MINERVA: Episodic, Single-Player Half-Life 2
ModDB Mod of the Year Awards 2007! - posted by Cargo Cult on Sunday December 2 2007
Two blog-beast posts in one day? I'm rather surprised too. But here you are - phase one of the ModDB Mod of the Year Awards 2007 has been launched. So, do (or don't do) your civic duty, and vote, vote, vote!
Edit 2007-12-06: Also, an interview at Planet Phillip. Read, read, read!
Edit 2007-12-07: Finally, ModMatic has been launched! Currently lacking any content whatsoever, but it's actually got a visual look that's vaguely distinct from this blog-beast. Remember to bookmark it for news and reviews on single-player mods and maps for Half-Life 2 - along with anything else we take a liking to.
Edit 2007-12-08: What's in today's Rock Paper Shotgun gaming advent calendar? Why, MINERVA of course!
Article Comments (now closed)
2. Julia Gillard is Minerva....
Posted by Sanjuro357 at 11:04PM, Sunday December 2 2007
That's twice I've have voted for her in the past fortnight...
3. My Kingdom for a redundancy
Posted by Sanjuro357 at 11:06PM, Sunday December 2 2007
I've have indeed...
5. Mods
Posted by Flobster at 12:49AM, Monday December 3 2007
Most of the mods out there that have decent ideas and look great, never release a thing, so on that alone minerva deserves it!
That and being genuinely good.
6. Re: Mods
Posted by Sanjuro357 at 8:32AM, Monday December 3 2007
I think Cargo Cult hit the nail on the head when he said that some mods are too ambitious and fail to get released for that very reason.
Adam has a clear and realistic idea of how much he can do (and maintain a high standard of quality). Minerva was released episodically for that reason.
Well done on a great achievement Adam. I look forward to more of your work in the future.
7. Ow, My Avatar
Posted by Vodkarn at 6:51PM, Monday December 3 2007
I actually get slightly affronted (for Adam by proxy, I guess) when people say his mod is "almost as good as HL2 itself," or something along those lines.
I've played through MINERVA twice. I barely, BARELY made it through HL2 once.
It's rare for a MOD (hell, game) to have this much story, character (of a computer personality at any rate), and great level design.
It would take a pretty amazing newcomer for me to not vote this as the MOD of the year.
8. MINERVA for president...uh, I mean Mod of the Year!
Posted by Nesretep at 8:48PM, Monday December 3 2007
I have already placed my vote for MINERVA as well. In my opinion, it is the mod that really deserves it this year. He got an honorable mention last year as the 500 pound gorilla that is Black Mesa took the prize. Now that Adam has a recently released a new chapter, he is fresh on peoples minds and had garnered many more acolytes than we had this time last year. I think MINERVA can win it all.
9. Re: MINERVA for primeminister...uh, I mean Mod of the Year!
Posted by Sortie at 11:57PM, Monday December 3 2007
I thought we agreed the name of the gorilla was Betty.
Black Mesa: Betty™
10. It better...
Posted by Tolkienfanatic at 5:16AM, Tuesday December 4 2007
Win. MINERVA better win or thousands of children worldwide will cry.
Or maybe that's just me.
11. Ahem...
Posted by cypher543 at 5:44AM, Tuesday December 4 2007
"It's rare for a MOD (hell, game) to have this much story, character (of a computer personality at any rate), and great level design."
*cough*Portal*cough*
12. I think that's Deputy Prime Minister...
Posted by Sanjuro357 at 7:32AM, Tuesday December 4 2007
I thought the 245 Kilogram Gorilla was called Beazley.....
Or is that a bit harsh?
Can Gorillas sign the Kyoto Protocol?
Are my Australian political references too obscure?
13. Re: Re: MINERVA for primeminister...uh, I mean Mod of the Year!
Posted by Nesretep at 7:28PM, Tuesday December 4 2007
Shhhh...they haven't offically released that info yet, Sortie! :) I know it's hard to keep quiet...but they have people watching...
14. Remember:
Posted by he who laughs at 8:48PM, Tuesday December 4 2007
Remember to vote for Marathon: Resurrection as well if you've had the pleasure to play it. If you haven't, do try it out, it's quite amazing.
http://resurrection.bungie.org/news.shtml
To vote -->
http://www.moddb.com/mods/364/marathon-resurrection
15. I'm late
Posted by Vahagn at 12:14AM, Wednesday December 5 2007
I just voted, but... I'm two days late, by now! Will I ever forgive myself for this? Damn university graduation, stealing my precious time...
16. Re: Remember
Posted by Yar Kramer at 8:19PM, Wednesday December 5 2007
... Hot damn. I might have to get Unreal Tournament just for this!
17. new interview
Posted by Ace at 7:19AM, Friday December 7 2007
Everyone catch that new link to the interview Adam did for PlanetPhillip? If we'd known about it earlier apparently we could've gotten in some questions. Hmm, if I may be allowed a tardy interview question, it would be a follow up, I was wondering exactly what this means?
"FPS architecture has to be terribly ‘broken’ to look good on the screen - small things are larger than they should be, and vice versa."
I was also interested to see the Stanislaw Lem reference, I never read His Masters Voice, is there a decent translation for it? Someone really needs to do a decent direct Polish to English translation of Solaris. (busy locworks?) Otherwise that one was great.
(I also must admit to a smidgen of smug satisfaction at seeing spelling fiend Adam being [sic]'d, especially after seeing him correct the spelling of a questioner. (assuming that [sic] came from the editor.) Heh heh, go Phillip!)
18. Close but no cigar.
Posted by locworks at 8:51AM, Friday December 7 2007
In the HTTP Standard referrer is misspelt: ‘referer’. Not a bug.
19. Solaris
Posted by locworks at 9:02AM, Friday December 7 2007
I'd rather insert rusty nails in my head than translate Solaris. The thing is wordy beyond decency, as bad as some post-modern French philosophy essays (and American essays regurgitating them). Pilot Pirx's crime mystery adventures, on the other hand, are a sweet laugh. "Thou art the man", indeed.
20. Re: Close but no cigar
Posted by Ace at 9:51AM, Friday December 7 2007
Damn. Should've known better than to question Adam's spelling. I guess that was Adam's
[sic] then? Damn. Eh, sorry? (but dammit all to hell, I'll find a spelling mistake somewhere! If it's the last thing I do!)
And yeah Solaris had some indecently lengthy diversions in it, but did you see that Russian film version? There was a car ride that went on for like 10 minutes! And nothing happened! It was just ten minutes of early morning traffic with no dialogue. And it still managed to actually be pretty good. Even though if you took out the parts where nothing was actually happening you'd basically be left with a long commercial.
21. Spelign [sic]
Posted by Cargo Cult at 4:17PM, Friday December 7 2007
It's called system-wide spell-checking on Mac OS X. My spelling is now glorious - any deviations from the norm are immediately assigned a dotted red line beneath them! Mwuhahahahaha!
(And when I argue with said spell-checker, there are electronic versions of the Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus readily accessible. American, natch, but its Oxford ancestry is betrayed by being more than liberal in giving British definitions too...)
Translations? Watch for the name 'Michael Kandel'.
22. Firefox
Posted by fuzz at 5:19PM, Friday December 7 2007
My spelling improved so much when firefox introduced the built in spell checker, now it's hard to tell I'm dyslexic.
23. @fuzz
Posted by kast at 5:36PM, Friday December 7 2007
Though you don't seem to be able to decide whether you're fuzz or phuzz
I've just been browsing Rock, Paper, Shotgun and recognised that starfish-like avatar.
24. ha!
Posted by fuzz at 6:42PM, Friday December 7 2007
well, it all comes down to what's been taken already...good stalking skills mr kast ;)
25. Modmatic feed
Posted by Theory at 1:02AM, Saturday December 8 2007
FYI: the Modmatic feed's metadata still talks about Minerva.
26. Re: Modmatic feed
Posted by Cargo Cult at 2:00AM, Saturday December 8 2007
No it doesn't!
(Phew ... I don't think anyone noticed that really stupid bug...)
Also, fuzz: Rhino Scar?
27. close enough
Posted by Ace at 6:32AM, Saturday December 8 2007
Well it seems then that I'll have to content myself with this 'bug', in lieu of a, you know, actual spelling mistake.. (Doesn't 'Oxford' 'American' dictionary sound a bit paradoxical? I'm a Webster's man myself.)
And thanks CC, I'll check out Mr. Kandel's translations.
(hopefully Gabe won't mind the appropriation of his sketch?)
28. D'oh!
Posted by kast at 12:22PM, Saturday December 8 2007
Rhino scar... how did I not recognise that!? *Hangs head in shame*
29. RPS
Posted by fuzz at 1:46PM, Saturday December 8 2007
Rock Paper Shotgun have been running down some of their favourite games of the last year, in the form of an advent calendar. Todays game?
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=719
a certain mod for HL2.
Congrats Adam!
30. WOOHOO
Posted by krisvek at 5:30AM, Sunday December 9 2007
Finally had the time to play throught the newest release, and now that I have finished, I feel I must gush forth with thanks and congratulations and so forth.
And so, I will. It was great, a very terrific experience. I enjoyed the latest segments more than the first ones, which I wasn't expecting, not out of lack of faith, but mostly, out of expectations of the usual. However, you wrapped the little adventure up perfectly, and I loved some of the events within (that I won't mention in detail here, I guess, to save from spoilers, but mannnn....I wasn't expecting a couple of things :) and was pleasantly suprised).
I definitely look forward to future releases.
P.S. The character we play as, Mr. Mystery...he must be one ugly guy by now, yes? His 'inhuman' condition to start, plus all the bullets and bites he's recieved...and his lack of proper sunscreen when it would be needed most. Maybe we'll get to see this scarred, mutilated husk of a man some day!
31. Re: Mr. Mystery
Posted by Yar Kramer at 1:30AM, Monday December 10 2007
Nah, you can probably just copy the head of one of the charred corpses in Ravenholme onto the "helmetless Combine soldier" model. ;)
Article is now closed for commenting.
1. First, again,
Posted by Sortie at 4:27PM, Sunday December 2 2007
First again, for the second time today on this blogbeast.
Sure, if there's no better mods, Minerva deserves it this year too!