I have much to tell you and a little shew you. Including a rather large announcement. but firstly, the infomercial! Meet P.R. Trask and Barnaby like never before! They really are fine company as you'll soon witness. Complete with good-natured ribbing.
View it here: Moddb.com
What a riot, huh? Yeaahhh. So, passing on...I mentioned in the summary that I am nearly finished with HRAFD. Yes, that is right! I'm finishing up the odds and ends on existing maps, adding the scripting, getting the voice work and any odd sounds recorded and completed, and getting ready to begin the LAST MAP. What a ride it has been! The last phase will be making adjustments, optimizing and going over anything I have missed - and lastly, I will be doing a closed test. I will then hand it off to Qwertyus for compatibility/quality assurance - and on Halloween, you shall poop your pants.
Now for a screenshot or two:
What a mess! The Southside Inn - has seen better days. You'll be seeing for yourself just how bad things are. I doubt this is what they had in mind when the edifice was erected in 1852.
Merriment to be had by all! The revolver may get a little redundant, so I thought I'd add this. Sparingly, that is. As my mom always says, "Variety is the motherfuckin' spice of life." For those of you not in the know...this is a Gatling gun and it does some awful damage.
Half-Rats' humble abode above Trask Dry Goods and Sundries.
And now...for the big announcement:
I have been in contact and having correspondence with a certain coder, specializing in Goldsource. He goes by the moniker, "OsirisGodoftheDead". Long story short, I have certainly decided to develop the next episode of the Half-Rats series on Goldsource, BUT - we worked out the kinks, and I decided that it will be a 3-player class-based co-op experience! What's better than playing a scary game? Playing one with your pals! Everything's in pre-production right now of course, some features have already been worked out.
Three characters, class-based, takes place in a rather large mansion, and CAN be played solo if needed. You'll see the return of Trask, Barnaby and Half-Rats, as well as many new features, abilities, weapons and monsters. Of course, I'll be looking for talented folk to help me out. Get in touch with me if you'd like to join Heath Games. Working 9-20 hours a day, risking my eyes and glutes for HRAFD, I have decided that I'm going to need a team for the next one!
Thank you for reading! Now here's the pic of the day...Obviously what you've all been waiting for!
Not what you were expecting? A little history lesson! Dr. A. Trask was an American doctor, born sometime around 1796. He was famous for developing Trask's Magnetic Ointment, a topical cure for rheumatic and "nervous" afflictions and derangements. I initially found an advertisement very similar to this in an antique receipt book. The Mr. Trask that you all know and love is a fictional descendent of A. Trask and relative of Rev. George Trask who took over the selling of the ointment.
A draft of whiskey for every download?
You're gonna die dude!
the liver must be begging for mercy
whatwhatwhat
Small peanuts.
Looking very forward to it.
I like it that there's always alcohol involved in these newsposts :).
Very good voice acting in infomercial video, and great news, of course.
What? A three-player co-op Half-Rats horror experience? And in the GldSource? Are you trying to kill us with over-excitement? And I thought waiting for HRAFD was long enough... Setting Chapter 2 of Half-Rat's adventures in a mansion sounds awesome, kinda reminds me of the original Resident Evil :) . By the way, great to hear that you'll be working with Osiris on the next installment, he is one of the most talented guys around here.
Glad to hear that you are nearly finished! I can't start to imagine what horrors you have in store for us in the last map. And I always love when developers post some behind the scenes/dev-time pics, it really makes us fans feel as part of the mod's development journey :). Also, interesting background you've set up for Mr. Trask, nice to see that you've been inspired by a real-life person to create his character. As for the inn pic, awesome work once again! Though, at this point, I really don't know anymore what is more dangerous: getting inside the building or walking through the flames :S .
I knew from day one that this mod had something special and you didn't prove me wrong. I am more than happy to see it fulfill all, if not more, of the expectations I had for it and I am sure I am not talking only for myself here :) .
Once again, good luck with HRAFD and I truly can't wait till the release. And of chapter two, of course. I wish you the very best of luck and I am sure that this Halloween will be one of the creepiest in Moddb's history :).
Wow thanks man. I am happy to be working on this series because I love the style, and how he pays respect to the Half-Life engine by not pushing it to be something it was not meant to be.
Glad to have you! Just wait and see what we are cooking up for you, folks!
This is going to be on Steam as a free to play mod like Cry of Fear?
It'll be released here. I'm not sure how I'd go about getting it on Steam. I don't think it's my call to make. I think Valve comes and sweeps you off your feet once you turn a certain number of heads.
Well that's very promising.
I can feel you love what you are doing and cherish that fictional universe you created and as an artist myself it's very nice to see this kind of project.
I'm glad to see it's almost done and wish you best of luck for the next episode.
Also if you want to get it on Steam you can try Steam Greenlight, that's how Cry of Fear got there. Projects like yours have a good chance to be greenlit.
Hmmmm! I may have used too much of the original HL content...or does that matter?
Codename: CURE got through. It is mainly based on HL2 assets so you definitely can as well. Sorry for the late reply btw.