LOVAC (formally known as Lovac: 2063) Is a Work-In-Progress cyberpunk themed modification of Half-Life 2 that I was given the opportunity to work on as a freelance programmer. The assignments I was given ranged from numerous requests from the mod’s lead developer Cursed Emoje. Some of the things I implemented ranged from modifications of existing mechanics, to new NPCs, to even brand new game changing mechanics that completely changes the core gameplay of Half-Life 2 altogether.
Some of the things that I have done so far include the following:
- quick grenade throw
- quick melee attack
- new custom weapon: Lock-n-Load MK60 grenade launcher
- custom NPCs: Nightmare, Sewer Junkie, and Gman (plain work shirt varient)
- melee takedown system
The most challenging feat so far on my work on Lovac was definitely the melee takedown mechanic. Mechanically, the takedown mechanic works very similarly to other games that have similar enemy-takedown mechanics such as the recent Doom reboots, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine and even Bioshock: Infinite. Essentially, player approaches an enemy, presses their quick melee key, and a cinematic animation plays of the player protagonist executing their target. The player gets rewarded with health and a cool cinematic.
The takedown mechanic’s implementation was rather course yet robust as a mixture of map logic and C++ code was used to create the effect. The lead developer, Cursed Emoje, created the necessary map logic for the animations and triggers for said animations. On my end I coded in the system that allowed the game to capture the hit data of an enemy, which would prompt the system to fire an output that fired accordingly to the type of enemy hit. The end result can be seen in the following video:
Overall, my time at Lovac was very cool. It was the first time I was able to flex my C++ skills and the first time I was ever commissioned to do programming work for a game/mod project. Very cool experience indeed!
For more context on the game and what I did, check out this vlog video from the mod’s official YouTube channel that showcases most of the main mechanical elements I implemented into the mod.