Builders at Nightdive Studios would be the first to inform you no two initiatives are alike. Nowhere is that this extra true than the soon-to-be-released remaster of System Shock 2. Introduced six years in the past as System Shock 2: Enhanced Version, Nightdive reannounced the venture below a brand new title — System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster.
This title change supplied eagle-eyed followers a clue as to the remaster’s launch window, which is barely correct previous August 11 when System Shock 2 celebrates its twenty sixth birthday. Certain sufficient, throughout at present’s MIX Spring Showcase, Nightdive shared the thrilling information that System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster will launch on June 26 for PS4 and PS5.
As thrilling because it’s been for System Shock followers to listen to they’ll quickly be capable of play Nightdive’s long-awaited System Shock 2 remaster, one key query stays: why did it take six years?
Good issues take time(*26*)
Nightdive has been chipping away at its remaster of System Shock 2 within the years following its announcement, working on it along with different initiatives. Whereas many of those harbored their justifiable share of challenges, System Shock 2 was distinctive regarding the quantity and sort of complexities the workforce encountered.
One of many largest in keeping with Nightdive developer Alex Lima was an absence of entry to the sport’s full supply code. To piece all the things collectively, “in depth reverse engineering” was required.
“The codebase is a posh amalgamation of assorted legacy libraries developed by Trying Glass, together with some newer contributions from each Irrational Video games and Trying Glass,” Lima explains. “There’s nearly no constant coding customary. Consequently, we needed to rely extensively on debugging and breakpoints to grasp its performance.”
Working with System Shock 2’s authentic engine was additionally tough, particularly when it got here to porting the sport to consoles.
“The sport engine that System Shock 2 makes use of is massive and complex,” notes Nightdive developer, Lexi Mayfield. “It was initially designed for PCs from the late Nineteen Nineties with a mouse and keyboard, and was solely used for 3 video games. Consequently, porting the sport to PlayStation was a protracted and arduous course of, from each a coding and interface perspective.”
Usually, remastering a beloved traditional like System Shock 2 naturally takes time and a focus to element to get proper, as highlighted by Larry Kuperman, VP of Enterprise Improvement at Nightdive.
“Whereas the sport stays a traditional, the code and graphics wanted a substantial overhaul. The Darkish Engine, developed by Trying Glass Studios for System Shock 2 and the Thief video games, supplied options means forward of its time, which is one purpose these video games stay classics, however which additionally made the sport difficult to work with. To meet our imaginative and prescient, it required meticulous re-coding with a view to protect all of the features of the sport which are vital to gamers. Our workforce labored very exhausting over a protracted time frame to perform that objective.”
Previous recreation, new tips(*26*)
Not solely did the rigorous six-year remastering course of permit for more practical enhancements, it allowed the workforce to higher leverage trendy options on consoles.
“The porting course of allowed us to make enhancements alongside the best way and benefit from a number of the trendy options PlayStation affords, permitting us to run the sport with a degree of constancy and playability that was beforehand out of attain,” says Mayfield.
Followers can have no hassle recognizing these enhancements on PlayStation. The sport’s graphics have acquired a big enhance with the addition of superior shader help, enabling beforehand unavailable graphical results and improved lip-sync animation. GPU-accelerated 3D transformations and excessive refresh charge help additionally lend to smoother efficiency, significantly on trendy shows.
System Shock 2 was initially a PC launch, however don’t fear, the 25th Anniversary Remaster options full controller help for DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers.
“If you happen to’ve performed FPS video games with a controller, you’ll really feel proper at house taking part in System Shock 2,” confirms Mayfield. “Talents like leaning, quick-swapping between weapons and psi powers, and toggling weapon settings had been all streamlined for the DualSense. We additionally added a customizable quickbar, permitting gamers to shortly swap between particular person weapons and psi powers.”
Stock objects now supply a context menu to permit gamers to shortly study, equip, apply and break up objects. “From there, it was a matter of going by means of each safety pc, each replicator, each entry keypad and weapon modification display screen making certain the participant may work together with the world in each means they might in 1999 — besides now from the consolation of their DualSense.”
If there’s nonetheless doubt over whether or not System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster lives as much as the period of time it’s taken to finish, Nightdive founder and CEO, Stephen Kick, assures:
“I’ve been intently watching the event and have been significantly shut with the artwork workforce to make sure the unique artwork course and designs are delivered to their horrifying conclusion. I can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on and hope followers and newcomers get pleasure from their time aboard the Von Braun.”
Prepare, bugs… System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster arrives June 26 for PS4 and PS5!