Nightdive Studios has used a Q&A in its latest Kickstarter backer update to talk about the current state of its long-awaited System Shock remake.
The update walks backers through the game’s box art, its steel case cover, and its 80-page in-universe user manual. The publically-available update included some new screenshots, which I’ve dropped into the gallery below, and a reminder to fill in their backer survey.
And then Nightdive got down to business.
Regarding the state of the System Shock remake, Nightdive says “the game can essentially be played from beginning to end”. With this in place, Nightdive says it now shifts its focus to areas previously considered a lower priority — weapon collision with level geometry, and certain front-end menu and UI elements.
Asked why it has kept content drops and looks at in-progress assets to a minimum, Nightdive says it means nothing by it. The goal, according to Nightdive, is to simply preserve a few surprises, even for returning System Shock veterans. “There has at times been a misconception that if we don’t show something it’s because it hasn’t been made or that it’s been removed from the game. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Nightdive also offered some clarity on the size of the current team at work on the System Shock remake. “Right now, we have around 15 or so people working on the game,” reads the post. “It’s a small team (even smaller than the team who worked on the original game!)” That’s a remarkably small crew to be working on a project of this size, and it would certainly go a long way to explaining why it has taken so long to get to this point.
The project opened its Kickstarter in late June 2016, and has been in production since. In the intervening period, Nightdive has become a regular name in revitalising old games for modern platforms. Its update of id’s Doom 64 accompanied the launch of Doom Eternal in 2020. It worked with id again in 2021, launching an updated version of Quake for modern consoles and PC. It most recently launched Shadow Man Remastered for modern consoles and PC, and Powerslave Exhumed only last week.
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