Home › Forums › General Discussion › Irish-themed MOD for HL2 anyone?
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19/09/2003 at 9:25 am #2845AnonymousInactive
Hi all.
Heres an idea that’s been floating around in my head for a year or two now.
At the risk of falling into LA Waiter syndrome (every one has a script they want to work on), I find it really suprising that one area of relevance to us has not been addressed in a mod (to my knowledge):
The 1916 Easter Rising.
We’ve seen countless WWI, WWII, Vietnam and even Gulf mods. I really think that 1916 is of interest to anyone which an Irish heritage (of which, of course, there are millions).
On a practical level, we have ample research material to do this justice. I walk down O’Connell Street every day, and often look up at the GPO, and try to imagine how it must have felt to be a part of this revolution.
As a Web Designer / Artist and part-time modder Texture artist, I would love to explore this avenue. With several games companies (apparently) on the verge of setting up here, and an Irish IGDA Chapter, it seems like a really good time to produce something quintessentially Irish, to portray an extremely important event in a respectful and historic tone, and to bring Irish awareness to a new generation of gamers. I could imagine a high quality HL2 mod (for example) could garner lots of press interest.
For the record, I don’t want to get into a political quagmire here – I simply want to recreate these events in game format. No agenda, except perhaps political awareness. For the record, I’m actually English, been in Ireland for 10 years (oh irony of ironies).
Thoughts on this mod?
Lewis Boadle
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19/09/2003 at 2:00 pm #9638AnonymousInactive
Sounds good, but gameplay-wise, excuse my ignorance on the history, is there enough events/levels and things to do in each, that could be connected together to make a flowing game like Medal Of Honour. Or had you more of a Battlefield 1942 mod in mind, i.e strictly multiplayer side vs side, where the maps only relationship to each other is that they were part of the war.
Just some thoughts,
Chris
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19/09/2003 at 4:14 pm #9639AnonymousInactive
Lynchman,
hadn’t thought that far ahead. My personal preference is for historical accuracy and realism, thus I would steer away from the choas of BF1942, and lean toward a single player experience.
However, these projects require concensus, and I would certainly not see myself as a project manager-type.
Imagine the gritty realism of Flashpoint with the ‘slickness’ of Mohaa (or Call of Duty). Need to get some cultchies to contribute to the voice acting ;)
Thanks for your interest.
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19/09/2003 at 10:08 pm #9640AnonymousInactive
hmmm… it would be interesting, I think it would work more as a squad based mod (save the british armoured cars/boats, tractors would hardly be of much intesest – so out go vehicles :D)
But as someone said, was there enough skirmishs to warrent a mod? What about the war of independence instead? Perhaps leading into the civil war. That might be a more well rounded period. The same idea has struck me before in the past – a mod based around Irish conflicts would be exciting to make.
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20/09/2003 at 10:50 pm #9641AnonymousInactive
What are you really looking for in a mod? Do you want a good level of fame and recognition, do you want people to play it and enjoy it as a game, or do you simply want to have achieved that goal of having completed a large scale project such as a half life total conversion mod?
For me, I really want to see people enjoying a mod if I am involved in it – I want people to send me mails saying “wow – I thought that was really fun, here’s another idea to make it even better!”. You could release a mod that is historically accurate, great fun to play, but without a fundamental understanding of the history and politics of the Irish independence movement, few people will ever really “get” what the game is about.
Thus, I think the concept of a historical style mod is doomed to be at best a niche interest.
On the other hand, I think there is amazing scope for a mod set in a Irish mythological setting. Firstly, with a decent group of creative folks, celtic artwork can truly give a unique flavour to a game. Second, non-Irish folks are far more likely to be able to associate with a mythological setting then a historically accurate one. Third, people by nature like feeling they have some importance in the events of an unfolding storyline, and a “famous” mythological character lends towards that interpretation far better then an unnamed soldier in some historical battle. Next up…powers. The abilities of Fionn, Diarmuid, Oisin, Cu Chulainn and the other characters lend far more seamlessly to the style of FPS “one guy butchers a hundred” thematically. Musically, once again celtic style music really lends an individual identity to the mod, once again creating something that sets you apart from the plethora of folks doing mods for this that and the other.
I could offer plenty more points, but I am going to conclude here anyway. If I were to be involved in such a mod, I really want something with its own unique identity that sets it apart from anything else anyone is at. I want it to have a worldwide interest, and I want people to really become involved in the game, to get a truly memorable experience from it, and maybe even to understand that little bit better what it is like to have a rich culture like we do.
Maybe that is too much to aim for, but to achieve something even close would be truly worthwhile
Dave
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21/09/2003 at 12:27 am #9642AnonymousInactive
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21/09/2003 at 3:50 am #9643AnonymousInactive
Funny thing is that I’ve had a decent idea set around “Tir na nOg” style land. The problem with using Tir na nOg is that I feel I’m confined to the constraints of the legends of which I only know a bit of. Also I’m dubious of talking more because I’m fearful of my idea getting stolen, how does one comunicate the idea but still keep it and hold the rights to it? Are NDA’s needed right from the pitch????
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22/09/2003 at 1:26 pm #9646AnonymousInactive
>Also I’m dubious of talking more because I’m fearful of my idea getting stolen
I’d say every game developer in Ireland has had some sort of game based on…
A Gaelic / Hurley game
Any Irish mythology ( Tir Na Nog, the Fianna, St Patrick too many to mention ), either adventure based ( Broken Sword ), resource management based ( 3D C&C ), fight based ( Braveheart game ) etc.
Irish History ( potentially politically dodgy )
Leprechaun Hunting :)
Even Riverdance ( using the dance mat… NOOOO!! )Any of these games can be developed in many different ways, and as getting a game developed and completed is so difficult ( if it’s a commercial game you are going to sell ) that, if you have an idea and no resources ( time, money, team members ), it’s probably going to remain an idea for a number of years.
If your game has a particular USP ( unique selling point ), spend some spare time developing that aspect of the game… if it works, you can then build on that to create a prototype to sell to publishers etc.
I’ve a book here overflowing with various game ideas and concepts, but without substantial resources, we at canDo have to pick the ones that can be developed at a low cost, and within a few months.
Mal
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