Yeah I hate the mod, don't get me wrong I'm not shitting on the developers' hard work, they're probably putting their heart and soul into it.
It's just that I can't stand mods that try to up Half-life from being a 1998 game to something out of 2005 with fancy ass new features like glow effects, bright maps, exaggerated mapping geometry, high resolution textures or over the top, detailed animations. Why can't you enjoy Half-Life for being what it is? Why do modders have to butcher it like this? I get it people can mod games in whatever way they see fit but the problem is that mods like Extended or Echoes are setting a new standard for mods, that if your mod doesn't offer any of aforementioned shit, people will look down on it.
Fuck the current modding community and their sacrilege of Half Life, give me They Hunger or Life's End all day long.
Bro chill out, it’s just dumb little mods
Yeah I went too far, sorry. It happens.
cool
I don't see the hate for Half-Life: Extended personally. From what I can see that mod is just adding more detail to the maps and a lot more variety to the NPCs, not unlike your own grunt recently released grunt models. :P
Half-Life: Echoes ups the detail, using textures from the mod Nightwatch to make a darker and slightly more detailed game. Again, I don't see any issue with it.
I much prefer these mods to the ones that just add upscaled textures and hyper detailed models like the DiamondD pack. Those go beyond the point of looking good or faithful to the original and become ridiculous, a lot like the abhorrent Cinematic Mods for Source.
I can't really cast any shade on those though, since I'm working on The Core which uses high resolution textures and high poly models so... I apologise for making things worse :|
I'm not saying these mods are not well made or anything it's just that I don't like them. It's a matter of preference. They're definitely good, the same goes to yours, The Core.
honestly I agree to an extent, sometimes it seems like people do too much (ex. extended’s “higher quality” weapon models which I feel look severely out of place) but I like to see what kinds of kooky things they come up with anyways
Modders pushing the envelope and trying new things should be encouraged. Its what Valve wanted by releasing an SDK and making the game mod friendly in the first place.
I'd argue the current Half-Life modding scene is the most imaginative and innovative that its ever been. We have tools that surpass both the limits, and capabilities of the original SDK. We have an open source engine alternative that allows unprecedented amounts of creativity and control on the end of modders the likes of which couldn't have been fathomed in 1998.
Extended and Echoes never tried to set a new standard. The developers just did what they wanted. Anybody who unironically talks down to other projects for not being at some arbitrary level of detail seen in another mod is either tone-deaf, elitist, or has no idea what they're talking about. I can't say I've ever seen anybody above the age of 12 do that. If someone talked down to another project for not looking like any of my mods, I wouldn't appreciate that at all. I don't think any developer in their right mind would want anybody going and doing that.
By this logic, any mod that features improved animations, map geometry more complex then design standards set nearly 25 years ago, and basic quality of life improvements isn't worth the time of day, which covers nearly every mod on this site currently in development. (I guess that makes me part of the problem aswell!)
I personally don't feel like that kind of mindset has a place in this current era of indie games and modding, but far be it from me to tell someone what to believe in.
At the end of the day, if you don't like it, you don't have to play it.
First of all, I'm not talking down to the developers, I said it up there.
Second of all I'm not telling people what to play or not to play OR how to mod their games, this is my own personal space where I can vet and whine as much as I want I don't have to justify my reasons or try to get the endorsement of others, everybody and their own cup of tea. I didn't write this to **** off people.
Sure if I don't like it I won't play it, that's what I did but that doesn't mean I can't get to talk about the things I personally don't like\hate which is what I did too.
P.S I'm not 12, I'm 20 :P
Well I certainly get your opinion. You prefer the classics and nostalgia over today's mods in a way and that's an absolutely legit opinion. I certainly agree that some mods went over the top visually, feature wise (but not game play wise) or by adding an ridiculous amount of new and unneeded weapons (No value to the actual game or mod story) etc.
But as you pointed out it's a personal preference for each person/player/modder. I most definitely avoided such mods as I saw no gain by playing Half-Life with, say, a full compliment of CS weapons. There's of course nothing wrong by adding new mechanics, say npcs for example. Half-Life: Field Intensity did an excellent job in that regard, both by recreating the Hl1 experience while staying true to the original story and timeline but also by expanding upon it.
Example: By adding cut hl1 monsters or by adding new locations that are in accordance with the Hl1 lore. They did that in a rather unique and convincing way both visually and game play wise so I would consider this to be a gain to the Community as it provided something faithful, yet in a refreshing and convincing way.
It still felt like Half-Life and I suspect that's what counts most. "They Hunger" did something entirely different and set it's own tone on an entirely new self invented ingame universe and that too was epic.
"Hl: Echoes" was a brilliantly executed mod but wasn't among my personal favorites, especially in regards of it's numerous satanic easter eggs which felt out of place to me personally but was it a bad mod? No, it just presented us with it's own unique ideas and tone set and that's ok. We should appreciate every new mod that people release. Be it for Half-Life or any other game for that matter. The massive amount of work and time alone it took the modders to get things done and going deserves our upmost respect.
Modders are free to take inspirations of mods such as "The Core" or "Hl: Echoes" but I wouldn't mind at all if it's a purely classic mod release even though more is most certainly possible nowadays with the newer compilers, editors and so on. It all rests solely on ones own ambitions and expectations. It all depends on what the modder wants to deliver and accomplish.
That being said: We can be happy to still get fancy new Half-Life mods 25 years after it's original game release. For that we should be grateful. Be it a mod like Echoes and Extended or classics such as "They Hunger" Every new mod is a welcomed addition to this community and our mod library.
Sgt.McHale Anyway congrats on releasing your grunts and my apologies that I didn't show up to discord. I started a 2nd job and it's basically over for me with my free time and I do respect your opinion and understand what you mean.
Mate, I agree 100% I think that's the first time I read a non-biased comment in ModDB. Also don't mind the whole discord thing. Ppl have lives and they tend to get busy and I understand that. Still congrats on the new job, hope it doesn't take its toll on you.
Whenever you're free, hit my DMs. I'm making an improved version of the addon, you might like it.
Totally agreed
HL1 must be HL1, not black mesa.