Research and Development

[Evo]

[url="http://www.moddb.com/mods/research-and-development" ]Research and Development[/url] is a recent mod developed by mbortolino which is described as being a puzzle-centric mod for Half-Life 2: Episode Two featuring an unarmed player but plenty of violent mayhem.[br]It seems to be pretty popular as I have spotted a few of my Steam friends playing it already. It is also getting some good reactions from people on ModDB with a 9.4 average rating. There is also a piece about the mod on [url="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/07/20/science-in-action-research-development/" ]Rock, Paper, Shotgun[/url]. If you want to check it out head [url="http://www.moddb.com/mods/research-and-development" ]here[/url] and see what it is all about. You will need Episode 2 installed to play it.

 

[Yorick]

I hardly considered having a gravity gun "unarmed". Gonna have to check this out though, it's getting some pretty stellar reviews.

 

[Ennui]

Loads of people are absolutely raving about this mod, it looks pretty interesting to say the least. I've just finished downloading it and I'm going to check it out.

 

[BlueWolf72]

Yes we have been talking about it

 

[MJ12]

This mod is excellent.

 

[Insano]

This mod has turned me upside down. It's so fine-tuned, going from the Heroes-like announcements of a new chapter to the simply brilliant puzzles. I never thought there were so many unexplored possibilities left with the current physics engine.

The ingenious puzzles usually require at least a minute thinking, until you cry out: "Eureka!" (in a manner of speaking). They're definately not that hard that you require a walkthrough. I've finished the mod in one go. The most important tip is to watch your surroundings. There are often tips hidden as a warning sign, since there are custom textures implemented.

There is no lack of action. The special thing about this is that you never get to shoot a gun.

For those who have already finished it, I got one moment that blew my mind:

Spoiler

In the puzzle to obtain the gravity gun, you first had to correctly place all the handles and mirrors. After doing so, there still was nothing happening. I wondered what to do, and threw the red glass in one of the last openings. While I was doing this, I was humming Roygbiv, a song of Boards of Canada.

Suddenly, I thought about how mind-blowing it would be if were meant to place the coloured glasses in exactly that order. I placed the red glass in the first spot and bam! Correct! I then picked up the orange glass, while I unconsciously started to hum even louder. Words can't describe how I felt. The placing of the other glasses was a victory march like none had ever seen before.

This will remain as one of the top moments in my gaming history.

 

[Ennui]

Haha Insano that was one of my favorite parts as well. That room was awesome. I've already posted in the other thread about it, but this is easily the best singleplayer mod I've ever played (well, on Source at least). The puzzles were refreshingly original and frankly I'm astounded that someone managed to make the HL2 setting seem fresh again - I thought after Minerva nobody else could touch it. I really hope this inspires more puzzle-based mods, I loved having to actually think about what was going on rather than just run through shooting and soaking up the atmosphere.

I love how there are subtle hints everywhere. I only got semi-stumped on a couple of areas where I had to wander around for maybe five minutes before I could figure it out, but the answer is always right in front of your face. Chapter 1 was probably my favorite, but 4 and 2 were both excellent as well (the train ride in 2 and Mr. Whirley in 4 are both very memorable), 3 sort of fell flat for me though, didn't feel very inspired.

 

[Great Grizzly]

I hated driving that cart around, it was more annoying than fun. Though I will admit that the strider battle in the end was pretty creative.

 

[Captain M4d]

I think there needs to be a greater clarification for what this game is, because I, too, confused this with Science and Industry and therefore thought it was multiplayer. Silly me.

I'm going to give it a swing tomorrow. Still haven't completed all of Minerva. What am I thinking?

 

[Laivasse]

This was a really, really great mod. My praise for it is totally unreserved. It's something of a comedy, in that the (intended) ludicrousness of many of the set pieces had me laughing out loud. At the same time it managed to feel very close to HL1 in terms of atmosphere; the theme of being a bumbling geek wandering around in a smashed up facility, causing more havoc than it should be remotely possible for one man to cause, feels really Freeman-ish, arguably moreso than Freeman's deification in HL2. Mr. Whirley was a masterstroke, even if it was a turd to control.

It's also a much lengthier mod than some of the comments led me to believe. The guy really deserves some remuneraton for his efforts. BTW, take RPS' 'it’s very much a point’n'click adventure in an FPS engine' line with a pinch of salt - like Insano said there's no lack of action.

I did have one bug where the antlion froze up, but it fixed itself on a reload.

 

[Sloth]

Played through it yesterday and must say that I was blown away - the puzzles feel like what HL2 should have had now and again instead of a see-saw every 20 minutes. The ability to take down the combine around me just by thinking was great.

Spoiler

Did anyone else find the exploding Garden gnome?

 

[Laivasse]

Spoiler

Did anyone else find the exploding Garden gnome?

Yup.

Spoiler

It fits in with HL2 canon as well. Think Event Horizon. :O

 

[Sloth]

Yup.

Spoiler

It fits in with HL2 canon as well. Think Event Horizon. :O

Not too sure how you mean it as canon...

Spoiler

Unless you mean that it went through a portal and came back insane and evil?

 

[Au-heppa]

Not too sure how you mean it as canon...

Spoiler

Unless you mean that it went through a portal and came back insane and evil?

I like this theory.

I've already posted in the other thread about it, but this is easily the best singleplayer mod I've ever played (well, on Source at least).

Yeah. Agreed.

 

[Laivasse]

Not too sure how you mean it as canon...

Spoiler

Unless you mean that it went through a portal and came back insane and evil?

Spoiler

 

[Sloth]

Told you I'm not good with a lack of sleep - the sense of humor tends to fade quickly!