[Let's Play] They Hunger Trilogy (Half-Life Total Conversion)

Kyosho

Edit: This OP is outdated. See my latest post.


Hello people. This is my first post on these forums. I realize it's probably bad form to post solely for the purpose of promoting something, but I assure you that's not entirely the case here. I've been a PA reader for years (I enjoy the front page stuff more than the comic even). The main reason I never joined the community is because, well, it's huge. Intimidatingly huge. My gaming home on the internet has always been in small communities (the now-defunct Home of the Underdogs, and currently Octopus Overlords).

However, OO is, well, I hate to generalize, but they're not exactly the sort of crowd who would watch LPs. I know LPs are popular here because it was Helloween's videos on youtube that I first discovered. You might even say his videos inspired me to do this in the first place (if you listen to my intro video, you'll understand). This LP is already finished. Finished it today in fact. My purpose for posting it here is to get some constructive feedback. I might take this up as a hobby and, if so, I want to be decent at it. Or at least mildly watchable. If you listen to the beginning of my afterthoughts "video" which I just posted today (key word listen, not much to see), you can hear the areas which I already know need improvement. Any other feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I'm going to try and format this thread the way I see other LP threads here.

Alright, enough of all that, let's get on with this, shall we?



They Hunger is Total Conversion of Half-Life 1. It was, I believe, originally published by PC Gamer on their insert cd sometime in 2000 and also made available for download free on the internet. I've still got the original disk around here somewhere. You can get it these days at Mod DB. The game was developed by Neil Manke under his studio Black Widow Games. Whether he was the only person on the project or not, I'm not certain. I'm sure some one could fill me in here. They Hunger was released in three episodes.

There was, for a time, plans for a follow-up game in the Source engine known as They Hunger: Lost Souls. It was planned to be a full retail release, but it has recently been canceled. You can still view screenshots and information about it at the above link. How long the site will stay up is a mystery at this point. Rumor has it that Mr. Manke is ill, which is why the game has been canceled. Whether that's true or not is anybody's guess. Perhaps some one around here knows more. I tried emailing him recently and his email address bounced. I hope he's okay. I had emailed him back in November of '08 and at that time he told me that they would be "assessing the game shortly. the problem with the slow development has been our real life jobs that must always be attended to:("

This LP, at this point in time, is for Episode One of the trilogy only. I may do parts two and three in the future though. In fact, it's probable. I've got some other stuff planned before that though. And, in case you didn't guess, this is a video/commentary LP. In sets of 1-4 videos. Time to post all the links. Warning: Lots of profanity and whining.


Introductions are in order. (introducing myself, why I picked this game, my setup, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48FSl1SSwkA

This isn't creepy. Oh, wait, maybe it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7v7hlAfVKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK1Y60WeF4I

Where are YOU?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CySpPnDYQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPeZYpRetZ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RVFOQJXntA

The Return of Creepy Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAgydHond4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3VuPvjFS98

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfPYgdG3oRY

The ever popular Devil's Rift.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwpcI9W0L00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=256puJEolcM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iuq0sIBRzA

Extreme frustration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va57ioOjyss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8RQGk3u6es

Is it me, or is it the game?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRaZ7Px1n1I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNvTneL9mXo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM_tzSFYy0I

Does zombification improve accuracy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3y1bkE_I9I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNv0vZZB5Z4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCSoJxK7uog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9qCl7RlXL0

The End... ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LFuK9qZ3aY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUizEHQ2fIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z364ZSdDrVk

Afterthoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs-qHm5-wNA

Well, I didn't plan to do this so soon. But here it is:

EPISODE TWO:


You're a dick, Dick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uioS9BHCO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYOdfQXCmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jHtntMxVmA

Tube

Keep up the good work

TiamatZ

I was wondering when someone would do an LP of this mod. It was perhaps the best SP mod for half-life yet.

The only thing that always bothered me with Ep1 was:

Where the hell do the Ichthyosaurs (the shark-like piranhas in the water) fit in the whole zombie survival genre? Considering they always fit well with HL1's alien wildlife...

Overall, good work! Hope you actually get to do Ep.2 & 3

With regards to flame based weapons:

I think you get a flamethrower in Ep.3.

Kyosho

Well... just about everything I'm going to say needs a spoiler tag so I'll just put it all in one.

Yeah, I have no idea how those evil demon fish-things fit in at all. For that matter, I'm not sure how headcrabs fit either. Though they talk like humans. Maybe they're supposed to be part human? I considered the idea that maybe Neil Manke intended the game to be in the HL universe, and that the electrical displays (like the one that threw the car off the road) were the portals opening to let the aliens through. However, that doesn't explain the dead rising from the grave. That's very non-HL. So maybe not.

As for flame-based weapons, awesome.

I have two semi-spoilery questions. But they're not enough to ruin anything for me:

1. Do you meet more survivors in the other episodes? You know, ones that aren't scripted to die nearly immediately? Companions, if only temporarily?

2. Do you get more detail about what's going on and why? Does the story get fleshed out, in general? I don't want any details, just curious.

I think I will in fact do the other episodes. All my waffling about it was just being frustrated with some of the archaic trial-and-error game design. I think if I were to further embrace my natural oldschool tendencies when it comes to quicksaving and retrying things, it might be less frustrating. I'll just have to edit some things out. But yeah, before I move onto Ep. 2, I do have one other "full" game I want to do first. And one very small, one-off game as well.

TiamatZ

Ep 2 and 3 spoilers. Careful:

1) You'll meet some people during the coming 2 episodes. They mostly play as the "I'm here to help you with some doors and fights, afterwards I'll be completely useless, so don't mind shooting me for some extra ammo" archetype. However, one will play an important role in your escape from the Police station.

2) The whole story doesn't (and probably won't) become clear throughout the whole game. You do, however, visit an asylum where there are some creepy recordings of Frankensteinesque experiments going on by some nutjob Doctor. Also, in typical HL fashion, the military shows up to blow up some shit, including you (I won't tell you WHEN they arrive, that's a secret )

However, it seems that the levels become progressively better on, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole game from Ep1 -> Ep3.

urahonky

Best. Mod. Ever.

AlexPHott

Great job, it's awesome that mods get this attention of an LP, especially this one.

AlexPHott

Just finished watching it all, great job! Impressive for a first LP, can't say I'm very happy with my first one that I'm still working on. They Hunger is certainly a really well done mod, there are several horror mods out there similar to this, some of them are even still in the works, such as Cry of Fear. You should totally check that out if you haven't already, it would definitely make a good LP.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/cry-of-fear

HamHamJ

Good job. FYI, watching people fail is the core of all good LPs, imho. It is a source of endless amusement.

NickTheNewbie

Holy shit I loved they hunger. This thread is awesome.

Bolthorn

I too love this mod. Great work.


Too bad the They Hunger Source never seemed to rise.

Aoi

Wow, I played this all the way back when PC Gamer hawked it on the cover disk. Forgot all about it til just now and didn't realize they ever did any other episodes. Want to go back and play all these now.

dumbmanex

Don't worry, your not the only one who chickened out on this all those years ago . I'm not all caught up on the vids, but I'm liking the natural reactions, good on you sir!

0blique

Oh wow, I remember this mod back in the day. I never managed to finish it for some reason, but I'll have to try again some time.

bamjo

Wow this takes me back. Nice work. I remember looking forward to those PC gamer cd's every month. God things were lame before broadband internet. Do you guys remember coconut monkey? I still think that guy's voice is hilarious.

Kyosho

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I decided to continue on with Episode Two. As you may have noticed from the change in thread title. I was totally planning to do a new LP but my life became all sorts of stressful. And somehow, playing a new game and getting accustomed to the controls, interface, etc. felt like the last thing I'd want to do. For the time being, anyways. So, why not continue with They Hunger, right? Sure, it's not exactly "comfort gaming" but the interface and and the graphics engine and everything sort of makes it feel like it. Almost. Oh well, close enough anyways. So, without further ado:


You're a dick, Dick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uioS9BHCO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYOdfQXCmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jHtntMxVmA

AlexPHott

Yay, more They Hunger, nice job. A lot of Dick jokes. :P

LaCabra

This scared the shit out of me back in the day.

dumbmanex

The Day The Dick Stood Still, rated D, for dick.

Pastee

One of my favorite horror mods, and you do it justice.

Hopefully we can see the whole trilogy

Xtarath

Top notch LP, can't believe I haven't watched this sooner. Hope to see you around the PA boards more.

Kyosho

Hey guys. Just wanted to apologize about not keeping this thread updated and let you know that I've still been doing this LP. I took a long break after the last set I posted here because I lost my save. Eventually I finally decided to replay all the way up to that point again to continue the LP. However, I neglected to post in this thread about it. Sorry about that. Anyways, here's the link to the playlist on my channel. There's way too much to link to individually at this point. I've just gotten a bit of a way into Episode 3. I'll probably finish the LP in the next two weeks or so. Perhaps sooner.

Also, on a whim, I did U.S.S. Darkstar as well. Neil Manke's other Half-Life total conversion. It's much shorter than They Hunger (probably as long as one episode of it) and already completed. Here's a link to that playlist.