Dreamcast System Shock 2 "improved" version

[thedoctor45]

Hey guys.

Recently, I've been messing around with the incomplete System Shock 2 Dreamcast build from 2010 in an attempt to get one of the other original maps to load in the game.

After opening the rick2.mis file with DromEd on Windows, I removed most of the objects/NPCs from the map to reduce filesize and added a few makeshift ramps to faciliate navigation in the actual game, which enabled the map to load up properly.

Framerate isn't great but it's useable at least. You still get stuck every once in a while but it is actually possible to navigate the entire map from start to finish with a bit of effort. Even the in-game ladders are usable (for the most part) which I found quite surprising tbh.

Load times are still 8-10 minutes tho so I decided to remove the unskippable intro video to save time.

Keep in mind that the thing is still far from playable but it does increase actual gameplay duration from approx. 10 seconds to around 3-5 minutes at least so that's definitely a noticeable improvement.

I'm uploading a DreamShell compatible GDI version here in case anyone else is still interested in wasting their time on this lol

File folder on MEGA

mega.nz

 

[ItsMeMario]

So I just learned that there was "System Shock 2" planned for the Dreamcast. Jesus :O

 

[accel99]

No cdi version? Was curious to try it but i dont gdemu.

 

[thedoctor45]

I've made a few more changes to the map to reduce graphical corruption and fixed the ladder in the pipe shaft:

https://mega.nz/file/LqxAxAYT#PS4ojg2tGkxWcuYfuCpH91zmfPYGOn1TkF47PQvV6pY

No cdi version? Was curious to try it but i dont gdemu.

I don't think it's worth wasting a CD-R for this game tbh, but if you insist I can compile one this weekend.

 

[thedoctor45]

Made some more minor changes to the map to improve "playability" and added a CDI image as requested:

It's now possible to explore the whole map in both directions without getting stuck.

File on MEGA

mega.nz

 

[accel99]

Made some more minor changes to the map to improve "playability" and added a CDI image as requested:

It's now possible to explore the whole map in both directions without getting stuck.

File on MEGA

mega.nz

Thank you very much. Ill give this a go.

 

[Anthony817]

When you say "whole map" are you meaning a certain section of the game or the full game world? Guessing not since such low memory on the console.

Still, the fact that you were able to load anything else up is awesome!

Would be great if we could get a team to finish the port haha, but it will never happen! System Shock 1 on the other hand? The full source to that is out there.

 

[thedoctor45]

it's just one of the smaller maps on board the UNN Rickenbacker, all other maps won't load - even when you remove all the objects the filesize is still too big for the unfinished port to handle i guess.

 

[Anthony817]

Ah yeah, that makes sense. We have seen this all too often with PC ports to DC. Games like Half-Life and Soldier of Fortune amongst others had the maps broken up into smaller chunks to even load into the systems limited memory.

There were easy ways to do that with Quake engine games, which both of the aforementioned games were running from derived variants. Not sure how you would even do that with SS2 levels?

At least we do have the full source code available, but doubtful enough people would ever help workign on a full port of it. Such a project would take at least 2 years for a full team that was getting paid, let alone volunteers doing it for free. Oh well, a man can always dream.

 

[thedoctor45]

There're rumors that the DC source leak has actually lead to the creation of the NewDark source port for the PC, nobody really knows who's responsible for that but it seems that dumping all the files back in 2010 has actually had a very positive impact on the games future nonetheless, just not for DC users...

But who knows, if we manage to actually track down the guy(s) who made the sourceport we could probably try to convince them to work on the DC version as well since they did a pretty good job with NewDark on PC... lol

 

[Anthony817]

Yes, the creator of NightDive Studios, Stephen Kick actually contacted me a few years back on Steam since he saw my name all over the place in the Dreamcast community. He asked me if I could find him the source that was leaked back in the day so they could release patches for SS2 on PC. I found it for him, and he graciously allowed me to pick 1 free game they published on Steam. I picked Turok and it was a pretty cool experience to be able to help out in some small way.

So you can be sure the rumors are true about the DC source helping out PC versions.

 

[Blai]

Thanks @thedoctor45 for your efforts

 

[fafadou]

Thanks @thedoctor45

Do you have the dreamshell preset please ?

 

[thedoctor45]

Loader version 0.6.0
Loader address 0x8c004800
DMA true
SYNC 16
CDDA true

 

[fafadou]

I didn't find the memory preset. Thank you

What are the DS_store files please ?

 

[thedoctor45]

They are Mac OS X specific files that are auto-generated by the OS - you can ignore/remove them.

 

[fafadou]

I have a error and I can't run the boot with retrodream...
And a black screen with dreamshell and isoloader.
Strange

 

[thedoctor45]

Are you using "Auto" loader setting? You need version 0.6.0 - it might take a few seconds before the intro video starts playing.

 

[fafadou]

Yes you have right
After the intro, the controller is not active.
Maybe here too, i was toi impatient, i'll try to wait more.

 

[thedoctor45]

The intro videos cannot be skipped, the controller works in the menu for me.