Sven Co-op
| Sven Co-op 4.8 | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Developer(s) | Sven Co-op Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sven Co-op Team |
| Designer(s) | Sven Co-op Team |
| Engine | GoldSrc |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) | January 19, 1999[1][2] |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer, Co-operative gameplay |
| Distribution | Download |
Sven Co-op (usually abbreviated as SC) is a cooperative game multiplayer modification for the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. Usually players must work together against AI controlled enemies (NPCs), solve puzzles and complete other objectives as a team, though other styles of play are available through 3rd party content.
The game was originally created and released by Daniel 'Sven Viking' Fearon as a small mod with two single player maps and the game configured to allow NPCs in the game (by changing a CVAR to allow them to exist in the multiplayer game mode). Sven Co-op was released on January 19, 1999[1][2] - before Valve's Team Fortress Classic[3] - and is therefore the oldest Half-Life mod that is still in development.[4] It has since grown to become a large scale mod, with a full team, and one of the most played games on Steam as of September 18, 2006, excluding the official games by Valve.[5] In July 2013, the team behind the mod announced that Valve has given them permission to work directly with the original Half-Life engine code, and the team will be creating a standalone version of the mod as its' own game instead to be offered on Steam as a free title.[6][7]
Gameplay
Since Sven Co-op is heavily based on the original Half-Life, it is essential that the player is at least familiar with Half-Life and its controls, and it is recommended that they have completed Half-Life's Hazard Course tutorial level. The single player campaign of Half-Life is supported by Sven Co-op, but in a slightly altered form to create a better challenge for co-operative play.
Sven Co-op's levels are set as missions and are generally separate from each other. Many missions span multiple maps, and some are collected together in a series. The aim of most levels is to reach the end or to achieve an objective—obtaining a high score is not the focus, though the customizability of the game allows map authors to create objectives alternative to the usual reaching the end such as defence, score hoarding, rescue, and any combination. Some maps are designed for recreational/social purposes with no objective at all.
Levels can be set in Black Mesa, cartoon worlds, World War II, fantasy maps, modern urban warfare or any other kind of theme, environment, and time period the map author chooses. This creates an extremely diverse game play environment, as virtually all other games have a fixed theme and time period.
Some of the major features of the mod include:
- In-Game Monster/Player info system that displays information about NPCs and other players the player is looking at (info system for monsters only can be disabled for realism.)
- The ability for map authors to create allied monsters to assist players and follow commands issues by players such as following the player or attacking an enemy.
- The ability for map authors to individually customize the models and sounds of NPCs and weapons.
- Ability for a configuration file which allows map authors to adjust the physics (gravity, player walk speed), what weapons players spawn with and the damage of the weapons and monsters within the map.
- A medkit 'weapon' that is used to heal and revive other players and friendly NPCs.
- Significant improvements to the original Half-Life NPC AI.
3rd Party mod conversions
Sven Co-op has converted a handful of 3rd party mods for co-op play, included with the game are:
- They Hunger
- Afraid of Monsters
- Half-Life: Opposing Force
- Earthquake Test Center (By Dave J, de_dust author)
- Half-Life: Uplink (Half-Life Demo)
- Nightmare DC
- Half-Life: Blue Shift
In Addition to the 3rd party conversions, Sven Co-op has been the base engine for a number of spin off titles such as Land of Legends (LoL), and the Sexy Development Information Kit (Sexy DIK)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Planet Half-Life - News, Screenshots, Previews, Reviews, Guides
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 SvenCoop - Atomic Half-Life
- ↑ "Team Fortress Classic (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ↑ "Sven Co-op Forums - Multi_Manager addition in version 4.1". Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ↑ Steam Network Status
- ↑ Neltz, Andras (2013-07-17). "A Free, Improved Co-op Version of Half-Life? Where Do I Sign Up?". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
- ↑ "Sven Co-op Forums - The Big Announcement". JPolito. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
External links
- Sven Co-op Official Website
- Sven Co-op Manual
- Sven Co-op at Valve's Storefront
- Sven Co-op Maps Database