Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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In this Deep Dive bonus interview, Nightdive's Locke Vincent sits down with Looking Glass Studios programmer/designer Marc LeBlanc to talk about his work on System Shock and System Shock 2, including how he got hired at Looking Glass Studios, his work on titles like Ultima Underworld, and designing key elements in System Shock and System Shock 2!
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System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster
— Available for Pre-Order on PC —
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🟢 Xbox: bit.ly/SS2AR-Xbox
🔵 PlayStation: bit.ly/SS2AR-PlayStation
🔴 Nintendo Switch: bit.ly/SS2AR-Nintendo
🟡 Steam: bit.ly/SS2AR-Steam
🟣 GOG: bit.ly/SS2AR-GOG
⭕ Epic: bit.ly/SS2AR-Epic
🟠 Humble: bit.ly/SS2AR-Humble
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⏰ Timecodes ⏰
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0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Looking Glass Studios and Ultima Underworld
1:06 - How Looking Glass was born
2:33 - Marc's job interview - fix the mini-map in Ultima Underworld
4:00 - Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
5:18 - TDA - Technical Design Assistant
6:50 - System Shock pitch - Underworld in space
10:49 - The solution to long dialogue trees
12:11 - What makes audio logs effective?
15:45 - Exploring the stats in System Shock 2
17:07 - The birth of the immersive sim
18:54 - Arms race between Looking Glass and id Software
23:38 - The technical reality of mouse look
28:30 - The detriment of discoverability
31:57 - The tricks of 6 degrees of freedom
33:50 - The hacker vibes of the times
38:20 - Software engineers from MIT making games
42:00 - Designing with systems in mind
45:43 - Trying to find a name for System Shock
48:10 - Marc's influence on the games industry
52:04 - Mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics in System Shock
57:12 - Games should demand more from people
1:01:25 - Favorite memory at Looking Glass
1:04:43 - How did your early dev years influence how you develop today?
1:06:40 - Favorite music to develop to
1:12:09 - Outro
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#nightdive #deepdive #systemshock #systemshock2 #interview #podcast #gaming