Restored: The System Shock Hack Project
I kind of skipped over this project, another of the entries currently residing in the Orphanage. It’s kind of funny, to me, that I’d restore its files to working order just after the release of Epic Mickey, since Warren Spector worked on the first entry in the System Shock series.
Be that as it may, you can download the Windows binaries and source code for both versions of the project from its entry here at Aiera.
Also: I don’t want to get myself too excited, but it’s possible that this might be the last download I had left to restore. I’ll have to go through and check all the entries one last time, but…it’d be nice to move on to the next phase of my planned changes to Aiera.
Spector didn’t work on either System Shock game. He was producer on System Shock 1, which isn’t exactly working on it. That’s management, not design.
I think it’s quite an unfair assessment to assert that the game’s producer does no work toward the game itself. Granted, the producer doesn’t typically produce code, art, or assets, but he still bears enormous responsibilities for ensuring that the various teams that do produce those things are able to work harmoniously toward a common goal.
Some basic info.
The producer’s job sometimes does involve more direct contributions toward the game itself, but is typically concerned with ensuring and preserving the context in which the game can be developed successfully; it might be more fair to say that a producer works for the game. Exactly how much direct involvement a producer has with work being done on the game proper will depend on the size of the company; a producer for a larger company probably won’t spend as much (if any) time working on the game itself, while a producer for a smaller company can probably expect to have to roll up his sleeves and pitch in on e.g. level design once in a while.
As to which category Looking Glass Studios fell into (large or small developer) at the time that System Shock was developed, I can’t be entirely certain…though I suspect that it probably aligned with the latter more than with the former. That’s not hard proof that Spector worked on the game per se, but it certainly opens up the possibility a bit more.
I know. My team has quite a few awesome producers who contribute as much, if not more, as any designer on the team. I was talking about Warren’s role on System Shock 1 specifically. (As far as I know. I wasn’t there, but know people who were.) Sorry, I tend to be a bit too abrupt at times. The main point was that Spector was on SS1, not 2. 🙂
Oh, to further clarify… Spector worked for Origin at the time, not Looking Glass. Origin acted as publisher on Shock, and wasn’t directly involved in its development.
Eh, fair enough. A wording change is warranted.