Iris mod for Half-Life 2

I like the concept, and it seems like it could be a really interesting way to tell a story. I was especially surprised at how you gave two different solutions to getting in the back door of the book store. My only problem here was how vague the dumpster puzzle was. I suppose if I had been playing the game for a while I would have learned to look for those kinds of things, but it was still a bit strange, I mean, how did those planks of wood get there anyways?

The premise sounds a lot like the "Lain" anime series.

I encountered a problem with the camera. When I picked up the wrench, selected it in my inventory then deselected it, the camera angle all of a suddenly switched to a low view. Now I'm looking up into the sky all the time. How do I change it back to the normal camera angle?

Cool thanks. I saw Ballocks on Hl2files.com but didnt know whether to download it. I'll give it a shot.

Iris will probably not be continued, unless someone from the team picks it up some time in the future.

We will be making another mod / prototype - actually we are already in low level pre-production. We will have 30 days of full-time production in March.

We study at various universities and art schools, and get together one month a year for these productions, which are aranged by the National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment. The academy owns the actual products, but we own the IP. Even though it would be possible to continue the projects, we would have to start over with, or at least modify, the code and assets to avoid future legal issues.

So, untill our next mod is released, you could check out this game that was produced by another academy team: Moddb.com Make sure to complete the level - the outro is hilarious :D

one-niner:

Wow thanks for the explanation. I agree it's a pity you left out that cool game mechanic but don't worry I really enjoyed it even without it because I knew from the start this was just a prototype.

Anyways are you planning to continue the story in another installment or leave it? And if you're leaving it will you be making another mod? (or even a whole new game? I can't really remember if it was you or the Eclipse team that said they worked in the game industry.) Because I'd really like to buy/download anything with this sort of gameplay/story in it.

Well, thanks for pointing out that adventure games are not for everyone :)

To the rest of you; thanks for all the kind words.

Now, I'll try to give some background info, that will hopefully explain why a few of the puzzles seem a little weird. Our original plan was that the outcome of various puzzles would interfer with eachother. For instance; if you moved the dumpster you could use it to gain access to the 2nd floor of the bookstore using the roof of the shack But if you both moved the dumpster and removed the fire extinguisher, the shack would be gone and you couldn't use the dumpster for anything. Giving the ball to the guy, that later becomes the bouncer, would result in him having broken a window to the bookstore that was repaired in such a way that you wouldn't be able to climb through it later... and so on and on and on...

The point being that you shouldn't just manipulate everyone and everithing, because that will close more options than it will open. You should actually use your brains to figure out which puzzles to solve and which to leave alone/reverse in order to 'unlock' a level. Due to time constraints we didn't manage to fulfill this vision, and that is the one thing I really regret about this production.

About the story and the scope of the game: We had 30 days to complete it, and we decided to go for a fraction of a greater plot instead of a short but complete storyline. The "Wait - that's not me" ending is actually the beginning of Iris' mission to not only save herself and figure out what the hell happened to her parents, but also to find and free her twin sister, whom she didn't know existed.

The idea of a moving a dumpster in the past to change the future isn't all that... believable. The mechanic never decided to push the dumpster back, or get it replaced? And why are three guys telling a little girl to go get a mechanic to move a dumpster? And why is there a wrench in an alley?

I know that these critiques can be construed as nit-picking, but the main reason that adventure games went out of style is that they stopped being about exploring foreign, exotic environments, and started being about exploring the eccentricities of the minds of programmers. Solving illogical puzzles rarely equals fun. That's why Frat gaming is the only gaming: Adventure games gave us whole new ideas on what it meant to be boring.

Or, to sum: "That's a very pretty painting." "Yes, it is little girl, I like to paint!" Whee.

Kimera and Invartact:

I think you are right. You completed the mod by accident.

:::SPOILERS:::

When you're in your childhood, you're meant to climb a roof over to the far left of where you start (jump up some boxes onto a roof then across a rope to another roof). There you'll find a ball. You go to the far right and find a guy who says hes bored. You give him the football.
Then you can jump back to the present. Head back to where the guy with the football was at the time of your childhood. He'll still be there (Guarding an alleyway to the left)and he'll say "Oh sorry I can't let you into the club... Oh wait you're that girl that gave me that football years ago. You go right ahead in." (or something like that.)
You can then head into the club (which was the bookstore in your past.) and find the newspaper behind the painting.

The radio and other things I think are just for added story. For instance if you steal the radio in 2006 and put it in the bookstore the police in 2046 will bust open through the restaurant's doors and kill whoevers inside. Maybe they stole the radio back from the bookstore owners and the police did a sting on them as stealing might have a hefty penalty in 2046? This is just wild conjecture but I don't know maybe that's what the makers intended. Although I could be reading into it too much.

Also the fire-extinguisher seems to cause a shack to burn down if its removed in 2006 and thereby it doesn't exist in 2046.
As for moving the dumpster, I haven't a clue what it does.

:::SPOILERS:::

Maybe someone who's played through the mod and understood it a bit more could post back with some explainations for some of these things. Don't forget the :::SPOILERS::: tags though :P

God this mod was a breath of fresh air. Not only was it free but it used a gameplay mechanic that I've never experienced. I hope more people make mods with original concepts like this one.