New Decade, New Article

Obsidian Conflict

Obsidian Conflict is a cooperative multiplayer modification set in the Half-Life 2 universe. It features a large amount of new gameplay features on all-new maps specially designed for the mod with focus on cooperative gameplay, as well as Half-Life: Source all the way up to Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

After the summer media update, we kept working on the internals of the mod and at this point, almost all the big bugs like game crashes are gone. With the only remaining bugs being some smaller ones, we are once again able to focus on improvements and new features. For those who haven't seen the news on our [url=https://discord.gg/6FSw7Qp]Discord[/url] back in the day, [b]we began beta testing on Steam directly in late October 2019[/b]. This is a small but important step for us, as we have finally surpassed all the progress we did since back in 2013. This event is another milestone of our work and further proof we are drawing close to the release. You might remember that in our last media update, we announced the collaboration between [i]Obsidian Conflict[/i] and [i]Half-Life: Co-op[/i]. [h2]It's time to reveal some of the fruits from it:[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/e1a678a81d68581cfcb18d55142ceb1c12d932d1.png[/img] Originally made by [b]Mr. Lazy[/b] for [i]Half-Life: Co-op[/i], the maps are undergoing extensive overhaul by our teams, notably solving some long-standing HL:S and HL1 problems, restoring the original GoldSrc lighting, optimizing the maps, porting and fixing the correct textures and much more, with the planned addition of the PS2 map improvements. Thanks to [b]Slartibarty's[/b] compile tools, there are several new VRAD options that allow us to produce results closer to their original appearance in the GoldSrc engine, such as issues with [url=https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/230#issuecomment-485070180]Software rendering overbright lighting[/url]. Right now, adapting the PS2 Half-Life maps [u][b]is planned, but not in progress[/b][/u]. The PS2 maps provide a few improvements, such as improved brushwork or using models instead of BSP. [i][b]Those specific improvements may come post release for the time being, while we finish other more pressing tasks[/b][/i]. These enhanced maps, together with their VMFs and the special lights.rad files will be released once completed and made available both for [i]Half-Life: Co-op[/i], [i]Obsidian Conflict[/i] and [i]Half-Life: Source[/i] itself. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/617dad58e0da3cd2eb9f01add6613b354a0127b1.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/b4c247f2685ddfe5523b831132716eaade2398b4.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/cc0b486dc1b2f4e46e3f8421f2329a2a0af89d86.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/af27526619726f063ad731916b18f223d3e25300.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/7e6ba86bf933db43ee171549ba6f77a23f766b40.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/1a51a54fd5ea5980153829003174e2f370b76cc0.png[/img] For those curious about how different the maps are in comparison to the Half-Life and vanilla HL:S maps, [url=https://imgur.com/a/LiHLS1L]we have created an album comparing them[/url]. As our current efforts are focused on polishing the code and on the HL:S maps, [u][b]we are looking for mappers[/b][/u] to aid us in updating and improving our remaining official maps that still require improvement. To help us coordinate work on pending tasks [b]we've made a [url=https://trello.com/b/P42nYxQ1/obsidian-conflict-steam-version-todo-assets]Trello[/url] board available[/b]. Now people who want to help us can easily pick, request and check tasks that best suit their skill set. [i]As they say - divide and conquer![/i] And before you ask - you don't have to jump through the hoops of joining the team to help us out. Just contact us on Discord - every last bit of help is appreciated! Even if you don't see a certain task listed, feel free to ask, as there are always different ways to help! [h2]Here are some of the most recent community additions that made it into the mod:[/h2] [url=https://i.imgur.com/30MMjxc.gif][img]https://i.imgur.com/30MMjxc.gif[/img][/url] [b]TOZ-34 Annabelle replacement[/b], [i]by AsG_Alligator and Nicole Vlodhammer[/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/54dd8372ebc5e14a1cdf406beaff8b427b6594af.png[/img] [b]Compact loading bar config[/b], [i]by D4 / Jai the (Perth) Fox[/i] [url=https://i.imgur.com/PfmBgxI.gif][img]https://i.imgur.com/PfmBgxI.gif[/img][/url] [b]New “HL2 Houndeye” skin[/b], [i]by Shift and Cvoxalury[/i] [url=https://i.imgur.com/ZGcAbbS.gif][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZGcAbbS.gif[/img][/url] [b]HD HL1 Crosshairs[/b], [i]by MrFloyd[/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/f47be42d77e3b1a44eb4b23ba6e59b3c23bbbe0c.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/7628ea51fa87a7905e7c9314a6a323fea985d694.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/4458739/799918375c8364b7272d8806ef5f15bca0b4c6ef.jpg[/img] [b]Improved character models[/b], [i]by Jesse "V92" Vanover[/i] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] As a final note, this time there isn't a new DevBlog video. A lot of changes can only be appreciated while playing, and it didn't feel right to record only new / improved models and animations. Thank you once again for your support, we will see you soon!