A Soldier's Tale

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A Soldier's Tale

Author	Matt Arnold
Original mod release	2000
Date of release	23 August, 2021
.bsp filename	ast_c01 (+ 6 more maps)

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Description

As part of the HECU, you enter the Black Mesa Research Facility via an armoured personnel carrier.

It leaves you in a large warehouse-style building and your objective is nothing more than to stay alive and kill as many enemies as possible.

Good Luck!

Additional info

Maps features AntiRush support that is optional, and is disabled by default. To enable AntiRush, open ast.as and go to Line 8 - change this to "true".

const bool blAntiRushEnabled = false;

Additional credits

Sven Co-op Conversion
Mikk - Mapping
Outerbeast - Scripting and mapping support

Special thanks to:

CubeMath - base entities for AntiRush
Neo - Nightvision script
Playtesters: Garompa, Tunac

Garompa's edit & fix
Garompa - Fixes and additions
Mementocity - Dual hivehand Elite Alien Grunt by Mementocity (model and animations)
LeonelC - HD LD scientist for Agent Coomer (a scientist with a gun?!)

Known bugs

ast_c02: Sometimes the scripted sequence scientist decides to disregard the sequence and run away from the aliens and towards the deadly laser. Does not affect gameplay or map progression though.
ast_c07: Sometimes the garg doesn't kill the first scientist, but does not affect anything.
ast_c07: Due to the map's geometry players and npcs can get stuck between the end portal and the ramp next to it, be careful.

Changelog

+ Garompa's edit & fix v1 - September 13, 2021

– Garompa's edit & fix v1 - September 13, 2021

General:

Removed mp_weaponstay 0 from the cfgs (no config is being forced on servers now)
Changed colors of some friendly grunts to the common urban camo depending on the situation
Moved chapter titles to the top of the screen
Removed mp_weaponstay 0 from all the .cfg files
Added some friendly community members as grunts that help you through these map series
Added missing xenmakers

ast_c01:

Shepard text changed to Sven Co-op, you're no longer Shepard
Friendly shotgun grunt present during the seamless teleport will be moved if he is still alive when players phase to the next area
Readded the missing piece of the catwalk's ladder at the beginning, but can't be climbed still of course as this is intentional
Moved Gordon a bit backwards so players can get a better chance to spot him at the start
Changed Gordon's model with a more detailed version
Changed the entire fight at the start. The player's APC comes after and crashes onto the first APC you see in vanilla HL just at the moment Gordon is leaving the room adapting it to more canon standards. Grunts are right behind Freeman but find the player interrupting their progress, and it builds up into a kingpin boss fight as a reference to valve's concept art where in this exact area a kingpin and grunts fight would've been carried out
Added extra spawn points outside the APC after the map begins to not get spawncamped at the tiny APC
Added small reference to how you are using NVG instead of a flashlight now
Added extra ammo in the .cfg to aid the player a bit more at the start
Changed the friendly APC grunt to a torch grunt and made him a reference to the original mod's author, who helps you through several of his maps until he is found dead later on when his APC gets stolen by the black ops
Added ammo and batteries at the start¨
You now must destroy the kingpin that appears to be able to activate the bomb to progress
Added intro music timed with the events

ast_c02:

Moved otis' retinal scanner sequence area so he detects it by just moving close to it without the need of the player using NPC commands
Fixed the changelevel sprite so now it can be seen
Otis dying doesn't reset the map anymore, and the door opens anyways
Caged alien grunt has been replaced by an angry babygarg that actually fights

ast_c03:

Added xen teleport push so players aren't gibbed by others upon entering
Changed the xen teleport's angles 180 degrees so players don't appear looking at the wall
Added a couple of enemies in the acid pit to make jumps harder
Added an alien grunt teleport during the scientist dying by jumping through the window. It now makes more sense.

ast_c04:

Fixed osprey model choice, origins and animations which are now properly diplayed
Moved Otis and Barney so they don't run up blocking the shocktrooper teleport
Made the crate you fall onto breakable with pressure. For flavour.
Added a kingpin boss to take care of that many NPCs you don't get to see in the next map
Scientists dying do not reset the map anymore. The logic of the retinal scanner has been replaced with an item_inventory if the scientists do get murdered (you can grab their gibbed heads and use that on the scanner)
Black ops don't pop out of nowhere, now they appear behind the end door
Fixed vent shooting events, now players can continue walking towards the end of the vent where there is nothing and get stuck there
Fixed the end of that vent somewhat so the broken/ugly textures and map are not seen that much

ast_c05:

Bomb sounds have been fixed and moved to where the bomb is planted
Added a fixed model for the item_inventory bomb

ast_c06:

Added more npcs at the start, enemies and friendlies alike, as well as extra enemies along the map
Grunts no longer refer to you as Shepard during the dialogs
Changed the dialogue from npcs at the start, and added an invisible wall so the sequences play out, this was made as a reference to HECU grunts deserting and befriending the players, somehow explaining how in opposing force you actually ally with the black mesa personel
Changed the crashed ship event into a boss fight against a very unique enemy, thanks to Mementocity for the model. Now all this wasted space is used for the fight (a community member appears to aid you and give you the weapon you can use to defeat the boss)
Added boss music during the fight
Changed spawn points angles so players are looking the right way
Added a keycard needed for the end door so you need to defeat the boss first

ast_c07:

Zombies at start had their angles fixed
Garg can now be killed by making it run through the blue lasers twice. Players are no longer killed by them since by logic players are supposed to be able to squeeze between them while the garg can't.
You now cannot skip killing the garg
Added a Dr. Keller reference to set the timeline of this conversion modification, that happens during the ending of Half-Life Decay. His unused lines trying to contact Gina and Colette come through to the player's radio as an interference or mistake and players listen in by chance.
Reworked the ending a lot. Community members, Dr. Bobby and Agent Coomer (referenced from both HL AI self aware and Valve's official background character) are aided by the players in sending the nuke through the portal
New music has been added to the last fight as well as more friendlies and enemies
The explosion effects have been fixed and reworked
Added a reference to Sweet Half Life's rocket music (could this be the same rocket? who knows)
The entire logic of the buttons and events during the fight have been fixed and reworked. Previously the map was reset anyways even if the players did all the things right.
The map no longer resets every. single. time., nor do players lose anyway. The buttons wait for you to push them and now require 2 players to push both security buttons to launch the rocket and finish the map.
Players can now fight the enemy horde without any problems. Previously, players had to dodge the enemies to try and push the buttons in a 5 second timeframe, which resulted in disaster if there weren't enough players to distract the enemies or kill them in time before this event started. And at the same time, if players did manage to do it, the map was lost anyways. This has all been fixed.
Fixed the control booth's glass. It seems that merging the maps screwed with the lighting of it and kept phasing in and out of existance. By removing the additive render this no longer happens, and also helps with the fact that there is no scientist inside but and event with some gibs to make it look like so (as originally is in the mod, it was kept this way)
Ending text can now be read