Sorry, it a bit overdue, but we've got another stable release of Extermainatus for all you 40k fans. This version features an announcer system with custom events for each of the three teams, updated voice lines and maps.
It's starting to look very much like this might also be the last version of Exterminatus. Please keep EX on your RSS feed / mod watch though, just in case. Read the Developer News section below to find out why.
Installer Download
7zip archive Download
Install the Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer
- Navigate to the "Tools" section on your Steam games "Library"
- Install the "Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer"
- Run the Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer at least once.
- You can exit once the menu has finished loading.
Install the latest Exterminatus
- If you already have EX, delete it.
- Run the alpha installer and follow it's instructions.
- Restart Steam. You should now see Exterminatus listed in your library.
The option to create Desktop shortcut has been added to the installer, this will launch the EX with Steam Overlay support (which does not work if you start a mod from the Steam library). This shortcut depends on the Source Multiplayer SDK being installed in the default Steam Library location, so may not work on all systems.
Developer News
Mod leader ChromeAngel has decided, after twelve years of continual development, not to do any new development on EX. As the only coder, animator, news writer, release manager he's decided to limit himself to just what needs to be done to implement others work to EX (which has all but stopped since July 2018). This release represents ChromeAngel's efforts to make good on that goal and integrate as many of the backlog of contributions into the mod as possible.
A detailed change log of all the new features, tweaks, bug fixes and balance changes since the last major release can be found on the Moddb article What's new in 9.22
The EX contributors were disappointed to learn that Kharos found the workload of creating new animations for the new space marine models (announced with the last major release) was too much for him. Shortly after Joazzz revealed that he'd also changed his mind about contributing those same space marine models to EX, further crushing the community spirit. Sadly it looks like we won't be seeing those hot new models in EX after all.
Future Plans
Without new contributions of content, this could well be the last release of Exterminatus. Games will continue to be scheduled and organised through the EX Steam Community Group for anyone that wants to play. Twelve years is a good run for a mod, we've learnt a lot, played thousands of rounds and purged tens of thousands of xenos and heretics.
MAY THE EMPERORER'S LIGHT SHINE ON YOU ALL
I don't recall revealing that I had changed my mind or anything like that - certainly I don't remember hearing anything about crushing the community spirit with the infinite wickedness of my loathsome being. Perhaps I SHOULD have said something instead of just silently fading away when my time was being increasingly consumed by a bazillion other projects.
Exterminatus is still great in how unique it is as a Warhammer game experience. But it also needs deeper adjustments than just a model overhaul, and I felt increasing disquiet from people who'd been longer involved in the mod community telling me that necessary changes to the gameplay balance were not being made or even considered. Who knows if these were just rumors spread for sowing discord in the team's workings or not. I myself remember bringing up a few issues regarding the weapon balance and especially particle effects, and no sign was given that these were even addressed. The gameplay should always be fine-tuned before any visual refinements, but what do I know, right? I'm just some model maker after all.
Additionally there was a clear disconnect between me and the animators, and the top brass of the development, with few words being exchanged between the two parties, and the lack of involvement from the top gave us the impression that the leadership simply didn't care what we were doing, eating at our motivation to contribute. At the same time I was still caught up in my own art stuff as well as growing involvement in another larger Warhammer mod for a different game, alongside real-life issues. EX was not the only thing I had to stop working on when I reconsidered my priorities.
Warekit and Kharos have had to move on to other things and I was recently presented with an offer I couldn't refuse, so there's little chance that I'd be able to actively re-involve myself in the development of EX even if such a thing was desired. But the models still exist in the form they were showcased, and I hate to see work go to waste, so even without the new animations they could be still fitted onto the current EX models for a bit of a visual upgrade and a last hurrah from my end. I refuse to let my legacy to EX be a complete and total blazing trainwreck, if at all possible.
I apologize for the communications breakdown regarding my departure from the mod's development, but I refuse to shoulder the burden for "crushing the community spirit". I do modding in my free time, time that sometimes runs out, and when an artist gets a better deal he'd be stupid not to take it even if it means dropping something else on the side.
Thanks for that extensive response Joazzz. I didn't intend to make you out as being mean and deliberately crushing our hopes. I did have to address the lack of awesome new marines in this release, after having presented your renders in the previous news article.
At this point in the mods life, it seems that all of us creators have other things we would rather be doing with out free time than working on EX (including myself).
Before you showed up at the EX Discord, progress had been pretty slow and morale ebbing. I was already looking for a way to tie it up in a neat knot and call EX done.
A lot of folks got very excited by your promise to make us new marine models. I admit to thinking "oh no.. more work for me", but I didn;t want to discourage you either. You seemed to know what you were doing and were making good progress without needing any art direction from me. Maybe I should have been more sceptical and not posted about the promised models until they were in my hands, but I did, because I believed you could deliver.
Kharos was less well known, but introduced to me as part of your posse and with a portfolio of videos, I had no reason to doubt he'd be able to deliver too. Turns out Kharos didn't really know how much work was involved. I did know, having done all that work myself over the preceeding dozen years, but he seemed confident, so I have Kharos the benefit of the doubt.
Bouyed up by the promise of new models and new animations (made by an actual art specialists, not a jack of all trades like myself), the community was waiting with excitement for them to be delivered. Then bit by bit the rug got pulled, which really crushed the spirits.
It feels like we've got things we can be doing with our hobby that are more productive than wasting more time on this old an knackered Source mod.
Was that your marines I saw in the Arma 40k? The marine helmets an shoulder pads looked kinda familiar... If you want to give them a shout out here, please do, i'm sure anyone reading this far would also be interested in that project.
i will miss this mod