System Shock 1

[Alinestra Covelia]

So I got this installed on DOSBox.

It's a very interesting game. I can't believe it came out the same year as DOOM did. It was clearly lightyears ahead of its competition. Maybe that was why it sold poorly though.

I think the version I have is the floppy disk version, not the CD version. There is no speech audio.

The interface is pretty clumsy compared to later games which featured mouselook. It also took me some time to figure out how to climb up ladders (move forwards, look up, and hold jump all at once).

Combat is pretty hit-and-miss because of the interface, but the rest of the challenges and puzzles is top notch.

[Guynemer]

Never played the first one, but the second one is unsurpassed amongst games in the category of freaking me the **** out.

[Unimatrix11]

second guynemer - i actually stopped playing system shock 2 because it freaked me out too much.

[Maniac]

System Shock 2

[Illuminatus]

Ah, added on my to play list

[DrSpike]

I remember the first game - it was pretty decent but the sequel surpassed it in every way so it doesn't get much attention.

[Maniac]

My top 3 scariest moment in SS2:

Spoiler:

1. There's this bunch of doors quickly after each other on the Engineering Deck leading to Command. Every time I opened one, I didn't know what was behind one. What made matters worse, the respawn rate was quite high in that area. So yeah, I had cleared a section, but guys were constantly being respawned behind me. So I was basically trapped, and running low on ammo. To top it all off, the respawned guys had to move through several doors (which make a sound upon opening) to get to me. So I could hear them coming for me. After that I used that option to reduce respawn rates. :-s
2. That scene on Hydroponics where the doctor turns that woman into a cyborg midwife.
3. Hearing a monkey shriek for the first time. Again, the fact you couldn't actually see the monkey made it much spookier.

[DrSpike]

The scene with the first ghost (quite near the start) is really creepy. But nothing tops the first time you look up from an engrossing log on your PDA to find a zombie about to crush your skull.

[Alinestra Covelia]

SS2 is a great game. I can finish it on Impossible in 7 hours or so.

SS1 is brilliant too, but less well-polished. At least, the version I'm playing is not that great. I only got my hands on the floppy disks version, not the CD version. In my version, SHODAN doesn't have a gender yet, or in rare circumstances is referred to as "he".

[Unimatrix11]

The scene with the first ghost (quite near the start) is really creepy...

´We are here´ - i still remember it - it kinda traumatized me.

Yeah, and the monkey gave me the rest. Whenever i heard one, my progress would be reduced to a crawl, me whistling aloud (a sure sign, i am about to crap my pants) as it took me minutes to overcome my fear of peeking around the next corner. It was like Star Trek VIII - a very interesting, yet rather irritating emotion - unfortunately, i couldnt find the switch on my emotion-chip - and so i had to quit .

[Kassiopeia]

I feel a little sorry for SS1. Any time it gets brought up people start talking about SS2 instead. I know, SS2 is the superior game, but SS1 is like that little brother that never gets any attention.

Goddamn psi monkeys...

[Maniac]

Since we're talking about SS2...

Does anyone know how to extract or where to download the sound effects for SS2? For Planetfall I'd like to have some actions sounds for the Mind Worms, and I think the SS2 worm sounds might fit welll for that.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I can take a look in my SS2 folder for you if you like. I'm very noobish at modding the game though so you'd probably have to walk me through it.

[Maniac]

The sounds are packed in some weird .CRF files. It's not just a matter of finding where they are located. They must be extracted somehow. I know it's possible though. Some Googling led me to some Shodan-based Windows themes.

Edit: For the record, I discovered those CRF files can simply be opened by WinRAR, for instance. Not 7-zip though.

[Rubin]

Can you do it?

Alinestra Covelia,

I wish you the best of luck and best of fun with System Shock.

You may want to get your hands on the "portable" version (I doubt you've missed that one) of System Shock including the speech audio--it really, really adds to the atmosphere. And... System Shock is all about atmosphere!

I set out--about 6 months ago--to play and complete the original System Shock.

It was hard. Very hard!

It took me about a week just to get the game running; but it did run flawlessly after that on my XP system and... I think we expect nostalgia and compatibility to be an issue, so it wasn't really a problem.

The interface took some time getting used to. Navigating a 3D environment using the mouse is so familiar, but in System Shock it's no good. I think that, even by today's standards, the System Shock interface and movement/visual options are rather advanced. However, once you get the keyboard configuration under your skin the controls are smooth and effective. I think determination is key here!

The killer is the graphics, though.

Everything looked like gigantic pixels. There was no apparant depth, no contours and, uhm, the color palette seemed very limited. I recall my fears... Having to navigate this messy pixel environment for a whole game without losing my interest and motivation completely--how was that possible? I honestly don't know. But the pixels slowly turned into walls, doors, panels, enemies, etc. and the System Shock world came alive. Very alive!

I also know that my "real life" vision and movements were heavily influenced by System Shock after just 3-4 days of marathon playing. It was a strange sensation lasting for the remaining 2 weeks of play time and about a week after that as well.

System Shock became my world for those 2-3 weeks. SHODAN was my companion whether I was playing or not. It was an almost spiritual experience.

The levels, the enemies, the characters (I forget the names, I recall the sensation of the transmissions), the sounds, ... everything. It was as real as Portal (which I had been playing shortly prior to installing System Shock) and my studies of, especially, visual adaptation and our ability to derive a very realistic image/impression of crude projections were confirmed in this unlikely environment.

It was truly a grand experience! I shall never forget! May you revel in this fantastic and immersive story of an AI gone bad! Very, very bad