i Need Help

[Habitual Scorp]

i am looking in starting a new mod for HL2/
i was wondering if someone can tell me what i need to do in order to start one
and what i need to learn and what programs to use
thanx

 

[Noodlygod]

Basically you need:
An idea

A team that can do the following:
3d Modelling (XSI EXP)
2d Texturing (Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro)
Programming in C++ (Whichever compiler works for you)
Website Design/Programming

And then you need the drive and determination to see it through. It's probably also not a bad idea to have someone with good organizational skills manage the whole thing. Good luck!

Edit: You also need someone who can map!

 

[The Dark Elf]

Also a sound guy is important too, the stock effects in HL2 will get old quickly and you'll want new stuff to make a difference, and someone who's got a talent for music, that will be very useful, a good musical score can turn a mediocre mod into a great experience if done properly.

 

[Faravid]

Forget the music, just loads of ambient sounds such as dogs, cars, yelling...
Also more uncommon ambient sounds work fine, such as heart beats, sounds like someone's walking right behind you (horror ) and sounds that has part with visual stuff such as braking glass and a combine flying against the wall.

Or more alien for alien stuff.

 

[Habitual Scorp]

hmm ok thanx for all that info

can i use 3ds for modeling and mapping and would i be abe to start on a hl2 mod now
and where can i get some tuts for c++ and other things
i just started doing gfx and stuff
and what can i use to make sounds??

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Habitual Scorp
hmm ok thanx for all that info

can i use 3ds for modeling and mapping and would i be abe to start on a hl2 mod now

yes if you wanted to. but just the modeling stuff and textures, can't do anything further than that as the game isn't out

and where can i get some tuts for c++ and other things

google for C++ tutorials, buy books on it, take courses

i just started doing gfx and stuff
and what can i use to make sounds??

A decent sound program, a microphone, imagination, experimenting with different things and not feeling silly when making funny noises for various things


though if your just starting out then you might be trying to run before you can walk, don't expect amazing stuff if this is all new to you is all I'm saying.

 

[Habitual Scorp]

yes i know it aint going to be amazing it might suck really bad bit i know ppl who is gonna help me who knows a lot more bout GFX then i do so they can help me there/

im gonna do what i can and as i go along i will get better and know more and make it better.

thats y i am here to find out what i can do and what i need to do so i have some idea how to do it.

so the only thing i can do is moddeling and sound and textures??

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Habitual Scorp
so the only thing i can do is moddeling and sound??

yeah, as nobody can code for HL2 until its out.. you can however download the HL1 SDK and learn that, as HL2 is likely to be pretty similar for most of the coding. and even if its not its a great way to learn how things are and practice with different things in the HL1 engine.

You can model, do sound, music, textures but mapping and coding, unless you do them for HL1 and pray they work in HL2, I wouldn't worry about those for the time being, its risky and you could be left with a lot of hard work that isn't usable in HL2 when it ships. You also wont be able to convert anything to the formats required for the source engine, since the tools to do that havent been released yet neither.

 

[Habitual Scorp]

umm ok thanx
where can i DL the SDK for HL1??

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Habitual Scorp
umm ok thanx
where can i DL the SDK for HL1??

I think its on fileplanet and others like that, AFAIK its not too big a download

 

[Habitual Scorp]

what does C++ do is it like coding and such??

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Habitual Scorp
what does C++ do is it like coding and such??

ok I think if you don't know what C++ is then you shouldn't be thinking about programming. You might want to ask in the coding section about the best ways to start coding, but you should really start from the bottom before thinking about coding for something like HL

 

[Habitual Scorp]

hmm ok maybe ill do that

 

[Incitatus]

hmm I don't want to be discouraging but If you're starting a mod and you're only just starting to acquire any skills, whether 3d or 2d, you'll have a hard time creating anything playable before hl3 come along (assuming that's 1 - 2 years away). My suggestion would be to learn some 3d or 2d or coding in a general way before embarking on a major project like a mod, especially a hl2 mod.

Unless you have a severly high tolerance for frustration and a super abundance of patience, if you do, go ahead. It'll be a great learning experience if nothing else.

:afro:

 

[Habitual Scorp]

well ok
i didnt know that C++ was goin got be that hard
so i think il just learn it and i think i know a lot bout it then i will go to making a mod
and i also am taking a coruse in school on computer science
it like programming making games and this like that so that should help