A decade after my second playthrough, I have beaten
System Shock 2 for the third time. I'm glad to say that it is still one of my favourite PC games. I installed Kolya's SS2 Tool which includes map fixes as well as a custom engine (NewDark) that comes with D3D9, supports modern systems, adds a bunch of subtle features and most importantly, works flawlessly. On top of that, top-notch third-party graphical enhancements really made the game shine - seriously, I have never been a fan of so called hi-res textures stuck on top of low-poly maps and haven't used any for Quake to this day, but the ones available for
SS2 are much better than any I have seen. The following shots, which are mostly from Deck 5, demonstrate these packages (alongside a hint of bloom):
* SHTUP (object/decal-based textures)
* FourHundred (brush-based textures)
* Vurt's Space Textures (skies -- not shown)
* Vurt's Goo (new models for organics -- not shown)
* Vurt's Water (v5.1 with EnvMap)
* Tacticool (new models for Navy weapons -- two out of five shown)
* Eldron PsiAmp (new model for PsiAmp -- not shown)
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Also used ADaoB, a bug-fixing pack that also rebalances the game mechanics. Didn't installed Rebirth, since I don't think it follows the style as well as the above packs. All of them are definitely recommended, they will make the game run much smoother and look much sharper while staying true to the original feel and look.
Here's a handy link:
SS2 Newbie Modding Guide