Editing System Shock (section)

== Development ==

=== Initial design ===
''System Shock'' was first conceived during the final stages of ''[[Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds]]''{{'}} development, between December 1992 and January 1993. Designer and programmer [[Doug Church]] spent this period at the Texas headquarters of publisher [[Origin Systems]], and discussions about [[Looking Glass Technologies]]' next project occurred between him and producer [[Warren Spector]], with input from designer [[Austin Grossman]] and company head [[Paul Neurath]] in Massachusetts.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> According to Church, the team believed that they had made "too many dungeon games";<ref name="ttlg">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419201413/http://www.ttlg.com/articles/SSint2.asp |url=http://www.ttlg.com/articles/SSint2.asp |title=An interview with Looking Glass Technologies |last=Starr |first=Daniel |year=1994 |archive-date=April 19, 2013 |work=Gamebytes |access-date=January 26, 2006}}</ref> and Neurath later explained that they were experiencing [[Occupational burnout|burnout]] after the rushed development of ''Ultima Underworld II''.<ref name="neurath" /> As a result, they decided to create another "immersive simulation game", but without a fantasy setting. They briefly considered placing the game in modern day, but Church said that the idea was rejected because "it [would] just beg so many questions: why can't I pick up the phone, why can't I get on the train, and so on". Church returned to Looking Glass in Massachusetts, where he, Neurath and Grossman brainstormed possible science fiction settings for the game.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> According to Spector, the game was initially titled "''Alien Commander''" and was a spin-off of the ''[[Wing Commander (franchise)|Wing Commander]]'' series; however, this idea was soon replaced entirely. Spector said that they enjoyed not being attached to an existing franchise, because it meant that they "could basically do whatever [they] liked".<ref name="pcgamerpreview">{{cite journal |last=Bielby |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Bielby |date=May–June 1994 |issue=1 |title=''System Shock''; You're All Alone Now |journal=[[PC Gamer US]] |pages=14–16}}</ref>
{{quote box | width=30em | align=right | quote=''Underworld I'' was defined by a little animation lead artist Doug Wike had done, showing the user interface, a monster and some movement. ''Shock'' was defined by two little three-paragraph "minute of gameplay" documents. Pretty much everything derived from them somehow.|source=—Doug Church<ref name="cgm" /> }}
The four collaborated to write numerous "minutes of gameplay" documents, which conveyed how the game would feel. Church later gave the example, "You hear the sound of a security camera swiveling, and then the beep of it acquiring you as a target, so you duck behind the crate and then you hear the door open so you throw a grenade and run out of the way". The documents would "hint" at the gameplay systems involved, and at the [[emergent gameplay|emergent]] possibilities in each situation.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> Although Neurath was involved in these initial design sessions, he believed that the project "was always Doug Church's vision at heart".<ref name="mallo">{{cite web |url=http://www.mallo.co.uk/ultima/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721001230/http://www.mallo.co.uk/ultima/index.htm |title=Games That Changed The World Supplemental Material |archive-date=July 21, 2010 |last=Mallinson |first=Paul |publisher=[[PC Zone]] |access-date=March 9, 2009}}</ref> Church and Grossman refined several of the team's documents and defined the game's design and direction,<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> and Grossman wrote the game's original [[design document]].<ref name="grossman" /> Grossman built on ideas that he first explored while writing and designing ''Ultima Underworld II'''s tomb dimension, which he later called a "mini-prototype" for ''System Shock''. These concepts included the minimization of [[dialog tree|dialogue trees]] and a greater focus on exploration. The team believed that dialogue trees "broke the fiction" of games;<ref name="grossman" /> Church later commented that the dialogue trees in the ''Ultima Underworld'' series were like separate games in themselves, disconnected from main experience of being immersed in the environment. There were also concerns about realism.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /><ref name="gamasutra">{{cite web |last=Shahrani |first=Sam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623030314/http://gamasutra.com/features/20060428/shahrani_01.shtml |archive-date=June 23, 2006 |date=April 28, 2006 |url=http://gamasutra.com/features/20060428/shahrani_01.shtml |title=Educational Feature: A History and Analysis of Level Design in 3D Computer Games (Part 2) |work=[[Gamasutra]] |access-date=March 15, 2007}}</ref>

To eliminate dialogue trees from ''System Shock'', the team prevented the player from ever meeting a living [[non-player character]] (NPC): the plot is instead conveyed by e-mail messages and log discs, many of which were recorded by dead NPCs. Here, Grossman took influence from [[Edgar Lee Masters]]' ''[[Spoon River Anthology]]'', a collection of poems written as the epitaphs of fictional individuals. Grossman later summarized the idea as "a series of short speeches from people, that when put together, gave you a history of a place."<ref name="grossman" /> The removal of conversations was an attempt by the team to make the game a more "integrated whole" than was ''Ultima Underworld''--one with a greater focus on immersion, atmosphere and "the feeling of 'being there'". They sought to "plunge [players] into the fiction and never provide an opportunity for breaking that fiction";<ref name="icebreaker" /> and so they tried to erase the distinction between plot and exploration.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> Church considered this direction to be an organic progression from ''Ultima Underworld'',<ref name="ttlg" /> and he later said, "On some level it's still just a dungeon simulator, and we're still just trying to evolve that idea."<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> Shortly before production began, [[Tribe (band)|Tribe]] bassist Greg LoPiccolo was contracted to work on the game's music.<ref name="gamecareer">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217204927/http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/384/features/384/how_i_got_my_start_in_the_game_.php?print=1 |url=http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/384/features/384/how_i_got_my_start_in_the_game_.php |title=How I Got My Start in the Games Industry |last=Wallis |first=Alistair |date=June 19, 2007 |work=Game Career Guide |archive-date=February 17, 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=November 23, 2010}}</ref> He had visited his friend Rex Bradford at the company,<ref name="lopiccolo">{{cite web |last=Weise |first=Matthew |date=July 13, 2011 |title=Looking Glass Studios Interview Series – Audio Podcast 6 – Greg LoPiccolo |url=http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/07/looking_glass_studios_intervie_5.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401064613/http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/07/looking_glass_studios_intervie_5.php |archive-date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |access-date=November 4, 2012}}</ref> and was spontaneously asked by the game's programmers—many of whom were fans of the band—if he would take the role.<ref name="sysmusic">{{cite news |last=Lozaw |first=Tristram |date=December 15, 1994 |title=Music; Tribe's fans are in for a 'Shock' |newspaper=[[Boston Herald]] |at=FEATURES; Pg. 047}}</ref> The game entered production in February 1993.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Although Grossman was heavily involved in the game's early planning, he had little to do with its production, aside from providing assistance with writing and voice acting.<ref name="grossman">{{cite web |last=Weise |first=Matthew |date=February 25, 2011 |title=Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 1 - Austin Grossman |url=http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/02/looking_glass_studios_intervie.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720003321/http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/02/looking_glass_studios_intervie.php |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |publisher=Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab}}</ref>

=== Production ===
[[File:Ss cyberspace.GIF|thumb|The player navigates a [[wire-frame model|wire-frame]] environment in Cyberspace. The character's shield is displayed at the top right, while weapons and abilities are listed at the bottom.]]

After production began, the team's first task was to develop a new game engine—one that could display a [[true 3D]] environment and allow for advanced gameplay.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> The team abandoned the engine used for the ''Ultima Underworld'' games and programmed one from scratch in [[Watcom C/C++ compiler|Watcom C/C++]], using [[32-bit]] code. The new engine is capable of processing [[texture mapping|texture maps]], sloped architecture and light-emitting objects; and it allows the player to look in any direction, whereas ''Ultima Underworld'''s engine was "very limited" in this regard.<ref name="ttlg" /><ref name="gamespy" /><ref name="gamedesigntheory">{{cite book |last=Rouse III |first=Richard |title=[[Game Design: Theory and Practice|Game Design: Theory & Practice Second Edition]] |publisher=Wordware Publishing |at=500–531 |year=2005 |isbn=1-55622-912-7}}</ref> It also enables the [[player character]] to jump, crawl, climb walls and lean, among other things.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /><ref name="edgepreview">{{cite magazine |date=July 1994 |title=PRESCREEN; Bioforge, System Shock |magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]] |issue=10 |pages=35, 36}}</ref> The designers utilized loopholes in the engine's renderer to create more diverse and striking environments. Despite having coded the renderer, Church said that "at first glance even I couldn't see how they did them". However, this added to the performance issues already being caused by the engine's advanced nature, and the team struggled to optimize the game throughout development. 3D [[polygon]]al character models were planned, but they could not be implemented on schedule.<ref name="ttlg" /> Church said that the team's ultimate goal was to create a "rich, exciting, active environment" in which the player could be immersed,<ref name="ttlg" /> and that this required "a coherent story and a world that you can interact with as much as possible."<ref name="edgepreview" />

Church later said that the team "stumbled into a nice villain" with SHODAN, in that she could routinely and directly affect the player's gameplay "in non-final ways". Through [[event-driven programming|triggered events]] and through objects in the environment, such as security cameras that the player must destroy, the team made SHODAN's presence part of the player's exploration of the world. Because SHODAN interacts with the player as a "recurring, consistent, palpable enemy", Church believed that she meaningfully connects the player to the story.<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> ''System Shock'' concept artist Robb Waters created SHODAN's visual design,<ref name="irrational">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010208091300/http://www.irrationalgames.com/company/usa_team.cfm |url=http://www.irrationalgames.com/company/usa_team.cfm |title=Irrational Games Boston Team |publisher=[[Irrational Games]] |archive-date=February 8, 2001 |access-date=December 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name="pcgamerfeature" /> and LoPiccolo recruited his bandmate [[Terri Brosius]] to voice the character.<ref name="lopiccolo" /> Brosius said that her goal during the recording sessions was to speak "without emotion, but with some up and down inflections". Afterward, her voice was heavily edited in post-production,<ref name="brosius">{{cite web |last=Weise |first=Matthew |date=January 18, 2012 |title=Looking Glass Studios Interview Series – Audio Podcast 9 – Terri Brosius and Dan Thron |url=http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2012/01/looking_glass_studios_intervie_6.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401071632/http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2012/01/looking_glass_studios_intervie_6.php |archive-date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |access-date=November 5, 2012}}</ref> which created a robotic effect inspired by the voice of [[Max Headroom (character)|Max Headroom]].<ref name="lopiccolo" /> LoPiccolo later said that the large number of effects on Brosius's voice were "laboriously hand-done" with [[Avid Audio#Sound Designer|Sound Designer]], which lacked the features that a sound editor would normally use to achieve such results. SHODAN's dialogue early in the game was given "a few glitches" to hint at her corrupted status. LoPiccolo increased the number of these effects throughout the game, which creates an "arc" that ends with SHODAN "completely out of her mind [... and] collapsing as an entity".<ref name="lopiccolo" /> The character of the hacker arose as a reaction against the protagonist of the ''Ultima'' series, the [[Avatar (Ultima)|Avatar]]. According to Grossman, they wanted to cast the player as someone "interestingly morally compromised" who had a stake in the situation.<ref name="grossman" />

[[Seamus Blackley]] designed the game's physics system,<ref name="pcgamerfeature" /> which is a modified version of the one he wrote for Looking Glass's flight simulator [[Flight Unlimited]].<ref name="ttlg" /> At the time, Church described it as "far more sophisticated than what you would normally use for an indoor game".<ref name="ttlg" /> The system governs, among other things, weapon recoil and the arc of thrown objects; the latter behave differently based on their weight and velocity.<ref name="pcgamerfeature">{{cite journal |last=Yee |first=Bernie |title=Through the Looking Glass |journal=[[PC Gamer]] |pages=62, 63, 65, 67, 69 |date=March 1995}}</ref> The game's most complex physics model is that of the player character.<ref name="ttlg" /> Church explained that the character's head "tilts forward when you start to run, and jerks back a bit when you stop", and that, after an impact against a surface or object, its "head is knocked in the direction opposite the hit, with proportion to [the] mass and velocity of the objects involved".<ref name="ttlg" /> On coding physics for Looking Glass Technologies games, Blackley later said, "If games don't obey physics, we somehow feel that something isn't right", and that "the biggest compliment to me is when a gamer doesn't notice the physics, but only notices that things feel the way they should".<ref name="pcgamerfeature" />

Spector's role as a producer gave him the job of explaining the game to the publisher, which he called his "biggest challenge". He explained that they "didn't always get what the team was trying to do", and said, "You don't want to know how many times the game came ''this'' close to being killed (or how late in the project)".<ref name="highscore">{{cite book |author1=DeMaria, Rusel |author2=Wilson, Johnny L. |title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games |edition=2nd |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill|McGraw-Hill Osborne]] |date=December 2003 |isbn=0-07-222428-2 |at=295–296}}</ref> According to Church, Looking Glass' internal management largely ignored ''System Shock'', in favor of the concurrently-developed ''[[Flight Unlimited]]''—the game "that had to be the hit, because it was the self-published title".<ref name="gamedesigntheory" /> Spector organized a licensing deal between [[Electronic Arts]] and Looking Glass that gave the former the trademark to the game, but the latter the copyright. His goal was to ensure that neither party could continue the franchise without the other's involvement.<ref name="mercurynews">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203022225/http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/11/28/warren-spector-interview-on-the-process-of-making-epic-mickey-system-shock-and-dark-games-part-2/ |url=http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/11/28/warren-spector-interview-on-the-process-of-making-epic-mickey-system-shock-and-dark-games-part-2/ |last=Cacho |first=Gieson |title=Warren Spector Interview (Part 2): On the process of making ''Epic Mickey'', ''System Shock'' and dark games |date=November 28, 2010 |archive-date=December 3, 2010 |url-status=live |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |access-date=December 27, 2010}}</ref> While Cyberspace was originally conceived as a realistic hacking simulation—which could even be used to reimplement SHODAN's ethical constraints—it was simplified after [[Origin Systems]] deemed it too complicated.<ref name="pcgamerfeature" /> The game's star field system was written by programmer James Fleming.<ref name="cgm" /> [[Marc LeBlanc]] was the main creator of the game's HUD, which he later believed was too complicated. He said that it was "very much the [[Microsoft Word]] school of user interface", in that there was no "feature that you [could not] see on the screen and touch and play with".<ref name="leblanc">{{cite web |last=Weise |first=Matthew |date=November 10, 2011 |title=Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 8 - Marc "Mahk" LeBlanc |url=http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/11/podcast-marcleblanc.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101185510/http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/11/podcast-marcleblanc.php |archive-date=November 1, 2013 |publisher=Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab}}</ref>

LoPiccolo composed the game's score—called "dark", "electronic" and "cyberpunk" by the ''[[Boston Herald]]''—on a Macintosh computer and inexpensive synthesizer, using [[Opcode Systems|Audio Vision]].<ref name="lopiccolo" /><ref name="sysmusic" /> It [[dynamic music|dynamically]] changes according to the player's actions,<ref name="sysmusic" /> a decision made in keeping with the team's focus on [[emergent gameplay]].<ref name="lopiccolo" /> Each track was "written at three different intensity levels", which change depending on the player's nearness to enemies; and certain events, such as victory in combat, trigger special music. The game's tracks were composed of four-bar segments that could be rearranged dynamically in reaction to game events, with "melodies through-composed on top".<ref name="lopiccolo" /> LoPiccolo noted that, when using this method, it is necessary to write music that "still flows with the overall theme and doesn't jump around".<ref name="sysmusic" /> Because the score was closely tied to the gameplay, LoPiccolo had to work closely with Church and Rob Fermier, the latter of whom wrote the "interactive scoring module" that allowed for dynamic music.<ref name="lopiccolo" /> After recording the music,<ref name="lopiccolo" /> LoPiccolo recorded all of the game's sound effects.<ref name="gamecareer" /><ref name="sysmusic" /> He later recalled visiting an [[automobile repair shop]] with "portable recorder and a mic", and "having [his] mechanic [...] hit things with wrenches and so forth, just to get the raw material".<ref name="lopiccolo" /> He developed the game's audio over 16 months, working on a contractual basis until Tribe disbanded in May 1994; Ned Lerner gave him a full-time job as audio director the next day.<ref name="gamecareer" /><ref name="sysmusic" /> Tim Ries composed the "Elevator" music.

The original September 1994 [[floppy disk]] release of ''System Shock'' had no support for spoken dialogue. The enhanced [[CD-ROM]] was released in December 1994, which featured full speech for logs and e-mails, multiple display resolutions, and more detailed graphics. The CD-ROM version is often considered to be superior to the floppy version.<ref name="gamespy">{{cite web |url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/ss_a.shtm |title=GameSpy.com – Hall of Fame: ''System Shock'' |last=Turner |first=Benjamin |work=[[GameSpy]] |access-date=March 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311015323/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/ss_a.shtm |archive-date=March 11, 2007}}</ref> After completing work on the sound and music for the floppy version, LoPiccolo recorded all of the spoken dialogue for the CD release, using company employees and his friends' voices,<ref name="lopiccolo" /><ref name="sysmusic" /> which he mixed with ambient sounds to create "audio vignettes".<ref name="lopiccolo" /> Doug Church later said, "We tried to keep them from shipping the floppy version and instead just ship the CD version, but Origin would have none of it".<ref name="cgm">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030908171031/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/025/191/dougc_interview.html |url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/025/191/dougc_interview.html |title=The Tracks of His Games |date=January 30, 2000 |last=Bauman |first=Steve |work=[[Computer Games Magazine]] |archive-date=September 8, 2003 |access-date=October 27, 2010}}</ref> ''System Shock'' producer [[Warren Spector]] later expressed regret concerning the floppy version, stating, "I wish I could go back and make the decision not to ship the floppy version months before the full-speech CD version. The additional audio added so much it might as well have been a different game. The CD version seemed so much more, well, modern. And the perception of ''Shock'' was cemented in the press and in people's minds by the floppy version (the silent movie version!). I really think that cost us sales..."<ref name="spector">{{cite web |url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/spector_a.shtm |title=20 Questions with Warren Spector |last=Keefer |first=John |work=[[GameSpy]] |date=May 2000 |access-date=January 26, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050905214231/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/spector_a.shtm |archive-date=September 5, 2005}}</ref>