I loved both System Shock and System Shock 2. I think maybe it’s the heavy use of small, fast enemies. The combat just never felt fun–at least not what I experienced of it.
There are like three different locations for the functioning escape pod, and I think sometimes they could be all be broken first requiring a repair part which can be found, bought from the store, or crafted. The later two requring the blueprints maybe. It’s easy enough to check the security station to locate it.
In fact, for an end run I always go to the central building first to check the status of everything: trams, power, escape pods, and if the access tunnel to labs is caved-in.
The shuttle is always in the same spot in the living quarters and only requires the piloting skill to use.
That tunnel isn’t always caved in? Well whaddaya know :)
My luck was it is generally always caved-in. And only sometimes not.
If you are serious about a completing the game, go to the central building first with the first character of the run to check the status of everything. Optimally with the Engineer, because you need to repair things to setup future runs anyways. This is a no-brainer.
My game complete run (spoliers)
Run 1: Engineer / Escape method: Mass Driver (because it takes the longest and the refinery area is the worst)
-I first go to the central building to get the status of power, trams, and pods.
-Restore power to labs and mining first priority
-Go to labs via the access tunnel, if caved in, the hard way, moon surface access (mind the moonshark, I will kill it first thing)
-Lab: Repair the teleporter. Step 1 of 2 to unlock the teleport escape method
-Go to Refinery and complete the Mass Driver escape. Food and Drink required. Might need to go to Living Quarters first just to get the supplies.
Run 2: Spy / Escape Method: Pod
-I need to go to labs first to hack the computer to open the door to teleportal. Step 2 of 2 to unlock the teleport escape method; and from here I could just take the portal straight away. Run done.
-I opted to go to an escape pod because it is the second most time consuming. I already know the location from the first run I just need to get there. If the power is out there I would need to adjust in central. Also mind the trams because I needed to go to labs first.
Escape 3: Volunteer / Escape Method: Teleporter
-I beelined straight to labs and hop into the teleporter now that is accessible thanks the previous two runs. Run done.
Escape 4: Security / Escape Method: Shuttle
-If the power is out in Living quarters I will need to restore it before hand
-Otherwise it is a straight shot to the shuttle provided I have the piloting skill
Escape 5: Admin / Admin Quarters
-“Easiest” escaped saved for last. I already completed the admins character story (required), so I can escape just by getting to her office and uploading my mind into a robot.
Mooncrash really doesn’t have any luck involved once you know the map. If you have a bundle of simulation points, the last run can be a complete cakewalk as you can be pretty overpowered and keep the corruption level quite low for the entire run.
It’s definitely hardest when you’re not trying to spend many points (many of my early runs I only purchased a pistol and some ammo to start the game), and when you don’t have many neuromods unlocked. It’s really learning which characters you specifically need to open up certain parts of the map (doors, terminals, etc) to set you up for success. Handing off all the resources you need for certain escapes makes them pretty trivial.
I found I could complete almost all of the escape setups with the first character I played, then the other 4 just used that good fortune to wrap it up. I actually completed the all 5 characters escape before I’d completed all the individual story missions.
So I never used the store until the finally run. So every run before was only using the starting gear. I did farm neuromods though.
When I did finally do my final run, I went hog wild and I was stacked with power, destroying everything with ease.
I am not sure what the best method is.
It’s the one you develop yourself…
As someone who hordes health potions in video games, I really liked how the game was designed for you to use all the resources you had during a run, because at the worst you’ll reset the map and try again. The only place I failed that was on not spending much of my sim points until the end, but I enjoyed the runs enough that the game hadn’t worn out it’s welcome when I wrapped it up.
I never did go nuts with sim points and had something like 150K when i finished. It was easy enough to harvest lots of resources in game and fab almost everything you’d need.
Ahahahahaahah. Did it. What a great game. Although it probably couldn’t exist without the base game, I did enjoy this more. Almost 30 hours all told, which I think was longer than the main game too.
I must admit I didn’t grasp what the mule was for until rather late :/ I also didn’t grok the gate zapper at first, so some earlier runs had a lot of dying to moonsharks in the crater.
It’s interesting to contrast this with say Watch Dogs: Legion, which also had many playable characters but no great advantage to doing so, whereas this really had a point to playing each of your tragic moonbabies. Ubisoft pay attention!
@Roguefrog - my way: My engineer stocked the mass driver but took a pod. The spy did go through the portal. Then the test subject just jumped in the mass driver, the security chief took the shuttle and the director did the mind transfer.
Nice.
My route made it so I only went to MoonWorks one time (provided the escape pod is also not there), and I wanted to knock it out completely in the very first run. All the other runs are Labs/Living Quarters which I find much easier to navigate.
Prey itself is the Epic freebie right now…
Also note that it’s a bit hidden in the description but Mooncrash DLC is included in the Epic version.
Last week, I got all excited to give Mooncrash a proper try after reading about it in the Deathloop thread. But, much to my dismay, Steam and Prey and my Xbox controller didn’t want to cooperate. I tried messing around with my settings for a few nights before giving up.
Well, Epic just came to my rescue. The controller works fine so now I can play Mooncrash.
This is the end of my saga. Or is it only the beginning??
It’s moot now, but typically when there are controller issues you need to disable Steam Input in the Game Properties. Did you try that?
Hmm, I don’t think I tried that. I read some other solutions that didn’t pan out.
And not moot at all! I’d much rather run the game through Steam since that’s my default game library. I’ll try this later. Thanks!
No worries! I’ve been through the same thing with a couple games, though I can’t recall if this specific game was one of them.
It happens because the native controller support in some games fights with Steam’s controller support, so disabling the Steam support fixes it.
Yay, it worked! Thanks again, P. 👍
Awesome! :)
I played Prey but not Mooncrash. Worth giving it a shot since it is free right now? Is there a campaign?
Absolutely yes. Not sure campaign is the right word but there’s a narrative attached to a roguelike structure.
After a long session playing Elden Ring last evening, I fired up Mooncrash to see what the heck it was all about.
I put a couple things where they belong on a high tech chair, then I entered a simulation, then I found a wrench, then I squashed a mimic with said wrench, then me and my wrench got squashed by evil monsters. Five stars! Will play again.
I think I picked up a few fabrication plans so I even made meta-progress. Mostly I’m just happy to be back in the world of Prey… what a cool game.