SS2 Doc4 Arboretum

[6622ebe1630e6Kolya]

Tags: °FM °SS2 This I think was the first really successful fan mission created for System Shock 2 in 2001. It also was the first to include custom audio logs. (As discussed on TTLG here and here.)

Post Mortem: http://ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9218
Audiologs for this mission are collected here: https://www.systemshock.org/shocklogs/fm/arboretum/

The Story

It's late, after a long night of trauma work at the Manton Bay trauma center. Most of the incidents were minor accidents that are a common occurence due to the rigors of life in space. But a recent accident at Dock-7 brought in more than enough excitment for the medical staff.

Dr. Jay Millins had already seen a lot on his two medical tours, and the shattered remains of a dockhand's arm crushed between two massive storage units was more of an interesting problem to the doctor than a true emergency. But as always, the senior medical staff took over the interesting cases and left the young Dr. Millins with the routine patients. Two of the higher ranking surgeons seemed to have it out for Jay, he just never knew why.

But it all just didn't matter, because in three more months, Jay would be the ranking medical officer aboard a military frigate, the Nutellen. Finally in charge for the first time in his career. He couldn't wait.

Jay watched the news flicker by on his wall as he sipped at a steaming mug, lost in thoughts of his future when a buzz came from the door. He checked the time to make sure it was as late as he thought it was, set down his mug, and walked to the door. The screen showed Dr. Lewis, medical director for the center, looking just as tired as Millins yet buzzing at his door nonetheless.

With a soft hiss, the door slipped open and the two men looked at each other, neither having really seen the other off duty before.

"Dr. Millins."

"Dr. Lewis. What can I do for you?"

"Mind if I come in? It's kind of important."

Jay looked back at the mess his quarters were in but was in no position to tell his boss to go away. Motioning Lewis in, they both sat down and after the standard pleasantries, Lewis got to the point.

"It seems as if there is a problem that we just got word of. Ever hear of the outpost in the Handle system?"

"No."

"They're a botanical research facility making some great progress in tests dealing with that system's sun and photosythnesis."

Jay gave a puzzled look and slouched back in his chair, "So, what is the emergency?"

Dr. Lewis shifted a bit uneasily in his chair, "We got a message from them yesterday after they made contact with a shuttle with a seriously wounded man onboard."

"Ok. They run decontamination protocols, stabalize the patient, a medical transport brings him back here and everything is fine. I still don't see the emergency."

Dr. Lewis frowned a bit, "We were able to confirm with our shipping logs here, that they did not receive their required medical supplies last month. And more importantly, we cannot get in contact with them again. At all. They are not picking up our signal."

Jay sat up with a look of concern. This just wasn't sounding good for him at all. "Dr. Lewis, what exactly does this have to do with me?"

"With the closest medical transport taking three weeks just to get to us and with no medical treatment, that man wont live long. Can I, uh, take you up on that coffee now?"

Jay raised his voice "Dr. Lewis, what does this have to do with me?"

"We're sending you out tonight on a frieghter heading near the Handle system. They'll drop you off at the facility. We'll need you to stabalize the situation and contact us with the details, in the mean time, we'll have the medical transport coming right behind you."

Jay stood up, trying to conceal his anger "Dr. Lewis you said we have no contact with them now. You need a combat medic with a hazard team not me."

"You have your orders."

"This is crazy. What's going on here?"

Dr. Lewis stood up, left a transport ticket on his chair and walked to the door.

Jay quickly followed after him. "Why all this for just one man? There has got to be someone I can talk to about this. I am NOT going."

"There is someone you can talk to. The medical director...and that's me. You leave in two hours."

The door closed softly leaving Dr. Jay Millins staring blankly at the ticket on the chair....

Information to Read Before You Play

I hope you enjoy my first level for System Shock2. It has been quite an experience completing this level, and I hope you like the results.

The reason I created this map was to give you Shockers out there a new place to explore. Instead of the same old hallways and suprises that aren't really surprises anymore, I have put this place together to give you something new. It really started out as a case of me wanting to play some of the really good fan missions for SS2 only to find that we had very few missions at all. So I figured I would help remedy the problem and create a mission myself.

An important thing to keep in mind is that this is NOT a continuation of the System Shock story. It is NOT SS3. Let me state again that this place is NOT part of the SS2 universe, it is a place of my own design using the tools available.

The mission is roughly the size of the one of the maps in the original game (i.e. "MedSci1"). Due to the scope of the level, lots of interesting game elements had to be left out as they either didn't fit the setting or would have been just been crowded in. There are no skill choices or upgrades. No Xerxes or Shodan..etc.

Do these things make up the SS2 concept? You bet.
Is the level better for not having them in it? Most certainly. Those things just do not make sense in this place. Making a single level instead of a complete game, one has to make choices as to what goes in and what doesn't.

One more point, if the very first sound you hear upon entering the level is very loud, then your volume is set just right.

That's it. I hope you enjoy Arboretum.

- Tom

Download
via thiefmissions.com: Arboretum

[6622ebe1632ceD00M]

Tried activating this in mod manager
Got an error
Now mod manager wont open D:
Il try reinstalling

[6622ebe1634b4Kolya]

Sorry, a small mistake I made in the mod.ini file ended up fatally.
You don't have to reinstall the game though. Just delete the folder \SS2MM\MODS\SS2_Doc4_Arboretum
Then re-download the corrected version above and add it to the manager.

[6622ebe1635cblostone1993]

It won't let me download it comes up with

An Error Has Occurred!
You are not allowed to access this section

I don't understand

[6622ebe1636dfKolya]

Because it was still uploading... try again.

[6622ebe163aaalostone1993]

Because it was still uploading... try again.

ok it download now thanks

[6622ebe163e79unn_atropos]

°blueprint°Arboretum
.

[6622ebe163fd6Kolya]

Very nice and promptly, Atropos.

[6622ebe1640ddD00M]

Just finished
Pretty good : D, nice and simple. Some of the audio logs were well done
Hybrid reveal was alittle boring though, saw the first one just patrolling the walkway
When was this made?

[6622ebe1641b9Kolya]

2001
I have added the info and some links to the first discussions on TTLG.

[6622ebe1642eeunn_atropos]

°audiolog°Arboretum
https://www.systemshock.org/shocklogs/fm/arboretum/

[6622ebe1644aaKolya]

Thank you, atropos. I added the link to the first post as for the other FMs.

[6622ebe1645cbFironkkuify]

A pretty short and sweet FM, though I am curious; there are two areas that I was only able to access via summoning stuff to climb on.  When I got to the end of them, it said "You found a secret area!"

If the original creator's still around, were these areas originally intended to be in the final mission or were they unfinished?

[6622ebe16471cunn_atropos]

There are four secret areas. I just managed to enter three of them. But I can't remember how to enter the one where you plug in the two batteries (btw it would be nice if the issue there could be fixed some day) to call for a shuttle. I know it's possible to get there somehow...

[6622ebe164ad5TaxAkla]

There is a button in the corridor, in front of the door of the batteries, below the view. You must creep to see.

Spoiler Tag Added. Sorry.

[6622ebe164cb3Fironkkuify]

Well that's something only the creator can probably answer, or Kolya maybe -w-

Anyhow, to get more into detail about what I like about this FM.

It's a pretty straightforward mission that emphasizes the idea of exploration which extends a mission that would probably be 5 minutes to around 15-25 minutes long or even longer.  It also had a clever way of getting the player to figure out the only code needed to progress instead of an audio log just telling you outright.  Voice acting is also pretty good and I like the idea of the log that explained the roles of the crewmen and women stationed at the outpost.

Level design isn't flawless (could use more pazazz to add more life and color to it) but it's functional and easy to follow.

A criticism is that you probably won't even use any guns in this FM.  I only ever managed to find around 7 standard bullets for my pistol.  There's no upgrading whatsoever (though this is understandable given the length of the mission).  There are also areas that make it seem unfinished or incomplete (like the secret areas, which seem to only be accessible via summoning objects, but this could be explained by some other reason). 

[6622ebe164e1aunn_atropos]

You don't have to summon anything. Just open your goggles^^
1. Secret area is in the building where you have to put in a battery to get into the office. Down in the office there is a switch behind a plant. Take the ladder in the upper room
2. Secret area is in the lab: in the locker with chemicals there is a switch. It opens a door  in the staircase.
3. Secret area is in the room with the energy recharger. There is a switch behind the table
4. Secret area (TaxAkla):There is a button in the corridor, in front of the door of the batteries, below the view. You must creep to see.

[6622ebe1651bcFironkkuify]

You don't have to summon anything. Just open your goggles^^
1. Secret area is in the building where you have to put in a battery to get into the office. Down in the office there is a switch behind a plant. Take the ladder in the upper room
2. Secret area is in the lab: in the locker with chemicals there is a switch. It opens a door  in the staircase.
3. Secret area is in the room with the energy recharger. There is a switch behind the table
4 Secreat area:

Apparently my goggles were ULTRA-DUSTY that day.

Plus I had an annoying little sister nearby -w-;

[6622ebe1652beHardcore]

Sorry for taking this thread to the top. Has anyone found a way to get into the room with the shotgun and the 2 bodies in the crew quarters? That would be the last thing to do in this fm for me.

[6622ebe1656dfGreeX]

Russian translation for this Fan Missions  (last edit  24.11.2020)  —  SS2FM_Arboretum_RUS.7z
    Download:   https://yadi.sk/d/AutysiIvl3-TOA

Screenshots and information about this russification
    Link:   https://darkfate.org/forum/index.php?topic=1100.msg284573#msg284573

  Доктор Джей Миллинс — молодой врач-травматолог, уже немало повидавший за свои две вахты, но ещё не имеющий ни опыта самостоятельной работы, ни сколько-нибудь руководящей должности.
  Он занимается рутиной в травматологическом центре Мэнтон Бэй, с нетерпением ожидая скорого назначения старшим офицером медслужбы военного фрегата.
  Но однажды из исследовательского ботанического центра приходит сообщение о тяжелораненом человеке. После этого связаться с центром больше не удаётся.
  Руководство принимает решение направить туда Джея на попутном грузовом транспорте, чтобы он оказал помощь пострадавшему и заодно выяснил подробности сложившейся там ситуации.

[6622ebe165876unn_atropos]

Just made the audiologpage with your translation. Thank you!
https://www.systemshock.org/shocklogs/fm/arboretum/indexRUSS.html

The Arboretum translation is in level01.str and I noticed that you included all the others level .str with translations.
Did you translate them or is it webcall or Fargus?

[6622ebe165e35GreeX]

...I noticed that you included all the others level .str with translations.
Did you translate them or is it webcall or Fargus?

   The translation from Dark Fate Team (https://darkfate.org/forum/index.php?topic=3069.msg135504#msg135504) with corrections from ivanproff (https://darkfate.org/forum/index.php?topic=1090.msg268167#msg268167) was taken as a basis. Interface textures are taken from a set of russified textures from SlashNet (https://darkfate.org/forum/index.php?topic=1090.msg265568#msg265568).

   As far as I know, the translation from Dark Fate Team used fragments from the Fargus and WebColl translations.

Использованы фрагменты из пиратских переводов образца 1999 года (Фаргус Gold  и WebColl)