Radiator 1-1: Polaris, experimental semi-episodic single player mod for HL2

Campaignjunkie on 12/6/2009 at 02:59

WEBSITE: (http://www.radiator.debacle.us/)
DOWNLOAD: (http://www.radiator.debacle.us/01/#download)
YOUTUBE: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKy2bpKRDxI)

Radiator is a series of experimental semi-episodic short-form single player mods for Half-Life 2 with unorthodox gameplay mechanics used to artistic ends - the first person shooter without any shooting. The first "issue" is "Polaris," in which you're stargazing in central California on what could totally be both the lamest and the cheapest date ever. (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/11/star-trick-radiator-episode-1/) And Rock Paper Shotgun doesn't hate it that much.

Play it and then come back here to complain. :)

Muzman on 12/6/2009 at 13:03

Hey cool. I thought I'd seen that name around somewhere. Good plug there on RPS. I'll report back if I ever get around to trying it.

catbarf on 12/6/2009 at 18:58

It's a silly little game that involves doing the same thing (finding certain stars) over and over and over again. The art is well-done, but it's still just kind of meh.

Campaignjunkie on 13/6/2009 at 02:45

Come now. You make "silly" and "little" seem like bad qualities.

Shakey-Lo on 13/6/2009 at 07:00

Dear Esther blew me away. This did not. Didn't really see any artistic merit to it.

Shakey-Lo on 23/8/2009 at 12:35

Didn't realise in my previous post that OP was the actual maker of the mod.

However the reason I came back to bump this thread was that I happened to play the (http://www.radiator.debacle.us/01/) second installment and it's really rather good. One of the better of the 3D-environment-type 'art games' that I've played.

So thumbs up from me on this one, will keep an eye out for the third.

Aerothorn on 24/8/2009 at 00:07

Hadn't heard of this or Dear Esther, looking forward to trying them both. I've had a hankering for something along the lines of Gravity Bone for a while.

Edit: Also see that you teach in DeCal. Awesome. Sounds a lot like a series of Hampshire College courses, or at the very least the EPEC student-taught/designed courses.

Aerothorn on 24/8/2009 at 01:50

Okay, spoiler question on part 2:

Can you actually complete the game by following the box-placing instructions, or is the "destroy them all" solution the only viable one? The box-placing seems to be getting more and more difficult (currently on "L1").

Shakey-Lo on 24/8/2009 at 02:11

Yeah you can correctly place all the boxes. On my first go through I ended up exploding them all but managed on my second go to place them all correctly. Some people seem to complain about how difficult it is to stack and climb on top of boxes but you don't need to do that, you can complete it by just climbing the ladders and shelves.

Aerothorn on 24/8/2009 at 04:08

Thanks for the advice, didn't realize it was that simple!