System Shock Reboot - Backer Update

[666c597c9d1caDa9L]

Looks quite good, but must admit for now it does not look much like System Shock, but I'm not sure if thats a good or bad thing based on how it looks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt9I-NfH81M

[666c597c9d383Kolya]

It looks very submarine like. I like it and I think it's appropriate to the retro-futurism of System Shock that also had this claustrophobic feel.

[666c597c9d505ZylonBane]

Watching it at work with the audio off, I had no idea which areas of the station I was supposed to be looking at.

Looks more like Routine than Citadel Station.

[666c597c9d7e1unn_atropos]

Still looks generic and bland to me. Nothing to spark my interest.

[666c597c9d94afox]

It's a step up from the last update overall.

[666c597c9dac0icemann]

Their still sticking for the most part, with concept art. This long into the project we should be seeing more tangible stuff.

[666c597c9dbc2chickenhead]

No kidding.  We've gotten a demo and some concept art, and an engine switch.  I'm losing faith rapidly, personally.

[666c597c9dfa8hemebond]

I'm losing faith rapidly, personally.

LOL. I checked the kickstarter and it's been a year and a half. Do you not have any idea how games are made? What on earth is the point in bringing in artists before you've nailed down the design and style?

Then again, maybe you manage a game studio; the industry seems to be full of people who can't manage projects.

This is why Early Access and Kickstarting games is so difficult; every ignoramus who threw a few bucks at the project gets to voice their "concerns" and leave bad reviews.

[666c597c9e210icemann]

Well all we can do is base things off how long Kickstarter games take on average from Kickstarter finish to the release.

So lets take Shadowrun Returns -

Funded: April 2012.
Release Date - July 25th, 2013

It's Hong Kong expansion (game was already 50% done prior to the Kickstarter in the case of this one):

Funded: January 2015
Released: August 20, 2015

Pillars of Eternity:

Funded: September 2012
Released:  March 26, 2015

Torment: Tides of Numenera:

Funded: March 2013
Released: February 28, 2017

Wasteland 2:

Funded: March 13, 2012
Released: October 13, 2015

So from this we can say an average of 1-3 and a half years. This reboot has been in development for a year and a half already and their still only in the concept art stage. That's quite worrying.

[666c597c9e557Marvin]

I know it might sound ridiculous but the fact they're only showing concepts does not mean the whole development is still at that stage.

[666c597c9e6d9JosiahJack]

Or...it is at that stage.  Doesn't look like much more than we already saw except for that wierd tall core room and the neat wall corner.  Not sure I'm one to talk since I haven't showed anything on mine in, let's see...9 months.  Crap.  What's wrong with developers these days?

[666c597c9e9dasarge945]

Kickstarter projects can work really well, but they usually have an air of development around them that is rapid, well thought out, with constant progress reports.

I really want this project to succeed, since a system shock reboot would be amazing, and it looks like at least some progress is being made, which is a good sign. They are doing relatively constant kickstarter updates, which is a very good sign. Usually shitty kickstarters go quiet for 6-8 months at a time.

We can only see how it turns out.

Then again, Star Citizen has showed "constant progress" for the last 3-4 years and it is still never going to come out.

Crowdfunding is a bit of a crapshoot I guess. Let's just see how it goes

[666c597c9eb38icemann]

Star Citizen hit soooooooo many stretch goals that their going to be development hell for the next 10 years.

On this Kickstarter, they for a long time didn't send out any updates at all. Last year we only got something 3 or 4 proper updates, and a heap of super small ones. Then the backers complained and things changed after they released yet another concept art style video toward the end of the year. Their response was to change things up to the style you see in the last 2 videos, with them having the people talk via SS style video logs.

[666c597c9f08bsarge945]

Star Citizen hit soooooooo many stretch goals that their going to be development hell for the next 10 years.

The main reason Star Citizen is in development hell is because everything has to go through Chris Roberts, who is a total perfectionist. The same thing happened with Freelancer, and had Microsoft not reigned in the game and set a strict deadline, I doubt it would have ever released.

On this Kickstarter, they for a long time didn't send out any updates at all. Last year we only got something 3 or 4 proper updates, and a heap of super small ones. Then the backers complained and things changed after they released yet another concept art style video toward the end of the year. Their response was to change things up to the style you see in the last 2 videos, with them having the people talk via SS style video logs.

That is a little disheartening. Glad they changed up the style though.

[666c597c9f1e0Matikat]

Keep in mind they've also switched engines from Unity to UE4 in that time.  I'm no game designer so I have no idea how long it takes to port assets over and retool, but it makes sense that were still getting concept art updates.

I don't know, we all love SS and want this project to do well, so a slower pace might make that more possible.
That being said I'm gonna be pretty sad if this gets Black Mesa'd

[666c597c9f5f6chickenhead]

LOL. I checked the kickstarter and it's been a year and a half. Do you not have any idea how games are made? What on earth is the point in bringing in artists before you've nailed down the design and style?

They launched their kickstarter with a working demo and since then all they've shown in detail is sound design and concept art.  That's why I'm doubtful.  Again, there has been a full engine switch, but after a year and a half, we should have more than just some footage of the player running around an environment.  That seems like a massive downgrade from an functioning demo with an environment , inventory, UI, and enemies. 

Why would you throw away what was clearly a decent amount of work partway through development like that?  Do they want this to turn into Duke Nukem Forever?  It's like making a fake prototype.  "We put in work to make something that emulates the final product, but now we're going to start over from scratch."  And this wasn't a month or two into development, it was a little less than a year after they got funded.  I do know that it can take a lot of time and energy to port to another engine, so why'd they do it?

Just doesn't seem right.  I want to be optimistic, but with all the stigma surrounding kickstarter games, and what I've already mentioned, I can't help but think that this project might be being a little mismanaged.  I do understand how games are made, and that's why the updates and decisions they've made are baffling to me.

[666c597c9f905Olfred]

If you switch engines, in most cases you can keep all the assets. They may need some additional work but modern engines are vastly built on the same principles and therefore you can most likely even batch convert assets.

What was seen in the first demo can be cobbled together in a month. So it's not like they have thrown away years of work.

[666c597c9fba3chickenhead]

What was seen in the first demo can be cobbled together in a month.

Again, that being the case, after a year and a half, there should be more to show.

[666c597c9fcc7Olfred]

Well, there might be. We don't know.
For Cyberpunk 2077 all we saw so far is a teaser and a *beep*. I assume cd project red have more than that.

[666c597c9fdd9icemann]

CD Project made The Witcher series, the third of which was arguably one of the greatest RPGs of all time. So they have a tad more confidence from the gaming community.

Night Dive in comparison has a pretty average track record so far.

[666c597c9fec4Olfred]

Sure they are different. I just wanted to point out that there exist something beyond the realm of what has been shown.

[666c597c9ff91icemann]

Sure

[666c597ca00c2chickenhead]

That is a valid point, but the difference is CD Projekt is funded privately, while SSR was crowdfunded.  If something goes wrong in the development of Cyberpunk 2077, they have to answer to stockholders, while Night Dive has their backers to answer to.  Like it or not, the public is who funded it, so shouldn't they be somewhat more transparent publicly?  Of course they have the right to withhold any information they want, but wouldn't they want to be more transparent for the sake of building confidence?

[666c597ca01c0icemann]

Completely agree and the community has been saying similar things.