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[Muffinhat]

For anyone who has played it (and remembered it for the most part), you might have noticed that the security cameras that sound the alarm when they spot you happen to usually be within two seconds of a security panel that will disable the alarm. To me, this kind of removes the tension of getting spotted if you can literally turn the alarm back off within seconds, and not even get attacked. Is there a specific design reason for this, or did the level designer just not think about how the tension would be broken? Just curious...

[Siilk]

Being within 2 seconds of a security panel does not mean you will necessary be able to use it within said 2 seconds. If you are already chased by mutants/robots etc, you might have hard time dealing with both at the same time. Same if you are trying to sneak past something and a camera is in your way. Not to mention that player will have to actually find out this panel being 2 seconds away thing on his own, so for quite some time he will not have that confidence when dealing with them, especially in an unexplored part of the ship. It's more of an added challenge, that keeps player on his toes rather than a real obstacle on it's own. Plus it adds to the overall atmosphere of the game world, makes player feel like he is constantly being watched by an AI nemesis.

[Ashaman73]

Cameras in System Shock 2 are more like puzzels (once solved, always solved) and not skill challenges (you need to train to surpass them).

You need to figure out how to avoid them to progress to the next part of the level. If you have been detected, you are pressed on to reset the puzzel in time. You will only surpass the puzzel if you manage to avoid the cameras or know where the next alarm disable button is behind the cameras. The latter is knowledge you often will gain only if you avoid the camera in the first run (or look it up in a game guide).

Once you have solved a puzzle (either you know how to avoid it or you know where the next disable button is), then the puzzle is no longer a challenge.

System Shock 2 is a good example of a game which have lot of puzzels (door codes/cameras), skill challenges (shooting) and narrative (logs) combined in a single game (I loved the game, I would have preferred System Shock 3 over Bio Shock  )

[Siilk]

<offtopic>

I loved the game, I would have preferred System Shock 3 over Bio Shock 

Well, at least we had Deus Ex. For me it always a spiritual successor to SS2. Funly enough, when I got DX for the first time(it was early 00s, like 2001 or so), I just finished the SS2. Like literally beaten that game a couple of days before I bought the DX. So when I launched it for the first time, I was like "wow, this is a goddamn system shock, but with even better graphics(SS was still good-looking back in the days), better AI and some neat physics. Oh, and everyone around you is alive and not zombies or robots so you can totally talk to them! :D"

Heh, those were the days...
</offtopic>

[Ashaman73]

Well, at least we had Deus Ex. For me it always a spiritual successor to SS2. ... Oh, and everyone around you is alive and not zombies or robots so you can totally talk to them! :D"

Heh, those were the days...

The setting of System Shock was one of the more interesting stuff (cyber/scifi/horror setting, alone on space station), whereas DX was more about an open cyber-punk world, nevertheless one of the greatest games and similar in gameplay.

Heh, those were the days...

Yeah, I would wish to have more of good sequels to old classics, not what EA has done to Dungeon Keeper 3  , more like what has happened to XCom (tactical version) .

[Siilk]

Yeah, I would wish to have more of good sequels to old classics, not what EA has done to Dungeon Keeper 3  , more like what has happened to XCom (tactical version) .

Well, we have Wasteland 2 out already and there's also Satellite Reign(a spiritual successor to Syndicate/Syndicate Wars) on it's way.