Moddb Cleanup, FAQ and News.

Hey everyone.

If you visit this page often, you might have noticed that a lot of images, videos or articles disappeared. Fear not, it was intentional. Here's what happened.

We aim to improve the look of the page, basically, making it looking more serious and professional. Thus, I had to remove a lot of the Images, some Videos and a few Articles.

Why?
When I started the Project, in 2013, I wasn't prepared and I didn't planned much. Basically, I was working ideas as they came to my head. Let's say it wasn't a good idea. Some of that content got scrapped and was still shown in the library.

Also, since the creation of the Team, in the past months, we were able to progress a lot more than the last 2.5 years. It means a lot to me and I wish to keep you guys updated with proper content. The mod is still quite Early in development due to the fact that I had to scrap and restart a couple of time.

A lot of the recent images were outdated and showed only two maps, which would flood the galleries if we were to continue like this and post as much images for every maps. I have then taken the decision to remove a good portion to save space. Then, as we progress, we will simply add fewer screenshots as before. I've also updated some of the descriptions and images, Check it out, it's looking pretty nice.

As for the Articles, I've removed some of them because they are too outdated. They've shown ideas I had in the past which do not reflect the current project and are therefore useless. Once again, it's to prevent people to make expectation based from an outdated information.

How much did the mod changed?
It changed a lot, but the main goal stayed the same. The idea is to create a unique experience by creating a branching story. The project is quite ambitious and we had many problem during the development which forced us to change different things. We were able to find a way around some of them, however others forced us to revise the original plan. Here's an example of what is planned

• Every maps must be super detailed. - Basically, the game engine have a maximum entity that it can handle. We plan to get each map near this maximum value to give a very detailed environment which is fun to explore. It also raise the file size, expect the finished game to be over 10 Gigabytes
• Easter Eggs in each maps. - There is no limit to the amount of Easter Eggs that will be added in each maps. What you can be sure is that you will find at least one in every maps. They can be of many types, Famous citations, Pop Culture references, Secret zones, Back Story, etc.
• Each maps must be tested about 10 time. - Every single maps will be tested blindly by at least 10 different persons. These people will create a report of their experience so we can fix any issues and improve the game.

The list goes on.

Is it still a Free 2 Play?
Yes! Nothing will change this. I've promised that it was going to be Free and I will keep my words!

How many are you in the team?
Team Abyss is still a small team, as I wrote this letter, we are 12 members. [-Click Here-] for the Team diagram.

What is your budget?
We do not have a Budget, 0$ is what has been spent so far on the project. I personally do not gain enough money to spend on the game. Every members of the Team are volunteers. As of now, the only expense was to host our website

When will it be released?
We do not know yet, I rather not push the team to work on a tight schedule. After all, we already works out of our spear time. If everything goes right, we should be able to get a Demo by Q2 2016. As for the Completed game. It's still to be determined.

Do you plan on making a Funding campaign?
I don't know, we haven't really spoke much about that. There is already a failed Kickstarter attempt. Also, after contacting Valve, they told me that without buying the license I shouldn't make one. That's unfortunate because my goal wasn't to sell the game but to raise funding. ( Maybe there was a misunderstanding between us ) There is also a lot to consider before getting money involved.

What about a Patreon?
A Patreon campaign seems to be a good idea, I've though about it for a while, but I am still uncertain. The problem with Patreon is that we have no guaranty that it will works or the amount of money we could get every months is constant. Of course, it would help us gaining some financial support which can end up opening new doors. This idea is still under consideration. There is a lot to figure out before having money involved in the project.

Is the game on Steam?
Yes, the game was greenlit by the community in only 5 days after it was posted. [Greenlight Here] The store page is almost ready, it's only missing a few icons and a proper Trailer. We might be able to get it done by the end of December.

Do I need Portal 2?
Yes, I've contacted Valve to ensure that Portal 2 was a requirement to play Abyss. We are working to make it "Self sufficient" or "Standalone" Meaning that you need to own Portal 2 but you don't need it to be installed in order to play. As of now, you must have installed Portal 2 to play Abyss.

It's time for some News.

The team is still growing, we are looking for talented individuals who wish to offer their help out of their free time. Right now, we need one Mapper and a few Voice actors. A particle artist would also be appreciated [Source Particles Editor via Alien Swarm]

[Requirement] - Mapper

• Create and design most of the maps geometry from descriptions and concepts.
• Have at least a couple hours a week to work.
• Must own Portal 2 on Steam.
• Gives weekly update in the group discussion
• Must be very familiar with Hammer editor, many years of experience.

[Requirement] - Voice Actors

• Can be loud
• Have free time to dedicate on the Mod
• Need one to mimic Cave Johnson - Must be a very good impressions
• Makes believable speech.
• Can edit the audio file if needed, i.e. making robotic voice.

[Requirement] - Particle Artist

• Have experience with the Particle Editor for Source. [Alien Swarm]
• Have a few hours a week to work.

To apply:
If you are interested, please fill this [Form] then if you are chosen, we will contact you within a week. Thank you for your interest!

Now, I wanted to talk about the future updates on Moddb. As usual, they won't be scheduled, an update could happen at any time. However, to encourage people to visit our [Site], we won't update the Moddb page frequently. I did a little clean up in order to help it out. From now on, the images and other medias on moddb will be dedicated to show the good render/finished maps, concept, songs, etc. If you want to follow the development, you can sign up on the Forum linked above.

Thank you for your time.