Let's play System Shock (blind)! (Update #4 uploaded!)

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You heard me, faggots!



Well, it's not a completely blind LP. I'd gotten half way through the Reactor level before starting this LP, but that's still very early in the game, I believe. I'll be playing with the WASD+mouselook mod and bringing you the screenshots in Glorious 800x600! Difficulty is all set to default.

You can download the version I'm using, System Shock Portable, that has WASDouselook, high resolutions and no need for mounting the game right here.

Have fun watching me bumble through this PC classic! Without further ado, let's jack in!

INDEX

Medical Deck

Part 1: Good morning
Part 2: Exploring Medical
Part 3: Cyborg territory

Research Deck

Part 4: Let There Be Light

===

Intro

You've all probably seen this a thousand times, so I won't bother transcribing it. Still, I'm adding it here for completion's sake, and because it is an incredible mood setter.

Soundtrack



We awaken from our coma in this this cozy little healing suit. To our right is healing agent, which we obviously pick up. We continue down the slope and turn to the left door.

I'd just like to point out what a smart move it was to make the starting room like this. Right away, they show off the incredible grafix, lighting and true 3D world.



Phat loot!

We pick up a trusty pipe, a stamina stimulant (full stamina when used, but extremely low when the effects wear off), a berserk combat booster (improved strength when used, but the hallucinations are pretty bad), a mapping unit and a basic access card.



The moment we pick up the Multimedia Data Reader(tm), we get an e-mail.

Oh man, I don't like the sound of this.

We also pick up a log that we wrote ourselves.

Thank you, me.



Pipe in hand, we prepare to venture out into the massive Citadel Station.



Hey there, little rob- Wait, why are you attacking me!?



I fought valiantly, and struck this metallic monstrosity down.



There's another one.



Not anymore!




We also destroy two security cameras in this area, lowering the security level of the level we are on.



We take a SPARQ beam gun off of a corpse. We'll be using this weapon often, as it is powered by our own power, which can easily be recharged at any recharge station, whereas most other firearms use ammo that must be scavenged.




We also get a dartgun and some needle darts, which are great against organic beings,



as well as a frag grenade from a crate.




We then heal up and recharge our on-board power. Gotta keep a lookout for these stations. They will be invaluable.



Dem graphics.



We find an audio log near the exit of this room.

Oh man, this is some rough stuff. Looks like SHODAN is striking down on humans. Gotta keep an eye out for cameras, and try to find this CPU core if I can.



We use the code we had left in the note to ourselves ( :? ) to open the door. Damn, a mutant right there. Luckily, he doesn't notice us right away, so I have the upper hand.



Did these thing use to be... human?

Oh god, we get an e-mail from SHODAN. Don't tell me she's already found us!

Ah, luckily it was just a pre-recorded greeting. Funny thing is, this actually helps us quite a bit. Bet you weren't counting on that, huh, SHODAN!



Well, here we are, out of the healing suite, surrounded by pure carnage. What the hell went on here?

You know what, I don't want to know.



We enter the door on the Western side of this room and take down another robot.



Higher security clearance!



Also, another audio log.

Poor Mira.




We get access to a storage room we couldn't get into earlier with the newly found access card.

We find some very useful stuff in two of the crates, like a frag grenade and some needle darts. In the third one, however...



Won't be needing those, thank you very much.




We go deeper into the station.




Seeing a mutant in the distance, we decide to open fire with the SPARQ beam (Note: I don't know what happened to this screenshot; my apologies).




We then enter a sideroom and dispose of another mutant.

In here we find:



1. Stamina and berserk stimulants.



b) some ammo from a corpse (sadly, we have no gun yet ).



III Another audio log.

I sincerely hope that you did.

Who am I kidding...

Nothing left to do in this room.



Let there be light.



Much better.



We enter another side room and find another audio log.

I'm not particularly optimistic of these guys having made it, but I'll keep this in mind. still, I have to focus on the mission at hand.



Cyberspace, huh?



Looks like this is where I can access cyberspace. Let's read the note on the ground first, however.

Without further ado, let us dive into the most infuriating aspect of the game: cyberspace!





Don't worry, you're not the only one feeling a bit disoriented.





The defensive systems manifest themselves as goofy faces. Nonetheless, they can be dangerous.









Time to leave cyberspace.



Yes! That's opened the doors! What awaits us inside?







The best way to describe this weapon is as an energy rocket launcher. I've got a feeling that this will come in handy quite a bit. Ammo is scarce though, so I will have to be careful about when to use it.

Still, finding this gun makes me feel a bit stronger and a bit more confident about taking on the horrors of Citadel Station.

Which we shall be doing the next update.

The only person that can bring this LP to the Main Page...

Is me...

Carry on, good sir.

I really love this game.
Please continue.

Another classic.
Carry on good sir.

Are you using that SystemShcok_portable version that supports mouse-look and higher resolutions ?

Part 2: Exploring Medical

Indeed I am. I'm playing at 800x600, which is higher than the maximum 640x480 supported by the original release version.

On to Part 2, where we explore more of the Medical deck.

===

Soundtrack



Well, here we are again. Time to advance deeper into Medical.



We enter a room right next to the big hallway right away.



DO WANT.




Luckily, mutants are quite weak, so I can get to this stuff quite easily.

Notice the grating? This must be the stash we found out about in the note we left to ourselves.

We find a frag grenade and a dartgun, which is useless since we have on already. The most interesting thing we get is...



Now, these things are really cool. Once you use them, you see in the dark better, the aftereffect being low visibility. Probably the neatest one of these boost/stimulant things (from what I've seen).



We continue down the hallway to find another recharge station




As we round the corner, a robot opens fire on us. At first you're really afraid of this enemy type, but it quickly becomes apparent that they're quite easy pickings. Especially when shooting them from around a corner.



Teflon rounds! These will come in handy when we find a pistol, as these rounds are very effective against robots.



The door leading to Alpha is closed. We'll come back later.





That must be where we're supposed to get. Note how the wall isn't ruined in the photo. Whether it was done on purpose or not, it's a nice little detail, as no one would be taking pictures of this place after it went to shit.




As we round the corner, we see another Cyborg Drone. He hasn't spotted us, so we dispose of him easily.

What worries me , however, is the blue thing sticking out of around the corner. That there is a Hopper, a pretty annoying enemy. It's shots pack quite a punch, and it's pretty hard to kill with our basic equipment.

Time to pull out the Magpulse!











We take the elevator up to where D'Arcy's office is and are immediately greeted by a completely pointless door.





This hidden door makes up for it though.



One of the 2 rooms here is D'Arcy's office.



The first one is not it. We do find a stungun and a rather interesting note that sheds some light on what happened here, though.

Finally, the place Rebecca instructed us to head to - D'Arcy's office. Let's see what we can find here.



Very good.

We also find an audio log.

Neither do I.

Now, at least, I know what must be done. We have to make our way to the Science level.

Now to find the elevator...




We keep exploring the Medical level, Gamma quadrant being our next stop. We find another audio log almost immediately.

The elevator is in cyborg territory?



Rounding the corner, we take out another drone.




We then enter a little storage room, taking out a mutant and picking up a medical agent and some needle darts.





Up a ladder we find a Biological Systems Monitor v1 (tm). I'll be quite honest, I have absolutely no idea what this does.



In the little garden area, we find another audio log.

Of course. Any leader is better than womyn leader.

I'll keep a lookout for that room, though. A surgery unit sure sounds nice.



Man, this place was weird even before the shit hit the fan.




As we continue through the station, we find an area of pure carnage. I don't want to know what went on here.

There's another audio log here.

I wonder if these are the guys that had set up a stronghold.




This place is giving me the god damn creeps.



See that gray thing in front of the mutant? That's the gun of a Cyborg Assassin, which is bad news for us. These guys do a lot of damage and there's not really an efficient way of killing em. Either that, or I haven't figured it out yet.



We kill it just as it manages to throw a shuriken at as.

Which sucks.



At least I find some needles and pistol ammo.




Yep, the human survivors had set up in Beta Quadrant, guarded by a trench. This is the place. Sadly, it seems to be overrun with mutants, but hopefully I can find some resources here. To do that, I need to activate the force bridge.




This is the most annoying minigame of all, imo. You've got to put the wires in the right slots for the green bar to fill.




That did it.



These things instantly restore your health. Very useful, but very scarce.



Luckily, the Cyborg Assassin falls down as he tries to approach us.



[Perception] We've now gone in circle and are overlooking the force bridge.

Another audio log here.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THIS ONE. The VA is fucking perfect, even better than the relatively high quality of the rest of the audio logs. You can really hear the desperation, fear and guilt in this guy's voice.

A true bro.



The only things left to find here are a sight enhancer and a first aid kit. Now it's time to get the fuck outta Beta Quadrant and head to Alpha, which must be housing the cyborg conversion station and the elevator. Gotta do something about that locked door, though.






Back in the central hub, there's an elevator that takes us down to an important looking room. Going prone means the enemies are in my line of fire, but they're unable to spot me up here.

It's probably safe to go down now.



OH FUCK NO IT'S NOT.



Phew. I probably could've avoided that had I thrown a frag grenade in there.



Four cameras! Time to go pipe crazy!



Destroying the cameras in this room alone has brought the security of this deck down from 90 to 80%. Fuck yeah.



Aha! Those must be the controls to the door to Alpha Quadrant. To get up there I need to activate the red d-pad on the ground so it could lift me up, though.




A button hidden near the ground behind a terminal activates it. While most of the ship is well realized, this mini puzzle (if you can call it that) is really gamey.



We must complete another minigame to open the doors. The goal here is to get the yellow shit from the starting position to the end passing through all the green squares. The stuff flows only through +'s, and changing an X into a + or vice versa affects the surrounding squares too. It's much better than the wire minigame, which pretty much relies on you trying every possible combination, but calling it fun would still be a long shot.



We do manage to open the doors, though!

Next time, we explore Alpha Quadrant and (hopefully) finish up the Medical deck!

I really miss Looking Glass Studios.

Part 3: Cyborg territory

This thread is not satisfying my attention whore needs.

In Part 3 we explore Alpha Quadrant and find the elevator to the Research deck.

===

Soundtrack (same as before)



Well, time to head to Alpha Quadrant. "Cyborg territory", as it was called in one of the logs. Don't like the sound of that. Better go heal up.




I take out a couple of mutants while going back to the Healing Suite, but, surprisingly, I find some mutants in there as well. For some reason I thought that was an area where enemies don't respawn.



Having healed up, I am ready to enter Alpha.





Going prone gives me the chance to shoot the Cyborg Assassin from here. He still manages to get a couple of shots in, however, taking more than 50% of my health away. See what I told you? These guys are assholes.



Oooh, a gas grenade. I bet this will come in handy against crowds of mutants.




I take this drone out by hopping and shooting. The drones in this room also all seem to be carrying frag grenades.




Alpha is filled with robots in ambush positions.



Ah, this is the place that was mentioned in one of the audio logs I found.

If we turn the cyborg conversion unit into a healing unit again, it will heal revive us in case we die.




A lot of the times, leaning is the 'I win' button in this game, it seems.




I manage to take out the 2 drones in the room from the hallway. We find another audio log and flip the switch.

Yeah, as you all probably know, SHODAN's gender wasn't really too well established in SS1. The VA is distinctively female, but SHODAN is often referred to as a 'he'.



Further down the hall, we find an audio log left by SHODAN her- him- itself.

That god damn cunt.





We take out about 4 drones in one hallway, each one of whom had been waiting to ambush me in those little... alcoves? We also take out another Cyborg Assassin.




Another cyborg waiting to ambush us. At least we get some Teflon rounds off of the thing.

Now I just need a pistol.



We take out another camera and are, holy fuck, contacted by SHODAN.

Ooh, I must begetting close to something important.



Around the corner we see this intimidating looking guy. I do believe it's time to switch to the Magpulse.






Holy fuck, that felt good. We had to use a whole 2 shots on the guy, though, which sucks.



Time to go down.

Fuck you, lady!



Ah, these must be the CPU nodes.



Hell yes, a pistol! Great for taking down robots when using the plentiful Teflon rounds.

How to deal with these CPU nodes, though?



With 'nades, what else!




And boom goes the dynamite.

Taking out the last node with the SPARQ beam, we lover the medical deck's security to zero.

SHODAN ain't too happy about that, though.

Once again, LISTEN TO THIS ONE. The way she goes from confusion to anger is superbly done.



As we try to leave the room, we are greeted by an onslaught of Cyborgd Drones and Assassins (even though I only got a screenshot of one ).

We are struck down.

Or are we?



Yup, we're revived in the healing unit!

Now to finally find the elevator.




I let my guard down and ambushed by an Assassin and Drone.



No idea what exactly this does, but



We found it!

As we step on the platform, we get an e-mail.

Well that's just plain old impolite.



Going down the elevator, we find another one of SHODAN's audio logs.

The laser must be disabled post haste!



Ah, and here is the elevator.




Before going into the elevator, though, we check what this switch does. Looks like we're right next to the Healing Suite. An opportunity like this can't be missed.






Back to the elevator.

Music



Next time, we head up to the research deck!

Great LP so far. Details like the terrific voice acting and the elevator music are vital to creating the great atmosphere in this game.

Better resolution and mouse look are excellent enhancements. I really don't understand why there's no legal version of this game with these enhancements. Getting this from GoG ready to run on Win7 would be great.

God work, I never actually played this game but it looks damn fine to me.

Must resist compulsion to play SS1 third time. Must resist...

Great LP indeed, don't worry about low (?) level of Hivemind's interest - DA2 was leaked after all...

SS1 had a different sort of creepiness than SS2, one that I preferred. While SS2 was superb the horror elements had gone a bit too far for my taste.

I still remember these lines and how sinister it sounded when it was clear from the start that everything went wrong. Man, gotta replay this one soon - continue, please

Always had problems with running this.. looks like it's time to try again in glorious 800x600

Don't worry, it won't take long before folk ignore DA2 and come to find refuge in a good game.

Yeah. The "carnal" relation ("Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors...") between the Hacker and Shodan did a lot for the claustrophobic atmosphere of SS1 : you were basically emprisoned in your worst enemy's body, a "crazy machine mother" that helds you in "her womb" against her will for 6 months. The fact that she's trying to create new "perfects lifeforms" while trying to eradicate the hacker, her "undesired child" (and father), is viscerally frightening.

You don't find as much of this "double entendre" in SS2, even if it is a great game, consistent with its predecessor.

Somehow, I agree, with you. SS1 had a bigger impact on me than SS2. And I can give this kind of explanation. But when I played the game, I honestly didn't analyse much of what I felt. Now, I often find it difficult to think it out. Is this really because SS2 did something wrong? Was it too much? Was it less coherent? Less "immersive" (as they say nowadays)? Or was I just already blasé? SS1 may have been the vaccine that prevented me from enjoying any other so-called horror/survival.

And, to OP, good work so far. I'm not sure, I'll follow since, I have played the game too much (I wouldn't follow a Fallout LP, would you?). But it's sure better than a final fantasy LP.

I've always found SS2 to be much better in terms of the atmosphere (and story if you discount the jettisoned grove somehow getting to Tau Ceti).
I'm also the kind of person that liked weapon degradation, and there were some cool things like upgrades and research. Skills/stats were also cool with the exception of terribadly implemented weapon skills.


Still, in terms of the remaining mechanics SS1 was just godlike. I loved hardware upgrades, power slider for weapons, fuckload of different explosives, side effects of EMP grenades, cyberspace (although it was infuriating as a gameplay element) and so on.

The apparent lack of interest is easily explainable - I expect most of the codex to have played SS1, so the bile fascination currently satisfied by Derp Age 2 wins.

Still, do continue, kind sir.


Also, I demand LP of Terra Nova: SFC* later on.

*) A powered armour simulator made by Looking Glass expanding on many mechanical innovations from SS1.

Part 4: Let There Be Light

That's a really cool analysis actually. I'd never actually thought of it that way, but that does kinda nail the feeling of the game.

Much to everyone in this thread.

On to Part 4, where we explore the Research deck!

===

Music



Alright, time to head up to Medical to get the laser override code and Isotope X-22.



OH JESUS CHRIST

I switch to the dartgun.






Oh God, it's over.



Since I'm low on health and right next to the elevator, I head back down to Medical to heal up.



Time to start exploring this place.

Music




Long and gloomy hallways whichever way we look. I opt for going West first.



Interestingly enough, this guy doesn't seem to bother us. Either it's just a bug, or the developers have actually made some rudimentary stealth elements. With a technical marvel like this, I don't know what to think.



Anyway, there are a lot of little rooms in this hallway, so I just start exploring from one end.



We find our first audio log of this deck.

Interesting. This is leading me to believe that there was a moment in time when SHODAN was taking control, but complete and utter war hadn't broken out yet. It's weird that they left this guy alive, seeing that SHODAN is a fan of the whole genocide thing.

Must've been a weird few couple of days/weeks.



We find 3 gas grenades in the next room.



HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE THOSE



Zero-G Mutant. What the fuck. Luckily, they go down quite easily, but still, I'd rather not meet any more of these guys.

We keep exploring.







In this important looking room, we find another audio log.

Another one of those gamey things that ruin the immershun a bit.



We find a note in the other room:

Dog-eat-dog world.



While neither of these look too welcoming, we enter the door on the right.




Well, this room looks interesting. Sadly, I can't get to it from here.

We head the other way.



I probably shouldn't. Who knows how I'll be able to get back where I am.




But I do anyway.

Shooting a cyborg with 2 teflon shots is so god damn satisfying, I tell ya.




A healing unit! The problem is, either I'm retarded, or there isn't a switch to turn it back from a cyborg conversion unit. Maybe it's already in healing mode. I guess we'll see when/if I die.



Flipping a switch here activates an energy bridge.



2 EMP and 2 frag grenades!








Ah, here's Delta Quadrant. Looking at the minimap, you'll notice we've gone in a circle and are now looking at the hallway the elevator room is in. The wire-frame triangle is a waypoint I put in the map. Pay no attention to these.



We take down 2 more mutants.



In the next room, we find an empty briefcase and an audio log with laughably bad VA.

Continuing on...



What the hell happened here.

2 more audio logs in here.

Power outages in Beta? Somehow I have a feeling that I'll need to visit there at some point.



A note in a little side room.

Now I know where I need to head if there's a power outage in Beta.




In another room, we are treated to the view of space. The pitch black background with the tiny stars quite effectively makes you feel isolated. A nice detail that can't be seen in screenshots is that the background (or rather, the station) is rotating ever so slightly.

I'd love to be treated to a view of Saturn at some point, though.





Back in the hallway, we are treated to another puzzle.






PHAT MOTHAFUCKIN LOOT.

We've explored Delta fully, it seems, so back to the hub area.





We shoot another cyborg, and pass by an interesting looking grate and Alpha Quadrant. We'll probably return to it later, but, right now, I've nothing to do here.



What's this?



Y'know what? I probably shouldn't.



I COULDNT RESIST BROS



We've been teleported elsewhere.



Speed boost!



The grate we passed.



Sure is well hidden. I must remember to return when I get a SCI access card.

We can luckily leave the same way we got here.



Well, here's Beta. Sure is dark. Guess I'm headed to Alpha. First I'd like to dispose of that threatening looking robot, though.

Time to pull out the Magpulse again.






I have no use for this ammo yet, but It'll surely come in handy later.

Back to Alpha.



What the!



Luckily, these guys don't have a ranged attack.



Aw, look at that. A securitron. Ain't it cute?

There are 2 audio logs in this room, but we can only grab one from here.

We are once again reminded of our mission by D'Arcy. They're really hammering this home, huh?




We get through the crawlspace by going prone and get to the other audio log.

DONT WORRY BRO ILL SAVE YOU



Heading out of D'Arcy's office, we find ourselves in the thick of Alpha.





There are quite a lot of robots here, which is becoming a recurring theme of Alpha Quadrant it seems, but I take care of them all rather easily.




Except for this motherfucker, who takes me completely by surprise. I'm forced to use some med agents after the fight.



DO WANT.







This must be the circuit breaker.



The light flash and fade a little as I pull the switch, but return back to normal. I do believe I've just restored power to Beta Quadrant.



With that, we leave Alpha.



Ah, much better.

We'll see what Beta Quadrant has in store for us next time!

It's funny that after all these years only 2-4 games came close to the quality of SS1 (SS2, Deus EX, Thief 1-2).

So far I only completed SS1 twice, but I'm sure as hell that I'm going to replay it many times in the future (as I already did with SS2).

For LPing this gem.

Same here, just no luck to be had with running it in DGVesa mode. However, I'm running it in Gulikoza's Dosbox build with 1024x786 resolution and it works like a charm after fiddling with the configs a bit. The biggest problem was the mouse becoming totally wild in freelook, but terribly slow while moving the cursor independently of the screen. If anyone's interested, I managed to solve this by putting the sensitivity to 150 in dosbox.conf (in the folder pertaining to the dosbox build you're running, obviously), as well as adjusting these settings in XCYB.CFG:

Code:

  set hmousemul 1
  set vmousemul 1
  
  set mlook_hsens 100
  set mlook_vsens 50

(hor. sens higher than vertical because for some reason it was very sensitive along the y axis, but slow on the x one).

As for the LP, to you good sir, I had the vague idea of playing SS1 but seeing your LP was the catalyst to putting this idea into practice. Do continue on your epic enterprise.

Wow, SSP is really nice. Mouselook controls make it wayyy too easy though. Finished the first level with nearly 50 medi.



Are there any known bugs? I can't remember having nearly that many the first time I played, and it definitely wasn't because I needed to gobble down almost 40 of them. Enemy spawns also seem to be messed up. I'm seeing a few respawns on the first level, none at all on the 2nd, plenty on the reactor and holy fuck the most evil pieces of shit you ever imagined spawn every 5 feet on the 3rd level.

Last time I've checked SS1 worked fine under dgVesa. But I've tested it on vanilla installation (from CD) not SS1 Portable...
Same thing with the Mouselook mod - it works fine vanilla (WinXP), under dgVesa and DosBox.
You just have to use different options in xcyb.cfg each time...

I've noticed something similar during my 2nd playthrough (WinXP + VDMSound) - enemy respawn may be related to the CPU speed or something...