polygon.com/2016/6/24/12007602/system-shock-kickstarter-campaign-rewards-screens-demoSystem Shock reboot opens for crowdfunding next week — here's your preview
Rewards, new art and even a demo
System Shock is still getting remastered, but don't call it System Shock Remastered anymore.
Just ahead of the game's Kickstarter campaign launch, developer Night Dive Studios told Polygon that the upcoming re-imagination of Looking Glass Technologies' 1994 game has a new name now: System Shock.
"We felt that the amount of passion and resources that we are putting into this game elevated it beyond the expectations that someone would have for a remaster," CEO Stephen Kick said. "This is a full-fledged reboot of a classic game into something new."
We've gotten glimpses of the reboot through early alpha footage and screenshots. When the crowdfunding campaign starts at 12 p.m. PT next Tuesday, June 28, nostalgic backers and the genuinely curious alike will have a chance to actually play System Shock themselves. A short demo of the Windows PC version will be made available to anyone through Steam, GOG and Humble the same day that the Kickstarter opens.
Polygon got an early look at that build, as well as the various rewards that will be offered just to those who back the crowdfunding project. Take a look at some screenshots above — we'll also have a full gameplay video up early next week.
We also got a preview of some of the campaign rewards. These include a collector's edition box with a physical copy of the game (launching on both Windows PC and Xbox One), a miniature and a manual, among other items; there's also a Razer-brand laptop with System Shock-centric detailing. There will be other rewards offered on a variety of tiers.
These and other rewards are still being revised ahead of the crowdfunding campaign's launch. The game is still a work in progress too, and players may note some unfinished parts of the user interface here and there.
For those looking for even more System Shock in advance of the demo and the full game's release — scheduled for sometime next year — take a look at some of the concept artwork by original artist Robb Waters below.
gog.com/game/system_shock_demoSystem Shock remake goes to Kickstarter and has a free demo!
Play the Demo, then head to Kickstarter and support the re-imagined version of the seminal sci-fi thriller.
A little over two decades ago, a first person action/RPG dared to blend diverse gameplay elements with narrative-driven 3D exploration in a sci-fi horror setting. System Shock soon became a timeless classic, its haunting charm still resonating with thousands of people to this day. Now, Night Dive Studios wants to bring it back as a new, faithfully re-imagined game and you can help them fulfil that promise by supporting their Kickstarter campaign.
System Shock is a complete remake of the genre-defining classic from 1994, rebuilt from the ground up with the Unity Engine and coming day one to GOG.com. The best part? You don't have to believe the enthusiastic rumours circulating around cyberspace, you can try out a Demo of this ambitious effort right now and see for yourself! "We want to demonstrate our commitment and passion for System Shock by providing a fun and exciting experience to potential backers", said Night Dive. "This demo represents the look and feel that we want to achieve with the final version we'll deliver to you, our backers. Please be aware, this is a proof of concept; the performance, features, and visuals are subject to change."
Grab the Demo and enter the derelict halls of Citadel Station crawling with the horrors unleashed by SHODAN, the maniacal A.I. with her own plans for the future of humanity. If this is a future you want to live in, make sure to head over to the System Shock Kickstarter page and help make it a reality.
Don't even try to resist her, SHE IS IN CONTROL.
kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/1636121Update #14
1.1m Stretch Goal Met and RPG Stuff
1.1m Goal Reached!
Looks like the 1.1m stretch goal has been reached and we'll be supporting Linux and Mac versions of the game! Thank you all so much for making that possible! :-D We're working on bringing the demo onto OSX, but no concrete release date for it just yet. We’re hoping to having it some time next week if all goes well.
1.4m Goal Changes
We've altered the 1.4m stretch goal to something a bit more manageable from a game development standpoint. Before, it was vague and misleading regarding “RPG Elements”. That lead to a bit of confusion and unease with our backers, and to be perfectly honest, deep system features like that are pretty dangerous as stretch goals. We have an awesome vision for the game and setting a bunch of features we deeply believe in to a stretch goal stifles our own creativity since we can't fully plan for things.
Now, the 1.4m stretch goal is something much safer for us to scale if we don’t make the goal. It’s to add content in the form of more maps such as Groves, floors of Citadel Station, and Cyberspace content. This will make it better for us to properly execute on our core vision of the game, while still being able to offer some more awesome content if we hit the stretch goal.
So the RPG Stuff...
As I mentioned before, we have a pretty good vision of where we want to take things and what RPG systems we’ll be leaning towards within our budget. Also, RPG systems can imply a lot of things, so I'll go over some core concepts that we're following with the overall systems design.
I know that isn't very detailed, but it's still early in the game’s development, and things can change. Those rules above are what we're confident in delivering. At the end of the day, we always ask ourselves “What would Looking Glass do?” and strive to carry on their tradition of innovation and quality while being as faithful as we can be to the original game.
- Stats are boring - Instead of letting the player feel stronger with stat boosts and level identification, we’re more in favor of ability and skill depth. As the player progresses, they will get more abilities/weapons, which will take skill to master (player skill, not skill points)
- Things should make sense - We want to have vending machines, but they're mainly for food/drinks that the player can get to help heal themselves or provide a slight boost to their abilities. You won't hack a vending machine to get a gun, since why would a vending machine on a space station have a gun?
- Upgrades are good in moderation - Throughout the game, the player will find upgrades to their abilities and find better weapons. We're not going to get crazy with this one since the point of the game is to have fun, and not noodle around in your inventory. If something is tedious, don't expect us to do it.
- Multiple ways to solve a problem - We're going to assume our players are smart and want to find creative solutions to problems/enemies. We'll provide the tools/weapons/abilities, and the player will decide how they want to solve the problem given their playstyle.
- Jason
