System Shock 3: The Dream Development Team

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An official press release from OtherSide Entertainment announces, formally, the formation of their Austin, Texas studio:

Austin, TX, August 30, 2016OtherSide Entertainment is proud to announce the formation of its Austin development studio and that studio’s first project, System Shock 3, the latest in the series of classic, award-winning System Shock games.

Since its official inception in July, the studio has assembled its core team, made up of industry veterans under the guidance of Creative Director and Studio Manager, Warren Spector.

Warren Spector (Creative Director, Studio Manager)
The System Shock 3 team is being led by 33-year industry legend, Warren Spector, winner of several game of the year awards and honored with four lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to gaming. Warren played a key role in bringing the original Underworld and System Shockgames to life and was also behind the seminal Deus Ex series, as well asDisney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Two.

Sheldon Pacotti – Design Director
In his 22-year career in the game industry, Sheldon has proven himself to be a multidisciplinary developer whose past experience includes stints as lead writer on Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, on which he played a critical role. He also has credits as lead programmer and lead designer on many other projects. Among the games he has worked on are Auto Assaultand America’s Army. He comes to OtherSide with an unparalleled academic background, with degrees in mathematics and literature from MIT and Harvard.

Arturo Pulecio – Art Director
Arturo brings to the project more than 14 years of hands-on experience in every aspect of video game art. Among the titles he has worked on areLord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Wizard 101, and both Disney Epic Mickeygames.

Jason Hughes – Tech Director
Jason Hughes is a 21-year veteran industry technologist and generalist with deep knowledge of game systems. In a career that includes Wing Commander, Star Wars, and Disney Epic Mickey, Jason has everything from AI to graphics under his belt and has built multiple indie studios from scratch, operating both as founder and core technical leader.

And that’s not all!

In addition, the team is consulting with members of the original System Shock teams within OtherSide Entertainment, including creative director Paul Neurath (System Shock, System Shock 2), lead designer Tim Stellmach (System Shock, Thief: The Dark Project) and art director Nate Wells (System Shock 2, BioShock).

Finally, OtherSide Austin will engage the talents of Terri Brosius, the voice behind the System Shock series’ malevolent AI, SHODAN, and concept artist Robb Waters (System Shock, BioShock). Outside creative consultants include Doug Church, game director on the original System Shock game.

Yes, that Doug Church.

And as if this news weren’t exciting enough, Polygon is also running a feature this week featuring some of the concept art that Arturo Pulecio and Robb Waters have produced thus far.

And, as Infinitron points out in the comments, there’s more to the article than just concept art; it’s also an interview with Warren Spector in which some details about the plot of System Shock 3 are discussed:

First things first, Spector talked about how Shodan will definitely be a big part of System Shock 3.

“Shodan is the heart and soul of System Shock games,” he said. “That’s the beauty of System Shock 3; nobody else has Shodan. She’ll be at the center of the game, but I also want to put her through some changes.

“In System Shock 3 I want to explore Shodan’s motivations,” said Spector. “In the first two games her plan was to destroy humanity because, with the removal of her ethical constraints by the hacker in the first game, she’s going insane. But we never explained why she wants to destroy humanity. So we’re going to be exploring the idea of a super intelligence and what would motivate a super intelligent AI.”

“We are going to be picking up all of the loose threads of System Shock 2. Rebecca Siddons is going to appear in this game, for sure,” he said.

Spector pointed out that there are six survivors from the previous games. Their stories will all be addressed in System Shock 3 as well. Among the NPCs, there’s Shodan and Siddons as well as her colleague, Tommy Suarez. The story will also include Rebecca Lansing, who was the player’s human guide in the first game.

Also, the game will feature the two previous protagonists: the hacker from the original game, and the soldier from System Shock 2.

“We’re going to tell their story,” said Spector. “There are a lot of questions that went unanswered in those first two games and we have an obligation to fans to fill in the blanks. For new players I think that will pull them into a compelling narrative.”

The story will also delve into the history of Edward Diego, a key character in the first game who persuades the player to hack into Shodan.

The original System Shock takes place in the year 2072, while System Shock 2 takes place 42 years later in 2114, also the year in which the new game picks up the story.

There’s more in the article; click on through and give it a read.

2 Responses

  1. Infinitron says:

    The Polygon article is about more than that. It’s also an interview with Warren Spector where he reveals important details from the game’s plot and premise. It’s more interesting than the press release.