System Shock 2 released on GOG

[Lord Sinister]

Apparently the legal issues surrounding who actually owned the distribution rights seem to have been resolved. It's available, on sale on GOG (for $9.99) right now! Everyone should play this. If you played Bioshock, you'll enjoy this even more, but bear in mind the graphics are fairly dated (although there are mods such as the Rebirth mod that go some way towards improving things such as the textures and models), but if you can look past that, the gameplay, the world and the atmosphere are glorious. And don't watch the trailer on the GOG page, it contains what I would consider to be spoilers.

 

I actually played Bioshock before I played System Shock 2, but as much as I enjoyed Bioshock, I found this to be the better game.

 

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/system_shock_2

 

There is no other game quite like it, I promise you that!

[Alyxx Thorne]

I'm probably gonna play through SS1 before I tackle SS2. But I'm glad it's finally on GOG since they seem to have made it compatible with modern systems.

[BTGBullseye]

I might torrent it, but I'm broke so I can't possibly buy it yet.

[Bjossi]

I'm probably gonna play through SS1 before I tackle SS2. But I'm glad it's finally on GOG since they seem to have made it compatible with modern systems.

 

SS2 has been pretty stable on modern systems for many years now thanks to DDfix and its successor NewDark. GOG themselves didn't do jack, the GOG version is just patched with SS2Tool, with no other modifications, not even to the config files. Basically it uses the NewDark patch (developed from the leaked source code) and some other smaller community patches. Which makes some of the comments in the Rock Paper Shotgun interview a pretty cold slap in the face for the people who actually developed these patches and released them long before the GOG release happened.

 

Never the less this is a fantastic release, SS2 is in my top 3 of all time favourite games. Even though I still own my original CD copy from 1999 I'm tempted to put the game into my GOG game library just for the cool factor and future proofing myself a little better.

 

It is a bit like STALKER in that it is flawed in many ways and a difficult son of a bitch, but incredibly fun and satisfying to play once you get past that initial threshold.

[Lord Sinister]

I'm probably gonna play through SS1 before I tackle SS2. But I'm glad it's finally on GOG since they seem to have made it compatible with modern systems.

 

SS2 has been pretty stable on modern systems for many years now thanks to DDfix and its successor NewDark. GOG themselves didn't do jack, the GOG version is just patched with SS2Tool, with no other modifications, not even to the config files. Basically it uses the NewDark patch (developed from the leaked source code) and some other smaller community patches. Which makes some of the comments in the Rock Paper Shotgun interview a pretty cold slap in the face for the people who actually developed these patches and released them long before the GOG release happened.

 

Where did you hear this from?

 

On a related note, I still had to run it in compatibility mode (Windows XP Service Pack 2 was the one I selected) for cutscene videos such as the intro to play.

 

EDIT: This?

 

http://thegameinquirer.com/system_shock_2_back_from_legal_limbo/

[Alyxx Thorne]

Still, I'm glad a fully patched version is available that you can just download and install.

[Bjossi]

Where did you hear this from?

 

On a related note, I still had to run it in compatibility mode (Windows XP Service Pack 2 was the one I selected) for cutscene videos such as the intro to play.

 

The SS2 community was quick to notice (the show begins around post 30), and as some one who has often played the game over the years and used a variety of fan patches and mods I observed this myself just from a quick look at the install folder's structure and config file settings.

 

As for the video issue, NewDark uses ffmpeg for video playback, if you need compatibility mode for this to work right something is definitely wrong, I have not seen any one report such a problem before that I can remember.

[Lord Sinister]

Where did you hear this from?

 

On a related note, I still had to run it in compatibility mode (Windows XP Service Pack 2 was the one I selected) for cutscene videos such as the intro to play.

 

The SS2 community was quick to notice (the show begins around post 30), and as some one who has often played the game over the years and used a variety of fan patches and mods I observed this myself just from a quick look at the install folder's structure and config file settings.

 

As for the video issue, NewDark uses ffmpeg for video playback, if you need compatibility mode for this to work right something is definitely wrong, I have not seen any one report such a problem before that I can remember.

 

Well I'm aware of the K-Lite codec pack having the required codec, but I'd already installed it (for my boxed copy of System Shock 2 a while ago), but compatibility mode was still needed then, as it is now. Otherwise it simply ignores the cutscenes, it doesn't crash, but it just doesn't play them. ie, if I hit the intro button, there's a brief black screen, then back to the main menu!

[Bjossi]

That is very odd. NewDark ships with the ffmpeg dll, so no codec installation is needed, the cutscenes should play on everyone's systems...