System Shock 2 Demo (Win9x)

An electronic message from Dr. Janice Polito has just arrived, telling you to come find her on Deck Four, but as you start your journey towards her, all you encounter are scenes of carnage and chaos; the logs of the crew members that you find do not yet explain what has caused things to go so very wrong...

NOTE: This Demo will not work on Windows NT/2000/XP machines due to a Microsoft (tm) DirectX 6.1 limitation.


Playing the Game

Welcome to the Demo!
The full System Shock 2 game includes a training area on Earth, a space station in which your character's skills are generated in one of three branches of the military, and over ten decks and other areas of the Von Braun and the UNN Rickenbacker. This demo is limited to the training area and the Med/Sci deck of the Von Braun, where you start with a pre-generated UNN Navy character.

The full game also includes over a dozen weapons which can be modified and loaded with several types of ammo each, thirty-five psionic skills, over a hundred logs left by crew members detailing the fate of the Von Braun, a host of strange creature to interact (fight!) with, and a large collection of alien and human-tech objects to research. The demo includes an introductory subset of each of these - you can't have everything on the first level!

Look for the full game soon!

Quick Key Commands
By default, the mouse controls your view in the world or the cursor position on the screen. Left mouse button attacks with your current weapon and right mouse uses an object in the world or in your inventory.

Some of your default key bindings are listed below. Look in the Options panel for the full set of keybindings and shortcuts. All the bindings are also fully rebindable via the Options panel.

Command Keyboard Arrows Keypad

Movement Commands
Run forward W 8
Walk backwards X ¯ 2
Turn left A ¬ 4
Turn right D ® 6
Crouch S 5
Slide left Z 1
Slide right C 3
Lean left Q 7
Lean right E 9
Look up T PgUp
Look down G PgDn
Look forward V
Jump Space

Other Commands
Toggle Mode Tab, I
Reload R
Change Ammo Type B, ;
Change Weapon Setting O
Read Last Log U
Stop Playing Log Backspace
Map M
Select Weapon ` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =
Query Ctrl
Split Alt
Set Nav Marker N
Compass Toggle Alt-C
Next Weapon Y
Previous Weapon Shift-Y
Use Rad Hypo P
Use Med Hypo H

Escape to Metagame Esc
Message History L
Quick-Load Alt-L
Quick-Save Alt-S
Take Screenshot Ctrl-F9

Mouse Actions
Use /Shoot modes
Left click: move object / shoot
Right click: use object
Middle click: switch modes
Move mouse left: move cursor left / turn left
Move mouse right: move cursor right / turn right
Move mouse up: move cursor up / look up
Move mouse down: move cursor down / look down


Backstory
It is thirty-five years after the destruction by an unnamed hacker of the TriOptimum-owned Citadel Station, and SHODAN, the rogue AI controlling it. The Earth is principally governed by the Unified National Nominate (UNN), an organization which took power after the fall of Citadel, but mega-corporations such as TriOptimum still wield both technological and economic clout. TriOptimum scientists develop the theory for a faster-than-light starship drive, but the UNN is unwilling to allow TriOptimum sole access to the rest of the universe. After years of bickering and political maneuvering, a compromise is reached: a TriOptimum corporate starship, the Von Braun, is constructed, but on its maiden voyage, it will be accompanied by a UNN heavy destroyer, the Rickenbacker - ostensibly for protection against possibly hostile aliens. The Rickenbacker is crewed by UNN Navy, but includes a platoon of Marines, the UNN's combat specialists, and representatives of the OSA, experts in psionics and rumored to be the UNN's "black ops" division; the Von Braun's crew is composed of civilian scientists, technical personnel, and corporate pilots.

Your character is one of the Rickenbacker's soldiers, and, after training, the game starts as you find yourself waking from coldsleep aboard the Von Braun with no memory of the past weeks. An electronic message from Dr. Janice Polito has just arrived, telling you to come find her on Deck Four, but as you start your journey towards her, all you encounter are scenes of carnage and chaos; the logs of the crew members that you find do not yet explain what has caused things to go so very wrong...

Training/Getting Started
The initial level takes place four years before the events aboard the Von Braun. After exiting the subway, enter the UNN recruitment building, where you have a choice of Basic Training and Advanced Training. Basic Training offers you an introduction to the interface, such as inventory, using objects, pushing buttons, and searching containers. Advanced Training includes three separate training environments: Weapons, which teaches you about ranged weapons, ammunition, and weapon repair; Technical, which lets you practice hacking; and Psionics, which demonstrates two of the beginning (and useful) psionic powers. Although it is not necessary to go through any of the training, we highly recommend that you do so the first time that you play the game.

After progressing through the training areas, you reach the point where, in the full game, you would choose to enter the Navy, the Marines, or the OSA; because the demo does not include the character-generation space station area, you will be given a pre-generated Navy character and the other two options are not available. After three years of training, your character is posted aboard the UNN Rickenbacker, and the game begins.

How to Play
You have two principal modes of interaction with the world: "shoot mode", and "use mode". Shoot mode offers a minimal set of extra displays, and mouse movement changes your view of the 3-d world. Left-clicking in shoot mode shoots (or, more precisely, attacks with your current weapon); right-clicking in shoot mode uses a hilighted object. Use mode offers a larger number of display windows, and mouse movement moves a cursor around these windows. In use mode, left-clicking or left-dragging an object moves it, right clicking uses the object (if possible). Holding down the control key before clicking on an object will bring up a query display telling you more detailed information about that object.

The Von Braun is full of items to pick up, computers to reprogram, ship's systems to repair or disable, and other objects to use. When you are close enough to a usable item to interact with it, the item will be highlighted with square brackets, indicating that it is selected. The appropriate action will be displayed next to the selected item: "Push button," "Search container," or "Use replicator." To take this action, right click. This may bring up action-specific windows, such as the contents of a container or body that you're searching, or a training screen if you are using a trainer.

When you go from Earth to the Med/Sci deck of the Von Braun, or between the two principal areas of Med/Sci, your game will automatically be saved in a "quick save" slot. You can load this saved game with ALT-L. Additionally, you can save the game yourself in the quick save slot by hitting ALT-S. Keep in mind that any quick save overwrites the previous one, including both your own saves and saves upon level transition.