Comments on: Operation Nova – Half-Life

By: Technic

Technic — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:29:24 +0000

These military settings are exactly what I like most in HL and altho you can shoot down an Osprey and an Apache in here, it confused me somehow.
Sometimes I didn’t knew what to do as I had sound a bit too quiet to listen what the scientists / Barneys say
Thanks that there’s a hints.txt added hehe
Overall average mod, nothing special and too short for my taste

Pro’s:
-Military setting – soldiers, tanks, aircrafts
-Solid level design, scripts & gameplay
-Plenty of shotgun ammo – hooray!
-Perfect dose of action

Con’s:
-Elevator scenes, eeek! (Barnacle + 2000 feet ladders meh)
-Long ventilation shafts or partly long walks
-It’s very short
-People can’t figure out what to do sometimes

The last 10 soldiers are easy if you save all crossbow ammo

By: Qwertyus

Qwertyus — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:24:31 +0000

I got two problems when playing – blowing up osprey and missle launcher. After all I solved both of these problems with my handgun . And shotgun help me with that “elevator-and-barnacle” puzzle. Very good episode – fun, dynamic and original. Minor flaws do not spoil the overall good impression.

By: kamal

kamal — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:08:54 +0000

pleaze can you give me the soletion of maps
“”onc0a5″”

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:32:21 +0000

Spoiler alert….I really enjoyed this mod up until the end and I hit a wall. In the room with the pipe, I pushed the detonator, and I can see the crack in the big pipe, but nothing, absolutely nothing will break open that pipe, not the crowbar, nor any amount of shooting in a hundred different patterns. So disappointing to not be able to finish it. Any advice?
BTW, I had no trouble bringing the osprey down.
Spoiler about the osprey…

You have to time it right so you run out when the osprey disappears from sight to the upper left. Then grab the machine gun from about 2 steps behind. Shoot patiently as it circles at the rotors. There will be no spawning unless you shoot at or kill the soldiers on the ground before you bring the osprey down.

By: shawn

shawn — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:22:43 +0000

Too clever by half in that it’s often painfully difficult without being very interesting. Uses infinite marine spawning in one location as a substitute for creative mapping and gameplay. Several of the puzzles are so arcane a hint.txt was needed. I didn’t enjoy this mod.

By: jonastro

jonastro — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:10:05 +0000

lol …. i figured out the way …. enjoyed vry much …

n1 MOD ….

By: jonastro

jonastro — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:45:00 +0000

plz help me …!!!!

how do i blow up the door .. i cant complete the mission ….. i read the hint. txt and went through the sewage tunnel …. but nothing happens except a soldier waiting there for me … i can see a missile truck … but i cant do anything with it … plz help ……

By: Gonome

Gonome — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:38:41 +0000

GOOD mode! I want continue!

By: mel

mel — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:34:29 +0000

Having read all the above comments before finishing this mod I was not too sure what to expect, with lots of talk about puzzles and a few minor bugs I though; not another mod I won’t finish. I am pleased to say that I very much enjoyed this mod, in ways it was simplistic but all the better for being so. The story was well keep too with continuity via good voice acting, yes I know it was different and not what we have come to expect, but it was still good. I did not find the puzzles that difficult and would have thought all the gamers that recently slogged their way through ‘The Trap’ would have found them easy. OK I did need the hint sheet on the lift-shaft sequence but that was it, also I did not come across any bugs worth mentioning.

This is no classic, it does not have much in the way of new content, voice acting aside, and neither does the designs and textures within advance the realms of mapping, mostly we have typical HL1 settings seen in hundreds of previous custom mods. So what if any thing makes Operation Nova worth playing, for me it was a pleasure to play a mod with not just a story but a story line kept too by the author such that mod appears to be built about the story, has opposed to the common approach ‘here is the story now forget about it’

This must be the first mod/mappack I have finished in about the last 6 custom games hl2/hl1. I have got feed up lately with the number of mods that were too bugger, too puzzle orientated or just not interesting enough to bother finishing. This game for me was fun, complete, story driven with a fine balance between combat, puzzle solving and climbing about. I personally don’t think the author should spend any more time on this mod its ok has it stand, much sooner see you spend the time on giving us a new mod, I am sure it would be great.

By: clunkfish

clunkfish — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:47:58 +0000

I thought this one was OK. Short and mostly sweet – the only glitch being the Osprey. I could only get the gun to work by pressing my Use key when at the barrel end so could never aim it at the plane, and had to noclip through the big door. I agree that the negative comments about the dialogue are unwarranted: it’s fine both in writing and delivery.

By: bkadar

bkadar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:41:20 +0000

upon finishing , and messing about, i feel you did a hell of a job on this.well rounded,makes one think of the first time they played hl and how to solve or what to do.overall fun. this ones gonna stay on the games list.thanks for the time you put into this.gg

By: bkadar

bkadar — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:37:52 +0000

good fun any more on the way?

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:18:47 +0000

you can snipe all of them

I don’t think that’s supposed to happen. I tried and when I killed the last one the game finished and said I had failed to utilize the…..(Something something).

the point I got was that you were supposed to leave them alive so they could drive you out.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:33:18 +0000

***Spoiler***
At the end, when you’re supposed to sneak into the military’s trucks to get away, if you’ve saved up all your ammo for the crossbow, you can snipe all of them from the manhole without getting their attention.

Unfortunately, you don’t really find any Easter Eggs or anything, but it’s entertaining to note…
***End Spoiler***

By: erc

erc — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:17:28 +0000

It has been nearly two years since I’ve played any HLSP. However, this one looks like those old-school, decent, one-man efforts from the first years of the game. Guess I’ll re-install Half-Life soon.

By: nige

nige — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:55:08 +0000

Just finished this mod I thought it was good.Found the broke ladder not too hard to jump.Took me a while to
find the broken pipe and maybe a cut scene at the end would have been nice.Thanks for the great mod.

By: Ad3

Ad3 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:48:24 +0000

Now that I’ve finished it, I can finally rate it. But first, my opinions about this controversial mod, in the order of appearance.
Niiiice intro, very original!
I had a bug about one scientist, too. He wouldn’t want to go further at first, but I finally managed to get him open a door for me.
Some backtracking, which you don’t see every day.
I liked the idea of getting hints of what to do next from the dialogues.
The machine gun worked indeed if I took a step back.
It’s hard to believe none of the testers complained about the broken ladder.. I saw no purpose in that, just a simple mistake of design.
Blowing up such a big vehicle – surface-to-air missile launcher, I think – was never easier
Game crashed when I came back to the elevator, after the detonation.
The end scene was original, also. Spoiler: I liked that feeling of sneaking in the back of a truck in a setting full of grunts. End spoiler.
That’s it?.. And this can and does mean 2 things: 1. I liked it and wanted more. 2. I was expecting something.. better, from what I’ve read. More immersive, spectacular, puzzling, hard and what not.
The feeling throughout this mod is different and new, but only from time to time. The mapping and the fights are average. No new models or weapons. Good voice acting, but why give British accent to a scientist which has American accent when you use him?
In conclusion, this mod has some memorable moments: the intro, the outro, the puzzles (3 or so) and the story & instructions mix. I see great potential that hasn’t been exploited enough in this mod, so I’ll give it a “Play it when you have time”. Awaiting Op. Nova 2

By: KingDaniel

KingDaniel — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:25:26 +0000

I’d just like to make a comment about the barnacle puzzle. It took me ages to figure it out, but that was the point – it was a *puzzle*. If Ben takes Phillip’s suggestion and signposts it any more it stops being a puzzle and becomes a task, with no thinking involved. The point of the puzzles was that they’re not the normal FPS ones.

I don’t think the mod should be diluted to appeal more to the brain-dead ‘You Have to Burn the Rope’ crowd (it’s a flash game – Google it). That’s the difference between mods and games – mods shouldn’t have to sink to the lowest common denominator.

I thought Nova was a great little episode – polished, well made and great fun. It sometimes did things a little differently to HL – but that was the point. That’s what made it unique and stand out from the crowd.

I did have some trouble with the jump off the broken ladder (I think I died twice) – but while all of you have yelled “that’s difficult – change it!” I said “That’s part of the game – another challenge to overcome”. Anyone who played HL1 to the end will know it was full of difficult jumps.

I thought the acting was fine, and the characters and script fitted in with HL1 perfectly.

By: Ad3

Ad3 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:36:40 +0000

Another thing, even though I’ve seen only 2 of the puzzles (I started playing it late), I must say this: they’re well thought, the ideas are great and original, BUT they’re implemented a bit wrong.
1. the trip mines: First, you put 2 horizontal trip mines in front that can hint the player he could go through them, so I tried that for about 6 times (the gap between them could’ve been smaller, or maybe have 3 trip mines?). Second, you put them behind the door, if I remember, so that the player might think he could try and blow them up without much damage, instead, they blow up the ones behind the player, too. I, for one, still don’t know the radius of a trip mine explosion, so I kept trying this solution, too
2. the barnacleS: First, why use two barnacles? It makes the player try both, the nearest one being the first. Second, you have only 2 seconds to see that fire glass, because the barnacle’s tongue or whatever is taking up half a screen as you go up
3. I usually don’t give up that easy on puzzles, but I was tired and have already read some of the comments and made an opinion about the puzzles and I apologize for that.
Will continue this mod more open-minded, I promise.

A hint for PP: have a note in the beginning of the post that could mention if the mod has a readme.txt or hints.txt or whatever. Please

By: Ben Greenwood

Ben Greenwood — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:22:21 +0000

Fair enough, ad3, I think maybe there should have been more priming about shooting the glass, as Philip suggested. Glad you enjoyed the tripmine one though.

And thanks for the detailed review Stef, lots of useful feedback there.

By: Ad3

Ad3 — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:54:22 +0000

I solved the trip mine puzzle and it felt good to do it on my own. But the next one was more than a pickle.
To think that my first attempts with the barnacle were to push that button up there! And one time I actually did it.. and nothing happened. Then I asked myself, what am I doing wrong. The second attempt was to swing over, but that didn’t work.. I even cheated to get on that floor (which I rarely, close to never! do) and I still received that hintless message.. Finally, I used the hints.txt.. Now that’s a way too difficult puzzle

By: Stef

Stef — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:20:25 +0000

Ben I had really a good time playing you episode and even if there was some little flaws you should be really proud to build this! I have add a little review to my blog (just click on my name in this post and think it’s really the less i could to retribute you effort…Thanks man

By: Ben Greenwood

Ben Greenwood — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:22:43 +0000

Ah ok thanks, Ad3. Sorry about misinterpreting that, Fluffy.

I’m surprised you can’t just play old HL1 mods with the Source engine. It’d be cool if someone made something that would let you do that.

By: Ad3

Ad3 — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:05:40 +0000

Hi, Ben. I’ll be playing your mod tonight, hopefully.
When Fluffy said “The beginning segment was a joke” he referred to his own comment (and not your mod) about how new HL1 mods still appear these days and if you would check the archive you would see that several mods were released this year and not just lost & found & added here..
I, for one, am not tired yet and even if I will get tired someday, another release will still make me happy, because it keeps the HL spirit alive as it should. And will gladly give it a play, for old time’s sake.

By: andyb

andyb — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:23:01 +0000

I really liked it.Nice to play something different for a change.

By: Gypsy Jim

Gypsy Jim — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:23:58 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic romp in HL1 territory, though would have struggled without having found the hints file after repeated deaths in the lift that everyone else seems to have had problems with….I never figured the machine gun out but managed to down the Osprey with the weapons I had, admittedly not on my first attempt, more like 6th….

By: andyb

andyb — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:05:45 +0000

Ben,if you had seen any of his “reviews” you would know to pay no attention to him in public.He is very critical of almost EVERY SINGLE MOD.I actually cant remember one he had anything good to say about to be honest.

c’est la vie

Edit:Just reread his post and that actually is one of his better posts.I think that may actually be a compliment lol.

By: Ben Greenwood

Ben Greenwood — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:19:00 +0000

No problem, andyb.

And well, Fluffy, I think that’s harsh criticism to say you burst out laughing in disbelief, or to describe something as “a joke” but thanks for the feedback all the same.

By: Our Lord and Savior Fluffy The Hamster

Our Lord and Savior Fluffy The Hamster — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:15:25 +0000

I disliked the script because, as I said, it conforms to odd stereotyping. Lines like “Let us leave Officer * to his beverages, shall we?” and “The concurred-apon plan…” made me burst out laughing in sheer disbelief. Don’t get me wrong, the voices themselves are very well-done, it’s just the dialogue they had to say that I disliked.

The beginning segment was a joke, I have no problem with playing new Half-Life 1 modifications. I rather prefer them since they’re quicker to download and often quicker to play, thus allowing me more time of the day to spend on multiple hour S.T.A.L.K.E.R binges.

By: andyb

andyb — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:10:27 +0000

Good to have ya here Ben.Thanks for the updates