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MINERVA Goes Pro: Valve Hires Ultra-Modder
Written by Alec Meer on July 17, 2008 at 1:39 am.
We’re far too late with this, and we feel extraordinarily bad for it - E3 has an unfortunate tendency to possess games journos body and soul for one mad week a year. But it’s never too late to celebrate, and so we shall.
Adam ‘Cargo Cult’ Foster, the delightful fellow behind what’s comfortably the finest singleplayer HL2 mod in the ‘verse, MINERVA: Metastasis, has snagged himself a job at Valve. Let there be much rejoicing.
I’ll be starting at a certain Valve Corporation at the beginning of October. What does this mean for MINERVA? Right now, I don’t know - I’ll initially be working on Valve’s own Episode Three, but after that, who knows? I seriously suspect this isn’t the end for this particular chain of experiments in designing single-player Half-Life 2 maps, all conducted for fun in my spare time.
Like any of my projects, it started off small, but rapidly grew far, far, bigger. It’s not finished yet, but this time I actually released something. ‘Episodic’ worked.
And, I accidentally acquired a job in the process. Oops?
To everyone, thanks.
Congratumalations, Adam! It’s well-deserved without a doubt - and way past time, as anyone who’s played Minerva will attest to. Unfortunately we missed out on the mini-ARG Adam presented on his blog that ultimately led to this cheerful revelation, but a slew of canny RPS readers, amongst other denizens of Adam’s own site, managed to decipher his elaborate code. It involved hacked audio files, the Polish national anthem and GPS co-ordinates, from what I hear - co-ordinates that turned out to be Valve HQ.
A cunning puzzle indeed, and one of many reasons why Adam’s upcoming tenure at Valve really is good news for gamers. I fervently hope to see his remarkable level-design efficiency applied to Half-Life 2: Episode 3 - this man could save us from those all-too-regular HL2 loading points.
If you’ve not played Minerva yet, especially its remarkable third episode, now is the time. Do so quickly, so you can legitimately say ‘I preferred his early work’ come Episode 3.
Thanks to Tom and Chris for tipping us off to these glad tidings.
93__________________
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Roritharr says:
Fucking jealous indeed.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Ross B says:
Wow, grats after just playing metastasis I can see why.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Angel Dust says:
I must say I never really liked Minerva. It wasn’t bad, I loved the island landing part, but alot of the level design was repetitive sci-fi bases ala Halo. I don’t know if I played the third episodes though. Will have to check that later
July 17th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I’ll admit I wasn’t terribly keen on the second chapter, but the third one was fantastic.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Syntaxus says:
Three cheers for modders everywhere, I say.
Minerva is truly fantastic. If Mr. Foster’s influence at Valve means less loading-points in Ep 3 and beyond, I will be even happier in the pants.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Cooper says:
I loved the first one on the island, it was a real breath of fresh air compared to the Half Life style, which always seems too obviousy linear. Though the path was pretty linear, it never really felt like it - the guidance around the island never felt forced.
Anyway, job very much deserved in my opinion.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 am
The Hammer says:
Wooo, congratulations, Adam! It’s been a long time coming!
Happily made Metastasis since the sublime first chapter, and been a fanboy ever since.
Just another reason Episode 3 is gonna be great!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Lunaran says:
‘Bout damn time. I was beginning to think you were too cool for the industry, CargoCult.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:42 am
MeestaNob! says:
Great news for this guy, well done!
Reading between the lines, I imagine Minerva might be finding its way to consumers in a far more official-release type situation some time in the future.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:04 am
SirNuke says:
Great news, though I’m kind of surprised that Valve didn’t hire him a while ago.
Death to loading screens!
July 17th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Pace says:
Adam’s brief summary of the solution doesn’t quite do justice to the complexity and difficulty of that puzzle. And sheer awesomeness too. It was a fabulous puzzle(/ARG).
(edit: who’s to say Valve hasn’t been trying to hire him for awhile?)
July 17th, 2008 at 3:21 am
SenseiJinx says:
That’s really awesome. Best of luck to him! *goes to try out Minerva*
July 17th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Y3k-Bug says:
I’m so glad Adam got this gig. Such amazing talent is present in Metastasis. And this includes the pacing and atmosphere; the fantastic level design goes without saying.
Incredibly happy for him.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Brokenbroll says:
Great news for Adam, Valve, and the fans. I felt that the best of Minerva was easily up there with Valve’s top work in Half Life, and for me personally Minerva is a stronger piece of game design than Valve’s own work, excepting Episode 3.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:04 am
mister slim says:
Congratulations, Cargo. I look forward to Minerva’s guest appearance in Portal 2.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:08 am
malkav11 says:
Frankly, although I wasn’t really expecting it, per se, this doesn’t come as much surprise, either. Valve’s propensity for snagging talented modders is no secret, and Foster’s definitely such a guy.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Shawn says:
what a wetdream
congrats Adam, talk about living a dream….
July 17th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Erlam says:
It’s about fucking time! Congratulations man! I absolutely loved Minerva. In fact, much more than either half-life. The level design was fantastic. One of the most enjoyable shooter experiences I’ve had, in fact.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Novack says:
@Alec, Good to read some kind comments from at least one of you!
Really awesome, no acid words, no sarcasm, nor twisted word games…
Uff, its relaxing, you have to admit it…
July 17th, 2008 at 4:39 am
wyrmsine says:
Good show, Cargo. Both the job and Minerva, I mean.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Tom says:
Rock ‘n roll.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Chaos Theory says:
Woh, woh, woh, slow down there a second. What’s this about multiple episodes of Minerva?
I really liked what I played, but I have no idea what part of the series it was, and would very much like it if there was more I haven’t played. I installed it from the website, the ‘patched’ exe, and had the chapters (mild spoilers ahead) “Carcinogensis, Downhill Struggle, Depth Charge, and Pegasus”.
Was that the whole game, and I’m just late to the party with each chapter was released sequentially? Or am I really missing 2/3, or 3/4 of the whole thing?
July 17th, 2008 at 5:07 am
sigma83 says:
Speech! Speech! Speech!
July 17th, 2008 at 5:09 am
sigma83 says:
Chaos Theory: You’re done. The ‘3rd chapter’ was Depth Charge and Pegasus released simultaneously.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Noc says:
Woo! There are no losers in this deal.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am
James T says:
Congrats, Adam! Access to playtesters should give your maps that extra bit of awesome ;p
July 17th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Mr. President says:
While Metastasis failed to blow my mind (all this hype led me to believe there would be some cool writing involved, not just well-designed half-life2 maps), this is a heartwarming success story, I like it when such things happen. Congrats! I’m still waiting for “Out of Time”, it’s going to be finished, right?
July 17th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Scandalon says:
I know CargoCult reads (and semi-frequently posts) on RPS, I trust he’ll see this.
Partly in response to Angeldust:
Though I think the heaps of praise that was, er, heaped on Minerva was a tad overblown (it wasn’t perfect, there were a few spots where I got stuck - in the “where do I go now?” vein), I must admit it’s also the only 3rd-party map(s) I’ve played to completion for HL2, wich says a lot - I’m cynical and hard to please, and I don’t really like how HL2’s combat feels. (I played 2 minutes or so of another one that starts you on a boat, have yet to try Mistake of Pythagorous…Heck, I still haven’t finished HL1!)
Interesting he mentioned Halo, as the whole thing felt like a Bungie love letter…the island, the mysterious, small-g godlike persona AI… Yes, it was “more of the same”, but it was good more of the same, but with a slightly different flavor. Even though Iknew what the level was doing to me, I’d still get caught up in it and a few minutes later fall for another map-trick and be lured into some situation, spring the trap and after it was all over (including the shouting), somehow having just barely enough health and ammo to survive, go “dagnabit, I should have seen that coming” and then go off and do it again.
In fact, I’d be willing to bet that his story telling and atmosphere building ability are a large part of what got him the offer, not just the technical map-making abilities.
I’m intruiged to see what his contributions to Ep3 are, and what Valves influence may have on further Minerva adventures, and further out, what we’ll see out of this that might be non-halflife universe…
The fact that a large portion of Minerva was made on a Mac just makes it that much more sweeter.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Jeremy says:
Metastasis was a good map, with an entertaining plot, even though it suffered from some limitations (what one-man production hasn’t in some way). I can’t wait to see what he produces next. And I think a redesign of his mod, with more added on, could be a real cool extension of the Half-life universe. I’d shell out for it.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Subjective Effect says:
Good news for all. Well done.
I must say that this headhunting based on modding skills is very nice. It’s a natural way to spot talent and it’s happened so often over the years it’s inspiration for modders everywhere.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Naurgul says:
Congratulations Mr. Forster! I always thought this would happen, eventually.
*regrets not trying to solve the puzzle*
July 17th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Nny says:
Good for him, congratulations!
July 17th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Nick Halme says:
Never played the mod, but it looked great — it even had an intriguing story.
Grats to him, it’s always great to see hires from the mod community 
July 17th, 2008 at 8:59 am
espy says:
Congratulations, Cargo! Well done, and good descision on Valve’s part Good luck with everything!
July 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Skalpadda says:
Hihi, I remember commenting here on RPS that the Borealis would be a great place to set Minerva-like maps; now it looks like we’ll be getting something like that. Awesome and well deserved indeed Adam!
July 17th, 2008 at 9:40 am
skillian says:
Nice one CargoCult, I’m a big fan. Hope it works out well for you 
July 17th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Terr says:
Good for you, Valve. I was wondering when you would get to it. MINERVA was a piece of, I’d dare to say, art.
The level design easily rivaled that of Valve and the narrative was excellent. And that all done by a single person.
Congratulations, CargoCult. I can’t wait to see what you’ll bring us in episode 3 and beyond.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:51 am
MisterBritish says:
Yoohoo! Cult! Stop lurking and give us a speech 
July 17th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Crispy says:
Less a case of snagging a job at Valve and more a case of caving in under repeated demand, methinks.
Well deserved (on both Valve’s and Foster’s part), if a bit contrary to CargoCult’s hitherto stance on the matter of putting his indubitable talent to work in the industry. Like I hinted above, I wonder: “What made him crack in the end?”
July 17th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Man Raised By Puffins says:
Congratulations, that man!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:26 am
AciD says:
That’s a good news for start of a day. Good luck in your new job!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:35 am
CrashT says:
See for some reason I thought he already worked at Valve…
Congratulations, very well deserved.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Kast says:
Woo! And may I had a big ‘Hoo’ into the bargin?
Very glad RPS is making the big deal out of this that is requires. You might call this another landmark hiring. Valve does itself a heap of good by hiring Adam Foster and only good can come of this.
Fingers crossed this doesn’t cause too much trouble with the continuing MINERVA story. Bring on Out of Time!
July 17th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Meat Circus says:
Official Valve-shaped Steam release of Minerva incoming? With Ellen McLane on voices?
Oh, do lets!
July 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am
gulag says:
Now they just need to grab the ‘Mistake of Pythagoras’ guy to make a bonkers Zen level to finish Ep 3. That mod had a seriously spooky feel.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
wcaypahwat says:
Congratulations, Mr. Cult.
That is all I have to say.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
RedFoxBot says:
Congrats CargoCult! I must admit the idea of adding your own flavor to Episode 3’s mix is incredibly exciting!
I wonder if you’ll be working on the new portal game as well? The combination of portals puzzles and your level design would be fascinating.
And like others have said, if Minerva happens to get buffed by valve and appear on steam for a small fee I’d happily pay for it.
@gulag totally agree, they should hire him aswell
July 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Bozzley says:
Congrats!
Erm, stupid question time - I tried the first episode and gave up. If I start again from the third one, am I missing much in the way of story?
July 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
phuzz says:
Nice one Adam!
and it’s nice to see how excited everyone is that the CargoCult will be working on Ep3, almost as if Valve couldn’t manage it by themselves.
Also:
Speech!
(@Bozzley - if you download the latest version you can choose to start at the begining of any of the three chapters, they’re all included. And yes, there is some plot in the 2nd one…)
July 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Pavel says:
So I reinstalled HL2 for the sole purpose of trying MINERVA, and because somehow it did not work, I noticed that episode 1 is required.Damn!
July 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Rook says:
Congrats and good news all around.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Alex says:
Congratulations. It’s a great mod and it’s nice to see the universe working logically for short bursts at a time.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
caramelcarrot says:
Well done. I wonder how many modders in total is it that valve’s employed? I certainly know Adrian Finol was the lead on Frontline Force.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Deuteronomy says:
Congrats. Though I never really liked Minerva.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
sigma83 says:
Robin Walker was a modder too, he made the original Team Fortress for Quake
July 17th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Bobsy says:
Notably, the Counterstrike people. And yeah, Frontline Force. And Portal, natch. In fact, I’m sure more than half of Valve’s current workforce was plucked from Modland. And why not? You’re getting good talent and high motivation with a low chance of refusal.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Bobsy says:
Incidentally, I played about 20 minutes of Minerva, and am now unable to continue due to Steam being all grumpy about me playing anything HL2-related offline. BAH.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Eschatos says:
Downloading MINERVA right now.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Birdoman says:
Excellent news, and looks like the acolytes’ “paranoid and obscure conspiracy theories” have finally come true…
July 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
KindredPhantom says:
Congratulation to Adam i look forward to dieing and swearing whilst playing your levels in Episode 3.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Mman says:
How coincidental, considering Adam’s style of level design sounded like it would fit the apparent nature of Episode 3 perfectly. I just hope this won’t lead to Minerva being cancelled or something.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Geoff says:
My only complaint on Minerva would be that I got stuck once or twice, unsure where to go or what to do next. But:
1. This is a minor gripe in the midst of a wonderful bit of game.
2. Maybe I’m just dumb?
3. In a non-trivial level design, this seems like a common problem that is probably solved most of the time by many rounds of play-testers, rather than by the level designer just being a genius. So for someone working independently to have this small problem seems neither unlikely nor cause for much concern. If anything, it’s reassuring that now we’ll have “Cargo’s work” + “play-testers” == “teh awesome”
A hearty congrats Adam, I enjoyed your work and am happy to see this happen.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Vash Aurion says:
This is some good news. I remembering playing the MINERVA games as they came out on my old AGP rig. MINERVA was the strongest additional content for HL2, though I was always a little vexed that it didn’t bring anything new to the table. Then again, it was absolutely amazing for just one guy, and I was checking for new releases pretty regularly.
The only part of this news that I don’t like is that he doesn’t start work on Episode 3 until October, meaning we probably won’t get to play it until late 2009 at the earliest.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Pavel says:
I am playing Minerva right now (had to buy episode one because of it) and liking it, but I have a question - who is the player character? is it Gordon, or some renegade combine soldier, or someone else entirely? Answer only if its not a spoiler, thank you : )
July 17th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Pavel says:
This answer didnt exactly satisfy me, but okay.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Kast says:
Pavel: The common theory is a combine solider/metro cop, judging from some things Minerva says. For the sake of simplicity, the acolytes call him ‘Perseus’.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Pavel says:
Okay, thank you.Now I can play with my mind at ease without constant wondering wheter I play Gordon or not.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
generalvivi says:
About time man! Congrats to you! You have inspired me in my personal sp mapping for a long time now ….. so….. THANKS!
July 17th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Congratulations Man says:
congratulations, well deserved. Make sure episode three is going to kick asses
July 17th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
kadayi says:
Congrats dude. No surprise really given your work. 
July 17th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Theory says:
The player character is just some guy, you know?
Don’t be so sure.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Pace says:
Have some inside information Theory?
July 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Science Vessel says:
Minerva is ace. Nice one.
*** END MESSAGE ***
July 17th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Cargo Cult says:
Sodding heck - you are all talking about me, right?
…
As ever, huge thanks for all the support - it’s cheered me up while I wrestle with documents and travel arrangements for a trip off to some particular north-western state in the USA. Yep, I’m trans-Atlantic apartment-hunting, and as ever it’s some overly complicated route to get there.
I think I arrive in Seattle some time on Tuesday - and if my body-clock is up to it, I’ll go and bother the people at Valve the following morning!
Also, if anyone is wondering - this wasn’t an intended result of MINERVA. At no point was it a portfolio piece - it was something I built, for fun, because I wanted to. Anything and everything from then on was an unintended, but highly welcome, side-effect…
July 17th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Pavel says:
Hey, Cargo Cult, I just now finished MINERVA for the first time (literally, 5 minutes ago, because of all the enthusiasm here) and I am thrilled.It was a blast, I can’t believe that you made it almost all by yourself…the gameplay and design was better than HL2 itself.So, congrats and make Episode 3 a design heaven : ).
July 17th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Toby says:
Very well deserved, the level design in some of the later levels of metastasis were arguably better than valves in HL2. A great mod. I am very excited at the thought of Adam working on Epi 3, im sure it’ll be all the better for it.
As a side note I really loved the music that was used in the first epi.. really changed the feel of that section.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Science Vessel says:
Hey CargoCult - Thanks for the game!
Please tell me Valve hired you as “Executive in Charge Of Getting Episode 3 Out In A Reasonable Time.”
Also, does this mean Minerva is going in Orange Box 2? It is good enough to.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Ojive says:
Awesome! He certainly deserves it.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am
weirwood says:
Congrats Adam! Or should I say congrats, Valve?
Hope the transition from solitary tinkering to working in a team with the best people in the industry goes smoothly for you. I look forward to scourging Ep 3 for Minerva references.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Javier Candeira says:
Heaps of congrats, CargoCult! If you could ship Minerva single-handedly, it’s no surprise Valve want to put you in a room with other people!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Fazer says:
It has been confirmed - Valve is going to put Cargo Cult in charge of making Episode 3 all by himself.
Anyway, congratulations! I played with him once in Team Fortress 2 on Goldrush, so now I can say I was with a Valve employee in one team
July 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am
np says:
Gratz Mr. Foster, a much deserved appointment after a great mod.
What the people who didn’t “like” the mod must at least try to understand that this was made by a single person (with some advice and help from VALVe along the way), and compared to other mods who have had entire teams of people behind them and failed. From that perspective, for how well and fun it was to play with a coherent if slightly cryptic story line while knowing how hard and time consuming it is to design and produce a mod, the work is outstanding.
You can really see that HL2 mod scene is working VALVe’s favour as they pick the best and the brightest from the community to join their ranks, now if they would only hire the entire Dystopia / Neotokyo teams *hint* *hint*.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
KingMob says:
Congrats, Cargo Cult.
Let’s see a revised Minerva enter into HL canon as the “Blue Shift” of HL 2 and 3, please. That would be pretty neat, as I’d like to know more about Minerva herself.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
chipp says:
Congrats! *clap clap clap*
MINERVA: Metastasis was quite good. I liked a lot the idea that there was an external kind-of-powerful entity that is not friendly with the Combine and uknown to the humans. Very intriguing.
I remember the moment when you wake up after booming everything up with only 15 HP or something and then you have to run away before Minerva destroys everything while she talks to you about some stuff. That was epic!
But maybe I just got everything wrong and that was not what happened.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Pus Filled Sac says:
It’s good to see the singleplayer modder getting some recognition for a change.
See to it that Episode 3’s difficulty on Hard is similar to Minerva’s. It was the first time I’ve been challenged by single player FPS for years. Not because I’m a master player but simply due to a lot of experience.
I thought the character was a Combine soldier disconnected during “reprogramming”.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
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Being the cold bastard I am this does not make me rejoice.
It makes me so very, very jealous
July 17th, 2008 at 1:43 am