(Seems i start each new update with the same excuse.)
Let me start with apologising for the fact that my last update here was on Mar 18.
So that makes 5 months without any news, and there is no good reason for that other then
some personal issues and that it has been a very hot summer. Still, this doesn't mean
i haven't been mapping and modding because i haven't done nothing else most of the time.
Only screenshot 21,22,23 and 24 do show the inside of the Borealis, all the other screens show a basis that is underground beside the ship.
All combines on screens and movies are still place holders, they will look very differently when the
mod is released!!
I called this update "Inside the Borealis", because that is what it is all about. I thought
long about what i could show and what not. Should i give it all away or only show enough
so it still wouldn't spoil things. And i have decided to do the last thing. So you can watch
the screens and movie without being spoiled.
So there is a lot of new stuff to show, much much more in fact as what i can show here
because there is only so much room. Therefore i have gone through my screens and movie files
with great precicion to show the best ones here. What you see is as always ofcourse
still Beta footage, so things can change.
There are 30 new screenshots, (these are as always the exact same screens
as you can see in the screenshot section. So you don't find any more there as these 30 new ones.)
The screens show some small parts of the new levels 20,21,22 and 23. The screens show only so
much, you get as always the best impression when you watch the new video. I made 2 teaser videos
this time, a short one (3:35 min.) and a long one (9:00 min.)
For some reason only a few people watch these videos.
Maybe its because they have a low internet speed and can't stream videos well.
Therefore i will also upload the new videos as a file so you can download it and
watch it on your computer. See the download link at the bottum please.
Release date?
I am very pleased to say the least with all the attention i get here and all the comments.
And a lot of people ask me when the release date will be, and if there will be released a demo
of some sort before release, as was done with Strider Mountain.
There will be no demo up front, simply because the mod is very large and not
many people will download a couple of GB's for just a few maps i assume. Also would
it take a lot of time to prepare this all, time that i rather use for finishing the mod
itself. Yes, i say finishing because the end is now really in sight, after 4 years.
I can't give a exact date because i really don't know that one myself. But i can say were i am
with development, and what still needs to be done. Beta testing is done for the most part, just the
final 2 levels need to be tested. The final level is done for raughly 50% and the level before the
final level is the one i am working on now and that one is done for about 85%.
ss-Bump mapping
And then there is ss-bump mapping. Took a lot of time and severel jobadds,
but now someone has replied to offer his help with the bump mapping of
textures and he is really very good at it! This will make that the enviroments
looks much better and more realistic. His name is Ruben Grijalva Jr. and he
already has worked on a few textures as example, and they look really awesome!!
This however will make that the file size of the mod itself will get even larger
as it already is, (what makes the download time even longer). So i have
doubted if it was a good idea. But after all i decided it is because it does
make the levels so much more beautiful and that is worth the extra download time i think.
Well, there is not much more to say now other then please be patient a
bit more till this all is done. I assume the release will be somewere in the fall of
this year. I do my very best and work daily as hard as i can. Thank you for all
the interest and please take the time and effort to watch the new teaser movie,
if you have time.
Leon (SPYmaps) Brinkmann
Here you can stream the 9:00 min. version of the teaser;
Youtube.com
Download here both versions of the teaser video;
Gamefront.com
"THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS!!!"
Great work so far. I can't wait to give it a try!
same :D
Keep in mind that the ship came from aperture, so try to keep it in that style and also I would like to keep the combine skins for the enemies if this is going to be played in the Half-Life Universe
Stop having personal issues, man :P jk.
The work you have put into this will definitely make me download and play this mod, hope to see it released in the sort of distant future :D
Gordon can fly! Epic
Oh man! This all still looks great! I'm lovin your mapping!
Looks very good so far!
Also, those tunnels, are they actually inside the Borealis, or are they a different part? If inside, i would say they do not fit too much.
As far as i know, Borealis isn't supposed to be a 'cruise' ship and more like a Container ship. In some old maps from before Half-life 2 was released, you get some very nice impressions as to how the Borealis should look inside.
But everyone is free to make their own artistic impressions.
Anyways, keep up the good work :)
very interesting ! I would like to see this soon :)
Let me first start with thanking you all for commenting.
And i was already afraid that people would think that most of the screens above would be from inside the Borealis, what they are not. They are taken from a massive underground base beside the ship. On screen 21,22,23 and 24 you see a very large hole in the bottum of the Borealis. And on screen 21 you see that a very large contaner is lowered down to the ground below the ship. From were it is taken along a path inside the base.
Sorry that i didn't make this clear, because indeed would otherwise the hallways etc be quit out of place for a inside the Borealis scene.
And, as said at the beginning of the teaser video will the combine soldiers look differently (more as the original ones). The combines that now can be seen are only place holders for all the different forms of combines.
Am glad that all comments are so positive,
many thanks,
Leon
(edit)
i just have added a text above in the article that explains that only those 4 screens are taken from inside the ship and the others are from the base underground beside the ship taken.
The guys at the Steam forums won't know what's missing here.
But I got one interesting question: does Gordon Freeman finally talk in this mod?
Looking gud !
This is all pretty nice, but I hope you guys aren't going to stick with your Borealis interiors, those are all from Star Trek: Enterprise; I hope you didn't just take them from the Temporal Cold War mod. In the image with G-Man, you can clearly see the Enterprise in one of the displays. That's just lazy. :/
Gordon will not talk Purplegaga27, mainly because a lot of people already think its a sin to show Gordon in cutscenes, not to talk about making him talk to. In fact, in Strider Mountain Gordon did say one small line of text and many people didn't like that at all. Also would it mean rigging the Gordon models face for the faceposer program, what means coding and i can't code. Gordon model has no animations of its own, i use it as a dynamic model, but that is all tech talk.
And Guest, your right, those are indeed Start trek models.
But they are not from the Crysis Temporal Cold War mod (couldn't use them afterall because they wouldn't work, Source has different model file froms.) About 2 to 3 years ago a Source Start Trek mod died and i asked the devs if i could use there assets and they gave permission.
There are still some screens etc that show Star Trek images or screens, but that is why everything is still WIP (work in progress). When the mod is released that will al be worked around, deleted or changed.
Still, remarkeble that you did notice it.
I already wondered if any would see the Star Trek ship on that one pc screen. Thanks for looking that precise at my screens!
and thank you all for your interest,
Leon
edit;
Just checked and i believe it is the Temporal Cold War mod, because the devs said they would continu on the Crytek engine.
A shame though, because that Crytek version also seems dead now, last update was from 2 years ago. So they made 2 very large asset packs, for 2 engines. But never finished it, what a shame!!
To be fair side by side they are very similar to the old star trek mod, might need to change more than you would expect and whilst working as a filler im sure it would be a better result in the long run if you just remade the map to your own style.
You don't want people getting the wrong impression.
Your right TKAzA, but problem is that i am a mapper and not a modeler. So i have to do with whatever i can find on the internet (and then use it with permission of the makers ofcourse). So i am always stuck with what is out there. And you are right, a lot of people will see these models as Start Trek interior stuff. But there is not much out there otherwise for models. The last 4 years i check about each month what is new developed and i use
about all of it. So, rebuilding these levels with other models is not possible. And building levels out of brushwork only is no option also, that looks silly and very old fashion.
So, i am sorry, but i just can't change anything about this.
Leon
Please Leon, no more apologizing. There is NO NEED for it. You work your butt off so that we, the people who do neither mapping nor modding, can enjoy more of the Half Life 2 world. For myself, I Thank You. I cannot even imagine all the hard work and hours upon hours and months you put in on your mods and I am grateful.
Keep it up my friend.
Thank you,
Mark G.
Thank you very much Mark, for the nice compliment.
And it is true, one of two or three updates i apologiaze for not having finished this work. To me it looks already like the developing of the mod will never end, so i can't imagen how it feels to guys like you who keep checking in, just to hear that it will take a few months more to finish it.
But, its the same with each mod i released. It always looks like it never ends, and then suddenly, it is finished and released.
Personaly i can't wait to release it and hear what people think of it.
All in all it is always nice to hear when people apriciate all the work.
So thanks again Mark!
Leon
The Structure bulkheads are looking top-notch. Great work Leon.