I'll use this post to provide updates on where I stand with development of the mod, as well as other interesting information that may be fun to learn about. It is continuously updated with new information as I go along.
THE TL;DR VERSION
Progress:
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15/100 %
BASICS
The rough outline of the mod is like this:
- Set near the turn of century and millennium (hence the name), at the end 1999.
- Focused on story-telling.
- While the mod has test chambers, they are only there to build momentum and tension.
- Target playtime: 6 hours.
- Mod has spoken lines, and cut-scenes, in 720p. Most of them are filmed with a HD camcorder.
- Mod seeks to utilize unique but fun elements for the test chambers.
CHAPTERS
The mod is targeted to have five chapters. That would mean that each chapter lasts for about an hour of playtime, except the finale, which should take one up to approx. six hours.
Ch. 1: Three Days Ago
Ch. 2: Clues
Ch. 3: They Are All Sheperds
Ch. 4: A Matter Of Time
Ch. 5: Full Circle
PROGRESS
Chapter 1: 20%
Chapter 2: -
Chapter 3: -
Chapter 4: -
Chapter 5: -
DEVELOPMENT
Development of the mod is done in a non-linear fashion. That means that all the important and unique bits are made first, for example the prison block, and train station. For this reason you may see progress on different parts of the mod as I go along. Don't be confused by it.
TRIVIA
- Mod is code-named "Portal 2000". Code name is both: A reference to Portal 2 and the time it takes place in.
- The prison cell in the very beginning has seen a few iterations. The original had a shelf and a chair in it, but I received criticism to ditch those for realism.
- The prison block visible at the start is largely a remodellation of a prison block image I found on the web.
- In the first parts, screens can be seen showing a logon-screen of Windows NT 4. I chose NT 4 because it was the most widely used business operating system at the time.
- The unlocked computer in the office shows a modified screenshot of Outlook 2000, however it leaves most parts of the screenshot intact. Only its ratio was changed to widescreen, and the email content replaced.
- The "Disconcerting Gravity Reversal Field" worked fine in the demo, but not in the actual map, so I improvized on the effect.
- "PortaPortal" was born as an idea after a crazy conversation in the office, concerning the utilization of Portals to go to, and back home from, the office.
- The Mirror Maze chamber is a reference to the final dungeon in the GameBoy-version of the Zelda franchise.
- The alien device hanging on the ceiling in the Mirror Maze chamber was designed to look strange, but not too weird or out of place.
- The moving platform in the final room of the Mirror Maze actually had to be flipped in Hammer, by 90 degrees, horizontally. There did not seem to be a way to keep the orientation of a func_tracktrain.
- The Train Station visible upon passing a certain point in the game, is losely based on Connolly Station, one of the primary train stations in Dublin, Ireland, the city I call my home.
- The trains (plus the one going to a certain location), visible in the station have an identical texture to Ireland's commuter trains, with the logo replaced for the mod.
- The train textures were photographed in Connolly Station, Dublin, Ireland.
