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    Tuesday, November 30, 1999
   Shock 2 tapped for Game of the Year by USA Today - 5:03:17 PM EST - James
In the gift-buying guide that USA Today just put out, System Shock 2 is tapped as PC game of the Year. The minireview calls System Shock 2 "The most intelligent first-person perspective game out today". Thanks to Lars Therkildsen and talon54 for the news!



   Delacroix: A System Shock 2 Story By: Michael Feeney - 4:18:59 PM EST - Dan
It seems that until we can get that editor released, fan stories is this site's main feature. I have another one for you all today, and it's as good as always. The story is Delacroix: A System Shock 2 story - By: Michael Feeney In the words of the author:
Hi, my name's michael Feeney and I've been puttering around trying to think up a good SS2 story for a while... I came up with this...it's a short story about the last moments of Delacroix....I wrote it switching between semi past and present tense to try and give a sense of thougt/thinking to some of Delacroix's experiences in her last moments.... hope you enjoy it....
I share the author's hope that you enjoy it. I know I did.



   A Unique Shock 2 Desktop - 4:11:59 PM EST - Dan
Tanaszi, bringer of those odd audio mixes the other day, has sent in a unique Shock 2 desktop he/she made. It's an active desktop only display, so it's for users of Win98 and/or IE4+. The desktop is a animation of Shodan (from Shock 1) and the Von Braun logo fading in and out of eachother, with links to TTLG pages in the upper right corner of the display. If you're interested, you can grab it here.





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   Two New Shock 2 Fan Stories - 8:56:49 PM EST - Dan
We've had two new fan stories sent to us this week. The first is by Christopher Hogarty, and doesn't seem to have a name yet! It begins where the game begins, and goes from there.

The second is called Curtiz, and it's by Cyborg Commando. CC promises that this is the first chapter in a longer story. Enjoy!





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    Comical Wave Remixes by Tanaszi - 9:55:14 AM EST - Dan
The taffer named Tanaszi has sent in a collection of nifty little wav files. Playing around in his wave studio, he took some audio clips from SS2 and stuck then together into little comical episodes. Some of them seem to feature Duke Nukem as well. If you don't mind the download or the self extracting zip, download them and get a little chuckle. :)





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   Times Magazine succumbs to SHODAN - 3:30:09 PM EST - James
Ithel informs us that Time Magazine included System Shock 2 in its guide to "electronic goodies for Christmas".

"Who cares?", you ask? We should... getting acclaim in a major, mainstream publication is likely to lead to a sales boost for Shock 2. More sales = more games from Irrational and Looking Glass. Which is a Good Thing. 8)





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    A German Only System Shock 2 Site - 11:59:00 AM EST - Dan
Long ago there was a German-only site for System Shock 2. I wonder what happened to it. Today, I have a site to report, which is either an evolved form of that other site, or something totally new. At any rate, it's a German-only Shock 2 fansite, with similar content to this one. Check it out!



    Gamespot reccomends Shock 2 - 9:27:01 AM EST - James
Gamespot has set up its holiday buying guide, and Shock 2 is on the list. So, for that matter, is Thief (as a "you might also like"), even after being out for a year!





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   Reminder: ShockEd Petition - 11:41:23 AM EST - Saam
If you haven't signed the ShockEd Petition yet, please feel free to do so! We currently have about 620 signees, so we need everyone's participation to make this petition successful!

Oh yeah, be sure to tell all our friends to sign the petition as well. :)





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   Vote for Terra Nova! - 6:39:04 PM EST - James
GameSpot has a poll up: the second stage of the first round of the voting on games that deserve more recognition. Terra Nova is among the games on the list - go vote for it! 8)





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    Fanfic by Tristan Palmgren - SS2: James Watts - 11:04:02 PM EST - Dan
Yet again we have another very good piece of Fan Fiction by Tristan Palmgren. By the author's own word:
I enjoyed writing SS2: Cortez so much I decided to write another one. This one's about Dr. James Watts (The guy who dies before he gives you the maintenance shaft code). There's an interesting twist at the end, I think you'll enjoy it.
I hope everyone enjoys it too. Special thanks goes to Jyre for putting this in HTML for me. :)



    The Petition is Here - Dromed for Shock 2! - 2:23:08 PM EST - Dan
With life on the new server finally situated, Saam has finally completed it - the petition for the release of Dromed for System Shock 2, or "Shock-Ed."

The same rules apply to this one as always, but this time we felt a pact with the signer was unnecessary. If you signed the first Dromed petition, you know how this works. If you're new, then sign the thing, tell all your friends to sign it, and then sit with your fingers crossed... :)

Sign the Shock-Ed petition now!



   Shock 2 - 'The Most Atmospheric Game of All Time' - 2:06:46 PM EST - Dan
Normally I wouldn't bother talking about a review this late, but since it's in a mainstream gaming publication, and requested mention by the author himself, how could we not?

PC Gamer, (I believe it's the UK version,) has a pleased review of SS2 written:

I'm drained. My arms are leaden hunks of flesh hanging limply from my torso. My eyes stare unblinking towards the horizon. I'm a shell-shocked veteran of the computer-game wars. I feel great. I feel shit. I've just finished SS2. It is, just for the record, a little bit good.

It's basically an action-RPG set in a sci-fi universe - but that's like saying nuclear physics is basically just kicking around a few molecules to see what happens. In fact, I'm going to make a major alteration to the standard review template in order to prove a simple hypothesis: that System Shock 2 is the most atmospheric game of all time.

Yes.. very, very pleased. The final score was 9.2. Even if you don't care to read the review, they have a nifty little voting booth up, and it's just begging for hoards of rabid SS2 fans to come and rate the game with 5 stars.... :)





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    GameSpot Praises Terra Nova - 7:49:58 PM EST - James
It isn't System Shock news, technically, but worthy of note: in a Gamespot article on The Ten Best Games You Never Played, Terra Nova makes the list.

The articles calls Terra Nova "one of the most visually impressive and fast-paced action games ever". I fully agree with the sentiment, and it's nice to see somebody remembers it!

And, of course, this is a place to plug Abdiel's Terra Nova 2000 project, building Terra Nova anew in Starsiege: Tribes.



   A Shock 2 Fansite - ActiveList Homepage - 3:28:30 PM EST - Dan
I'm linking up to another fansite today, (the link archive is here - email TTLG Admin if you want your site to be added), called SS2 ActiveList Homepage. The site seems to be trying to put together a Shock 2 community via something called an ActiveList. Check it out, you may find it useful - buit don't forget to use TTLG's Shock 2 Forums!





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   The Face Behind the Voice of SHODAN - 3:59:55 PM EST - Dan
I have a small treat for fans of Shodan. I bet you all wonder what the actress who plays her looks like, eh? Well I have what you're looking for then. Oh no, but it's not that easy. This is the type of thing that only people who really want to see should be able to see! I have a zip file, about 4 megs, with a small clip taken from the 'Behind the Scenes of Thief 2' movie that came with Thief Gold. Terri Brosius, aka Shodan, Viktoria, and Delacroix, is a level designer for Thief Gold and Thief 2, and so she had an appearance in the video. Go ahead and download it, you'll like it..... :)

Of course, if you have Thief Gold, you have no reason to download this!





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   'Circuit Breaker' - SS2 Fanart by FinnLion - 7:30:11 PM EST - Dan
J-V "FinnLion" Simola has submitted a new piece of fan-artwork, and it's a good one too! Circuit Breaker. This is another must-grab for SHODAN fans. Thanks for the great contribution, FL!



    System Shock 2: Cortez - by Tristan Palmgren - 5:54:38 PM EST - Dan
Tristan Palmgren is the author of our newest System Shock 2 fan-story, called SS2: Cortez. This story detailes the events between the player's momentary encouter with Cortez, on the rec deck, and his death, all from Cortez's point of view. It's a great short fan-fic; I liked it quite a bit. Read it now!



    Today is the Sixth Day of November, 1999 - 8:25:04 AM EST - James
And in 73 years (2072) a hacker will awaken on Citadel Station....
Sleep well, and salt the fries.

(For those who didn't play Shock 1, the player awakens on Citadel Station on November 6, 2072.)

(And yes, this was posted on the 7th, local troubles kept me from posting it yesterday. 8( )





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   Two New SHODAN Fan-Art Images - 5:30:28 PM EST - Dan
I am pleased to post up a pair of fan-art images, submitted by a friend of mine. Both are based on the promo-image of SHODAN. The first, Shodanara, is the goddess SHODAN in an transcended state. The second, I am Shodan, is the evil computer immersed in the data stream. Thanks, Anie!





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   A New Shock 2 Music Collection, by BlueLightning. - 9:27:03 PM EST - Dan
BlueLightning has created a new batch of System Shock 2 mp3s, which has replaced the current collection. Aside from being, for the most part, longer, they are also of much higher quality. You can easily hear the difference, too. All the static is gone! Granted, the files are now quite a bit larger, but it's definitely worth it. As an added plus, we now have them all named with the proper names. Thanks goes to everyone who helped name the un-named tracks. Your hints helped us track down the true titles to all the mystery mp3s.

The mp3s are, and shall always, be available for download in TTLG's jukebox, in the Shock 2 archive (salted or unsalted). The only mp3s that have not be replaced with new versions is the credits mp3, and the four alternates. Enjoy! Thanks, BlueLightning!





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    Forums Are Down, but the Cause is Different - 12:12:31 AM EST - Dan
Yes, they are down again. The cause and solution are simple this time, though. Saam was working with the server, and it crashed. Hopefully someone at Icode, where the server is stationed, will get his message and log the thing back on in the morning, so Saam can re-activate the TTLG domain... :)

(Update: Everything is back up and running smoothly. -Saam)



   Shock 2 Editor Petition Soon - 12:10:14 AM EST - Dan
Yes... soon....





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    Dan's Birthday Cake - 8:05:53 PM EST - Dan
Some of you may remember back in August when I said that my mother made me a System Shock 2 birthday cake. Well I finally have a photo of it! Take a look! Like it? Tell her!



    Omer Joel's 'Remember Tau Ceti 5' - 7:51:05 PM EST - Dan
Omer Joel has updated his SS2 image, Remember Tau Ceti 5 to now include all crew members, SHODAN, and the deck icons. Thanks, Omer!



   SHODAN Mentioned in Villains Article - 2:22:21 PM EST - Dan
The ZDTV website has a brief article on computer game villains, and SHODAN receives two paragraphs of mention. It's a very short read, but not overly interesting. It is good, however, when LGS get credit for doing something better than anyone else... :)



   GameBlazer Update - 12:16:42 PM EST - Dan
Chad from GameBlazer asked me once again to convey a message to the masses:
If you are looking for a place to find multiplayer partners, try the chat area at GameBlazer.Com...

http://www.gameblazer.com/games/sshock2/ss2chat.mv

This chat is nice for SS2 because when you refresh, the recent messages you missed when you paused or closed the browser are displayed. This is good when you are going in and out of Shock 2 as you set up the game because you don't have to have the chat active when the other player sends the chat message. GameBlazer.com also offers a free tool you can download that lets you easily change the System Shock 2 options added with the patch.

Thanks for the info, Chad, and good luck!





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    The Age of Forum Chaos Has Ended - 8:16:06 PM EST - Dan
Good evening, folks, time to lay it straight. I have some good news, and some bad news, but ultimately the good news prevails.

The forums should be totally operational now. No more crazy DNS errors with an odd URL, just plain and simple http://www.ttlg.com/forums. That's where they are, and that's where they will most likely stay. We finally have this show on the road.

The bad news is that we had to re-install the UBB on our server in order to get it working properly at the new location. Unfortunately, all the threads from forums.ttlg.com are pretty much gone. I know that some of you are going to blow your top and start flaming us for this, but remember: telling us you are angry serves no real purpose, since we already know that some of you will be angry. If you really want to, go ahead, but don't expect to debate it with us, since there is no more we can do for it.

If you are a UBB expert, and know how to transport threads from one UBB to another, then by all means contact us and help us get this done!

Okay, now that I'm through with that, we can get onto the good stuff.

All of your user profiles from ttlg.gameforum.com have been restored! If you had 700 posts before, you have 700 posts again. Use your old name, and your old password, because everything is the same as it was back at gameforum. Consider this our "thank you" for putting up with the hassles and the screwups from the past two weeks. It took Saam a good three hours to do this, so be sure to mail him and tell him "Thanks!" I hope that this is enough to make the angry mob a little less angry.... :)

So go on in to http://www.ttlg.com/forums, bookmark it, and enjoy... :)



    Salting the Fries - 1:30:24 AM EST - Saam
Okay, here's the latest scoop: I can't seem to figure out what the problem is with our server, so we are going to move the forums to another location (on our server). However, I do have some good news for you all (read: forum junkies :)), but you'll just have to wait and see.

Dan and I are still working on getting the forums back up to par, so if you all would be patient, we'd appreciate it! I will make some more posts as we progress on this little job.