[SPOILERS] Soma early version explained (Super Secret archive decoded) !

[Omnitool]

Someome did a great job in datamining and doing some actual "intelligence analisis" on the contents of the Super Secret archive, and managed to piece together a coherent script and level design concept for the early version of Soma (one made around 2013 that apparently still used the HPL 2 Engine).

This great video showcases how the game should have looked like in its initial concept, and highlights the differences between the actual released version of Soma and the early concept.





IMPORTANT: All images, sounds, textures and media included in the video is taken from the Super Secret archive file and other game files from the full game. All the content presented in the video has been officially released by Frictional Games!
I do not own or had any part in the making of this video, i just found it on Youtube!

[GhylTarvoke]

Thanks for sharing. This video deserves attention.

[cantremember]

Around 9:30 he mentions a blackbox recording you could listen to after the (now headless) diver died due to Simon, but he doesn't let you listen to it in the video, is there anyway I can hear that soundfile?

[GhylTarvoke]

At that point in the video, there's a sound of heavy breathing (the same sound that "old Simon" makes in the pilot seat at Omicron). Maybe that's the blackbox recording?

[BenjiBenjamin123]

Someome did a great job in datamining and doing some actual "intelligence analisis" on the contents of the Super Secret archive, and managed to piece together a coherent script and level design concept for the early version of Soma (one made around 2013 that apparently still used the HPL 2 Engine).

This great video showcases how the game should have looked like in its initial concept, and highlights the differences between the actual released version of Soma and the early concept.





IMPORTANT: All images, sounds, textures and media included in the video is taken from the Super Secret archive file and other game files from the full game. All the content presented in the video has been officially released by Frictional Games!
I do not own or had any part in the making of this video, i just found it on Youtube!

Thanks mate for description and useful link. I really appreciate that

[nimiumdol]

Around 9:30 he mentions a blackbox recording you could listen to after the (now headless) diver died due to Simon, but he doesn't let you listen to it in the video, is there anyway I can hear that soundfile?

At that point in the video, there's a sound of heavy breathing (the same sound that "old Simon" makes in the pilot seat at Omicron). Maybe that's the blackbox recording?

For Blackboxes VoiceHandler.exe is useful. It allows to search voice recordings in game. File - Open - navigate to [Soma installation folder]\maps\chapter01\01_01_upsilon_awake\ - open 01_01_upsilon_awake.voice . 2J_SuitRobotDatamineDrained was scripted for upsilon map, but actual entry contains no sounds. The only hint about monstrous Simon is located in _supersecret archive. There is folder "design" which contains "documents". There you can find updates.docx which features text below:

-j- Drain Suit Man
If the player gets attacked and hurt by the Infected Robot, he can drain the suit robot for energy. As he does this, the robot begs for his life-
DIALOG: The dialog should be pretty short, just a few seconds. But we want to have some punch in it. The player cannot undo the action from this point onward and we want him to feel really bad about it.
Simon comments on the action afterwards:
DIALOG: Simon is just obviously upset about what he have just done. We are not sure if the player did this on purpose or was unsure of what was gonna happen so make sure the dialog is explicit on that choice.
The player can also datamine the suit robot:
DIALOG: Same as at the start of this event, but with different mixing. Also we hear really horrible sounds coming from Simon, hinting he is sort of monstrous.

[Romulator]

Hey there! Thankyou for your contribution to this topic!

While it's nice for you to answer the other poster regarding where to find hints as to finding the appropriate blackbox recording, you have responded to an old thread about the matter. The users above your post have likely moved on since posting here, so I will now lock this thread for the overall convenience matter.

However, feel free to make a new thread about this example, and maybe others of interest.