demagogue on 20/10/2008 at 03:38
System Shock 2 gets more air-time now (I think) because it's the bigger game on the cultural level, in actually sticking in people's thinking, because it's a full on FPS and had a bigger following ... When you think about games you'd want to be made now, you can still refer to SS2 for inspiration, whereas the original stands somewhat on its own ... awesome, but a game of its time (in the adolescence of gamedom). And even then I think it's just because the interface is dated, and it doesn't run/age as well on modern machines like SS2. And it's sort of like the difference between Terminator vs T2 or Alien vs Aliens. The original was the more inspired and brilliant, but the latter brought it home and made it a household name. Also (ironically) it may be one of those situations where the influence of the original was so pervasive and revolutionary (for the time, and into later gaming), that it's actually harder to see looking back, whereas SS2's influence is more transparent.
As for Thief, I mean, it has its own sub-forums that are still buzzing ... It's more surprising that they still find things to talk about this long afterwards, and the FMs have extended its shelf-life waaay longer than most any other game can dream of.
EvaUnit02 on 20/10/2008 at 03:40
Has mouse look been hacked into SS1 yet?
Muzman on 20/10/2008 at 03:55
Don't think so. From memory the way the interface works makes this nearly impossible, it (the mouse handling) would have to be almost entirely rewritten and then a slew of functions would have to be assigned to keys. Real source code required stuff
june gloom on 20/10/2008 at 04:05
Whatever happened to that SS1 remake for SS2, anyway?
EvaUnit02 on 20/10/2008 at 04:16
Quote Posted by Muzman
Don't think so. From memory the way the interface works makes this nearly impossible, it (the mouse handling) would have to be almost entirely rewritten and then a slew of functions would have to be assigned to keys. Real source code required stuff
Thanks.
Bah. Does SS1 have an auto-aim option and separate keys for strafing left and right?
Trying to aim with a keyboard on a horizontal axis always used to suck major balls. Gimme auto-aim over that shit any day.
Trance on 20/10/2008 at 04:49
SS1's aiming system is probably nothing you've dealt with in any other game.
The controls are easy to get used to, so give SS1-P a shot.
Volitions Advocate on 20/10/2008 at 05:02
Think SS2 with the inventory always turned on and the mouse cursor as your aiming reticle.
sort of.
Scots Taffer on 20/10/2008 at 05:26
Quote Posted by sh0ck3r
Now Shock 2 seems immortalized here and Thief appears to be discussed less. is it just that a) the past generation of elitists are gone or is it that b) pepople have come to their senses or c) the relative mediocrity of Bioshock has elevated Shock 2 in the minds of people here (i.e. one day when Bioshock 2 arrives, we'll be extolling the good ol' days of Bioshock; Fallout 3 will be dismissed for a few years before everybody embraces it)?
A couple of things, in my opinion:
- Thief was the more genre-defining gaming experience over SS2
- Thief offers a lot of longevity through FMs etc still being experienced by a healthy ThiefGen today
- By being a cultish gaming hit Thief definitely inspired an air of fanaticism (remember the Clans?)
- SS2, while not having as grand an impact in terms of genre and game experience at that time, has grown in appreciation through the fact that the engine aged well, it has a relatively complex and masterful hybrid of FPS and RPG, and the game world is appreciable with every replay (I'd argue the complexity of gameplay is limited by the engine and the gameworld feels
smaller with repeat playthroughs)
- If anything, BioShock is elevated by mere association with SS2 on these boards not vice versa
Sorry for breaking your groove, Muz.
Muzman on 20/10/2008 at 05:26
Yeah, SS2 basically split the control scheme in half to accomodate mouselook (and it worked great. Best example of that sort of interface I can think of from the time and rarely matched since).
SS1 is like a nice historical artifact of designers trying every way they could to figure out how to use the mouse, and they just never quite got there. It seems so weird now; mouselook seems just so damn obvious.
Koki on 20/10/2008 at 07:36
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Whatever happened to that SS1 remake for SS2, anyway?
Same thing which happens to 99% of all mods.
