MINERVA (mod)
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MINERVA is an episodic series of single-player mods created by Adam Foster for Valve Corporation's Half-Life 2. Installments are released as each is finalized: the first two releases for the Metastasis episode have already been made, and work is currently underway on the third and last before Chronoclasm is started.
The plot and settings of MINERVA are linked to Someplace Else, Foster's original map for Half-Life and Half-Life 2 itself, while many stylistic influences are drawn from Bungie Studios' Marathon and Halo games.
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[edit] Plot
MINERVA's plot is progressed through radio messages from the female character after whom the mod is named (Minerva), the messages are relayed as text rather than spoken words. Minerva's communications are sarcastic and dismissive, and her demeanour brusque, treating the player as a data-gathering tool at her disposal. Information and storyline is revealed in short segments over the course of the chapters, often with no explanation; for example, in Metastasis she reveals that her (and therefore the player's) goal is to discover the Combine's purposes on and underneath the episode's island, but not why she considers this important or how the player became involved in the first place.
Minerva is not omniscient however; Metastasis also reveals her to be working within the limits of satellite imagery and terrestrial radio, and at several points admits to the player that she does not know what lies ahead, and is exploring with them.
Even when Minerva is aware of an upcoming threat, she is not always inclined to forewarn players of it. At times it appears that she enjoys the player overcoming difficult challenges, although not always revealing this in her messages - which are chiding and patronising. This contradictory stance extends as Minerva starts to compliment her "laboratory specimen", to the point of telling the player to "take care" ahead of one enemy encounter. She demonstrates further compassion when encountering a headcrab shell factory through the player, justifying her order to have it shut down on moral grounds.
The complexity of Minerva as a character is an important theme in the game and provides an explanation for the lack of backstory or timeline information.
[edit] Timeline
MINERVA’s communications are unusual in that each is prefixed by a time/date stamp in International Date Format (ISO 8601), giving an explicit timescale to the plot. These timestamps extend to several written pieces on the series' website[1] that give background to the story. From these and the in-game messages it is possible to construct a partial timeline of events covered in the MINERVA series.
- 13th June 1974 - Prolonged seismic event in New Mexico. Starts at 4pm.
- 2nd July 1974 - Seismic event confirmed to be from Black Mesa 'Missile Range'.
- 10th July 1974 - Confirmation of event, explained as a "catastrophic failure". Temporary halt to a research program. Mention made of transportation technology.
- c. 2000 (uncertain date) - Events of Half-Life; rise of the Combine from this point onward
- 28th March 2002 - Message written on console in Black Mesa, which is now known as the Black Mesa Research Facility.
- 1st April 2002 - Events of Someplace Else. Minerva claims to be at the Xen outpost against her will.
- 15th October 2009 - Events of Metastasis. Minerva has somehow arrived on Earth.
- Unknown (later?) date - Message from Minerva. Claims to have interfaced with some sort of network.
[edit] Location
MINERVA is placed firmly in our world – part of the first level is played in and around a World War II bunker (identified as such in the game). This puts the location as somewhere in Europe. Furthermore the first chapter is also (as seen and noted in the game) located on an island, which has been confirmed as being somewhere in the Baltic Sea. [2]
In the official levels for Half-Life 2 there are small hints as to where the action takes place; although it is accepted as being somewhere in Eastern Europe there are no clear references to real places or historic events. In Half-life 2 Episode One (Valve's latest release in the Half-life series) Russian letters appear on a hospital sign although they do not translate to hospital it is possible that the location of City 17 is somewhere in the former communist Central Europe.
[edit] Design
MINERVA's designer, Foster, is critical of Valves design of Half-life 2 maps. His belief is that game developers focus on creating gameplay friendly environments that do not work in an architectural way, "a series of unconnected boxes" says Foster,[3] MINERVA's environments are built as actual environments (with correctly proportioned structures and areas) with gameplay worked in later. This creates a more open design, in which players may, in places, navigate in multiple ways. Later locations can be seen in earlier stages of the game (along corridors or through windows for example)
Map design is the mod's hallmark. While all levels are constructed primarily using Valve's architecture, with few new models or textures, Foster follows his own design ideals – that of compact well designed maps. Although the levels seem huge, as play unfolds, they are in fact very small - wrapping around to use the least space possible. This creates a sense of realism. As pointed out by Planet Halflife:[4]
| Instead of relying on horizontally-sprawling, immense maps that stress the engine's area-capabilities to its max, MINERVA maps are incredibly small. This is because of Foster's ground-breaking idea to utilize every possible area to its maximum potential, and instead of expanding horizontally, he expands vertically. |
As a result MINERVA maps have a much shorter load time than maps in the original game.
Foster creates the maps in layers. Once a layer is filled he moves the design downwards, which both helps to propel the storyline (a descent into a mysterious shaft) and also makes the best use of space.
Visually the maps are of a high quality (With HDR lighting being implemented in the next release), and the environments match those of the official game in look and feel. Not that the maps are faultless; Metastasis 1's custom skybox has issues at lower texture detail to this day.
The player's Combine opposition are positioned logically, a feat given the vast number of communicating areas in each map. New adversaries don't spawn as soon as the player completes an objective but appear realistically as the episode progresses.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Metastasis
Metastasis is the first chapter in the MINERVA series. It is divided into three episodes: Carcinogenesis, Downhill Struggle, and Depth Charge. Currently only the first two parts have been released.
[edit] Carcinogenesis
| The true method of knowledge is experiment. So, strapped to the underside of a stolen Combine helicopter, you're part of my latest scientific investigation. Objective: To infiltrate and observe this peculiar little island a few miles off shore, its heart burrowed out by our ever-loving benefactors... [5] |
Metastasis 1 begins with the player being deposited on the shore of a mysterious island by a Combine helicopter. Under attack from the outset, the player must fight a path around the island to gain access to its center, guided on occasion by messages from Minerva.
Combat and exploration dominate gameplay in this first instalment. Dropped in the water next to a wharf, the player must survive an initial firefight with Combine forces before getting his bearings. The wharf with its collection of buildings is fenced off; the island's most obvious non-natural feature is a shimmering stream of plasma descending from the cloud cover straight into the island's center. A circuitous tour of the island ensues, involving multiple variegated enemy engagements (at a distance, up close, elevated, bunkered, flanked), all set in a convincing and detailed rocky beach environment. The outdoor tour ends at the wharf next to which the player is first deposited, the first of many such circles throughout the Minerva series. Underground exploration with minimal combat follows, heightening tension and raising questions about what the Combine are doing on the island, the apparent aim of Minerva's "scientific investigation." A return to the surface yields more combat, access to the plasma stream's entry point, and the beginning of the descent down the beam's path that carries the episode to its conclusion and is continued in the next instalment.
We learn little about Minerva or her goals, but her messages reveal a megalomaniacal, condescending, and sarcastic personality, and she seems to enjoy, but not assume, the player's continued survival. Her oblique, intriguing comments drive the narrative just as combat drives the gameplay.
[edit] Downhill Struggle
| Experiment shall continue; further data sought. Upon completion, peer review followed by publishing; discoveries communicated to a greater audience. Infiltrate. Observe. Reveal. Destroy. [6] |
The second level to MINERVA is set inside a huge shaft found at the center of the strange island. As the player progresses downwards the level becomes much darker.
This instalment involves slightly less combat, although the well placed enemies present a tougher challenge, and seems to be mostly about finding a route further down the shaft. At times this can be difficult with complex puzzles and a lot of backtracking required.
Once again you are directed by the invisible Minerva, who seems to become more sarcastic as the game progresses.
It is revealed that the user is not the only person Minerva has manipulated. She compares you against at least one other such avatar - most likely a reference to Pericles but it is also possible it refers to the player character of Someplace Else, also by Adam Foster.
[edit] Depth Charge
The final instalment of Minerva: Metastasis is still in development, but Foster has promised a release in the near future.
[edit] Chronoclasm
Foster has hinted that the next chapter of the MINERVA series might be called "Chronoclasm", and has promised "some freakish gameplay additions...". [7]
Foster has also hinted that he would like to set Chronoclasm in "a snow-dusted coastal town, complete with its own Citadel." The film Twelve Monkeys (1995) may provide some influences in the design of this urban area.
[edit] Notable mentions
MINERVA has grown in popularity recently, so much so it is now included in the 'Browse Games' section of Steam (Valve's content delivery system) as a featured mod. There have also been various reviews of the mod by independent sites:
- MINERVA was featured as a Mod of the Week on Planet Halflife.
- Amped News rated it 4.5/5 (review)
- The Mod Resource gave Minerva 5 out of 5 (review)
[edit] Related links
- The official MINERVA site, with an introduction to the story and some clues as to the storyline.
- Download Minerva
- Someplace Else, the prequel to Minerva (a mod for the original Half-Life)
- Foster's Minerva Development Blog
[edit] References
- ^ Archive. MINERVA official homepage. Retrieved on June 23, 2006.
- ^ Baltic?. MINERVA development log. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ Minerva. Idle Thumbs (16 November 2006). Retrieved on 30 April 2006.
- ^ MINERVA: Metastasis 2. Planet Half-Life (17 April 2006). Retrieved on 3 August 2006.
- ^ Metastasis 1. MINERVA official homepage. Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ Metastasis 2. MINERVA official homepage. Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ Answers? Maybe. MINERVA development log. Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- 'Titles.txt' files for MINERVA: Metastasis and Someplace Else.
