Mod News: The First Mod News
RPS says: Ugh, Moddb is down at the minute, so some of these links are dead.
RPS needs more mod coverage, you say? Who they gonna call? Me, Lewis Denby, apparently. So here's a digest of the more interesting happenings on the modding scene from the last week-and-a-bit.
- For some reason, I've not been able to get people as excited about this as I am. So let's try again: here's an upcoming HL2 mod called Dual Reality. It's a puzzle game in which you can split the world into two different versions of itself in order to destroy Antlions and Combine soliders and stuff. Explaining it in words is tricky, so have a look at the latest trailer. As a game mechanic, that's exciting, right?
- I've been playing around with a beta version of Desura, the new digital distribution service with a focus on mods and indie games. I'm writing a feature on it elsewhere, so can't say too much, but some very brief impressions are here.
- Hey, remember Dear Esther? Remember how much I like it? Remember it's being remade by Mirror's Edge level designer Robert Briscoe? He's released a new batch of screenshots. The Source Engine is an incredibly flexible beast, but that someone can make it look quite so good, five years after its launch, is just spectacular.
- Kieron picked up on this already, but it's so tremendously awesome that it's worth repeating a thousand times: System Shock with mouselook! I played through System Shock again last year, and the only barrier to my enjoyment was that silly viewpoint-slider thing. It remains an absolutely exceptional game some 16 years on. This mod allegedly works with System Shock Portable, too, making an absolute classic of PC gaming basically playable for everyone today.
- Warhammer-based HL2 multiplayer mod Exterminatus has gone public-beta. I had a quick bash around in this. First impressions: the servers are very quiet, and it's very much rough around the edges, but could prove interesting as it develops. Grab it at ModDB.
- Really don't know what to make of this one. Arcadia - Rise and Fall is a "utopian point-and-click adventure" mod for Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, which is conceptually based on the Hermetic Principles of... something or other. Philosophy mods ahoy! It took me a while to realise the images on its ModDB page are actually remarkably colourful in-game screenshots. I have no idea what a utopian point-and-click adventure /is/, but I'm keeping my eye on this one. It's set for a late-February release.
- Company of Heroes mod Eastern Front released a bit ago. I've not tried it, but I hear it's exceptional. Review here.
- A very small sneak-peek at the new Radiator, in the form of an aerial view of one of the environments and a load of AI-related lines. Obviously Robert Yang is completely wrong about everything, so this will undoubtedly turn out to be rubbish, even though the first two instalments were outstanding. Fnar!
- Shameless self promotion! How I made HL2 mod Nestlings in three days.
More? You want more? Go on, then: head on over to UserCreated for daily news and general mod-related ponderings.