Unreal

Out of Hell Is, Well, Out

Martyn Zachary Leave a comment

Halloween has become the de facto standard release date for the zombie mod, and this year turned out to be no different! Four months ago, we briefly discussed how the one-man UT2K4 total conversion, Out of Hell, had been slowly inching its way closer and closer to release for the past seven years. You can guess where this is heading, right – the ageless, timeless project has indeed been released! In his development blog, designer Long “Chicken+Ribs Combo” Nguyen outlines his feelings about the release:

“After 7 years of work, Out Of Hell has finally been released upon the masses! What can I say? I feel…weird!…and floaty! I always thought about this day, but now that it’s here, it feels as though I’ve been sleepwalking for the last 7 years and am now just waking up!” 1)http://eveningofthewalkingclinicallydeceased.blogspot.com/2009/11/hell-has-been-unleashed.html

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Lost in Trans-Civilization

Martyn Zachary 1 Comment

Scivelation Logo

A few months back, we brandished our interest towards BWF Game’s little-known upcoming Source engine project, Salvation. Just goes to show how swift the turnover rate is in the gaming business these days: Over the course of mere months, the game has now been rebranded as Scivelation, and instead of the previously utilized Valve tools, is now built on Epic Games’ Unreal III Engine.

“Set in the distant future, Scivelation’s universe is a world born out of the ashes of conflict and misery. An oppressive global dictatorship, known as the Regime, has risen to power after the aftermath of the Apocalypse; aggressively seeking out and eliminating any opposition to their tyrannical government.” 1)http://ve3tro.com/6213/scivelation-announced/

Scivelation_01_wallpaperFor me, the rather obscure mash-up title – Griffin McElroy already lamented the lack of a proper pronunciation guide 2)http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/11/scivelation-announced-but-poorly-pronounced/ – recalls the word skive (also rarely spelled as scive, according to the OED), which means “To evade a duty, to shirk; to avoid work by absenting oneself, to play truant.” Whether this is BWF Game’s intended meaning remains to be seen, of course, but with the player character taking “his or her place amongst the ranks of the resistance” 3)http://ve3tro.com/6213/scivelation-announced/ in the narrative, this interpretation of the title does not seem an immense stretch of imagination for me.

After the jump, I have set up a modest comparison of screenshots between the two versions (Source and Unreal), and some more analysis about the game.

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Getting Out of Hell Soon

Martyn Zachary Leave a comment

Out of Hell, a true dinosaur of an Unreal Tournament 2004 zombie mod – from times before Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor, or even Zombie Panic or Brainbread for that matter – is one of those interesting projects that simply refuse to wither and go away. After all, most hobby mods such as these rise and fall over the course of mere months, but not Out of Hell: This particular game has been in the making, without a public release (sans one antiquated preview demo), for more than six years!

There is, however, a perfectly understandable explanation for the lengthy development arc: The mod is the work of one single man, Long “Chicken+Ribs Combo” Nguyen, with additional music from Justin Lassen. It’s very refreshing to still see one-man army -style modding: Where today’s game engines may already be too complex and unmanageable, UT2k4 is still workable enough for one single man.

More information, screenshots and a new preview trailer after the jump!

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