Captain's log, 17, June 1945.

I was approached by an odd fellow yesterday while overlooking the inspection of the lifeboats. A young man, who claimed to work for the US Government, shoved papers of legal binding; the contents I couldn't bear to comprehend. I was strong armed into signing them, given the ultimatum of signing and keeping a tight lip, or be prepared to captain a crab boat. Tight lipped about what, I have failed to understand, but given the circumstances, I signed. The breeze of the ocean air will never have been so welcoming. The Florida heat is getting to me; it's driving me mad even. To wear such heavy garments under such a blazing sun is ludicrous, but I must upkeep appearances and rank among the crew. Only two more days until the crisp salt air brushes against my cheeks.

***

Captain's log, 15, June 1945.

The maiden voyage. And such a fine ship of fantasy proportions. We are set to launch out of Cape Canaveral, FL on the 19th of June, 1945. This is to be a historical voyage: not only is the Neptune the grandest ship to break the waves of the seven seas, but marks the first civilian ship to launch out of this port since the first rumors of Nazi submarines patrolling the Caribbean. I still wonder why a French flagship is launching out of an American port, but I'm continually being left in the dark on such matters. I'm the Captain; I need to know such information.

That reminds me, the engineers are preparing the final inspections of the vessel. I've been informed that the electricity generators are working again. I've requested that a man of expertise accompany me on the maiden voyage to reassure my worries in case the ship finds herself stranded in the middle of the Atlantic without proper lighting.

The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique has high hopes that the Neptune will acquire the Blue Riband. I informed Mr. Jaquel that his company wouldn't fair an incident resembling that of the ill fated RMS Titanic, and I shall stretch the Neptune's legs only so far. He wasn't quick to incline. In just a few short days, I shall embark on the maiden voyage of the most luxurious ship the world has seen.

---------------------

Neptune is a single-player modification for Half-Life 2, taking place entirely outside the mother game's universe.  Set primarily onboard a mysterious and desolate cruise liner, floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Neptune allows the player, as stranded fisherman Jose Perdino, to slowly unravel the dark and disturbing past of the ship as heexplores its once-grand rooms, corridors, concert halls, restaurants, bars and maintenance areas.

Taking influence from games such as System Shock 2, BioShock, Thief: Deadly Shadows and Silent Hill, Neptune is an atmospheric, narrative-driven, horror-based shooter; an exercise in videogame storytelling and tense level design.

It is expected to be released in Q3 2009

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19 comments by Donkey81 on Mar 16th, 2009 digg this super bookmark


It's been a while!  Sorry about that.  We've been working away at Neptune reasonably solidly, and, slowly but surely, everything's starting to come together a little bit.

Firstly, some bad news.  We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and decided our provisional release date of "Spring 2009" is no longer feasible.  We are now tentatively aiming for a "late Summer" release.  What's important to us is that we don't rush this.  We could probably spend another month on the mod and have it playable, but who does that benefit?  We want this to be really good, and we're prepared to put in the extra time to ensure this is the case.  Hopefully you're on our side with this.

At least we have a bit of something to show for our efforts.  Here are a couple of new screenshots.  Both are work-in-progress.  One is from the very, very beginning of the mod.  Literally a few seconds in.  That's why it's all bright and sunny and docked, and why there aren't any crazy horrible foes lurching about.  The second is a short while later, after everything goes a bit wrong and you find yourself clambering aboard that mammoth Neptune Ocean Liner.  In other words: the ship's foyer.


"Tra-la-la, off to catch some fish..."


"Crap, this isn't right..."

Our brilliant sound designer Jesse Harlin has, in addition to making noises into a microphone and twiddling knobs to make them sound good, been slaving away on a wonderful website.  It's pretty much finished now, and you can go and have a look at www.neptunemod.com!  We're still tweaking little bits and bats, so do go easy on us until it's all functioning smoothly and in line with this here page.

Oh, and the captain's written a new entry in his log.  I wonder what on Earth he's talking about...

Right.  Back to work, then.  Let's try figure out where this bloody leak is.  Serves us right for setting the game on a delapidated ship, eh?

All the best, chaps.  Onwards!

The crew x

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Comments  (0 - 10 of 76)
wudi343
wudi343 Jun 8 2009, 7:52am says:

will you hold release date? (late summer)

+1 vote     reply to comment
Donkey81
Donkey81 Jun 20 2009, 7:05am replied:

We're currently undergoing a pretty big design rethink. We'll be posting about that soon. The design rethink is in order to allow us to move more quickly and efficiently through development. It also, for all intents and purposes, means starting the level design again.

We hope to be finished by late-summer, yes. But that does only give us a few months. We'll keep you updated, and we hope you like the new direction.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Campaignjunkie
Campaignjunkie Jun 8 2009, 5:36am says:

Whoa, never heard of this mod before. Looks good.

"Inspired by Thief: Deadly Shadows" - oh dear. I hope you only mean the Cradle level, because nearly everything else was kind of middling.

+1 vote     reply to comment
vudhum
vudhum Apr 5 2009, 3:11pm says:

look like bioshock !!!

+1 vote     reply to comment
Arvind
Arvind Apr 14 2009, 2:23am replied:

Neptunemod.com

Check out the last question in the list. Hope it provides some clarity ;D

+1 vote     reply to comment
Samuk
Samuk May 4 2009, 7:58am replied:

I've read it, I think your right.

But, after I watched the video, you've got to admit this is very heavily inspired by Bioshock.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Zakobako
Zakobako Mar 17 2009, 9:00am says:

Looks interesting, indeed. :)

+1 vote     reply to comment
JonathanPL
JonathanPL Mar 16 2009, 7:23pm says:

Watching!

+1 vote     reply to comment
vecima
vecima Mar 16 2009, 3:14pm says:

not sure how i didn't notice this mod, but i'm definately watching now. looks good. can't wait to see it in action!

+1 vote     reply to comment
Alfrodos
Alfrodos Mar 16 2009, 2:25pm replied:

very not bad, but isn't the best...

+1 vote     reply to comment
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