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System Shock 2: Has a problem running on perfect, immortal, multi-core machines.
Drunk_caterpillar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
SO I was playing through Bioshock again and I thought to myself "This is pretty awesome. I hear that this is the spiritual successor to another awesome game. Maybe I should try that too!" And so I am. For those who are unfamiliar...
From the Wiki wrote:System Shock 2 (commonly abbreviated SS2 or Shock 2) is a science-fiction horror-themed video game, designed by Ken Levine, which incorporates elements commonly seen in first-person shooters and role-playing games. The title was developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios as a direct sequel to the seminal 1994 PC game System Shock, and was released on August 11, 1999 by Electronic Arts.
The game takes place on board an adrift starship in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2114. The player assumes the role of a lone soldier who tries to stem the outbreak of a genetic infection that has devastated the ship. Gameplay mainly consists of first person action and exploration, while a role-playing system allows the player to develop unique abilities and traits.
System Shock 2 received positive reviews when released, but failed to meet commercial sales expectations. The game has since become a cult classic, and is widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest ever made. In 2007, Irrational—now 2K Boston/2K Australia—released a self-proclaimed spiritual successor to the System Shock series, entitled BioShock, to critical acclaim and strong sales. Rumors have also circulated regarding the development of System Shock 3.
While the writing and voice acting has held up pretty well over the years, the graphics could use a bit of a spit shine. There are a few things that I downloaded that I can recommend to everybody:
SS2 Tool - This updates the game and makes it mod friendly, while at the same time patching it to support newer video cards and widescreen resolutions.
SS2 Modmanager - Makes it super easy to install mods, texture packs, etc. You can get by without this though.
SS2 High-Res Textures - Updates the textures a little bit, which makes things look pretty acceptable.
SS2 High-Poly Models - Updates the models to look a little more modern. This version of the mod works pretty well, and also has a better version of the nurse model than previous versions.
SS2 Straylight ADaoB - Anomalies, Discrepancies and outright Bugs mod - the most thorough attempt on gameplay-adjustment for System Shock 2.
Tacticool's Weapon Models - Updates the weapon models a little bit to make them feel more modern.
Updated sound effects - Makes some things sound better. I actually think that the only sound worth using out of the whole lot is the pistol one.
Anyway, I think we all need to jam the business end of a needle in our arms and then connect it to a psy amp and wreck shit up. Sound good?
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If anyone needs me, I'll be digging through my closet looking for the disc.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Why did you mention Deus Ex, you son of a bitch?
Ha! Joke's on you, it won't install on my new PC!
Wait...oh...I'm sad now...
What, so the internet actually finished this mod? That's good to hear. I gotta reinstall it.
Not even the Steam version?
Anyway, recommend going with Navy on a first playthrough, but that's just my preference. If you don't know what you're doing with OSA you can make things difficult for yourself. Well, I suppose that's possible with all three career choices but OSA is particularly brutal since all the Psi powers cost to invest in.
System Shock 2 is NOT as forgiving as Bioshock, you're forced to make tight decisions about where you want to focus your skills and character progression.
I found the disc. Since I want to play this on my EeePC I'm going to have to make an .iso on another machine and throw it on a thumb drive, mount the .iso on my EeePC, and then install it to an SD Card.
I think this time I'm going to go all out guns blazing cyberpunk Rambo style.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Also, don't use the Kolya tool, just patch the game, remove copy protection, apply ddfix and optionally widescreen mod and SHTUP. Takes less than five minutes.
You can't dual wield pistols can you? I'm sure I would've remembered that.
Hm? Doesn't the Kolya tool do all of those except install the SHTUP, while making the game mod-ready to do exactly that?
Anyways, this is pretty convenient because I just spent the last two days getting everything ready to play.
If anyone needs help with any of the tools mentioned above or the order in which to install them, I do believe I have their every nuance deeply ingrained into my eyes. I wrote it down here somewhere...
Yeah, it totally does. Makes it really easy too.
Open "IV5PLAY" to check and see if you have all the required drivers for cutscenes. Feel free to say "stop search" to skip straight to the check and installation. (Yes, you may already have everything, but it never hurts to be certain.)
Either eject and reinsert your CD and install from the autorun or open "Install" straight from the CD.
#2. Install the game to whatever directory you want the game in. Default is C:\sshock2 , but you can install it elsewhere. I recommend naming the directory "sshock2" wherever you do install it to minimize issues.
Note: Choose the "FULL" installation option if you want the game to work without needing the CD in the future.
#3. Patching and modding!
If you don't already have .NET 2.0 framework on your computer, download and install it from
Download the Kolya Tool 2.7:
http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,392.0.html
* Check all options (Patching Up, Getting Mod Ready, Bug Fixes, Widescreen and DDfix) and hit "Next."
* Point the tool to your SS2 installation directory if it has not already been found. Hit "Install."
* When the window for the Widescreen mod comes up and you are prompted, enter the resolution (i.e. for 1280 x 800, type 1280, hit enter, type 800, hit enter) that you would like to play the game in. The game is fairly old, so you should be able to run it easily at your desktop resolution.
*When the DDfix menu comes up, make sure that "Video fix" is checked. You will then need to select "Expert Mode."
In the resulting document, at the top, you'll see:
[Main]
;Screen resolution
;Must be 800x600 or greater
gWidth=800 <--- Replace 800 with your monitor's width (I.E. 1280)
gHeight=600 <--- Replace 600 with your monitor's height (I.E. 800)
Save and close the document to finish patching.
The System Shock 2 Mod Manager:
Download at:
http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,527.0.html
*Just point it at your installation directory and install.
Instructions on using the mod manager:
to your installation directory, putting all of the files in the right places. It then lets you enable, disable, or uninstall
any of the mods you manage with it, letting you avoid a *LOT* of copying and pasting.
To make a downloaded Mod/FM work with the Mod Manager:
* Change the file extension from .7z, .zip or .rar to .ss2mod (the file icon should change, if not, read through this list)
* Doubleclick the file. It will get extracted to the Mod Manager directory at Sshock2\SS2MM\MODS\. This process may take
some time as the mod may also get re-packed. At the end the Modmanager window willl come up.
* You can delete the Mod/FM after that. Or keep it for new installs or friends.
* If you want to register several mods in a row, start the Modmanager. From the menu choose [File] -> [Add Mods...]
Remember to change what file type(s) to look for in the drop-down menu. If you have it looking for .ss2mod only, you
won't find anything. You'll need to set it to look for .7z or .zip or .rar
* If your mod archives don't automatically convert to .ss2mod archives after you rename them, you can right click on them
and select "Open With..." and then browse to the Mod Manager. You'll find it in a folder called "SS2MM" in your installation
directory, named "ss2mm." If you can't get it to work, try renaming "SS2MM" to "SS2MM.exe"
NOTE: Uncheck "Make this the default program for this filetype," or else windows will try to open ALL .7z, .rar, and .zips
with SS2MM.
And now, just go through and download all of the mods linked above, add .ss2mod to the end if they aren't already there, open them with the Mod Manager, and activate them.
Go to your installation directory, Set Shock2.exe to compatibility mode for Windows XP SP2 if you use Vista and double click on it to open the game.
If it successfully loads the irrational logo and the menu, congragulations! You now have a fully patched SS2 installation with no copy protection/CD-check, full resolution, greater support for modern video cards, and support for 32-bit rendering that is (hopefully) capable of running on multi-CPU systems.
Once in-game, go to "Options" and then "Video" and select the resolution you entered earlier to enable it in-game. I also recommend going to "Controls," hitting "Load" and selecting "Standard FPS" and "Apply" to get a pretty standard keymap (I.E. WASD to move, etc...).
Oh, and there's an extremely comprehensive multiplayer guide at:
Anyone wanna do multiplayer over Hamachi with Straylight?
Also IIRC, the author of one of the fixes didn't allow it to be included in the Kolya tool, so it probably isn't.
It's just that all the fixes in your post are in the tool. It's just way easier and it includes everything, unless there's something I haven't thought of.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Did you set shock2.exe in your installation directory to run in compatibility mode for either XP or an earlier version of windows? (Right click, properties, compatibility) That, or did you apply the tools listed above?
Best thing I like about the Kolya tool now is that it actually eliminates how the game used to crash on all dual-core PCs unless you alt-tabbed out every time you started the game and set the process to only run on one of your CPUs.
I am running on XP. Compatibility mode wasn't helping. Maybe I botched a mod install somewhere.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Well, I have the steam version of Deus Ex, but you lose because I also have the steam version of Portal. After missing stuff like system shock 2 and Deus Ex when they actually were released, I've pretty much made myself a promise to get every "must play" (as decreed by gaming culture) game when they show up on steam. Current to buy list includes World of Goo, Beyond Good and Evil, and a few other indies.
My suggestion: Wait for the next giant storewide steam sale, and buy it for 6 bucks or whatever that it will cost.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
The tale strayed from tense survival horror to all-out chaos, including a marine with a plant fetish and a psychic who kept setting the team leader on fire...
God, this game was so fantastic for co-op.
There is a heavy push to get it on gog.com though. Hopefully we'll see it hit one or the other.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
It's not so much a push really, just that it's high up on the wish list but rights holders don't like the idea of putting their games on a service without DRM, even when they aren't making money off of them anyway right now.
Seriously, do you have any idea how many Origin games alone I'd purchase?
Yeah I'm bitter.
Anyone who would like to join me, get Silverlight's ADaoB (and whatever else you want that *doesn't* affect gameplay itself) and join the "PA SS2" network on Hamachi. Password: wang
At some point (even if next weekend) we can survive stuff up. I call being the hacker guy!
And also we will possibly use PA Ventrilo.
As for SS1, I agree Lork, I can tell it is an amazing game, I just can't get past the controls too easily. Maybe if I set combat to be extremely easy...
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
And I freaked out when the wind blew over a trash can next door.
My girlfriend knows the look of fear and concentration on my face as "Oh, he's playing the space monkey game."
I'm joking don't kill me
Last time I played this there was a sweet graphics pack and some neato fan mods available. Well worth it.
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW