OMFG System Shock "remake"?!?

[teh_saccade]

//

Edited July 17, 2016 by teh_saccade

[stumpy]

They own the rights to the game, so they can do what they like with it, as the original looks dated compared to current games they thought they would do a overhaul of the game for the modern world. Although loads of people who never played the original are comparing it as ripoff's of Deadspace, Bioshock, any other recent scifi game.

[demagogue]

What strikes me about it is being made on Unity and crowd-funded has the unfortunate side-effect of making it look like a small crackpot indie game, and it's not even really being compared to Deadspace or Bioshock so much as it's not even being thought of like a AAA game, but an indie game trying to pass itself off as one. It sort of dims it as one of the giant progenitors of the entire scifi FPS genre. I'd like to see a remake be as big as my vision of it says it should be. Or at least recognized as big. That said, since I really like indie games anyway, it doesn't diminish it for me. I only got the impression that's how it's being generally received.

[jaxa]

Bad news, it's on hiatus:

 

https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/16/17020296/system-shock-remake-kickstarter-hiatus-delayed

https://kotaku.com/kickstarted-system-shock-remaster-got-too-big-put-on-h-1823082070

https://wccftech.com/system-shock-remake-hiatus/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2115044

[chakkman]

I never was a fan of crowdfunding...

 

That statement from the Nightdive CEO is pretty bold. They burned a lot of development money, and now they put the whole team and project on "hiatus". What is he expecting? More money from another investor, and then they start again? Seriously, for me, that's borderline criminal. I'm really happy that i never put any money in a crowdfunding project now, TBH. This just proves everything i ever feared with such projects.

Edited February 17, 2018 by chakkman

[Oktokolo]

Of course, funding a business is still a gamble. It always was and always will be.

Why should anybody expect that not to be case with crowd funded games.

 

It is sad, that they failed. But there seems to be demand. Maybe another independent developer will succeed in (re)making something like System Shock.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Abusimplea

[Bienie]

I actually love the idea of crowdfunding for games. It allows fans of a game to actually choose what they want to have created without having to pass some greedy and ignorant board of shareholders first. The AAA gaming industry is sinking deeper and deeper into the shit pit every year as investor pressures force game devs to cut corners and milk their customers through "loot crates" and what have you. Honestly the best games of recent years have been crowdfunded, like Elite: Dangerous and Divinity: Original Sin 2. With the accessibility of game development having opened up markedly in the last 5-10 years I think the future of good PC-gaming lies in the hands of crowdfunded projects or purely demonetized fan games (like TDM!).

All that being said, there's always a risk a project is going to bite the dust. I think what is needed is a better system of holding crowdfunding projects accountable.

[peter_spy]

The problem is, it's often the same industry veterans who ask for money. Tim Shaffer distorted the whole idea in the very beginning: devs ask for cash and go to publishers next, which defeats the whole concept of crowdfnding. AFAIK, crowdfunding works better for stuff like independent movies or theatre plays.

[Melan]

And nothing of value was lost.

[Destined]

I actually love the idea of crowdfunding for games. It allows fans of a game to actually choose what they want to have created without having to pass some greedy and ignorant board of shareholders first. The AAA gaming industry is sinking deeper and deeper into the shit pit every year as investor pressures force game devs to cut corners and milk their customers through "loot crates" and what have you. Honestly the best games of recent years have been crowdfunded, like Elite: Dangerous and Divinity: Original Sin 2. With the accessibility of game development having opened up markedly in the last 5-10 years I think the future of good PC-gaming lies in the hands of crowdfunded projects or purely demonetized fan games (like TDM!).

All that being said, there's always a risk a project is going to bite the dust. I think what is needed is a better system of holding crowdfunding projects accountable.

I agree. One problem is that the people working on crowd funded projects are not accountable. But if they were, many people would not try it, as it is also quite risky. Especially for people with no experience. I think many projects fail, because the team leader(s) have no idea which expenses to expect and then are unable to cope. I myself would also not risk to fund a project, where I have no idea if it will succeed, but for groups like "Cool Mini or Not", who have successfully completed a couple of board games, I have no doubt that each new project made by them will succeed, so for them it is a nice way to get the money they need for their projects.

[demagogue]

I'll repeat the point I made in another thread on this: It's ironic because the devs' mantra for the original System Shock 1 & 2 was to build within their limits and set the limits low so they were achievable, e.g., everything with existing tech. I don't know that this was the problem, but my intuition is they didn't follow their own mantra.

[Bienie]

Of course crowdfunding has its problems, but if it is properly managed it is the only "pure" way to make games, in a way bypassing capitalism, or at least the slimy part of it.

 

Here's some food for thought on the future of the AAA "gaming" industry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgMw6punQrE

 

Here's an entertaining positive review of Kingdom Come Deliverance, that highlights the shortcomings of the AAA developers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y80jiJvr8HA

Edited February 19, 2018 by Bienie

[chakkman]

Of course crowdfunding has its problems, but if it is properly managed it is the only "pure" way to make games, in a way bypassing capitalism, or at least the slimy part of it.

 

TBH, i consider empty promises, and money burned on these promises as much more slimey than charging 50 or 60 € for a finished product. I know that the financing part is a rather difficult one these days, and, also that AAA titles mostly "play safe" in terms of gameplay, and how the game finally looks like, but, the way System Shock, and other crowdfunding projects went down, i just can say that it is an extremely insecure and unsure way to produce games. Of course, it's up to you and others, if you want to spend your money, i just can say that i would never do it. I don't like burned money, and i don't like empty promises either. Neither do i like fakes, and fraud.

Edited February 19, 2018 by chakkman

[Destined]

Well, I don't know how it went down for System Shock, but I have enough faith in humanity left that I belive that many (if not most) crowdfunding projects really fail due to mismanagement and are not a cheap attempt at fraud. But I agree that it is quite inscure and I would only back groups that show that they know what they are doing; either by having finished a couple of projects (like Cool Mini or Not) or by having experience in the field (i.e. people from other game studios that have bended together and know how stuff works).

[chakkman]

The thing is, you can open up a crowdfunding project, because your cat needs surgery these days, and, you're more or less sure that you do 2.000 - 3.000 € with that, because people believe you (don't laugh, i saw that with my own eyes). OK, everyone is entitled to spend his/her money on whatever they feel like. I just say that you open the door for misbehavior that way, because, it's obvious that an easy way to collect money is attractive to certain elements you rather not want to give money to, or support in any other way, because they're just looking for their profit.

Edited February 19, 2018 by chakkman

[jaxa]

I backed Underworld Ascendant since some ex-LGS employees are involved.

[Oktokolo]

I backed Underworld Ascendant since some ex-LGS employees are involved.

Nice - and they even build System Shock 3 at the same time. So we will get a new System Shock and a new Underworld. Isn't that great!

[jaxa]

Nice - and they even build System Shock 3 at the same time. So we will get a new System Shock and a new Underworld. Isn't that great!

 

Wow I was very confused for a second.

 

https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/16/17016744/system-shock-reboot-hiatus-nightdive-interview

 

The game was pitched as a faithful recreation of System Shock, the much-admired 1994 sci-fi first-person action adventure, to be released for PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. Nightdive’s hiatus announcement does not affect Otherside Entertainment’s work on a new game in the series, System Shock 3.

 

[jaxa]

It's back on track! ... For 2020:

 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/03/system-shock-reboot-pushed-back-to-2020/

[chakkman]

Did any of you play the new System Shock Remake demo? I must say that I'm very impressed with it. Miles better than the first demo they released some years ago. Was really fun to play through.  Hyped for the release (I pre-ordered in the meantime).

[lowenz]

It's impressive

[freyk]

Wow.

It would be nice that this come with a map editor.

[AluminumHaste]

It's pretty great actually, I'm really enjoying it. I think what really helps is that I've never played System Shock 1. I started with the Thief series and tried SS2 and hated it. Then tried it again 5 or 6 years later and absolutely loved it.

I've obviously heard about SS1 and how clunky it was etc, so never bothered playing it. I've watched some lets plays of it etc.

I am a kickstarter for the remake, so looking forward to the final release.

[datiswous]

I have played the enhanced edition of the original, which is quite playable and pretty interesting. But I don't feel immersed enough, so I wait for the remake before continuing.

Edited February 11, 2023 by datiswous

[chakkman]

I own System Shock Enhanced Edition, and played it briefly some months ago. Didn't really click with me. The controls were too ancient for me. I think I'm rather remake audience in this case.