[gemeaux333]

But the creator seems to appreciate their work...

[gemeaux333]

Besides, there seems to be some discrepancies, irrelevances and gaps in the story...
What about ?

[Player Lin]

I already had no interest when I know its story just about a villain, plot holes and related shitfest about stolen assets...

Discrepancies, irrelevances and gaps in the story just proved it's not worth my money, even creator did appreciated their work, it doesn't matter at all.

EDIT : Maybe this helps to understand about how that game screwed up...

[gemeaux333]

How do Mitchel know about the Borrealis ?

[OpenMaw]

Because it's a thing that Half-Life fans know about. It's an attempt at sequel bait. It has not setup in the game at all.

[gemeaux333]

I bet the creator won't even dare to make a sequel, just as Jonathan M. Shiff don't dare to make a season 2 to Reef Doctor !

[----]

gemeaux333, on 30 March 2018 - 07:16 AM, said:

I bet the creator won't even dare to make a sequel, just as Jonathan M. Shiff don't dare to make a season 2 to Reef Doctor !

Or Valve for HL2.

[gemeaux333]

It seems that, for something like 15 years, devs and editors no longer dare to make anouncements prior...

[OpenMaw]

Early work in progress map i'm making for Half-Life 1 entitled "Diminishing Returns"

I'm currently planning it to be about 6-7 maps in length with some book ending story involving G-man.










Still a long way to go, but i'm happy with how the first area has turned out so far. I don't have much of a narrative in mind beyond G-man waking up Freeman and setting him loose again inside Black Mesa.

[Player Lin]

Oh, looking forward about this.

I just wonder why use this art for the thumbnail of video, is that related the mappack? Or I just thinking too much...

[Loke]

Awesome classic style design, CN. Lighting looks great too (not sure if they're textured lighting or do you use light entities?). Can't wait to play it.

[OpenMaw]

Player Lin, on 31 March 2018 - 12:54 AM, said:

I just wonder why use this art for the thumbnail of video, is that related the mappack? Or I just thinking too much...

Someone told me something interesting about YouTube algorithms and I want to see if it's true or not. It's not "clickbait" as such, but YouTube apparently picks up certain kinds of images in the searches better than more generic thumbnails.

Loke, on 31 March 2018 - 02:04 AM, said:

Awesome classic style design, CN. Lighting looks great too (not sure if they're textured lighting or do you use light entities?). Can't wait to play it.

It's mostly texture lighting, but there are a few light entities for dynamic stuff.

[Player Lin]

Commando Nukem, on 31 March 2018 - 05:39 AM, said:

Someone told me something interesting about YouTube algorithms and I want to see if it's true or not. It's not "clickbait" as such, but YouTube apparently picks up certain kinds of images in the searches better than more generic thumbnails.

Okay, thank your explain, now I feel I'm an ass for thinking it's a clickbait or something like that...

[Loke]

Are you going to add a ModDB page? It's a good site for getting more exposure.

[MusicallyInspired]

Commando Nukem, on 30 March 2018 - 11:49 PM, said:

<awesomeness>

Need music?

[OpenMaw]

MusicallyInspired, on 31 March 2018 - 09:26 AM, said:

Need music?

That would be awesome, sir. I'll send you a PM in awhile.





Adding in some visual flare to certain sections of the early level. This is a secondary computer terminal for the teleporter you start at (Through the window there's the door you came from.) You can see cabling going from this room into the hallway out there, and it actually ties into the "smoking" terminal in the teleporter room. Not really a big deal, just some additional world building and fluff.







This is the most recent section i'm working on. Still very rough. This is a combination of data storage and administration. It all ties together in a loop, which i'm hoping to have start off slower pace, and then teleport in some more aliens once you've cleared the area.





This is an example of a section I built separately and then integrated into the map. I need to rework all the lighting and then start building onwards from here. Originally this area was going to be my starting section, but I changed things around based on how I wanted the map to begin.

Loke, on 31 March 2018 - 06:21 AM, said:

Are you going to add a ModDB page? It's a good site for getting more exposure.

I'm thinking about it. I'll probably do it once the first couple maps are in a completed state so that what I show off isn't massively subject to change.

[MusicallyInspired]

Very authentic. From the hallways to the high ceiling wide rooms.

[OpenMaw]

Been walking through some of the old maps and taking screens to try and better emulate the archetecture.

I've sketched out the two big cahuna events I want to have taken place about halfway and in the final third. Going to start building those separately today.




Plugging in some custom textures I am jokingly referring to as "80s." Trying to stay within the same style as the Half-Life stuff, but also put a little spin on it.




Very subtle, I customized the calendar with an old photo I took about nine years ago.




No spoilers here, but there will be secrets and easter eggs to find in every map. I'm going to try and do some interesting things with each one. Whether it's subtle audio cues, or puzzle solving that leads to them.

[PikaCommando]

Levels appear to be built wonderfully, but aren't things a bit too dark?

[OpenMaw]

Working on some conceptual stuff related to the mod. I've got an NPC i'm going to be putting together. I've decided there will be a couple of minor tweaks to code that will make this, essentially, a full mod instead of a drop-into-valve-dir-and-play map pack. I've already made a few custom sound effects, but I intend to tweak at least one of the weapons.

I was laying the foundation on another level, and I decided to go back and work on the teleporter room. It was just nagging me, it wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. So here's what I've come up with after about three hours of tinkering:





The teleporter pad ties into a large power system. Under the gantry is also a reaction chamber which ties into the laser projectors and mainframes.



Shot from behind the main reactor.



The main platform with laser projectors, mounted onto super computers that gather telemetry data.



The control console is now in a separate observation room.

The outer shell of the room is subject to change and still needs some work. The ceiling is literally just cover at this point.

PikaCommando, on 05 April 2018 - 09:24 AM, said:

Levels appear to be built wonderfully, but aren't things a bit too dark?

You're not wrong. Of course none of the lighting is final. In the initial lab area, the idea is that things are blowing up. The teleporter that Gordon is "wisked" through by Gman basically causes a huge power surge. When you go through the first hallway or two there's various shakes and groans. Some pipes burst, etc... This causes some of the lighting to fail. That being said, of course, the lighting is mostly just there so I can see what i'm doing and I totally intend to refine it as i'm testing. Not just for the look, but also to ensure that the path is at the very least hinted at by the lighting. Drawing the eye and so forth. I'm using a lot of blues and reds. I intend to shift to more of an orange vibe as things progress.

[MusicallyInspired]

I like teleportation/reactor rooms. Really nice design here.

[OpenMaw]

The teleporter got a third pass. Lot's of referencing both the Anti-Mass Spectrometer from Half-Life and the "old" teleporter in Blue Shift. It looks a lot more authentic now, mostly down to getting the right texture choices and emulating some of the actual structure. I might do one more pass over things There are a few more tweaks I want for details.









Work in progress on a new NPC class. The workers. Half-Life unfortunately only ever showed us fleeting glimpses of the idea that there were actual engineers working in the facility. The orange suited "construction.mdl" and the green suited forklift operator "Gus" that are glimpsed, I think, three or four times total between the main game and the two main expansions.

With this guy I tried to merge the bits of the forklift operator and the construction model to create something new. I swapped the lower poly hands with the slightly higher poly hands of the scientist. He's on the scientist rig and has all of his animations working. Those will have to be changed quite a bit as they don't exactly fit the demeanor I have in mind. Half-Life does some stereotype short hand for the characters. The scientists are timid and easily frightened. The guards aren't particularly smart and are loveably gung-ho. etc, etc... So the workers will have that teamsters union "bustin' my ass." vibe to them.

Some changes:
Tweak the UV's.
Variant heads. (I have one.)
Tool belts and P.D.T. device:




"P.D.T."


I'm tweaking story ideas and have come up with what I think is a pretty cool scenario for the project. One tidbit is you won't be playing as Gordon Freeman. Think of this like the third expansion we never got. You really are at the bottom of the pecking order now. You play the ultimately blue collar hard working slub. One of the Black Mesa warehouse workers.


Some of the chapter titles and level plotting I've been ruminating:

C1. Entry Level:
Taking place at and around the Area 8 Topside Dormitory, you make your way to the Sector A loading docks and storage facilities. Covers pre-diaster.

Perspective is very important here. I want the player to feel, now more than ever, like they are at the bottom of the food chain. That was somewhat the intent with Blue Shift, but here's the thing that the Black Mesa personnel will probably never admit to you - You don't have the brains of a scientist, and you don't have a gun at your side like a security guard. As far as the "staff" of Black Mesa are concerned, you might as well be a bag of meat that can be kicked in front of the monsters. You are the working class, blue collar guy.

The chapter will end with a massive explosion. Electrical energy from Sector C feeds back along the power, causes some hazardous materials to be ignited in the loading docks and kills a number of workers and security guards.

In a classic Half-Life scenario. You lose consciousness.


C2. Mandatory Overtime

You wake up quite some time later. About to be zombie food.

You get your melee weapon here.

The dock area is in ruins, most of the workers are dead.

One little scripted event i'm building right now is very DNF inspired. "This thing is really pissed off!"

The foreman will give you a pass key to his office where you get your first gun. The Browning hi-power. It takes nine-mils.

C3. Hostile Takeover

One image I have in mind here is that you will come back to the surface at this point and, in the distance, see the HECU arriving in formation. Apache's flying at the flanks of several Osprey's off in the distance. This will be achived with the video game equivalent of forced perspective. Just like in opposing force. "mini' versions of apache's and osprey's

Inspired by this shot from The Lost World:

Spoiler

C# Equity / Inequity
C# Protective Clause
C# "Above my Paygrade"
C# Leave of Absence
C# Strike
C# Euclid
C# Closing Time
C# Termination

The rest i'm going to leave vague. Keep in mind that, the number of chapters is nowhere near finalized. These are just ideas for names and impressions of concepts. Likely it'll be less, but you have to spitwad things to really know what sounds good.

One location i'm thinking of adding, given the vast size of Black Mesa and just how self sufficient it seems to be, it should have a foundry somewhere. I think the orange and red hot atmosphere would be a great fit for Half-Life.


Like I said in a previous post, I was planning some code-based edits. I'm aiming to make sensible modification that add in a few new bits but feel as though they might have been something say Gearbox or some other company like Raven or Sunstorm might have done in their quest to match Valve, but also provide "new" stuff.

Some Player specific tweaks:
Change to HUD color.
Removal of HEV functions. The player will equip a "P.D.T." Personal Data Transmitter. It's a glorified life-alert and reflects the low priority you get as a worker.
Intermixing standard Half-Life, Opposing Force, and Prototype foot sound fx.
Inability to use HEV chargers. Though they will be around. You are not equipped with a PCV or an HEV. Instead you will have to rely on Medkits, snacks(Soda's, chips, donuts, sandwiches), and the occasional one-time use medical cabinets.
No armor/battery protection.*
Flashlight uses batteries.*

^ As you can see the above changes are not drastic, but they will alter the way the game plays. You are not in an HEV. You are not in a PCV. Hell you're not even in Barney's standard issue flak vest. You are a civilian, in the same situation as Barney, Shepherd, and Freeman.


Monster changes:
As previously stated the worker's will be a new subclass of the scientist. Though they will be slightly different. Lacking the ability to heal, and featuring new voice work. (I'm hoping I can get Vinny Stagnitta to lend his natural New York tones to the character.)
I plan to port the clean suit scientist from Opposing Force. That's a fairly easy one.
Add in all the zombie variants. (HECU, cleansuit, barney.) along with a worker variant i'm building. This will literally just be a matter of programming in the ability to set the zombies sub-model. Copy-paste code. Boom.
Toying with an alternate breed of zombie. Something where the melding process doesn't go quite right. I was inspired by watching one of the many "alpha" mod projects out there that features this very "puppet" like walk for the zombie. *
Considering another version of the Slave. Called the "heavy" slave. They'll be faster, stronger, and have a helluva "whack" attack. Basically this will be a mini-boss of sorts. * (Based on this concept art.)*
Panthereye. Mixing pieces from the "red" and "blue" variants. I want them to feel almost like mini Gargantuas. Like they would belong to the same family "branch" of Xen Fauna. They'll be portrayed as solitary hunters, with a good build up to the first encounter.
Some other things are in my mind as well. Like a Gonarch sack being electro-stimulated to pop out head crabs which could be another miniboss or environmental hazard. Inspired by an idea from earlier in Half-Life 2 development.*

*These are more in the realm of "idea" than something that I've sat down and actually put in time to implement. I don't see why I can't though. My main goal here is to re-purpose stuff that already exists, not create whole-cloth anew and make excessive work for myself. IE, the new pistol and melee weapon are no different than Gearbox putting in the Knife(A variant on the crowbar), or Desert Eagle(A fusion of the Glock and Rocket Launcher functionality with the stopping power of the magnum... etc etc...)

[Player Lin]

As fan of HL and HEV suit, feel sad about lack of it, but that's fine, as the PC isn't a scientist like Gordon or Gina. At least Barney Calhoun also lack of HEV/PCV suit-like of armor and can't use related things too in HL:Blue Shift.
EDIT: But the SP campaign mod HL: Azure Sheep did given the PC(one of BM guards) HEV-like suit in later of campaign, so that's just depend the author want to do.

Looking forward on this mod.

[MusicallyInspired]

Loving your ideas. What colour HUD are you going to use? Both yellow and green are used already and blue doesn't make sense, and is used by BS. So...Red? Purple?

[OpenMaw]

Concept for what the failed coupling zombie might look like. Things are a little more extreme then the concept makes it appear. It'll call for new sound, rigging, and animation.

3D model at the concept stage

Spoiler

Highly experimental. I need to take him into 3DS Max and do some serious work on the model.

Backstory:
An improper coupling is a rare event and is seldom witnessed. What causes this failure on the headcrabs part remains a mystery. Some theories vary from an overly "enthusiastic" head crab or a subtle sub-species. In either case the typical mutations triggered by the headcrab attaching to the subject persist, however, the victim remains fully conscious and even retains partial, albeit feeble and weakening, control over some of their motor functions. The result is strained and confused locomotion. Subjects are prone to clumsy behavior including tripping and stumbling around.

Unlike, the subject's immune system begins to fight against the alien organism. The nervous system and the headcrabs intent become locked into a stalemate. Unlike in normal coupling, the chest cavity does not form a maw out of the hosts rib cage. Instead, infected tissue forms into pustules on the victims sternum and abdomen. The victim will plead for death in a raspy, almost inaudible tambre as they weeze and groan. The lack of coherent speech may be a result of the head crab's beak and talons puncturing the subjects vocal chords and lungs.

Fungal like stocks begin to extend from the subjects tissue where intense resistance is occurring in the hosts body. These "stalks" take on appearance similar to that of the "follicles" observed in the XEN dimension.





HUD Colors.

1 is the original Half-Life HUD color. The rest are some of the color choices I have been playing around with. I'm partial to 2 and 6. Though I don't think 5 would be too bad. Though, my conceptual side is saying i'd rather lean towards the original HUD color because of who the character is. Blue and Green go somewhat together and both colors make sense for Shephard and Barney. Miltary = Green. Security/Police = Blue. So i'm leaning a bit towards 2-4. Though i'd certainly love some feedback on this. I'm not as keen on a pure red because They Hunger makes good use of that color and it's kind of iconic (in my mind) to that mod.

[MusicallyInspired]

I'd probably say 2 or 4 then as well. 3 looks a little too "toxic" and glow-in-the-dark for an engineer type guy. But I suppose I'd have to see it.

[PikaCommando]

Hey, first time I'm seeing anyone made a model based on the concept art HL2 zombie, albeit with the HL1 Headcrab rather than the Fast Headcrab (which was originally the new standard Headcrab design for HL2).

Also, it's hard to decide on the HUD color without seeing them in action (particularly in seeing how much they clash with the environment).

[OpenMaw]

PikaCommando, on 10 April 2018 - 01:38 AM, said:

Hey, first time I'm seeing anyone made a model based on the concept art HL2 zombie, albeit with the HL1 Headcrab rather than the Fast Headcrab (which was originally the new standard Headcrab design for HL2).

Also, it's hard to decide on the HUD color without seeing them in action (particularly in seeing how much they clash with the environment).

You know I had honestly forgotten about the HL2 zombie concept art. That makes so much sense now as to where that idea came from.

Here I thought I was being semi original for a second. Just my senility! Yeah, it's a great idea.





Zombies are now customizable. Worker, cleansuit, and (maybe) an assassin variant for good measure.


New HUD. Work in progress, using some of the pieces of the old Pre-release FONT as a basis. I'm going to get a different font. I want the HUD to feel much more simplistic and blocky. Akin to an old 1980s computer. I'm looking at some older Mac style fonts like "Terminal." The flashlight icon will be moved down and mounted above the health meter. The color is subject to change. I may decide to go with something closer to a maroon or amber. On the "engineering/hazard" side instead of the cooler blues and greens.


Batteries and health chargers no longer work for the player character. I'm going to setup some special interaction with them now so that they truly feel like equipment out of the players reach. The HEV has been completely muted. Replaced the logon with a hacked together suiting up noise. Taking bits from TFC, and CS.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ooo! An Assassin Zombie! That could be a faster type similar to the fast headcrabs! Zooming all around the place and diving at you. Similar to the fast zombies from HL2.

[OpenMaw]

When you get your gear:
https://soundcloud.c...penmaw/workvest

When you try to use a charging station:
https://soundcloud.c...enmaw/chargeero

Browning Hi-Power
https://soundcloud.com/openmaw/pl-gun3


Don't listen to this one if you don't want a spoiler. Let's just say that Half-Life, for as great of a First Person Shooter as it is, is missing something that all truly great First Person Shooters should have.

Spoiler

https://soundcloud.c...maw/test-firing

Other bits on the sound design front, i'm trying to emulate the Human Grunt audio for a few more specific pieces of dialogue the player might over hear. It wouldn't be possible to replicate these using the stock audio VOX, but i'm working on trying to approximate the grit and radio effect.