This is version 0.9 of SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable, based on the CD enhanced version originally released by Looking Glass Technologies (later Looking Glass Studios). It unpacks to 108MB and can be played from an USB-key or external drive, or from your local HD. SSP includes the complete original English game of System Shock. It allows for higher resolutions not found in the original game.
SSP works natively on WinXP(32bit), on win9x (with a patch), and on WinXP/WinVista(64bit) via the integrated DOSbox emulation.
See below for updates, patches and French and German language packs.
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STARTING THE GAME ON WinXP (32bit)Extracting the archive creates a folder named "SHOCK". Start the launcher SSP.exe inside.
SSP will inform you whether VDMSound is installed (red or green screen). You can play in any case. With VDMSound you get stereo SFX and an overall better sound quality.
In the Start-Menu choose how to start the game (usually option 1) or make adjustments. Watch the intro in amazement.
---> Note that the cursor might move quite fast on the game's start menu screen and the gameplay options screen.
After choosing your name and gameplay options, the game begins with an interface-help screen. When you're ready, hit [SPACE] to continue.
Once in the game hit [ESC]-key and go to "Video-->VideoMode". Choose "640x480". To change the interface to fullscreen mode click on the square button on the left upper side. Finally hit [ESC] again to find the save game menu. Saving the game also saves the settings.
STARTING THE GAME ON WinVista OR WinXP/WinVista (64bit)Extracting the archive creates a folder named "SHOCK". Go to SHOCK/RES and doubleclick DOSbox.exe to start System Shock.
Watch the intro, choose your name and gameplay options. The game begins with an interface help screen. When you're ready, hit [SPACE] to continue.
Once in the game hit [ESC]-key and go to "Video-->VideoMode". Choose "640x480". To change the interface to fullscreen mode click on the square button on the left upper side. Finally hit [ESC] again to find the save game menu.Saving the game also saves the settings.
When finished playing leave DOSbox by typing "exit".
GAME CONTROLSIf you need help with the game controls there is a file named "SSReferenceCard.pdf" included with this archive. Key-bindings can not be changed within the program. If you still want to change them, you might find this useful:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108497Or use this utility named autohotkey:
http://www.autohotkey.com/I can't beat the final boss!Keep shooting even when she has filled the screen. Use the Recall-Software. (
kodan50)
VDM SoundVDMSound is a DOS sound emulation software. It is not necessary to install VDMS to play, but if you run System Shock natively (not in DOSbox emulation) you will get stereo SFX and an overall better sound quality with it. You can download the
final VDMSound version here. Please install VDMSound while logged into the same Windows account you plan to play SSP in. After the installation reboot your system. SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable will automatically detect if VDMSound is installed and inform you on a green screen.
---> Note: VDMSound has been integrated in DOSbox, so installing VDMS when you run SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable in DOSbox, will do nothing.
PLAYING IN FRENCH OR GERMANSystem Shock was originally released trilingual but the German and French files have been stripped from this version to make it smaller. You can download the language files below. Place your language pack in the same folder with your "SHOCK" folder and extract it there.
CHANGING THE VIDEO RESOLUTION VIA THE SSP LAUNCHERResolutions from 320x200 up to 640x480 can be changed in the game via [ESC] Options-->Video-->Video Mode
Higher resolutions can be enabled from the launcher program. Then go into the game and choose the new resolution via [ESC] Options-->Video-->Video Mode
CHANGING THE VIDEO RESOLUTION MANUALLYIf you can't use the launcher SSP.exe (on Vista and 64bit systems) you still can change the resolution manually. Go to SHOCK/RES and extract one of the resolution packs (eg. 1024x768.7z) right where it is, overwriting existing files.
Then go into the game and choose the new resolution via [ESC] Options-->Video-->Video Mode
RUNNING IN A WINDOWTo run the game in a window (WinXP 32bit), open the DGVESA configuration, choose "Platform: DOS". Then on the Global tab, change the Screen mode to "Windowed mode".
On WinVista or WinXP/WinVista(64bit) edit the option in dosbox.conf using a text editor.
SCREENSHOTS AND VIDEOSThe native screenshot function only works in Mouse2kv mode.
Hit the [Prt Scrn] key. A message will appear onscreen saying "SHOCKxxx.GIF SAVED" where x is the number of the screenshot. You can find these screenshots in SHOCK/RES/GEN.
In DOSbox you can record videos. To start recording press CTRL-ALT-F5.
Press CTRL-ALT-F5 again to stop. You can find the videos in SHOCK/RES/GEN. You may need to install the zmbv-codec to play them. Go to SHOCK/RES/zmbv_codec, rightclick zmbv.inf and choose install.
TROUBLESHOOTING* Restore the default 640x480 resolution before you do any testing.
* Try DGVESA mode first.
* If you want to make changes to the DGVESA-settings, make sure "Platform: DOS" is checked before you do. A "VESA" tab will appear where you should set the refresh frequency to 60Hz for LCD displays or 70Hz for CRTs.
* On some systems SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable needs to be run from an Administrator Account.
* If your mouse gets locked in parts of the screen so that you can't reach the rest of the screen, use DGVESA mode.
* If your character spins uncontrollably after some playing, push the direction your character is moving once or twice and the movement will stop. Note that there are several control sets for movement: Mouse, arrowkeys, numpad, ASDZXC and RFVTGB. So if for instance you're spinning to the right, try the mouse, right arrow, 6 on the numpad and D.
TROUBLESHOOTING FOR RESOLUTIONS ABOVE 640x480* Movies are not rescaled, so they still play at 640x480 in the upper left corner of the screen.
* The movies have sometimes horizontal streaks (corruption) - if you're seeing them for the first time you might want to watch the movies using 640x480.
* There's some intermittent but serious chop in 1024x768; I think this is a memory page-flipping issue, but I'm not sure. If it's too slow to be playable try the 800x600 version
* In Mouse2KV mode the cursor moves extremely fast on the fullscreen map. Move your mouse to the upper left and then slowly down right. To place a note on the map it might be easier to move the map via the arrow keys than to move the cursor.
* If your monitor gives you an "out of range" message or shuts off, please download MonitorOutOfRAnge_Fix.exe below. Go to a winXP Administrator account. Backup the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\vga.sys. Then run the fix and reboot.
WINDOWS 9X COMPATIBILITYVoodoo47 from the TTLG boards has provided a solution to easily run the game in windows 98. Download SSP_windows9x.7z below and extract it into your SHOCK folder. Take a look at the "9x readme.txt" for instructions. This won't overwrite any files from the original SSP, so it's save to use.
CONTRIBUTORSCHANGE LOGFrom 0.8d to 0.9
* DOSbox integration
From 0.8 to 0.8d
* Bugfix (0.8b): If VDMSound isn't detected the according CYB.CFG now gets installed
* Bugfix (0.8c): The VDMSound detection now works when VDMS has been installed to a path with spaces
* Bugfix (0.8d):
Thanks to Squatina I was able to fix the com port error message at the start of the game.
From 0.7 to 0.8
* SSP now checks whether VDMSound is installed (red or green screen) and automatically adjust settings to support VDMS
* Updated the included resolution packs accordingly
* Bugfix: Restored DGVESA 15 beta to avoid NTVDM.exe crashes
* Set the refresh rate in DGVoodoo settings to 60Hz by default to avoid LCD screen problems.
* The SHODAN test sound has been moved to the Info-Menu
From 0.6 to 0.7
* Resolution packs have been integrated with the main game and can be enabled from the START-MENU
* Joystick is turned off by default to resolve mouse movement problems
* Titles have been added to the start commands in SSP.bat to resolve errors
* The latest
DGVESA 1.5 beta2 has been integrated
* Launcher plays famous "Look at you..." test speech file.
From 0.5 to 0.6
* Integrated Dege's emulation of VESA BIOS Extensions 2.0
* Wrote a batch script launcher
* Reorganised the directory-structure
* Made according changes to the language packs and resolution packs
From 0.4b to 0.5
* Fixed a bug where the mouse would get stuck in certain screen areas.
* Hex-edited the non-usable resolutions out the resolution packs to avoid misleading users.
* Fixed a falsely mapped button in 800x600 (noncritical).
* Changed the directory structure of the resolution packs to be nested inside a SHOCK folder, so extracting is just fire&forget.
* Changed the start-up batch (!START.EXE) to not show the SS-P version anymore. (Simplifies updates.)
From 0.4 to 0.4b
* Omitted DOSDRV.EXE as it's not necessary to run the game.
* Added description on how to take Screenshots.
* Fixed screenshot feature by converting bat2exe.
* Upped the RAM properties of !START.EXE.
From 0.3 to 0.4
* The game now uses the original resolutions (640x480).
* Simplified setup.
From 0.2 to 0.3
* The downloadsize has been decreased by moving more language-dependent files to the seperate language downloads. Also unnecessary files have been deleted. Like low res movies.
* This version only supports the resolutions: 1024x768 and 800x600. The file ss1hr.exe is not distributed with this version anymore.
ATTENTION: AVAST antivirus may warn about the launcher in this archive (SSP.exe) to be a trojan. This is of course not the case. The launcher is a simple batch file which I converted into an executable. You can find the unconverted batch file in SHOCK/RES/SSPsrc. Have a look at what it does and replace SSP.exe with the batch file if you like.
DOWNLOAD System Shock-PortableFrom megaupload.com:
SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable-v0.9.exe [63MB|selfextracting archive]
From rapidshare.com:
SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable-v0.9.exe [63MB|selfextracting archive]
Torrent Download:
LGC_SYSTEMSHOCK-Portable-v0.9.exe.torrent [63MB|selfextracting archive]
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Read the
Looking Glass Classics Disclaimer.
DOWNLOAD Language PacksFrench Language pack from lgclassics.net:
SSP_French_v0.6b.exe [55MB|selfextracting archive]
French Language pack from megaupload.com:
SSP_French_v0.6b.exe [55MB|selfextracting archive]
French Language pack Torrent Download:
SSP_French_v0.6b.exe.torrent [55MB|selfextracting archive]
German Language pack from lgclassics.net:
SSP_German_v0.6b.exe [55MB|selfextracting archive]
German Language pack from megaupload.com:
SSP_German_v0.6b.exe [55MB|selfextracting archive]
German Language pack Torrent Download:
SSP_German_v0.6b.exe.torrent [55MB|selfextracting archive]
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