View Full Version : System Shock 1 is damn fun
roguefrog
02-27-2006, 12:23 AM
All that talk in the BioShock thread got me motivated to play the original System Shock, which I haven't done. Having only played the sequel it feels like an inch that needed to be scratched, a loose end, a check against my gamer status. And I'm glad I finally did! It's awesome once you work around the myriad of compatibilities issues (still don't have music), coup with the abysmal controls (no mouselook, non-standard keys), and look pass the horribly dated graphics (640x480 you say). This is furthest back I think I've ever jumped, but the game is quite amazing so far (Deck 5). I finally got to see SHODAN at the height of her power, when she is in control. She runs a tight operation, likes quiet stations, threatens me when I get near security nodes, and sets up semi-unwinnable traps for me. But at least she calls me hacker instead of useless insect which is admirable. Collecting audio logs and receiving e-mails never gets old, and the plot thickens with each acquisition.
Some noticeable differences from the sequel -- the arsenal = a lot more viable arms which include the robot raper err laser rapier (nerfed in Shock2), Star Trek esque lightpointer/laserbeam phaser thingy, and Star Wars esque "set to stun" gun (and no weapon degration). Also Cyberspace which is a cool diversion and alternate way to get information and gain access to other areas. And my personally favorite - Death! Uh I mean I die...a lot more. But I think I can blame 95% of all deaths on the controls. And this is why the relief when switching a cyborg converter back into a medical reviver is so sensational.
So bascially what I'm trying to say is the "played System Shock 2 only" screwheads should really be bothered to play it!
Lunch of Kong
02-27-2006, 08:37 AM
System Shock elevator music (http://208.49.149.120/files/jukebox/shock1/%5BGreg%20Lo%20Piccolo,%20Tim%20Ries%5D%20-%20Shock%201%20-%20Elevator.mp3) for your listening pleasure, roguefrog.
Get the rest of the music here (http://www.ttlg.com/ss1/music/).
Rocket skates ROCK!
HRose
02-27-2006, 09:00 AM
Well, the music was my last problem when I tried to make the game work (CD version).
Have you tried with VDMS (the sound emu)?
Jazar
02-27-2006, 09:07 AM
I think DosBox runs it well but I'm not 100% sure. You want the music though and more importantly the voice acting.
Hawkeye Fierce
02-27-2006, 09:36 AM
System Shock is definitely in my top 5 games of all time. I like it much better than SS2, though I do like SS2 quite a bit. It has so many of those "Oh wow" moments in it for me.
SPOILERS FOR A 12-YEAR OLD GAME FOLLOW, I GUESS
Some examples of those real memorable moments:
Right after you blow up the first set of nodes on the Medical Deck, Shodan sends an army of cyborgs at you. You're holed up in this dead-end room, probably already hurt and low on ammo from fighting the guards to get IN there, and like three dozen cyborgs pour into the corridor that leads to the exit. I remember using up all my ammo, switching to that little pea-shooter phaser gun, using up almost all my remaining energy, and finally blindly tossing one of the few grenades I had out into the corridor. I heard that lovely "kss-crackle" sound that meant one of the cyborgs had died, and then silence. Dozens of cyborg bodies were out in the corridor. Right then, I was goddamn John McClane.
Later on in the game, I forget which deck, there's this little side room where you can see a bunch of goodies and ammo across this little chasm. There's a little ramp on your side of the chasm. I looked at it, turned on my "rollerskate" mod (whatever it was called) and skiied down to the ramp and jumped over the chasm. As soon as I land, a message from Shodan pops up. "Nice jump," she says. Then two Secbots jump out from the walls at me. Awesome.
Oh man. I could go on and on about that game. Now I have to play it when I get home.
roguefrog
02-27-2006, 09:59 AM
I have the rest of the audio - SFX, VOs, etc... I tried VDMS but it makes all the audio (music, sfx, etc) really choppy and the game goes to a crawl. Absolute silence can be creepy in it's own way though.
RichardC
02-27-2006, 10:09 AM
I have the Tri-Op new-message sound on my phone for when text-messages come in.
Oh, so very geeky. But fun.
Shock 2's big mistake for me was that SHODAN stopped being scary and started being...well...a bitch. LG really nailed the feeling that this all-seeing AI that existed as nothing but about five scripted moments and a whole lot of really well-timed audio actually existed, pulling the strings as you slowly severed her power. Or pulled the lever and nuked Earth by accident.
Hawkeye Fierce
02-27-2006, 10:27 AM
Or pulled the lever and nuked Earth by accident.
Whaddya mean, accident?
HRose
02-27-2006, 10:35 AM
I have the rest of the audio - SFX, VOs, etc... I tried VDMS but it makes all the audio (music, sfx, etc) really choppy and the game goes to a crawl. Absolute silence can be creepy in it's own way though.
Try configuring the music as Roland or General Midi.
I had problems setting it as a normal soundblaster, buth the other modes were perfect.
I didn't use the doxbox, though. Just a patch to make it run under XP without crashing, if I remember correctly.
HRose
02-27-2006, 10:45 AM
Yeah, just tried.
I used the .exe that you can get from here (http://www.sshock2.com/files/cdshock_xp.rar).
And ran it directly with VDMS and nothing else. Sound effects configured as a SB Pro and music as a roland or general midi.
RichardC
02-27-2006, 11:03 AM
Whaddya mean, accident?
Well, the first time it was an accident. After that, it was just a short-cut to seeing my beautiful Queen.
Bill Dungsroman
02-27-2006, 11:23 AM
All that talk in the BioShock thread got me motivated to play the original System Shock, which I haven't done. Having only played the sequel it feels like an inch that needed to be scratched,
:( I hope it's one of at least 6 inches, rf.
KaoFloppy
02-27-2006, 11:30 AM
... and look pass the horribly dated graphics (640x480 you say).
You can up the resolutions now (see http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100041 ). I had run it in 1024x768, and the result is amusing and yet playable.
roguefrog
02-27-2006, 12:16 PM
I'll fiddle with the audio setting a little more when I get off work, thanks guys.
pulled the lever and nuked Earth by accident.
nitpick: It's a big red button
One thing I don't really get is, in a message somewhere it stated Citadel Station was in Saturns orbit. How the hell does the mining laser reach Earth? (Awesome range or what?) Blowing up the mining laser was satisfying but didn't seem to really phase SHODAN that much. However I think she'll be really PO when I thwart her mega virus plot. (all her eggs seem to be in that basket)
Alan Au
02-27-2006, 01:12 PM
One thing I don't really get is, in a message somewhere it stated Citadel Station was in Saturns orbit. How the hell does the mining laser reach Earth? (Awesome range or what?)
Actually, one of the plot points involves SHODAN moving the station closer to Earth, which has to do with your deadline for shutting off the laser.
- Alan
roguefrog
02-27-2006, 02:19 PM
hmmm, it didn't seem like there was a deadline. Is there some kind of hidden timer that keeps track of how long you've been playing or something?
RichardC
02-27-2006, 02:23 PM
There's only a timer when you crank one of the difficulty settings up to maximum - anything else, you get to play at your own pace.
christopher
02-27-2006, 02:50 PM
Did anyone manage to run into a Cortex Reaver that wasn't trapped inside a room? I found two of them, and they were both scary and intimidating until I realized they couldn't fit through the door and chase me around. Maybe it was a limitation of the engine or something.
RichardC
02-27-2006, 02:57 PM
I don't remember having any trouble with any Cortex Reaver at any point, except the one in the death animation. SHODAN was a great villain, but her minions...kinda sucked.
roguefrog
02-28-2006, 12:00 AM
I encountered the first Cortex Reaver on the flight deck. I just blew it away from the safety of the hallway with my green plasma ball cannon. I keep running into new weapons so I had to toss a few. I headed down to the storage deck finding nothing really significant apart from a hazmat suit in the armory. Some areas I couldn't access so I'm assuming I'll be back later. I got the floor security down to 1% too. "Access blocked by SHODAN" The camera must be in one of the unreachable areas. I'll be hitting the Crew Quarters/Executive suites next. I wonder what's going on in Beta Grove.
Wheelkick
02-28-2006, 03:35 AM
Anyone finished this game with the time limit? How much time do you have?
And is it true that you could play the game without any enemies at all?
RichardC
02-28-2006, 03:51 AM
You get very, very little time - I don't remember how much, but I can't imagine many people doing it without the benefit of an earlier playthrough.
And you couldn't get rid of the enemies, but if you turned them down to their lowest level, they died in one hit and never attacked you first. So you could just walk straight past, occasionally splattering one for fun if you felt like it, and SHODAN's idea of a trap became sending a load of cyborgs to stand around scratching themselves while you smashed nodes.
Kevin McGuire
02-28-2006, 05:01 AM
Anyone finished this game with the time limit? How much time do you have?
And is it true that you could play the game without any enemies at all?
IIRC the time limit was seven hours.
Jazar
02-28-2006, 06:38 AM
I encountered the first Cortex Reaver on the flight deck. I just blew it away from the safety of the hallway with my green plasma ball cannon. I keep running into new weapons so I had to toss a few. I headed down to the storage deck finding nothing really significant apart from a hazmat suit in the armory. Some areas I couldn't access so I'm assuming I'll be back later. I got the floor security down to 1% too. "Access blocked by SHODAN" The camera must be in one of the unreachable areas. I'll be hitting the Crew Quarters/Executive suites next. I wonder what's going on in Beta Grove.
Ugh. I hated the 1% security. Keep posting your impressions. Makes me relive the experience.
Beta grove is rough. All of those damn groves were pretty freaky. Also did you get the Wing Commander mini-game yet? It's surprisingly detailed.
BobJustBob
02-28-2006, 08:10 AM
You get very, very little time - I don't remember how much, but I can't imagine many people doing it without the benefit of an earlier playthrough.
And you couldn't get rid of the enemies, but if you turned them down to their lowest level, they died in one hit and never attacked you first. So you could just walk straight past, occasionally splattering one for fun if you felt like it, and SHODAN's idea of a trap became sending a load of cyborgs to stand around scratching themselves while you smashed nodes.
Wow, that sounds great. No wonder I loved the first and loathed the second. Knowing that, I should replay the game.
The Wing Commander minigame in SS1 and the Ultima minigame in SS2 were definitely labors of love (Sean Barrett for the former, myself and Doug Church for the latter). I remember at the time we were quite proud that Sean had more ships in our Wing Commander knockoff at one time than the current actual Wing Commander game supported. :)
And yes, on minimum combat difficulty you can have no combat except for I think one or two mobs you have to kill for trigger reasons. This was the mode my wife played the game on all during playtesting.
"The Trilackeys won't get very far without their anvils!"
RichardC
02-28-2006, 09:03 AM
Yeah, I think you had to kill Diego a couple of times, and SHODAN of course. I played it through after finishing it with everything switched down to 0, just for kicks.
roguefrog
03-01-2006, 12:41 AM
Deck 6, the first two Groves, Alpha and Delta weren't too bad but I noticed the respawn rate is significantly higher in the groves. To the point where you can't clear it all out without something respawning. Made me not want to hang around for too long. This is double for Beta Grove due to the Bio-hazard. I literally just ran to the switch and was ready to leave but then I noticed a door blocked by SHODAN so I ended destroying all the cameras in the grove and see whats inside. (an Earthshaker, ammo and some jump-jet program guarded by three security bots) 2 medkits and energy batteries later I'm making a made dash to the elevator with my health failing. (my energy ran out so my envirosuit switched off resulting in imminent bio-toxic death) I ended up dying in the Beta Grove Lounge before I could reach for a bio-toxin recovery item. A second before and I would have died in the grove proper resulting in cyb0rg assimilation or worst, an electrified interrogation bench.
Fast forward to the crawl shaft, security nodes kaput, heavily guarded room at the end cleared. I pull the lever on the wall and one mean SOB appears. He insta-killed me the first, second, third time I blasted him from around the corner with the megaplasma cannon thing. He teleported or something. It looked like the same effect when I died(red static).
Retribution on Beta Grove will be swift! *pulls Jettison master control* -Error- damnit! Thinking it was a quick fix I headed down to maintenance. Got the Diagnostic Log, consulted the Relay Machine - "Broken Demodule Interface" Thanks for the Info! Found Relay 428 but it wasn't frobbable. I managed to destroy enough cameras to open the Maintenance Office but the inner door requires a retina scan. I grab a severed head laying around thinking I'm super smart and clicked the retina scanner while holding the head. No dice. Beta Groves all expense paid space voyage will have to come another day.
BTW I hate Deck 3. Apart from the broken lighting, those range attacking goo piles respawn in swarms all too frequently.
Jazar
03-01-2006, 08:11 AM
awsome report. Hell YES I hate deck three those little basterds are quiet, hard to see, hard to hit, and spawn like rabbits! I usually just run through the halls into safe corners in that level. You're doing really good with the repairing quest. Got to find a good retina. It helps to go over all the audio logs you've found if you're lost. They're very nicely ordered by subject. Sometimes completely random audio logs can be crucial in the future.
scharmers
03-01-2006, 12:14 PM
WHY, THIS IS SPOILER, NOR AM I OUT OF IT
The red static was Diego being rescued by Shodan. Heh, heh, heh.
Wobbo
03-01-2006, 02:18 PM
I think DosBox runs it well but I'm not 100% sure. You want the music though and more importantly the voice acting.
It runs the game reasonably well for me, but dosbox itself in general runs too slowly for my taste
back in the days of the pentium 90 dos games in gerneal ran 2-5 times faster than they do now on my 3 gig CPU 1 gig RAM machine. Its enough to make playing a game as involved and difficult (at least thats what i fondly remember) to frustrating to play, for now.
If I can find a better way to run it (dynamic remapping of keys, speed and sound issues) I will. Too bad, because as I remember it it was one of the best games of all time, let alone the best FPS
scharmers
03-01-2006, 03:23 PM
Not sure why the DosBox hate -- you definitely couldn't run SS1 in a P90 at the higher rezzes (I know, I tried back them). As long as your rig can handle 13000 - 15000 cycles, DosBox will run SS1 just fine. And yes, your 3Ghz rig should handle those cycles OK (mine does).
Qmanol
03-01-2006, 04:34 PM
I never even bothered with those goo piles until I had the laser rapier. Run, run, evade.
roguefrog
03-01-2006, 05:04 PM
I'm simply not that good with the controls. I've been using the Laser Rapier and just charging the goo while taking blasts to the face. It's dark and they're semi-transparent which makes matters worse. Luckly I think most of them respawned in the cargo lift room. Unless they can open doors...
roguefrog
03-01-2006, 11:31 PM
Ok the repair quest took much longer than it should have. False leads from audio logs led me astray. For instance, believing I still needed to access the Maintenance Office to fix the problem, I went over all the Deck 3 audio logs. Not 1 but 2 logs mentioned the viewing room on the executive level.
My brain at work: viewing = involves eyes + I need an eyeball to get past the retina scanner.
Also the logs mentioned a time estimate when the maintenance staff would be able to use the viewing room since it was initially only open to execs. The estimate was six months. Checking the log dates, they were approximately six months old. I was off to the viewing room: a skeleton, a headless corpse. Where is the head? I looked for a good while thinking it was jammed in a corner real well. Nothing. But the logs made a perfect case for something of relevant significance being in the viewing room, or at least hinted at it pretty well. That theory, while a sound one, wasn't sticking. I went back to deck 3 on the brink of thinking no head would work and I needed to locate a tiny eyeball out of a group of pixels who knows where. I ended up just grabbing another head in frustration and it worked! And in the end the room just had stuff. I went back to Relay 428 and used common sense aka the Demodulator on it and ta-da. All too easy. Back on schedule.
Back on deck 6, Jettison master control switch flipped, SHODAN tries to talk me down with two security bots. Doesn't work. When I'm right in front of the door to the Beta grove lounge SHODAN gets even more desperate. (STOP I WANT MY EXPERIMENTS TO CONTINUE) And releases some of the experiments, probably before they have reached optimal efficiency in a vain attempt to stop me. I mow them down like retarded puppies and pull the jettison lever without a second thought. SHODAN sure must be pissed. There's a contingency plan according to the email from Rebbecca. The last I heard of her was on deck 1. SHODAN makes a timely intervention and finally infers to the fact that I'm a serious threat. I prep for the next objective by securing the appropriate explosives.
Sebmolo
03-02-2006, 02:19 AM
LLLook at you hacker. A path-etic creature of Meat and Bone. Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you hope to defeat a perfect, immortal machine?
Have you found the Skorpion?
Alan Au
03-02-2006, 02:27 AM
No System Shock experience would be complete without a link to The Hacker's Guide to Sin (http://www.it-he.org/sshock.htm). Naturally it contains spoilers, because the craziest antics require advance knowledge of SHODAN's plans...
- Alan
roguefrog
03-03-2006, 12:12 AM
Have you found the Skorpion?
Just did and right on time for level 2 security bots.
Deck 7 was a pain because I didn't find the medical reviver until I had explored the rest of the deck already. I figured it was required in order to survive the part when SHODAN traps you in one of the antenna rooms after planting the explosive.
I think I just hit "the beginning of the end" point. Things are looking bad for miss SHODAN, and she has yet to use the infamous "L-L-Look at you hacker" line.
DrCrypt
03-03-2006, 01:14 AM
Don't hold your breath - as I recall, she doesn't actually say it in System Shock 1. It's just the test line from the audio installer.
roguefrog
03-03-2006, 09:48 AM
That and the intro to System Shock 2. You would think she would say it at some point during the game as you're panting and sweating while running through her corridors.
AlexxKay
03-03-2006, 11:02 AM
Deck 7 was a pain because I didn't find the medical reviver until I had explored the rest of the deck already. I figured it was required in order to survive the part when SHODAN traps you in one of the antenna rooms after planting the explosive.
Not required. I made it out of there by using the "fast reflexes" drug (IIRC), and picking the lock on the door before the explosive went off.
roguefrog
03-03-2006, 12:00 PM
There was a door? SHODAN traps you in with a force field. There was a panel with one of them puzzles which I found impossible to do (theres no way to click fast enough to solve it) before the explosion went off. (a matter of seconds)
Sounds like you're talking about something completely different.
christopher
03-03-2006, 12:24 PM
There was a door? SHODAN traps you in with a force field. There was a panel with one of them puzzles which I found impossible to do (theres no way to click fast enough to solve it) before the explosion went off. (a matter of seconds)
Sounds like you're talking about something completely different.
I think he's talking about using the reflex patch to slow things down so that there's time enough to do the puzzle that unlocks the panel. From what I've read it's still really hard to do though. I just turned on the reviver since I didn't have patience for those puzzles even when I wasn't rushed.
Jazar
03-03-2006, 12:31 PM
Yes the reflex patch works. Like, far out man.
RichardC
03-03-2006, 01:12 PM
There was a door? SHODAN traps you in with a force field. There was a panel with one of them puzzles which I found impossible to do (theres no way to click fast enough to solve it) before the explosion went off. (a matter of seconds)
Can I just point out that this particular sequence was NOT one of her finest hours.
"Oh no, I have to resurrect a few meters away with my task complete. Oh, you evil, evil bitch. Oh the horror."
Hawkeye Fierce
03-03-2006, 01:17 PM
Can I just point out that this particular sequence was NOT one of her finest hours.
"Oh no, I have to resurrect a few meters away with my task complete. Oh, you evil, evil bitch. Oh the horror."
Cut her some slack. She may be an omnipotent AI, but she's still kinda new to the whole super-villain thing.
Although, as the sequel shows, it's not like she gets much better at it.
RichardC
03-03-2006, 01:26 PM
Yeah, the revelation of your big superplan shouldn't really be met with the rolling of eyes and slamming of heads against desks. Mind you, that's what you get when you play a game that spends ages trying to be cryptic and mysterious about its new alien threat...after running a competition called 'GET KILLED BY SHODAN' ;-)
Hawkeye Fierce
03-03-2006, 01:27 PM
Yeah, the revelation of your big superplan shouldn't really be met with the rolling of eyes and slamming of heads against desks. Mind you, that's what you get when you play a game that spends ages trying to be cryptic and mysterious about its new alien threat...after running a competition called 'GET KILLED BY SHODAN' ;-)
Yeah, my reaction to the "big reveal" in the middle of SS2 was along the lines of "Well, freaking duh!"
RichardC
03-03-2006, 01:34 PM
It was a cool reveal, but not a good one. SHODAN in the first Shock is smart enough to have backup plans, and twists on her plans, and alternative strategies, just to be on the safe side - the SHODAN in Shock 2 is a bit of a ditz, really. Blah blah, insect, got it. Yeah, shallow plan to take over the ship, got it. Cyber-implants just toys? Yeah, most of them give me the power to do stuff I can do personally, in real life, and the century old ones ones in Shock 1 were much more powerful. I'm like a living god.
Although I still object to the 'Nah'. You don't get to say 'Nah' to SHODAN.
In fairness, they all but gave it away on the preceeding level anyway - but I think most people who played the first game pretty much had it figured out about the point 'Your corpse is useless to me' entered the script, about five picoseconds after starting.
roguefrog
03-03-2006, 02:10 PM
Having played System Shock 2 first, I had no idea until the reveal. The obvious hints must have went right over my head. Funny thing is on Deck 3 - Hydroponics, I remember she was getting increasingly bitter(forget the exact dialogue but it was off-putting for sure) However it still didn't hit me having never known SHODANs demeanor.
Hawkeye Fierce
03-03-2006, 02:28 PM
There was a real red flag for the big reveal a little earlier in the game that was easy to miss. It was an audio log from Dr. Whatsherface from a few days earlier - if you listen to it, her voice sounds nothing like the voice that's been bossing you around.
RichardC
03-03-2006, 03:34 PM
Well, the VOICE does. The acting is totally different.
Justin Fletcher
03-03-2006, 03:48 PM
Having played System Shock 2 first, I had no idea until the reveal. The obvious hints must have went right over my head. Funny thing is on Deck 3 - Hydroponics, I remember she was getting increasingly bitter(forget the exact dialogue but it was off-putting for sure) However it still didn't hit me having never known SHODANs demeanor.
Interesting. It was of the few things in SS2 that I thought Irrational fumbled, as her demeanor turned very SHODAN-esque right before you found her body. Don't get me wrong; it was a very cool momnet when the thought hit me that my guide was actually SHODAN. But I think the already nifty reveal when have been much better if it had been a complete surprise.
The fact that those who weren't already familiar with SHODAN might not catch on never occurred to me.
Sam Jones
03-03-2006, 03:59 PM
In fairness, they all but gave it away on the preceeding level anyway - but I think most people who played the first game pretty much had it figured out about the point 'Your corpse is useless to me' entered the script, about five picoseconds after starting.
If you didn't get that, there were also the genuine logs from the character where her voice was quite different.
I reinstalled SS2 with the Shock Treatment compilation last night. It's still very cool, and scary.
Hawkeye Fierce
03-03-2006, 05:09 PM
Well, the VOICE does. The acting is totally different.
Potato, potahto. The point is it's clearly not the same person. :-)
roguefrog
03-03-2006, 07:30 PM
The fact that those who weren't already familiar with SHODAN might not catch on never occurred to me.
Probably the only benefit of playing SS2 first.
I'm assuming the logs of her are "actually" her. IIRC she was the one that releases SHODAN. I wonder if SHODAN fits on a Floppy.
I might have to replay SS2 after I finish with SS1 for the full effect.
That kind of reveal is hard to calibrate right, since so many people come to the game with different expectations and knowledge. We were actually pretty worried people would get to that part of SS2 and be like "WTF? Where did that come from?"
For my 2 cents, I think people who see the reveal coming and can pat themselves on the back still get enjoyment out of the experience, whereas failing in the other direction just seems cheap.
Justin Fletcher
03-03-2006, 09:59 PM
For my 2 cents, I think people who see the reveal coming and can pat themselves on the back still get enjoyment out of the experience
Oh absolutely. It was one of those great emotional mixes of "Hey waaaaaaaaiiiiit a minute" and "Holy shit!"
It's just that, for me, it was a moment like in KOTOR
(I know this is lame, but Spoiler Alert)
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when I figured out I was Revan almost immediately before the reveal. I got that great charge of "I'm Sherlock Fucking Holmes!" but it was mixed with a tinge of disappointment at not getting the full brunt of the surprise.
Still, I see your point about balancing it, especially for the folks who didn't have the background of SS1 to fall back on. And it was still cool as hell.
RichardC
03-04-2006, 04:33 AM
For my 2 cents, I think people who see the reveal coming and can pat themselves on the back still get enjoyment out of the experience, whereas failing in the other direction just seems cheap.
Quite. See Fahrenheit and its gut-bustingly stupid second enemy reveal.
I do think it's pretty funny that SHODAN proves entirely impotent against the threat of the Many, gets thrown into the first real situation where she can't puppeteer the universe, is pretty much inches away from having her system disk used as a bottom-wiper, and still takes the time to construct the universe's largest home entertainment system just to go 'Ha ha! Fooled you, insect!'
Even if it's totally the kind of thing she'd do.
roguefrog
03-04-2006, 02:25 PM
Played for approximately 5 hours last night and finished System Shock. Typically when I hit the end portion of a game I go all the way without stopping. (same with books) It's sort of like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It encourages me to press on.
Learning the reactor code was tricky but as soon as I realized what Richie meant by CPUs was what I've been calling security nodes (which were already destroyed on floors 1-6) and noticing the screens with numbers, it all became clear.
The escape pod halt by SHODAN was no real surprise since I still needed to explore two floors and knew I was going to take the fight to SHODAN anyway. The security floor at first was a pain because I kept getting hit and killed by unseen foes. Once I started looking up and seeing those flier fucks, it was no longer an issue.
The last fight with Diego took me by surprise when he spawned behind me, then promptly told me to turn around and die. Which I pretty much did being completely flatfooted by the fact that I needed a access card for the elevator to the bridge. The next time I was ready and took him out with megapulse which seemed to make him stay in one place like a good boy. I then immediately switched to the scorpion and rambo'ed the minions that decided to come out of hiding upon Diego's death.
The Bridge was a radical change in architecture. The walls looked ironically organic except for SHODANs bio-hazardous inter sanctum guarded by elite cyb0rgs. And finally the cyberspace showdown with SHODAN, who appears as a circle outline attached to a weird swirly cone of graphical corruption. As I tried to face her (the screen would automatically turn away from her which made aiming rather difficult) the screen was being assimilated pixel by pixel with an eerie image of SHODANs face. Soon the image solidified across the entire screen and SHODAN had won. Downloading herself into your neural implants mayhaps. Five attempts later I finally won. SHODAN gets no last words and the hacker gets hired as a salaryman by TriOp and lives happily ever after. Except - "Old Habits Die Hard" hee hee
Overall the game is definitely up to par with System Shock 2. And I can see why some might prefer this one: No weapon degradation, no real ammo shortages, no heavy rpg stuff, to name but a few. SS2 is a lot scarier throughout though given its survival horror bent. The scariest part of SS1 is deck 1 when you're only armed with a led pipe and a dart gun.
Charles
03-04-2006, 02:50 PM
I should track down SS1 and try it out. When I originally tried to play it back around 98, I couldn't get it to run on my windows box. :/
Sam Jones
03-10-2006, 08:36 AM
I have the Tri-Op new-message sound on my phone for when text-messages come in.
Oooh, do you have a d/l location for that, or can it be extracted from the SS2 sound files? I can't find it in any of the desktop themes that are available.
RichardC
03-10-2006, 10:07 AM
Can't remember. I think I just pulled the sound effect and converted it into an MP3.
Sam Jones
03-10-2006, 11:53 AM
Okay, managed to extract it from the snd2.crf file. It's in the folder vLogs/english when extracted with Winzip, and it's called TRIOP15.wav.
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