System Shock - Dev Diary

[Myrthos]

Lead Level Designer James Henley has written a developer diary for System Shock reboot, which is about level design.

This update is about process rather than intent, so I’ll keep this brief! The purpose of a reboot is to leverage an existing foundation while still allowing the freedom to re-envision, clarify, or otherwise expand upon a work. You could view it as building a new body to house an old soul.

The answer to the question is both “yes” and “no.” The original levels were designed under specific philosophies and restrictions that have grown or otherwise evolved in the years since. To that end, much of my work involves translating old intentions and bringing them forward to work in tandem with the technology and principles we have today. My goal is to create a believable world space that retains System Shock’s original sense of exploration and freedom.

I won’t get into the specifics of my design philosophies at the moment but let’s just be clear that I’m not talking about the modern trend of corridor-shooter level design; I’m an advocate of choices, exploration, and the freedom to tackle challenges in a variety of ways. My job is to develop a believable world space for the player to explore, not a cinematic corridor to be raced through.

More information.

 

[lanael]

Wasn't it sold as a Remake and not Reboot ? Or is is just me ?

 

[xenocide]

Wasn't it sold as a Remake and not Reboot ? Or is is just me ?

That's how I remember it too. Perhaps I had the wrong impression in the beginning. Now they are all in on a reboot and remake is clearly out the window. I'm still looking forward to it but my expectations are way lower.

 

[JDR13]

He's just saying the levels aren't going to be an exact 1:1 copy which is a good thing imo.

The basic layout of the station is still the same, but they're expanding on the level design where it makes sense.

 

[Moriendor]

Wasn't it sold as a Remake and not Reboot ? Or is is just me ?

Well, the KS page says it's both . At the top of the page it says it will be a "faithful reboot" and if you scroll further down to the description it says it is a "complete remake".

However, if you scroll even further down to the features section then you can see that they are talking about changing quite a lot of things including the level design mentioned in the dev diary…

Here…

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.
→ Re-imagined enemies, weapons, and locations by original concept artist Robb Waters.
→ Terri Brosius reprises her role as SHODAN, and new VO will be recorded.
→ Brand new musical score composed by Jonathan Peros.
→ The user interface, game mechanics, enemies, and puzzles will be updated to reflect modern aesthetics and sensibilities, while maintaining the feel of the original.

​

As for the gameplay, they made it quite clear in this early campaign update that they are going to revamp it quite a bit (note that none of the stretch goals include the mentioned "classic mode" so there was not enough "demand" apparently)…

RPG elements - We understand this is a pretty vague term and has been confusing to backers. The original System Shock was ahead of its time and introduced a lot of new elements to gaming. We want to preserve that innovation and present a game we feel modern gamers will enjoy. Our goal is to have the gameplay somewhere between System Shock 1 and System Shock 2, with sprinkles of BioShock on top (rich melee attacks and ranged weapons, vending machines, upgrades, and damage types). If there’s enough of a demand, we’ll add a “Classic Mode” to one of the stretch goals that disables all RPG stuff as an option.

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… and the story will also be sort of rewritten by Chris Avellone…

Story / plot changes - We won’t be deviating from the main story or plot from the original. We will be rewriting most of the text (well, when I say “we”, I actually mean my good friend, Mr. Chris Avellone). The overall story will be the same, but we might change some details/wording here and there for the sake of consistency and pacing.


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So, on a whole I would say that Nightdive are safe from pitchforks and torches - at least for now .

 

[Farflame]

Nice summary, Moriendor.

[/I] [/INDENT]… and the story will also be sort of rewritten by Chris Avellone…

Story / plot changes - We won’t be deviating from the main story or plot from the original. We will be rewriting most of the text (well, when I say “we”, I actually mean my good friend, Mr. Chris Avellone). The overall story will be the same, but we might change some details/wording here and there for the sake of consistency and pacing.

​

So, on a whole I would say that Nightdive are safe from pitchforks and torches - at least for now .

I wouldnt be so sure. At least one person - NewDArt - wont like the fact that Avellone will rewrite SS. So maybe they are safe from pitchforks and torches, but they are not safe from one epee.

 

[JDR13]

and the story will also be sort of rewritten by Chris Avellone…

They're not touching the story afaict. He's just rewriting some of the dialogue.

Personally, I don't have a problem with that. I doubt they're going to make anything drastically different from the original, and I never thought the dialogue was a strong point anyways. The written and voiced dialogues didn't even match up correctly in the CD version.

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Should've waited, bought this Enhanced edition on Gog, the other day.