Half-Life 2: Saint Eleutherios

[HawkeyE|87]

Hey guys, I've recently come up with a new, single-player game idea to be modded in Half-Life 2 called Saint Eleutherios (S?INT ELEUTHERIOS). <-- That question mark is supposed to be a lambda... :| I also put up a help wanted ad in the appropriate section as I am looking for some help to get this going, but I was very vague as to what the game would be like. I'm still not going to go too deep into detail, but I thought I'd share a bit more with you folks to see what kind of interest, if any, the community would have in this game. The game is going to be centered around Adrian Shephard sometime between the Seven Hours War and before the events of Half-Life 2. The setting of the game is going to be rather unorthodox, as I plan to set it on a Greek island, probably in the Aegean, but maybe elsewhere. The island's name is going to be Saint Eleutherios and will feature a monastery with the same name. The island is going to be fictional in that it doesn't actually exist, but it will have historical features from the real-world as well as the Half-Life world. The reason I think I can get away with this location is that the storyline is going to hold that the island has seemingly gone unnoticed by the Combine, as the inhabitants went underground after the 7-hours war. That is to say, until the events of the game take place.

Why a Greek island, you ask? Firstly, I myself am Greek, and I've always wanted to set a game in that locale as I feel that it is greatly, greatly under-appreciated (at least in the modern sense--games based in ancient Greece are different). Secondly, I really liked the look of lost coast, and I want to bring some of the elements of that depressingly short level into a much better developed story. Also, having the story based on a community that has tried to remain hidden from the combine--foreign occupation--all these years brings a new, interesting twist to this post-apocalyptic society, while also noting that the combine are not omniscient. Lastly, and coupled with the previous point, there are a lot of historical themes that can be brought in to greatly enhance the story by setting it in the Mediterranean.

The allied character list, thus far, includes ex-police, townsfolk, members of the clergy (monks/priests), ex-military and scientists.
The three main protagonists will be a female that accompanies Adrian (she may or may not be cut, though), a Greek soldier (not sure if he's going to be a PFC equivalent or Corporal, leaning toward the former for the sake of Adrian's rank) and a priest (either an Archimandrite or a Bishop, but leaning toward the Bishop). There will be more, less-important characters as well.

The enemy character list, thus far, includes combine soldiers, snipers and elites, hunters, striders, combine dropships and gunships (and maybe, but probably not hunter-choppers), headcrabs, zombies. Enemies I'm considering are: ant lions (for the beach[es]), combine advisors and the toxic zombies/headcrabs.

After an introduction with the G-man, the player is going to start off on a narrow beach, which is at the bottom of a cliff. I'd also like to note here that I plan on including G-man Easter egg sightings. I want the game to still have the feel of being a part of the Half-Life series, just with a unique twist. He is going to have to figure out how to get up the cliff. As a quick aside, yes, there will be a knife and monkey-wrench early on. He will eventually have to work his way through a monastery/catacombs and to the main village of the island. From the village, the player will have to work his way to a ruined castle. Also, I'm currently thinking of releasing the game as the parts are finished, or at least do that the first couple of times; there will probably be 3-4 parts total. That's about as open as I currently want to be with the plot, sorry guys.

Weapon list (so far):
Knife
Monkey-wrench
Glock 17 or H&K USP
A M1911 Colt .45 ACP with lower mag capacity, but higher stronger damage may be added.
The player will have a choice to choose from one of the two following weapons (He comes across the MP7 first, though):
MP5 - acquired from the police department in the town.
MP7 - acquired from fallen combine
Again, the player will have a choice to choose from one of the two following weapons (He comes across the G3 first, though):
G3A3 (or A4) w/ M203 grenade launcher - acquired from soldiers. It will have longer reloads, stronger recoil (making sustained fire inaccurate) and smaller magazine capacity (20), but will be very accurate when fired as single shots or in very short bursts and you'll be able to carry more than 60 rounds maximum (probably more like 100-140). It will also feature a scope.
Overwatch Pulse Rifle - This weapon will be less accurate overall, but better at sustained fire as it will have lesser recoil than the G3. It will also be able to file energy balls, which will be particularly useful against hunters. Maximum carry ammo will be 60 and reloading will be as quick as HL2.
Some sort of shotgun, the type is still to be determined. May end up leaving it as the SPAS-12, or possibly Father Grigori's double-barrel.
Squad Assault Weapon (SAW) - this is iffy, it all depends on the in-game balancing.
Rocket Launcher - Either RPG-18, M7A2 LAW or FIM-92 stinger. I'm leaning toward the stinger, as it has a guidance system.
Grenades - I'm thinking of just leaving them as-is.

The two different types of main battle rifle and submachine guns may later be dropped.

So, that's about it for now, guys. Feel free to ask me questions, though depending on their scope, I may not answer all (or any) of them. However, I'll probably answer most. Also feel free to give me suggestions. A lot of this is still tentative and open to review.

 

[HawkeyE|87]

I just added scientists to the "friendly allies" list. These scientists will not be from Black Mesa, but Aperture science. Their presence on the island is going to be directly linked to the ruined castle, and will play strongly on the Black Mesa/Aperture rivalry--in fact, that's the reason they were interested in the castle. Now, they're in hiding on the island like everyone else. Also, they will have a very strong impact on the storyline and as well the game-play, as some Aperture technology will be introduced.

So, this thread is currently at 75 views. Does anyone possibly have anything to comment or ask about the mod?

 

[Ennui]

So... its a custom map/campaign with a couple of new friendly NPCs, the same old enemies as HL2, a handful of new weapons?

Doesn't seem very compelling. Seems pretty generic as you have described it. It also would end up taking a sizable team of well experienced modders probably years to finish a project of this magnitude... and you'll be responsible for coordinating all of it, organizing EVERY LITTLE DETAIL and keeping everyone motivated and cooperative. It will consume hundreds of hours of your time over a period of several years. And all of this is only assuming you are successful, which in itself is highly unlikely.

Think about it. You would need, in addition to yourself as a writer/designer/manager/leader, all this and more: character artists, character animators, environment/prop/weapon artists and animators, texture artists with broad skillsets, a hell of a programmer (or three), voice actors, web designers, level designers, sound designers, etc etc etc. Are you sure you can handle managing all of that AND doing PR work AND writing the story AND designing every tiny aspect AND keeping everything organized AND apparently also doing the bulk of the level design? This mod you describe would take an experienced group of people many thousands of man-hours to create.

Your design is relatively non-interesting. There are no novel game mechanics to speak of. The setting isn't even really that interesting. You would be spending all of this time and effort primarily on creating custom assets - several character models, tons of prop models, weapon models, and the associated code, sound, materials and animations for all of those, as well as the actual maps themselves, and all of the voice acting and faceposer work and scripted sequences that go into making a campaign with story. Wouldn't all of those resources and effort be better dedicated to a project that has something more unique, interesting and/or novel to offer than simply HL2 with a few new guns and a slightly different setting?

I know it sucks that I have to rain on your parade - I know how exciting and almost euphoric it is to have a new idea that you think is cool that you want to develop. I'm just speaking from experience. It is self-evident from your posts that you are not experienced enough to run a mod of this magnitude. My suggestion would be instead to join an existing mod team that is functional and has already released a version, or at least has a decent internal alpha build. That way you can learn from seeing how such a team functions and is organized, and develop whatever your modding skills of choice are. Then maybe a few years and mod releases down the line you will be experienced and capable enough to make the decision of whether to tackle starting a project like this.

Otherwise, I'm sorry to say that it is veritably certain that your mod will simply become yet another of the thousands of never-to-be-released Source mods like this.

I'm sure you feel a bit put out at how harsh the response to your idea has been on these forums, but you have to understand that most of us that still read the mods/editing sections of HL2.net have been here since HL2's release or earlier and have seen thousands of other examples of mods like this. You are unwittingly fulfilling a really unflattering stereotype of a relatively generic or unrealistic mod idea leader guy who has little actual experience. A lot of us are modders or have done modwork in the past. The guy who's trolling your help wanted thread with fake media and whatnot is actually in the industry himself.

 

[HawkeyE|87]

Thanks for your reply, Ennui. Firstly, as I stated in the other thread, I've already been a part of a total-conversion mod team (albeit on the Quake II engine) of ~20 members. We even had an internal alpha build as well. The only drawback to the team was that we spent quite awhile trying to find an animator that would commit to the project, but the mod community for Enemy Territory had slowly been leaving the aging engine for new arenas. By the time we ourselves decided to switch engines (to HL2), our team had lost motivation and didn't particularly want to start over for the third time--the game originally began on the Call of Duty engine, but Infinity Ward blows. I'm still in contact with a few members from that team, and still trying to find the new contact information of other members. I'm not counting on getting them in, but it can't hurt to try.

That aside, there's a quasi-contradiction in your post in that you begin by simplifying the mod into something that sounds menial and easy to do, and then go on to hyperbolically describe the process that you think will be required, making it sound like it will take years upon years before anything is completed. However, I already clarified that I wanted to release the game in installments for this very purpose; the current plan is to attack each portion of the game individually and release them as they are completed. With a functioning team, the first installment, which will be roughly 20-30 minutes, should take much less than a year. Even the intro isn't necessary for the first installment, as the words the G-Man will speak and the things Adrian will see become important later on. The whole motivation for the installment strategy is directly linked to my experience with my previous team. I saw what went right and what went wrong and I want to try and implement some countermeasures to counteract the wrong.

As for the creativity portion, a lot of that can't be seen as I don't want to let out too much of the plot. The setting isn't that it's simply a Greek island; there's obviously a reason for Aperture Science to be there (something is at the castle). It's going to be the same reason that the combine have come there/taken notice of the island and basically be the same reason Adrian is sent there. That "reason" is going to have noticeably affected the island and will continue to affect it while Adrian is there. Anyway, right now, I have no real new enemies planned, but I haven't put much time into that yet, as the first installment will have few enemies. I want to start the game off a little slower to maintain the Half-Life tradition. Also, there are "novel" game mechanics thus far planned for the game, though they're tied to the plot and I don't yet want to talk about them. Utilizing Aperture Science in the mod not only adds a different level to the story, but also opens the door for different technology as well as a means to introduce newer ways to play the game. Similarly, there will be new "bosses" to fight as well, something that I thought HL2 lacked as it simply reused the striders as bosses--for the most part. The prop-models are the least of my worries actually, and I'm more than happy to use HL2/Ep1/Ep2/Lost Coast props/textures as fillers until they need to be replaced, if they need to be replaced. Also note that the story/game itself is still open to new ideas and not yet set in stone; there is plenty of wiggle room in the current storyline.

I probably won't be doing the bulk of the level design, but I am fairly sure I can handle all of the rest. As the team grows, decisions will move beyond me and involve the entire team. The only thing that I really want to maintain a semblance of control over is the story, and even then, I only want to have some degree of veto power. I'm well aware that this mod will not be simple to get off the ground and to complete, I came into this knowing that already. I also know that the entire project is going to take a long time to finish. I posted this and the help-wanted thread the day after I came up with the idea, I believe, and I do agree that the help wanted thread is very lacking. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do at the time.

 

[Ennui]

Alrighty then... let us know when your mod releases