This thread is just full of pure win, I was going to replay it myself but now that Ive got this thread I can relive it without having to play the damn scary thing. And thanks a ton for the Shodan Reveal link, I LOVE that "cutscene".
I really like deck 4, it's dangerous and full of past-drama. The mass killing in the cantina scene is really well done. And the rebirth and shtup mods make the game look pretty decent.
Quick question: Anyone know off the top of their head how to actually use the basketball? I'm up to deck 5 and for the life of me I can't remember how to actually get it through the hoop.
Quick question: Anyone know off the top of their head how to actually use the basketball? I'm up to deck 5 and for the life of me I can't remember how to actually get it through the hoop.
Don't you just drop it from inventory while looking up and it bounces out? I think last time I did it, I threw it from the second floor because it seemed easier to aim.
Yeah, I was trying that but it just kinda falls out. I think that's what you do though, it's been so long since I bothered with it that I really don't remember.
Hmmmm... reading all the posts, it seems like I might be missing some audio playing on XP... I never heard the ghosts or enemies say anything, actually the enemies don't make any sound at all.
I thought that was just how the game was up until now :P. Anyone know if there's a special fix for that?
.:Orion on
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
Hmmmm... reading all the posts, it seems like I might be missing some audio playing on XP... I never heard the ghosts or enemies say anything, actually the enemies don't make any sound at all.
I thought that was just how the game was up until now :P. Anyone know if there's a special fix for that?
Quick question: Anyone know off the top of their head how to actually use the basketball? I'm up to deck 5 and for the life of me I can't remember how to actually get it through the hoop.
Don't you just drop it from inventory while looking up and it bounces out? I think last time I did it, I threw it from the second floor because it seemed easier to aim.
Can someone spoil that Easter Egg for me? I've never heard it.
God, fuck the assassin droids. Only part of the game that is extremely difficult.
just whack em with the wrench
It's like an entire walkthrough for the game condensed into a sentence. I marvel at the genius of its simplicity, but only for a moment before I auction its secrets to Prima so they can sell the sentence for 19.99 plus tax.
This is the Operations Control section of the deck, or whatever it’s officially called. There’s command centers for several different ship systems here, so I’m sure it’s important.
It’s also the last sector on this deck, so everything else that we need to do must be here. There’s this door labeled System Ops in front of us, so let’s start there.
There’s some “Coolant Level†monitors hooked up to what look like holographic neon tubes. Seriously, I don’t know what they are.
I really think half the monitors and lights all over the ship don’t actually do anything, they just make the thing look more sci-fi.
Some glowy water with bubbles in it. Probably here because someone saw this in a movie somewhere.
Gravity Control, currently set to .9G.
…Hmm, what would happen if I started hammering either of those arrow buttons…
A dead body has a Stasis Generator, the Heavy Weapon That Does Nothing. I’ll never use this, but my collecting nature can’t say no!
A Quantum Thingy. This is a relatively small area, and not all small sections of the ship have one. If there’s one here then someone must be expecting us to die…
I recharged our laser pistol just in case.
Some barracks. Compared to the swank bachelor pads we saw earlier, these guys really got the shaft.
In here’s another log from Tommy:
“Don't stop Rebecca. Keep moving. Get to the escape pods on the command deck. We'll take off, set the toaster to wake us up in 30 years and we'll be back on Earth before you know it. A toaster built for two, baby, that's our next stop. Sound good? So let's do it. I won't take any excuses.â€
Hmm, another 30 year trip, this time for a dinky escape pod. Man, things drift fast in System Shock 2.
While we’re listening to the log, we’re interrupted by the cry of “KILL MEE!†A hybrid decided to barge in and start shooting. Two can play that game.
And nearby is an upgrade center. Things are starting to go up in price, so we’ll have to wait until we get more modules.
We can’t buy any stats or anything, but powers are still cheap. So now we’re getting Invisibility! As long as we don’t attack or use any other psi, we can be invisible. Neat. This’ll definitely come in handy later, but the enemies around here are still chumps.
Down the hall is a replicator that sells (with a bit of hacking) a nifty little trinket: the Recycler.
This thing will break down many items in your inventory into nanites. However, it’s programmed not to accept everything. Here’s from the brochure:
“Early incidents in which recyclers were used for disposal of bodies led to quick restrictions on what sort of items the recycler will accept.â€
Darn, no getting away with wonton slaughter. The thing won’t even take those squishy hybrid organs, or monkey brains.
Here’s the locked door for the security armory on this deck. We got the code from a log from Chief Bronson earlier.
I don’t think I mentioned it before, but one nice thing SS2 does is keep a separate tab for important notes, which is sorted by deck. If you learn anything important that applies to a certain deck, it’ll save a note for it. This way, you don’t have to dig through all your audio logs to find that one key to a door. It even tracks if you’ve used the information in the note.
Handy!
Robots and lasers! …Attacking me!
This here’s a military robot. Tougher than the maintenance bots, and armed with a laser gun, these things are much harder to take out. It took most of my laser ammo to shoot it.
Fortunately there’s another recharge station nearby. I’d hate to run into another of those things without any good ammo…
Next to this is another barracks room with another log from Bronson:
“As of this time, I am declaring a state of martial law on the Von Braun. All primary sub-sectors of the ship will be locked down and only accessible by security access cards. If anybody is found to be interfering with the normal operations of this ship or impedes the work of the security forces they will be shot on the spot.â€
Everything being sucky and locked is her fault. I hate her.
Bitch.
Aaagh! Another of those robots! Man, why do they stick these things behind doors so often?
After killing the bot, we can take a look around. Here, we see the map maker accidentally set a wall graphic a few units off. Bullet holes in midair!
Another red cyborg is gettin’ his groove on.
Hey! Don’t run away from me you jackass!
That’s better.
Down this hallway we come to the security control room and the ship’s brig. They must not expect much trouble, as there’s only three cells.
I think they were just basing things off Bronson’s plan to simply kill anyone who so much as litters.
There’s a log from Deigo that helps shed light to the other side of the conflict:
“You listen to me, you little bitch. Either you disband that little toy army of yours, or some real military is gonna come down there and walk all over your rent-a-cops. You can't possibly understand what our mission is here and the glory of our purpose. If you do what we say, you might have a chance to see the glory of the Many. Comply or die, sister. It's that simple.â€
On the one hand, I like being human. On the other, Diego calls Bronson a bitch, which gives him bonus points. …I’m not sure who to root for.
Hey look! A powered-down cell, with a dead body inside! There’s no way this could be a trap.
It’s a trap!</Ackbar>
Ew, worms came out.
Fortunately, the power conduit for the force-field bar things is inside the cell. I’m seeing more and more evidence that this ship was designed by the Star Trek people.
At the end of this hallway where the security station was is the second sim unit. There’s a bunch of security personnel laying dead in here. The lady in the corner must be Bronson, as she has a log on her:
“They've killed my men and now they've killed me. I'm holding my guts inside of me with both hands. I'm almost done... resist. This is bigger than my little life, the lives of my men and the lives of the people I was forced to kill. Resist. Humanity demands it! Resist!â€
That’s kinda gross, actually. Still, couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
With our guilt over seeing several dead people lasting all of 2 milliseconds, we give more of the ship’s control over to Shodan. I’m sure nothing bad will come of this.
Nearby is a locked door, labeled Operations Control. Since there doesn’t seem to be anything in here other than some (non sim unit) terminals, I’m guessing we’ll be here later to do something important.
There’s also a bunch of worms and ammo laying around. These worms are annoying, I wish they were ammo, that’d show ‘em.
There’s also a log from Delacroix:
“If we can reprogram the Sim Units and divert power to the transmitter on deck 5, my new friend will be able to regain control of the primary data loop from Xerxes. She... it says that will let us use the bridge elevator and take control of the ship.â€
Delacroix is working for that “mysterious†AI? So did Shodan like not even bother to hide from anyone else?
Well, lets continue explo-
…maybe not.
We’ve explored everything, but there’s still one sim unit to go! Wait, never mind, there’s one more door back in System Ops we missesd.
It leads to a place called Power Admin. There’s a log on the ground right as soon as we walk up:
“Mmm... Bronson knows... won't let her undo the work we've done... mmm... wired up a surprise for her... anybody approaching Sim Unit 3... will feel sorrow... so much sorrow...â€
Well, it sure was nice of them to ruin the surprise, wasn’t it?
More spiders! These things take more than one fireball to take out. It’d suck to fight a ton of these things at once.
AAH! BEES! Some eggs in the ceiling release several swarms of bees. There’s nothing you can do to them other than run away. They die after a couple seconds, though.
You know, it’d be awesome if I could, like, shoot bees out of my mouth or something. That’d rock.
As we approach the last sim unit, there’s another French-Epstein device waiting for us on the ground. I just can’t get over how much these things look like lightsabers, I’m surprised Lucasfilm didn’t sue.
We’ve already upgraded our laser pistol fully, so we’ll hang onto it for later.
Ahh, sim unit 3. What was that we were supposed to feel? Sorrow? What, is messing with this going to delay the release of Super Mario Galaxy or something?
Nope, it just releases spiders. Remember what I said about fighting a bunch of these? It sucks.
Fortunately, we’re faster than they are, and we can fling fireballs with our mind. They chased us around for a while, but in the end we triumphed.
Not much of a boss fight.
And so Shodan gets all of the latest Sims expansion packs straight from the source. Or whatever it is these things do.
Well, with that accomplished, I’d better get to those matters that need attending on deck 5. Presumably, that transmitter dish that was mentioned before.
I’m saving up modules for more psi, but what the heck, let’s get another point in research. I know from the future that there’ll be some interesting stuff that needs higher levels to research, and it’s not like those chemicals we’ve been hoarding will do anything on their own.
Back to the main room, with Xerxes’ blank-but-smug face staring at us. Wonder which AI will prove to be more troublesome in the end?
We’re heading back to deck 2, we’ve got crap to unload!
Jim can have this Stasis gizmo.
Time to research more junk! You may also notice the canister of Toxin A. Turns out there’s five of those on the level, when you only need 4. I guess you get to keep one as a souvenir.
“I Survived The Many And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirtâ€
I'm loving this thread. I've never made it past the first hour or two of system shock. I was just horrible at the game. Now I can finally see what all the fuss is about. I even still have the CD sitting in my organizer.
I completely appreciate this thread, and all the awesomeness it contains. It inspired me to finally play through the game and complete it! I'm keeping up the pace with Dartboy and love the commentary (and also when I get stuck, all I need to do is wait for another update!)
I'm having trouble getting the Rebirth models to work right, since monkeys are invisible, as are my melee weapons. I can't hit anything or even kill the invisi-monkeys. Can anyone explain why this is happening? My OS is 2000, if that helps.
Afraid I can't help there. The model pack worked just fine for me. The only issue I've had in getting SS2 to run was the problem with the SecuROM or whichever copy protection scheme it uses not working under XP.
I'd suggest hitting the TTLG forums, as they have tons of tips and suggestions for getting all these old Looking Glass games running.
Dartboy on
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
edited September 2007
Try the first program I link to here, the SS2 Tool.
If that works, try the other stuff I listed if you want.
First off, I'd uninstall.
Then re-install and use this, the SS2 Tool. Use it to "get mod ready," and anything else it can do for you that you think is a good idea.
Hey, I'm playing through SS1 right now and I've just got a pistol and a dartgun but I can't seem to have them in the weapons section..and when I tried to pick up a broken gun it wouldn't let me, can someone lend me a hand?
augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
edited September 2007
endgame:
It's good thing I hauled around that laser pistol, because I swear it's impossible to hit The Many's final form's floaty bits with anything that isn't rapid fire i.e. none of your psi powers. Not to mention I'm being chased around by the freaking respawning Spider and Three Hybrids while yakkity sax plays.
It's good thing I hauled around that laser pistol, because I swear it's impossible to hit The Many's final form's floaty bits with anything that isn't rapid fire i.e. none of your psi powers. Not to mention I'm being chased around by the freaking respawning Spider and Three Hybrids while yakkity sax plays.
Soma Transference, AKA the Cheeze Power, is the only thing in the game that can attack the brain directly without having to destroy the stars first.
Dartboy on
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
It's good thing I hauled around that laser pistol, because I swear it's impossible to hit The Many's final form's floaty bits with anything that isn't rapid fire i.e. none of your psi powers. Not to mention I'm being chased around by the freaking respawning Spider and Three Hybrids while yakkity sax plays.
Soma Transference, AKA the Cheeze Power, is the only thing in the game that can attack the brain directly without having to destroy the stars first.
Yeah, still blows though. In that there's no way to know that in-game. I'm guessing.
Deck 5. Recreation. They need a whole deck to keep themselves busy, or else they’ll start killing each other.
Oops.
Hey! A not dead guy! This guy, sadly, freaks out over the fact that we’re not Delacroix and takes off running. Based on what we’ve seen of this guy we’re playing as, I’d take off running too.
Strangely, when we get to explore that side of the wall there’s no trace of a body, nor is there really anywhere for him to go. I guess he just vanishes.
’
After seeing the only other living person we’ve come across thus far run away screaming, we hang our head in shame. At our feet, a poster for WestWorld, for some reason.
…This doesn’t really make me feel better.
But this cheers me up! A new GamePig game! Tic Tac To- oops, sorry, TriOp.
DAMN YOU XERXES! YOU HAUNT ME NO MATTER WHERE I GO!
If they’re using a sophisticated AI to beat people at Tic Tac Toe, no wonder everyone’s all depressed, or dead.
At this time Shodan calls us up. I guess she’s going to be as bossy as Polito was (yes, I know they were the same person). It seems some of the surviving crew set up a transmitter here, presumably to send a warning signal to Earth. Powering this thing up will divert power from Xerxes, and allow Shodan to take over.
She’s rather insulting, but somewhat less annoying than Xerxes, so we’ll do it.
The first way we head is this way, where there’s a big sign that says Medical. The medical sign’s graphic is all angular and sci-fi looking. It’s neat.
Aren’t medical places supposed to be clean and sterile? I’d hate to get an infected papercut around here.
The Quantum Thingy. I take it monkeys can’t use them.
This actually brings up another thought: if these things were originally under Xerxes’ control, why didn’t they have them set to crank out soldiers for the Many? You’d think immortality machines would help in their little quest for global (shipwide) domination.
In this room is an audio log from a guy named Cortez:
(Note: The copy of the log transcripts I’ve got is missing this one, so I’ll paraphrase)
Basically, the crewmen who were setting up the transmitter had to bail, but they want to leave it up for any other people who may come across it to get it active. To do this, they’ve hidden bits of the activation code in the art display programs of the art terminals scattered across this deck. Finding them all will give us the activation code.
Time to break out the Scan Visor!
This way will lead to another section of the deck. We’re not done here, so let’s turn back.
A protocol droid. Eat laser!
On the desk in this room is a magazine. You can’t actually read these things, so we’ll be considerate of the environment and recycle it.
It’ll work on plants too. So if you have to murder someone, make sure they’re a plant-person first.
Hmm, an art terminal.
Pretty.
Huh. This must be one of those post-modern interpretations of the classics.
…Or part of that activation code. Let’s jot it down.
(Code fragment Get!)
Nope, there’s nothing else here. We’ll have to find more terminals elsewhere.
Continuing down the hallway, there’s another bulkhead door leading to a shopping mall.
As we approach the door, Xerxes chimes in over the loudspeaker:
“This is Xerxes. The mall will be closed until further notice.â€
Ok fine then. He kicked my ass in Tic Tac Toe, I’d better listen to him. So, we’ll head back to that first door we came across.
Taking a quick pitstop at a nearby restroom, we can see more worms crawling out of corpses. It’s just not the same if it doesn’t violently burst out of the dude’s chest.
There’s also a log near the door we need to go through from Delacroix:
“Mon petit, there is something you should know about. I have received information from some form of artificial intelligence that is calling itself SHODAN. Yes, SHODAN. Wherever this intelligence actually came from, it has a terrible grudge against these Annelids and has saved my life more than once. SHODAN has told me that there is a UNN operative aboard the ship, armed to the hilt and equipped with R-grade cyber implants. Strange bedfellows, eh?â€
Hmm, so I guess these logs aren’t so old after all? Unless that’s not referring to me.
Anyway, here we are in the Garden Sector. Already it sounds spooky.
Aah! Another security bot! Taste my… tiny laser beam.
OHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAP. This thing is really hurting.
And it finally goes down. You know, this pistol just isn’t doing it anymore.
Ahh, see the sights. Space is pretty. Though it kind of annoys me that most of the glass in the game is this dark blue color, makes it hard to see outside. I know there’s technically no glass up top, but that’s because the level designer didn’t intend for you to be able to fly up to it. So we can just assume that actually clear glass is really expensive in the future or something.
But as we admire the view, what’s that tingly feeling on our back? It kinda feels like being seared with a hot laser.
There was a midwife behind us! It was sitting there for like half a minute before it attacked. I don’t know if it was just bugged or if it was waiting to be triggered, or whatever.
Moving on, there are several bars/lounges in this area.
This hybrid must have drank too much.
Another art terminal. Does this have a piece of the code?
Yep. This one’s got a bracket on one side. I’m gonna guess that this means it’s the first number.
(Code fragment Get!)
Ah, the Bonne Chance. This place got like 5 stars in the Nightlife Guide to the Von Braun.
There’s a ghost in here that triggers music from the piano. It would be like 10 times more ominous if the piano didn’t have a huge blinking screen with an Audio Playback menu on it.
More robots! It’s much harder to take down two at a time, especially in such a limited area.
Raves. Serious Business.
The Von Braun’s dining hall. Doesn’t really seem big enough to feed thousands of people or however many there are on the ship. Reservations must be a bitch.
Their menus are truly state of the art.
There’s a Quantum Thingy in this part. Kind of amusing it’s so close to the food court. I guess they were planning for the worst.
And Chemical Storeroom #5. Again, so close to the cafeteria makes me wonder what’s in Monday’s Mystery Meat.
Anyway, since we’re here we can research this random lumpy thing we found. This thing’s a WormMind implant, which will transfer ¼ of any damage we take to psi point loss. This would be really useful if we weren’t OSA. We need all the psi we can get.
There’s also a log nearby from Rebecca:
“Listen... there's one escape pod Xerxes didn't eject... but it's busted. I've managed to get it functional, but I don't know how long its going to stay that way. Make it there, Tommy. With or without me. If I don't get there, I want you to take the pod and go. You understand me? Take it and go.â€
Noble sacrifice, but since I’m the one reading the log, I’m going to assume Tommy didn’t heed her advice.
Here’s the garden. Much less impressive than I thought. Though if these things can travel a third of the speed of light on their own, I guess I shouldn’t complain.
There’s a log in the middle of the room from Tommy:
“I'm so close to Rebecca it's killing me. I'm spending some time with crew members who said they saw her. They told me they'd help me find her if I help them set up this transmitter. They're set on saving the Earth. I just want Rebecca. Then I'll take care of the Earth.â€
Good to keep your priorities in order.
Here’s a glitch that’s been mentioned elsewhere. Normally the glass leading out to space is indestructible.
The stuff here still is, but this stuff here’s got its clipping turned off, so you can pass through it.
Spaceballs!
(Insert cat picture here) “I can see forever.â€
Underground, there’s a bunch of protocol droid boxes. But these things don’t have robots in them. There’s corpses everywhere.
There was a log earlier that explains:
“I've been working on dealing with all the bodies that have been stacking up. With the med bays full and the escape pods and ejection tubes mysteriously locked up all of a sudden, we've got to do something with them. I've chosen the maintenance tunnel underneath the garden as an internment site, keypad code 34093. I'm telling everyone to be careful... I don't trust the dead.â€
One body we come across has the access key that will get us into the central crew quarters. This is where that live guy was.
There’s also some Medium Armor here. It sucks compared to the swell power armor we’ve got. I’m assuming they thought the power drain would be a worse drawback than it actually is.
If armor degraded like weapons though, that’d be another story. (Note: See S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for that other story.)
We’ve been saving up cyber modules for more psi, but those robots are really bugging me. We need something better than that dinky laser pistol. So, we’re taking Energy up to 6, to finally be able to equip that EMP Rifle. Plus, now we’ve got another gun to use those French-Epstein devices on!
Here’s the crew quarters. It’s a 2 story hotel-like place with a central elevator shaft. The crew bunk layout on this ship must be confusing as hell.
This elevator shaft in the middle doesn’t connect to the previous one. This is a special elevator that takes us up to the Command Deck. But it’s locked. Of course.
More bots! We’re introduced to our first Military Bot, that fires balls of green at us.
Time to try out our new toy!
Ka-BLAM! This thing’s awesome. MUCH more power efficient than the laser pistol, and does a ton more damage.
The bots go down without a fight. I’m actually starting to feel like a badass now.
To the crew quarters! This guy clearly doesn’t want to clean his room. Seriously, look at that crap piling up.
“Out of Order†huh? We’ll see about that.
*BEEP*
*SCREEEEECH!*
BOOM!
…Guess it was.
This is what you do when you’re really lazy.
More hallways, more quarters. There’d better be something interesting in one of these.
This guy had a really irritable bowel movement. And by that I mean worms came out.
We catch a cyborg taking a robo-whiz on the nearby wall.
We shoot it. We would have made Bronson proud.
This lady went on a space drinking binge. I guess getting drunk and avoiding everything is one way of dealing with all the problems on the ship.
Another art terminal! Code fragment Ge-
…crap.
Well, we’ve still got more of the deck to search, so let’s get crackin’.
I've recently beaten the game on Hard with psi/energy (only weapon skill) guy. It was actually pretty easy, I'm having a tougher time with Navy hacker melee guy. (I miss not caring about ammo and having the psi heal)
I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
Wondering if I could get some SS2 help in this thread.
I'm trying to play the game for the third time, on my third computer (first computer, it worked, but no sound. Second computer, crashed at "New Game"). Now, I can get past the New Game, but it locks up and I alt-tab to find this:
"Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage"
Wondering if I could get some SS2 help in this thread.
I'm trying to play the game for the third time, on my third computer (first computer, it worked, but no sound. Second computer, crashed at "New Game"). Now, I can get past the New Game, but it locks up and I alt-tab to find this:
"Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage"
Help me make it not say that, please.
That's a common problem with today's fancy schmancey vidya cards.
Wondering if I could get some SS2 help in this thread.
I'm trying to play the game for the third time, on my third computer (first computer, it worked, but no sound. Second computer, crashed at "New Game"). Now, I can get past the New Game, but it locks up and I alt-tab to find this:
"Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage"
Wondering if I could get some SS2 help in this thread.
I'm trying to play the game for the third time, on my third computer (first computer, it worked, but no sound. Second computer, crashed at "New Game"). Now, I can get past the New Game, but it locks up and I alt-tab to find this:
"Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage"
Help me make it not say that, please.
That's a common problem with today's fancy schmancey vidya cards.
Posts
Simplistic in the sense that the arachnids can't actually navigate obstacles to get to you. They're bad enough as it is
D:D:D:
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
Don't you just drop it from inventory while looking up and it bounces out? I think last time I did it, I threw it from the second floor because it seemed easier to aim.
I thought that was just how the game was up until now :P. Anyone know if there's a special fix for that?
Sounds like your install is fucked up.
Try this:
http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,392
And this:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69958
Can someone spoil that Easter Egg for me? I've never heard it.
just whack em with the wrench
This is the Operations Control section of the deck, or whatever it’s officially called. There’s command centers for several different ship systems here, so I’m sure it’s important.
It’s also the last sector on this deck, so everything else that we need to do must be here. There’s this door labeled System Ops in front of us, so let’s start there.
There’s some “Coolant Level†monitors hooked up to what look like holographic neon tubes. Seriously, I don’t know what they are.
I really think half the monitors and lights all over the ship don’t actually do anything, they just make the thing look more sci-fi.
Some glowy water with bubbles in it. Probably here because someone saw this in a movie somewhere.
Gravity Control, currently set to .9G.
…Hmm, what would happen if I started hammering either of those arrow buttons…
A dead body has a Stasis Generator, the Heavy Weapon That Does Nothing. I’ll never use this, but my collecting nature can’t say no!
A Quantum Thingy. This is a relatively small area, and not all small sections of the ship have one. If there’s one here then someone must be expecting us to die…
I recharged our laser pistol just in case.
Some barracks. Compared to the swank bachelor pads we saw earlier, these guys really got the shaft.
In here’s another log from Tommy:
“Don't stop Rebecca. Keep moving. Get to the escape pods on the command deck. We'll take off, set the toaster to wake us up in 30 years and we'll be back on Earth before you know it. A toaster built for two, baby, that's our next stop. Sound good? So let's do it. I won't take any excuses.â€
Hmm, another 30 year trip, this time for a dinky escape pod. Man, things drift fast in System Shock 2.
While we’re listening to the log, we’re interrupted by the cry of “KILL MEE!†A hybrid decided to barge in and start shooting. Two can play that game.
And nearby is an upgrade center. Things are starting to go up in price, so we’ll have to wait until we get more modules.
We can’t buy any stats or anything, but powers are still cheap. So now we’re getting Invisibility! As long as we don’t attack or use any other psi, we can be invisible. Neat. This’ll definitely come in handy later, but the enemies around here are still chumps.
Down the hall is a replicator that sells (with a bit of hacking) a nifty little trinket: the Recycler.
This thing will break down many items in your inventory into nanites. However, it’s programmed not to accept everything. Here’s from the brochure:
“Early incidents in which recyclers were used for disposal of bodies led to quick restrictions on what sort of items the recycler will accept.â€
Darn, no getting away with wonton slaughter. The thing won’t even take those squishy hybrid organs, or monkey brains.
Here’s the locked door for the security armory on this deck. We got the code from a log from Chief Bronson earlier.
I don’t think I mentioned it before, but one nice thing SS2 does is keep a separate tab for important notes, which is sorted by deck. If you learn anything important that applies to a certain deck, it’ll save a note for it. This way, you don’t have to dig through all your audio logs to find that one key to a door. It even tracks if you’ve used the information in the note.
Handy!
Robots and lasers! …Attacking me!
This here’s a military robot. Tougher than the maintenance bots, and armed with a laser gun, these things are much harder to take out. It took most of my laser ammo to shoot it.
Fortunately there’s another recharge station nearby. I’d hate to run into another of those things without any good ammo…
Next to this is another barracks room with another log from Bronson:
“As of this time, I am declaring a state of martial law on the Von Braun. All primary sub-sectors of the ship will be locked down and only accessible by security access cards. If anybody is found to be interfering with the normal operations of this ship or impedes the work of the security forces they will be shot on the spot.â€
Everything being sucky and locked is her fault. I hate her.
Bitch.
Aaagh! Another of those robots! Man, why do they stick these things behind doors so often?
After killing the bot, we can take a look around. Here, we see the map maker accidentally set a wall graphic a few units off. Bullet holes in midair!
Another red cyborg is gettin’ his groove on.
Hey! Don’t run away from me you jackass!
That’s better.
Down this hallway we come to the security control room and the ship’s brig. They must not expect much trouble, as there’s only three cells.
I think they were just basing things off Bronson’s plan to simply kill anyone who so much as litters.
There’s a log from Deigo that helps shed light to the other side of the conflict:
“You listen to me, you little bitch. Either you disband that little toy army of yours, or some real military is gonna come down there and walk all over your rent-a-cops. You can't possibly understand what our mission is here and the glory of our purpose. If you do what we say, you might have a chance to see the glory of the Many. Comply or die, sister. It's that simple.â€
On the one hand, I like being human. On the other, Diego calls Bronson a bitch, which gives him bonus points. …I’m not sure who to root for.
Hey look! A powered-down cell, with a dead body inside! There’s no way this could be a trap.
It’s a trap!</Ackbar>
Ew, worms came out.
Fortunately, the power conduit for the force-field bar things is inside the cell. I’m seeing more and more evidence that this ship was designed by the Star Trek people.
At the end of this hallway where the security station was is the second sim unit. There’s a bunch of security personnel laying dead in here. The lady in the corner must be Bronson, as she has a log on her:
“They've killed my men and now they've killed me. I'm holding my guts inside of me with both hands. I'm almost done... resist. This is bigger than my little life, the lives of my men and the lives of the people I was forced to kill. Resist. Humanity demands it! Resist!â€
That’s kinda gross, actually. Still, couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
With our guilt over seeing several dead people lasting all of 2 milliseconds, we give more of the ship’s control over to Shodan. I’m sure nothing bad will come of this.
Nearby is a locked door, labeled Operations Control. Since there doesn’t seem to be anything in here other than some (non sim unit) terminals, I’m guessing we’ll be here later to do something important.
There’s also a bunch of worms and ammo laying around. These worms are annoying, I wish they were ammo, that’d show ‘em.
There’s also a log from Delacroix:
“If we can reprogram the Sim Units and divert power to the transmitter on deck 5, my new friend will be able to regain control of the primary data loop from Xerxes. She... it says that will let us use the bridge elevator and take control of the ship.â€
Delacroix is working for that “mysterious†AI? So did Shodan like not even bother to hide from anyone else?
Well, lets continue explo-
…maybe not.
We’ve explored everything, but there’s still one sim unit to go! Wait, never mind, there’s one more door back in System Ops we missesd.
It leads to a place called Power Admin. There’s a log on the ground right as soon as we walk up:
“Mmm... Bronson knows... won't let her undo the work we've done... mmm... wired up a surprise for her... anybody approaching Sim Unit 3... will feel sorrow... so much sorrow...â€
Well, it sure was nice of them to ruin the surprise, wasn’t it?
More spiders! These things take more than one fireball to take out. It’d suck to fight a ton of these things at once.
AAH! BEES! Some eggs in the ceiling release several swarms of bees. There’s nothing you can do to them other than run away. They die after a couple seconds, though.
You know, it’d be awesome if I could, like, shoot bees out of my mouth or something. That’d rock.
As we approach the last sim unit, there’s another French-Epstein device waiting for us on the ground. I just can’t get over how much these things look like lightsabers, I’m surprised Lucasfilm didn’t sue.
We’ve already upgraded our laser pistol fully, so we’ll hang onto it for later.
Ahh, sim unit 3. What was that we were supposed to feel? Sorrow? What, is messing with this going to delay the release of Super Mario Galaxy or something?
Nope, it just releases spiders. Remember what I said about fighting a bunch of these? It sucks.
Fortunately, we’re faster than they are, and we can fling fireballs with our mind. They chased us around for a while, but in the end we triumphed.
Not much of a boss fight.
And so Shodan gets all of the latest Sims expansion packs straight from the source. Or whatever it is these things do.
Well, with that accomplished, I’d better get to those matters that need attending on deck 5. Presumably, that transmitter dish that was mentioned before.
I’m saving up modules for more psi, but what the heck, let’s get another point in research. I know from the future that there’ll be some interesting stuff that needs higher levels to research, and it’s not like those chemicals we’ve been hoarding will do anything on their own.
Back to the main room, with Xerxes’ blank-but-smug face staring at us. Wonder which AI will prove to be more troublesome in the end?
We’re heading back to deck 2, we’ve got crap to unload!
Jim can have this Stasis gizmo.
Time to research more junk! You may also notice the canister of Toxin A. Turns out there’s five of those on the level, when you only need 4. I guess you get to keep one as a souvenir.
“I Survived The Many And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirtâ€
With that out of the way, time to hit deck 5.
Next Episode- Tourism is booming.
I'm having trouble getting the Rebirth models to work right, since monkeys are invisible, as are my melee weapons. I can't hit anything or even kill the invisi-monkeys. Can anyone explain why this is happening? My OS is 2000, if that helps.
I'd suggest hitting the TTLG forums, as they have tons of tips and suggestions for getting all these old Looking Glass games running.
If that works, try the other stuff I listed if you want.
This, as I recall, was their method of attack in the Thief games. Annoying, to say the least.
Anyhoo, these spiders are resistant to energy weapons. I'd suggest using almost anything else.
The mod I'm using buffs the rapier significantly.
Yeah, still blows though. In that there's no way to know that in-game. I'm guessing.
Deck 5. Recreation. They need a whole deck to keep themselves busy, or else they’ll start killing each other.
Oops.
Hey! A not dead guy! This guy, sadly, freaks out over the fact that we’re not Delacroix and takes off running. Based on what we’ve seen of this guy we’re playing as, I’d take off running too.
Strangely, when we get to explore that side of the wall there’s no trace of a body, nor is there really anywhere for him to go. I guess he just vanishes.
After seeing the only other living person we’ve come across thus far run away screaming, we hang our head in shame. At our feet, a poster for WestWorld, for some reason.
…This doesn’t really make me feel better.
But this cheers me up! A new GamePig game! Tic Tac To- oops, sorry, TriOp.
DAMN YOU XERXES! YOU HAUNT ME NO MATTER WHERE I GO!
If they’re using a sophisticated AI to beat people at Tic Tac Toe, no wonder everyone’s all depressed, or dead.
At this time Shodan calls us up. I guess she’s going to be as bossy as Polito was (yes, I know they were the same person). It seems some of the surviving crew set up a transmitter here, presumably to send a warning signal to Earth. Powering this thing up will divert power from Xerxes, and allow Shodan to take over.
She’s rather insulting, but somewhat less annoying than Xerxes, so we’ll do it.
The first way we head is this way, where there’s a big sign that says Medical. The medical sign’s graphic is all angular and sci-fi looking. It’s neat.
Aren’t medical places supposed to be clean and sterile? I’d hate to get an infected papercut around here.
The Quantum Thingy. I take it monkeys can’t use them.
This actually brings up another thought: if these things were originally under Xerxes’ control, why didn’t they have them set to crank out soldiers for the Many? You’d think immortality machines would help in their little quest for global (shipwide) domination.
In this room is an audio log from a guy named Cortez:
(Note: The copy of the log transcripts I’ve got is missing this one, so I’ll paraphrase)
Basically, the crewmen who were setting up the transmitter had to bail, but they want to leave it up for any other people who may come across it to get it active. To do this, they’ve hidden bits of the activation code in the art display programs of the art terminals scattered across this deck. Finding them all will give us the activation code.
Time to break out the Scan Visor!
This way will lead to another section of the deck. We’re not done here, so let’s turn back.
A protocol droid. Eat laser!
On the desk in this room is a magazine. You can’t actually read these things, so we’ll be considerate of the environment and recycle it.
It’ll work on plants too. So if you have to murder someone, make sure they’re a plant-person first.
Hmm, an art terminal.
Pretty.
Huh. This must be one of those post-modern interpretations of the classics.
…Or part of that activation code. Let’s jot it down.
(Code fragment Get!)
Nope, there’s nothing else here. We’ll have to find more terminals elsewhere.
Continuing down the hallway, there’s another bulkhead door leading to a shopping mall.
As we approach the door, Xerxes chimes in over the loudspeaker:
“This is Xerxes. The mall will be closed until further notice.â€
Ok fine then. He kicked my ass in Tic Tac Toe, I’d better listen to him. So, we’ll head back to that first door we came across.
Taking a quick pitstop at a nearby restroom, we can see more worms crawling out of corpses. It’s just not the same if it doesn’t violently burst out of the dude’s chest.
There’s also a log near the door we need to go through from Delacroix:
“Mon petit, there is something you should know about. I have received information from some form of artificial intelligence that is calling itself SHODAN. Yes, SHODAN. Wherever this intelligence actually came from, it has a terrible grudge against these Annelids and has saved my life more than once. SHODAN has told me that there is a UNN operative aboard the ship, armed to the hilt and equipped with R-grade cyber implants. Strange bedfellows, eh?â€
Hmm, so I guess these logs aren’t so old after all? Unless that’s not referring to me.
Anyway, here we are in the Garden Sector. Already it sounds spooky.
Aah! Another security bot! Taste my… tiny laser beam.
OHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAP. This thing is really hurting.
And it finally goes down. You know, this pistol just isn’t doing it anymore.
Ahh, see the sights. Space is pretty. Though it kind of annoys me that most of the glass in the game is this dark blue color, makes it hard to see outside. I know there’s technically no glass up top, but that’s because the level designer didn’t intend for you to be able to fly up to it. So we can just assume that actually clear glass is really expensive in the future or something.
But as we admire the view, what’s that tingly feeling on our back? It kinda feels like being seared with a hot laser.
There was a midwife behind us! It was sitting there for like half a minute before it attacked. I don’t know if it was just bugged or if it was waiting to be triggered, or whatever.
Moving on, there are several bars/lounges in this area.
This hybrid must have drank too much.
Another art terminal. Does this have a piece of the code?
Yep. This one’s got a bracket on one side. I’m gonna guess that this means it’s the first number.
(Code fragment Get!)
Ah, the Bonne Chance. This place got like 5 stars in the Nightlife Guide to the Von Braun.
There’s a ghost in here that triggers music from the piano. It would be like 10 times more ominous if the piano didn’t have a huge blinking screen with an Audio Playback menu on it.
More robots! It’s much harder to take down two at a time, especially in such a limited area.
Raves. Serious Business.
The Von Braun’s dining hall. Doesn’t really seem big enough to feed thousands of people or however many there are on the ship. Reservations must be a bitch.
Their menus are truly state of the art.
There’s a Quantum Thingy in this part. Kind of amusing it’s so close to the food court. I guess they were planning for the worst.
And Chemical Storeroom #5. Again, so close to the cafeteria makes me wonder what’s in Monday’s Mystery Meat.
Anyway, since we’re here we can research this random lumpy thing we found. This thing’s a WormMind implant, which will transfer ¼ of any damage we take to psi point loss. This would be really useful if we weren’t OSA. We need all the psi we can get.
There’s also a log nearby from Rebecca:
“Listen... there's one escape pod Xerxes didn't eject... but it's busted. I've managed to get it functional, but I don't know how long its going to stay that way. Make it there, Tommy. With or without me. If I don't get there, I want you to take the pod and go. You understand me? Take it and go.â€
Noble sacrifice, but since I’m the one reading the log, I’m going to assume Tommy didn’t heed her advice.
Here’s the garden. Much less impressive than I thought. Though if these things can travel a third of the speed of light on their own, I guess I shouldn’t complain.
There’s a log in the middle of the room from Tommy:
“I'm so close to Rebecca it's killing me. I'm spending some time with crew members who said they saw her. They told me they'd help me find her if I help them set up this transmitter. They're set on saving the Earth. I just want Rebecca. Then I'll take care of the Earth.â€
Good to keep your priorities in order.
Here’s a glitch that’s been mentioned elsewhere. Normally the glass leading out to space is indestructible.
The stuff here still is, but this stuff here’s got its clipping turned off, so you can pass through it.
Spaceballs!
(Insert cat picture here) “I can see forever.â€
Underground, there’s a bunch of protocol droid boxes. But these things don’t have robots in them. There’s corpses everywhere.
There was a log earlier that explains:
“I've been working on dealing with all the bodies that have been stacking up. With the med bays full and the escape pods and ejection tubes mysteriously locked up all of a sudden, we've got to do something with them. I've chosen the maintenance tunnel underneath the garden as an internment site, keypad code 34093. I'm telling everyone to be careful... I don't trust the dead.â€
One body we come across has the access key that will get us into the central crew quarters. This is where that live guy was.
There’s also some Medium Armor here. It sucks compared to the swell power armor we’ve got. I’m assuming they thought the power drain would be a worse drawback than it actually is.
If armor degraded like weapons though, that’d be another story. (Note: See S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for that other story.)
We’ve been saving up cyber modules for more psi, but those robots are really bugging me. We need something better than that dinky laser pistol. So, we’re taking Energy up to 6, to finally be able to equip that EMP Rifle. Plus, now we’ve got another gun to use those French-Epstein devices on!
Here’s the crew quarters. It’s a 2 story hotel-like place with a central elevator shaft. The crew bunk layout on this ship must be confusing as hell.
This elevator shaft in the middle doesn’t connect to the previous one. This is a special elevator that takes us up to the Command Deck. But it’s locked. Of course.
More bots! We’re introduced to our first Military Bot, that fires balls of green at us.
Time to try out our new toy!
Ka-BLAM! This thing’s awesome. MUCH more power efficient than the laser pistol, and does a ton more damage.
The bots go down without a fight. I’m actually starting to feel like a badass now.
To the crew quarters! This guy clearly doesn’t want to clean his room. Seriously, look at that crap piling up.
“Out of Order†huh? We’ll see about that.
*BEEP*
*SCREEEEECH!*
BOOM!
…Guess it was.
This is what you do when you’re really lazy.
More hallways, more quarters. There’d better be something interesting in one of these.
This guy had a really irritable bowel movement. And by that I mean worms came out.
We catch a cyborg taking a robo-whiz on the nearby wall.
We shoot it. We would have made Bronson proud.
This lady went on a space drinking binge. I guess getting drunk and avoiding everything is one way of dealing with all the problems on the ship.
Another art terminal! Code fragment Ge-
…crap.
Well, we’ve still got more of the deck to search, so let’s get crackin’.
Next Episode- Shopping spree!
I've recently beaten the game on Hard with psi/energy (only weapon skill) guy. It was actually pretty easy, I'm having a tougher time with Navy hacker melee guy. (I miss not caring about ammo and having the psi heal)
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
I'm trying to play the game for the third time, on my third computer (first computer, it worked, but no sound. Second computer, crashed at "New Game"). Now, I can get past the New Game, but it locks up and I alt-tab to find this:
"Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage"
Help me make it not say that, please.
That's a common problem with today's fancy schmancey vidya cards.
Solution:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60930#d3d
It often is, which is why I left a long time ago. Way to obsess over a couple lost features.