SSR The System Shock demo is OUT!

[6742281425a00Marvin]

Well that's a word. I can't say I disagree, I'm just a bit more happy/excited to see a playable SS1 remake than you are apparently. Fair enough.

Well, I'll go take a nap now. Please wake me up when Otherside releases a SS3 demo.

[6742281425b7aKolya]

Will do. Sleep tight sweet prince.

[6742281425db2Valet2]

Okaaay, I think i the world needs my shitty opinion.

I didn't like the whole idea of a simple remastering. The game was made when there were not only technical limitations but also lack of experience and no reference works. Simply changing graphics and sounds but leaving the geometry and script intact is a doubtful good idea. What I mean is it's hard to imagine nowadays a player who might be happy to wake up in a room with required minimum set of chips nearby, and with enemies, healing bed, a charger station and a code door in the next room.

I'd wish to see a reboot, not a remaster. Leave the basic plot intact, but change all the stuff around. It'd be a failure if the evolving artificial life on Beta Grove will be a small pile of yellow swamp turn left through the corridor then right after the corner. It was good in 1994, but it's nonsense now.

Even SS2 was a major leap to the cinematic style: at first you appear on a base and see that something gone wrong, but have no idea what to expect. Then you learn to do basic stuff. And only then you're allowed to enter the area with enemies. I still remember my first hybrid. It was so emotional - I had to run away from him because I was too weak to fight.

P.S. The music. The original tunes would be a great gift to oldfag...oldschool fans. Have anyone played Deus Ex Human Revolution? Remember that part when you hear a piece of the original DX music on a radio? Don't tell me you felt nothing.

[67422814260b8XKILLJOY98]

It's really short - basically just what was shown in the demo.

Looks pretty cool overall, though of course I still hate the completely changed Rebecca storyline, and how even the "Welcome back to Citadel Station" message is cropped short.

Are you referring to the text or audio version?, because they are different.

[67422814261a2Schuler]

Got to respectfully disagree, Valet2. Night Dive is selling this, and I think many of us, are buying in to this on the premise of it being a faithful remake. If they were going to do a "reboot", they would have sold it as that.

[67422814266cbvurt]

I'd wish to see a reboot, not a remaster. Leave the basic plot intact, but change all the stuff around.

It's not a remaster, it's a reboot, even says so on the kickstarter page..

"→ A modern take on System Shock, a faithful reboot; it’s not Citadel Station as it was, but as you remember it. Many improvements, overhauls and changes are being implemented to capture the spirit of what the original game was trying to convey, and bring it to contemporary gamers."

[67422814269a2Nameless Voice]

Are you referring to the text or audio version?, because they are different.

https://youtu.be/on5C4W5OtlI

Though, to be honest, that is something of a huge infodump for one single message.

[6742281426c04Schuler]

https://youtu.be/on5C4W5OtlI

Though, to be honest, that is something of a huge infodump for one single message.

It is, but it makes sense in the story because there isn't any reason to hold it back, and it's useful information. They probably cut it down for the demo because of the short length not making the exposition worth it - quick entry, quick exit.

[6742281426d6dBioshock]

I can't wait for ZylonBane to arrive at this thread, and rage about the new reboot only since it's new!

Fantastic demo only complaints i have are, The demo was really short. Like under 5 minutes short.. and everything is way too flashy. I think we understand that its a reboot. There's no need to have an animation for climbing up and down a ladder. 

[6742281426f98chickenhead]

I can't wait for ZylonBane to arrive at this thread, and rage about the new reboot only since it's new!

Did you just intentionally summon the beast?

[674228142723eunn_atropos]

I can't play properly as was to be expected looking at my arseold PC.
Crashed while hitting the first cleaning bot, I don't think anyone has use for an irrelevant crashdump like that.
I'm fine with playing System Shock '94 and didn't need neither a remake nore a reboot, but I think I'll back with 30$.
Just like I bought all this Godzilla DVDs in the early naughties despite lacking a player to play them on.
Maybe when this comes out December 2017, I have a possibility to play. If not, well, it's a System Shock game! How could I not support that!

Just to ask: There will be a retail release of the game? Did not read anything about it anywhere.

[6742281427333Bioshock]

I believe the physical big box and steel case will be the closest thing we get. However it is being released on xbox for some weird reason..

[67422814276c7Olfred]

However it is being released on xbox for some weird reason..

If it runs on a Windows 10 PC it runs on a Xbox One (with small adjustments).
And you can have digital only releases on Xbox as well.

[67422814277fbJEEPERS CREEPERS]

I for one thought the demo was great. People seem to forget this is in APLHA stage not BETA. That being said I tried xbox controller and it worked 60%. Could not preform certain operations but damn! What fun I had! I think everything they did improved upon the old game. I especially liked the way you input on keypads and puzzles. Am I the only one who is a fan of SHINE and bloom?

[6742281427a76XKILLJOY98]

https://youtu.be/on5C4W5OtlI

Though, to be honest, that is something of a huge infodump for one single message.

 I was also referring to Rebecca, but alright.

[6742281427da6XKILLJOY98]

I can't play properly as was to be expected looking at my arseold PC.
Crashed while hitting the first cleaning bot, I don't think anyone has use for an irrelevant crashdump like that.
I'm fine with playing System Shock '94 and didn't need neither a remake nore a reboot, but I think I'll back with 30$.
Just like I bought all this Godzilla DVDs in the early naughties despite lacking a player to play them on.
Maybe when this comes out December 2017, I have a possibility to play. If not, well, it's a System Shock game! How could I not support that!

Just to ask: There will be a retail release of the game? Did not read anything about it anywhere.

Most likely yes, why not?

[6742281428053Aurora]

So I played through the demo, which was around 10 minutes long. The game has fancy visuals, I'll give you that. Unfortunately, my first impression tells me that it won't be fun to play.

Every single fucking time you pick up an item or a new weapon, use a medbed, or recharge at a power station, and in keeping with modern trends, the game handicaps you for half a minute as you are forced to watch a cool animation where the player hands do the thing you were doing 'realistically'. It is so frustrating that I would consider dropping a game solely for this 'mechanic' alone. For heaven's sake, just let me grab/use the shit I want with a series of quick clicks and then get on with my business. Alongside all that, the movement and everything in general feels annoyingly sluggish... like, in the same way how MSN and Skype used to be nearly as quick and barebones as IRC, but then got stuck in mud after Microsoft stuffed their rotting corpses with useless bloatware.

Although I said the visuals are fancy, that's if you're looking at them from static screenshots. Some areas are overly dark, and there is far too much contrast between the shiny bright details and the darker environment surrounding them, which quickly becomes an eyesore. Especially when you have to do the complete-the-circuit puzzles on keypads that have bright sparks flying out of them, for which there is no HUD display. The transparent minimalist HUD is ugly and blends too easily into the high contrast environment as well. They went way too far into the opposite extreme in simplifying the HUD compared to the original game.

Based on the demo, I don't think the remake will be an improvement over the original game. It will be System Shock: Cinematic Experience, tailored for the millenial casual gamer.

Fuck me if this is any indication of what System Shock 3 is going to be like.

[67422814281c1Hikari]

Questions:

Can you put things in the steel boxes?

Does the medibed have repeated uses or just one?

Is there any sort of performance hit if you drop all the lootables and body parts on the ground in a single location?

[67422814282a1Nameless Voice]

You can certainly use the medbed as often as you like.

[6742281428633RocketMan]

1) Med bed sequence is gratuitous BUT AWESOME
2) Movement and interaction needs to be much snappier and less clunky
3) My eyes hurt.  Way too much post-processing.  Dial down the bloom... a lot.
4) Don't change the logs.
5) Violin music on cue?  Please...
6) Something weird about switching weapons.  Took almost a full wheel revolution to switch.
7) Sparq beam intensity setting sucks.  I'd prefer something more interactive and custom like the original.
Art is very awesome
9) Ambiance very nice
10) I like the cursor animations and auto-text.
11) Doors, med beds and charging stations definitely should not require buttons to frob.  It's a pain in the ass zeroing in on them when you're running around.  Save that for precision tasks.

[6742281428781Aurora]

Oh yes, the violin music on cue. As if the game was trying to build up some dramatic, moving, tear jerking atmosphere over the dead crew and your desolation in empty space... on a retro-style space station filled with mutant zombies and trashcan robots chasing you around, that you just whacked with a metal pipe, after starting the game ten minutes ago. Gives new meaning to the word 'pretentious'.

[6742281428d04XKILLJOY98]

So I played through the demo, which was around 10 minutes long. The game has fancy visuals, I'll give you that. Unfortunately, my first impression tells me that it won't be fun to play.

Every single fucking time you pick up an item or a new weapon, use a medbed, or recharge at a power station, and in keeping with modern trends, the game handicaps you for half a minute as you are forced to watch a cool animation where the player hands do the thing you were doing 'realistically'. It is so frustrating that I would consider dropping a game solely for this 'mechanic' alone. For heaven's sake, just let me grab/use the shit I want with a series of quick clicks and then get on with my business. Alongside all that, the movement and everything in general feels annoyingly sluggish... like, in the same way how MSN and Skype used to be nearly as quick and barebones as IRC, but then got stuck in mud after Microsoft stuffed their rotting corpses with useless bloatware.

Although I said the visuals are fancy, that's if you're looking at them from static screenshots. Some areas are overly dark, and there is far too much contrast between the shiny bright details and the darker environment surrounding them, which quickly becomes an eyesore. Especially when you have to do the complete-the-circuit puzzles on keypads that have bright sparks flying out of them, for which there is no HUD display. The transparent minimalist HUD is ugly and blends too easily into the high contrast environment as well. They went way too far into the opposite extreme in simplifying the HUD compared to the original game.

Based on the demo, I don't think the remake will be an improvement over the original game. It will be System Shock: Cinematic Experience, tailored for the millennial casual gamer.

Fuck me if this is any indication of what System Shock 3 is going to be like.

How is that a bad thing?, besides I'm pretty sure that is only the first time you pick something up/use something.

Either way, it doesn't take away from the game.

(the last part) I doubt it.

[674228142909eSynaesthesia]

Gives new meaning to the word 'pretentious'.

Is that anything like shitting on a pre-alpha demo for a game that's being more-or-less faithfully recreated to 2016 standards?

[6742281429446The_Atomik_Punk!]

Just played through the "demo"; some quick observations:

- Terrible inventory, for reasons already articulated in this thread by myself and others

- I disagree with the altering of the Rebecca audio log, for reasons already discussed

- Those animations are indeed too long and obtrusive

- Post processing effects (bloom, HDR, etc) are way overdone, so is color saturation

- No music sucks

-  Could anyone get either the grenades or the battery to work from inventory, I sure couldn't

- A lot of  2-D assets from the original seem to have been recycled and "uprezzed" (Neurosurgery "sign", medical caduceus symbol on wall), and as a result are really "bitty"

- Hit detection is worse than the original. In SS1, I had no problem pulling off the ol' "fade away slap" in melee combat, mitigating or completely avoiding damage. It simply feels clunky and unwieldy now

- I couldn't figure out what power level the physical switch indicator of the sparq corresponded to, man do I miss the original UI

- Many more small things already mentioned, I'll leave it at that as I feel it's not worth going over it all

In short, this to me wasn't a demo- there was practically no gameplay to assess or critique. This to me was nothing more than a flashy marketing ride assembled for the sole purpose of drumming up funding for their venture.

I must say, I'm philosophically opposed to the approach of Night Dive Studios in general- that being acquiring defunct licenses with the express purpose of turning a profit through re-release- but even then an argument could be made that at least they are resurrecting games that would otherwise be unavailable to consumers, and thus retain a modicum of utility. What I feel we have shaping up with this System Shock "Remaster" is a shameless cash-grab, by those who had literally NOTHING to do with the creation of this revered classic, yet are expressly exploiting that reputation for their own gain.

 I was struck by the distinct and immediate impression that this game is inferior in practically all meaningful ways to the original; a clear example of style over substance. The funny thing is, my opinion is in not in any way derived from nostalgia, as I played through SS1 ED for the very first time not 6 months ago, and absolutely loved it. After "playing" that demo, I have zero confidence with this project going forward. Furthermore, for those who haven't played the original, I think that this remake will fail to capture the greatness of SS1; I know that if I had played this demo without having gone through SS1 ED, I wouldn't have thought there was anything remarkable or innovative about it.

I must say, for my part, I won't be giving a single cent to this project. I've already backed Underworld Ascendant, and will gladly back SS3 if it goes to crowd funding. I'd rather support guys like Paul Neurath and Warren Spector- you know, creative individuals who actually made timeless classics of emergent gameplay and player authorship- rather than giftless and talentless profiteers. Sorry for the length of the post; I'm literally done with SS "Remaster" and won't be touching the relevant threads going forward- rant over!