System Shock - Probably Q1 2020

[Silver]

@PC Gamer The System Shock Remake is now forecast for a 2020 release and will hew closely to the original Unity demo.

"We understood based on the backer feedback, especially, that we weren't going in the right direction with the game, what we promised to them," Kick said. "That's what really caused the shift in what we're doing now, which is going back to what we'd established and represented with the Unity demo."



Shortly after the Kickstarter, System Shock moved from Unity to Unreal Engine, which is what Nightdive plans to continue with going forward. Kick showed me the Unreal version of the starting room, similar to the one depicted in the Unity demo two years ago. It looked great: all moody blue lights and wisps of smoke and flashing display panels embedded in the walls. But it's also just a small part of a game that has much work left to do.

[...]

More information.

 

[Feist]

Well, damn!

That's pretty far away on the horizon. I had hoped that they had done so much work already, much of which could be reused even in a more "Original Vision" version of the project, that it wouldn't be like starting all over from scratch again. Like maybe a late 2018/ early 2019 release....

 

[skally_wag]

2020 WHAT, considering this game was for release Dec 2017 id say there's something very fishy going on, probably won't ever see the light of day and they probably hoping everyone will forget about it by then. I didn't back this fortunately, but I would have if I hadn't already backed other games at that time, ld have thought it would be a dead cert.
I hope this doesn't have a impact on people backing on kickstarter in the future, as it has proved that it can produce some great games.

 

[Carnifex]

At least it looks like we'll actually be receiving a game, so that is good news. Only time will tell just how good it will be, I've been hoping for the very best for this one but have since lowered my expectations a lot.

 

[rjshae]

My guess is they'll keep what they've already produced and mostly re-use their assets with reskins for the remainder. New assets will probably focus on the monsters and key areas. The best-looking parts of the game will probably be the creatures and areas they've already completed. But at least they will release something. Perhaps with more income they'll go back and create a better release as DLC. Or maybe it'll be mod-able and hobbyists can then refine the work.

 

[Arkadia7]

Yea, they will probably slap together something, and call it good. Probably will end up sucking, with no follow-up for patches or polishing...Excuse my negative take, but this company and campaign have always struck me as being fishy and I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them.

 

[Couchpotato]

You know reading these type of updates always reminds me of the funded kickstarters that were never finished. At least this game has a small chance of being released.

 

[JDR13]

Yea, they will probably slap together something, and call it good. Probably will end up sucking, with no follow-up for patches or polishing…Excuse my negative take, but this company and campaign have always struck me as being fishy and I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them.

It's easy to claim that in hindsight, but there was nothing fishy about their kickstarter at the time.

I'm also not convinced that there's some kind of conspiracy at work here. They let their vision become larger than their capabilities and didn't realize it until it was too late. I believe they're being sincere about their intention to complete the game.

 

[rjshae]

It's easy to claim that in hindsight, but there was nothing fishy about their kickstarter at the time.

I'm also not convinced that there's some kind of conspiracy at work here. They let their vision become larger than their capabilities and didn't realize it until it was too late. I believe they're being sincere about their intention to complete the game.

Yep. Hanlon's razor applies here.

 

[Pongo]

Yeah I agree. It doesn't paint them in a good light that they let the project get out of hand, but that doesn't make it a dodgy enterprise. Hopefully they'll eventually deliver a good game.

 

[Carnifex]

Their antics with the funds provided make them seem entirely juvenile, but they have a real opportunity here to fix everything, and come out looking like adults. Did they whine about a problem, or seize an chance to make something potentially better than they had even planned. Time alone will reveal the answer.

 

[you]

Imagine how much better things would have been if they had kept to the original plan before wasting approx $1M
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It is easy to understand how studios go under… They dream big; then can't find additional funding and find themselves in a jam. While I have some complaints about war folks (kingdomcom) they made sure they had outside funding BEFORE moving forward with kickstarter (this is important because they knew kickstarter would not provide enough to fund their ambitiions - this is very different than a small indie company that can scrape buy on $100K for various reasons.
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Mind you I'm just commenting on the business management of night studio. I don't object to them dreaming big but i do get the feeling they are not the best at management of funds.

 

[Carnifex]

Anyone that thinks that budgets and forecasting aren't a significant part of any large project is simply wrong. No matter how this all turns out, even if it turns out to be a huge hit, I don't doubt for a second that everyone involved in this endeavour has learned a valuable lesson that they won't be soon in forgetting. I wish them well, any fool can succeed when everything breaks their way, but it takes real work and guts to persevere when the tides turn and slap you right in the face.