Night Dive Twitch Streams

[664703fa17c55voodoo47]

trademark snipers

googling the term did not produce usable results, but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same as patent trolls?

[664703fa17dfcicemann]

Yes. So Stephen talks about applying for trademarks over various things, but snipers getting in (after being tipped off by some unknown person) and getting the trademark first.

[664703fa17f27voodoo47]

yeah, that is a shitty thing to do, and it will probably take half a century to see a proper legislation that would make it illegal (though patent trolling has already been made harder in the more civilized countries, if memory serves).

[664703fa185aasgupta]

There was no stream 05/28/18 because Daniel was unavailable (and it was also Memorial Day for those of us in the US).

On 05/30/18, Karlee played more Don't Starve - Shipwrecked.  No guests with her this time, so not much new, but there were a few details:

* There are plans to have more developer stream variants starting next month with a new streaming schedule coming very soon; some new people streaming different things.  (Someone watching suggested they'd like to see textures being applied to the greybox, and Karlee said that might be possible, but no guarantees; there was also talk of programming streams, but it sounded like that was a maybe and might not be System Shock if they were to happen).

* They're still working on the new source-based version based on the Mac source to replace Enhanced Edition and plan to stream that once it's done; they may fight for who gets to do that =oP ; no promises of release date yet.

* The next KickStarter update is currently planned for June 08.

[664703fa18787Synaesthesia]

I'll be streaming on June 14th and June 28th. Trying to save some stuff for you guys to see being textured live instead of just presenting already-finished art assets.

[664703fa18c47sgupta]

June 01 Dev Stream w/ Stephen

* A movie club is starting for Stephen's stream - each week, there'll be a movie recommended, and then a bit of discussion during the next stream.  This week's assignment is The Animatrix.

* They talked about Underworld: Ascendant by Otherside, and it was just announced it would be coming out sometime around September.

* When asked, they said they are planning a few scripted scenes.  One example is a SERV-BOT appearing to work on something, but when it notices the player, turning around and having bloody claws from mangling/harvesting a corpse.

* New enemy type planned called Cyborg Surgeon - essentially a unit that goes about its business unless you attack it similar to how the Borg operate in Star Trek. 

* After being asked, they said they hope robots/cyborgs/etc. are a bit more chatty to the player saying uncomfortable things (ie. "May I help you?").

* After being asked, they think in-fighting between enemies that accidentally damage each other could be cool.  It might depend on enemy class - ie., mutants and cyborgs fighting would make sense.

* There's some talk about various systems in place and how they might work differently.  One example they're playing with is cameras spotting you sending/spawning enemies to near your location a bit like System Shock 2 did instead of only being related to security level.

* He worked on the mutant's mouth for the majority of the stream.  Much of the focus was reducing polygons to make the character model more efficient, but also some work on aesthetics.  Vert count went from 9,226 to 257. 

* The Robb Waters art stream should still happen at some point; Robb is still down for it.  The next update will include more information about stretch goals.

* It was asked about when we'd see the hacker player model to see what he (she?) looks like.  There hasn't been much focus on that yet since he isn't seen much apart from cutscenes/promo art.

* There's some talk of GitLab (sp?) that uses SVN to keep files on the cloud and among the different developers synced up.

* Some fun discussion about what cyber-enhancements people would have in real life if they only could have one.  A popular selection was one that kept finger and toe nails trimmed at all times.  =oP  Other suggestions were cloak re Deus Ex and an auto-makeup mod or a mod to prioritize body functions (ie. burning fat instead of growing nails).  Shells and stacks from Altered Carbon was also mentioned, but I didn't get the reference as I hadn't watched it.

* Work was done to try to apply UV's and textures, along with some discussion of how UV's and texture baking works and how you know if you have a good one, relative size of body part textures, etc.  Also some Marmoset baking...which sounds either more or less appetizing than it is (it's basically baking it into a chrome model).

* Anticipated size of the final game in bytes was asked!?  Hard to say at this point.  =oP

* Character models generally take around 2 weeks from start to finish.

* Upcoming streams may finish this model up and texture him.  Also the possibility of putting him into the level.

* Question about when guns will be modeled; all proxies are already done (facsimilies of the original SS1 versions for testing) - they plan to work on and texture these once they get the combat feeling good.

* Some discussion about Noctropolis (which was given away) because it was ported from the Assembly source code.

* They showed a video rough draft promo trailer for a game unrelated to System Shock called Forsaken (a classic being rereleased for at least XBOX One and PC).

[664703fa18da0icemann]

Video 6: Daniel Grayshon - 05.7.2018

* More work on Deck 7
* 6:25 - Showcases his work on the Reactor level
* 0:36:00 - Stephen joins.
* No offense to Daniel, but this ones a bit boring. If your to watch this one, have it running while your doing something else.
* 0:59:00 - Carly joins
* Complaints about not having SS2 source code.
* Stephen's not a fan of the mimic's in Prey.

[664703fa18efdicemann]

Video 7 - Daniel Grayshon - 5.12.2018

* Work on reactor level
* Lots of Q&A
* The updated source code has been held back as the person handling that has uni stuff going on, so will be back onto it after that.
* 1:05:00 - A first for these streams where even with the difficulty and combat set to zero that he keeps nearly dying in SS1 due to the reactor radiation. Which makes blocking out that bit difficult.
* Reactor level 100% finished with blocking out by the end
* Levels remaining for block out completion - 9

[664703fa190c8icemann]

Video 8 - Daniel Grayshon - 05.14.2018

* More work on Deck 7 (Engineering)
* 0:10:00 discussion about Dert's level editor
* Stephen joins - 0:33:00
* Are the audio logs getting re-recorded - Yes. Some completely new ones using backer recordings also.
* Mutant models - Still not finished due to some needed changes
* Percentage for blockmapping completed game wide - 70%
* Apparently someone setup their home security system to use System Shock sound effects - That's pretty damn awesome .
* Their name for their level editor is "System Shock Editor"
* Daniel's opinion of dromed - Crap, but good for it's time.
* Any SS3 news - Nope
* Current roadmap - Backer alpha by September followed by beta.
* Cyberspace - Still unknown

I've already watched video 9 which was Stephen's video (which I put up comments on), so just 1 more to go then I'm up to date.

[664703fa1927ficemann]

Video 10: Daniel Grayshon - 05.21.2018

* More work on Deck 7 (Engineering)
* All levels are built walls and floors then ceilings
* Stephens joins - 0:23:00
* Night Dive's progress on Linux port of SS2 - Completely broken due to outdated tools
* Stephen comments on his eagerness to get the SS2 source code.
* Apparently a video was posted covering this remake and how well it's doing now, and that now ND is listening to the fans and giving us what we wanted in the first place - Completely agree after watching these streams.
* How will music play out - The plan is to go with the same kind of transition between the different tempo's.
* Will there be the option to switch back to the original music - Stephen - Definitely.
* Does Night Dive have any jobs available - Level designers / Environment artists
* What IP's does ND go for - Some by personal interest, some by request, others by chance.

[664703fa193cdicemann]

So apparently via the schedule there should have been 2 additional streams, but I'm not seeing videos up for them on youtube:

Schedule 2018:
June 1st Stephen @6pm PST/9pm EST
June 4th Daniel @2pm PST/5pm EST

[664703fa1954csgupta]

https://www.twitch.tv/nightdivestudios/videos/all

They're here - videos do get uploaded to YouTube, but sometimes it takes a (business) day or two - they should get there eventually, though.  In the meantime, new streams are watchable immediately after happening on Twitch.

[664703fa197c9sgupta]

06/04/18 Dev Stream w/ Daniel

* Daniel alone at first - Karlee jumps in too around an hour in, and Stephen jumps in with about 35 minutes to go.

* Working on Level 7 (Systems Engineering) Greyboxing
 
* No level 8 yet; that will start after 7 is finished.

* Lots of notes on the wall about various traps in this level, because SHODAN is evil =oP

* Level blockout of the Reactor is confirmed finished (he responded to this question, though it was finished on-stream weeks ago).

* Possibility of remake of Thief asked about, but no real answers right now

* Level blockout is now planned to be hopefully done by the end of July, faster than the original plan to have it done by the end of August (still tentative of course).

* Changing ammo types and how that will work exactly is yet to be determined.

* More level weirdness with floors/ceilings not working with the rest of the level layout since they must have a thickness now; he was able to rectify this by lowering that part of the level (which he feels works as well or possibly better anyway).

* Once Stephen joins, there's a discussion about reaching out to someone named Ezra (?) - I'm assuming this pertains to some more System Shock source code out there as discussed in a previous stream, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  Apparently, communication was established briefly, but the person disappeared again.

* Regarding System Shock Enhanced, it's asked and confirmed that the source-based version will have widescreen support!

* There's a discussion about possibly including basic VR support in Enhanced, with feedback requested as to whether that's a desired feature.  Apparently, the original game even supported basic VR (a primitive headset of some kind) at the time.

[664703fa1995afox]

Another "Thanks" for the summaries!

[664703fa19b2cicemann]

Video 11: Stephen - 26.05.18

* Stephen's tracked down exactly who owns what with the "No'one Lives Forever" game, and has made some progress towards acquiring the rights.
* ND might release some System Shock 1 T-Shirts done in the style of the hackers T-Shirt shown in the original intro. - That's pretty cool.
* Mutant got a improved work-over
* Next KS update scheduled for June 6th (today). Planned to be quite lengthy.  - About time
* 0:24:00 - From here onward it's just Turok content. I skipped to 1:30:00 at this point as it was just a big ad for that game in between those times.
* Stephen states that at the end of SS1 you see some of the mechs which were in Terra Nova - Erm no. That's wrong. And he says that their both in the same universe. I don't think that's ever been confirmed. I know that Crusader No Remorse was set in the same universe.
* Nothing else of interest in the video. 90% of this one was just gameplay from Turok.

[664703fa19c27voodoo47]

that's good news - NOLF definitely deserves to be on GOG.

[664703fa19d7fJosiahJack]

  shirts FTW!

[664703fa19f92icemann]

Video 12: Stephen - 02.06.18

* Watching this via Twitch directly. Man the ads are annoying in this. Far more than Youtube and MUCH more in your face. Some of the ads go for several minutes long and aren't skippable.
* Discussion of how to handle the cameras in the game. Some people want it to stay like in the original with cameras just affecting the security level level wide, while others want them changed to behave more like their SS2 variants, where if the camera see's the player then enemies spawn nearby etc.  - Learn from last time ND. Keep it how it was in SS1.
* More zbrush work on mutant
* Will we ever get to see the look of the hacker - Nope
* Many long periods of silence in this one. Another video to have running in the background whilst your doing something else, and look back occasionally to see how his work on the mutant mouth model is going.
* Finally get to see the mouth and teeth added onto the mutant - 1:50:00. Much improved. Still needs work on the eyes.
* When will guns be modeled - Only have test objects setup. Guns wont be taken on until melee combat is 100% sorted.
* Goes to show a trailer for something 2:29:00. PC fails to show it. Gets it working for a bit later. Looks like Descent, but isn't apparently. Turns out to be Forsaken. Cool. I remember that game. Never played it. I assume ND has the rights to that now.

[664703fa1a0edvoodoo47]

- cameras: SS2 style alarms probably aren't such a great idea, however something subtle like making nearby cyborgs go investigate should a player idle for too long in front of a camera might not be too bad.
- Forsaken: yeah, I believe I've heard about NDS getting rights to that one. was one of the nicer early 3dfx games, lets hope for a proper source port (though not nearly as critical - 3dfx wrappers are almost perfect nowadays).

[664703fa1a249icemann]

Video 13: Daniel - 05.06.18

* Daniel's definitely a cyberpunk game fan as he starts the stream off with some Snatcher music.
* More blockout work on Engineering
* Some slight changes to the level due to their engine
* Karly joins - 0:57:00
* Ammo types - Should be the same as in the original, but not decided on.
* Stephen joins 2:02:00
* Mentions about receiving a tip about something. Named Ezra as sgupta mentioned.
* Widescreen - Yup. And possibly VR support.

[664703fa1a700JDoran]

Thanks to everyone for the highlight notes.

And it would be *fantastic* if NDS could get the distribution rights for NOLF, one of the best FPS ever, but maybe a little too old for a lot of current gamers to have played. If anyone here hasn't yet played it, then you really should, it's a long and very enjoyable first person shooter, with good and varied weapons and gadgets, some interesting environments and some great set-pieces, along with some well written and funny dialogue, especially if you creep around and listen to unaware NPCs discussing their problems or views with one-another. It's not perfect, having problems such as forced stealth sections where you fail almost as soon as you're seen, and a couple of big spikes in the difficulty, but it's a classic game with good atmosphere, inventive ideas, interesting characters, and most importantly, it's a lot of fun to play.



>Will we ever get to see the look of the hacker - Nope

Does the new engine not support mirror effects? I personally don't care what the hacker looks like (though I'd bung in male/female and skin colour options for the sake of a little extra work that might please a few players) but I do like seeing working mirrors in first person games, as it makes the game world seem more real, somehow. I don't like how in some modern games (like I think Prey 2017, and the latest Wolfenstein game) the mirror just shows a very blurred array of colours that very vaguely respresent the room, and you don't appear in the mirror at all, instead you see the very bad representation of the room in the mirror, as though you're invisible and the mirror is reflecting the room's view that is passing through you.



>Possibility of remake of Thief asked about, but no real answers right now

Wow! I'm not a fan of remakes or remasters, not if the original game still plays well, but a re-release of the original Thief (and the better overall Thief 2, and the not as good as the first two but still great Thief 3) would be great as it would introduce the games to a lot of gamers who probably haven't played the twenty year old original. I would hope that they could find a way to make the remaster work with the many Thief fan-missions , but that might be impossible if they want the game to use a modern engine for the best graphical results.


>Stephen's not a fan of the mimic's in Prey.

I liked the way the Mimics could mimic everyday objects, but as enemies they weren't very good, as (when they were in their alien form) they were too twitchy and erratic, not difficult to kill, just no fun to kill. Then, when you were used to them, then they were no problem, as you could either use the scanner/scope mask (what was it called?) to see them even though they were mimicking an everyday object, or you could just throw something into a room and if there were any mimics then they'd revert to their alien form as they thought that the thrown object moving near them was an enemy. And since by this point you had gun of some sort, you wouldn't have to go near them and club them to death, you could just shoot them.

Like other aspects of Prey 2017, the mimics were nearly great, but failed from not being developed enough by the game's designers.

[664703fa1a7f2icemann]

Best mirror in a game - Silent Hill 3. That one freaked me out the first time round.

[664703fa1a927sgupta]

06-07-18 Karlee Plays Don't Starve

* Only Karlee today and not a lot new, but a KickStarter update is still planned for Friday.

* Karlee plans on playing System Shock Enhanced at some point, but she's waiting for the new Source port.

* Tomorrow's stream will likely be Noctropolis.

[664703fa1aa85Myagi]

How on earth did Thief come into play? That would be Square Enix territory, not Night Dive.