Post news Report RSS Provenance version 1.0 released

The first release of the mod has been uploaded. Check it out and let me know what you think and would like to see in a potential sequel.

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I've uploaded the first public release of Provenance. Download it in the Downloads section. Be sure to click that 'read more' link to see the awesome people who've helped me complete this -- they definitely deserve it.

Platform Atrium 2
Sector B Test Chamber Zombie


I've also uploaded the map sources for any developers who are interested in seeing how some things are done without having to use a decompiled mess. You can check that out here:
Phallus-palace.com

Have fun.

And check out my website for information on my first Left 4 Dead level, too! It's set in a mall!
Phallus-palace.com

Edit: I didn't really wanna mention it but this was made as a portfolio piece -- a quick run-through of various settings, a puzzle or two, a battle arena experience, and some cool ramp-up to an end. Don't take your black screens and lousy computer crashes too seriously. And yeah, the black screen at the end should have discontinued the game but game_end is broken. Whoops.

Post comment Comments
Arkanj3l
Arkanj3l

Something to hold us over until Black Mesa.

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Sibelius
Sibelius

oh, nice. dowloading now.

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klichka
klichka

That was too short. It was like a demo, you never got to try out the silenced pistol and you never really got to try out the HECU grunts either.

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Afnopo
Afnopo

Couple of problems, but if any mod I would recommend involving the Half-Life 2 universe, defiantly this one.

This is the only Half-Life 2 mod that has crashed my computer though..

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mothmann
mothmann

is it the end when everything is just black and music keeps looping over? or do i need to wait?

And when i first spawned in the almost pitch black room my flashlight didn't work. It didnt' work till i recieved the crowbar. I had to mat_fullbright 1 just to figure out where to go.

My review. Combine parts were pointless. The headcrab part was long and boring. And the strider part was pretty boring too. The only good combat parts were short. Could have been way better. Looked good tho.

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zonbie
zonbie

finished moments ago.

This mod is well-described, "short but sweet". But it also comes with a little bit of "sour".

PROS:

Immersion: Nostalgic sounds echo through the derelict facility. Meanwhile, your head slightly bobs up and down when you walk. Soldiers are just "hanging out", unaware of your presense. Elsewhere within, Combine war machines maul the innards of the soon-to-be-doomed Black Mesa. All this and more combine to make an excellent environment to see.

Variety: There's some simple puzzle action, and that's pretty neat. There's a little sneaking action going on as well, compelling you to re-load after disturbing the soldiers, even if you survive their attack. (Perhaps this mechanic needs tuning...) There's plenty of cinematics to take in.

CONS:

Few "vista" moments: While there was plenty of excellent level design, there always seemed to be a lot of combat and survival going on in the second half, forcing me away from the aesthetic. I was really unable to take in the environment because of the enemies.

Unusual storytelling: The oh-so-short moments where you portrayed a Combine soldier were the finest moments in the game, but there was really no need for them to be in this mod. Even worse, there was only one and a half "Combine" moments. Perhaps this feature was just a "proof-of-concept" add-in for the author, but even including one more "Combine" moment where you battled Marines would have completed the vision for us.

Boss fight: The boss fight is broken. It crashed my engine twice, killed me for no reason a number of times, and I sadly had to "god" my way through it. Certain items sitting outside the tram misled me to think I should get off...but I could not get off. ???

Overall, excellent effort. This is certainly worth the play.

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Dr_Nick
Dr_Nick

Definitely a great mod. I love the mapping and the environments feel very realistic and surreal.

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Corrode
Corrode

Excuse me but how can something be realistic and surrealistic at the same time?

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Spas12
Spas12

Hey mate, Spas12 here!

I downloaded this mod off of your website about 2 weeks ago, since you posted it publicly here ill give you what i think.

The mod was of course visually appealing and had some great custom content. Great modeling, scripting, and texturing. The player being a combine soldier at points was fun and original, as well as having a pretty cool ending. Although, the teleport chamber was WAY too dark in the beginning and i could barely find the ladder even with the lights near it on. Why would a giant teleporting machine work but not the lights for the room? Also, the small vent part with the 2 batteries was a good idea, but almost impossibly hard to get out of. i would make it so climbing on top of the pipes was easier. The headcrab pipe section was neat, but imo there was just too much crabs. Besides, why would the ambush just suddenly stop as soon as you finish powering the door up? And the end of the mod was just buggy. 3 seconds after the train started, the mod crashed, had to restart the mod. While the train was in motion, i broke the glass and hopped onto the other train, however, you only placed the trigger_changelevel in the first train u got on, so i was stuck in the header train with a faded screen unable to get into the trigger_changelevel, forcing me to load a previous save point.The first time the strider blew up my turret just fine, but after getting killed the strider kept killing the turret and me, no matter where i was in the train! Also, when you got up to the gauss gun aprt, i could not find a single way to get out of the train and shoot at the strider with it. had to turn on god mode to escape the strider and finish the mod.

Overall it was good, it just wasn't betatested enough. Good luck mate, your trying just as hard as me if not harder to get another job in the industry.

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NODEraser
NODEraser

There was a Gauss gun part?

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tundra_cool Author
tundra_cool

Haha, yeah, the turret disappearing is a crazy bug in HL2 where func_tank is removed from the game if in an explosives damage radius. I've asked about it here a while ago because it's so annoyingly strange: Interlopers.net

The Gauss is leftover from when grunts used to be on that platform and shoot.

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TheBorz
TheBorz

I reinstaled it aftar I deleted it but this time it doesnt apear in steam list o.O

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Nicklan
Nicklan

I would like to thank you for releasing the source maps too.
This mod is great.

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Varsity
Varsity

Glad this was uploaded to ModDB. I really don't want to visit the Phallus Palace... :-o

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zonbie
zonbie

haaaaaaaahahahaha.

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MrMazure
MrMazure

Haven't been able to play past map2, keep crashing once I get to the first strider while in the train.

First time a mod crashs my computer that much.

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freredarme
freredarme

A lot of crash.. :(

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Polar_Berk
Polar_Berk

I agree with what a lot of people posted above, some good mapping but it crashed a few times (when all the HL1 grunts opened fire and also the strider/train chase).

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Kalakukkoo
Kalakukkoo

How do you kill the strider. i get to the part where it chases me and my tram and every time it does the Pulse cannon attack I die. I can't dodge the attack at all.

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mothmann
mothmann

SPOILER about STRIDER

to everybody having trouble with the strider. You have to attack the charged energy blast before it hits the train to derail it i guess. Forcing it to miss you. Tho for some reason it still destroys the machine gun. Then after it destorys the mgun you still have to use your guns to do it one more time when going up.

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Forsete
Forsete

And how the heck were we, the players, supposed to know that? I had to do the same thing as joe_rogers and active "God mode" to get out of that chase alive.

Anyway, decent effort but could've been better. Not a lot made sense but it was fun to revisit Black Mesa once again. Apart from people here the mod didn't crash for me once.

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Grobi
Grobi

It was fun and there were some really interesting ideas in there that could have been elaborated on. The silenced pistol was cool and so was sneeking past the soldiers. We didn't get to see much of the combine or army go at it which would have been cool.

All in all, it's good but we just need more!

EDIT : The escape sequence was kind of irritating at the end. I had to sit in the shuttle and just weather the striders fire without having any way of defending myself. Perhaps giving the player the ability to grab shielding or throw something back at the strider would be useful?

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freredarme
freredarme

The end is the black windows screen after the music ? I don't understand the end :S , no credits and the game not stop :S

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HellsHigh
HellsHigh

Had a few crashes and some problems (stand at the back of the tram when the strider chases you or else you die) and such but still a very well done mod. Really needs another iteration because this was just awesome.

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Nibbled
Nibbled

Nice detail, gameplay was bit... crap there was hardly anything to shoot! tho twice :o (win7)
(when died after getting silenced pistol crashed and when got on train strider crashed :P)
What is with the ending? No credits? just leave it like that on ending the black screen?

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NODEraser
NODEraser

While I thought playing as combine was really cool (someone should make a combine mod), it doesn't really fit in with the HL1 storyline... I wouldn't think that human/combine soldiers would have been engineered until after the surrender of Earth. But hey, you can do whatever you want, right?

I also had difficulty with the start being nearly pitch black and not being able to use my flashlight... Had at least one crash. Got through the tram section without doing any damage to the strider, and didn't see any Gauss gun like someone else had posted.

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NODEraser
NODEraser

Were the combine sections supposed to be in slo-mo? The first one atop the silo was only running at about 10 fps anyway, so it probably wouldn't have made a difference... Some other areas hit heavy on the fps meter as well.

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HellsHigh
HellsHigh

Judging by the cobwebs and such on the equipment, I think the mod takes place after the combine invasion. Poor Gordon has gotten himself stuck back inside black mesa somehow me thinks.

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Ballsopt
Ballsopt

didnt black mesa get nuked?

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tundra_cool Author
tundra_cool

Naw, dawg. Unless you mean that one mod. Then yeah, that explains the wait.

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zonbie
zonbie

black mesa did get nuked. it got nuked in Opposing Forces by the G-man

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tundra_cool Author
tundra_cool

Yep, Eli even mentions it in that beginning mess of a sound file. But when I started this I figured that I've always wanted to do a Black Mesa thing. I mean, so many people do but they never finish.

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HellsHigh
HellsHigh

Dude, Black Mesa Mod isn't dead >______>

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levan563
levan563

fps on map 4-7
Om my god

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1337Ace
1337Ace

I actualy loved the story. I loved right up until it ended... took about 20 mins to complete lol. It left me feeling abit in the dark about teh story. Loved the scene where the combine start fighting the soldiers. Well thought out.

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Beez-one
Beez-one

First of all, everything looks great in this mod - environment, atmosphere - amazing. And i think combine parts deservs to evolve in separate mod - I was on the edge of my seat, literally.

But... The strider part... Big flaw! I mean, my only wish was to leave the train and run all the way on my own, cos MG was evaporated by the scripted blast!!! And second blast evaporates you! End of the game for me, mates!

Flaws like this could kill mod of any caliber. Something that obvious to map creator could distract players easily and destroy all the fun.

BTW train platform fight was very intense and interesting, thumbs up!

My recommendation - play it on easy. There are dozens of badasses and everyone hates you! :)

P.S. Sorry for my possibly bad english! :)

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pupkin
pupkin

Good mod, but you should work on your enemy placement, and the performance. I had some heavy lag in the first 2 rooms, which made it almost unplayble. Also I had to use godmode twice while fighting the strider, since he kept killing me with his secondary fire... But still this was a pretty awesome mod, and I especially liked the great combine parts, it was like the mod had 2 protagonists. Also the sneaky part was pretty innovative on source, although I kept getting detected by that shotgunner who was sitting behind the sandbags. But still a good mod and I hope you will complete the sequel XD

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NuclearBanane
NuclearBanane

did not work...

how do i fix this it won't run?

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Iman7
Iman7

Here's my review.

Its a good mod but it needs a few gameplay tweaks here and there.

Pros: The mapping is superb, its feels, looks, sounds, and reeks of Black Mesa. However, there were far too few quiet moments that really let me take a good look at all the little details. The few puzzles were decent although I felt that were a bit too many headcrabs in the power puzzle. Maybe 10 or 15 is enough. The bits playing as a combine were nice. (Drop the blue overlay. Make it red for the Elites) But considering the length of the mod, it doesn't really fit in unless you throw in a story with it.

Cons: The mod doesn't always lead the player breaking the flow of gameplay. I don't mean that the mod has to hold our hand all the way through making it too easy. What I felt it needed was to point the player in the right direction. One good example for this was at the beginning. The emergency lights were a good way of pointing out where to go. Which was the very first place I decided to look. But it failed because the ladder was very hard to see. We hardly get to battle the marines. Even if you do alert them it usually ends up crashing.

Are we supposed to get the gravity gun? I've been racking my head on how to move the locker blocking the vent but I am yet to find a way.
Because I felt that the Manhack portion was a bit hard with the crowbar. Leaving me with so little health to face the endless hordes of Combine while waiting for the train.

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Mr.R
Mr.R

This Mod was really fun! Can you please make a Provenance 2?

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Seaalisgonefromhere
Seaalisgonefromhere

:( The game doesn't continue at the end. It just shows Gordon in a combine thingy. Wish it continued. That would be SUPER nice to me. :)

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