Editing Deus Ex (video game) (section)

== Development ==
{{Multiple image|align=right|caption_align=center|direction=horizontal|total_width=350
|image1=Warren Spector GDC 2023 (cropped).jpg|caption1=[[Warren Spector]]
|image2=Harvey Smith.jpg|caption2=[[Harvey Smith (game designer)|Harvey Smith]]
|footer=Spector created the original concept for ''Deus Ex'' and acted as producer and director; Smith was lead designer.}}
The concept for ''Deus Ex'' was created by [[Warren Spector]], who first started writing its design document while working at [[Looking Glass Studios]] on ''[[Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds]]'' (1993). Initially titled "Troubleshooter", it laid out the basic gameplay ideas and real-world based setting.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> During his work at [[Looking Glass Studios]] on ''[[System Shock]]'' and ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]'', Spector was growing frustrated at creative limitations placed on him, and due to financial troubles Looking Glass Studio closed down their Austin branch where Spector worked.<ref name="DEIWgama"/><ref name="IonHistory"/> He was invited to join the newly founded [[Ion Storm]] by co-founder [[John Romero]], who offered Spector complete creative freedom on his next project. Spector eventually agreed and led the creation of Ion Storm's Austin studio where ''Deus Ex'' would be developed.<ref name="IonHistory"/>

Publisher [[Eidos Interactive]]'s former executive chairman [[Ian Livingstone]] described their decision to back ''Deus Ex'' as part of a strategy to broaden the company's portfolio away from ''[[Tomb Raider]]''. He felt Eidos were right to back the concept due to Spector's skills and ambition.<ref name="RPSretro"/> Pre-production began in August 1997 under the working title ''Shooter: Majestic Revelations''.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/><ref name="USGdeleted"/> Spector led the game's team as producer and lead director.<ref name="DEIWgama"/><ref name="IGNinterview"/> During the early stages he both helped run the new studio and hired staff for the game.<ref name="IonHistory"/> Team members included lead designer [[Harvey Smith (game designer)|Harvey Smith]], with whom Spector had worked at Looking Glass Studios, and Chris Norden as lead programmer and assistant director, and level designer Steve Powers.<ref name="DEIWgama"/><ref name="RPSretro"/> The team eventually expanded to twenty people,<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> split between two design teams and an art team led by Jay Lee.<ref name="NordenInterview"/> Production lasted twenty-eight months,<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> and the game was declared [[Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM)|gold]] (indicating that it was being prepared for duplication and release) in June 2000.<ref name="DSEXgold"/>

===Game design===
The original design documented cited the gameplay inspirations as ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'', ''[[Fallout (video game)|Fallout]]'', ''Thief: The Dark Project'', and ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye 007]]''; the game as a whole was meant to be "genre-busting".<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> Spector later cited the limited choices available in ''[[Suikoden (video game)|Suikoden]]'' as an inspiration for the broad range of story and gameplay options in ''Deus Ex''.<ref name="SilSpector"/> Spector's aim with the gameplay was to allow as much player freedom as possible; his design document and personal goals included "problems, not puzzles", "no forced failure", "players do; NPCs watch", and "areas with multiple entrance and exit points".<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> These early designs underwent extensive expansions and alterations during early production.<ref name="USGdeleted"/> An early commitment was making level areas open-ended, with multiple ways to resolve gameplay and story situations. The opening "[[Liberty Island (Deus Ex)|Liberty Island]]" was designed as a [[vertical slice]], showing off the various gameplay elements the team wanted to implement overall.<ref name="RPSretro"/> There were some limitations put in place such as restricting what and how many augmentations the player could have access to, which Spector explained as promoting variety between players.<ref name="IGNinterview"/>

The team opted to license a third-party engine for the game rather than building their own, which ultimately gave more time for story and gameplay development. They ultimately settled on the [[Unreal Engine 1|Unreal Engine]] as it would cover most of what they wanted to do from a design perspective, and was easy for their programmers to handle.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> As the Unreal Engine was designed for first-person shooters, the RPG mechanics such as leveling and inventory were added by the developers, alongside additional graphical elements like lip syncing for dialogue.<ref name="CGWinterview"/> Programmer Scott Martin implemented a wide range of new NPC behavior including patrols, idling, and sitting down. During early testing the enemy reactions were so acute that Martin had to adjust their behavior and detection protocols to be more forgiving.<ref name="TechRetro"/> The AI coding caused problems until late into development, with the team building on Unreal Engine's existing code and causing unpredictable NCP behavior as a result.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> Designer [[Doug Church]] provided help with some of the AI programming.<ref name="RPSretro"/>

Spector described the early high-concept work on the game as the smoothest period, with later production running into repeated issues. The game's scale and conflicting suggestions from playtesters began causing problems for the team. The production milestones necessitated trimming or altering features; Spector recalled Smith using the phrase "Less is more" in reference to these elements.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> There were also conflicts between the two design teams headed by Smith and Norden, described by Spector as "a bunch of knock-down drag-out fights".<ref name="DEIWgama"/> The team's morale also suffered due to negative press surrounding Ion Storm during and after the release of ''[[Daikatana]]'' (2000).<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> Planned environments also needed to be scaled down.<ref name="EdgeMakingOf"/> Some content was cut entirely including a female option for JC Denton,<ref name="IGNpreview"/> and stages set in the [[White House]], [[Russia]], and on board a space station.<ref name="USGdeleted"/><ref name="IGNinterview"/> Finished elements from those levels were incorporated into the final story and levels.<ref name="USGdeleted"/> The feature Spector most regretting dropping was plans for multiplayer that would have featured at release, describing the other dropped content as "just kind of stupid stuff".<ref name="IGNinterview"/> By contrast, Martin was upset that those sections had to be cut, but understood they had to release the game due to troubles with Ion Storm's other titles.<ref name="TechRetro"/>

===Scenario===
The storyline drew from multiple sources, including ''[[The X-Files]]'', ''[[Colossus: The Forbin Project]]'', ''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'', ''[[RoboCop]]'', and ''[[The Men in Black (comics)|Men in Black]]''.<ref name="GamaSpectre"/> Inspired by his wife's liking for ''The X-Files'', Spector connected the "real world, millennial weirdness, [and] conspiracy" topics to appeal to a broad audience.<ref name="GameSlice"/> While the initial story plan was described as similar to ''The X-Files'', Spector felt the final product was close in tone to ''[[James Bond]]''.<ref name="RPSretro"/> The story changed a lot during production, with supporting characters and antagonists changing a lot, but JC Denton's presence and role as a government agent remained consistent.<ref name="USGdeleted"/> Some of the plot's references were described as being "literally ripped from the headlines" such as references to the [[Trilateral Commission]] and modern protest groups. Spector later felt uncomfortable with how some in-game events unintentionally mirrored later real-life developments such as the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="EdgeMakingOf"/>

The script was principally written by Sheldon Pacotti.<ref name="RPSretro"/> Additional material was written by Chris Todd and [[Austin Grossman]]; Grossman focused on small verbal "barks" and rewriting conversations where needed, while Todd wrote in-game texts and the opening and ending cutscenes.<ref name="Pacotti"/> When Pacotti joined in 1999, all the characters had names and detailed backstories, with the main job being implementing the plans of Spector and Smith into the finished game. The pre-release script was very large, and the writing team were working constantly on it for six months.<ref name="PacottiInterview"/> Smith took the large draft script and trimmed it down, while designer Albert Yarusso created a dialogue management system.<ref name="RPSretro"/> The writing team were reading several books covering popular conspiracy theories of the time, and Grossman attributed the political elements to Spector and Pacotti. After Pacotti was hired, the story's tone shifted sharply towards the "conspiracy and socialist angle".<ref name="RPSretro"/> Pacotti enjoyed working on the story, writing for it constantly after being impressed by seeing Spector's playthrough of an early game.<ref name="EuroPacotti"/> In hindsight, Grossman felt embarrassed by some of the character stereotypes they used for NPCs in Paris and Hong Kong.<ref name="RPSretro"/>

The original design document had "dozens" of character concepts that survived into the final game, but had to be changed to fit design constraints.<ref name="USGdeleted"/> Due to how characters such as Paul could die, they could not be full incorporated into the second half of the game's story, but scenes related to them were put in place later in development to resolve their plot lines if they survived. These insertions were decided a meeting between Smith, Church and the script writers. Some of the uneven character representation was explained as being due to focusing on gameplay over story, with their additions being last-minute inclusions.<ref name="DXbible2"/> The endings were designed as isolated late-game choices independent from previous decisions made during within the game. Smith explained the decision as a way not to "trap" players into a particular route based on earlier decisions they might not understand.<ref name="DXbible3"/> Plans for an ending following on from the player either dying to or siding with Page were dropped due to time constraints.<ref name="DSEXbehind"/>

===Audio===
The music of ''Deus Ex'' was handled by members of Straylight Productions, a music group who had notably worked on the ''[[Unreal (video game series)|Unreal]]'' series.<ref name="StraylightResume"/> The main composer was [[Alexander Brandon]],<ref name="BrandonInterview"/> with additional work by [[Dan Gardopée]], [[Michiel van den Bos]] and [[Reeves Gabrels]].<ref name="StraylightResume"/><ref name="OSTinfo"/> Gabrels' contributions were the club songs for New York, Paris and Hong Kong.<ref name="Manual"/>{{Rp|21}} Speaking in 2007, Brandon remembered ''Deus Ex'' as his favorite project due to positive feedback from players.<ref name="BrandonInterview"/> As with their earlier projects, the music used the MOD [[module file]] format.<ref name="StraylightNews"/> The main theme was based on an unused music track created by Brandon for a cancelled ''Unreal'' project.<ref name="DEIWgama"/> ''Deus Ex'' was Brandon's last game as a member of Straylight, as he moved to Ion Storm as head of their audio department.<ref name="StraylightNews"/>

Speaking about the voice acting, Brandon described it as "really cheesy" but effective due to it communicating the different characters' personalities quickly.<ref name="DEIWgama"/> Both JC and Paul Denton were voiced by Jay Anthony Franke, an aspiring voice actor who was working in QA at Ion Storm at the time. Franke estimated his lines totaled between 11,000 and 14,000 words. As he was also a QA tester for the game, his lines were added in very late by the sound team so he would not have to listen to himself during testing.<ref name="Franke2012"/> Spector estimated that the game had around 150,000 lines of voiced dialogue, which was localized into European languages for its release on those regions.<ref name="EuroPreview"/>