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[BlazeHedgehog]

I really like that some characters don't seem to have flashlights and others do, designating certain people as those responsible for lighting the way for the whole team.

 

[Sibylus]

We'll definitely see 1-3 eventually, that looked too far along to ditch.

@MOB: I'm mainly excited for NMRiH because it's going to be PvE, infection is a hazard, and barricading and other passive activities seem to be a part of the game. I hope those elements come together to make a mod that's both psychologically thrilling and challenging (most zombie mods and games tend to neglect the former).

I get a sense of that from the video, I have a feeling it's going to be thrilling to run out into open streets, be backed into dead ends, etc. The zombies themselves don't seem to be too threatening 1-on-1, but in groups they seem to create a nice atmosphere of dread.

I really like that some characters don't seem to have flashlights and others do, designating certain people as those responsible for lighting the way for the whole team.

Hopefully that stays, it'd be nice to have teams constantly striking a balance between weaponry and light. Would also enhance the tension of stretches where you don't have a flashlight or a buddy with a flashlight.

 

[Sibylus]

New Zeitgeist media update:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/zeitgeist/news/have-you-been-to-the-museum-lately

Some of the best urban spaces I've seen in a Source mod, damn nice.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I really like the art direction in The Galactopticon. Very unique compared to other Source mods.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/tales-from-the-galactopticon/news/transparent-bid-for-publicity

 

[Sibylus]

I really like the art direction in The Galactopticon. Very unique compared to other Source mods.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/tales-from-the-galactopticon/news/transparent-bid-for-publicity

Indeed, looking forward to that one. I only wish it was closer to completion!

The part of the video with the firefight in the nightclub had me thinking it might be neat to have an assassination sub-mission. First phase could be the player planting a weapon beneath a table during a lax day or something, then coming back later and retrieving it, then using it to take out some high-up mobster. Firefight ensues and the player escapes.

 

[Sibylus]

Blue Portals has been released!

http://www.moddb.com/mods/blue-portals/downloads/blue-portals-release-v1

 

[Inkwell]

I was actually in the mood for more portal. I played some of Blue Portals. I think the different block types and magnets are fantastic, and actually fit well with portal. What I don't like about it so far is that some puzzles where you have to fling yourself are a bit overcomplicated and feel sloppy. There was one I just couldn't do for the longest time, but it turns out i had the enter the portal at the correct angle to get a little more height. That's really my only complaint so far.

 

[isamu]

I honestly cannot believe that I was totally oblivious to Synergy. If you would have told me I'd be able to play through Half Life Episode 1 and 2's entire campaign, online with a friend, I'd of told you to stay off the spiked punch.

This is crazy. I will definitely be trying to convince my friend to buy Orange Box if only for this mod.

A quick question about Synergy however...when playing the HL campaign in coop, what happens when there's a cutscene? I mean, from who's perspective will my friend(assuming he's the second character) be seeing the game?

 

[isamu]

It's crazy, the Dear Esther remake is close to being done

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dear-esther/news/slow-and-steady-a-brief-update

Sick.

Oh and can anyone tell me if this Dear Esther remake will be compatible with Synergy, and allow 2 players to tackle the campaign?

Also, can you play 2-player coop via Synergy with that Nightmare House mod or whatever it's called?

 

[Sibylus]

I honestly cannot believe that I was totally oblivious to Synergy. If you would have told me I'd be able to play through Half Life Episode 1 and 2's entire campaign, online with a friend, I'd of told you to stay off the spiked punch.

This is crazy. I will definitely be trying to convince my friend to buy Orange Box if only for this mod.

A quick question about Synergy however...when playing the HL campaign in coop, what happens when there's a cutscene? I mean, from who's perspective will my friend(assuming he's the second character) be seeing the game?

I believe that if a scene is implemented properly, all players will be locked to the same camera. If it's not, only player 1 will be locked in and the others can run around. I can't remember how many scenes were broken, but it isn't a game-breaking issue and you shouldn't see it occurring very often (if at all, I honestly can't remember if I had problems the last time I played through HL2 and the episodes).

Sick.

Oh and can anyone tell me if this Dear Esther remake will be compatible with Synergy, and allow 2 players to tackle the campaign?

Also, can you play 2-player coop via Synergy with that Nightmare House mod or whatever it's called?

The Dear Esther remake would have to be physically ported over to be compatible. The same for Nightmare House 2, I haven't heard if it's been ported by someone.

 

[isamu]

I believe that if a scene is implemented properly, all players will be locked to the same camera. If it's not, only player 1 will be locked in and the others can run around. I can't remember how many scenes were broken, but it isn't a game-breaking issue and you shouldn't see it occurring very often (if at all, I honestly can't remember if I had problems the last time I played through HL2 and the episodes).


The Dear Esther remake would have to be physically ported over to be compatible. The same for Nightmare House 2, I haven't heard if it's been ported by someone.

Ahh interesting, thanks

 

[isamu]

I have just been informed, courtesy of the guys over at the Steampowered forums, that the Steam version, or any post-Valve patched version of Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Half Life 2: Episode 2 are effectively broken! That their attempt to update the graphics with HDR and other postprocess effects and resulted in there being a SHITLOAD of graphical bugs:

Like people have said, most of the of the maps in Valve's update have only partially functioning or no HDR lighting, but the worst part is that Valve has made a mess of the entire game with their update by doing a really poor job of it. There are countless new bugs and all sorts of things broken that once worked perfectly in older versions of the game.

The new version is actually much worse than the old one, and unfortunately there's no feasible way for us to roll it back right now. Filip Victor's update was released a pretty long time ago (much earlier than Valve's) and has a few rough edges of it's own, but right now it's still a lot better than any of the alternatives. And hopefully version 2 will be out soon, which I'm hoping will resolve most of the problems and be closer to what we were expecting from Valve's update, because right now it doesn't seems like Valve intends to fix the mess they've made of their best work anytime soon.

Ep2 is fine, nothing much has changed there, and Ep1's new bugs are mostly minor from my experience (There is only one really ugly one that I remember). HL2 itself is the one that suffers the most. Most of the bugs are visual ones (with the exception of weird car behavior on Highway 17), there are fairly minor ones like animation glitches but there are some major eyesores about, like stretched and messed up skyboxes, awkward draw distance inconsistencies, and there was even a level stuck in fullbright the last time I played.

There is nothing that will really hinder your gameplay, but these glaring bugs are just extremely frustrating because they were never there before, and simply don't need to be there now if Valve would just make the effort to do it right. It's sad because it was supposedly an update to improve the graphical effects, but it does nothing other than make the game so much worse because of how poorly executed it was, leaving everyone just wishing they could just have the old version back. Such a shame.

Wow....can anyone confirm this? Are the bugs as bad as he's saying they are?

 

[EatChildren]

Wow....can anyone confirm this? Are the bugs as bad as he's saying they are?

I'm...not exactly sure what you're trying to say? Are you talking about a mod or something? I played through both HL2 and EP1 after the engine update and only had one scripting issue.

 

[MarkMclovin]

Wait... Black Mesa is coming in the next 2 weeks?

EDIT: NVM. Just realised when the thread was created

 

[isamu]

I'm...not exactly sure what you're trying to say? Are you talking about a mod or something? I played through both HL2 and EP1 after the engine update and only had one scripting issue.

Nope, no mod, the actual game. According to him the Orange Box Engine update introduced a lot graphical issues that are bordering on game-breaking.

 

[EatChildren]

Nope, no mod, the actual game. According to him the Orange Box Engine update introduced a lot graphical issues that are bordering on game-breaking.

Err, I dont really know what to say about that. Myself and plenty of others played through HL2 and Ep1 when the Orange Box engine update hit and there were no graphical bugs at all. There were a few scripting bugs people encountered, the most common of which late in the game (also is the one I got), but I dont know if they're fixed yet.

I know I didn't have any graphical bugs in the slightest. It looked like Half-Life 2, with a few Orange Box tweaks.

 

[GoldandBlue]

Blue Portals has been released!

http://www.moddb.com/mods/blue-portals/downloads/blue-portals-release-v1

Oh man, I gotta check this one out.

Sick.

Oh and can anyone tell me if this Dear Esther remake will be compatible with Synergy, and allow 2 players to tackle the campaign?

Also, can you play 2-player coop via Synergy with that Nightmare House mod or whatever it's called?

:lol I don't think Dear Esther is the kind of game you want to play with somebody else. Nightmare House 2 co-op would be neat though.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Basically:

When Valve released The Orange Box on the Xbox 360 and PS3, everything was running on the same version of the game engine. HL2 and Episode 1 were updated to the Episode 2 version of the engine, with all of the new HDR effects and whatnot.

For years, these updates were not available on the PC version.

An intrepid fan went through and ported HL2 and Episode 1 to the Orange Box engine, complete with HDR, achievements and everything else.

About six or nine months ago, Valve themselves finally went ahead and officially ported HL2 and Episode 1 to the Orange Box engine, but they were kind of sloppy and didn't do as good of a job as even the fanmade mod did.

Which I mean, hey, no surprise. It's Valve. This is what happens when they get sloppy. They're a company that's seemingly always pointed forward - so you end up with weird things like Counter-Strike 1.6 getting Steamworks features almost two years before Counter-Strike Source, even though more people play CS:S. When they do go back and port an older game to a newer engine, they always seem to cut some corners. Half-Life Source and Half-Life Source Deathmatch are kind of a mess, too, for the same reasons.

The only reason Counter-Strike Source has seen so much love and care recently is they handed it off to another team outside of Valve.

 

[isamu]

Basically:

When Valve released The Orange Box on the Xbox 360 and PS3, everything was running on the same version of the game engine. HL2 and Episode 1 were updated to the Episode 2 version of the engine, with all of the new HDR effects and whatnot.

For years, these updates were not available on the PC version.

An intrepid fan went through and ported HL2 and Episode 1 to the Orange Box engine, complete with HDR, achievements and everything else.

About six or nine months ago, Valve themselves finally went ahead and officially ported HL2 and Episode 1 to the Orange Box engine, but they were kind of sloppy and didn't do as good of a job as even the fanmade mod did.

Which I mean, hey, no surprise. It's Valve. This is what happens when they get sloppy. They're a company that's seemingly always pointed forward - so you end up with weird things like Counter-Strike 1.6 getting Steamworks features almost two years before Counter-Strike Source, even though more people play CS:S. When they do go back and port an older game to a newer engine, they always seem to cut some corners. Half-Life Source and Half-Life Source Deathmatch are kind of a mess, too, for the same reasons.

The only reason Counter-Strike Source has seen so much love and care recently is they handed it off to another team outside of Valve.

Interesting. That's exactly what I was trying to get across. So basically, what is the best course of action to take if I want to experience the series with the engine update but not all the bugs? Do I have to go out and buy the boxed retailed version of Orange Box, and then hunt down that dude's fanmade patch? Or is there a better alternative method?

 

[Chinner]

ive recently played through hl2 and ep 1 within the last weeks and have had no major problems, although i swear the fps im getting has dropped abit.

 

[EatChildren]

Interesting. That's exactly what I was trying to get across. So basically, what is the best course of action to take if I want to experience the series with the engine update but not all the bugs? Do I have to go out and buy the boxed retailed version of Orange Box, and then hunt down that dude's fanmade patch? Or is there a better alternative method?

As sloppy as the port may be though its really not as horrible as that poster made it out to be.

As I said, I never got any graphical bugs what-so-ever. I got one scripting bug, which was fixed on a reload.

 

[isamu]

As sloppy as the port may be though its really not as horrible as that poster made it out to be.

As I said, I never got any graphical bugs what-so-ever. I got one scripting bug, which was fixed on a reload.

Thanks Eat. What exactly was the scripted bug you had?

 

[∀ Narayan]

ive recently played through hl2 and ep 1 within the last weeks and have had no major problems, although i swear the fps im getting has dropped abit.

Are you running vsync and triple buffering at the same time? If so, disable vsync. You don't need it on if you have triple buffering enabled.

 

[EatChildren]

Thanks Eat. What exactly was the scripted bug you had?

Late in the game, after the slow teleport sequence, I had an issue where Dog would not open a door. It seemed to be a common problem, where the game just wouldn't run the script properly. I had to reload a couple of times, but it eventually triggered and was fine.

From memory that was the only problem I had throughout the entire game.

 

[DieH@rd]

Guys, do i need to istall full HL2 +ep1 +ep2 to play Minerva Metastasis, Research & Development and Mission Improbable?

Can i install only Ep2?

 

[Sibylus]

Minerva is an Episode One mod, Research and Development and Mission Improbable are Episode Two mods. Installing both of those will do the trick, as should installing Source SDK Base 2006 and Source SDK 2007 (in the Tools tab under Library). The SDK bases probably wouldn't save you that much space, so might as well just bite the bullet and download Ep1 and 2.

Late in the game, after the slow teleport sequence, I had an issue where Dog would not open a door. It seemed to be a common problem, where the game just wouldn't run the script properly. I had to reload a couple of times, but it eventually triggered and was fine.

From memory that was the only problem I had throughout the entire game.

That was patched shortly after it was discovered, as I recall. Shouldn't be an issue at all now.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Q: Are you going to use the same narration/soundtrack as the original Dear Esther, or is it all going to be redone?
A: We're working on a complete overhaul of Dear Esther's soundtrack for the remake. Fans of the soundtrack will get treated to new versions of all the music (re-recorded with real instruments/orchestra) which we'll also look at packaging up in high quality versions for iTunes download. In addition to this, we're looking at breaking some of themes up into different variations to drop into the environment at different places and maybe even adding in some randomization here as well, so like the voice-overs, you get a slightly different take on events depending on your run-through. We'll also be looking at enhancing the environment audio and SFX to compliment the new build.

Man, it sounds like they're going all-out.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dear-esther/news/qa-modty-and-more

 

[JaseC]

The only reason Counter-Strike Source has seen so much love and care recently is they handed it off to another team outside of Valve.

Didn't know that. Source?

Man, it sounds like they're going all-out.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dear-esther/news/qa-modty-and-more

Every time I find myself wishing the mod would be released already, I read something like this which makes the wait bearable.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Didn't know that. Source?

http://store.steampowered.com/news/3805

Press Releases - Valve - May 11, 2010
Available immediately, Valve has launched an extensive update to Counter-Strike: Source, now in beta.

The update includes a host of new features and functionality developed in collaboration with Hidden Path Studios. These include 144 new achievements, a new domination and revenge system, player stats, and more.

 

[JaseC]

http://store.steampowered.com/news/3805

And suddenly I remember reading the update notes. :lol Have to say, I'm not a fan of the overhaul.

 

[Sibylus]

Aaaaugh, want Dear Esther so badly!

Edit: And Zeitgeist as well!

http://www.moddb.com/mods/zeitgeist/news/the-spirit-of-zeitgeist

 

[GoldandBlue]

Man, it sounds like they're going all-out.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dear-esther/news/qa-modty-and-more

Sounding so good. I still listen to the original version soundtrack, can't wait for the updated version.

 

[Sibylus]

No More Room in Hell is starting to do map spotlights, their first is for the Broadway map, and it's looking pretty darn good. I was thinking a while ago that they needed to clearly define and market the maps that their mod was going to ship with, so I think this is a smart move.



http://www.moddb.com/mods/no-more-room-in-hell/news/map-spotlight-1-broadway

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Super rad six-and-a-half minute trailer for Overwatch showing how the mod has evolved in its first year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9QjULcrOQ

 

[Sibylus]

Super rad six-and-a-half minute trailer for Overwatch showing how the mod has evolved in its first year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9QjULcrOQ

Very nice!

I need to play some more Overwatch, I've missed a lot of new maps and changes.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Goldeneye Source v4.1 has released. As of 4.1, the game is officially out of beta status.

Goldeneye source v4.1 includes...

• 22 maps [revisioned and classic] including several custom
• 11 characters [6 janus, 5 mi6]
• 8 game-modes + teamplay combination
• 80 Achievements
• Help displays and the most in-depth VGUI yet
• Python for custom scripting
• Over 50 music tracks from 3 talented artists
• Fully customizable servers [with varying config dynamics]

http://www.moddb.com/mods/goldeneye-source

If you join a server and get an error about your Steam Ticket (as I did), close Steam, browse to its installation directory, and delete "ClientRegistry.blob". Then re-open Steam. Apparently it's a bug with some multiplayer mods.

 

[Sibylus]

The Citizen Part II coming on the 24th, they've released another trailer for it: http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-citizen-part-ii/videos/trailer-1

First one was rather rough around the edges, part II seems to be similar. Looking forward to seeing where it goes!

 

[Sibylus]

So it would seem Desura (DD website & service for indie games and mods) is launching publicly!

http://www.desura.com/

Moddb (and Desura also) is experiencing DDoS attacks for god knows what reason right now, so the website might be slow to load and broken in regards to updating.

 

[Sub_Level]

Just finished playing through Nightmare House 2. As a fan of Afraid of Monsters Director's Cut, I REALLY enjoyed it. Production values were just excellent, sans some hit and miss voice acting. Won't get into specific spoilers, but there's a boss, and it's probably one of the very few FPS bosses done well. Doesn't fall prey to that shoot and strafe formula from Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem 3D.

Of course it wasn't as good as Afraid of Monsters. That game was truly scary. I was actually afraid to play it. In Nightmare House 2 you're not as lonely. Difficulty was too easy, as well. Way too much ammo, health, and you had infinite battery in your flashlight. Still, my hats off to them. Gonna send an email of appreciation

 

[Sibylus]

Looks great, and has looked great for the entire past year and a half. Release it already, dammit! >:|

http://www.moddb.com/mods/city-17-e...episode-one-new-years-update-part-12#imagebox

 

[Shawsie64]

Sorry for the bump but gonna play through HL2 again.. any mods that add some flavor to the vanilla experience?

 

[rezuth]

Sorry for the bump but gonna play through HL2 again.. any mods that add some flavor to the vanilla experience?

Cinematic mod

 

[Sibylus]

Sorry for the bump but gonna play through HL2 again.. any mods that add some flavor to the vanilla experience?

The most notable is the Cinematic Fakefactory mod, but opinion is pretty divided on that one. For me, I don't like it at all. Many of the design decisions are poor or simply appalling (cue screenshot of Eli Vance looking like a completely different fellow who's 30 years old, or screenshots of pine trees on the desert wasteland's coast). Completely altering the atmosphere of maps and putting in orchestral music really grates me the wrong way too. Degrades a masterpiece to something significantly less studied and skillful, imo.

 

[bee]

use the 'lite' version of cinematic mod, it doesn't include the horrible alternate models or music

 

[Stallion Free]

use the 'lite' version of cinematic mod, it doesn't include the horrible alternate models or music

Even the lite version is a horrible piece of shit. It's appalling how he shits on Valve's art design.

 

[MNC]

Cinematic mod is a piece of poop.

 

[subversus]

thanks to Desura I tried Blue Portals yesterday.

Very tedious. I figured out the puzzles but wasn't able to pass through the second because you've to aim very fast and build a perfect momentuum. I understand that the creator has passed through this puzzle 100+ times, so he can do it but still...

 

[Sibylus]

thanks to Desura I tried Blue Portals yesterday.

Very tedious. I figured out the puzzles but wasn't able to pass through the second because you've to aim very fast and build a perfect momentuum. I understand that the creator has passed through this puzzle 100+ times, so he can do it but still...

Yeah, this was a constant source of frustration for me as well. The mod creator went way too far expecting perfect execution by players, and there was other problems. Ran into a few game-breaking bugs, and none of the jump tricks were explained well (if at all).

Of the two Portal mods I played yesterday, Factum Solus definitely made a better impression on me. Had more of a focus on the player spending a "medium" period of time figuring out the rules of the puzzle, and then being able to solve it in a short period of time.

BP basically made you take eons to do both. It's beyond a little frustrating to know what to do, have a video of what to do right in front of you, and still being unable to solve the puzzle. Countless jumps were fouled by edges and the tiniest of obstacles. This needed faaar more time in the oven to hammer out playability and proper communication of the skills needed. All the bugs and obscure rules just burned me out something awful, to the point where I noclipped through the past two chambers or so to see the ending. And the ending was half-baked too. Eugh.

 

[Karram]

Since this is a Source mod thread is there a thread for mods in general ?

 

[Majeh]

Since this is a Source mod thread is there a thread for mods in general ?

Don't think I've seen one (that is active, at least) but for the most part they're covered/mentioned in the OT of each game. There is an Oblivion mod thread but that game gets confusing/hard to mod well for first-timers so it may be an exception. The GoG thread list mods to use with some of those older games released.