Quiet Rehabilitation mod for Half-Life 2

Hello everyone!

Sorry to keep you all waiting this long, it's been an eventful year. I've been quite busy developing the last brand-new maps and making tweaks to the gameplay in the existing ones, which explains the lack of media updates on my end. I also didn't want to share unfinished maps before they were ready for public view, and since the 5th anniversary of the first Quiet Rehabilitation map release was coming up, I decided to save it all for one big article! Let's dive into it, shall we?

Overall Progress

Quiet Rehabilitation as a whole is really coming along nicely and I should be able to finish it all by Q2 of 2023. In my previous article, I promised to finish the last few maps. But while playtesting the existing maps I kept noticing things which could be improved about the gameplay and the environment in the level, and so lately I've spent most of my time polishing these maps to be the best that they could be. Now that I'm confident of their quality, developing the final ones will be a lot easier for 2023! Yes, I also do plan having a Steam release by then.

Testing with MMod!

One of the other reasons I've been taking this long to move forward is my second playtesting session using MMod on Quiet Rehabilitation! Usually, after I go through all the chapters with different difficulty settings and gameplay styles, I boot up MMod and do it all over again so I don't miss any kind of "overpowered" section that would result players dying excessively. I'd like to make this as fun as possible for all kinds of players but not that easy either! Here is a video showcasing it the start of a chapter:

Shifting between enemies

As Quiet Rehabilitation tells the history of Freeman going through Nova Prospekt, the variety of HL2 enemies and atmosphere of the levels are limited a bit. To prevent players from getting bored and gameplay from feeling repetitive by going through the same enemies/atmosphere multiple times, I always try to shift new types of enemies around in different locations and levels rather than 'just fighting combine forces in corridors/cellblocks'.

Players will play against combine forces on 'surface' areas (corridors, cellblocks, offices, etc), but when going into 'underground' areas (sewers, tunnels, mines, abandoned rooms, etc), players will mostly encounter zombie creatures, with a few catches. With this, gameplay will always remain fresh and dynamic rather than lacking and monotonous. I've prepared a couple of videos displaying this variety:

Now, here are some WIP in-game screenshots taken from the completed chapters;

Looking for volunteers!

As the mod gets closer to being completed, I'm going to need some extra hands in a few departments before release. I might be asking around but doesn't hurt to let people know what kind of assistance I'll need:

Writer (Taken)

What is a mod without a proper history - lore and custom dialogue! I need someone who can assist me in proofreading and has a good knowledge of Half-Life lore that will review the voice lines later, so I don't any mistakes on them.

Voice Actor (Taken)

I already have someone in mind who will voice a CP unit, but I still have one character left. If you're willing to take a role of a prisoner/doctor, feel free to reach out! For consistency, must be fluent in English.

SFM Artist (Taken)

There is one thing I've been lacking since day one: an official poster/capsule of the mod! I always admire the many talented SFM artists out there, but I haven't had the chance yet to make contact and make this request, because the mod was still in its early stages. Right now, I may need an artist who can create a marvelous poster of Quiet Rehabilitation -- and perhaps soon the Steam header/capsules for future release!

Graphic Designer (Taken)

If everything goes well, I'm planning to add Steam achievements for this mod, and I'd love to have them as close as the Half-Life 2's/Alyx's orange-ish icon style! It's still in early stages, but eventually I'm going to need those ready before release!

Playtester

I currently have a small number of close friends and people who I can trust to playtest the mod. However, I might need to increase this number for quality assurance and extra feedback. Next year, I'll start planning to gather extra hands for this job (maybe through email sign ups or the Steam Playtester feature). More info will be shared in the next article!

Either way, feel free to contact me via DM here or Discord Tabajara#8497 anytime!

I still want to help somehow!

Well, as you may have known, the annual event 2022 Mod of the Year Awards has begun! It would mean a LOT to me having your vote for this year! Not really looking to win but getting closer to the top100 mod would be a blessing! Also, don't forget to leave your vote for other community mods! I heard Entropy Zero 2 was a beast this year! Perhaps checking out Black Mesa Classic or Signal Lost! Voting puts you in Moddb's giveaway- go check it out! In any case, I appreciate all of your support for this mod!

Special Thanks

I honestly wouldn't be here developing and pushing forward this project if it wasn't for the enormous love of Phillip and the people from RunThinkShootLive who played & shared their feedback of the first-short demo released back in 2017! Time really flies -- miss you Phillip! I also want to thank everyone who have played this demo later on and even recorded their playthroughs!

Consider following and thank you for checking out Quiet Rehabilitation!

Take care!