2024: The Year of The Core - Q1 update news

This is it, we are in 2024, which I have tentatively dubbed "The Year of The Core" on our social media.

"Wait, does that mean that the mod is finally releasing this year!?" you may ask.

It's too early to say at this point. I am happy to say however that development is now back in full swing. Archie has returned to the project after a lengthy hiatus and I have also been able to spend a lot more time on it over the last couple of months.

So what's been happening?

Clean up on Aisle Core!

Moving the project over to a new version control system has given us the opportunity to remove a lot of the old source files and content that will not be making it into the final release. See the previous article for more details on that.

This has helped to streamline the process of pushing/pulling updates, without a lot of unneeded files cluttering up the place. Not the most exciting update, but then project management isn't a particularly entertaining topic so let's move on.

Textures? More like... bad... textures.

Again, not a dreadfully exciting update, but at least something that's a little easier to show off.

We've recently been going over our frankly massive .wad files and clearing out some of the clutter as well. But a more significant change is addressing something that until recently would not have bothered us. Consistency. Texture scaling throughout The Core's maps has been... let's call it slap-dash. Textures of varying scales, some at Half-Life's standard 1.000, some at The Core's standard 0.500 and then a few more at... 0.125? Or 0.188? Blurgh. When you start to notice it, you see it EVERYWHERE and it starts to look very rough around the edges. In an effort to resolve that, a lot of our old oddball textures are being revamped and properly scaled. Thanks to JACK's wonderful tweaks to the find/replace functionality, this has actually been a pretty painless experience.

It's not just scaling though, but techniques used when updating textures or creating all new ones. Where once we relied heavily on Photoshop layer styles and filters, now a lot of details are being hand drawn. This gives us WAY more control over edge highlights and shading and above all else, makes things pop a little better.

Running around empty corridors? Again?

Last but certainly not least, while we fill in the current gaps in an effort to get the entire mod playable in one long run, gameplay in existing areas is being refined. A lot of playtesting has been done by ourselves but also a select number of Half-Life community members. One thing that was raised is that there is a lot of downtime, spend running down empty hallways or crawling through vents.

No more! While not stripping out and rebuilding huge sections (most of the time), these areas are getting some much needed TLC. Empty room with one too many zombies to kill? Now it's a puzzle section! Looong vents with nothing but headcrabs to smash? How about you fall into a lab with a dangerously malfunctioning laser projector?

Not the easiest thing to show off at this point as it's mostly sections you've seen already, with a little more player engagement.

Onwards then!

So that's all for now for this mini update. We will post more updates in the coming months as we continue to swing towards getting a fully playable beta in the hands of our testers. The release might still be a ways off, but things are looking good for:

2024: The Year of The Core.

Sounds good right? We think so.

Urby, out.