Monday 7-Jul-2003 12:55 PM The project lead on Half-Life mod SvenCo-op talks about the first steps on the road to co-operative multiplayer in Valve Software's stunning FPS sequel The recent announcement from the SvenCo-op team that it will be bringing its established Half-Life mod to Half-Life 2 was met by rounds of applause in the office. The mod's general premise, that of allowing players to experience co-operatively adventures in the Half-Life universe, (Half-Life single-player, for example), is being brought over to Valve Software's amazing first-person shooter sequel. Incredible, is all we can say.
SvenCo-op for Half-Life 2 is still in the very early stages of production, but the mod obviously has the potential to be huge. What we've already seen of solo play in Valve's first-person shooter has left us utterly and completely gob-smacked; and the fact that we'll be able to experience this and other HL2-orientated scenarios accompanied by real-life players in co-op play is just, well, fantastic.
And we said as much to SvenCo-op project and team leader Sven Viking when we asked him to reveal more about the Half-Life 2 version of his mod.
SvenCo-op for Half-Life 2! It would be fair to say that we're rather excited by the prospect - how are you feeling about it, exactly?
Viking: I'm feeling pretty excited, too! Half-Life is a great modding platform - the best currently available - but we were starting to have serious trouble with some of the engine limitations. Entity limits, sound limits, space confinements... there was beginning to be a lot of things that we wanted to do, but couldn't due to one limit or another.
Half-Life 2 shatters these limits fairly thoroughly. It'll allow for all the things we'd wanted to do, and a lot of things we simply couldn't have hoped for.
Many years ago, I used to think about what I considered would be the ideal co-operative game... the sort of game that people in the future who owned flying cars would play. Half-Life 2 pretty much is that game. Admittedly, though, it doesn't support co-operative play. Yet.
Presumably it will be PC-only, and not for the Xbox version of HL2?
Viking: To tell the truth, I hadn't even thought about that. As far as I know, it'll be PC-only.
You've stated that you're drawing SvenCo-op for Half-Life 2 planning stages to a close - when did you actually begin putting ideas down on paper for the mod sequel?
Viking: We began to discuss ideas as soon as Half-Life 2 was announced, and the discussion grew more serious as gameplay details became available. We only began to set things out on paper fairly recently, though.
I must admit, by the way, that this is only the initial planning. There'll be some more to do once we have final details on HL2.
Have you found the planning stage awkward considering that much of Half-Life 2 is still shrouded in secrecy? Or have you actually had sneak glimpses of sections of the game that no-one else has seen?
Viking: To tell the truth, we don't know a lot more than everyone else just yet. Valve is very helpful, though. If there's something we need to know, we ask the developer about it.
In what ways do you see your experience with developing SvenCo-op for Half-Life helping with SvenCo-op for Half-Life 2?
Viking: All of them.
With regards to general editing, Half-Life 2 is, of course, far more advanced than Half-Life, and there are things that will need to be done differently. The basics are the same, though. Valve has gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that the learning curve isn't too steep for existing mod makers.
As far as design and gameplay systems go, having worked with co-operative gameplay for four and a half years gives you a few ideas. Unfortunately, some of those ideas come a bit too late. We've been able to do a lot with SvenCo-op, but there are many things that, looking back, I wish we'd done differently. Most of these things are very awkward to change late in development, however, for various reasons.
And apart from that, a fair amount of the experience necessary when making a mod (or running one, at least) actually has little to do with development.
There are a lot of things you just don't know about when you start out, and that can cause you some very serious problems.
With Half-Life 2, we have a chance to start over, do all the things we wish we'd done last time, and avoid all the problems that we didn't know to avoid the first time round. On top of that, we have Half-Life 2's incredible feature set and the power of the Source engine at our disposal. What more could we ask for?
We get the feeling that developing a co-op mode for Half-Life 2 single-player will be a very tall order. Can you tell us anything about key challenges or hurdles that you expect to have to overcome?
Viking: Not yet.
At this time, how many players are you looking to support in SvenCo-op for Half-Life 2?
Viking: Well, in SvenCo-op for Half-Life, we aimed at two to eight players, the ideal player count being four to six for most maps. 32-players are supported, but it just doesn't work out well. The map sizes and enemy counts necessary for this amount of players to have fun are too much for the engine to handle.
With Half-Life 2, maps can be huge; the question is how the net code will handle large numbers of players fighting large numbers of monsters. Unfortunately this is something that we won't know for sure until we are able to add rudimentary co-op play to the game and do some testing.
Whatever we aim for or allow, however, we'll make sure that the mod is still fun with small player counts. One of the things that sets SvenCo-op apart from other mods is that you can potentially have as much fun on a two-player LAN as an eight-player Internet game. I've received e-mail from husbands and wives, fathers and sons, etc., who play the mod fairly exclusively.
Will we all be playing Gordon Freeman, or are you planning to design new characters for gamers to play?
Viking: A number of HL-themed characters, including Gordon, will be available. Maps not set in the Half-Life universe will be able to use appropriate player models if the mapper can arrange any.
What key features of SvenCo-op 2, outside of single-player co-op for Half-Life 2, are you excited about that you can talk about currently?
Viking: The only things that have been announced currently are "the ability for map makers to create their own game modes, and features to make gameplay more rewarding". I'm afraid I can't give details on even these, just yet...
What I can say, however, is that I honestly believe our design plans will make SvenCo-op 2 a lot more fun and more satisfying to play than SvenCo-op (which I think is already a lot of fun, as do the majority of the people who try it) ever was. I really can't wait 'til we have an alpha set up, just so I can play it.
Also, you can expect more of SvenCo-op's characteristic mapping features allowing map creators to shape their own unique story or scenario for players to experience (if not necessarily all in the initial release). Combined with HL2's already greatly enhanced mapping features, the possibilities this will create are mind-boggling.
As far as we know, you're the first established Half-Life mod team to announce its mod for Half-Life 2. Personally, what other established Half-Life mods would you like to see brought over to the new engine, outside of Counter-Strike?
Viking: Half-Life Bumper Cars.
Any idea when SvenCo-op 2 will be released to the public?
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