May Progress Update news - Outcast mod for Half-Life 2

Hey everyone. Before we get into Outcast, we want to first talk about our mapping competition. If you haven’t heard by now, we’re hosting a beta-themed mapping competition called Beyond the Bar. The goal for this one is to create a map with gameplay based off of a piece of Half-Life 2 concept art. More info can be found here. Now, to Outcast.

As always, many things got worked on this month. We even have some things to reveal that have been being worked on in secrecy.. So lets get into it.

One of my big focuses this month was on the third and largest map in Chapter One. This map has went through a few different versions, with the newest version still showing some similarities to the original.

Old

New

This map is a test of my skills as a mapper. We have many different encounters planned for this map, but not all of them may be on the most obvious paths. With this map, we really are striving to emulate the feeling of the coastal levels of HL2 with their openness and the option to explore and perhaps learn more about the events that unfolded before the player arrived. This map is also important because it is where the player will meet with the rebels for the first time and meet Langston, one of the key characters for part one. There’s a lot planned for this map, but I will not spoil the fun! Enjoy some screenshots of the current version of d1_wasteland_03. Keep in mind this is still very WIP, only a small part of the map has been detailed.

Another big focus this month for me was the birther. I believe I stated when I revealed the creature that I was not a fan of the texture I created. After many long discussions and ideas, Marco and I finally found something we liked. Here is the new Antlion Birther texture.

Here's an in game image. It drools.

And you can’t have a good enemy if it’s not animated.. So I’ve also been working on some animations. It’s been a good mix of learning animations and also applying it, but hopefully these animations are up to the standard of quality we have set for ourselves. I will learn more about animating and these will be slowly edited over the coming months to be better. Please enjoy and keep in mind these are very WIP. I'm also sorry for recording in HLMV.. I didn't want to spend two days rendering these

And now for a new NPC reveal.. The Gas Scanner.

We hired Uncanny from the VCC to create this model for us. It has yet to be textured, but you can expect me to be texturing it as soon as possible. The Gas Scanner is an enemy based off of an old piece of concept art for the scanner. It is a Combine unit that will be encountered in the wastelands of part one. The Gas Scanner patrols the wasteland, eliminating any possible threats to the Combine that may pop up. If an enemy is encountered, the Gas Scanner will fire canisters filled with a poisonous gas at them. If the gas is not enough to subdue a target, the scanner can fire laser bolts at the target. Here are some photos of the untextured model. Expect to see it getting textured, animated, and programmed soon!

We want to give a HUGE thank you to Uncanny for working with us on this and keeping it a secret. Check out his work here.

That wraps it up for this months article. I hope you enjoyed seeing what we’ve been working on, and as always if you have any feedback or questions I can be reached at Zapagoogas#9716 on Discord and you can join our server here. See ya next month.