Project Status
We've been working on parts of the DX2 design doc--an html site on our local network--since the end of DX1. It links to a bunch of diverse sections on aspects of the game ranging from unit ecology, interface, fiction, concept art, et al. Meanwhile, every discipline on the team is grinding away. We have some really interesting game units planned...including plot-relevant characters, military troops from the various factions from our high-tech future, an array of bot classes and a selection of synthetically-engineered creatures. We want to provide the player with some intriguing new gameplay tools, as well as some that will be familiar to DX1 players. On top of that, of course, we're trying to continue the story set up by the extrapolated conspiracy-theory future of the first game.

Until recently, the materials we've produced (maps, artwork and engine features) were either still in developmental stages or they were working fairly well alone and had not yet been completely integrated. We've been running around in the maps, experimenting with different interface configurations. Just today, we met an integration milestone, pulling a bunch of these elements together for the first time. Having finally crept out of the dark ages of early concept work, project setup, design planning and team building, we're nearing an end-of-year critical milestone in which all of our core tech is in place in (at least) a rudimentary stage. Next year should be all about implementing our plans for specific game areas and situations: building out missions, writing more dialogue, tuning weapons and tools, establishing enemy behaviors and such.

The Game
Deus Ex is a hybrid RPG/Adventure/Action game that allows the player to solve all problems in multiple ways. DX2 will adhere to these same ideals, with some significant enhancements based on our much stronger understanding of what made the first game work.

From an RPG character standpoint, we've planned more character-building choices (the player-character can be optionally male or female), we've unified some of the game systems and added some interesting player-character capabilities. We feel like we now have a much clearer idea about which aspects of DX1 were important to players, what worked well and what didn't.

The game environment itself in DX2 is something that has us completely excited. Our plans include a higher-fidelity world, with weather, greater object density, more capable (and clearer) unit behaviors and a deeper physics/object-interaction simulation.

Fictionally speaking, DX2 is set on Earth in a post-DX1 future. We're updating some of the familiar organizations and characters, while adding some completely new 'players' as well.

While DX2 will be the same type of game as the original Deus Ex (an immersive sim), this time around we have some significant technological advantages. Our studio is working on both Thief 3 and DX2. While those projects are different in setting, vibe, gameplay focus and in other ways, they also have a lot in common. So we're attempting to co-author as much technology as possible. Both projects will (at least in part) share technologies and resources related to AI, lighting, sound propagation, editing tools, motion capture, physics and others. In all of these areas, both teams are also tweaking things for the different needs of each game--that way Thief 3 and DX2 will ultimately each have a unique feel.

DX2 will feature a much higher poly count for architecture and models than players saw in the first Deus Ex game. Plus, the models are fully boned and are being animated with a skeletal IK system, allowing for more animations and higher quality (motion captured) animations. The effects are really satisfying and reach into many areas of the game, improving it in both high-impact and subtle ways. For instance, we always wanted characters to have facial expressions, but could not afford it until now; we believe this feature alone will seriously improve the quality of the game's conversations and character interactions.

Creating maps and missions for DX2 is similar in some ways to the process we used for Deus Ex, but it's different in some key ways. This time, the mission designers are roughing out areas and an art team is adding high-poly architectural detail. This way, we get the same DX-style game, but with much more convincing (and hopefully more immersive) environmental visuals.

With regard to the interface, we're working on ways to make the game easier to use, more elegant. As always, we want the player to forget that he is playing a game. We feel like we learned a lot of things while working on Deus Ex that will directly improve DX2.

The Development Team
The last year has seen the studio grow to two teams. We've been recruiting very carefully, looking for people who we feel can contribute in a high-impact way and who share our design aesthetic. Aside from working on Thief 3 and DX2, we've been providing ongoing support for Deus Ex 1 and working on projects like Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (our PS2 version of the game).

At some point in the near future, we hope to launch a website that includes bios of all team members, including all the new people. (Our art director is even creating caricatures of everyone.) Until then, rest assured that DX2 is staffed with the same core design and writing teams and the same audio engineer from Deus Ex. We've also added a bunch of high-end artists from other game companies, including friends with whom some of us have previously worked. The DX2 programming staff is a mix of engineers from Origin, Looking Glass and other studios. (Their previous games include installments from the Wing Commander series, Terra Nova, System Shock 2 and Thief 1 and 2.) Everyone provides design input--an approach made possible because we've hired a bunch of people who specifically love games like Deus Ex.

Endnote and Screenshot Descriptions
Thanks for reading. We still have a ways to go, but we'll be releasing more information and materials as we go. The Deus Ex community has been really amazing--a very committed group that seems to resonate with our design vibe. It's one of our primary concerns that fans of the first game are happy with DX2. Special thanks go out to Planet Deus Ex, TTLG, DeusExMachina, DeusExIncarnate, DXNation and all the other great sites that have supported Deus Ex and Thief. Also, high praise to all the people working on Deus Ex mods--we await your work with great enthusiasm.

Screenshot DX2_phase2greasel.jpg: Concept art for the "Phase 2" greasel.
(The original version of the creature will be returning as well.) The Phase
2 version represents an "advancement" by VersaLife, one of the biotech
companies. [Compare to Phase 1 concept]

Screenshot DX2_karkian1.jpg: Concept art for the original version of the
karkian. The higher poly count allowed for models and the skeletal animation
bones should allow us to include some kinetic movement of the overlapping
plates on its back.

Screenshot DX2_AquaticSecBot.jpg: Concept art for the underwater security
bot. We've planned for more water gameplay, including stealth and
light/darkness play in aquatic environments.