Mod News: Rebuilt
Exciting times are upon us this week. Below, there's an absolutely stunning interpretation of the STALKER universe, as built in the Crysis engine. This should happen more often. There's also some news about a certain mod that rebuilds a certain famous research facility in New Mexico. Whatever could I be talking about? Read on to find out...
NEWS
The prologue of Half-Life 2 mod Underhell was released last month, and now its devs are gearing up for the launch of Chapter One proper. While I've not played any of this yet, its story of a weapons operative distraught after the death of his family reminds me a little of Max Payne. Anyway, there's some brand new info about the game beyond this link, and some screenshots that came out a while back but which I forgot to show you all.
Staying in the realms of Half-Life 2 mod news, here's a ModDB post I like. The dev of Rats 1985 can't quite get a particular bedroom looking right, so he's asking the community for pointers. This is both a nice example of how delightfully community-centric modding can be, and a bit of an insight into the dev process. Take a look here.
CryZone: Sector 23 is a Crysis mod that released some new screenshots this week. Rather gorgeous ones, too. Sector 23 is, essentially, STALKER in the Crysis engine. And that is, apparently, quite a staggeringly, hauntingly beautiful thing. A representative screenshot is below, but do click through to see the whole lot, because wow.
What else? Well, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts mod 1949 has received an update, introducing the Othseer. This mod's been shaping up quite nicely, but the dev here also reveals there won't be another update for a while, as real life has taken over a little bit. A shame, but I'll keep my eye on this one.
There's even more, delightfully. Crash Bandicoot Return is a Crysis mod that rekindles Naughty Dog's old IP. This week, the developers released a video which takes me right back there. I loved Crash, and this looks like a really nice take on it:
Amnesia mod White Night wound people up a little bit recently when the developer announced there would be a flashlight mechanic introduced. People weren't keen on that, it seemed. This week, the developer has been clarifying how this will work, and why he's made this decision. It's worth a read, mainly because the mod looks intriguing.
And finally there's a new media release for Black Mesa! It's-- oh, wait, no, sorry. This is Operation Black Mesa, the remake of Opposing Force, rather than the one we all gently tease in the comments thread every week. Still, it's looking good. There are a couple of screenshots showing a new work-in-progress HUD beyond this link, but it's some lovely concept art that impressed me the most, so that gets pride of place below.
RELEASES
I'm not sure when this actually came out, as it's a mod that was originally lobbed on the Mirror's Edge forums but has now been put on ModDB by someone who liked it. But anyway: a rare Mirror's Edge mod, and one that looks good, Overtime has shown up this week. This is a short prequel to Mirror's Edge, telling the story of the fall that took Faith out of action for some time before the events of the main game. It's a nice idea, and the game world retains all the stark brilliance that made the full game so captivating.
UPDATES
Oblivion mod Dibella's Watch has reached Beta 07, which introduces an in-game map designed to make exploration easier and more rewarding. There's also new detail added to the world, as well as some minor changes. The in-game map, so says the dev, was a result of people suggesting it might be a good idea - and how he's inviting people to submit more ideas for the mod, which you can do over at ModDB.
'Til next week, y'all.