Research and Development

[Pilz]

Did no one notice the cat?

[moroes]

Just finished your mod and...waaaaaw!! That was amazing! All is great in your work! Good lighting, good mapping, good puzzle games, good navigation and...verry good imagination!
I'm just impressed!

Make another please!

[Naticus]

@ Matt Bortolino

Who are you? I must know.

I think it is fair to say that none of us, except for the play testers, saw this coming. No warning and no promotion then we get one of the best Source mods of all time. In fact, if Valve released this as a "mini episode", they could have charged for it. But Valve didn't release this, Matt B did. Matt I have a few questions that I hope you'll indulge us with...

Are you currently in the game industry?
If not, what is your background? Student? Occupation? Age?
Did you do this alone?
How long did R&D take to make?
Where did you go for the majority of your questions/help when making this?
Have you worked on or mapped anything else?
What are your plans for the future as they relate to game design?

[Vilham]

@ Matt Bortolino

Who are you? I must know.

I think it is fair to say that none of us, except for the play testers, saw this coming. No warning and no promotion then we get one of the best Source mods of all time. In fact, if Valve released this as a "mini episode", they could have charged for it. But Valve didn't release this, Matt B did. Matt I have a few questions that I hope you'll indulge us with...

Are you currently in the game industry?
If not, what is your background? Student? Occupation? Age?
Did you do this alone?
How long did R&D take to make?
Where did you go for the majority of your questions/help when making this?
Have you worked on or mapped anything else?
What are your plans for the future as they relate to game design?

He explained pretty much 3 or 4 of those in the OP.

These are little practice scenarios he made over time and he decided to join them up into a mod. Unless im going crazy and just imagined he wrote that

[Naticus]

Unless I missed something... , here is all he has shared with us thus far:

Research and Development is a mod for HL2 Ep.2, born from a series of test maps as I learned Hammer (hence the title) it's grown into about an hour of puzzle-centric, gun-free gameplay.

This really doesn't fully answer any of the questions I posed. We know that this came out of test maps as he learned Hammer. This doesn't necessarily mean he is or is not in the industry. This statement does not indicate if anyone else worked on the project besides play testing. I also didn't see anything about a time frame in there.

My questions were really aimed more at who this gentleman is since the quality of the work is so exceptional. This is not your average mapper learning to use hammer. I just think a little bit of his background would be interesting to hear.

[TicTac]

Did no one notice the cat?

haha, i noticed it. Scared the shit outa me o.O

[Pilz]

Did no one notice the cat?

haha, i noticed it. Scared the shit outa me o.O

[#1 Duck]

Did no one notice the cat?

haha, i noticed it. Scared the shit outa me o.O

I didn't really think of what it was so just assumed it was a headcrab so moved on Now i've had a look

[svbg869]

is that what happened to the cat from cliners lab?

[Mason]

The only thing I would change, not sure how you would, but sometimes when I wouldn't know where to go, there would be a door that doesn't really seem like it would open, but when you press E it does. Just try to make it more obvious which doors are open-able and which are not.

[joe_rogers_11155]

that was a fantastic example of what a mod is supposed to be. excellent storytelling through objects laying around, challenging puzzles and environments, and humorous segments blended seamlessly with combat. Awesome ending. Totally deserves its spotlight on the front page, everyone should play this game. This should be news.

If there were some negatives, I would say that the vehicle is difficult to control, and there are some pretty un-intuitive moments, like the second keypad puzzle and other small tidbits...I feel like i'm nit-picking though...great mod.

[KILLA-COW]

Right, I'm downloading. It looks secks, let's see how it plays.

[Zipfinator]

LOL If you go to the spotlight archive it says every map on there is Research and Development and they all lead here.

On the subject of the mod, I'll try it out in a few days when I get my main computer back.

[iamhoops]

First and foremost, amazing mod... BUT I am stuck because "e" gets me into Mr. Whirly but not out. Is there a console command that can help me here? I REALLY want to complete this game but I can't because of technical difficulties.

That having been said, the microwaves and the train reminded me of hl1, and the first thing I thought of after seeing the cat was Kliner's lab in hl2 where they're talking about a cat. Overall, great mod, incredible visuals, everything is top-notch, and I definitely felt some Half-Life nostalgia playing through this, I just need help with the Mr. Whirly problem.

As a side note, I LOVE puzzles, and when Valve promised puzzles/physics puzzles in Half-Life 2, I was disappointed with the results. Stacking cinder blocks on a see-saw is hardly a puzzle, in my opinion. This mod, on the other hand, is a whole different story. The puzzles so far have been challenging, but not impossible, and you feel accomplished after completing them.

[Jangalomph]

I thought there were tons of bugs and glitches, but it turns out you REALLY have to think for this one. I loved this mod, By far 30 times better than minerva, And the cinematic physics were insane. Loved the mod, I hope a 2nd one comes out. And the cat was hilarious but scary at the same time.