System Shock Remake Demo Available Tomorrow

[heywood]

Now that I've tried it, I agree, dishing out a blow with the pipe looks almost the same as taking one. SS2 got this right, they should look for inspiration there.

[driver]

So I've just played through the latest beta backer release and... I have some reservations. First off I'll not spoil any of the big changes regarding Citadel, I'll leave that be. While I enjoyed the game for the most part, my one overall gripe with the game is the tiny inventory. With the demo that released a while back, by the time I finished Med my inv was full and I wondered about that. With the full game I was constantly battling with shunting things around, discarding things I hoped I wouldn't need, resigning myself to only 4-5 weapons (as opposed to the 8 you could carry in the original) and having to pass on interesting weapons that I might have made use of in certain circumstances, but couldn't justify dropping one of my more man-stay weapons to make room for it. I did find an inv expander which gave me a 6 more slots, and I'm guessing there might eb at least one more, but I didn't come across it and I was pretty thorough.

Has anyone else played the latest beta? Did you have the save inv problems? The cargo lift/resident evil item chest seemed like a rough patch to manage the smaller inv, but it was tiny too. Of I were to suggest solutions, I'd either say add more inv expanders and put them reasonably early on and/or have ammo not take up space, use the original's ammo pool so you don't have to faff about and worry if leaving ammo behind is going to bite you in the ass later.

[D'Arcy]

I've been playing it (just got to the Reactor level) and the inventory is also something that I struggle with. Especially since they introduced the recycling part, so I keep making several trips to the recycler in order to get more credits (I have no idea how many will be necessary, so I just hoard everything - I do this in SS2 too). By the time I finished the medical level, and even though I had bought every available ammo cartridge and weapon upgrade, I still had 306 credits because I recycled every single object that could be directly converted into credits, and vaporised all the others that could be converted into scrap - which then was recycled into credits.

One thing I disliked was the fact that every time you enter cyberspace, everything is reset. Meaning, you don't get to keep your software from one cyberspace to the next, and also that you have to do it all over again. In the original, and especially with short time periods before SHODAN detects you, I would deal with cyberspace in several attempts, meaning, I would go in, clear up some enemies, then get out before detection. Then I'd go in again, clear out some more enemies, or drill some items protected by ICE, and so on. In the demo, if you get out and get back in, you need to clear out all enemies again. This is annoying.

Two small questions: How can we get to the battery in the radioactive pit in Medical? Since we no longer have the ability of climbing vertical surfaces unless there are ladders, and I don't see a way of dropping from above, I have no idea how to get it. The second one: where is the Research cargo lift? I must be blind, because I'm unable to find it. Found it in the Reactor level and in Medical, but no idea where it is located in Research.

But overall I'm enjoying the demo. One thing that they managed to do was to keep the pace from the original game. No need to run and gun, you can just take things at your own pace and explore everything, which I really enjoy.

[driver]

Yeah, the inclusion of recycling was another headache regarding the small inventory. I noticed it was more efficient to recycle some items 'whole' rather than vaporize into scrap then recycle, which means they take up even more space in your inventory.

The cargo lift in Research is Next to the cyborg conversion chamber, in the central ring Speaking of which, if you find the code to shut down the bot maintenance on that level, I'd like to know. I got my ass handed to me by all the Sec-1 bots that kept respawning. I looked for it in the same place as the original and couldn't see it.

I was disappointed by the reset in cyberspace too, though I usually managed to one-shot each area. The lack of use for the ICE drill also annoyed me as it's only used for removing ICE from enemies now. Not being able to upgrade my software and starting from scratch each time felt like a step backwards.

As for the battery, I think you have to take the hit from the radiation and use the force lifts to get back out. I didn't see any other way.

[D'Arcy]

It's precisely the fact that recycling some items 'whole' gives you more credits that made it a pain for me - it just meant multiple trips back and forth to the recycler, especially to recycle broken weapons, which yield the most credits.

I did find that code. Unlike in the original, where you could find the code written in a small piece of paper next to the keypad, in this case it's in a small data stick that is easy to miss - if my memory isn't failing me, it's in Delta quadrant, inside the room with a view to the room in Gamma where you find the X-22 isotope. The code is also different from the original: it's 371 instead of the original 623. [Edit]Nevermind, I just noticed where the cargo lift is, I was really being blind.

As for the battery, my problem is that even after dropping down to the radiation pit I couldn't find a way to get up to the platform where the battery is. It's not particularly important, I just tend to get obsessed about getting everything.

In the original game it was almost impossible to one-shot every cyberspace area, especially in the latter levels. I always play with cyberspace set to 3 and you get a very short timer, which gets shorter every time.

[Nameless Voice]

I gave up on recyling items in most cases. You generally only get half as much for vaporising them into scrap (a sentence which makes no sense!) and recycling that, but it's still more than enough to buy everything I've seen for sale so far and still have ~150 credits left. (I've only played through Medical and Research so far.)

I did find it funny that the most valuable items for recyling that I've found - the broken assault rifles dropped by cyborg assassins - don't fit into the recyling machine, so you have to scrap them.

[driver]

Your memory isn't failing you, it was exactly where you said it was. Thank you

It does seem that the code itself is randomised, though. Which I approve of.

As for recycling. I pretty much gave upon larger items from about mid way through, and even then I had about 270 credits by the time I finished it. There wasn't much I wanted from the vending machines barring the 3-4 upgrades I got. If you carry on as you are, you'll probably be a millionaire by the end.

[D'Arcy]

Well, I just finished cleaning up the reactor level and even after buying every ammo and upgrade, I have 406 credits. I was hoping that recyclers in higher levels would be big enough to accommodate the broken assault rifles.

I just started Maintenance and my first impression is that it's a LOT less challenging than the original. Even after all these years, the three places I fear the most in the original game are the central hub in Maintenance, Beta Grove, and the Autobomb maze in the bridge. My usual strategy in Maintenance is having the shield up all the time, and using the laser rapier on the inviso-mutants. In the beta all I need is the shotgun, which for some reason uses ammo named 'flechette'. By the way, I miss the Flechette; it was my weapon of choice for the groves.

And randomising at least some of the codes is a nice touch, I wasn't expecting that since the armoury code in Medical is the same one as in the original.

[driver]

I suppose the audio logs that provide codes would have to be static, the ones written down would be easy enough to change.

I missed the Flechette too, but the shotgun provides an acceptable alternative for dealing with organic foes. I'm a little puzzled as to why it has two anti personnel ammo types as buckshot and rifled slugs would have made more sense. I also miss the dartgun but I can understand why it was dropped. Once you left medical it barely saw any use.

As for the other weapons I haven't tried the grenade launcher as I couldn't justify the 8 slots it took up. I approve of the change to the railgun to put it in line with what we're used to since Quake 2. Not so keen on the burst/full auto assault rifle as I never had 'enough' round to justify spraying it around. I was surprised to find a Skorpion so early on. IIRC there were two in the original and you got the first around Deck 7? I found my first one much earlier, and it also uses the same ammo as the minipistol. The blaster was missing though in its place was an upgrade for the Sparqbeam. This seems like a placeholder as it was the only upgrade that increased the size of the weapon (that I saw). Didn't try the exp Plasma Rifle (same reason as GL), though I see it now uses ammo rather than energy. Magpulse is far too weak. Even 'overclocked' it took 3x3 shots to knock down a sec-2 bot. I ran out of ammo pretty quick later on.

No sign of the tranq pistol or riot gun. No surprise there, really.

:edit:

Oh, and in case anyone missed it like I did (until about 4/5 of the way through the game), you can unlock the quickbar so it doesn't force you to use set slots for weapons/grenades/patches. It's in the options under Accessibility/Interface.

[D'Arcy]

The nerfed Magpulse is seriously pissing me off. And yes, in the original the first Skorpion could be found in Engineering. To me it's the most powerful weapon in the game and the one from the beta doesn't seem to be comparable - I just ditched it.

[driver]

Kept the Skorpion right up until the end. Ammo was pretty common for it and with the teflon rounds it could tear through Cyborg Enforcers pretty easily. I wanted to experiment more with the other weapons but the limited inventory was just so frustrating. Hopefully they'll add in for expanders, I only found one and I was being pretty thorough.

[D'Arcy]

Yeah, I just went back and got the Skorpion. I'm finding it quite useful at the moment, especially given how weak the Magpulse is. And the grenade launcher is actually good, it's just a pity that it takes up so much inventory space.

Also, the energy consumption of the envirosuit (at least the v1) is absolutely insane. And I have no idea if this is a bug or not, but I seem to be consuming energy for absolutely no reason. I have all my wares switched off, yet my energy keeps slowly depleting. This is making the game very hard to play. It seems to have started doing this when I reached the Flight Bays level.

[driver]

That could be a bug, I don't recall having any trouble with the enviro suit draining my energy that much. I did use the ion rifle a lot once I got my hands on it, so that was mostly responsible for my many trips back to a charging station.

[D'Arcy]

Okay, a question: did you find out how to open the door after the fight with the Cortex Reaver? I get a message saying that it's jammed and a manual reset is required, but I couldn't find how to do it. I ended up leaving the same way I got there.

The energy thing somehow sorted itself out, so that must be some sort of bug.

[driver]

I think I found the assault rifle in an adjacent room, but that other door remained locked and I couldn't find a way to open it. There were a handful of doors that were locked and required 'manual reset' that I never opened. Whether that's just another type of 'broken beyond repair' door that can't ever be opened, or maybe it's something the final release will make available I'm not sure.

[D'Arcy]

In the original, there is a hidden panel that we can open which gives us access to a repulsor that allows us to leave that room, sparing us from going all the way back the same way we got in. I assumed that this door would do the same. But I've clicked all over the room on the panels, looking for something hidden that would allow us to open that door. No luck.

[Nameless Voice]

The energy thing is annoying in that they don't tell you your usage anywhere, unlike SS1 which printed it on-screen every time it changes.

In the original, I seem to recall that you could permanently bug your energy consumption if you had a piece of energy-using hardware active, and then picked up an upgraded version of that hardware which no longer used any energy. The old energy drain would stay there forever. I think it was maybe the biological monitor which did this?
Wonder if they've managed to add a similar bug.

[D'Arcy]

I only remember an energy bug in the floppy disk version (it was no longer present in the CD version) where your maximum energy consumption was limited to a number (which I believe was something like 255 JPM or whatever the unit was). This meant that if you switched on enough hardware to go above that number, you could then switch some of it back off and you'd get 'free' energy for anything that went above 255. For example, if you switched everything on and that would consume 350 JPM, the energy consumption was effectively still only 255. So if you then switched off some of it in order to reduce the consumption by 255, anything that remained on was 'free'. This meant that I could usually have the head lantern and the shield permanently on.

The bugs I experienced in the beta were just annoying. First, I noticed that whenever I went into a contaminated area, my energy would get drained way too fast. And then, even if I had everything switched off, my energy would still keep slowly draining. I have no idea what I did to make it stop, but at some point it did stop draining.

[driver]

I didn't have a problem with my energy usage, but I did encounter an annoying bug after visiting Beta grove. The *HRK* noises the hacker makes when suffering radiation/bio contamination wouldn't stop. They went on long after I detoxed, which was intensely irritating. Thankfully they stopped when a kindly maintenance bot set fire to my legs.

[D'Arcy]

Have you all responded to the survey? I just did mine, hoping that at least some of the stuff I disliked in the Beta will still change until the final release.

[driver]

There's a survey? How can I access it?

:edit:

Scratch that, found it.

[D'Arcy]

By the way, I just found a second inventory expansion. The two I found so far were in Storage and in Delta Grove.

[driver]

Patch came out for the beta backer demo, among the fixes were hardware energy drain issues and software now being saved correctly in cyberspace.

[D'Arcy]

Good, I complained precisely about those in my survey. I hope these fixes are backwards compatible and that we don't need to start a new game, but I'll check that later on - about to enter Beta Grove.

[driver]

Where abouts did you find the inventory expander in Storage?. I've combed that level all over and can't find it.

:edit:

I found out how to open that door after the fight with the Cortex Reaver. There's a passageway in that room that contains an assault rifle, on the wall to the left of it is a button that unlocks that door allowing you access to the lift.