GOG to sell System Shock 2

[exdeath]

Still have my original disc. Best PC game ever. Since it's release I must have played it a dozen times.

The wwwmmmmm wmmmmmm drone of the load screen, the moaning in the background, the sound of you dropping something clanging against the steel floor of the ship. Makes my brain go numb just thinking about the back to back hours I've put into this game, with headphones on in the dark.

Then after thoroughly completing it in one sitting through a extended weekend, discover that Im disoriented and walk funny and that everything in the real world sounds digitally quantized for a few days.

Now THAT is immersion.

 

[TheVrolok]

Here is a link to the mods that I use for System Shock 2. Some might quibble about Rebirth, and I'm not wild about some of the human models, but this pack is meant to aggregate the many many (Many?) mods that are out there into one, easy to install graphics pack for people who just want to install the mods and get on with it instead of taking an hour of going through threads at Systemshock.org, some of the mods were a bit hidden in the threads. Also, I created NONE of these models, I justed zipped them together to make it convenient for new players to graphically update their game. I was planning to awhile ago, but after I found out SS2 was coming out yesterday, I figured now was the time.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7fJVuW-Yul-RGhDOS1jVzNLakE/edit?usp=sharing

Credits are at the bottom of this post, but first some notes:

First, go into your SS2 install directory and backup the cam_ext.cfg file. The zip includes a modified file that has only been tested with an Nvidia card. It has been modified to max out image quality, and add a little bloom to the game, as well as crop the movies to fill widescreen (there will still be some black bars on the bottom).

Next, unzip the files and drop all of the files in the "SS2 root folder" into your System Shock 2 directory. Providing the gog.com version is fully patched to NewDark as with my disk version, it should work from here.

One final note: it may be due to how I installed mods, but I never got the Nurse Bloom model to work in my game. I did make an adjustment per Vurt to get his Security Door to work with SHTUP, as the texture looks a little nicer than the SHTUP version.

Final Final note: At the time I made the zip this morning, I wasn't aware of the "rebirth" intro movie. If there's demand, I could dump it into a newer version of the file collection later on if it's easy to get the game to play it in place of the original movie file.

Misc mods:
400-ACC-v.11
Rebirth 02-Kolya/Cyberblutch-v02.7
Nurse Bloom custom model-Rocketman/Eldron
Shock Music Update (SHMUP)-Schattenv1.1
Hi-res player models (multiplayer)-leaf
Eldron Psi-Amp-Eldron-v2
Earth Dynamic Sky-Voodoo47
Shock Texture Update Project (SHTUP)-Kolya and others-best6.7
EMP Rifle and materials-Rainalkar and his roommate, Rocketman
Improved black egg-voodoo47


Vurt:
Hi-res space textures-v1.1.7
Security Door
Better Water Mod-v5.1
Flora Overhaul-v03b
Dripping Goo-v1.0
Biomatter-v1.0
Egg Vanialla Version-v1.0
Vurts hires space with Earth (Requires ADaoB, which is not included in this file due to gameplay changes by the authors of ADaoB)
Improved Turret & Muzzle Flash


Mercurius:
Pistol (ADaoB028-compatible)-v1.1b
Wrench-v1.0
Shotgun-v1.0
Laser Pistol-v1.0
Assault Rifle-v1.0
Grenade Launcher-v1.0

Rocketman:
Viral Proliferater
Shield Generator
Psi-amp world model
Shard
Annelid Launcher
Fusion Cannon

A true god among men. I salute you sir.

 

[mindcycle]

Here is a link to the mods that I use for System Shock 2. Some might quibble about Rebirth, and I'm not wild about some of the human models, but this pack is meant to aggregate the many many (Many?) mods that are out there into one, easy to install graphics pack for people who just want to install the mods and get on with it instead of taking an hour of going through threads at Systemshock.org, some of the mods were a bit hidden in the threads. Also, I created NONE of these models, I justed zipped them together to make it convenient for new players to graphically update their game. I was planning to awhile ago, but after I found out SS2 was coming out yesterday, I figured now was the time.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7fJVuW-Yul-RGhDOS1jVzNLakE/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks man!

 

[zerogear]

You sir, are awesome. I will download it before some mod author bitch about it a la Skyrim

What is the rebirth intro movie?

 

[exdeath]

If you value that meat, you'll do as I say, INSECT!

 

[Shadowknight]

It's this thing, which is a (partial?) remake of the waking up from Cryosleep movie after the game starts: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112595

Also, I messed up with the Earth dynamic sky mod. The new sky folder needs to be in the base System Shock 2 directory, not in the DataPermMods directory. So if you want to see a better sky in the first level (for the tiny portion of the map it's visible) move the newsky folder from DataPermMods to the base directory. For anyone who hasn't downloaded the file yet, I've uploaded a corrected version below.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7fJVuW-Yul-MDRKTm5STGxWcVE/edit?usp=sharing

Note: I will try to update the link in my posting to the new version tomorrow; for some reason I can access the mobile version of the forums, but not the normal version, and I can't seem to edit my previous post with the mobile version.

Any by the by, I did get one of the authors to tell me doing the mass zip was pointless because the mods change too much; but the weapons mods are static with the exception of the EMP gun, and I think users would be appreciative of saving themselves an hour having to download 31 files individually (assuming they wanted the same files I put in the zip).

 

[surfsatwerk]

Thank you for all this.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Yay, they're finally selling this game again!

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

I've easily played through it more than 10 times, and it still ranks in my top 3 games of all time (up there with Deus Ex 1.)

 

[irishScott]

So I bought it and started my first playthrough, still early on, but one thing I noticed is that the weapon hotkeys are unassigned by default for some strange reason. So you have to manually bind them. Not hard, takes all of 1 minute in the options->controls screen. Just an overlooked fluke I guess.

Been running solid on Windows 7 64 though, no instability or crashes. Movies play fine, no complaints. Haven't tried any mods yet, but I don't see why they wouldn't work.

 

[DominionSeraph]

one thing I noticed is that the weapon hotkeys are unassigned by default for some strange reason. So you have to manually bind them. Not hard, takes all of 1 minute in the options->controls screen. Just an overlooked fluke I guess.

Can anyone confirm this with the gog version? They're assigned by default in my retail 2.3 CD version and updating to 2.4 doesn't change this; so if true it's an oversight by gog's patch team.

I just noticed on reinstall that original SS2 didn't have proper WASD (keyboard turning with A and S! Back set to X.) Did gog fix that one?

Haven't tried any mods yet

Get the texture mod. Before and after SHTUP beta 6:

 

[Dankk]

Can anyone confirm this with the gog version? They're assigned by default in my retail 2.3 CD version and updating to 2.4 doesn't change this; so if true it's an oversight by gog's patch team.

I just noticed on reinstall that original SS2 didn't have proper WASD (keyboard turning with A and S! Back set to X.) Was this changed by gog?

Installed the GOG version. Weapons don't have keybinds by default, and WASD isn't default either. No big deal, only takes a minute to change, and it's not like I don't always customize my keybinds anyway.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Weapons don't have keybinds by default, and WASD isn't default either.

Is WASD the original keybinds (A and D to turn and S to crouch, with X being back) or are they not assigned at all?

I just noticed that my SS2 came with a "Standard FPS" keybind file which sets the controls right.

 

[Dankk]

Is WASD the original keybinds (A and D to turn and S to crouch, with X being back) or are they not assigned at all?

I just noticed that my SS2 came with a "Standard FPS" keybind file which sets the controls right.

"W" was set to forward, but "Q" and "E" were set to strafe left/right, and "A" and "D" were set to lean. So I just reversed those ones. For whatever reason, "S" wasn't set to backward, so I changed that one too.

I don't understand the concern. This is why we're PC gamers. We can change these things.

Am I the only one who goes through and checks all the keybinds in every new PC game I buy?

 

[DominionSeraph]

I don't understand the concern.

Because it's a bug apparently created by GOG. Weapons have been set to the number keys since Doom. To have the weapons unassigned makes the developers look like noobs.

I sent off feedback, suggesting that GOG uses the Standard FPS keybind as their default. There's really no reason to be using the ridiculous keyboard turning defaults of the pre- Half-Life era (or whatever weird leaning setup GOG set them to).

 

[Shadowknight]

Updated link with corrected newsky folder placement; attached readme crediting all owners credit: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7fJVuW-Yul-MVRKOGNaQWJ1aVE/edit

As to the keybinds, either the original game didn't have them bound by default, or it's due to the ss2tool (which I belive the version on gog is patched up by). I run an original, and the number keys for weapons weren't bound by default either.

 

[DominionSeraph]

or it's due to the ss2tool

Just checked. That does it. SS2Tool deletes the files in the BIND directory and creates a user.bnd in the root with the weird lean setup described above. I shot an email off to GOG with a revamped user.bnd that switches to standard WASD, removes c as cycling through weapons, assigns health hypo to h instead of leaving it unassigned, and binds weapons to their SS2 defaults.

 

[marmasatt]

This game is not to be missed. This game introduced me to PC Gaming. I couldn't believe how scary it was. It's so dark and cold. As someone else mentioned, the moaning in the background....the loud clank of dropping something on the floor....

 

[bigi]

For 1st time players, I highly recommend playing vanilla.

 

[you2]

Do we still need to run sstool first as well as patch to 1.4 (do we first patch then run sstool?); this is for the disk version (if I can find my disk; maybe it would just be easier to buy the gog version?)
-
Anyways thanks for doign this and i love that you use tar (i'm a linux guy). Btw i couldn't find the hash (sha256 or md5) but then again gzip and tar didn't see any errors

Updated link with corrected newsky folder placement; attached readme crediting all owners credit: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7fJVuW-Yul-QjNaaDBURHdUZU0/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1

As to the keybinds, either the original game didn't have them bound by default, or it's due to the ss2tool (which I belive the version on gog is patched up by). I run an original, and the number keys for weapons weren't bound by default either.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Do we still need to run sstool first as well as patch to 1.4 (do we first patch then run sstool?); this is for the disk version (if I can find my disk; maybe it would just be easier to buy the gog version?)

It looks like SS2Tool 4.8 will patch you up to 2.4.

 

[ControlD]

For 1st time players, I highly recommend playing vanilla.

I pretty much agree with this. I would probably recommend installing the texture upgrades, but leave any of the game play mods for a second play through. I never really thought the game needed much in the way of mods anyhow.

In case anyone is interested, the GOG version plays like a champ under Linux via WINE. I am using the PlayOnLinux package, but I imagine regular WINE would work fine as well.

 

[Daverino]

I swear I'm the only person in the world who found this game 'not so great.' The game may seem to give you a lot of choices, but it is quickly clear that a lot of skills are total garbage and some are absolutely critical. If you go into it blind with the Deus Ex "I'll play my way" idea, you'll be sorely disappointed. Many of the weapons are useless, as are many of the skills.

The most striking disappointment, though, was the environment. At no time was I ever convinced I was on a space ship. Square rooms, rectangular corridors, repeat. I probably played the game through a half a dozen times for the wrong reasons. It wasn't to explore the different ways of beating the game. It was to not make the same bad development decisions I did on the earlier try.

The only thing SS2 accomplished, in my book, was setting up games like Deus Ex. But really, I think SS1 did that as well. I enjoyed SS1 much more thoroughly.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I loved the game, and I've only played it once....so why would you play a game you don't like half a dozen times?

 

[you2]

I played it once aruond 2004; had the original disks from 2001 or 2 and never got around to playing. It was ok - I can't remember what else I was playing around that time; maybe I was in my age of wonders phase and took a break to play deus and system shock. To be honest when I first played half life (aruond 1998 or 1999) that was a wonderful experience. I remember commically writing an email to tech-support explaining that my legs were too short because I couldn't jump over some lasers and how I could fix my legs (there is a spot in half life where you have to hop up some stairs that have lasers on each one and for some reason I couldn't quite do it ) Oddly when I replayed around 2008 i had no issues at all - maybe the newer steam version came with longer legs

 

[irishScott]

I swear I'm the only person in the world who found this game 'not so great.' The game may seem to give you a lot of choices, but it is quickly clear that a lot of skills are total garbage and some are absolutely critical. If you go into it blind with the Deus Ex "I'll play my way" idea, you'll be sorely disappointed. Many of the weapons are useless, as are many of the skills.

The most striking disappointment, though, was the environment. At no time was I ever convinced I was on a space ship. Square rooms, rectangular corridors, repeat. I probably played the game through a half a dozen times for the wrong reasons. It wasn't to explore the different ways of beating the game. It was to not make the same bad development decisions I did on the earlier try.

The only thing SS2 accomplished, in my book, was setting up games like Deus Ex. But really, I think SS1 did that as well. I enjoyed SS1 much more thoroughly.

Have you ever been aboard an actual, sizable ship? Especially one with a military focus? Square room and rectangular corridors are the norm, because they're efficient to build and use space efficiently. If that takes away your feeling of being on a starship, I'm not sure what to say.

Uh, I don't remember any "useless" weapons from my playthroughs. There were weapons I had a hard time finding ammo for, but when I did find ammo they were certainly used.

And there are roughly 3 ways to play the game, corresponding to your class choice in the beginning. It's just harder to actually play differently due to the difficulty.

I remember when you first encounter the cyber-ninjas (which are a lot cooler than they sound), I was low on ammo with one shitty condition weapon and actually hid and memorized their patrol patterns before moving. Took about 20 minutes to get the timing down, but I essentially turned it into a stealth game.

Also, there are no "useless" skills, but there are skills you should prioritize, like any good RPG. Go into any RPG and make Charisma your maximum priority, and you're fucked in combat. Go into System Shock 2 and neglect everything in the name of, say "cyber-affinity", same results.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think you're on crack.