Before Bioshock: Ken Levine Talks System Shock 2
Rock Paper Shotgun has put up an interview with Ken Levine in which the Bioshock guru discusses his experiences making System Shock 2 with developer Irrational and publisher Looking Glass Studios. Specifically, Ken details his inexperience, film background, and the origin of psychic monkeys:
"I think that only one or two people on the /team/ had shipped a game before," Levine says, "That was a blessing and a curse. We had no idea what we were doing in some ways, but we also had no idea what we couldn't do. That's why the game feels innovative to some degree, as we were figuring it out as we went along." It wasn't just the team that was inexperienced. The Dark Engine itself was far from finished technology, as Shock 2 was well underway before Thief came out. "It was still pretty broken," Ken says, "It ended up giving us a lot of powerful things, but it constrained us in a lot of ways." For example, the oft-ridiculed low-polygon models were resulting from having to make a conservative guess of what the engine would definitely be able to manage and still be playable. There was also some misplaced effort, in creating the co-op multiplayer which was patched into the game post release. "It was a real distraction," Levine laments, "There are a number of people who really enjoyed it but the amount of time versus the amount of reward for that versus what we could have done on the rest of the game... I don't think it was a win. The single player game would have been much, much, much more stronger if we had that time back."
It's true that System Shock 2 didn't sell terribly well, but its critical reception and enduring reputation ensure its status, perhaps ironically, as the Bioshock of its era. Imagine if it has been even better? Spilled milk, etc. There's tons more to read if you're into it.
Making of: System Shock 2 [RockPaperShotgun]
[via VE3d]
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Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany, Video Games on 4 April 2008
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Other stuff like this: bioshock, ken levine, system shock 2
is a revolution in the shooter genre that will forever change the expectations for the FPS. Psychic
One of the best games of all time, and definitely in my top three. For those of you who use PCs, you've probably encountered those games that are worth upgrading for? This one convinced me to go out and get a better video card, and it was worth it.