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Development on the new System Shock has been paused

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Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios has written up a post on the System Shock reboot Kickstarter, to state that development has been paused. Pretty strange, considering how positive their post was in January…

I won't quote all of it, just the parts that aren't rambling:

Maybe we were too successful. Maybe we lost our focus. The vision began to change. We moved from a Remaster to a completely new game. We shifted engines from Unity to Unreal, a choice that we don’t regret and one that has worked out for us. With the switch we began envisioning doing more, but straying from the core concepts of the original title.
[…]
The more that we worked on the game, the more that we wanted to do, and the further we got from the original concepts that made System Shock so great.

Changing engine wouldn't have been a quick thing to do, so they lost time with that. Then it just all reads like they kept wanting to add more and more and lost all real focus on what exactly they were making. Sounds like a classic case of feature-creep to me, too little focus.

He does say very clearly it's not cancelled, just that they're taking a break:

I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but NOT ending the project. Please accept my personal assurance that we will be back and stronger than ever. System Shock is going to be completed and all of our promises fulfilled.  

So it's going to take longer, let's just all be glad it's not another time I'm having to write about Linux specifically being delayed or cancelled.

This is probably going to sting a little for the people that pledged to it, having the CEO of a respected developer come along basically saying they all screwed up. Could this be the next Duke Nukem Forever? I joke of course, but there's a fair few unhappy backers making themselves known. They had some pretty high pledge levels too, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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27 comments
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Feist Feb 17, 2018
A real pity, while there are many other titles I look forward to, both during the spring of 2018 as well as the rest of the year, this was one of my most highly anticipated.

As mentioned above, I really hate these kind of vague & unspecific statements that mostly creates more questions rather than provides tangible answers. Too often these kind of: "Something has been messed up, but keep your chins up because things will work out eventually...probably...maybe...or not", turns out to actually end with the "Or Not" part.
Foxy Feb 17, 2018
First they ask for more money to keep up the project & now they decided to cancel it ???

Unbelievable...
scaine Feb 17, 2018
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Quoting: FoxyFirst they ask for more money to keep up the project & now they decided to cancel it ???

Unbelievable...

The article is pretty clear that it's not cancelled, but maybe you should read the original comment to make up your own mind.
TheRiddick Feb 17, 2018
I heard their also commissioned to produce System Shock 3??? did I read that correctly somewhere?
I love system shock so I hope they get this remake done and do it justice, and are able to make system shock 3.

I love Sci-Fi tech cyberpunk sort of stuff, never really enjoyed the bioshock or that other city in clouds game...too unrealistic and cartoonized.


Last edited by TheRiddick on 17 February 2018 at 4:27 pm UTC
14 Feb 17, 2018
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Taking a break, like when you're done with High School and "take a year off" before going to university? Mmm....
Eike Feb 17, 2018
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Quoting: 14Taking a break, like when you're done with High School and "take a year off" before going to university? Mmm....

No, more like when you went to university say a year, and then take a little break, you'll sure continue, later, some time, just earn some money in between...
TheSHEEEP Feb 17, 2018
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Quoting: TheRiddickI heard their also commissioned to produce System Shock 3??? did I read that correctly somewhere?
I love system shock so I hope they get this remake done and do it justice, and are able to make system shock 3.
No, SS 3 is being developed by Otherside Entertainment.

There's no real connection here - other than the franchise, obviously.
TheRiddick Feb 17, 2018
Really they shouldn't have a issue with feature creep for this title when you consider SS1/2 exist. Just look at what features those have and replicate them with a modern touch. Sounds like they started creeping into something we might have expected to see in SS3 at some stage...
Foxy Feb 17, 2018
Quoting: scaine
Quoting: FoxyFirst they ask for more money to keep up the project & now they decided to cancel it ???

Unbelievable...

The article is pretty clear that it's not cancelled, but maybe you should read the original comment to make up your own mind.

Before saying that kind of things maybe you should learn to build your own opinion instead of believing things of one person especially when this guy who was supposed to lead the project ended up by tooking the money of thousands people to play with it.

Sorry but I don't support this !
roothorick Feb 17, 2018
Honestly, I never liked the idea of a straight refresh, just kinda shook my head at that. They should have set out to do a ground-up reenvisioning of the story of Citadel Station and SHODAN's corruption right from the start, with a modern refinement of the mechanics of SS2. Particularly, put more narrative in it, setting the game a bit earlier in the timeline so you're tromping around Citadel as things are going to hell.

I also don't know what I think about SS3. She shouldn't turn into another cliche of a villain that keeps getting "I'll get you next time!" type comebacks. Go for the throat, Night Dive. Let her win.


Last edited by roothorick on 17 February 2018 at 9:46 pm UTC
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