Just releasing my answers to the questions I got asked per e-mail by Ethan Gach from Kotaku. And also taking the opportunity to announce that ReWired will have fully voiced audio logs in hopefully a few days. The "Voices for Bismarck" project still requires two female voice actress to become a reality. If you want to volunteer, you can send me a message on the moddb page or twitter @the_3rdplayer
Why you decided to create the mod?
I just write you a quick summary of how this mod came to be: I was working on a Thief fan mission for a currently running ttlg.com event. So I started working on that level. After a while Nightdive Studios released the source code for Shock and I jokingly asked a friend to program a level editor for Shock now that we have the code. But he couldn't because he is busy with other things. I heard of the currently in development source port called Shockolate and I’ve also send a tweet to its creator that goes under the handle @cuddigan , asking when to expect a level editor and he replied to me that there is already one. So I downloaded it and played around with it and knew: Yep! I gonna make a level. And I hope I can finish my Thief level anytime soon as well.
The tools I used can be found here Github.com. I also got in contact with the creator of the tools Dertseha. And he was overjoyed that finally someone took the tools he and others created over the countless years of reverse-engineering System Shock and creates a level with it. The source code release by Nightdive was only the tip on the iceberg that truly kickstarted the creation of mods for Shock. And I do hope that more people will find a liking to level editing for Shock and that many many more fanmissions / mods will come out of it.
How you would describe the campaign, but in terms of how it evokes classic System Shock but also brings something new?
When I think of System Shock as a level designer, I think of narrow and cramped spaces with dangers that could wait around every corner. So I tried to make the UNN Bismarck as narrow and cramped as possible. But it’s also a hospital ship, so there will be some big and open spaces to explore. Another important aspect of classic Shock is replayability. In the original you could go everywhere at any given time. And the player of my mod is invited to either explore everything or only to go down one of the 3 possible paths to the end. And the most important aspect of classic System Shock is definitely the audio logs. And I have to thank my co writer for correcting my amateurish writing and making the audiologs of the crew of the ship what they are now. I do hope we could create an interesting and not boring cast of crew members telling their story with these logs and having the player peace together why SHODAN is now on this ship.
Currently the logs and e-mails the player receives have no audio. But I had lots of volunteers that want to provide voice acting to the logs, so expect a fully voiced cast of crew members very soon. And Yes, we will have our very own SHODAN voice ;)
What's your favorite part or aspect of the mod?
My favorite aspect of the mod is definitely the cyberspace sections. When I started working on cyberspace I first didn’t liked it. But the more I played around with it, the more I grew fond of it. When I think of the cyberspace sections in the original, then I have to admit besides being a great 6DOF experience and a iconic imagination of how cyberspace could be, they were pretty simple and sometimes too easy. And LGS could’ve scripted so much more happening in it but didn't. But ReWired got very big and sprawling cyberspace sections and you have to find ways, hack security systems, lift cyber-blockades or survive deadly minefields to move forward in the mod. And I think I am most proud of this achievement and do hope even though it's a very difficult iteration of cyberspace, that players will like it too.
You can read the article here: Kotaku
