mg_slapshot mod for Counter-Strike: Source

This mod, being developed primarily by uberkirsche, was solely inspired by the quality of the work by Black Sheep regarding his hockey stick models, goalie stick model, goalie nets, puck, arena and all of the custom textures and overlays he made for what was originally a map made only to review the models. The initial play design by Black Sheep saw the hockey stick model attached to the player by way of a knife and phys_constraint entity, but it was found after much troubleshooting that the phys_constraint entity when hierarchly attached to other entities dissolved all related prop and brush model collisions, causing the stick to pass through the puck, which clearly is not desirable for a hockey game mod and so this method was scrapped in favour of a more elaborate prefab player-carriage/shooting-assembly designed by uberkirsche. Initial success in the carriage and shooting design led to a 1 vs 1 player map, which will be redeveloped into a stand-alone small mini-game to accompany other mini-games in a larger map. Basketball and bowling mini-games are being developed for this. The mod was then expanded to a 4 vs 4 arena, 3 players and a goalie for each team. CT's are the "Home" team, sporting blue sticks and net, while the T's are "Away", using red sticks and net. Frames Per Second were spectacular, at the lowest point we were seeing 120 FPS, which doubtless ensured the stability of the playing environment, however it has been found that gamers with lower-end PCs and a ping over 80 suffered issues with falling out of the player carriage, while still being engaged in the control interface (game_ui), a difficulty which many other mappers may have noticed when trying to make driveable vehicles for CS:S. The addition of a phys bumper system to limit carriage cross-over improved the general issue of falling out overall, but the problem seems to stem from the ping and user-hardware concern and so it is likely it may not be overcome for players with these limits. Efforts are being made to defeat this engine limitation, however it may be necessary to make two versions of the mod, one for lower-end PCs, with carriage effects that would slightly limit the player's visual mobility while maintaining the basic gameplay, while the "full" version would be specifically made for higher-end gaming platforms.

View a development video here;
Youtube.com
and the latest incarnation here;
Youtube.com

Inclusion of the "Jumbotron" style monitor overhead (seen in second video), with zones that would switch camera view triggered by the puck, saw a drop of 30 FPS at the lowest points, which is still more than playable with a minimum of 80 FPS in the map, however it was found by the developer that the func_monitor system caused further problems compounding the issue where the player "falls out" of the player carriage and so this camera-system effect may be scrapped for both versions.

The final goal is to develop the map for 6 vs 6 game (3 forwards per team, 2 defense and a goalie, 12 players total on the ice at once), with a further 12 players waiting in the player box (24 player load total). Gameplay would consist of 3 periods of 3 or 5 minutes depending how the gameplay pans out in beta testing. At period end, players on the ice will be required to vacate the ice surface so that the next shift can come on. Players that try to stay on the ice will be shunted to the penalty box and will have to wait two periods instead of one for their next turn on the ice. Team scoring will be recorded and it will be 3 or 5 points to win, again, it remains to be seen what sort of win parameters are realistic. 3 periods expired without the requisite goals to win may see an overtime period played, and even a shoot-out style mode if overtime does not produce a win. Gameplay may be geared to ensure a point-win and the shootout may be impractical given current and projected entity loads and so this idea is a tentative notion at theis time.

Specials:
A method is possible to limit the areas a given line can go to, so that gameplay is not ruined by having ten players in the corner trying to get at the puck and this is under development. Forwards will be able to go all the way to the end boards in the offensive zone, while defensemen will only be able to skirt the blue line in the offensive end. Similarly, forwards will not be able to retreat deep into their defensive zone, falling short of their own blue line. Effectively, this will mean a max of 3 forwards, two opposing defensemen and the goalie in either offensive end at one time.

There are no plans for an "offside" effect regarding the blue line. This may be impractical given engine limits and with regard to forward-moving play to ensure players in the box are not waiting more than 5 minutes for their chance to get in the game.

Black Sheep is still learning and so it is unknown at this time if any potential for "hockey player" styled player models and UV mapped skins is practical.