How strict is the 10 hour time limit?

[MegaMan]

I was surprised to see this on the difficulty selection. Are there events that speed up this timer or something? Since I seriously doubt the game itself is 10 hours long.

[ZylonBane]

After 10 hours you die.

That strict enough for you?

[MegaMan]

Originally posted by ZylonBane:

After 10 hours you die.

That strict enough for you?

This has to be one of the most unhelpful responses I've ever received.

I'm asking about how strict that is in the game's sense. Are there events that speed up the timer? How much leeway do you get? Is the game like 9 hours on a standard playthrough or something?

[Love'li-land]

Just play the game and find out dude.

[tritscwa]

The timer is very simple. Is your game clock reading 10 hours played, you die. Nothing fancy. It reset with your load data, doesn't care about cyberspace or events in game, it is dirt simple.

[SimonSays]

If you don’t know what you are doing the game can take easy 20 hours - especially on harder difficulty. That said it is kind of structured like a Resident Evil game in that you can speed run once you know all the objectives.

The caveat being that it is much harder to learn the objectives in System Shock as they are not directly communicated to the player in the UI (something that was carried over from the original thankfully).

[Akim]

Err, can this be set to a difficulty without time limit?

[rockjaw]

Most of the reviews I saw said 20+ hours for first playthrough. To beat the game in 10 hours you have know where you're going.

[MegaMan]

Originally posted by SimonSays:

If you don’t know what you are doing the game can take easy 20 hours - especially on harder difficulty. That said it is kind of structured like a Resident Evil game in that you can speed run once you know all the objectives.

The caveat being that it is much harder to learn the objectives in System Shock as they are not directly communicated to the player in the UI (something that was carried over from the original thankfully).

Thank you for an actual response. I'm the kind of person to play through things on the hardest difficulty possible, but having a timer when I was looking forward to exploration puts a mild damper on things. Ah well, I'll see how things go.

[MegaMan]

Originally posted by Akim:

Err, can this be set to a difficulty without time limit?

Yes. There are four difficulty settings with 3 options each. The time limit is just on one of the difficulty settings on the highest option. You can play without it.

[LC]

I think that for a first time playing, where you're not sure where things are and are most likely getting lost and dying a bit, it will be pretty strict. I wouldn't use that setting.

[rockjaw]

Originally posted by MegaMan:

Originally posted by SimonSays:

If you don’t know what you are doing the game can take easy 20 hours - especially on harder difficulty. That said it is kind of structured like a Resident Evil game in that you can speed run once you know all the objectives.

The caveat being that it is much harder to learn the objectives in System Shock as they are not directly communicated to the player in the UI (something that was carried over from the original thankfully).

Thank you for an actual response. I'm the kind of person to play through things on the hardest difficulty possible, but having a timer when I was looking forward to exploration puts a mild damper on things. Ah well, I'll see how things go.

I have that similar impulse and for sure I put most of the setting to 3 but I went Mission 2. I don't think Mission 3 is really good for a first playthrough unless you're ok with the possibility that you might get 3/4 through the game and have to restart.

[Meidi]

Originally posted by MegaMan:

Originally posted by SimonSays:

If you don’t know what you are doing the game can take easy 20 hours - especially on harder difficulty. That said it is kind of structured like a Resident Evil game in that you can speed run once you know all the objectives.

The caveat being that it is much harder to learn the objectives in System Shock as they are not directly communicated to the player in the UI (something that was carried over from the original thankfully).

Thank you for an actual response. I'm the kind of person to play through things on the hardest difficulty possible, but having a timer when I was looking forward to exploration puts a mild damper on things. Ah well, I'll see how things go.

Do not even bother with Mission 3 until you beat the game once, unless you're willing to pause all the time and read a guide on how to beat the whole game (might as well not even play at that point). You won't make it in 10 hours on your first playthrough by yourself.
Set everything on 3 except Mission, that's the true way to play for a first timer that is looking for a proper challenge.

[ZylonBane]

Originally posted by MegaMan:

At no point did I ask what happens after 10 hours.

You asked "How strict is the 10 hour time limit?" I answered that question. It is absolutely 100% strict[www.collinsdictionary.com]. You will die after 10 hours, no exceptions.

If you actually had a different question in mind, you should have asked it.

[Captain Doombeard]

lol, Zylon, if you can't tell that you're being a ♥♥♥♥, then something's fundamentally wrong with you. There have got to be better ways to get your aggression out than this.

I think the OP's question wasn't about whether or not you die in 10 hours, he was asking if the difficulty modes affected the 10-hour time limit. Is there a game mode that gives you a couple more hours, or removes the time limit?

Now, it's fine if the answer is "no", but you can say that without being awful about it. You can also actually read the OP's question, interpret it, and figure out for yourself why he's asking the question and what information might be useful to him.

Y'know, instead of being a ♥♥♥♥.

[MegaMan]

Originally posted by Captain Doombeard:

lol, Zylon, if you can't tell that you're being a ♥♥♥♥, then something's fundamentally wrong with you. There have got to be better ways to get your aggression out than this.

I think the OP's question wasn't about whether or not you die in 10 hours, he was asking if the difficulty modes affected the 10-hour time limit. Is there a game mode that gives you a couple more hours, or removes the time limit?

Now, it's fine if the answer is "no", but you can say that without being awful about it. You can also actually read the OP's question, interpret it, and figure out for yourself why he's asking the question and what information might be useful to him.

Y'know, instead of being a ♥♥♥♥.

In my head, I was wondering things like...

"Ok, if you do some hacking sections or optional objectives, it would slow down how fast Shodan could take over the station, giving you more time"

"If you use the recovery pod too much or don't destroy enough cameras, would there be a time penalty for not impeding Shodan?"

It does sound like the time limit is for subsequent playthroughs though, and I suppose that's fine. I'll do a regular run with that setting disabled but everything else at maximum just to get a feel for things. Thank you!