System Shock 2 - I need info on this game.

[repeating integers]

So, what with my parents refusing to get me Bioshock or Metro 20333 due to them disapproving of the horror genre (and I didn't even know they were horror, I wanted them for the atmosphere and explorationy bits) I am in need of something to look forward to at christmas. Enter my friends on an IRC server I go to, who recommend me System Shock 2 (apparently, even my comp will be able to run it, since it can run Homeworld).

Now, I need info on this game:

- Legally (ain't there ever gonna be no warez a-taintin' ma machine, thankee very much), where can I get it for my PC? I know it's not on consoles.

- I need to know mundane stuff about it, e.g is there an autosave function? Being used to modern-day FPS games like Halo, I need to know if there's any differences I should be prepared for in SS2. Basic (and perhaps not-so-basic) things that could trip up a newbie to the old FPS like me.

Any help would be much appreciated.

EDIT: OK, OK, I get it, this game is terrifying and I should get something else. Thanks for your help anyway, I'll probably get this one day.

 

[EHKOS]

.....You are going to be torn apart.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Wah? Bioshock and Metro horror?

I mean they have their creepy bits... but they're not horror games.

I've never played it myself but good luck finding it ^_^ I would suggest and a hell of a lot of googling and frustration. Leading you to less than savoury websites... which you shall promptly leave and continue googling.

 

[repeating integers]

.....You are going to be torn apart.

I am suddenly terrified. Why?

 

[Nevyrmoore]

- Legally (ain't there ever gonna be no warez a-taintin' ma machine, thankee very much), where can I get it for my PC? I know it's not on consoles.

Allow me to say good luck mate. Best place to search would be online auction sites, but it tends to go for about £30-£50 or more. I'm lucky to have got my boxed copy for about £10-£20.

- I need to know mundane stuff about it, e.g is there an autosave function? Being used to modern-day FPS games like Halo, I need to know if there's any differences I should be prepared for in SS2. Basic (and perhaps not-so-basic) things that could trip up a newbie to the old FPS like me.

From memory, the only autosave can come when you change areas in-game. Other than that, all saving is manual.

Don't expect to start out great with a weapon. Your skill with a weapon is partially determined by your character skills. You have three skill areas; tech, weapon and psi. Weapon skills increase your ability in your chosen weapon types (e.g. pistol, heavy, rifle, etc.) and allow you to use better weapons when you reach certain requirements. Tech skills increase your ability to do things like hack computers, repair things, research certain items, etc. Psi is the psionics path, and allows you to buy psionic skills such as pyrokinesis or mentally turning off alarms.

You won't be able to carry everything you see. You have a limited inventory, so you have to prioritise what items you carry. But for the record, if you drop all weapons you don't want into the ship lift, they travel with you into the different floors of the ship.

Finally, conserve ammo. It's limited, so don't waste it when you can just as easily run away.

 

[Nevyrmoore]

Repost because of site post eatery.

 

[Abedeus]

Internet 101, www.google.com. Seriously, those are questions you can answer in 5 minutes.

Also, if your parents still give you permission to buy games, either grow up or you are under 18 and they're right not allowing you to play those games. Rules are rules.

In before carebears assault me.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Internet 101, www.google.com. Seriously, those are questions you can answer in 5 minutes.

Also, if your parents still give you permission to buy games, either grow up or you are under 18 and they're right not allowing you to play those games. Rules are rules.

In before carebears assault me.

CARE. BEAR. STARE

System Shock 2 is far scarier then Bioshock. And neither Bioshock OR Metro are horror. I suggest thoroughly researching the games and having a mature discussion with your parents reguarding them. How old are you?

.....You are going to be torn apart.

System Shock 2 is considered scarier then bioshock. Running it on modern rigs is difficult cause it's so old. Your best bet to get it would be GoG. I still suggest having that discussion with your parents- Bioshock at the very least is a game with tremendous educational value, and you can leverage that: it's not just horror or shock or violence. Bioshock explores issues of economy and social problems, and is primarily an investigation and indictment of Objectivism, a psuedo philosophical/economic belief system created by Ayn Rand (Andrew Ryan is based off her down to the name) way back in the day, as explored by her books such as Atlas Shrugged.

Bioshock also deals with moral concepts, and is a stunning example of videogames as literature.

Srsly. At least try to persuade your parents Bioshock has redeeming educational and social value. (This does not apply to Bioshock 2, which pretty much is just a brainless shooter, at least when compared to the original)

 

[repeating integers]

Internet 101, www.google.com. Seriously, those are questions you can answer in 5 minutes.

Also, if your parents still give you permission to buy games, either grow up or you are under 18 and they're right not allowing you to play those games. Rules are rules.

In before carebears assault me.

Gee thanks, that was a supremely helpful post that contributed a hell of a lot to the thread. I can see why you took the time and effort to post here.

:/

- I need to know mundane stuff about it, e.g is there an autosave function? Being used to modern-day FPS games like Halo, I need to know if there's any differences I should be prepared for in SS2. Basic (and perhaps not-so-basic) things that could trip up a newbie to the old FPS like me.

From memory, the only autosave can come when you change areas in-game. Other than that, all saving is manual.

Don't expect to start out great with a weapon. Your skill with a weapon is partially determined by your character skills. You have three skill areas; tech, weapon and psi. Weapon skills increase your ability in your chosen weapon types (e.g. pistol, heavy, rifle, etc.) and allow you to use better weapons when you reach certain requirements. Tech skills increase your ability to do things like hack computers, repair things, research certain items, etc. Psi is the psionics path, and allows you to buy psionic skills such as pyrokinesis or mentally turning off alarms.

You won't be able to carry everything you see. You have a limited inventory, so you have to prioritise what items you carry. But for the record, if you drop all weapons you don't want into the ship lift, they travel with you into the different floors of the ship.

Finally, conserve ammo. It's limited, so don't waste it when you can just as easily run away.

OK, thanks for that info. I didn't realise it had a minor RPG element, but it sounds like it adds to the coolness. Knowing me, I'll probably go with weapons mostly.

Also, I'm used to a limited inventory. Halo allows you a grand total of 2 weapons at a time. Ammo conservation on the other hand, I shall have to teach myself that.

Now I just need to find the game... I was hoping it would be legally downloadable (e.g from Steam), but evidently not...

 

[Terminal Blue]

Yeah.. if your parents think Bioshock or Metro are 'horror' then System Shock is going to come off like some kind of snuff film.

It's pant wetting.

 

[Nevyrmoore]

Running it on modern rigs is difficult cause it's so old. Your best bet to get it would be GoG.

I just checked. Good Old Games doesn't have it.

 

[repeating integers]

Internet 101, www.google.com. Seriously, those are questions you can answer in 5 minutes.

Also, if your parents still give you permission to buy games, either grow up or you are under 18 and they're right not allowing you to play those games. Rules are rules.

In before carebears assault me.

CARE. BEAR. STARE

System Shock 2 is far scarier then Bioshock. And neither Bioshock OR Metro are horror. I suggest thoroughly researching the games and having a mature discussion with your parents reguarding them. How old are you?

.....You are going to be torn apart.

System Shock 2 is considered scarier then bioshock. Running it on modern rigs is difficult cause it's so old. Your best bet to get it would be GoG. I still suggest having that discussion with your parents- Bioshock at the very least is a game with tremendous educational value, and you can leverage that: it's not just horror or shock or violence. Bioshock explores issues of economy and social problems, and is primarily an investigation and indictment of Objectivism, a psuedo philosophical/economic belief system created by Ayn Rand (Andrew Ryan is based off her down to the name) way back in the day, as explored by her books such as Atlas Shrugged.

Bioshock also deals with moral concepts, and is a stunning example of videogames as literature.

Srsly. At least try to persuade your parents Bioshock has redeeming educational and social value. (This does not apply to Bioshock 2, which pretty much is just a brainless shooter, at least when compared to the original)

I'm 15. I do plan on bringing it up again with my parents at some point, but to be honest I don't expect results. If nothing else, dad'll procrastinate and pretend to think it over and end up not getting it.

As an aside, exactly what is it that makes SS2 scary?

 

[dogenzakaminion]

Well, it's similar to Deus Ex in its gameplay, and there are som RPG elements thrown in. It's more of a survival horror than an action game though, so don't expect to go in all guns blazing. It's gonna be hard finding a copy, especially one that you'll actually pay for. There's one new copy on Amazon going for 119$...used it's 58$, so good luck. Hope you find it thoug, it's a great game with great atmosphere.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

yeah, really the only place you can legally purchase it anymore is Good Old Games, which isn't digital distribute I think.

Edit: Alas I checked, GoG does not carry System Shock 2.

As an aside, exactly what is it that makes SS2 scary?

Those. Goddamn. Monkeys.

Oh those goddamn monkeys.

Double Edit: It's a DOS game, and is now considered freeware I think, so downloading it for free is not illegal. Trying to find a download link that isn't sketch

 

[Nevyrmoore]

Double Edit: It's a DOS game, and is now considered freeware, so downloading it for free is not illegal.

I wouldn't trust that website as far as I would throw it. It's a Windows game and it certainly does not have freeware status. At best, it has abandonware status, which only means no one will give a shit if you do download it.

 

[Imbechile]

So, what with my parents refusing to get me Bioshock or Metro 20333 due to them disapproving of the horror genre (and I didn't even know they were horror, I wanted them for the atmosphere and explorationy bits) I am in need of something to look forward to at christmas. Enter my friends on an IRC server I go to, who recommend me System Shock 2 (apparently, even my comp will be able to run it, since it can run Homeworld).

Now, I need info on this game:

- Legally (ain't there ever gonna be no warez a-taintin' ma machine, thankee very much), where can I get it for my PC? I know it's not on consoles.

- I need to know mundane stuff about it, e.g is there an autosave function? Being used to modern-day FPS games like Halo, I need to know if there's any differences I should be prepared for in SS2. Basic (and perhaps not-so-basic) things that could trip up a newbie to the old FPS like me.

Any help would be much appreciated.

PLAY IT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!
-I don't really know where you can get it. My friend had it so I got it from him.
If you lack morals you can probably get it at cough'torrent'cough :-(

-you can save anywhere you want. The game is real survivial horror, you don't get much
bullets. If you want to see more just look some videos on youtube.

As i said in the begining the game is excelent and you should get it

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Double Edit: It's a DOS game, and is now considered freeware, so downloading it for free is not illegal.

I wouldn't trust that website as far as I would throw it. It's a Windows game and it certainly does not have freeware status. At best, it has abandonware status, which only means no one will give a shit if you do download it.

On further research you are correct, it is abandonware. The company no longer exists, meaning no one can sue you.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Personally I really suggest countinuing to discuss Bioshock with your parents >_> I know Parents hem and haahh and waste time, but you gotta chip at it, chip at it like it's minecraft. Without whining though, that makes them shut off.

I've never played it myself (and got it to work though) so i'm jumping through a torrent to see if I can, will report back on what madness takes place.

 

[Mr.Amakir]

Double Edit: It's a DOS game, and is now considered freeware, so downloading it for free is not illegal.

I wouldn't trust that website as far as I would throw it. It's a Windows game and it certainly does not have freeware status. At best, it has abandonware status, which only means no one will give a shit if you do download it.

On further research you are correct, it is abandonware. The company no longer exists, meaning no one can sue you.

You're wrong. EA owns the System Shock franchise and i think that they would sue pirates without a second thought.

 

[Frotality]

try dosgamesonline; basically you trudge through a bunch of ads to earn 'credits' for which to download old games. system shock 2 is there. keep in mind it will be a pain in the ass to run on a modern PC; but there the solutions are everywhere on google.