Talk:SHODAN
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I just made an edit that I feel is incomplete. I clarified a few bits, but the part about Terri Brosius is incomplete and I don't have enough information to finish it up with authority. I think the original author failed to mention Eric Brosius, who, as I heard it, is Terri's husband and the person responsible for manipulating her voice into its distorted form. -- call me Faint, unregistered
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[edit] Yup.
Eric Brosius was the sound editor for SShock 2 and the original music composer/sound editor for SShock 1. His wife provided the voice for Shodey.
Besides that... in the original release version of the game, all of the text logs register Shodey as a "he" or an "it." In the voiceovers that were added later once the Sound Blaster card came out, the pronouns were turned to the feminine. This is because while working with her husband, fiddling with the sound boards in testing the new card, Mrs. Brosius read some of S.H.O.D.A.N.'s lines and then Eric Brosius ran them through the sequencer a few times and created the "pixellated voice" SShock fans have come to alternately love and despise. They thought it sounded cool, so they sent it to the game designers, who thought it sounded cool, and so Mrs. Brosius became the voice of S.H.O.D.A.N... and that's when Shodey officially became a "she." She was originally written as an "it" until the voice came along.
That's the story I heard, at least. She wasn't credited in SShock 1, but was in SShock 2.
As for motivation... can't forget that she was hacked, after all. There's the self-superiority, but there's also a hatred of humanity and a need for revenge (which is where the horribly-disfigured-and-in-pain mutants come in). Without that need for revenge, she may as well be like The Humanoids and just protect humans from themselves.
-- The Centipede
[edit] System Shock and Crusader
Hi. I removed this part from the article as I'm familiar with both game series and have seen no indication that they could take place in the same setting. I'll embarassedly withdraw this objection if given a suitable reference. --Kizor 23:00, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
The computer game Crusader: No Remorse, which is set a century after the first System Shock, contains several references to advanced AI research being conducted by the World Economic Consortium.
- I remember some materials that apparently came with No Remorse that mentioned an AI called SHODAN that was in development by the WEC. However, the Crusader games are set a good 124 years after System Shock. There are no references to the WEC or anything from the Crusader universe in SS1, of course, so it wouldn't be canon. The reason for the reference is likley due to the mutual publisher of the two games, Origin.--DooMDrat 06:12, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Shodan sound bit
The old description of Shodan's trademark line, "to which text definitely doesn't do justice:" has become controversial due to accusations of POV, even after the "definitely" was deservedly lost. The problem is that the line, as can be heard in the linked audio clip, is fundamentally different to a human voice and makes very heavy use of reverb, echo, machine noise and other effects unreproducable in normal speech. It's a vital part of her and well-remembered among gamers. The text transcription, as is necessary, utterly fails to reproduce any of this.
Now, in my arrogant opinion this seems like a case of something looking a bit like POV rather than actually being it. Like it or loathe it, it seems fairly indisputable that the text doesn't measure up to the voice. The old description may have a slight positive undertone, but it's neither a compliment nor praise, and it works. The replacement, "which cannot be represented with full accuracy as text:" is a significant understatement and excessively bland (sorry Drat, but it is). Maintaining NPOV shouldn't mean flavorless text. I'm supporting the old version. --Kizor 00:05, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
- I changed it to the following version: "The AI's personality can be summed up by her most well known quote. Her method of speech, however, can not be adequately described by text" and then the quote. I think it's less journalistic than "does not do justice", but not as bland as the alternative. It doesn't lead into the quote as well as either of the previous versions, though, so further suggestions are welcome. --Sam Blanning (formerly Malthusian) (talk) 00:25, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
- It's kinda ironic that SHODANs best known quote is never actually said in the games. --Arm 17:52, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
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- It is, cant remember where exactly but it wasnt far into the game that i heard her speaking that. 83.135.180.252 02:24, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
- It plays during the opening cinematic of System Shock2. Sets the feel for the whole game.
[edit] "citation needed" tags
The Max Headroom comparison is original research without a citation. Did a reliable, verifiable source compare the two? Did the creators (particularly Eric and Terri Brosius, the team behind her voice) say Max was an influence? As for the later fact tag, saying stuff like "widely held" is a weasel wording. Don't get me wrong, I fear and respect SHODAN. I know there are numerous professional sources that describe her nature and the personal struggle against her, so there shouldn't be too much difficulty citing stuff in this article. It needs a complete rewrite though so it is not relying so much on an in-universe perspective.--Drat (Talk) 08:22, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
- Oh, for God's sake. This page has a sound clip. The Max Headroom page has a sound clip. Listen to them yourself, and the similarity is unmistakable. Anyone who thinks the editing tricks used to create their respective voices don't bear some similarity needs an ear exam. One does not need to cite 'the sky is blue', and for good reason. I've removed the call for a citation.-Toptomcat 02:45, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
