Dear Esther, a Half Life 2 Mod

[CeeKay]

or at least it used to be, but now it's going commercial over the summer.  it was originally released in 2007, but they're re-making it.

The re-make features a completely new environment that pushes the Source engine into uncharted territory; a re-orchestrated soundtrack by composer Jessica Curry, new areas to explore and an expanded story.

it'll be interesting to see if they really push the Source Engine like they say they are.  here's their Mod-DB entry.

[Turtle]

The environments the artist has been making for this game really are astounding. He's been posting them in various 3d communities online and on his blog.

[EngineNo9]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think if they want more visibility on this thing they need to change the name.  As superficial as that may sound, I skipped over several articles (and this very thread) because I assumed this was something that wouldn't interest me. 

[Purge]

I thought it was a tribute to impossible staircases.

[Freezer-TPF-]

What do you need to have installed for a mod like this -- any Source engine game or does it have to be HL2?

[cheeba]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think if they want more visibility on this thing they need to change the name.  As superficial as that may sound, I skipped over several articles (and this very thread) because I assumed this was something that wouldn't interest me. 

Heh, the only reason I didn't skip over information about the game was because of its unusual name.

[CeeKay]

arise!  this was somewhat delayed, but now it's set to go on sale February 14th: http://store.steampowered.com/app/203810/

[Gratch]

Looks purty, but what the hell is it?

[Sarkus]

Looks purty, but what the hell is it?

The original version (which was free) was interesting and trippy but not really a game.  You basically explored a deserted island, with each location you discovered triggering a monologue.  Over time the monologue's added up to an interesting story.  I won't spoil the ending, but it wasn't exactly happy.  From what I can tell this is just a deluxe version of that, but I'm not sure what would justify paying for it.  The replay value is basically that the monologues play in a different order (up to a point, anyway), but you didn't really do anything in the first version other then walk around the island.