In an alternate universe, set during the Seven Hour War, you find yourself plunged into the depths of an abandoned Aperture facility. Abyss explores the failed ambitions of the once-flourishing company, and the legacy it left behind. As the war rages above, you as the player will be confronted not only to the imminent danger it poses, but also to the existential nightmare from which it all started as you are taken deeper into the facility than ever before. Your choices have consequences, and your actions dictate your survival -- or lack thereof.
Are you guys still looking for members?, Can fans contribute to the art of the mod?
We are looking for new team members, Especially Mappers, 2D and 3D Artists, (Hard surface 3D Modellers) and Audio Technicians., (sounds effects) But we don’t plan to add stuff the community made for fun as they have no context of the game and lore -Pac0master
Will the puzzles be the same/similar difficulty to the ones seen in Portal 2?, Will they have a unique style too?
Yes they should be similar in difficulty, but we try to be more creative so there will be new types of mechanics introduced, We expect the players to have beaten both Portal games and possibly other mods before playing -Pac0master.
What kind of tone you are going for the mod?, is it a horror mod?
This ain’t a Horror “scary” mod, so no.
We have no intention to make the mod “Scary” in the sense of a horror movie, but we do want to build a atmosphere that is uncomfortable and unsafe, things could go bad if you make a mistake - Pac0master,
How much is already done?, can we get a release date?
Right now our current plan for release is between Halloween and Xmas, but we’re not sure on the year. It really depends if we can find new teams members to help. I’d say 75-80% of the job remaining is Mapping related. -Pac0master
Will be on steam and/or free?
The mod is completely free and will be released on Steam,
Your story is set in an alternate universe then Portal/Portal 2, what is the major difference and what makes unique?
It’s not trying to follow the lore of P2, We’re also implementing new types of Environmental puzzle elements similar to Half Life 2 -Pac0master
We are 100% out of vanilla canon/lore at least in the ways that restricts us to only follow vanilla guidelines, like having to fit all we like to do in between canon events aiming only to what valve did that “feels like aperture” or variants of it. Means basically that we have the freedom of being on our own universe, story and events, giving our version on what Aperture could be, if we gonna succeed, that’s something only you can say when you (hopefully) be able to play thru Abyss ;)
How long of a campaign do you think Abyss will be?
Hard to properly estimate, if possible over 6-10h long would be nice. Current playtest tells us it could take much longer if the players are taking their time and explore the place -Pac0master
Why stick to source, why not use Unreal 4?
We planned to do it at one point, but we are already with a slow dev cycle, switching engines would not be a good idea at this point in the project, that ship has sailed.
it would be way too much time and effort to invest in UE4, I doubt any of us has any experience working UE4 while we’ve been working with Source for the last 10 or so years. -Pac0master
What is your favorite part of Abyss so far?
As of right now, my favorite map is the T.S.R.A part we’ve shown to the public -Pac0master
From what we have done so far, I like the ravine map that leads to the first testing sphere, it was a pain in the butt to build that thing. But I think the end result is really neat.
Thanks!