The Burton Equation mod for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

The Burton Equation - Update Two: A New Case

Hey folks! Welcome to the second update for The Burton Equation. Much like Goreagulation, I've been working on TBE for a long time, and did so without public updates or revealing much at all - but once you unveil something, people expect more, and so like Goreagulation as well, the lack of updates has had some scratching their heads. The project continues towards conclusion - so here's a look not only at more content we've already had ready to go, but also progress in the time since January!

Chapter Two - Sepia Art-Passing

Sepia was, during the last update, touched in some aspects but very much early in art pass development - the interior bunkers were the most art passed, with exteriors still in an early state. This was partly as I'm not as familiar with those kinds of environments, but I did extensive research and took a crack at the exteriors and they've begun to shape up really nicely with the help of Matt as well. With a mixture of tight trenches and more wide-open arena-like spaces, Sepia's forwards slog towards the end objective now has a great artistic difference from the other environments in the mod.

Chapter Three - Miami Art Passing

Miami is what I think will be one of the most stylistically eye-catching of the chapters, both indoor and outdoor. A lot of the chapter is spent scaling a skyscraper, but to spice things up in each level, there's a twist. The first level starts on the street; the second has you navigating barriers to ascending the skyscraper; and the third level of rising up has you traversing the exterior of the skyscraper on window sills, balconies, and scaffolding. From there, you'll be able to see the whole city.

Chapter Four - Terminus Art Passing

The final chapter with Half-Life 2's setting sees you fighting in more familiar territory against more familiar enemies, but with the added context of Zachary experiencing not only the Combine, but the modern day, for the first time. Art passing continues well for this chapter, with Flash having made a great basis, and it'll be important to nail the conclusion to the time travelling adventure within.

Soundtrack - The Next Four Features

Last update, we showed the first track of each chapter as a taste of the musical style coming to TBE, courtesy of Slimek and Etelik. Now, with the second update, another track for each is released for your listening pleasure - getting to grips with the soft saxophone tones of the 20s, the upbeat swing of the 40s, the outrun synthwave of the 80s, or dark industrial flavour of the HL2 era.

Weapons - An Evolving Arsenal

The Burton Equation's arsenal was teased in the last update, but there's plenty more to see - with four pistols, four SMGs, and at least one "special" weapon per chapter as well. Split across the periods, the arsenal will evolve over each chapter, with each pistol and SMG separately balanced for a different experience in each era.

Comic - The Story Continues

One of the most iconic stylistic features of TBE is its comics by Adam Rogers, which were a focus for a lot that consumed the last update, and so here's another four - plus, a Terminus comic, as during the last update, the Terminus comics were not yet implemented ingame. All comics for ALL eras are now implemented, and will continue to tell the story in the most bitchin' way possible.

Conclusion

That's it for this update! Again, to waylay any concerns - TBE, RTBR, Goreagulation, et al continue healthily in the background as they always have. These updates, nonetheless, give you an extra peek at what's to come - and The Burton Equation is going real well. See you in the next update!