Night Dive Twitch Streams

[66470402c94d1unn_atropos]

Dev - System Shock - Stephen Kick - 06.8.2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-CDaThubT0

Zbrush and Q&A w/ CEO Stephen Kick.

---
notes by squpta
06/08/2018 Dev Stream with Stephen Kick

* Only Stephen today as Karlee is at a personal event

* New KickStarter Update - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2208998

* SourcePort Beta (to eventually replace System Shock: Enhanced Edition when final) is available as a Beta branch on Steam - see KickStarter Update for more details; there are some bugs and it's still early, but higher res assets from the Mac version with some extra features (like widescreen support) over regular EE.  (I know I saw somewhere they used the engine used with the Turok remasters, but I can't remember where now - possibly Discord.)

* He's been getting quotes for a Big Box physical release of the SourcePort.  Will likely be a bit pricey and limited (maybe 1,000?) as it'll have extras/physical items and be a nice release for collectors.

* GamePig is coming back (called something else in the original) - they're having a naming discussion (contest?) for options; some so far are GameSlave (Invader Zim reference), GamePiglet, GameHog, Bloatie's PizzaHog, etc.

* There are plans for an original game for GamePig.  He discusses some of the cool things they're still finding like an Ultima-style game in the original (Overworld Zero).

* Stephen's building a chicken coop.  That's non-game related.  =oP  A chicken also joins him briefly on screen, because awesome.  ^.^

* More mutant model work today focusing on the eyes...then it's pretty much done with a polycount of 6.7k.

* Next was baking him into Substance Painter and assigning substances (skin, bone, etc.) to eyes, teeth, skin, etc.

* After that, particle brush work with all kinds of effects (veins, burn, rain, etc.) - this was pretty cool to watch.

[66470402c97a0unn_atropos]

Dev - System Shock - Daniel Grayshon - 06.11.2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VIrzPt87OQ

Level blockout w/ Daniel Grayshon!

---
Notes by squpta
06.11.18 Dev w/ Daniel

* More greyboxing, this time of the Groves (antenna rooms)

* Only Daniel for the first hour, then Karlee comes in a little over an hour in

* Some random E3 discussion as it's on in the background and he's been following - Daniel is fairly excited about Doom Eternal, Spyro, Beyond Good & Evil 2, and Elder Scrolls VI.  Karlee is excited about the Nintendo announcements coming.

* Some talk of the System Shock Enhanced Beta - still a lot of work to do, but he's happy with it being solid for a beta.

* Some more weird level ceiling heights and issues he has to work around, along with some weird shapes

* He answered a question about light bulb icons vs ones with red X's over them.  This has to do with shadow detail.  Lightbulbs mean complex shadows.  The X'd ones mean too many light sources, so shadows must be simplified.  This isn't a big deal in greybox - it'll mean more later when they actually do finishing work on the levels.

* He has to be careful not to miss various secrets when designing the levels.

* One of the purposes of Greybox is, once greyboxed in, things are much easier to edit/modify/change things up later (to either fix issues or presumably enhance levels).

* A story about how a weird invalidly shaped block messed up the Reactor Level and he had to spend half a day going through block by block figuring out which one it was as it was making other geometry disappear

* The current level (Executive) is about 90% done, so getting close!

* Use sunscreen liberally when out in the sun, people.  =oP  Also, try not to melt.

* There's going to be an E3 stream coming up on Wednesday (talking about E3) instead of Karlee's usual gaming stream.

[66470402c9a82sgupta]

06.18.18 Dev Stream w/ Daniel

* Starts with a pretty cool System Shock remix track (not part of the game - just fun)

* Daniel & Karlee today to start; Stephen joins at around 47 minutes in.

* Daniel's done a lot of work on the maze portion of Level 7 (Systems Engineering).  It's not going to be quite 1:1 since it can't be due to paper thin floors.  He had to lower some, etc., but he managed to get the tough part figured out and pretty close.  A bit later there's a discussion of whether geometry could have been imported in, but floors/walls would have been a problem, so Daniel prefers doing it this way.,

* Nightdive doesn't have the source code for Terra Nova.

* Often companies allow Nightdive (either by approaching them or being approached by them) to rerelease games (or tell them to go away), but sometimes afterwards, they're not given the rights to modify/fix them.  It's really up to the Intellectual Property holder.

* Pickups, interactable objects, and audio logs are almost ready to be placed into the greybox.  Also, the audio log files from the original game have been imported in (to be replaced later by the new voiceovers that will replace them).

* They were asked about having a no-texture mode for people who want it.  Stephen said you could just turn all graphics options down to low.  He talked about a greybox-only mode possibility, but also that that seemed unnecessary. 

* Daniel is the only one doing greybox for this particular title, but (after being asked) other people do greybox fairly similarly to how he's doing it.  It's always best to have a rough foundation like greybox before refining something.  It's like sculpting - rough shapes first, then medium details, and finally fine detail to finish it off.

* Some discussion about how lasier rapiers (light sabers =oP) work as well as rubber bullets for the riot gun.

* Daniel finishes Level 7 during the stream!

* There was a vote between Level 1 and Level 8 for the next stream, and 8 won (but 1 will probably be worked on off-stream). 

[66470402c9bddicemann]

The stuff about solacious crumb got me annoyed to the point that I was about to throw my speakers out the window. Stephen went on wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long about it. So annoying.

[66470402ca0f6sgupta]

06.20.18 Noctropolis w/ Karlee

* Mostly Noctropolis gameplay/commentary.  Not much new SS-related here, except news of a special interview with Stephen later today (covered immediately below) on Fragments of Silicone and confirmation of the Friday stream to close out the week.

06.20.18 Fragments of Silicon Season 9 w/ Stephen Kick Special Stream

* Stephen's interview is about the first 40 minutes of the stream.

* Stephen was asked about what happened when the remaster ran into problems/went on hiatus.  He points out:
   - Team was ramped up too much and too quickly.
   - They switched from Unity to Unreal.
   - Focus was lost on the straightforward vision, and it started changing into something else entirely under the new team.  (He wanted to avoid specifics re the team for now.)
   - Eventually, Stephen realized this was not the game promised to backers.
   - It would also require outside funding to even complete.
   - Overall, he felt like the direction they were going was a failure, and he had to let some of the team working on that version go to course correct.
   - When he reformed the team, he put in philosophies and even commandments that must be followed so things can't get off track in the same way again.
   - Everyone on board now is a devout System Shock fan and very passionate and dedicated to this, pouring their heart and souls into it.
   - They did a complete 180 degree turn in direction, and production is coming along quite well and quickly now.

* New commandments mentioned above are written down; he doesn't have them with him, but they break down to audio, video, design, etc.  Biggest commandment is that the art style dictates decisions down the line, and that art style is dictated entirely by Robb Waters.

* The old team had 15-17 people.  The new team has about half a dozen people, but they're much tighter and more agile with better/faster communication.  Stephen is the Game Director this time and oversees everything (plus is CEO of Nightdive as well).

* Stephen personally makes sure all the people onboard are up to the tasks/disciplines they must carry out to keep development moving smoothly.

* The worst thing for Stephen would be disappointing the backers that support and believe in Nightdive so much, and he knows he can't because it'd ruin their reputation.  He also knows this being Nightdive's first major release of its type (a built from scratch remake), it can't fail or it would be devastating.  He describes going to bed after a night of hard work and feeling sucker punched because he knew it didn't feel right.  He was afraid if they screwed it up and didn't course correct, it could be the end of Nightdive.

* Pre-alpha for some backers is still on track for September.

* They had said tentatively 2020 and still hope for that.  It's possible it might be Q4 2019, but he wants to keep it open for now as he believes in taking the time to get something right over rushing something out.

* Nightdive was reported to the BBB multiple times, reported to the Oregon Department of Justice, and Stephen even personally received death threats as backlash for the hiatus.  He still feels he can win back the majority of the upset backers when they play it, as he assures the delivery will be what was promised.  He tried to be prepared when he issued the hiatus notice, but he was actually afraid for himself and his family for a while.  (This just makes me sad.)

* He's really focusing on transparency now with all the streams, etc. so people can see exactly what's going into this.

* He wants people to understand delays are quite common in the game industry and most good games have them at some point. 

* The source code release and recent work on the source port of the original System Shock is partly to show their commitment to everyone and make up for some of the remake delays.

* They're pleased with Unreal's performance and glad they can take advantage of the extra performance there.  It'll be easier to port for consoles too.

* New surprise GOG release of something tomorrow.  Forsaken EX (Descent-style game) is also coming to PC and consoles soon, with extra Nightdive levels, enhancements similar to what was done with Turok, achievements, etc.

[66470402ca278icemann]

That all just makes me feel very guilty as I've been quite hard on them. It's due to being a mega fan of the franchise. And also as you expect that what you pay for on KS is what your going to get. But yeah, people making death threats. That's just so beyond the line it's not funny.

There will ALWAYS be some that go too far. I don't think I have been. The whole lack of actual content and nothing but friggin concept art for a long time, just REALLY pissed me off. At the same time, nothing was meant toward Stephen personally. Just at the company as a whole and of the handling of the original incarnation of the reboot/remake.

[66470402ca440sgupta]

Frustration at the project not going the way backers wanted/expected is understandable.  At the same time, I think it's important to realize that NightDive is new at this (a from scratch remake) and there is a very real learning curve here in terms of managing a project of this scope.  I also think they should get a lot of credit for realizing something isn't working and resetting instead of continuing on a failing path, as a LOT of projects make that mistake because of the already sunk resources and being too afraid to admit failures.  I think since the hiatus, communication is a MASSIVE improvement, and we can see directly how production is going thanks to the stream, not to mention allowing the IP to be used for System Shock 3 and releasing the source code.  I know there's always the risk of things going wrong, but I personally 100% believe Stephen and Nightdive's intention is to deliver on this and make it the best it can possibly be.

*Also, a note - I'm going to be traveling from the 22nd to the 26th, so it's highly unlikely (unless for some unanticipated reason I have a bunch of extra time to kill) I'll get a chance to watch the streams and post summaries.  I will catch up when I return, but I can't guarantee when that'll be yet.*

[66470402ca56eicemann]

COMPLETELY agree. Been a night and day difference communication wise.

I'll keep people updated while your away. Excellent sumnary of the last video btw.

[66470402ca6dfvoodoo47]

the GOG surprise release is Metal Fatique.

[66470402ca7ffsgupta]

One other thing I forgot from that interview - Stephen plans to eventually do a post-mortem of System Shock going into more detail of what went wrong and how they got back on track after release.

Cool & Thanks =) 

Interesting re Metal Fatigue - looks cool!

[66470402ca97flgs]

Thanks for the summaries, much appreciated!

[66470402caf12unn_atropos]

Dev - System Shock - Jonathan Holmes - 06.14.2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrlBx2o_WHI

Welcome Jonathan Holmes for his first Dev stream!

---
Notes by squpta
06.14.18 Dev Stream w/ Jonathan Holmes

* Starts off showing the iris-style door asset, art designed by Robb Waters, that he's working on.

* He worked on software used for foliage in The Jungle Book movie. They're trying to bring that same technology (Quixel Megascans) to Citadel's Groves.

* Door is already 3D-modeled and animated (opens/closes).

* He's showing how an object is brought from modeling to texturing.

* He shows off the pixellated retro-style (unfiltered texturing) even though using HD assets.  Things are being designed pixel-perfect with no filtering at all.  He feels it makes the art style really unique.

* He uses Quixel Suite, which he also develops for the company behind it.

* Door design is a little bit updated (by Robb Waters) from the original version; grebels actually make more sense and have a function, etc.

* He applies a Steel look to the door first and adjusts lighting.

* He can't animate lights as that will need to be done in Unreal Engine.

* He uses Smart Materials that are layered - you can use these on multiple (different) assets to make them more uniform to the world.  In this case, he applies one to make the door look beaten/worn.

* He gets asked about Collision Detection, but he doesn't want to speculate too much - Chris question.  He thinks it's tied to open/close states as scripted events, but isn't sure if they could do something interesting with malfunctions, etc.

* Gets asked about different people using different tools to make their assets; he says that's not a problem as they're all artists and the diversity actually can help expand the way everyone thinks and what they consider as far as software sets/skills.   

* Next he works on getting some of the painted symbols from Robb's art on the door with Marmoset.

* Unreal and this game use Physically Based Rendering (PBR); helps with things like more realistic reflections.

* He uses maps to determine what's metal (and has that reflection) and what isn't.

* This is being textured in 1024 pixel resolution.

* He really admires Robb Waters and credits System Shock as a lot of the reason he got into art himself.

* All his models are based on Robb Waters' art and trying to get as accurate as possible.

* Discussion about changing symbols to be less metallic looking and look more like decals

* Symbols are painted right on model so they move right with it just like in real life.

* Most everything we see in modern games uses Normal Maps to control lighting.  It basically is a map of how lighting works so that a low polygon model can look like a high polygon model.  He recommends learning about them on Wikipedia.

* High polygon models are made first and converted down to the low poly ones you'll see in the game.

* For lights on the door, you use an Emissive Map, where a material (plastic in this case) is mapped to something that can emit light.  He describes it like a light bulb in the world.

* Shows the model with the lights lit up in green and some bloom effects.  It'll also reflect off things like in-world fog effects, etc.

* He's looking forward to being dead in the reboot.  =oP  He likes to think he was sucked out of the flight bay.  Karlee wants her own room, and they both thing it would be cool to be cyborgs.

* He did some work using a Scrap Map to scratch up the metal surface of the door, then further work to scratch up the labels as well (which ended up a little too scratched up, which he's gonna tone down post-stream).

* The door is basically finished other than that.

* He showed off a bunch of assets he's done:
   - Medical Tray Table, complete with syringe on top; also, the drawers in it are rigged so if desired, they'll be able to open and hold supplies inside.
   - Purple can of Tri-Op soda
   - Red Medical Waste bag
   - Coffee Mugs (which might be available as physical items at some point)
   - Nurse Station Computer (which is rigged so it can actually swivel if desired to be implemented; also, the screen is flat, but the Normal Map makes it look curved)
   - Personal Data Device (similar to a Star Trek PAD)
   - Pedestal (the one featured in the June update right under that first power station in Medical), also rigged to animate and allow a seat to come out of the center
   - Hand sanitation dispenser
   - Test tubes
   - Bloody tray & surgical scissor-like equipment
   - Closer look at syringe
   - Maintenance door (animated), which he showed depth of being chewed up like something was trying to get through
   - Microscope w/ customizable lights (possibility of something showing up on the little screen)
   - Keypad mockup, but one that probably won't be use as a better version replaced it
   - TriOptimum Medical Logo, complete with fluorescent neon lighting in back (possibility of seeing it depending on how it mounts to wall)
   - Mockup of brown tiles for maintenance level that he's actively working on; some may be missing as these are designed so you can get underneath to wiring, etc.
   - Some foliage he's worked on to show what that tech looks like

[66470402cb13aicemann]

Daniel - 26.06.18

* Blockmapping work on level 8
* Shows his work on level 9 at the start of the video. Only a small amount of work done on it.
* What will Daniel do once blockout is finished for all the levels - Placement of completed game objects
* Will new puzzles be put into the game - Yes. Being worked on currently.
* Audio and text logs will likely be changed slightly to reflect that SHODAN is a "she" rather than a "he"
* By the end of the video, the ground floor of the level is mostly done. Much work left to do.

[66470402cb248voodoo47]

the SS1 CD audiologs refer to Shodan as "she" as well, if memory serves.

[66470402cb3c9fox]

No, looking through the transcripts, SHODAN is either referred to as "him" or "it". Wasn't sure about it myself though.

http://shodan.wikia.com/wiki/System_Shock_Audio_Logs

[66470402cb4cfvoodoo47]

I meant the actual audio part - you will need the enhanced texts mod to match that audio.  //checked the transcript, seems like that's not the case.

[66470402cc57bsgupta]

06.26.18 Dev Stream w/ Daniel

* Daniel & Karlee today

* Daniel started on Level 9 off-stream

* Today's stream focuses on starting off Level 8

* Level 8 is a very towering level and should be interesting to do.

* Daniel was asked about checking for holes in the level after it's done, and they built a tool for Unreal to check for "leaks" or area where the level isn't complete.

* Asked how to change size scale of a level, Daniel says he doesn't - it has to be the scale it's set at or it wouldn't work with the rest of the assets generated by other team members, causing problems.  Chris decided this.

* After level blockout is complete, Daniel will be placing assets throughout the game.  The assets (pickups like keycards, audio logs, dermal patches, etc.) are being created by other team members, and Daniel will place them within the blockout.

* Unreal's editor has layers like Photoshop.  He'll put all the assets on another layer so you can separate them.

* You have to be careful resizing things and changing scale if you were to.  Things don't snap together as easily, etc.

* This seems like a tricky level to build - quite a few issues and temporary snafus that needed sorted before continuing, but by the end it was shaping up nicely - quite a lot of progress!

* When asked about puzzles, he said there were plans for some different puzzles and variations based on the originals.  Too early to reveal too much.

* When asked about new environmental hazards, that's a possibility, though they'd be variations on the original. 

* When asked about alternate endings (ie. escaping the station without destroying SHODAN), it was a discussion early on, but no real answer yet.

* Asked if any IP's other than System Shock were owned by Nightdive, they redirected to Stephen as they can't answer that right now.  (But it definitely sounded like there was something juicy they weren't ready to say yet.  =oP)

* SHODAN is still being voiced by the original voice actor (Terri Brosius).  All new voiceovers will be recorded.

* SHODAN was originally supposed to be male.  (This can be evidenced by the text version of audio logs as well as one audio log itself).  Also, the art she's most known as (System Shock 2 version) wasn't Robb Waters', so it's still a bit up in the air how she'll look.  She'll be Robb's design, but might be a bit more feminine since she's definitely confirmed female at this point. 

* Chris has some work done (referring to Medical) but is currently out of the country.  He'll be back soon to integrate work with the repository.

* Daniel will be saving work on Level 8 for the stream and annotations and work on 9 off-stream. 

[66470402cc7d9Zanderat]

* Asked if any IP's other than System Shock were owned by Nightdive, they redirected to Stephen as they can't answer that right now.  (But it definitely sounded like there was something juicy they weren't ready to say yet.  =oP)

NOLF?

[66470402ccb42Marvin]

Never say never, but after they gave up on NOLF after several years of negotiations, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[66470402ccc42sgupta]

Karlee played Noctropolis for an hour tonight - no real System Shock discussion.  Jonathan Holmes should be streaming tomorrow tho'!

[66470402ccd1aicemann]

Stephen mentioned negotiations to acquire the NOLF IP in an earlier video.

[66470402ccde6Zanderat]

I got the impression that they are close.

[66470402ccf23icemann]

Be a very nice money earner if they get that.

The only bit that makes me wonder though, is if Night Dive get too successful with IP acquisition and catch the eye of Take 2, EA or Ubisoft with a takeover bid. Wonder what Stephen would do in such an eventuality.

It's been the history of videogame companies since the 80s - now that whenever a indie company had above a certain amount of IP thats worth good money, that an offer (or hostile takeover in some cases) would happen sooner or later.

[66470402cd3edsgupta]

06.28.18 Dev Stream w/ Jonathan Holmes

* Starts off showing revamped Power Station using concept art from Robb Waters, which he JUST finished before the stream began.

* Much of the stream has a focus on how normal maps are created and how it influences the final design of the project.

* He fixed the issue where we couldn't see everything he was doing on-stream last time.  We can see everything now.

* The power station this time has some moving parts, and there may even be a mission where you have to repair a power station in order to accomplish something.  The top part of it is like a plug that fits into the base.

* Normal maps do a lot more than bump maps are capable of.  Their purpose is to simulate detail that doesn't exist.

* He's using a tool called NDO (made by Quixel) to do his work today.

* More details about scanning the world technology (Quixel Megascans) used in The Jungle Book (which will translate to the Groves in System Shock).

* If he makes work that is not used in the game, it is his to keep.  Sometimes he uploads work afterwards (with a Nightdive logo) so people can see.  He's only worked for one place where he couldn't keep his work.

* Models are originally made in 3D Studio Max.

* He made plugs underneath the plug portion and on top of base portion of asset so they look like they connect to each other better.

* The Power Station has yet to be textured, but it will involve some blue with some special lighting internally and possibly lightning (Chris will do the lighting bits).

* The radioactive portions of the game will have a new purpose to recharge the plug portions of recharge station (if I'm understanding this right; I was a bit confused).

* He showed a near-finished asset, the human/organic waste disposal/incinerator.  It has an animated opening (still needs rigged up correctly).

* He showed the final animated iris door he worked on last week.  A bit of work was done on the labeling, etc. to make the texturing and wear and tear look uniform.  (Looked great IMO!)

* To get the pixellated look, each in-game meter is equal to 256 pixels, but he's taking great care to make sure everything matches up and looks similar.  He showed a tiny thermometer compared to the recharge station to show pixel size is the same for each (which makes small assets much like pixel art where you're lighting one pixel at a time).

* He also showed his original recharge station vs. the new one and the various differences between them.  Key is how the pixellated look appears around the edges.  The original assets (and I remember things like this in the Unity demo) had some pretty ugly looking edges.  The new assets still maintain the pixellated look, but have much cleaner and eye-pleasing edges.  (Hopefully this will help some of the people who don't like the pixellated look like it a bit better; personally, I think it looks great, but I know that was controversial).

* There was a bit of talk about having perhaps a playable intro instead of a standard movie again.  There was also talk of making it an old-school FMV (full motion video) game with cheesy acting like the 90's (joking of course.) =oP

* He was asked if good art direction with limited asset resolution/resources was more important than no real art direction but really high quality assets.  He was careful about his opinion, but he thinks art direction is definitely one of the most important things as it makes the vision much more consistent over something thrown together out of a bunch of spare parts.  He also think Robb Waters has a really, really unique view of the world that made the original System Shock, and will make this remake, really stand out.

* He showed off some of the plants he was talking about earlier that are scanned in using Quixel Megascans technology.  They retain the pixellated look while still looking quite lush.  He was careful to point out that this was HIS initial idea of what the Groves might look like, but that Robb Waters hasn't weighed in yet, so they could look quite different.  He also said he had some concept art, but nothing he could show us right now.

* He confirmed an update should be coming in July and show off a few of these assets.  He's going on vacation for a bit after, but looks forward to more streams after that.