Riot Act released!

[uoz]

Riot Act, a single player mod for Half-Life 2 developed by Germano Guerrini, is finally released.
You can download it from ModDB (other mirrors will come soon) at http://files.moddb.com/8071/download-riot-act/.
A promotional high resolution trailer, based on the beta version of the mod, is available at: http://files.moddb.com/8049/download-riot-act-trailer/.

Official site and screenshots: http://uoz.multiplayer.it/ra/

 

[Au-heppa]

YAY ^^ Downloading

 

[Loke]

Just made it to a large bridge, been great so far.

 

[Asknoone]

It was fun to play, and we could definitely use more SP mods. It also looked very Nova Prospekt, which is always a good sign. So well done there.

My main problem was I don't feel you guys put it through enough playtesting. There were sections were you could get stuck and unable to get out; some areas you had soldiers spawning right in front of you because you jumped up some rubble and onto the ledge. Other than that, I enjoyed it, but I guess giving you my crits won't hurt too much. They might sound harsh, but it's just my honest opinion on what I played. :thumbs:

First, I think, was the problem I brought up about testing. You need to thoroughly test everything. In the bit with the sliding door (grenades bit near the beginning) I managed to get stuck behind it with no means of getting out. I also jumped onto some debris in the next area and onto the platform, only for several guards to spawn right in front of me. Another time when the Antlion Guard spawned he knocked me straight into a hole from which I had no means of getting out (same for him, actually)...your player should never be in a position where he must reload his game because your design has forced him into it. He should always be able to go forward.

Second, I'd say this fell into the age-old trap (even mods of extremely high caliber such as MINERVA fall into this one) of simply placing enemies in front of the player throughout. You managed to escape it in some areas, I think, diversifying gameplay with the odd puzzle or what have you, but I think you could still see traces of simply putting enemies in front of the player and him just wading through. Try for some gameplay scenarios. Spice it up abit. A good example is Episode 1: plugging burrows with cars, defending Alyx or even having to defend an area whilst waiting for an elevator. These things take your gameplay from bog standard move-through-a-shooting-gallery to an experience. Games such as Halo never do this, which is why they suck so bad (the mod far, far from sucked mind).

Thirdly, sparse the maps up abit. Tighten them. A few more props, details and a little more atmosphere wouldn't have gone amiss. Also avoid big empty vents and extremely difficult bits of gameplay that take awhile to figure out. I played on hard, and seriously, that APC bit...yikes. The bridge at the end was cool, but the Strider felt abit like a duck in/duck out scenario. Too arcade. A gunship might have been the better choice here.

Just my thoughts, really. I loved how you guys used the bug bait. I haven't really seen that used and it's nice to see someone make use of it, you did a good job there. I think, too, it'd have been nice if John 'pockets full of ammo' NPC stuck around longer. He and the other NPC's were fun to have around and didn't get in my way.

A good release, but not perfect.

 

[Asknoone]

We'll get this up on the main page ASAP.

 

[Aki]

It looks cool and I'll certainly download and play it. Nova Prospekt was one of my favorite levels. A small nitpick on my part though are the hands. HEV suit hands. Kinda bugs me but it's no big deal. I just like the hands suiting the character..

But massive thumbs up for being a single-player mods. They're so few and far between.

 

[Loke]

A small nitpick on my part though are the hands. HEV suit hands. Kinda bugs me but it's no big deal. I just like the hands suiting the character..

The final release do have new hands, the video that was released a few days ago was from the beta version.

 

[Aki]

Oh, cool. I'll have to see if I have any other comments after playing it, then.

 

[Aki]

Sorry 'bout the double-post, and I figure I could've edited this in - but then no one would notice and I've waited this long to do this to try and avoid double-posting.

Alright.

Good stuff

- Allies who are more than meat shields and extra guns. Well, that one guy anyways.
- The use of a prison guard vest to give the player a suit. I figured I might've had to go this game with my health alone...
- Antlions! Very much an extension of the Nova Prospekt levels, heh.
- Challenging areas, regardless of the difficulty. That courtyard with the gunships was pretty good, even on easy.
- Little touches, like Jamil's tattoo.
- Teammate deaths when they can't follow. Makes me feel less like I'm abandoning them when they get blasted, hehe.
- Quiet ending - the strider is the only obstacle once you reach the bridge. Kept me on my toes as I moved down to the getaway ship. I kept expecting headcrabs to jump me as I moved down to it.

The bad

- Slight continuity error - I think prisoners are kept in the high-tech part of NP, but that might've been intentional to increase fun. No having to fend off pulse-rifle armed foes from the get-go.
- "Jamil, ammo!" as cool as getting free ammo is, I was kinda glad whe he died because he's worse than the citizens with "Don't forget to reload, Dr. Freeman."
- Short. Of course, it's length was limited by it's nature (a prison break) so that may not be a legitimate complaint.
- I can't really think of anything else.

Oh, and only sorta mod related, your website is pretty awesome looking too. :E