System Shock

This page is for the original version. For the 2015 remaster, see System Shock: Enhanced Edition. For the 2023 remake, see System Shock (2023).

System Shock
System Shock	1994
System Shock 2	1999
System Shock: Enhanced Edition	2015
System Shock (2023)	2023
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster	2025
System Shock 3	TBA

System Shock is a singleplayer first-person immersive sim, metroidvania and shooter game in the System Shock series.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		3.5" floppy version or Enhanced CD Version
GOG.com		Bundled with System Shock: Enhanced Edition. Includes both the floppy and CD versions.^[3]
Steam		Bundled with System Shock: Enhanced Edition as Classic Edition.

Version differences

Bonus tracks.

The classic Mac OS version was substantially improved during the porting process. It features high-res (640x480 vs DOS's 320x200) menus, fonts & UI elements. It also had 3 studio quality bonus tracks.^[4] It was used as the basis for the Source Port Update of the Enhanced Edition.

Demo

A demo is available for the floppy version.

Essential improvements

Run in DOSBox

To improve DOSBox performance make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file:

Change output=surface to output=opengl
Change memsize=16 to memsize=32
Change core=normal to core=dynamic
Change aspect=false to aspect=true
Change fullresolution=original to fullresolution=desktop

Gigaquad's Enhanced log texts mod

Gigaquad's Enhanced log texts mod matches the audio and text dialogue.

DOS/32A

DOS/32A is a more advanced extender and open source replacement to DOS4GW. It can improve both performance and stability of System Shock.

System Shock has DOS4GW bound to each of its executables. Use the command sb /r sshock.exe or cdshock.exe to replace it.

System Shock Portable/SSPTool

A useful tool for those who don't own Enhanced Edition.

Easy to use configuration utility.

Provides all the above mods already in the package.

Has an installer that can easily find cd data.

Requires Windows, does not work on Mac nor Linux. Config files and mod components can still be used.

Still not native, unlike the Enhanced Edition. Also included DOSBox components may be out of date.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\CYB.CFG
Mac OS (Classic)
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/410700/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Some data is stored within the save files.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\DATA
Mac OS (Classic)
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/410700/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		4:3 resolutions only.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		For DOSBox toggle with `Alt`+`↵ Enter` (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS
120+ FPS

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Use the System Shock mouselook/key mapping/high resolution mod.
Mouse sensitivity		Use the System Shock mouselook/key mapping/high resolution mod.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus		Only supports mouse in menus, no keyboard.
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Use the System Shock mouselook/key mapping/high resolution mod.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).^[5]
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger support

DirectInput-compatible controllers
Directinput button prompts

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
PlayStation button prompts
Motion sensors support
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Nintendo controllers
Nintendo button prompts
Face button layout support
Motion sensors support
Connection modes

Tracked motion controllers		Forte VFX1 Cyberpuck ^{[citation needed]}
Button/gesture prompts

Other controller(s)
Peripheral devices support
Additional button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Digital movement support
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Digital FX, Audio Message Volume.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Toggle Messages setting under Audio Options. Words are not exact representations of audio. Fix available in the from of Gigaquad's Enhanced log texts mod.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the `priority` background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio
General MIDI audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Voiceovers only available on the Enhanced CD version
Czech				Fan translation; download.
French				Voiceovers only available on the Enhanced CD version
German				Voiceovers only available on the Enhanced CD version
Italian				Fan translation by manlil; download.
Russian				Fan translation by Dark Fate Team; download.

VR support

Headsets	State	Notes
SteamVR
Oculus VR (LibOVR)
Windows Mixed Reality
Forte VFX1		CD version only.^[6]

Devices
Tracked motion controllers		Forte VFX1 Cyberpuck ^{[citation needed]} See Input for details.
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DOS video modes	VGA, SVGA	Allows MCGA but for low-res cutscenes only. 256 Colors only.

Utilizes DOS4GW for extended memory & 32-bit support.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Emetic Dynamics Modeling System	Developed by Looking Glass's Seamus Blackley.^[7]
Audio	Miles Sound System	Original/floppy uses 2.0, Enhanced CD version uses 3.0.

Support for the Gravis Ultrasound was removed in the transition to the CD version due to the inclusion of the Miles AIL3 audio library. A patch to re-enable it can be found here.

Enable custom patches with AIL3^{[citation needed]}

To enable the custom gus patches included with System Shock (located in the \Gravis directory), edit the "CUSTOM.GUS" file included with the drivers above and add the following lines:

[Ultrasound]
PatchDir=SOUND\GRAVIS

[Melodic Patches]
73=ssflute
28=ssmutgtr
29=ssodgtr
39=sssynba2
80=sssqrwav
30=ssdisgtr
107=sskoto
84=sscharng
87=ssbasled
109=ssbagpip

[Drum Patches]
35=sskick2
36=sskick1
38=sssnar1

Source Ports

The source code for the Mac OS version is publicly available.

Name	Description
Shockolate	Source port focused on delivering a near-vanilla experience with some quality-of-life improvements.
System Shock: Enhanced Edition	Commercial source port using Kex.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	MS-DOS 5.0 or compatible
Processor (CPU)	486DX/33 MHz	486DX2/66 MHz
System memory (RAM)	4 MB	8 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	20 MB
Video card (GPU)	256-color VGA	SVGA

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	System 7.1
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 601 80 MHz
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	22 MB
Video card (GPU)	256 Colors

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8, 10 (runs in DOSBox)
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3 1.5 GHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (410700) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ News from origin BBS - last accessed on 2023-12-30
"On the Origin BBS, there was an announcement that both Wing Commander Armada (disk and CD versions) and System Shock (disk version only) had both shipped from Origin."
↑ Release: System Shock - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023
↑ SystemShock Enhanced DOS?, GOG Community Discussions for the System Shock series
↑ System Shock 1 unique MAC OS OST - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Verified by User:Macgovern on 2025-12-06
Tested using System Shock Classic Edition as provided by GOG. Neither the installer config nor the in-game config provide any way to remap controller/joystick bindings.
↑ System Shock on the VFX-1 | Pix's Origin Adventures
↑ System Shock Kickstarter - April Update - last accessed on April 7, 2018
"The game is mostly written in C, except for the physics library written by Seamus Blackley (EDMS, the Emetic Dynamics Modeling System)"

[DOSBox_mounted-5] 1.0 ^1.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.

[Proton_path_note-6] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (410700) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[5] The app ID (410700) may differ in some cases.

[6] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[7] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] News from origin BBS - last accessed on 2023-12-30
"On the Origin BBS, there was an announcement that both Wing Commander Armada (disk and CD versions) and System Shock (disk version only) had both shipped from Origin."

[2] Release: System Shock - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023

[3] SystemShock Enhanced DOS?, GOG Community Discussions for the System Shock series

[4] System Shock 1 unique MAC OS OST - last accessed on May 2023

[7] Verified by User:Macgovern on 2025-12-06
Tested using System Shock Classic Edition as provided by GOG. Neither the installer config nor the in-game config provide any way to remap controller/joystick bindings.

[8] System Shock on the VFX-1 | Pix's Origin Adventures

[9] System Shock Kickstarter - April Update - last accessed on April 7, 2018
"The game is mostly written in C, except for the physics library written by Seamus Blackley (EDMS, the Emetic Dynamics Modeling System)"

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[5]

[6]

[7]

Developers

	Looking Glass Technologies
Publishers
	Origin Systems
Current	Night Dive Studios
Release dates
DOS	September 22, 1994^[1]
Mac OS (Classic)	September 22, 1994
Windows (DOSBox)	September 22, 2015^[2]
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control, Point and select
Genres	Immersive sim, Metroidvania, Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Cyberpunk, Horror, Sci-fi, Space
Series	System Shock