SpawnPoint

SPAWNPOINTS own Paul King had the chance to play and review the new release of Eternal Silences new Beta 2.0, (available for download from SPAWNPOINT.COM). The release had several changes including new maps, weapons, spaceship classes, sounds, and several bug fixes. Although the Half Life Mod is still in Beta testing, Paul commented “The Graphic Detail is absolutely astonishing...”

Eternal Silence is a futuristic first person shooter, consisting of both ground combat and aerial combat. Eternal Silence offers you the chance to become a captain of your own ship, you give the commands that could make or break your team’s battle. You could also become a pilot engaging in some hardcore dogfights. Paul said “I was very impressed by the level of creativity and imagination that was used during creation!”

Eternal Silence recently celebrated receiving the “Best Multiplayer FPS Half-Life 2 Mod” by The 2007 Independent Games Festival, www.igf.com. The game will be available for multi-player online gaming only, so you can count on some fierce and intense multi player Sci-Fi game play.



Big Fixes and Changes in Beta 2.0

- Major network optimizations to both infantry and space
- Major hitbox optimizations to infantry to provide more accuracy
- Major bug fixes since beta 1.1
- All new physics optimizations for better performance in the hangar
- Addition of the SMG Turret to replace the Railgun Turret
- Addition of the Requisition System (see blog for details)
- New sounds and music
- Reworked Balancing for ALL infantry weapons
- The addition of two new ship classes, the Heavy Fighter and the Gunship (note the gunship will not have player controlled turrets in 2.0, HP and maneuverability will be increased to compensate)
- New map: es_asteroid: Space scenario where players battle for space supremacy over 5 asteroid bases
- Updated map: es_aethra: Now featuring larger hangars and a true aethra model to replace the asteroid base. Destroyer layout was restarted from the ground up for better performance and scalability.
- New map: ngm_cruiser: Infantry only scenario in an NGM Cruiser ship.

QA with Modification Creator Dan Menard

1) For those have never heard of Eternal Silence, what kind of game is it?
Dan: Eternal Silence is a multiplayer space mod built off the Half-Life 2 engine. The mod takes place in deep space on giant ships we call Capital Ships. We place the player in a battle between these kinds of ships and show them all the different facets of the battle. This includes boarding the enemy ship with spacecraft, bombing the ship's external systems and dogfighting out in space in small one man vehicles.

2) What can a new player expect to see that is new to the HL2 engine?
Dan: Vehicles are a central part of Eternal Silence, and the team has been able to rewrite all the Half Life 2 vehicle code to make it smooth and predictable. Our maps are also appropriately huge for the setting, reaching a gigantic 32x32x32 km cube for players to fly in. The transition from space to infantry is seamless and the space combat is definitely unique. Combine this with an entirely new art style and Heads-Up-Display and you have a game that looks nothing like Half-Life 2.

3) What gave you the idea of Eternal Silence?
Dan: The idea came from a very weird source. I was thinking about pirate ships initially, and the types of battles that took place in the high seas between large galleons. I wanted to make a game out of it, but melee weapons never worked so well in multiplayer games, so after some thinking, I switched everything over to a futuristic setting in space. Homeworld and Freespace 2 were huge influences in the design, and Space Simulations is one of my favorite game genres, so it seemed perfect.
4) Why is the mod called Eternal Silence?
Dan: The name ties in with the story, but mostly because in space, no one can hear you scream. For those wondering though, there IS sound in the mod, though real space doesn't have any. Speaking of the story, Rex, one of our team members is writing a novella based in the Eternal Silence universe where the name aswell as the origins of the war are all explained. It is very well written and fun to read, check that out on the website.

5) What is the players objective in Eternal Silence?
Dan: Players must fight to deplete the other team's requisition. This is a new system we have implemented in beta 2.0. Requisition is a resource which the captain of the ship possesses to call in new troops and reinforcements. When a team runs out, they can no longer continue the battle and they lose. Requisition is lost when the team has some subsystems (control points) on their home ship controlled by the enemy, or when their ship's external subsystems are destroyed.

6) What can we expect with this new release?
Dan: Lots of bug fixes, new features and balancing. We released this beta to get more bugs out and further improve our gameplay. It includes 2 new maps, 2 new ship classes that player's can fly and a host of improvements in art, sound and gameplay. We are also committed to releasing quick and effective patches on an almost weekly basis to keep the game fresh and as bug free as possible.

7) What have you done to improve the spaceships maneuverability?
Dan: We have tried to simplify the controls somewhat, but people still find the ships somewhat hard to fly. With a little practice, the controls become second nature thought, and we are continuously trying to make them better. The ships in this beta also have more obvious roles. and the maneuverability of each has been changed to reflect that.

8) Did you make any new spaceships?
Dan: Yes, 2 new spaceships have been added, the NGM Gunship and the NGM Heavy Fighter. The gunship is a large troop transport that carries 6 people. It is going to have turrets on it eventually, though at the moment they are not active. To compensate, we made the gunship more maneuverable. It is also built like a tank with very high hit points, so while it is unarmed, it is difficult to take down before it reaches the safety of a hangar. The NGM Heavy Fighter is the heavy weapon version of the fighter. It has higher hitpoints, slower maneuverability and focuses mainly on close range weaponry. It is armed with lasers, a heavy cannon and flak cannons which do massive damage.

9) What new weapons have you made or improvements?
Dan: The weapon lineup as not changed, though the ion cannon has been improved, aswell as the grenade launcher. These were weapons that people felt were not much fun in the first beta, and we've tried to make them more interesting. We have also improved the infantry movement so people run faster forwards now. This allows players to get around the map quickly, but doesn't make the game feel like Unreal Tournament. We plan on continuing these improvements and adding a medic class in the next patch.



SpawnPoint Game Servers

SpawnPoint has put up two west coast game servers for you to enjoy. SpawnPoint runs on the PEER 1 network, and optimizes its content delivery with Rapid Edge CDN. Check us our at www.peer1.com and www.rapidedgecdn.com

65.39.243.42:27015 SPAWNPOINT.COM | Seattle ESMod Server 2.0 Beta
65.39.243.43:27015 SPAWNPOINT.COM | Vancouver ESMod Server 2.0 Beta

Eternal Silence In-Game Screenshots