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3d ago

Developer Confirms Colonoscopy Footage Shaped System Shock 2’s Sphincter Doors

Nate Wells disclosed on Nightdive’s Deep Dive podcast that he used Josh Randall’s colonoscopy stills for the game’s fleshy sphincter doors.

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Overview

  • In a Deep Dive podcast on August 4, 2025, artist Nate Wells officially confirmed the origin of the infamous sphincter door textures in System Shock 2’s The Many level.
  • Wells said producer Josh Randall provided colonoscopy video stills, from which he extracted and flattened a frame in Photoshop to create the organic door textures.
  • The fleshy architectural style of The Many was designed to contrast sharply with the game’s sterile corridors, reinforcing its signature bio-horror atmosphere.
  • This revelation settles a longstanding fan theory more than 25 years after System Shock 2’s 1999 release.
  • Nightdive Studios’ 25th-anniversary remaster, featuring fully reconstructed organic assets, is available on PC and arrived on consoles in July 2025.