It's going to be the end of the year in like a month and this is going to be the last article for this year, everything I will show here is stuff in have done so far for this year. This may not be a lot of content for the 6 month period between this and the last article, but keep in mind that this mod was on a hiatus for the vast majority of the year.
If reading this article is just too much or whatever, then here is a video showcase of all the new thing done for the mod I posted on YouTube:
New name:
Yes, the mod now has a new named called "Trials of Last Steel". Why a new name? Because I have seen people confuse this mod for being a half life POV mod set in black mesa for whatever reason, where in reality it has nothing to do with the half life lore. Changing the name fits more with it's "total conversion" type characteristics, so I figured why not change it.
New enemy type:
With the help of FreeSlave, one of the Field Intensity devs, who did the coding for this enemy, we managed to implement a new enemy called Trojans. They will act like normal human enemies, but after enough damage is delt, they transform and reveal their true form as infected monsters. To be honest, this feature is partly inspired by the War of Xen mod with it's rupture monster that acts almost the same way.
These types of enemies are faster, stronger and have more health than the normal zombie that you will encounter.
Maps:
Here are some map screenshots of 2 maps that are being worked on that are set in a sci-fi medieval environment:
New hands and weapon models:
I decided to remake the hand and weapon models to make them more appropriate for the robot character that you play as. As of right now, the revolver and the glock are fully modelled and animated, the crowbar is still a WIP.
New vehicle models:
Not really that spectacular, but here are also vehicle models that I made replacing the old, brush based ones that were pretty map performance intensive.
End:
That's it for this article and for this year to be exact. I feel optimistic about the future levels and features that I plan to implement, so hopefully I will implement everything I wanted for the mod now that I have some programming help from FreeSlave. Maps are starting to take shape and the entire mod is pretty much planned out and written from beginning to end, more or less. Thanks to anyone out there that has been sticking with this mod for 3 years.
Since the new 25th anniversary update, a lot of mods has been broken, this mod and the demos work just fine, except the GUI is a bit broken, so I decided to fix the new demo with all the appropriate fixes to the GUI. Since valve also added an intro to the game, I also decided to include a little intro as well, right now it's just the Early Access release cinematic that I made last year, but I plan to make a more sophisticated one for the final release. I guess that's that, if you want, you can play the early access demo. Heck, you can even share your thoughts on it, it's not forbidden
That transformation instantly reminded me the old, dead "The War of Xen" mod, OGs will remember :)
In fairness Radiation Hazard fans will too
I don't know what that is.
He's a youtuber who makes videos on Half-Life mods and all, if you want to check him out on youtube you can look up his channel name.
Heck yeah! In all honesty, that mod influenced a lot of stuff for this mod. From the trojans shown here, to the destructible model physics.
Cool.
Ayo finally beta Portal in Goldsrc
Gotta say the new update looks great, especially the new weapon models and textures.
I love the trojans, I want to ask if the name was inspired by trojan viruses.
But my favorite part of all is how they resemble War of Xen's "The Thing" inspired enemies where scientists can mutate into some alien zombie after following the player for a bit.
Overall I wish great luck on this project, good work!
Thanks! Yes trojans got their name from trojan viruses. Since trojans are a virus that disguise themselves as normal programs, I thought it would be the perfect name for them. The enemies all have some kind of virus motif, either by the names or by the design.
I like the sounds of it! I wish you well on this project.
Good call with the name change. New maps look really good so far, I can't wait to play it! The hands are very well-done too, fits the character well. Keep up the good work man! ^^
Awesome to see you still trucking with this Total Conversion! Really digging the new name, too!
Gonna miss those old brush cars but the models look rad, based El Camino!