Visiting BioShock's Museum of Orphaned Concepts
Spoiler alert.
After all these years, I decided to do some sort of a 'marathon', finishing BioShock series again from the beginning to the very end and I've finished the first BioShock a few days ago. I actually plan to reach Burial at Sea and finish it, or at least until Infinite on 26 March, which marks BioShock: Infinite's 5th anniverasary. Unfortunately I progress in video games so very slowly, as always.
So far my attempt to erase BioShock from my mind as much as I could since years ago worked nicely, as I still got the chill like my first playthrough. The memorable first glance of Rapture from inside the bathysphere scene as Garry Schyman's majestic Welcome to Rapture OST can be heard as clear as Andrew Ryan's iconic resolute speech. BioShock still gave me the chill. Not as much as it did the first time I experienced it, but still great.
Museum of Orphaned Concepts, a small isolated building where some early concepts for the game put on display to show the player was a nice quick tour I had after beating the game. For an extra room that you can't access or don't even hear about from the story, the small-sized museum is built in a way that storywise, exist in Rapture's timeline as part of the city.
The Heavily Spliced Splicers
What you see above are some of the earliest Splicers concepts for BioShock, and the one on the left is the very first Splicer Irrational modelled that went by the name "Stitchy". Unlike the other Splicer concepts, Stitchy was the only early model that made it to many early demo stages, fully functional and voice-acted. But then after that long of using Stitchy, the team finally realized that this wasn't a good model. Lead Designer Shawn Robertson stated that Stitchy is probably the worst abortion Irrational Games has ever made.
The middle one, the Grenadier Splicer is a Splicer that carry around giant grenades. With such feature and size, I don't think even the brutal Big Daddy could beat him, or a group of these Splicers alone.
The right one called "Hooker" because of her weapon and is the beginning of what we know as the Spider Splicer. While the "hook" concept evolved into Spider Splicer, the model became the Baby Jane, one of the female Splicers that appears in BioShock and BioShock 2.
The evolution of the Splicers' grotesque appearance into more normal human-like was a very long process for Irrational. This "Missing Link" is the last "bad model" the team modelled before they finally asked themselves "Why don't we use humans instead?", and transitioned to the stage where they started creating the Splicers we know now; spliced up normal humans with no overgrowing limbs and stucked out organs.
The combat in BioShock might have been more brutal and intense if these monstrous enemies were made it to the final release, but that's about it, "brutal and intense", which is not something that Irrational intended to create. The team wanted the Splicers to invoke more empathy to the player, hence the human form. Well, they are enemies for you to shoot on sight, but battling a mindless monster and a talking human being is different, don't you think?
Like the Baby Jane Splicer. She may be just like the other enemies that will fight the player and can't be reasoned with. But her background (she's a failed actress that keep lamenting her ruined looks), her feeling and her thought of her condition that the player could hear from the dialogues, is what makes the shooting experience different.
Speaking of monster and empathy...
I don't think BioShock would be a BioShock if these monsters were included in the final build. These two are the earliest concept Irrational done for BioShock when they were still working on SWAT 4 (remember that one?). The idea was as little-detailed as undersea creatures and biological experiment. If these monsters were a part of BioShock and the other design choices were made to fit this idea together instead of the 60s art deco styled city, I think the game would look more like a... Dead Space, perhaps.
The 'Gatherer' That the Big Daddy Tasked to Protect Was Not so Adorable
"Good girls gather, gather, gather…"
If you think the previous monster were un-love-able, I present to you the early concept of the Little Sister. Before the cute Little Sister was created, these slugs--known as The Gatherer--were supposed to be the ones that collect ADAM throughout Rapture, and for the player to... harvest or rescue? Can you imagine it? No one will ever feel sorry for accidentally stepping on one of these, and the team knew that. So they experimented with another form of creatures, such as a dog in a wheelchair, and a grotesque midget.
One of the early ADAM Gatherer concept.
But still, after those attempts, none of them could generate sympathy from the player, until they finally came up with the little girl design.
The funny thing about this is that the Big Daddy was supposed to protect these monstrous slugs gathering ADAM around Rapture, which was one of the terrible design choices Irrational made during the development stage and the team knew that too.
They knew their designs were terrible, the Splicers, the Gatherers, even the city itself, but eventually step by step Irrational came up with more and more ideas until they created an iconic, unique world that--if you watch the Director's Commentary--is really far from what the team imagined in BioShock's early stages.
There were three types of Big Daddy planned to be in BioShock, and this one was the first Big Daddy the team fully modelled and animated. Originally, the Big Daddies were called the Protectors, envisioned as people in dive suit who are the builders of Rapture, repurposed to protect the Gatherers and weaponized with modified construction tools.
Early Rosie concept art.
After the Gatherer re-imagined as the Little Sister, this Bouncer type also reshaped to only have one drill with nothing on the other hand so he can interact with the Little Sister. In the game, if you look closely the Big Daddy and Little Sister interactions are fascinating. Sometimes he would pat her head, showing compassion, or lift her up and put her behind his back before engaging the attackers back.
The Bouncer, the close-ranged Big Daddy with a drill, and Rosie, the Big Daddy wielding a large long-range Rivet Gun, are the only two Big Daddy types that made it into BioShock's final build, with some variants based on them (Elite Bouncer and Elite Rosie).
The Rumbler, originally called the "Slo-Pro-Fum" that stood for "Slow Projectile/Fucked-up Melee", was one of the assets that survived long enough until it became a fully functional AI. This Big Daddy type was planned to use an enormous hook to maul the player and fire iron bearings with a barrel. A fully worked AI ready for final polishing. But, as Shawn Robertson stated, the team couldn't make this Big Daddy 'fun', so they decided to cut it out and focus on polishing the other two Big Daddies. Quality over quantity, right?
The Rumbler.
Eventually, this Big Daddy was used by 2K Marin and made an appearance in BioShock 2 as "The Rumbler", with a very different, reworked mechanic. They shoot a heat-seeking rocket towards hostile enemies and throw a miniature turret to assist them, which made them easily taken down using Telekinesis Plasmid to throw their projectiles back at them.
A Piece of Concept Art That Defined BioShock's Identity
The Splicers, the Big Daddies and the Little Sisters, are big parts of BioShock. I can't imagine Rapture without these iconic characters roaming around the city. But what I can't imagine a lot more than that, is what BioShock would be if not for these two particular concept arts.
I'll give you a closer look, it's kinda hard to see clearly from my screenshot.
The concept arts above are the Kashmir Restaurant, the level after Welcome to Rapture where you step out of the bathysphere, is the room that the team spent months working on it. It is the first level in the game and also the first level that is "Rapture". After several attempts at making the spaces for Rapture, none of them really hit the art deco look that Irrational intended for the game.
Until, the two concept arts you see above that were created by BioShock Concept Artist Mauricio Tejerina being tested, modelled and put together into the engine. The giant Atlas statue in the middle of the room, the big glass windows that showed the seascape, the aquatic lighting scene that lights the art deco-touched interior, clearly telling the fact that you are underwater, which was the sense of place that Irrational Games struggled so much to create. This picture was the benchmark for the team to create the settings of Rapture and how all the elements started to come together. It was what made BioShock "BioShock".
The idea of an "underwater city" came first before the story and the visual style. The visual style, the bold and simple yet stylish art deco came up later after Ken Levine visited the Rockefeller Center in New York, where everywhere you look is art deco. The developer's personal vacation experience? That may sound not so important to write about. But let me tell you if not for that trip, had Ken Levine not used the art deco design for the game, I highly doubt BioShock will feel like and/or will be the iconic 60s setting that makes BioShock special, after I watched the very early design concept.
This was a nice quick look of what is there behind the final release of BioShock that the team was initially planned, created and discarded, and how some of the assets of the game started. I do know that early design concepts must be different, but how extremely distinct the designs were from the final ideas that made it see the light of day was something I didn't expect.
I think I'll go back to do this game-marathon again years from now after I finished the whole series. I'll leave you with some screenshots of the museum I took. Thank you for your time to read my post, and if you have something to add or whatever it is you have in mind about the game, do let me know in the comment.
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Image source: Dog in a Wheelchair, the iconic Rapture concept
Its good to know that I am not the only one that does this for some of those olds games I loved. There is just something about them that draw me back. Probably due to the fact that when I play it for the 3rd or 4th time, i'm more mechanically sound with the controls and I can focus on stretching the game to the limit. (Yes I am a sucker for Dishonored speed runs haha). Nice solid write up! Great detail and good reminders that this series was an absolute gem also!
Oh I wish I could do speed run. I'm too slow for that, and sometimes I get distracted a lot too. Maybe I'll be doing a Dishonored marathon after BioShock, if I have the time... and the second and third game lol (I loved the first one). Thanks for the kind words. This series will forever be my #1 favourite, and I'm also glad to know that other people are doing this too! Keeping the old gem alive and not forgotten.
First and foremost, great post and thanks for diving into Bioshock and exploring the concept work and development o f the game. The Bioshock series is easily one of my favorites (2 was.. alright..).
I recently had the pleasure of going back and enjoying the remastered version a few months back. I only have a few things left to do for the DLC but probably would jump straight back into Bioshock Infinite. I'm also showing Prey because that's currently one of my favorite single player games that you could basically say its Bioshock in space. You should check it out if you haven't.
I had the same experience jumping back in, as soon as I walked into the lighthouse and the door closed behind me.. I was ready for Rapture all over again.
As for the Museum of Orphaned Concepts, I actually had no clue it was in the game. I did however watch the hour + of director commentary from Ken Levine and Shawn Robertson through the collectibles and it helped me appreciate the game so much more years later. It's hard to find games like that these days.
Once I go through a few more games I'll have to join you in playing Infinite. Would you kindly make a post on that game as well? Or shall we flip a coin?
I heard about how Prey feels like BioShock, and yes I think I should try that one sometimes. After I watched the Director's Commentary I also appreciate this game a lot more than before I watched it. I believe failure is a natural thing that one will overcome, but when I watched the interview and listened to the failures they told, it sounds the long road to BioShock was so damn difficult from Irrational Games. The team was too small, they didn't have good technology/engine to deliver the narrative nicely, the testers mocking the game, etc.
To write about my 'marathon' is the plan, actually. Including BioShock 2 and the DLC, to Burial at Sea. Although I'm not sure when will I write them, I certainly will. But if you want to write about it then why not? Go ahead, if you want to (if that's what you mean by "flip a coin"). I would love to hear what other gamer who loved (or liked?) BioShock too has to say about the game. Thank you very much for the kind words, I appreciate it!
Ken Levine basically says multiple times they didn't know if the game would be any good or if it would be received well with its early stages and to me it's a masterpiece and I've only grown to appreciate it more finding out about their struggles.
As for the flip a coin comment, I was referencing the Lutece "twins" flipping a coin in Infinite. Maybe you have already wrote the review in a different dimension? lol
This post was a bit long for me to read but it makes sense because you covered so much detail in it. I have yet to start the Bioshock series. When I was first deciding on what franchise to play, it was either Bioshock or Mass Effect... I chose Mass Effect lol! But I definitely want to go back and give this series some playtime. Thanks for sharing this man!
You're welcome. And sorry if it's too long, that's me enjoying myself writing stuff. Had I not recheck everything before I posted it, this post would have been longer than it is now, you know lol.
Come on, there's nothing wrong with Mass Effect. It's a good series too, isn't it? Or at least the games before the last one, maybe. I only played ME 3 a little and I enjoyed it, not for long sadly. I still wanted to go back to it, but I'm not sure... .
No, thats what I am saying. I LOVE MASS EFFECT! It was either give all of my time to Mass Effect/Bioshock or give both 1/2 of my attention. I wanted to dive all the way in so I went with Mass Effect lol.