Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
About

USS Darkstar is a futuristic episode for Halflife set on a Zoological Research Vessel. On average it takes about 7 to 10 hours to play through the first time.

To: Mr. Walter Bennett
From: Dr. Einar Saukas
Subject: Offer of Employment

Dear Mr. Walter Bennett,

Black Widow Inc. would like to invite you to join our organization. You would be assigned as a member of the multi-disciplinary scientific team on board of the USS DARKSTAR, in a zoological research expedition to seek out, collect and investigate new alien life-forms in unexplored sectors of the universe.

This mission occurs in the year 2066, but since you have already travelled to the future before, this should not be a problem for you. The space-time window to come to our present time will be available in just a few days, please decide ASAP about your interest in this job opportunity.

You have been selected for this position by Cmdr. Neil Manke due to your broad knowledge on advanced biochemistry and extensive experience interacting with hostile aliens. Your proven capacity to survive under critical conditions was also considered. But actually you don’t have anything to worry about, our project is adopting the most rigorous safety measures to prevent incidents. I can personally guarantee everything is under control and none of the crew will be ever submitted to any risk situations whatsoever. This is certainly going to be a calm, quiet and relaxing journey, as you can already predict from the pictures of our impressive spaceship installations at The Black Widow’s Lair.

We are looking forward to having you on our team!

Dr. Einar Saukas
Administration Office
Black Widow Inc.
Project USS DARKSTAR

Mr. Walter Bennett is one of several famous scientists invited to participate in this mission. You are Dr. Gordon Freeman, a brilliant researcher who has always had problems waking up on time…

Basic Details
  • Title: USS Darkstar
  • File Name: h1-sp-darkstar.rar
  • Size : 10.6Mb
  • Author: Neil Manke
  • Date Released: 26 May 1999
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots may contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
15 recommendations, average score: 4.67 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.49
Published

15th December 2008

Categories

Half-Life, Single Player Mods and Maps

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42 Comments
  1. Darth Marsden

    20th September 2005

    The author of this mod is actually Neil Manke, he of They Hunger fame. You know what that means, folks. Yep, you’re in for a real treat with this one.

    Once again you’re Gordon Freeman, and once again you’re in a lab – only this lab is an a ship flying through space. Of course, something goes wrong (it wouldn’t be much of a mod if it didn’t!) and you have to escape. And escape you will, though all areas of the ship. You’ll see the dark underbelly of the cargo hold, the remains of the research labs and the technology of the mainframe.

    This is an excellent mod. It really conveys the feeling of being in space well, something few HL mods succeed in doing. The maps are very well designed, and the new voices and graphics, limited though they are, are of a high standard. Everything we’ve come to expect of Neil, really.

    Downsides? There aren’t any, really. I seem to have developed a nack for reviewing the best mods out there. Occasionally you may have trouble figuring out where to go, but when you do figure it out you’ll be wondering why you didn’t spot it before. For the most part, it’s al very clear.

    This is a wonderful mod, and is highly recommended. Also, visit Neil’s site to get at all his other work – including some rather impressive Quake 2 mods that you really should try – at http://www.planethalflife.com/manke

    Reply
  2. Darth Marsden

    27th September 2005

    Two things I forgot to mention in my little review.

    One) There’s no human marines to fight – it’s all aliens.

    Two) There is a remarkably fun section where you are shrunk down and have to navigate your way across someone’s office.

    Reply
  3. The Abandoned Workshops

    3rd June 2006

    Gameplay:
    The cutscenes in this are well made and some are quite funny too which I won’t spoil. Action can be tough sometimes but possible and not too hard. There is plenty of ammo and health in the mod and you shouldn’t run out of it too soon. Sometimes the mod can get a bit too much of the same thing but it’s still fun to play through and get to the end.

    Design:
    Quite average although good. Texture can be wierd in some areas but generally thought out well and aligned with care with good texture choices. Structure of most rooms is simple but stll defines what the room is supposed to be. Lighting is also good in most places but a few areas could do with improvements. Many areas are also large and well detailed.

    Conclusion:
    A good mod from a well known author with simple yet good design and fair gameplay.

    Rating: NA

    Reply
  4. Syndicated Review

    3rd June 2006

    Introduction
    As I sit in front of the screen I see a gigantic ship, deep in outer space, swoop past the camera, I use the term swoop loosely because the process almost takes a minute due to the size of the ship. When the camera eventually reaches the end, it pans over the ships mighty engines, burning at full thrust, and over the top to give a better view of the ship. Lights, landing bays, glass tunnels and windows suddenly reveal themselves, the camera zooms in to one of the said windows, we can make out some sort of dormitory, a security guard walks in and bangs on one of the doors, but the noise of the bang is drowned out by the sound of the blazing engines. Now anyone reading this, oblivious to the fact that it’s a review for a computer game level, would think I was describing a cinematic scene from a Starwars movie, or similar high budget Hollywood movie. They’d be wrong of course because it’s in fact the splendid scripted intro to Manke’s new single player level pack, USS DarkStar, I’m impressed already and I haven’t even started playing yet. Before I downloaded this level I heard many boast’s and rash statements about this pack, claiming that it bettered any of Valve’s efforts, and that it was worthy as a mission pack on it’s own alongside the upcoming Opposing Force. After playing through DarkStar twice it has to be said these statements aren’t far from the truth.

    Playing through DS is like playing through a real movie, like an interactive movie except that’s there’s no FMV in site, just realtime 3D graphics. The author has made good use of cinematic cut scenes, from the flyby intro to the ending sequence, and scripted sequences such as the sound of scientists getting slaughtered as they call for help over the intercom. There’s plenty more where that came from but I shouldn’t spoil the surprise, this professional use of scripting really helps add to the experience moving the story along at the same time. It draws you into playing the game, so much so that you’ll find yourself playing through the whole thing in one sitting, oh and did I mention that it’s big! The story goes along the lines of Gordon Freeman being assigned onboard a zoological vessel in outer space in 2066. It starts off in the same vein as the original Halflife, you’re late for work and as you make your way through the ship everything is rosey and all systems are go. Until everything goes wrong of course, and then begins the battle for your life as you desperately try to find a way off the ship blasting aside any escaped aliens that get in your way.

    The level design is first rate, it’s if though WorldCraft is Manke’s second home. Glass tunnels that let you see outside the ship, open up into detailed corridors complete with all the trimmings and supporting structures you’d expect in the real ship, these then lead onto offices and labs where even the tiniest of details, such as notebooks and pens, are present. The monster play pens, complete with monsters, that allow you to walk right through them protected by an electrical force field so they can’t touch you, are a great touch. However, although the levels are really detailed, at times it didn’t feel like I was walking through a real spaceship in 2066, the designs tended to resemble the standard corridors and rooms you see in Halflife’s underground bunker/lab type levels at times. This can be forgiven though because the authenticity and attention to detail more than makes up for it. The almost perfect monster and weapon layout is testament to how important beta testing your levels is (like DS was), the game never gets too difficult or too easy, the difficulty remains consistent throughout, and you never find yourself having to battle through parts of the game with just a crowbar because the designer forgot to leave enough ammo.

    These levels are packed with innovation and originality and comical touches that put a smile on your face, for instance, when you come across your first PC Gamer magazine with ‘Top 100 Games of 2066′ braising the front cover, and when you come across the security guard laying down on a sofa with a beer can lying on the floor, obviously in a drunken state. Another section of the level sees Freeman shrunk down to the size of a mouse where you get to explore inside a computer system, and even destroy some of the components. And there’s this brilliant bit where….oh I can’t give too much away, it’ll spoil the surprise. But these few examples serve to demonstrate the level of thought and imagination put into making these levels. So much more than a series of rooms where you get to shoot monsters, more of an interactive storybook.

    It is difficult to fault these levels, but perhaps where they can be criticised is in their performance. Some parts of the game slow down to a crawl on all but the best machines. Maybe the beta testers were using fast machines and didn’t test the levels for a decent frame rate, so that there is room to optimise the levels, however I noticed a little slow down on my PII450, 128MB, TNT2 Ultra machine running at 800×600, so I can only guess at how it will perform on slower PC’s. Also DS didn’t contain nearly as many of those scary underpants filling moments that are evident in Valve’s efforts, moments such as monsters suddenly teleporting in from nowhere that would put you into a frenzied panic are mainly absent, I didn’t find myself nervously peering around corners as much as I did in Valve’s levels. But these are pretty much scrape the bottom of the barrel attempts to find faults, the fact that I’m comparing DS with Valve’s levels is an honour in itself.

    Conclusion -So in answer to the two questions put forward in the introduction, it is just as good as Valve’s levels but doesn’t better them, and this probably wouldn’t make a mission pack on it’s own mainly because it’s not big enough, it certainly has the quality of a mission pack though. Play this one in the meantime while you wait for Opposing Force instead, it’s definitely worth the download with even the slowest modems. All in all this is the best single player Halflife pack on the internet, for heavens sake Valve, give Manke a job!

    Rating = 94%

    Copyright:
    This review was written by Dominic Pettifer AKA Sunday Ironfoot and first appeared on Iron Planet.

    Reply
  5. bob

    5th February 2007

    it sucks you cant play as walter for once

    Reply
  6. Bruno

    5th February 2007

    i like this mod !! nice

    Reply
  7. Stef

    22nd May 2007

    update release date

    My favorite mod!!!

    Reply
  8. HL MASTA

    9th September 2007

    I am missing the FUCKING file “neilm.wad”

    Reply
  9. planetphillip

    9th September 2007

    HL MASTA, if you continue to swear on my website I will delete all your comments.

    Reply
  10. Paul denton

    1st October 2007

    Play It Now!

    It’s a great mod,it’s only a 10Mb download,and it takes you at least 5 hours on the first try. Great graphics,story and atmosphere.Great mod!!!

    Reply
  11. Paul denton

    1st October 2007

    Oh, and one more thing I forgot, hey Valve,give Manke a job!!!

    Reply
  12. Anon-00575

    13th October 2007

    Play It Now!

    HL MASTA, if you continue to swear on my website I will delete all your comments.

    Geez, calm down! I know i swear a lot, but when i noticed all those great mods, well… i owe you an apology

    Reply
  13. planetphillip

    13th October 2007

    well… i owe you an apology

    Apology gratefully accepted.

    Reply
  14. Dale

    5th November 2007

    Maybe?

    To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it very much. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very well thought out and put together game, but I just never got into it. I guess space settings just aren’t to my liking, but it’s definately worth a shot to those that it might appeal to.

    Reply
  15. HL Masta

    8th November 2007

    Play It Now! - revised

    Anyway, at the end why does it say “To be continued”? When will USS Darkstar 2 will be released?
    Response: Sorry, but there will never be a DS2 (USS Darkstar 2). I had DS2 started right after DS1, but then Bill from PC Gamer said he didn’t want a USS Darkstar 2, so i started to work on They Hunger. (Found on the USS Darkstar FAQ)

    Reply
    • stuart brosenbauer

      9th April 2010

      hi neal. uss darkstar was great. couldnt you do the second part,its a really good addon

      Reply
  16. HL Masta

    23rd November 2007

    Play It Now!

    My recommendation is…

    Reply
  17. geekofalltrades

    20th December 2007

    Maybe?

    In my mind, it was thoroughly average in almost every respect… certainly not up to the standard of the developer’s second effort, They Hunger.

    Reply
  18. Dave J

    30th January 2008

    Seems to freeze under Steam. Any Suggestions anyone?

    Reply
  19. planetphillip

    30th January 2008

    Seems to freeze under Steam. Any Suggestions anyone?

    Dave, I apologize for not replying sooner.

    Try:
    USS Darkstar FAQ

    Reply
  20. Qinetix

    16th April 2008

    how i can play this game?

    Reply
  21. Gilfrarry

    16th April 2008

    USS Darkstar is a modification for the game Half-Life 1, which is a prerequisite. There are detailed installation instructions in the darkstar.zip file.

    Reply
  22. HL2 Masta (THE NEW HL MASTA)

    9th June 2008

    Hmmmmmm….
    a great mod is (usually) more then 25 megabytes but less than 12 gigabytes…
    oh yeah… i also changed my name coz i pwn @ HL2… i think you know my HL1 attitude

    Reply
  23. Ragnar_GD

    5th September 2008

    Link to USS Darkstar FAQ doesn’t work.

    Reply
  24. andyb

    5th September 2008

    Does now.Fixed

    Reply
  25. planetphillip

    5th September 2008

    Thanks

    Reply
  26. planetphillip

    15th December 2008

    Phillip's Favourite

    This is a masterclass in how to make a great mod. The level design is detail and interesteing,the gameplay is varied and the overall feelin is onbe of professionalism.

    Definitely a Hallf Of Fame mod.

    This is Blast from the Past in Podcast 17′s Transmission Code 10119

    Reply
  27. Loke

    15th December 2008

    Personal Favourite

    One of my favorite mods for Half-Life. Anyone who hasn’t played it yet should call in sick for the day and just play this, it’s definitely worth it.

    Reply
  28. bumtown

    16th December 2008

    Personal Favourite

    Need i say more?

    Reply
  29. Zockopa

    16th December 2008

    This was the first Mod i ever played in my life. Read about it in a german
    pcmag a couple month before and it was one of the first things i downloaded
    from the web.

    Reply
  30. Red Slug

    17th December 2008

    Play It Now!

    Instant classic! One of the first and best HL mods.

    Reply
  31. mel

    19th December 2008

    Personal Favourite

    If you like HL1 and have never played USS Darkstar then download now, after all these years and over 400 custom mods later this is still one of the all time greats.

    Got my copy from PC Gamer 10 years ago.

    Reply
  32. Len

    19th December 2008

    Personal Favourite

    Somebody should convert this to a Source Mod, so that everyone can play it now. They did it with Heart of Evil, and this one is just as good. A real classic!

    Reply
  33. GuyFleegman

    21st March 2009

    I have got to play this one again. Big Neil Manke fan, ever since Coconut Monkey back in the Quake days.

    I remember this as one of my favorite mods back in the day and this one may be enough for me to go back a step in the HL world.

    Reply
  34. Anonymous

    10th May 2009

    Is this a new rerelease¿
    I played this back when it first came out Damm That Monkey!

    good game

    Reply
  35. planetphillip

    22nd May 2009

    I’ve updated the post to include working servers.

    Reply
  36. ivorybow

    3rd June 2009

    Howdy all, I followed the directions exactly as to setting up the directory structure, but no command “Custom Game is available. However, wonder of wonders!!!! Darkstar available on my Steam Games list, under Half Life Source. It plays beautifully..and what a great intro….can’t wait to get into this one,
    Carolyn

    Reply
  37. Poisonheadcrab

    7th June 2009

    Play It Later

    A fun little mod with an interesting atmosphere.

    Reply
  38. Barnz

    10th August 2009

    Personal Favourite

    What can I say? I grown up with Neil Manke’s work.

    Reply
  39. Anonymous

    24th August 2009

    How do I install this?
    I have : hl1-sp-darkstar.rar
    but uuuh where do I put it and what do I do?
    I cannot find install instructions.. please help!

    Reply
  40. Qwertyus

    8th May 2010

    Personal Favourite

    One of the first mods I have played, an I have replayed it a few times with great pleasure every time.

    Reply
  41. Dusty_Lions

    1st September 2010

    Personal Favourite

    I played this one with the old Sierra disk. Downloading this one..This one is a classic! PLAY IT

    Reply
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