SS2 to appear on GOG.com soon?

[66346b75120d3ZylonBane]

:proud:AMAZING!!!!! Collectors edition DLC sounds good to me. I told everyone i know this day would NEVER happen!

Looks like we have anonymous users confusing the name field for a title field again.

[66346b751225egrittymodder]

If they have right connections they should suggest releasing the source code for a certain sum collected from an online petition. When people will taste System shock 2 (again) probably it would be possible gather the ammount (it has happened for example with Blender and other softwares).
They will still sell the prepackaged game / assets and have people mod the game with more freedom (ex. better lightmaps resolution, modern dynamic lighting, modern animations, etc). As seen with Id games.

With right holders wasting (almost) 15 years of time doing nothing probably giving them some cash for old tecnology is a interesting option for them.

[66346b7512439icemann]

My bet is that they're using New Dark and pretending that all the "fixes" are their own, which is a pretty low act. If the game does appear on GoG/Steam however that is awesome.

[66346b751260fHikari]

Well if they're trying to do a simple passing off of Newdark would there be any way of knowing it?


Then again what is the chance that the NewDark patcher WORKS for these people and simply can't tell due to... whatever? There's a thought. Newdark got released and the community monitored for general reactions, responses, and to get live bug reports and feature requests which then got integrated into patching being done during the bug crushing phase.


I know. Unlikely but within the realm of possibility maybe? If it's a simple claiming unjust credit I'm sure it'll be found out and such monkey business pointed out. HOpe it's more than that because damn it'd be such a mixed bag. On the one hand legally obtainable game I've been loving for the past eight years. On the other that's a low thing to do.

[66346b7512bebEnchantermon]

(My main concern was that they might change the format the game assets are stored in.  Though, I admit it was a pretty unlikely possibility.)

Not as unlikely as one might think. Ever hear about the EB Games/GameStop version of Thief Gold, where the assets and exe were encrypted? Made it completely incompatible with any and every mod available. It's good to know that the same won't happen here.
Wish I could get it hot, but I'm going to have to be on the road to work when the counter hits zero...man, the day is going to drag on.....

[66346b751314credrain85]

Then again what is the chance that the NewDark patcher WORKS for these people and simply can't tell due to... whatever? There's a thought.

That thought had definitely crossed my mind.  Perhaps the person(s) responsible for NewDark came clean privately, and it's what was used to update SS2.  But as you then later said: I very much doubt it.  I'm betting on a bare bones release with minimal effort put into it.  Despite what was implied, otherwise, in the RPS interview.

Ever hear about the EB Games/GameStop version of Thief Gold, where the assets and exe were encrypted? Made it completely incompatible with any and every mod available.

Nope, didn't know that.  Well, I advise everyone I know - at least when it comes to PC games - to avoid EB/GameStop like the plague.  I wouldn't touch Impulse with 10-foot pole, now that they own it.

[66346b7513288highfuel91]

So has anyone purchased it on GOG yet? I just want to know if the artwork is unseen artwork, and if the games ico. image has been cleaned up for the new OSes'


Note: all this increased website traffic since the release

[66346b7513419ImpyNickers]

I bought it. Ran no problem on my windows 7 64. Cutscenes run, but I already had an indeo codec on that computer, will try others. Not sure what is different about this version compared to what the latest community improvements offer. Would love to see a list. Going to try LAN Multiplayer this afternoon, see if I still get crashes/ desync at bulkheads. Probably wont change, but worth a try. My guess is that there is very little difference, but I am glad to have got this with a GOG installer anyways.

[66346b751356aBriareos H]

@highfuel91, nope, I don't think there are any new concept artworks with the release. Same old.

[66346b751367dHikari]

So any way to be able to tell if these guys are passing off community made fixes or if they did the work themselves?

More importantly what's the word on multiplayer?

[66346b75137faKolya]

From what I *heard* the changes make it look like a game that's prepatched with an older SS2Tool version (eg a "DatapermanentMods" folder is included).
I will have to take a look at it sometime to say if that's actually so.

[66346b75138f6Briareos H]

I believe it is. It also comes with incomplete or old DML fixes for the missions. Using SS2Tool on top of the GOG installer is highly recommended, as well as deleting that DataPermanentMods folder.

[66346b7513c94Marvin]

eg a "DatapermanentMods" folder is included

That's low.

[66346b7513e04Simplex]

So does it make sense to start installing patches and fixes onto the GoG version, or is the vanilla SS2 a better option? I bought SS2 on GoG.com because I thoght this will be an "ulltimate" version.

[66346b7513f4cHikari]

Right so no thanks to the community or anything while using community patcher tools seems likely.

If so that makes this a bittersweet release.
Edit: Even so. I'd still buy this because legitimate copy.


However if Proof by the patch makers (Koyle?) an be lain out in a well worded and complete manner then I'd post to my blog Google+ and so forth. Mostly because they have a /VERY/ small window to fix that flub and own up to community asset use. Though it does raise the question of why didn't they just use NewDark in the installer and be done with it?

Sure legally they can use the community patches all they like, but it's still a scuzzball thing to do and claim credit.

[66346b75141a9Kolya]

I believe it is. It also comes with incomplete or old DML fixes for the missions. Using SS2Tool on top of the GOG installer is highly recommended, as well as deleting that DataPermanentMods folder.

I will have to test this to see if you can actually just install the latest SS2Tool on top. More likely I will have to make a few of adjustments to recognise the GOG game version.

[66346b7514340Briareos H]

Please do. I did try it and, to a first approximation, it works. install.cfg and cam_ext.cfg are properly overwritten, mods in the DataPermMods directory work.

[66346b751479bredrain85]

There are some user-made mods out there which do phenomenal work on the game’s stability, but none of them were quite perfect, so we took the game to our expert techninjas to analyse and swat the remaining bugs.

From what I *heard* the changes make it look like a game that's prepatched with an older SS2Tool version (eg a "DatapermanentMods" folder is included).

Knew it, when the GOG rep was being evasive about the nature of the updates done.   Who wants to place bets there have been no additional bug fixes by Night Dive/GOG?

I'll purchase it, anyway.  But it would be nice if they came clean about using community-made fixes.

[66346b7514899ZylonBane]

I suggest changing the site banner here to "Home of the Expert Techninjas".

[66346b75149aaMarcelo]

Hope this help revitalize SS2 fanbase so we can continue to see improvements and more mods for System Shock 2. I wonder if Steam would be interested in doing the same. That would be awesome. BTW I noticed in the GOG forums Voodoo is doing a great job giving a hand to those who are new to the game or not familiarized with the mods. Kudos 

[66346b7514ac1Marvin]

BTW, Kolya, would donations help in these circumstances? I transferred some money but I'm never sure if it's badly needed here or just "nice to have".

[66346b7514cf5Hikari]

I suggest changing the site banner here to "Home of the Expert Techninjas".

Or 'Home of the Unpaid Uncredited Expert Tech Ninjas' just to make the point clear enough for even the worst mouthbreather.


Then again that might be too blatant. Still. I like the idea.

Edit: That or having that up for sale on a cafe-express shirt. There's a thought. Forum Merch.

[66346b7515013voodoo47]

Who wants to place bets there have been no additional bug fixes by Night Dive/GOG?

no need to. there are absolutely no additional bugfixes, I've checked the GOG build. it's just the classic game patched up with ss2tool 4.0, nothing more, nothing less.

I plan on chewing them out for using the tool without permission and/or crediting.

[66346b7515274Marvin]

I plan on chewing them out for using the tool without permission and/or crediting.

Sorry, beat you to it, I was writing the comment before seeing your post.