The Bizarre Origin of System Shock 2's Infamous Doors
An odd tale in video game lore just got real proof. Nate Wells, who made art for the famous game System Shock 2, has told us where one of gaming's most odd parts came from: the "sphincter doors." These doors, looking like living, moving flesh, got their look from a real video of a mate's colon surgery.
How They Built Alien Life
This all began with the game's alien group, the Many. They form a living, linked mass that takes over the ship, Von Braun. The creators thought that doors in these parts should work like body rings that open and close pathways. They gave the job to artist Nate Wells.
Wells said it was tough to find good "meat" pictures back in the 90s since the web wasn't like it is now. His hunt for gross body snaps, like inside-body views, wasn't easy.
A Strange New Idea
Then, help came from a weird area. The game's manager, Josh Randall, showed Wells a video of his own body exam. Wells took the offer and used that video to make the real thing we see in the game.
Wells laid it out like this:
He handed me the video, and I grabbed a still shot from inside him, put it into Photoshop, got it set, and made it the main look for those doors. Those doors got a lot of eyes, but when you look at them, you're seeing part of Josh Randall, and hear his work too. - Nate Wells, artist for System Shock 2
What Was Once Just Talk is Now True
Fans of System Shock 2 have talked about this colon story for a long time, but it was just a myth from the game makers. Now, with Wells's words, we know for sure. This locks down one of the most wild tales of how a game was made.
