Hi! I hope it's not out of line to make a thread about this. Here's the deal. If you're a PC gamer, you may have noticed that Mirror's Edge is currently $5 USD on Steam, and Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is currently $21 USD on Steam. These prices are good for the next 15 or so hours (it's 7:38 EST for me at the moment).
Now, why am I making this thread? Am I a crazy Mirror's Edge, DICE, EA, Call of Juarez fanboy? Well, not exactly, but sorta! First, let's handle Mirror's Edge. Most people agree that the PC version of Mirror's Edge is a very good version. It has nice graphics, supports keyboard and mouse OR the 360 controller, and runs pretty well without requiring a supercomputer. I think it may be one of the best keyboard and mouse uses I've played, especially for platforming. If you don't like the default controls, you can remap them, of course. How good are the graphics on Mirror's Edge? Pretty good. I'll add another post or two with some screenshots momentarily.
Now, to REALLY answer why I'm making this thread: I saw lots of questions about Mirror's Edge, and some seemed to keep repeating. I'm one of the most active members of what little mod community there is for Mirror's Edge, even though I haven't released a map myself, and I don't really do research anymore.
Answering questions
If you have any questions not answered here, post in the thread, and I'll try to update while the sale is still ongoing.
Does the Steam version have install limits?
As far as I know, there are no install limits, and there is no SecuROM, on the Steam version. On the retail version, I believe there is a 5-install limit, but you can revoke your licenses using the EA tool (unlike even the Steam version of EA's Crysis, ugh).
Does the Steam version support the DLC?
No it does NOT, but see below! You can buy the DLC for $10 from EA's lousy (in my opinion) online store, but you can't even play or install the maps on the Steam version without significant messing around with the files and the editor. When the game itself is only $5 on sale, and especially with the free map pack linked below, I don't think it's worth it. There are quite a few ingame time trial maps in the game itself, anyway.
Modding/mapping
Here are a couple of links (and I don't get any ad revenue from these):
http://on-mirrors-edge.com/forums/index.php -- the Unreal Engine 3 forum has some older information, and the Modding forum has a good bit of mapping stuff.
http://www.touchofrain.com/mirrors_edge/ -- a very rough site in English and French about mapping with Mirror's Edge. I haven't updated it in like 6 months though. :-( The links section should still have lots of useful information. And just in case you start messing with the Unreal Editor and decide you want to do more, there's always the free UDK (http://www.udk.com/) now that gives you the possibility of making high-quality games and selling them yourself, without huge expenses up front.
I have not seen a lot of "modding" per se in terms of replacing character models or changing textures, though texture-changing is apparently possible. Most of the modding that I have seen, and what I am personally interested in, is creating custom maps.
These maps are a little bit clunky to load, since you have to copy files into your Documents folder in a certain directory, and they temporarily override the ingame time trials or story maps. Annoyingly, you want to not log into an EA account while you play them, or else you might get a really low time on the custom map (which will give you a fake low score on the worldwide leaderboards).
Fair warning: As with any mod, you should probably back up your own save and configuration files (from your Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame directory), just in case anything gets overwritten.
I'll start with some of the highest-quality Mirror's Edge maps I've seen, this time trial map pack by Taplonaplo (http://www.youtube.com/user/taplonaplo):
The download pack should include an install batch file if you don't want to manually copy the files. It should have instructions either way, and I can try to answer any questions you might have about using it. I haven't taken the time to do screenshots from these since I'm making this thread in a hurry.
Release trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rrZcY4pQDM
Download link:
http://www.filefront.com/14327703/TaploDLC.zip/
(Note that the below maps are just examples for playing around in...as far as I know, they may not actually have times and checkpoints set up completely for time trials)
Geometric Playground, very cool and M. C. Escher-esque:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVyjyH-b5PE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yx5HJ5IScI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmWJXXHUyZA&feature=related
Relatively simple map someone made, Block Party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6LWTCRUHzk
Simple road map, kinda like human frogger:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEhxaXakzxY&feature=related
Answering questions about custom maps
Is there a way to easily install the maps other than copying files? Not at the moment. One user has made a map swapping application on the On Mirror's Edge forums, but I don't think the few maps that are released would support it very well.
Are there a LOT of custom maps? No, and the ones I linked above are probably the best I know of. They're mostly very rough, admittedly. Mirror's Edge was probably my first 3D-mapping experience, so I just wanted to make people aware of them, especially if anyone is interestedin making their own.
Do they support online leadboards? No, and as I mentioned earlier, you don't want to log in to your account before playing them (hitting escape should cancel the login, I think), because you might record unfairly fast times.
Is there anything special about the Steam version of Mirror's Edge and custom maps? Yes, you can get the resource files to run the editor from America's Army 3 (free from Steam). Plus, you can playtest in the editor (in the retail version editor, due to some weird copy protection apparently, Faith dies after running and jumping for a short period of time). As of right now, I am not aware of a way to use the UDK resource files to run the editor, but I have not tested it.
Now, why am I making this thread? Am I a crazy Mirror's Edge, DICE, EA, Call of Juarez fanboy? Well, not exactly, but sorta! First, let's handle Mirror's Edge. Most people agree that the PC version of Mirror's Edge is a very good version. It has nice graphics, supports keyboard and mouse OR the 360 controller, and runs pretty well without requiring a supercomputer. I think it may be one of the best keyboard and mouse uses I've played, especially for platforming. If you don't like the default controls, you can remap them, of course. How good are the graphics on Mirror's Edge? Pretty good. I'll add another post or two with some screenshots momentarily.
Now, to REALLY answer why I'm making this thread: I saw lots of questions about Mirror's Edge, and some seemed to keep repeating. I'm one of the most active members of what little mod community there is for Mirror's Edge, even though I haven't released a map myself, and I don't really do research anymore.
Answering questions
If you have any questions not answered here, post in the thread, and I'll try to update while the sale is still ongoing.
Does the Steam version have install limits?
As far as I know, there are no install limits, and there is no SecuROM, on the Steam version. On the retail version, I believe there is a 5-install limit, but you can revoke your licenses using the EA tool (unlike even the Steam version of EA's Crysis, ugh).
Does the Steam version support the DLC?
No it does NOT, but see below! You can buy the DLC for $10 from EA's lousy (in my opinion) online store, but you can't even play or install the maps on the Steam version without significant messing around with the files and the editor. When the game itself is only $5 on sale, and especially with the free map pack linked below, I don't think it's worth it. There are quite a few ingame time trial maps in the game itself, anyway.
Modding/mapping
Here are a couple of links (and I don't get any ad revenue from these):
http://on-mirrors-edge.com/forums/index.php -- the Unreal Engine 3 forum has some older information, and the Modding forum has a good bit of mapping stuff.
http://www.touchofrain.com/mirrors_edge/ -- a very rough site in English and French about mapping with Mirror's Edge. I haven't updated it in like 6 months though. :-( The links section should still have lots of useful information. And just in case you start messing with the Unreal Editor and decide you want to do more, there's always the free UDK (http://www.udk.com/) now that gives you the possibility of making high-quality games and selling them yourself, without huge expenses up front.
I have not seen a lot of "modding" per se in terms of replacing character models or changing textures, though texture-changing is apparently possible. Most of the modding that I have seen, and what I am personally interested in, is creating custom maps.
These maps are a little bit clunky to load, since you have to copy files into your Documents folder in a certain directory, and they temporarily override the ingame time trials or story maps. Annoyingly, you want to not log into an EA account while you play them, or else you might get a really low time on the custom map (which will give you a fake low score on the worldwide leaderboards).
Fair warning: As with any mod, you should probably back up your own save and configuration files (from your Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame directory), just in case anything gets overwritten.
I'll start with some of the highest-quality Mirror's Edge maps I've seen, this time trial map pack by Taplonaplo (http://www.youtube.com/user/taplonaplo):
The download pack should include an install batch file if you don't want to manually copy the files. It should have instructions either way, and I can try to answer any questions you might have about using it. I haven't taken the time to do screenshots from these since I'm making this thread in a hurry.
Release trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rrZcY4pQDM
Download link:
http://www.filefront.com/14327703/TaploDLC.zip/
(Note that the below maps are just examples for playing around in...as far as I know, they may not actually have times and checkpoints set up completely for time trials)
Geometric Playground, very cool and M. C. Escher-esque:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVyjyH-b5PE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yx5HJ5IScI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmWJXXHUyZA&feature=related
Relatively simple map someone made, Block Party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6LWTCRUHzk
Simple road map, kinda like human frogger:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEhxaXakzxY&feature=related
Answering questions about custom maps
Is there a way to easily install the maps other than copying files? Not at the moment. One user has made a map swapping application on the On Mirror's Edge forums, but I don't think the few maps that are released would support it very well.
Are there a LOT of custom maps? No, and the ones I linked above are probably the best I know of. They're mostly very rough, admittedly. Mirror's Edge was probably my first 3D-mapping experience, so I just wanted to make people aware of them, especially if anyone is interestedin making their own.
Do they support online leadboards? No, and as I mentioned earlier, you don't want to log in to your account before playing them (hitting escape should cancel the login, I think), because you might record unfairly fast times.
Is there anything special about the Steam version of Mirror's Edge and custom maps? Yes, you can get the resource files to run the editor from America's Army 3 (free from Steam). Plus, you can playtest in the editor (in the retail version editor, due to some weird copy protection apparently, Faith dies after running and jumping for a short period of time). As of right now, I am not aware of a way to use the UDK resource files to run the editor, but I have not tested it.
if it was third person i might have been able to play.