The StriderMountain YouTube Channel
We have uploaded a bunch of new videos the chronicle the “making of” StriderMountain.
First Impressions: Creating the Opening Scene
The opening scene is the first impression for a mod (or even a any game for that matter). It can make or break the game as a player decides right away whether to play onward. As a team, we spent a lot of time on the Opening Scene concept. Ultimately it was decided to have Gordon enter the mod via a parachute landing.
Here is the first storyboard series from Spy. He calls it the “wow feeling
And another view
Another view
And the video of the storyboard concept to in game…
Choosing a Story and a Name
Choosing a new and compelling story for a HL2 mod takes some creative thinking. We wanted to avoid that “been there, done that” trap and deliver something new for gamers. So, after reveiwing the list of HL enemies, we developed a storyline around the STRIDER enemy because it hasn’t been used (to our knowledge) as the main focus in a single player mod.
Here is an original Strider in the Skies drawing by Spy:
The second challenge was to come up with a name. Ultimately the name was to be StriderMountain. Here is a list of names that didn’t make it: StriderAxis, StriderNexus, StriderX, StriderX2,
spydesigns
Spy.Designs 