Editing System Shock (section)

=== 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>