A mod idea

[smilez]

Hey everyone, i'm thinking about making a HL2 mod and here is a very unique idea i've come up with. The mod will either be single player, coop or multi (it would work in all modes) and the concept is based on a survival mod. It is actually based on a rare movie called The Naked Prey. This might be a slower game to finish, but I think if done right it will be a fun and exciting experience.

You are part of an african safari that is out hunting elephants, then native cannibal zulu's capture you and your team and plan to eat you for dinner, but you and a small handful of fellow hunters manage to break free and run from the tribal camp. Zulu warriors chase you with spears in hand, but you have a head start. All players will be required to keep moving throughout the game, or the zulus will catch up or the safari hunters will get away. The mod would give characters health in the form of temperature, indurance, health and hunger. As the sun blazes over the african landscape you will need to take breaks in the shade every so often and start implementing strategy. The safari hunters and zulu warriors would be able to use the environment around them (eg: using a rock to carve sticks to use as spears, or using a sharpned stick to with kindling to start a fire, or using multiple carved sticks to make a ground trap), but those actions take team work or time. As well as the human element there would also be african wildlife to avoid or to fight, including Leopards, Lions, Wildebeest, Hyenas, wild Zebras...etc but animals can be used as food when killed to increase health and hunger (although not essential if you want to eat berries).

Will you be able to outrun the Zulus if you keep running towards the safari base camp without doing anything else? Will you be able to make some distance from the Zulus and plan an ambush with newly formed weapons?

Or will you be a Zulu canibal and try and flank the safari hunters? Will you rush them straight using the shade to your advantage?

Its upto you...

Well thats the idea, comments are welcome

 

[famas_man]

This is one of the better mod ideas I've heard so far! Of course the quality of it would depend on the general mood that you would want for the game. I say it would be very cool if it was designed to be intense and maybe even a horror game, althogh making it a horror would be a challenge.

This is also a quite unique idea, and im sure it has potential for great game play. A feature that I think would be cool is a day/night cycle, I think that would suit this mod.

I hope your planning to pursue this, and if your not I hope somebody does a mod like this.

 

[The Dark Elf]

a horror slant to it would work really well I think.. I've seen a few movies/TV movies over the years that have the whole canibal/tribes thing but have it shown in a more realistic way which comes across as what would clearly be a terryfying experience, these tribes who know the jungle backwards and want to eat you.

Could be a really enjoyable (in a scary way ) mod. I agree with famas, I hope you do a good job with it. I'll certainly play it.

 

[dawdler]

What's with the eyes???

Anyway, back on the subject; I too like it. Although I think it could get repetitive in the end... Then again, what game doesnt? It will also be hard to balance speed with excitement, you dont want to move to fast and you dont want to move to slow.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by dawdler
What's with the eyes???

I think their all my followers, the brotherhood of copying Fens avatar

Anyway, back on the subject; I too like it. Although I think it could get repetitive in the end... Then again, what game doesnt? It will also be hard to balance speed with excitement, you dont want to move to fast and you dont want to move to slow.

Could be good if a dense looking jungle could be created, you know the tribe is out there stalking you but can't quite see them through all the tree's and plants. Maybe have those really high rope bridges and dangerous waterfalls

 

[dawdler]

Yeah... If one can make real deep forrest/jungle style, its gonna be pretty cool.
I've said it before:
Spotting an enemy in this image is near impossible. Now add human enemies to that, and sneaking, and you wouldnt see crap
Requires very dense vegation though.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by dawdler
Yeah... If one can make real deep forrest/jungle style, its gonna be pretty cool.
I've said it before:
Spotting an enemy in this image is near impossible. Now add human enemies to that, and sneaking, and you wouldnt see crap
Requires very dense vegation though.

exactly Running around a jungle barely seeing anything a few meters ahead, hearing drums getting louder, maybe seeing some disturbed leaves moving or hearing a branch snap (not that things like that would actually happen as these tribes people seem to be like ghosts when they move through a jungle, but it adds atmosphere )

I reckon if you used a LOT of images instead of models, and a good deal of LOD it could perhaps work without slowing things down. I'd really like to see some physics applied to the leaves and branches so as you move through the jungle it all pushes out of your way and gives you a chance of spotting where something else has been

And because its so difficult to see far, you could make use of very near fog, help speed things up a little more. And because of the short viewing distance and the difficulty of knowing whats where, having a map turn back on itself a lot could help create what appears to be very large maps even if in reality their not.

Would be handy if we knew of a model limit if there is one, that could spoil if if you can't have many models in a single map at once

 

[dawdler]

Originally posted by Fenric1138
I reckon if you used a LOT of images instead of models, and a good deal of LOD it could perhaps work without slowing things down. I'd really like to see some physics applied to the leaves and branches so as you move through the jungle it all pushes out of your way and gives you a chance of spotting where something else has been

Its already been done in Hitman (a very old game at that). Gothic II (the image) is much denser though, because of its lowpoly foilage/trees. A mix of the two should make a very good locking jungle/forrest

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by dawdler
Its already been done in Hitman (a very old game at that). Gothic II (the image) is much denser though, because of its lowpoly foilage/trees. A mix of the two should make a very good locking jungle/forrest

thats good news then, cause I'd wanna use this jungle thing in my mod too, can't have sparse tree's -everywhere- without dense forests, gotta have those

 

[smilez]

Ok thanks for the comments everyone, I'm going ahead with the mod and will have a webpage up before christmas with more information and hopefully some models

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by smilez
Ok thanks for the comments everyone, I'm going ahead with the mod and will have a webpage up before christmas with more information and hopefully some models

coolies looking forward to it.. But don't feel you have to rush it, there's plenty of time yet

 

[Brian Damage]

Cool. How about Lord of the Flies?

 

[smilez]

Nah Brian that would be boring.. might as well make Battle Royale if you going to do that. There is nothing more annoying than chubby british school children. Cannibal zulu's is what I like

 

[Brian Damage]

I imagine the cannibal Zulus'd like the chubby British kids, though.

 

[famas_man]

Originally posted by dawdler
What's with the eyes???

lol, my avatar is a piece of a pic I made a while ago. Although the unsettling, hypnotic gaze of fen's avatar may have influenced me on some subconcious level.

Anyway about the mod... what mode of play are you leaning towards (sp, multiplayer, co-op)? I think it sounds best as a co-op or single. If you did it in multiplayer I guess one team would have to be the zulu's and it would become less of a hunter/prey game, but rather 2 opposing teams with equal advantages.... I think.

Then again I'm not not the mind behind this

 

[alco]

Comments?

Gather a team and make this mod!