What is this mod?
H.E.V. Mark VI is a mod of HL2 using the Source Engine 2013 code base that seeks to add new gameplay elements and tweaks to Half-Life rather than simply provide some new levels in the Half-Life universe. I have already implemented changes just about anywhere you can imagine, from enemy ai to gun feel, even to the HEV suit itself. This is a mod centered around moving a lot and shooting a lot, in some ways closer to the original Half-Life than HL2.
The mod will feature brand new music done from my great friend Teran. You can check his work out here: Soundcloud.com
Full disclosure before I get into the details of this project, the content you see here is all a work in progress and subject to change. I am also using various free to use models and sounds whose creators have made them open for mod use. I'll put up a full list of all the exact things I'm using in the near future but for now I will link to the major source of almost all of these changes, which would be work from 586 Studios and DP Films: Gamebanana.com
New weapon recoil/features
To put a bigger emphasis on moving constantly, I have removed limitations on sprinting and made the base default movespeed a good amount faster than the default walk but not quite as quick as HL2's sprint. On top of this the new suit in my mod is capable of carrying medkits which the player can use with a button press, and has regenerating armor which protects the player completely from bullet damage. I made these specific changes because I felt that hitscan damage is inherently just a bit "unfair" in the sense that if the player became too hurt with no medkits around they really did not stand a good chance at surviving in a lot of situations. You really can't dodge bullets, especially if your enemies are at the end of a hall with no side entrances, so you'd basically be doomed. Now the player has a small buffer and the chance to heal himself if he's managed to hold on to his health kits, giving them at least a small chance to make a comeback in a bad situation.
However, the shield will not enable you to camp all day whenever you're hurt. Non hitscan damage will still damage you permanently and I have made many tweaks to enemy ai to make them more aggressive and given them brand new tools to force you to keep moving.
Manhack Grenades!
On top of this I am interested in adding my own enemies to join the fray, one of which is already close to being finished:
Vortigaunt Slave Enemy
The Vortigaunt Slave is a new enemy based partially on code from the original vortigaunt, but with brand new schedules and an entirely different attack. I always felt like Vortigaunts made for a cool enemy idea and I thought it would be interesting to see the slave concept used in conjunction with the Combine, however I figured if the soldiers use hitscan weapons their Vort companions should have something the player can dodge. I'm very happy with where they are at this point and they're pretty much close to being totally finished barring any bugs I may run into.
Help needed!
Before I get into details on what kind of help I'm looking for in this project, I'll say a bit about myself so you know I'm not just an "idea guy." I am not a totally inexperienced dev, with about 2-3 years of experience teaching myself how to map and program for the source engine. I do not consider myself extremely skilled but I certainly know how to work with the engine and I've already made a number of changes to the code I am very happy with. I am extremely committed to seeing my own game ideas come to life in this project and I firmly believe they are not too ambitious. I am looking to enter into full time indie game development one day and I'd like to use this project as a chance to get good experience with working on a game with a team,.
I have a previous mod release which I am building off of here. It's a bit on the janky side and I've spent the majority of my time recently working on improving my ability to code, ie removing that jank, but if you'd like to give it a look feel free: Moddb.com
That all being said I cannot do this whole thing alone, which is where you can come in. Anyone interested in helping can contact me here directly or email me at darbtoliver@gmail.com. Multiple examples of high quality work is the best way to get yourself signed on!
In order to add a new enemy, I need a skilled character animator
The enemy I'm specifically needing help with is the cremator, using a redone model from Deviant Pictures Films.
In the past I have tried rigging the model up myself with its old animations, which worked to an extent, but it had clipping issues with its legs and just looked janky to me. So now I'm looking for someone who can do a much better job than I ever could and do some custom animation work as well. This is the one big thing I really cannot do by myself so I am willing to pay commission (my budget right now is around 300-400 dollars) for help if that's the motivation you need. However I will need to see a portfolio of your work to know you're up to the task if money is put on the table.
The model in question can be found here: Facepunch.com
I could use help programming
I have been teaching myself to program for a while now, mostly just through modding the game, and I've gotten to a point where I've been able to do the grand majority of changes I wanted to make. I'm even confident enough to be able to do my own ai work for the most part, however there are some bits I don't totally understand, stuff that seems simple but just seems to elude me like changing how the Hunter's charge attack works. If you're a good programmer and interested in helping, contact me and I'll give you a list of various odd issues I've had.
My levels could use improvement
I've been working with hammer for a couple years now, enough to where I feel fairly comfortable working with it and I can generally get a look out of an area that I want. That being said I am definitely not exceptionally skilled at it yet and I'd love to get some help with my levels, mostly visual although I am open to hearing criticisms of the level design itself from anyone working on the level. I will need to see examples of your work if I'm going to take you on due to the fact that I am looking for mappers that are a good deal more experienced than me.
Other small bits that could help
As I go through making all these changes to the game, small visual additions are going to be needed. I can mess around with particle effects if I must but I would greatly appreciate help from someone more skilled with that system. I don't exactly have a giant list of specifics at the moment but there most certainly will be as I make progress. On top of this I'd like some some improvements to ui to reflect the changes I've made, like some kind of Halo like bar to reflect the armor's status, and a better crosshair as well. I'm also always open to anyone who wants to submit new props that would match HL2's style.
Final Words
Now after reading all of that you can see that I have a decent level of ambition for this project. I'm not aiming for anything crazy like a dramatic 6 hour long story with lots of voice acting, but this is definitely a project that has eaten up a lot of my time. Up til now I've been able to work on it basically like a full time job, but soon I will have to at the least start working part time to pay bills. I am strongly considering starting a patreon campaign after I have a good deal of content to show off in a big reveal, but before I do that I'd like to hear what anyone following this thinks of that, good or bad. Ideas for backer rewards, what to not do, etc. Any feedback on that idea is useful!
Thanks a lot to anyone who actually bothered to read any of this, I hope my passion for what I'm doing has come through here. No matter what I am dedicated to producing something of significant quality out of this and I look forward to giving you guys a real solid look at the game in the future.
Indeed I do, sadly the only couple times I've ever actually partook in any modding team, each have failed due to instability and lack of project lead.
I shall hint towards previous work in said email.
Alright, looking forward to it.
Will there be any New Weapons?
Like ones that were Cut from HL2?
Most likely not since I'm for the most part happy with Half-life 2's default amount of guns and I would need a new model, effects, etc. I'd also need the gun to have a good reason to exist gameplay wise. I view the main trio of guns to be the smg/shotgun/ar2 with stuff like the pistol being kind of a back up for weaker enemies and the .357/Crossbow/RPG are power weapons that all fit in their own niche. I'm not interested in adding anything that's going to have overlap with other guns like an AK-47 for instance.
Well that sucks, I really disliked Half-Life 2's Arsenal, it was so Boring and Generic Compared to Half-Life 1's Arsenal.
Will you at least bring back some Enemies that were in Half-Life 1 or Cut from Half-Life 2 like the Houndeye and Bullsquid?
Well I have plans on bringing back the Cremator, the bullsquid I'm kinda on the fence on because the Antlion Worker kinda replaces its utility in some ways.
The Antlion Workers only Appear in Episode 2 in a Few Chapters.
It probably wouldn't Hurt to throw in a few Bullsquids, they would fit in some Chapters such as the Canals and Coastline.
Ah well see I'm doing my own custom campaign here not a revision of existing Half life 2 levels.
I wish you much luck with finding all those team members that you need for your mod. Because as you know is HL2 quit old now and most modders have moved on to newer games, engines or even there own indie game. And those that are left are most of the time working hard on there own project to get it released before they move on to newer games and engines. That is at least my personal experience and what i see around me the last few years. Seems this is the main reason for great mods to die these days, simply because it is impossible to get a good skilled team together for Hl2 modding.
Still, i whish you well and will be tracking!
Leon
This looks great. I'm sort of tired of just playing different maps.
There's so many bad ones, and of the few good ones, most of them are unoptimised.
I'd much rather just play the original levels in a new way.
And yes, I also found combat sort of weak in Half-Life 2.
Most games have some kind of “hook” when it comes to combat.
Half-Life 2 *did* have the gravity-gun, granted, but really nothing else.
No slow-mo mechanic, no time bending, no particularly interesting weapons, or rather, weapons that could really be used in an interesting way.
Just shoot. And honestly, they weren't that satisfying.
I honestly thought the pistol was useless after an hour, the magnum had so few bullets and your targeting was jerked away with every little hit so it was useless under fire, the submachine gun was useless past very close range, the pulse rifle was decent but its alt fire was hard to use more effectively than its regular fire, the shotgun was good with a double blast but capacity was too low then, crossbow was powerful but not satisfying to use on account of being ruthlessly practical and nothing more, the grenades were too slow to explode and too hard to time when used with the gravity gun, the rocket launcher had to be saved for ships, the gravity gun was unwieldy in tight spots, and almost useless in open areas.
Combat was punctuated by having to get more ammo because the capacities were on the small side if only one or two weapons were useful for that given situation.
Your flashlight uses the same power source as your sprint, even though you're going to want to use both almost all the time, you can't.
There wasn't enough suit batteries to go around considering how fast they are used up.
If someone could resolve these issues I'd love to get back into the game again.
Yeah for sure I agree with a lot of that. Well I can say in my mod the flashlight uses no power at all and the SMG is pretty accurate. I'm basically retooling the ar2 to be a bit more of a "heavy" gun, getting inaccurate quickly but doing a lot more damage. One of the big goals of the mod is that the shooting really feels proper.
tbh, i always found the pistol to be rather useful, same with the 357, just use them like snipers, the pistol will down most combine with 4-6 headshot, with the exception of shotgunners and elites, so sit back a bit, and use the suit zoom to plink away with headshots, the 357 will oneshot any combine except for the elite's with a single headshot, making it an exceptional sniper, if limited on ammo, (i fix that with sk_max_357 24, lol)
Will you fix the current mod before making a new one? I saw you posted some improvements to the regen HP system etc. Been waiting for an update since then.
I'm definitely strongly considering it. Thing is I'd also want to improve some stuff in the maps as well to make it a truly worth while release so I'll probably do it when I have some time to really devote to it.
I feel like the weapons, especially the SMG, need more recoil, like 2X more :P
IDK if I'm just too used to Counter-Strike's recoil, but this recoil seems like it doesn't change the game that much. But if this mod is about running and gunning, all I would like is for the SMG recoil to be increased a little and other than that I think you're fine. ;)
Also, what happened to Abandon: The Town? Is it finished?
I'm considering releasing an update with the new changes in this mod plus some edits to the maps.
will this be compatible with OS X/Linux?
I assume mods don't by default? If so, not at the moment at least.
i'm not extremely knowledgeable on how sourcemods work, but as long as this doesn't run off SDK 2007, it's pretty easy (i think) to make a mod OS X/Linux compatible, i do it just by changing the search paths in the gameinfo.txt, to include all episodic materials, but SDK 2007 is a different matter entirely
i think as long as you don't add any completely new weapons (like Transmissions: E120 did with the concussion gun) it should be fine...
This mod have a ModDB page?