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During its development, like all games, System Shock 2 had gone through many changes. Several elements were either altered from their original design and intentions, or outright removed altogether.

Pitch Document[]

The original pitch document contains a basic overview of the ideas and game type that they were attempting to make. It is included with some version of the game.

Radio Interview[]

A radio interview with Ken Levine overviewing some aspects of System Shock 2's development. It is included with some versions of the game.

Levels[]

Shodan-production japan

Dojo[]

The Dojo was a cut level that would have taken place in the Where Am I? level.

“here is a mockup I made for the last level in the game. This is a single shot from inside the house. the remainder of the level was mostly untextured or lit, but ton the geometry was complete.”

~ Michael Ryan, 2000

“If I'm remembering correctly, one of SHODAN's primary developers was of Japanese descent, and since the player was travelling through her "memory" ... I thought it might have been cool to have a small bit of the last level move through a Japanese-stylized area. Ken didn't like the idea, so I scrapped it.”

~ Michael Ryan, 2000

Unused Sub-Levels[]

There are some unused sub-levels, of which little is known.

  • Eng 2
  • Hydro 2
  • Ops 3
  • Ops 4

Enemies[]

Talon droid

Talon Droid[]

The Talon Droid could float through the air or fly. However, due to time constraints/problems finding a way to properly program it, this enemy didn't appear in the final game. Its removal was also affected by the Dark Engine, which poorly supports the possibility of flight. Half lacking AI, and also silent. When called, it follows the player. It does not attack, but this can be corrected by writing commands in the gamesys_objects.

Nanobots[]

A cut enemy, they use the same model as the Talon Droid, but reduced.

Wounded Hybrid[]

It is known from the cut-out speech of CS0301. WAV. Perhaps he should have "interacted" with the character (like the scene with Watts) in another script.

Brainball[]

It has animation, chaotically rotating around its axis.

ИBBB

Wormball[]

It has animation, chaotically rotating around its axis.

RTYRY

Antibody[]

It looks like a claw, organ, or nautilus. Some textures are missing.

3544355

Sticky (Viscous) Egg[]

Place of origin and hatching of antibodies.

Turret Beta[]

Turret from the beta version looks different than the final release.

Witch[]

The design for this enemy has been abandoned, but the texture and models (gamesys_entryes) still exist.

Undead Soldier Hammerit[]

Enemy from Thief: The Dark Project. Since System Shock 2 used the same engine as Thief, this enemy remained as a remnant. It may have been tested for some features at the initial stage of game development.

Weapons[]

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Viper Pistol[]

A cut pistol present in the alpha.

Sturdy Lead Pipe[]

(OBJNAME.STR, line 234)

Lead_Pipe_n20: "A sturdy lead pipe"

Likely a holdover from the original game, where the initial weapon is a lead pipe. The starter weapon here is a wrench.

Items[]

Armor-Piercing Shotgun Cartridges[]

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Armor Piercing variant of shotgun cartridges

Flask with Worms[]

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A flask with worms, presumably used in the same way other worm items are.

Beaker with Worms[]

A beaker with worms, presumably used in the same way other worm items are.

Unknown Flesh Bubble[]

A flesh bubble that served an unknown purpose.

CraftTech Electron Spanner and Welder[]

(OBJLOOKS.STR, lines 89 and 91)

Tool_p1: "The CraftTech Electron Spanner is an over-engineered device is generally found in one of two-states:
     Broken or about to be broken. Essentially useless, the spanner profited TriOp well until it was
     discovered that well-placed officials in the UNN were authorizing their purchase at around 4000% of
     market value."

Tool_p2: "The CraftTech Welder exhibits one serious design flaw: it simply doesn't work. However, to save
     political face, the unit ended up on numerous TriOp starships and installations. More or less, a paperweight."

The game features many useless objects, so why cut two cracks directed at bureaucratic waste?

Vacuum Suit[]

(OBJNAME.STR, line 145)

Vacuum_suit_n83: "A vacuum suit."

There is no vacuum suit in the game. The finalized object name list does contain an entry internally known as Vacc_suit, but this is shown to the player as "A hazard suit". Likely cut when the mission to depressurize an entire deck was cut.

Chemicals[]

(OBJNAME.STR, many locations)

Sodium_citrate_n981: "Sodium citrate"
Inert_Chemical_8_n986: "An inert chemical"
Barium_nitrate_n129: "Barium nitrate"
Gallium_tetrachlroide_n146: "Gallium tetrachloride"
Calcium_hypochodriate_n137: "Calcium hypochodriate"

These are obviously chemical compounds, and doing research in-game often requires the player to find chemicals...but all the used chemicals are elements, not compounds.

(These are just a few examples, as the file is littered with them.)

RunFast™ Implant[]

See RunFast™ page.

WormBlend Implant[]

See WormBlend page.

ToughSkin™ Implant[]

An Implant partly present in game files. It has its defined short name and a summon code (toughskin), however the code doesn't work, and as such the exact function of this Implant is unknown. Presumably it protected the player from general damage to some degree, similarly to Armor and some Psi Powers.

Psi Patch[]

Psi patch icon This unused Hypo has no in-game description and cannot be activated. It can be obtained only via cheat codes. Like other Hypos, recycling it yields 2 nanites.

Gamepig Game Cartridges[]

Six games are available for the GamePig™. Another 5 can be summoned using codes, but cannot be found in-game. One more, Slots, can be found only in the game files. However, editing even them won't allow to play it.

  • Tetris (Pig Stacker)
  • Wallo Hog
  • Catch the Bacon

Storyline and Level Changes[]

Deck 1 (Engineering)[]

(LEVEL01.STR)

Purging radiation
(Lines 273 & 274)

LogText7:"To: All Engineering Staff\n\
     This ship's safety systems are a total mess. I told those idiots...In the event of total failure of the
     reactant coolant systems, you leech the contaminant from the deck by a controlled rapid decompression.
     You can do this by opening the shuttle bay doory. There's a control system in command control that
     controls the shuttle door protocols. You can override these protocols with an systems override chip
     45M/dEX. The chip's stored in auxilary storage 5 in the coolant tubes, keycode: 34760.\n"

The final game has you purge the radiation by overriding the fluidics monitoring computer, which also requires hardware override 45m/dEx.

Warning about the fuel scoop
(Line 218)

EmailText4:"Stop where you are...if you heat up the engine core with the Fuel Scoop open, you could flood
     the catalyst chambers with reactant and incinerate the entire ship. Head down to the Fuel Scoop and set
     the scoop modulation to 4523. Careful...modulating the scoop will send out a class B alert to the security
     system...you might get some company.\n"

This warning is not present in the final game, and indeed there is nothing to be done with the fuel scoop.

Deck 2 (Medical/Science)[]

(LEVEL02.STR)

No notable changes.

Deck 3 (Hydroponics)[]

(LEVEL03.STR)

Changes to research
(Line 48)

EmailText2:"Okay, stop where you are. There’s a vial of an experimental material called Toxin-A. I’ve
     picked up some data from some of the sci staff resisting the xenomorphs. They were developing the Toxin
     to reduce the growth of the aliens. But I can’t find any data on how you should use it. You must
     research the toxin with the Crick analyzer.  If you don’t have a Crick Analyzer, find one. If I figured
     this out, they might have to. Remember... Your corpse is useless to me.\n"

There is no Crick Analyzer, and research is done through the Research skill. Since the final game just requires you to have the Research skill for this part, you are given enough cyber modules to purchase the skill if needed.

Deck 4 (Operations)[]

(LEVEL04.STR)

The sim units
(Line 51)

EmailText1:"My children have co-opted the simulational computers on this deck. They use that power to
     conceive a mutagen that will transform the meat of your dead comrades into hunter-killer hybrids. I will
     this not allow this to happen. Destroy the 4 simulational computer nodes...but beware...life grows
     within the womb of these walls...life that has never seen the surface of the earth...Matters on deck 5
     also require your attention. Approach your work as you see fit...but accomplish, human...disappointment
     is not something I will accept from a mote such as you.\n"

While dealing with the simulation computers is still required in the final game, the number and method have both changed: the final has three computers which must be reprogrammed with associated cards.

Deck 5 (Recreation)[]

(LEVEL05.STR)

Scrapped ambush?
(Line 50)

EmailText1:"They lie in ambush.  Hack the computer inside the security station to take control of their
     defenses.  Why do you delay?  Obey me.\n"

This warning does not appear in the final game. Also, turrets are hacked directly rather than by way of remote computers.

The transmitter
(Line 266)

Okay, Delacroix. Frank and I have got the transmitter almost ready to go. Once its up and running, we’ll
     be able to warn Earth. As soon as you get the access shunt online later today, we’ll be able to divert
     enough power from the primary computer core to make the transmission. Until then, we’ve locked off the
     gym. If something were to happen to us and you needed the access code, think back to the night at the
     basketball game. You'll find the answer there.\n"

The transmitter requires a code to work, but this code is not a reference to a basketball game and no reference is made to any game while on Deck 5.

Player's origin
(Line 269)

LogText2:"Mon ami, there is something you should know about. I have received information from some form
     of artificial intelligence that is calling itself SHODAN. Yes, SHODAN. Wherever this intelligence actually
     came from, it has a terrible grudge against these annelids and has saved my life more than once.  "SHODAN"
     has told me that there is a deep cover UNN operative aboard the ship, armed to the hilt and equipped with
     R-grade cyber implants. This individual apparently lead us to Canopus in the first place and Forrest and
     Korenchkin were apparently taking their orders from him. I’ve attached a security shot of the operative
     taken shortly after their revival in Cryo recovery.\n"

A very interesting change regarding the player character. While this log exists in the final game, the extent of the player's backstory is limited to being a UNN operative. This also makes reference to Forrest, a character who was ultimately renamed Diego to tie to the first game. Also, the released game takes place near Tau Ceti, not Canopus.

Deck 6 (Command)[]

(LEVEL06.STR)

No notable changes.

UNN Rickenbacker[]

(LEVEL07.STR)

Meson acceleration coil
(Line 61)

EmailText2:"t is clear that the secondary meson acceleration beyond this portal has also been
     sabotaged...if you approach it, you’ll destroy the rest of this ship.\n"

Issues with the meson acceleration coil are still present in the final game, but you are warned about them far in advance to finding the door the the problem coil. There is however an entry in the final game if you attempt to enter the area where the coil resides prior to reversing gravity, but it's SHODAN Access Blocked berating you for being stupid.

Body of the Many[]

(LEVEL08.STR)

No notable changes.

Weapon Skills[]

(SKILHELP.STR)

Weapon skills are mostly the same, although Alien was replaced with Exotic and Conventional was replaced by Standard. Alien Research was truncated to simply Research, while Weapon Repair, Weapon Modification, and Weapon Maintenance all dropped the prefix.

Skills, Stats, and Exp[]

(STATHELP.STR)

The Psionic ability stat was originally going to be Intelligence. Likely changed when they found they had no other use for it at all.

A Luck stat is mentioned, but was completely scrapped. Similarly, experience points are referred to despite no such thing existing in the final game.

These three changes happened fairly early in development, with the EXP idea seemingly lasting the longest.

O/S Upgrades[]

(TRAITS.STR)

Cyber-assimilation O/S Upgrade was originally called Borg, which was most likely changed due to copyright reasons, although the associated item that it allows you to find on destroyed robots is still referred to internally as "cheeseborger".

Cut Dialogue, Logs, and E-Mails[]

Gallery[]

External Links[]

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