I'm just joking :). The real announcement won't be for another few days yet... in the meantime, though, there's an interview with Sniper for you to read on Battle-Fields.com. Quote:

Flail: Have you worked with any other engines other than the Valve one?

Sniper: Yes. I've worked with the Quake engine, though that involved a brightly lit cube and several flesh-throwing Zombies. The first game that got me into the whole "online buzz" was Interstate '76, an auto-combat action simulation with big guns. I started out there by changing hexidecimal values in various files to make new designs for cars. It was work.

Also, NZ Fortress has posted an interview with yours truly :). You may have to scroll down the news a bit, depending. Worthwhile reading if only for the Clue...

Anyway, remember to keep checking the site...

Firstly, I'd better mention that what was previously known as SvenCo-op version 2.5 is now officially named Version 3.0. We were going to call this next version '2.5' because it was going to represent basically a half-way point between 2.1 and what we had planned for 3.0. However, the release has grown to such an extent that almost everything we had planned has been added... as well as a great deal of things that we hadn't planned on at all :).

One of the things we had planned for v3.0, was a sound-replacement system. We hadn't expected it to be quite this powerful, though. Before you read further, you might want to set the demonstration video downloading. The high-quality version is recommended if you have the bandwidth. As before, you'll need the DIVX 5.05 codec installed.

High-Quality Version - Download Locations:

OzForces Files   eXtreme-Players.de   MG386.com

Low-Quality Version - Download Locations:

OzForces Files   eXtreme-Players.de   MG386.com

The video is almost four and a half minutes in length, and does a great job of demonstrating the types of possibilities sound-replacement creates. A lot of features from They Hunger Co-op are used as examples, so you can think of this as a type of teaser trailer for that as well.

Some information on our sound-replacement system: This technology allows monsters, trains, items, pushables... anything (except for a few client-side sounds, though we're working on that) to use any set of sounds a mapper specifies.

Map makers can specify as many or as few sounds to be replaced as they wish... you could just replace a monster's attack sound, or you could replace all of its sounds... pain sounds, speech samples, etc.

And the replacement system works per-entity (though there's also a global system you can use in conjunction with the per-entity system). You could have ten different headcrabs in a map, and each of them could have its own unique set of sounds.

Together with our existing mapping technologies (per-entity model replacement, per-monster health, per-map skill config, etc.), this allows mappers to add unique enemies to their maps without any programming. A forum has been created on the SvenCo-op site for the release of Monster Packs, compilations of all the models, sounds, and config files needed to plug a custom monster into your map.

Several packs are available already, including an Archer Fish and a flamethrower-wielding robogrunt. Head over to the Monster Pack Showcase forum now, and check them out! Also included on the forum is information on how to create your own monster pack.

Lastly: Remember to keep an eye on the site over the next week, or thereabouts... the next announcement could be considered a lot bigger than this one, depending on your point of view.

Umm, still haven't quite got the feature

Anyway, two teaser shots from the map can be seen on the left. They contain absolutely no clue as to the identity of the feature we're going to announce... or do they? Well, no, not really.

Just thought I'd better mention that the They Hunger co-operative project is still progressing... in fact, progress over the last few days has been especially good. We should be able to release some associated content within the next few weeks.

Thanks for Crummy for telling us about this archived poll on PHL, which asked "Which mod do you think should be resurrected for HL2 and why?". SvenCo-op won, with a lead of over 25% of the vote... not bad!!

I highly suggest that you keep an eye on this page over the next week or so, by the way. Something fairly interesting might be posted soon.

Update: Just found out that we ranked in at #3 in OGN's Top 10 Half-Life Mods (just below Counterstrike). Nice!

Kalashnikovo and some other forum regulars have begun on SvenCo-op: The Movie, a SvenCo-op machinima project. If you're interested in helping with something, or just interested in general, some details can be found in this forum thread.

I'm afraid that we haven't quite got the example video showing off that new feature I mentioned earlier, ready yet. We've got a different video for you in the mean time, though... it shows a huge battle between a group of player-allied OpFor grunts and some hostile HL grunts.

Some of the new features that can be noticed are the OpFor grunts in general (including medic), and some MADWHACK stuff in action. The map used is only for testing purposes, by the way.

Download the video from one of these locations, kindly provided by Bulletpain. You'll need the Divx 5.05 codec... grab it from Divx.com, or get it along with the K-Lite Codec Pack.

http://www.ozfiles.net/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=899

http://www.bulletfiles.co.uk/pafiledb/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=124

http://www.bulletpain.com/chris/sc3preview1.zip

Vipah has set up a web site that apparently shares bandwidth between downloaders... so the more people there are on the site downloading files, the more bandwidth there is available (sort of). Pretty interesting :).

I'll hopefully have more news for you soon.

Well, I'll try to list all the things that've been going on. There's good news and bad news, basically...

For one thing, Jerig disappeared without a trace, over a month ago. Haven't been able to get in contact with him (if anyone is able to contact Camelot Software in Japan, or check a Japanese telephone book, tell me, thanks). I hope he's not dead.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to give us the Linux source code... so while the Linux server port is virtually complete, we aren't able to make the final changes.

Paladin disappeared at around the same time. He turned up a couple of weeks ago to say he was back, and had been having some trouble with a computer virus, but I haven't heard from him since then. So the status of the Nomad is uncertain :/.

Flashbang had exams coming up, and wasn't able to complete the minigun 'til he'd finished with them. Luckily though, he found time just recently (see screenshots). The gun was modeled by Osidio, and animated by Flashbang.

I got pretty sick just over a month ago, and stayed that way for quite a while... was improve more recently, but now I seem to be regressing... hopefully the antibiotics'll do the trick.

Sniper was pretty sick too, for quite a while. Although all of the above has of course slowed things down quite a bit, however, Sniper has still managed to add quite a number of features to the mod that nobody has been told about yet... there'll be quite a few surprises in the next release. One of the more major features will be announced here soon (just waiting 'til we have a video clip ready, to demonstrate it).

In other news, Garg-o-holics, Friendly Garg's web site containing stories, comics, resources, etc., has moved to:

http://friendlygarg.servehalflife.com/

And lastly, here are some screenshots from the new map Seraph (maker of Durga) is currently finishing up. The map is called Auspices and, among other things, features random pathways. It will be included with the next SC release.