Mod News: V2.1
It’s been a particularly updatey week in mods over the last seven days. There’s a grand and spectacular total of four great mods pushed forwards into new versions, as well as splendid news from around the scene, all waiting below the jump.
NEWS
Doom 3 mod Arx: The End of Sun - based on early-2000s quite-good RPG Arx Fatalis - has always been an ambitious little project. Which is presumably why its two-man team is looking to expand. Do you fancy working with a bit of id Tech to pull their ideas together? Details are beyond that link.
There’s some latest info on Open Outcast, the supermegaambitious Crysis Wars mod now based on Appeal’s classic Outcast [This has been in the works in different formats for almost a decade - Jim]. Here the developers talk about implementing the camera and quest system. I notice just now that Open Outcast works with the trial version of Crysis Wars, which is interesting, as it means no one needs to have paid a penny to play the thing.
And finally, here’s some good news for anyone who enjoyed Fairy Tale for Civilization IV. There’s been a Fairy Tale 2 announced for Civ V. Details are sketchy, but “The point will not be to change the entire gameplay of the Civilization game, but rather, supply the player with an alternate gaming world and setting,” says the developer. And it won’t be the end of Fairy Tale 1 support, which is always nice to hear.
RELEASES
Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge is probably the big one this week. It’s been out for German-speakers for some time, but the English release finally landed a few days ago. This is a huge and extraordinary looking Oblivion mod featuring an entirely new universe and story. I haven’t had the chance to play this yet, but I’m eager to do so, as word on the street is that it’s fantastic.
Also, where did this come from? It’s a single-player Half-Life 2 mod called Tactical Espionage Action - which, as the name might suggest, borrows heavily from Metal Gear Solid. Kieron’s sure to love it, then. It’s apparently pretty darn bug-ridden at this stage, but other than that appears neat. I’m downloading it now, having only just spotted its existence.
UPDATES
Popular Half-Life 2 multiplayer mod Dystopia has reached version 1.30. The update brings Dystopia to a newer version of the engine, which has allowed the team to not only fix a whole bucketful of bugs, but also add shiny new effects and the like. There’s even a whole new map. You can grab the latest version of Dystopia on Steam.
Still with Half-Life 2, there’s a new version of Fistful of Frags out. Beta 3.1 of this Wild West multiplayer mod proudly boasts the addition of free-aim revolvers and snakes, among other things. Head here for the release notes, and over to the website to grab the download.
There’s also an update to the Fallout 3 Reborn realism mod for Fallout 3. Version 8.1 [http://www.moddb.com/mods/fallout-3-reborn-a-realism-mod/news/fallout-3-reborn-v81-patch-uploaded] mainly appears to be a simple bug-fix update for Reborn, which makes weapons more powerful and characters less strong, among other things. There’s also a couple of new bits and bats added to set the mod up for Operation Anchorage.
And finally Faction Fronts, for Clear Sky, has been updated. More minor tweaks abound in this mod, of which “the primary goal [...] is to make Clear Sky a more entertaining and less tedious game,” which is something I can certainly get behind.
AND THE REST
Remember a while ago Radiator-dude Robert Yang had written about Brendan Chung? He’s lobbed up a part two. Chung is the guy behind Gravity Bone and Flotilla, and who started in game design by modding Half-Life 1. Robert’s writing smartly about design at the moment - I know I keep linking to his blog here, but it’s mainly because I can’t stop reading the bloody thing.