MINERVA: Episodic, Single-Player Half-Life 2
MINERVA Development Environment - posted by Cargo Cult on Monday September 18 2006
... in case you were wondering, here it is:
Witness the lack of curtains, table, carpets, furniture other than one solitary chair. Minimalist living beckons!
Despite all this, I have actually managed to get a decent amount of work done on MINERVA. I've been busy building physics puzzles - using some rather useful Episode One assets. Depth Charge and Pegasus still aren't playable, but things are slowly coming together.
Which is always a good thing, right? Previous maps have had long stretches of nothing happening followed by bouts of frenetic activity. And I definitely feel one of the latter coming on...
Article Comments (now closed)
2. Pegasus?
Posted by Baffled at 4:00PM, Monday September 18 2006
Physics puzzles eh? Thrilling news indeed! Spartan, or should I say minimalist, working enviroments are often said to be conducive to creativity due to the lack of distraction.
If Pegasus is the first chapter of Chronoclasm, I wonder what the title could refer to? More Greek mythological musings! Apparently one tradition sees Pegasus entering the world through a "higher birth" ( springing forth from the neck of Medusa as Perseus beheads her ) just like Athena/Minerva ( who sprang forth form the skull of Zeus which had been split by an axe ) and Athena/Minerva is often represented holding a shield bearing the image of Medusa ( the mother of Pegasus ). Also a hero called Bellorophon, a 'double' for Perseus ( to whom Minerva compared 'us' ) captured and tamed Pegasus to help him slay the Chimera. Could the Chimera be the Combine and could we be about to meet an ally to help us defeat them?
Mind you, the last time we went overboard with Greek mythological theories we were declared 'catastrophically wrong' ...but still I can't help myself, I can hardly wait for the next instalment!
3. A trilogy in four parts
Posted by Cargo Cult at 4:05PM, Monday September 18 2006
Makes sense, eh? ;-)
4. Three's a crowd...
Posted by Baffled at 4:34PM, Monday September 18 2006
Just how deep does this hole go?!
5. Deep enough
Posted by KingFish at 8:17PM, Monday September 18 2006
But don't dig to deep or the hole will get you..
Anyway, can't wait for the new Minerva. ATM I'm thinking how long it been that I played Minerva and when it did come out.
Time to play it again when the new chapter is added. :D
6. confused
Posted by Holy Socks at 8:52PM, Monday September 18 2006
I'm confused, is Pegasus going to come with depth charge or is it part of Chronoclasm? Are we supposed to know, if not am I going to have to get a degree in Greek Mytholigy to find out?;-)
7. I have heard it said...
Posted by Nesretep at 10:00PM, Monday September 18 2006
I have heard it said that "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass and small and simple things...confound the wise..."
It appears that this may be the case for our dear friend Adam.
On another note...maybe if this picture is high enough resolution we can steal a screenshot from his laptop! (Let me dream a little....I know it wouldn't REALLY work, at least not well)
8. screenshot
Posted by Holy Socks at 11:20PM, Monday September 18 2006
I have already zoomed in on the laptop, i can make out a basic structure and a light, but thats about it.
9. Yay! Progress!
Posted by Evan at 12:44AM, Tuesday September 19 2006
It's surprisingly refreshing to see some new stuff on here now and then. Even if you're not really showing/telling us about any work done, the fact that your screen is flashing with something faintly Minerva-esque is enough. :D
Very interesting environment you have there, as well. People who get to sit in their big, comfortable cubicles all day should stop complaining. You're working miracles!
10. Bellerophon
Posted by AiusEpsi at 4:14AM, Tuesday September 19 2006
If I remember my mythology correctly, didn't he suffer a pretty bad fate? He lost the favour of the gods and fell from Pegasus' back, becoming horribly cripped, and was forever after shunned by men until he died alone.
11. I'll show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Posted by Naurgul at 12:20PM, Tuesday September 19 2006
I'm surprised there are no Alice in Wonderland references in Minerva... I think it would make sense.
On another note, I'll do some research and maybe I'll be able to make some sense out of all these mythology references.
12. Re: I'll show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes
Posted by SkUrRiEr at 2:45PM, Wednesday September 20 2006
But that'd be too obvious!!!
13. Oh, boo.
Posted by xbskid at 5:44PM, Wednesday September 20 2006
AiusEpsi: If I remember my mythology correctly, didn't he suffer a pretty bad fate? He lost the favour of the gods and fell from Pegasus' back, becoming horribly cripped, and was forever after shunned by men until he died alone.
Great. Now we know how Metastasis (Or Chronoclasm) is going to end. Thanks. Thanks a lot. :P
14. Re: Bellerophon
Posted by Tombocombo at 11:32PM, Wednesday September 20 2006
Is that how it went? I remember that the gods became angry at his boasting and Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt as he was flying on Pegasus to Olympus, but I thought he died as soon as he hit the ground. Whatever the specifics are, it was definitely not a happy ending.
Why not spoil the whole thing if you already know how it ends? >D
15. I wonder how clean the lightning bolt is
Posted by kast at 10:42AM, Thursday September 21 2006
It's not the end that's important but the journey. We're agreed that Fight Club is an amazing film and yet the within the first minute after the credits the Narrator explains the end to you. That doesn't hurt the story at all.
16. Bellerophon
Posted by Nesretep at 3:09PM, Thursday September 21 2006
Here is an excerpt from the story of Bellerophon:
Bellerophon sought greater and greater adventures. Finally, he decided to ride up to Mount Olympus to visit the gods.
Mounting his steed, he urged Pegasus skyward, higher and higher. Zeus, displeased with Bellerophon's arrogant attempt to scale Mount Olympus' heights, sent a gadfly to punish the mortal for daring to ascend to the home of gods. The fly stung Pegasus, and so startled the horse that he suddenly reared, and Bellerophon was hurled off of his back. He plummeted to the ground.
Athena spared his life by causing him to land on soft ground. But for the rest of his life, Bellerophon traveled, lonely and crippled, in search of his wonderful steed.
But alas, Pegasus never returned.
17. so what
Posted by vecima at 4:31PM, Thursday September 21 2006
minerva makes the mythological references.
she doesn't however dictate the story.
isn't it really up to us whether or not we survive?
18. I am not a number....
Posted by Baffled at 6:35PM, Thursday September 21 2006
Gosh, an exposition on free will versus fatalism...it seems that hole has no monopoly over being deep eh? ;-)
19. unless...
Posted by krisvek at 9:27PM, Thursday September 21 2006
unless she makes the references because she KNOWS how it will end....
can't wait for the next release! hopefully soon...a handful of promising mods are coming out soon :)
20. the end
Posted by The end at 11:39PM, Thursday September 21 2006
From the comments about the radiation and time left being very short this will end onlty one way. In unsung death. Shut down the island but no one to remember you.
How sad :(
21. GUESSTIMATION?
Posted by Evan at 5:32AM, Friday September 22 2006
Any guesstimation on when the next episode will be ready? I've been itching for it all summer.
D:<
22. unsung death
Posted by vecima at 5:25PM, Friday September 22 2006
it may be fitting, considering this most recent
trend down this certain line of mythos.
personally i hope to see "bastard perseus" ascend from medusa's chamber.
perhaps he will user her power against the mighty Ceto (Citadel?), to save a certain (snow covered?) Aethiopia. and perhaps Minerva herself is becoming more of an Andromida.
23. on pegasus
Posted by vecima at 6:02PM, Friday September 22 2006
he was born from medusas fresh wound. i tend not to think us acolytes will be representing (or is it represented by?) bellerophon, but instead perseus (to whome we've been referred in the past).
a thought just bestowed itself upon me.
perhaps athena (minerva) will become andromeda as perseus become bellerophon.
(p and b seem to be interchangeable in some versions of the myths)
24. On long stretches of nothing happening.
Posted by Random dude at 10:30PM, Saturday September 23 2006
This is one of the things that makes this game so great and nerve-wracking. As soon as the action's over, you wander around trying to figure out where some random combine soldier is going to pop out and start giving you some brand new holes in your body.
Of course, I'm one of those crazies who plays these games on hard, so maybe it might be a bit boring for those down on the easy spectrum of HL2.
25. Is that a powerbook?
Posted by SnowFire at 12:11AM, Sunday September 24 2006
That looks like an apple powerbook! Is it Intel or how did you get hammer running on it?
26. @Snowfire
Posted by fuzz at 11:52AM, Sunday September 24 2006
I'm pretty sure our illustrious leader mentioned it being a macbook pro, and also being powerful enough to run HL2.
Somewhere way back in the archives...
27. Wanna go camping?
Posted by xbskid at 3:42PM, Sunday September 24 2006
SnowFire: That looks like an apple powerbook! Is it Intel or how did you get hammer running on it? Yes, it's an Intel iBook, or whatever their laptop line is. He uses Apple's Boot Camp software to dualboot Windows XP.
28. Dumocracy (sic)
Posted by Baffled at 4:32PM, Monday September 25 2006
Read this:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34592
Elitist snobbery or depressing reality?
29. re: Dumocracy
Posted by ducbian at 9:04PM, Monday September 25 2006
Much as I hate to admit it, the Inquirer is probably right; digg, wikipedia, photo bucket and many other 'web 2.0' sites have similar problems to much of the previous net bubbles dross. The only difference is they've swapped advertising revenues for the 'intelligence of crowds' and even more nebulous sources of profitability.
Lets not forget that amazon as a whole, one of the leading lights of the previous generation has yet to turn a profit (although the US arm has posted net profits if i remember correctly).
30. Blasphemy!
Posted by vecima at 10:08PM, Monday September 25 2006
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6367201.html
how could this happen!!!???
31. RE: Dumocracy (sic)
Posted by Nesretep at 10:23PM, Monday September 25 2006
I'm afraid it is a depressing reality. I think it is due in part to the fact that people don't READ the entire post before getting all flustered and firing back and end up sound like morons OR they get SOOOO technical about some insignificant thing someone else said that the rest of the thred is littered with responses to them and the few sane people trying to get things back on track.
32. Translation to Spanish
Posted by Procyon at 3:58AM, Wednesday September 27 2006
Mr. Adam Foster,
I love this modification, it looks like the first real and best FPS of the old times, Marathon.
I would like to help you somehow, but I don't know nothing about modding and mapping. But I can translate the mod to spanish so you can release a version for the spanish-speaking HL community.
If you are interesed, mail me to siridar_procyon@hotmail.com
"Smells like Napalm, Tastes like Chicken!"
("Huele a Napalm, Sabe a Pollo!") ,
Procyon
33. RE: Translation
Posted by Naurgul at 8:11PM, Wednesday September 27 2006
Hey, Can I do a translation as well? I have already translated Half-Life 2 in Greek; I think I've got what it takes!! :D
But I'll do that after you release the third part. I've heard some terrible rumours that you send spoilers to anyone attempting to translate your mod. Eek!
34. RE: Translation
Posted by Holy Socks at 9:16PM, Wednesday September 27 2006
Well I can do a spanish translation for the thrid part... aslong as Minerva's vocabulary doesn't extend beond "Hello" and "One beer, please";-)
I think, in many ways, Minerva would make alot more sense in Greek.
35. Re: Translation
Posted by Nesretep at 8:53PM, Friday September 29 2006
I could do a translation in sloppy Spanish using Babelfish! :-)
36. Translation
Posted by Procyon at 7:04PM, Saturday September 30 2006
Let ME do the Spanish translation. It's the language of my country, Chile.
I have been learning and speaking English and German for 14 years.
37. transation
Posted by Dieh@rd at 6:23PM, Tuesday October 3 2006
I can translate it to Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Montenegro :-)
38. RE: translation
Posted by PiX_NeG at 11:16PM, Tuesday October 3 2006
i can translate it into idiot
39. Translation
Posted by Comrade JX-8P at 11:42PM, Thursday October 5 2006
I'll translate into Norwegian, if you want me to. I'll have you know, I'm better at it than most Norwegians gramatically (plus I am Norwegian).
40. what could be enhanced
Posted by Stef at 4:39PM, Thursday October 12 2006
according the epiosde 1, certainly mentionned by other is the buggy skybox (it's not the first time i saw it) and the missing sound of the sea from where you start...for the rest i can't wait for the last part. BTW I really enjoyed a lot the 2 first part but still prefer someplace else whish was a real masterpiece...
41. That translation thingie..
Posted by Avoozl at 6:24PM, Sunday October 15 2006
How about someone translating it into Esperanto? ;-)
42. Re: That translation thingie..
Posted by SkUrRiEr at 11:04AM, Monday October 16 2006
Why not Elvish and Klingon too whilst we're at it?
Article is now closed for commenting.
1. Ooooooooh
Posted by kast at 3:20PM, Monday September 18 2006
So I check the blog to remind me of the link to that Portal game/advert thing, and look back because I'm so bored... and here we have a new post! Woohoo! "Pegasus?" Might that be the first episode of 'Chronoclasm'? Hmm... ? Anyway.... YAY! New MINERVA sometime soon, maybe.
Yup... that's fairly minimal. :P That chair cannot be comfortable.