Our team has proven skilled at "bringing lost and forgotten games back from the depths" despite the difficulties often involved with restoring older titles. Of the preservation projects we've undertaken, fans may be surprised to learn that System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster presented us with some of our greatest challenges to date. We've already spoken about the extensive reverse engineering required due to incomplete and missing source code in an article for the PlayStation Blog, and how this contributed to System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster taking over six years to complete. However, something we haven't delved too deeply into—until now—is how getting the game's co-op multiplayer up and running also required clever development solutions and considerable time to get right.
"When we started on the multiplayer, it was completely non-functional," says Nightdive developer Sam "Reki" Piper. "Years of neglect due to changes from both NewDark and community mods left it in a really dire state. Add to that any errors introduced during reverse engineering, plus the infamous bugs already present in the original game, and… well, you get the picture."
Piper notes that System Shock 2 is programmed as you'd expect an "immersive sim" to be, "with lots of interconnected systems and links that enable all kinds of unique interactions between objects in the world."
"Unfortunately, this becomes a technical nightmare for multiplayer, especially the way it was done in the Dark Engine. Without getting too technical, maintaining all of those links and interactions across the network, with objects being hosted by different players simultaneously was very challenging, both conceptually and technically. We definitely had to break out the proverbial red yarn and corkboard on several occasions."
Aside from being complicated from a programming standpoint, System Shock 2's age heavily impacted its multiplayer functionality. This is because the internet—and the methods used to connect to it—were very different when System Shock 2 first released back in 1999.
"When we started dissecting the multiplayer component of the game to see how it worked, we found a lot of systems in there that were "of the time." For example, the game used DirectPlay, which is nowadays considered a legacy component of Windows," explains Nightdive developer, Daniel Albano.
"All of these elements, combined with how the multiplayer system was programmed in an era of dial-up connections and implemented into an engine that wasn't designed for multiplayer to begin with, meant we knew from the beginning we had a monumental task ahead of ourselves."
Among the dated aspects of System Shock 2's multiplayer that the development team had to contend with was its lack of dedicated servers. Originally, the game required players to share their IP addresses with anyone they wished to play with, and each player had to create and manage their own save files as well.
"The original game had everyone make their own specific save file of their POV, which meant if any player lost their save file, changed computers, or even crashed, the whole playthrough could be lost," notes Piper. "There were also a myriad of visual problems stemming from the network speeds the game was originally programmed for, which often led to desync and a generally poor experience."
It's one thing to get System Shock 2's multiplayer functioning correctly on PC platforms given the game's PC roots, and another thing entirely to have it running smoothly on consoles. For the development team, everything had to feel intuitive while being played with a controller, while maintaining as much of the core experience as possible.
"System Shock 2 is, first and foremost, a PC-centric experience. So, we had to ask ourselves, "How do we keep the game as unaltered as we possibly can, while trying to make the interface as controller-friendly as possible?" notes Albano. "We also had to design a lobby system for the game. All of this combined has led to one of the toughest multiplayer construction projects we've ever taken on as a group."
Fortunately, improving System Shock 2's multiplayer wasn't an "all work, no play" situation. Our developers put hundreds of hours into playing the game with each other to diagnose and troubleshoot issues, and as our recent multiplayer trailer highlights, they had a ton of fun in the process.
"I personally have spent roughly 400+ hours with the team, helping them across all of the platforms with troubleshooting and diagnosing issues," says Albano. "System Shock 2 never stops being fun for me personally, so I was happy to chip in and do my part and help shape the overall experience. (Though I may need a break from the game after we ship, I'll be seeing Assert messages in my sleep!)"
As for Piper: "During my time on the team, we've been doing multiple weekly play sessions and have completed many playthroughs. I've seen MedSci-1 more times than I'd care to admit. Aside from sitting in the corner playing "Swinekeeper" on my GamePig while my teammates fought the big bads, my favorite moments usually involved stuffing copious amounts of booze and cigarettes into an unsuspecting player's pocket—then watching their confusion when they couldn't fit a critical item into their now full inventory."
As fun as the multiplayer is now that the team has poured hundreds of hours into it, it's strongly recommended that players experience the game in single-player first to really soak up the unsettling atmosphere of the Von Braun.
"System Shock 2 is definitely, for the first time playing the game, an experience that should be done in single-player," confirms Albano. "You can only truly experience something for the first time once. But once you have experienced the tension of the station solo, then jumping in with friends for a co-op experience can be a true old-school experience."
No matter which way you choose to play, the chilling campaign and gleefully chaotic co-op multiplayer are ready to shock your systems, with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster launching on PC platforms including Steam, GOG, Humble, and the Epic Games Store on Thursday, June 26.
Due to an unanticipated delay, the console release will follow shortly after, with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster launching on Xbox One, Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch within the first two weeks of July. Stay tuned for an update from our team on the console release date for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster!
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
"When we started on the multiplayer, it was completely non-functional," says Nightdive developer Sam "Reki" Piper. "Years of neglect due to changes from both NewDark and community mods left it in a really dire state. Add to that any errors introduced during reverse engineering, plus the infamous bugs already present in the original game, and… well, you get the picture."
Piper notes that System Shock 2 is programmed as you'd expect an "immersive sim" to be, "with lots of interconnected systems and links that enable all kinds of unique interactions between objects in the world."
"Unfortunately, this becomes a technical nightmare for multiplayer, especially the way it was done in the Dark Engine. Without getting too technical, maintaining all of those links and interactions across the network, with objects being hosted by different players simultaneously was very challenging, both conceptually and technically. We definitely had to break out the proverbial red yarn and corkboard on several occasions."
Aside from being complicated from a programming standpoint, System Shock 2's age heavily impacted its multiplayer functionality. This is because the internet—and the methods used to connect to it—were very different when System Shock 2 first released back in 1999.
"When we started dissecting the multiplayer component of the game to see how it worked, we found a lot of systems in there that were "of the time." For example, the game used DirectPlay, which is nowadays considered a legacy component of Windows," explains Nightdive developer, Daniel Albano.
"All of these elements, combined with how the multiplayer system was programmed in an era of dial-up connections and implemented into an engine that wasn't designed for multiplayer to begin with, meant we knew from the beginning we had a monumental task ahead of ourselves."
Among the dated aspects of System Shock 2's multiplayer that the development team had to contend with was its lack of dedicated servers. Originally, the game required players to share their IP addresses with anyone they wished to play with, and each player had to create and manage their own save files as well.
"The original game had everyone make their own specific save file of their POV, which meant if any player lost their save file, changed computers, or even crashed, the whole playthrough could be lost," notes Piper. "There were also a myriad of visual problems stemming from the network speeds the game was originally programmed for, which often led to desync and a generally poor experience."
It's one thing to get System Shock 2's multiplayer functioning correctly on PC platforms given the game's PC roots, and another thing entirely to have it running smoothly on consoles. For the development team, everything had to feel intuitive while being played with a controller, while maintaining as much of the core experience as possible.
"System Shock 2 is, first and foremost, a PC-centric experience. So, we had to ask ourselves, "How do we keep the game as unaltered as we possibly can, while trying to make the interface as controller-friendly as possible?" notes Albano. "We also had to design a lobby system for the game. All of this combined has led to one of the toughest multiplayer construction projects we've ever taken on as a group."
Fortunately, improving System Shock 2's multiplayer wasn't an "all work, no play" situation. Our developers put hundreds of hours into playing the game with each other to diagnose and troubleshoot issues, and as our recent multiplayer trailer highlights, they had a ton of fun in the process.
"I personally have spent roughly 400+ hours with the team, helping them across all of the platforms with troubleshooting and diagnosing issues," says Albano. "System Shock 2 never stops being fun for me personally, so I was happy to chip in and do my part and help shape the overall experience. (Though I may need a break from the game after we ship, I'll be seeing Assert messages in my sleep!)"
As for Piper: "During my time on the team, we've been doing multiple weekly play sessions and have completed many playthroughs. I've seen MedSci-1 more times than I'd care to admit. Aside from sitting in the corner playing "Swinekeeper" on my GamePig while my teammates fought the big bads, my favorite moments usually involved stuffing copious amounts of booze and cigarettes into an unsuspecting player's pocket—then watching their confusion when they couldn't fit a critical item into their now full inventory."
As fun as the multiplayer is now that the team has poured hundreds of hours into it, it's strongly recommended that players experience the game in single-player first to really soak up the unsettling atmosphere of the Von Braun.
"System Shock 2 is definitely, for the first time playing the game, an experience that should be done in single-player," confirms Albano. "You can only truly experience something for the first time once. But once you have experienced the tension of the station solo, then jumping in with friends for a co-op experience can be a true old-school experience."
No matter which way you choose to play, the chilling campaign and gleefully chaotic co-op multiplayer are ready to shock your systems, with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster launching on PC platforms including Steam, GOG, Humble, and the Epic Games Store on Thursday, June 26.
Due to an unanticipated delay, the console release will follow shortly after, with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster launching on Xbox One, Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch within the first two weeks of July. Stay tuned for an update from our team on the console release date for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster!
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
