In case you didn’t see the news, BioShock Infinite will now be including the brand new 1999 Mode, giving our fans a chance to revisit the roots of Irrational Games. To celebrate this occasion, we’ve brought in Design Director Bill Gardner to answer any and all questions you may have about this challenging new mode.
You can ask us your questions via our Twitter account, our Facebook page, or you can simply add them to the comments section below. Your questions will be answered in a blog post early next week, so be sure to get them in before it’s too late!
petrmatafonov | January 19, 2012 12:21 pm
would there be health kits?
danielhill | January 19, 2012 12:22 pm
One question that always crosses my mind when I see things about game difficulty: will this harder mode make the enemies smarter or merely tougher and more accurate like many games do?
Will they use plasmids more effectively? Will they work more effectively as a team? It’s always frustrating to have a game with a “Hard” mode that just cheapens the experience by simply making enemies more accurate with more health rather than actually making them smarter.
choo1701 | January 19, 2012 12:22 pm
The most obvious question is
“Will ‘1999 mode’ be available from the start of Bioshock Infinite, or will the player have to unlock it?”
Interesting bit in blog post that’s got me a bit puzzled: ‘ and your health will be set to an entirely different baseline. ;
‘Whats is the baseline for your health? And how does 1999 mode change it?’ (Or is this a fancy way of saying “Shooting different body parts will take different amounts of damage?”)
Finally: “What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” 😉
vsharres | January 19, 2012 12:29 pm
An European or an African swallow?
IG.Shane | January 19, 2012 12:52 pm
> Finally: “What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”
http://goo.gl/qoIaI
tarhiel | January 19, 2012 12:44 pm
May I ask – does the “Game over” screen means that once I died, I can´t load my save? I hope not. This is precisely why I haven´t played The Witcher 2 on Insane difficulty, because you couldn´t load your save. I can´t express how happy I was when they released 2.0 update, which includes Dark Mode, that is as hard as Insane, EXCEPT that you can load your save game, if you die. Which happens alot.
Otherwise, the 1999 Mode looks awesome, thank you, Irrational Games, you made my day!
muskellounger | January 19, 2012 3:11 pm
That reminds me! Gotta give insane another run. Made it half way through act 2. Locking saves is brutal!
tarhiel | January 19, 2012 6:25 pm
You do like it? I admire you, for me it´s demotivational.
muskellounger | January 20, 2012 8:47 am
I loved how the AI changed for the mode, and didn’t just adjust their stats. I think it would be better when you die, to start at the chapter beginning, not the beginning of the game. I think that took it too far. You can’t just speed run with insane AI, takes too much time re-starting at chapter 1.
muskellounger | January 19, 2012 1:02 pm
Any chance for a mission editor or mod tools like in SWAT4?
Will this game mode play different on succesive playthroughs? I’m talking AI behavior, spawns etc.
neftali | January 19, 2012 1:06 pm
In 1999 Mode, will the player still be restricted to two weapons at a time?
boltonhawser | January 19, 2012 1:24 pm
Will Elizabeth’s health or power build up be affected in any way?
Will there be any achievements/trophies related exclusively to 1999 mode?
japester | January 19, 2012 2:09 pm
If we are playing 1999 Mode and open a tear into space…..will Martin Landau be there?
Will the Y2K Bug be a bonus boss battle in this mode?
choo1701 | January 19, 2012 2:28 pm
OH PHOOIE! The one ‘1999’ joke I FORGOT to post **grumble grumble** 😉 :p
japester | January 19, 2012 3:10 pm
Hey, I upvoted your swallow joke.
😉
I want to see someone mash together clips from the BSI trailers and Space:1999, overlaid with the funky theme from the latter. LOL
1019ice | January 19, 2012 2:10 pm
I had understood that the Nostrums were a permanent modification of the player character, as opposed to the Tonics of Bioshock which could be swapped out at a Gene Bank. If the permanent player mods are in the 1999 mode, does that mean that Nostrums in the regular version are modifiable?
deweymassee | January 19, 2012 2:48 pm
Is 1999 a working title?
marksmith | January 19, 2012 2:48 pm
I’ve got too many questions, so just pick one, if any ;D
Will this mode be available to start with, or is it an unlockable bonus?
Will things like bleeding damage, body-part specific damage multipliers, crippling injuries, and improved enemy AI be added to this mode, or does it essentially just increase the HP of enemies and decrease the HP of Booker and Elizabeth?
Will this mode, in any way, shape or form, affect the characters or the way in which the story or unfolds?
schuenator | January 19, 2012 2:52 pm
Aside from bragging rights, are there any cool awards for completing 1999 mode? Achievements? Secret ending? Silly weapons? If you beat it under an hour will Elizabeth shed her power armor into a downright scandalous bathing garment. http://i.imgur.com/x3EUE.jpg
1019ice | January 19, 2012 5:13 pm
zing.
laforzadimente | January 19, 2012 3:05 pm
Will this mode affect the player’s relationship (gameplay style) with Elizabeth?
Will we be able to party like it’s 1999?
japester | January 19, 2012 3:26 pm
If we beat 1999 Mode, can the credits include pictures of the entire development team as they appeared in 1999?
spata | January 19, 2012 4:56 pm
How many questions will be asked more than once bc people cant read?
I know there will be saves, but will saves/checkpoints be limited in any way, such as number or frequency?
choo1701 | January 19, 2012 5:05 pm
Oh, just thought of another question:
‘At what point in 2012 will we be able to experience this ‘1999 mode?’
😀
sacboi | January 19, 2012 6:24 pm
Will there be no HUD?
felonious | January 19, 2012 6:59 pm
You mention weapon specialization in this new mode, yet when first talking about Bioshock Infinite you talked about how you didn’t want the player to be able to run through with one combination of weapons the way some did with the first Bioshock – even using a shotgun/electro bolt as an example. So with this feature are the players basically forced to fall back into that habit of playing? TLDR – More information on weapon specialization por favor?
gardimuer | January 19, 2012 8:50 pm
Was this idea of “any weapon will be useless to you unless you have that specialization” made in response to Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s review of Deus Ex and his commentary on the difference between an “action RPG” and an “action game with RPG elements”?
One of the things that excites me most about BioShock Infinite is the wonderful, seemingly open world to explore. The 1999 mode description says that bad things will happen if “your choices guide you down a path not suited to your play style.” Does this mean that there will literally be paths in the world that I will not be able to explore due to the specialization limitations in that mode?
telbere | January 19, 2012 9:39 pm
It sounds a lot like 1999 mode will enjoy the same skill split as ss2 had; (hacker, guns, psy)
is this going to translate into a (gun, tonic, (sorry can’t remember the name for the always on in the background tonics))
loved that ss2 your choice two seconds in more or less locked out entire character upgrade paths.
ss2 by the end of the game you were by no means the “big daddy” fought character with everything.
borrego | January 19, 2012 9:55 pm
Another f—ing BRILLIANT, original idea from you guys, and to this, I raise a glass!
joshua3991 | January 20, 2012 2:00 am
I am very curious about the 1999 health mechanics… The two current standards involve health bars and bleed out timers. How will Infinite’s 1999 mode move away from this?
sh0dan | January 20, 2012 4:20 am
Will there be weapon deterioration? 😀
Half the fans loved it and half the fans hated it in SS2. In my opinion the game wouldn’t have been the same without it.
Not sure on how the health system works in BSI. But it looked to be at least partially regenerating health from the game-play I have seen, so my second question is, will 1999 mode scrap health regen and go old-school?
Will there be health items and med stations?
The hackable med stations were awesome in BS. 🙂
sh0dan | January 20, 2012 4:42 am
Also..
What will be the difference between standard modes inventory system and 1999 mode inventory? For example, will ammunition have weight? Will there be a more limited carry capacity?
Will there be advanced features exclusive to 1999 mode? For example, in Fallout New Vegas the player has to monitor their hunger and thirst levels.
Thanks.