GoldenEye: Source

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This mod for Source has been released! Download it now.

Overview

GoldenEye 007 set an early benchmark against which all following FPS games have been judged. Its style, design, and gameplay mechanics came together in a hitherto unmatched harmony, and the game's players hold it in high regard almost without exception. Time and time again, mod creators have tried to capture Goldeneye's essence in mods. GoldenEye: Source GoldenEye: Source was founded by the late Nick Bishop in hopes of succeeding where past mods have fallen short.

Features

  • Maps designed to resemble the original combat arenas, including expanded areas in some maps that were removed or inaccessible due to technical limitations.
  • Player models based on the characters of the game and films.
  • Scenarios (gameplay modes) based on those of the original games; with plans to add new, original scenarios.

Media

A gallery of screenshots is available at the ModDB page ModDB page

History

This timeline is incomplete. The mod was founded by Nick Bishop in 2005, with the goal of recreating the magic of Goldeneye 007 to enjoy with his friends. The mod's announcement alone was enough to create buzz, and a gaming clan, Janus Syndicate, formed well before the mod was made available.

The first release, Alpha 1.0 was issued on 25 December 2006. Though it retained many artifacts of HL2, such as the ammunition boxes, the mod's first public impression included four completed maps; Facility/Backzone, Egyptian, and Caves; and a basic weapon set, pistol, submachine gun, rifle, shotgun, and the Golden Gun—a precise and instantly lethal special weapon. The mod was an overnight success and became quite popular. January saw a 1.1 update which replaced the remaining HL2 items. However, one map, Egyptian, contained a spawnpoint error that made the map unpopular on many servers. The next update was proposed for February, but the monthly update plan fell through.

Soon a playtesting group was secretly assembled, recruited from the Goldeneye Source Forum's popular and trusted members. Major coding changes had been made since 1.1, and the developers wanted to make the next release a major update. The Beta release was set for September 2006.
Though at least one member of the beta team sensed something was amiss, the suicide of Nick Bishop was a stunning blow to the development team. Not only did the team lose their best friend, but the mod's progress was moving slowly.

September passed uneventfully. While lots of progress was being made, it was mostly 50%~90% done progress, with very little being actually complete. A nagging bug from early summer that caused pistols to appear to fire two or three bullet bursts seemed to be becoming more pronounced. The beta release was moved to October, then over November, to December 25th.

The team felt a strong obligation to get the mod out on Christmas. However, removing all the work-in-progress material and creating a cohesive whole was a challenge, and with many compromises and a short delay, the Beta edition of the mod was released.

The public's anticipation was tremendous, but the compromises made to honor the release date caused numerous troubles in the field. The weapon-spawning system contained a bug that led to crashes, requiring a work-around. The aforementioned multi-fire bug became a major nuisance and whatever caused it seemed to also damage hit registration.

Today, work on the mod proceeds steadily. It is currently out of beta, at version 4.2.1, and many of the major bugs which plagued previous releases have been fixed. Almost all original GoldenEye 007 weapons are complete and functioning, and over a dozen maps are available for gameplay. There are many custom weapon sets and game modes in addition to the classic ones, allowing new experiences with GoldenEye as well as a purely "classic" gameplay if desired.

Team

For a roster, see http://wiki.geshl2.com/developers

External links