right affects, and an error message appearing over one of the emails

- Final boss is a mixed bag, the version in the original wasn't amazing either, tho this one you fight enemies rather than shodan herself

- Ending is lacking and lacks things from the original

- Music is lacking, there are a few good/decent ones, Executive/Flight Deck is good (they share the same track now), but still I miss the original soundtrack and I stand by that it is lacking in that area without it, the game still plays ok, but some levels would be improved with music. Executive is the only level that has music with a similar vibe as the original. Some levels give off a different feel with different lighting and music. The original had great music and the ambiant music takes away from the game (not enough to make it bad but enough to have a noticable affect in levels), where as the original music added to it

- Story is overall the same, just reworded differently, with different voice actors and apperances. The only one I disliked was Diego's new voice actor and look as it didn't fit him

- There are a few things seemingly missing from this beta, stuff we have seen such as the mini games, grenade launcher, shooting gallery, etc I have not found, there are remnants of them such as pick ups but if they are in the game I have not seen them

- There needs to be more screens with shodan on them, as is it's mainly just triop on all the screens, we need some with shodan too and perhaps citadel as well. Rn shodan mainly just pops up on screens before going away

Overall I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it felt closer to SS1 in many ways than I expected from the medical demo, tho it is still lacking in some areas to make it as good or better in all areas such as music and some art choices (among a few others)

[67456173379e6Xkilljoy98]

Reactor for me is one of the most iconic bits in SS1 largely down to the mechanical feel of the level, and the fantastic music. If the music is completely gone, I may rage quit right there.

Be like the Hydro levels of SS2 with the dread-evoking music instead replaced with general ambience. It's not the same at all.

Yeah even after beating the beta, the music is lacking throughout most of it

The original had great music and the ambiance takes away from the game, where as the original music added to it

[6745617337adeAutz]

One question: Do the Beta Groves have lightning (like, everything is fairly visible and illuminated) or is all dark spooky house level?

[6745617337da4Xkilljoy98]

AutzGroves are sort of lit, they aren't dark, but aren't as bright as they were in the original. They are very orange and also have more stone than grass now for some reason. Beta grove has less virus in it, it now is sort of foggy and virus only comes out when you hit certain plants.

Medical, Research, Reactor, and Engineering are all darker than they were in the original

Storage, Flight Deck, Executive, and Bridge (which lacks the virus of the original) all have similar lighting to the original

Security sort of has the same lighting but is slightly darker

Maintenance is actually brighter than the original

Cyberspace is also brighter/more colorful than the original

[674561733804dAutz]

Thanks.

...and Bridge (which lacks the virus of the original)...

Dropped. What where they thinking?

[67456173382e3Xkilljoy98]

Thanks.

Dropped. What where they thinking?

Yeah fr, according to concept art it had been planned/considered at one point but for whatever reason it isn't in the beta and I assume not in the final release.

[67456173383f7icemann]

Groves without the plant-life is just stupid. Defeats the entire purpose of them.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

[674561733868dXkilljoy98]

Groves without the plant-life is just stupid. Defeats the entire purpose of them.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Yeah IK, it also gives off a different vibe. I am fine with some stone as the have it, but have some grass and plants too.

[674561733878dZylonBane]

Can't pixelate vegetation. Vegetation had to go.

[67456173389acXkilljoy98]

ZylonBaneLol, rip minecraft and the few plants in the game

Seriously tho why they don't have more plants is beyond me

Also I tried to extract the Backer Beta files like I did with the Demo files but upon trying it with the Beta it did not work, wonder why and if it will work with the final release?