Posted by Guest Reviewer
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:24:00 GMT
[Guest review by MedO]
Adam Foster recently released the last part in the first episode of Minerva, his amazing Half-Life 2 mod. I’ve played through it a few days ago and I think it’s vastly better than Valve’s own HL2:Episode1. In fact, it’s one of the best games I’ve played in the last few months.
The story takes place in the Half-Life universe, on a tiny island somewhere in the Baltic Sea that has been burrowed out by the Combine. You are dropped off there by the unknown and unseen character calling herself Minerva, who sends you (sometimes cryptic) text messages to inform you of important events or sometimes just to insult you. She doesn’t seem to care about your life, but wants you to survive as long as possible to gather information, and cross the Combine’s plans. Guided by Minerva, you begin to explore what the Combine are up to, descending ever deeper into the island’s underground.
One very nice thing about the mod is that you’ll rarely see the loading screen, because they are created in a very economic way – there’s almost an hour of gameplay in each map. Since you are descending ever deeper, you have several layers of rooms on the same map, all below each other. The long time you spend in each map sometimes allows you to see into areas you will only reach a while later, and makes it possible to have enemies appear in a realistic fashion: sometimes you can see Combine hurrying along above or below you some time before they actually get to you, which adds a lot to the feeling of realism in the game.
(The Minerva Development Blog is here.)
Posted in FPS, Mods / Hacks, Freeware | 11 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:28:00 GMT
Castlevania for the NES was a pretty tough game, but Chorus of Mysteries, a rom hack by optomon and Dr. Mario, makes playing the original seem as easy as cloning a PopCap game (zing!). Never before have medusa heads and jumping situations been combined with such little compassion towards the player. I think save states were created for the sole purpose of getting through this game.
Still, if you’re a Castlevania nut, it’s worth checking out because it’s a pretty full conversion of the first game. Or, you know, buy a whip and check yourself into a Turkish prison. The results will probably be the same.
Posted in Platformers, Mods / Hacks | 7 comments
Posted by Shabadage
Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:56:00 GMT
Well, this game came out of nowhere (relative, of course, to my blindness), but it’s a good one. Basically, it’s a rom hack that replaces the normal Link to the Past with an adventure called Parallel Worlds. The hack is high quality, though some of the early dungeons are a bit simplistic, they do get better. If you’ve already beaten the crap out of Twilight Princess, then this game might hold you over until the DS Zelda launches later this year.
Notes: This is designed to work with the [U] GOODSNES designated rom. You might have to go through a few roms before you get one the hack works on.
(NOTE: TIGSource cannot and will not provide links to the ROM, only the hack.)
Posted in Mods / Hacks | 12 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:33:00 GMT
Did you know that Halo was originally designed to be an RTS? But then they made it into a FPS. WTF?
Then three years ago some people started working on a mod for Command and Conquer Generals to recreate Halo as an RTS. But recently Microsoft sent them a cease and desist letter.
I’ll never understand why people try to make mods like this. Three years spent working on a game (for free, no less!), only to have the project canned with a single email. It’s like taking your neighbors’ kid and then raising it as your own for three years, only to have them be like, “WTF, that’s MY kid!” and then take them back. And there’s nothing you can do because it really isn’t your kid, even though you invested three years’ of time into it.
You should have had your own kid! Or “licensed” one legally through an adoption center. You know what I mean?
(Source: Kotaku)
Posted in Community, Mods / Hacks, Strategy | 9 comments
Posted by Albert Lai
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:39:00 GMT
“In Strider Mod Team, we made a little experiment with the source engine. Can we code a portal system like Prey, Portal or any game with portals and do it multiplayer?. Yes, we can do and source can do it.”
For those not in the know, Excite is the name of the mod (Portal: Please Don’t Sue Us probably wasn’t catchy enough). No release date yet, but it looks to be shaping up nicely.
Heck, funny things happen when the picture is larger than the post.
Posted in Multiplayer, Mods / Hacks, Previews | 1 comment
Posted by Derek Yu
Sun, 13 Aug 2006 01:23:00 GMT
Despite having the most ridiculous name since Destiny Sword Buster Golden Dragon Myth XXL (no, that’s not a real game), Dragon X Omega 2 is a really, really competent hack of Final Fantasy. We don’t cover hacks too often on TIGSource (actually ever), but DXO2 is a total conversion that’s worth checking out. As far as I can tell, every part of the game is completely new, from the graphics to the music. It’s such that you’ll forget that you’re playing an FF hack every now and then.
The gameplay is the usual NES RPG faire, with plot points pushing you linearly to the game’s conclusion. Unlike FF, you control a single character in this game, which is kind of unfortunate. It does add to the overall feeling of desolation, though.
Find a Final Fantasy ROM, a NES emulator, and an IPS patcher to play!
(Source: Romhacking.net)
Posted in RPG, Mods / Hacks | 1 comment
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 08 Jun 2006 23:44:00 GMT
Tremulous is a free, open-source RTS/FPS hybrid that once again pits teams of humans versus teams of aliens in mortal combat over the last piece of apple pie. The RTS aspect of the game comes from players being able to build helpful structures during the game (like respawn points). It looks pretty cheap, but could be fun for fans of this sort of thing.
Also, the creators are quick to point out that they were working on their game long before Natural Selection, so there!
(Source: Kotaku)
Posted in FPS, Mods / Hacks, Windows, Freeware | 3 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 31 May 2006 18:46:00 GMT
It seems like every time I look, there’s something new going on in Linden Labs’ virtual world Second Life. I like this story about how a stay-at-home mom (who formerly worked in the games industry, I might add) has created a flourishing ecosystem in the game in her spare time. It’s just the kind of geeky and fun thing that makes gaming great.
All this sounds like an invaluable experiment in artificial life or testing theories on evolutionary development, so I ask if she’s interested in finding out anything from Svarga.
“Yeah,” she answers, “Is it fun? I’m totally uninterested in all the hypothetical bollox that gets spouted by academics.”
She sounds like a cool mom.
Posted in MMOG, Mods / Hacks | 2 comments
