OtherSide Announces System Shock 3 Hires, Warren Spector Discusses Story Ideas

Realistically speaking, it’s going to be at least a few years until we’ll be able to play System Shock 3 in its finished form, but that hasn’t stopped the folks at OtherSide Games from talking about the project to the press though, as proven by a press release we’ve just received. In the mail, the developers talk about the team that will be working on the game, which includes veterans from Ion Storm and Junction Point Studios among others.

I have to admit I’m a little surprise that Sheldon Pacotti (of Deus Ex fame) is also involved, if for no other reason than because I haven’t seen him involved in any project of this kind for a long time:

OTHERSIDE ASSEMBLES DREAM DEVELOPMENT TEAM FOR SYSTEM SHOCK 3

Game industry legend Warren Spector to work with key developers from Deus Ex, System Shock, and more

Austin, TX, August 30, 2016 – OtherSide 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 Shock games to life and was also behind the seminal Deus Ex series, as well as Disney 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 Assault and 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 are Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Wizard 101, and both Disney Epic Mickey games.

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.

All of these team leaders have worked with Spector before on games including Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Disney Epic Mickey, and Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Two.

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.

That’s not all, though, and we might in fact be looking at something of a tiny PR push from the team. Warren Spector talked to Polygon about his embryonic ideas for the game’s story, and it’s clear that the developers are intending to modernize the series’ themes to an extent. How well that move will be received remains to be seen, but the concept art included in the article certainly looks promising to me, and I’m sure fans will appreciate the returns of characters from previous games:

“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.”

…

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.

Spector said he wants to create a game that addresses today’s concerns and that draws upon modern technological advances to make predictions about the future: “I like to base everything in reality and extrapolate from there. We want to be able to look at where we are today and ask where we might be a hundred years from now.”