Eternal Silence is a Half-Life 2 multiplayer mod set in a totally original universe. It basically simulates battles in deep space between gigantic capital ships. Players will be able to command, board and fly around in these ships, which will be able to move around a map as large as 32km by 32km. It's a very ambitious mod, but we think we can make it work.

The story takes place 550 years after Earth is mysteriously destroyed. The only survivors of that war, the military forces in space, have forged a new civilization across 9 systems.

The action begins when the Surrogate, a mysterious relic from Earth's time, is found, containing DNA and technology which was lost in the explosion. This finding sparks new ways of thinking, including democracy, and starts a renaissance. This creates friction within the UTF as more and more nations are declaring independency. Soon, a war begins and these nations form the Galactic Militia.

This is a short overview of the back-story in ES; there is a lot more to read, including a novella-length story, which takes place 50 years after the discovery of the Surrogate and during the height of the war, in the works by X-Ray, our writer. If you would like to learn more, don't hesitate to head to our website in the story section, X-Ray can tell the tale much better than I ever could. We are putting lots of time into the story, because it adds a layer of depth that most mods just don't have.

Sounds pretty exciting! How will this affect the gameplay — are there certain objectives to achieve victory?
The maps we will be featuring in the mod will be battles that will play pivotal roles in the story, we are open to creating a single player campaign also, but we already have our work cut out for us with the multiplayer modes, so that will have to wait. Some maps will be generic capital ship on capital ship sort of maps, but others will have more precise objectives, like disabling orbital guns or stealing technology. As a general rule, the idea is to control all the subsystems on the map.

What can you tell us about the game modes in ES2?

At the moment we have 2 game modes planned, they both follow the global victory condition (controlling all the subsystems) but it is done in slightly different ways. The first mode which I will call Vanilla ES will allow any player to secure subsystems by waiting in the control zone until the capture is made. The second mode which I call Virus involves a special disk which contains information to infect or disinfect a subsystem. Both teams will be fighting to keep the disk and the hacker with the disk will be the only one able to capture subsystems. This should make for an interesting, football like game.

Where will this story take place? Are there any exotic locations or strange parts in space that the player will visit?
The story takes place in a group of 8 or so systems which are suited for human life. Each planet will have its own characteristics, the most exotic of them being Vehera, the planet the Surrogate orbits. It is a replica of earth's ecosystem and is the cleanest planet by far in known space. We will be covering nebulas, research stations, the surrogate itself, ship graveyards etc. The possibilities are endless.

Of course, no battle can be won without soldiers. What can you tell us about the infantry?

The infantry is the most basic but the most important unit in Eternal Silence. He is the only one capable of capturing or destroying subsystems, which is what will inevitably end the game. The infantry is divided in 5 classes which are Assault, Heavy Weapons, Medic, Demo Expert and Hacker. Each of these classes will have a place in the teamwork structure of ES and they are all necessary to successfully attack or defend a capital ship. The Assault class is mainly offensive power; the Heavy Weapons class is defensive power. The Medic is support, and he will have a healing aura as well as a medical kit, to promote squads. The Demo expert will be a hit and run type character, specialized in destroying subsystems. The Hacker will be the captain's worst enemy, this class plays a pivotal role in the gameplay, he can activate spawns on remote subsystems and he can disable the captain's benefits for a substantial amount of time.

We hope that just the infantry side of the game will make ES fun to play, which is why we will be focusing on an infantry only release at first, followed by the ships and the captain.

Do both teams possess the same selection of classes, or does each side have its unique type?
Each team will have the same set of classes; however the benefits may vary depending on what side you're on. For instance a medic in the NGM might be more effective than in the UTF; however the UTF's hacker is highly trained and more effective than the NGM's. These are just examples; we have to try these out in beta testing first. There will be differences, but they won't be radical, it should make balancing a lot easier and in the end make the game more fun to play with less of a learning curve.

Will there be a significant difference between the United Terran Forces and the Neo Galactic Militia's infantry?
The differences will be in their weaponry. Each weapon will have its own quirks which will make it unique. We don't want to have a generic rule for both sides, so each weapon will be different in its own way. The people themselves won't change much, apart from the uniform. All of the classes will run at the same speed.

With all the advanced infantry weaponry featured in the game, what's would be your pick?

My favorite is definitely the hacker class; he has the railgun, which is a medium to long range weapon which he can mount on a tripod and remote control from his laptop. The laptop is also a very important aspect of this class and it is without a doubt the most multi-tasking item in the game. The laptop will allow him to remote control his gun, activate spawns once a subsystem is capture and hack subsystems to deal direct damage to the captain.

Rocking! Although, there's even more dangerous combat up in space, am I right? What can you tell us about warfare up there?
The Space combat is also a very important aspect of ES and ships will work in tandem with the infantry inside to help capture or destroy a capital ship. The ships are also divided into classes which have specific purposes, the most important of these being the gunship and the bomber classes. The gunship is the class which can carry up to 6 infantrymen and drop them off in the hangar of the opposing team, allowing the infantry fun to begin. The bomber class is the class specialized in destroying a capital ship's external subsystems. External subsystems play roughly the same role as the internal ones, however you can never end the game by destroying all the external subsystems, they merely help reduce the captains hold on his troops and give your team a bit of an advantage when capturing the ship.

We are basing out space combat on blockbuster games like Freespace 2, this should make the space combat a very complete and appealing side of the game, but don't forget the infantry is important also.

Is there a wide array of space ships that the player can control, if so, can you tell us more about the different types?

There are 6 different types of ships: Scouts, Fighters, Heavy Fighters, Interceptors, Bombers and Gunships. I already mentioned the bombers and the gunships as being very important in the last answer. The other 4 classes are the Scout, which has a cloaking hull, but no shield and will be able to infiltrate an enemy's flight zone and provide distractions; it is the fastest ship in the game. The next class is the Fighter, which is the all around ship with balanced weaponry and speed. The Heavy Fighter is the Fighter's big brother, with more armor and weapons, it sacrifices speed, and this will be the anti-gunship class. The Interceptor is a fast and agile class designed to intercept bombers and destroy their missiles before they reach the hull of the ship. That pretty much covers the ship battles in ES.

Does the captain play a significant role in the commanding of a vessel in ES2? Are you afraid this might be exploited?
The captain plays an indirect role in ordering the team around and providing waypoints. He oversees the battle and can help his team to victory with tactics and such. He also has a direct role in the gameplay, which is to control and manage the capital ships under his command. He will be able to redirect power to different subsystems and move his massive capital ship around. He is also in charge of deciding which ship classes will spawn where.

The captain will be selected in a manner that will hopefully prevent exploitation. Players will have a captain record and recommendations from other players which will be kept on a central server and allow other players to vote for the most experienced captain. For inexperienced captains, some of the responsibilities can be handled by AI, which will keep the ship maintained, but not provide any sort of tactical help. This will help take a load off the newbie but still give the elite players the ability to control the battle to the highest degree.

Is there anything you would like to share with the community?
Thanks a lot for this great interview; you can join our great and active forum community (http://www.eternal-silence.net/forums/) on our website (http://www.eternal-silence.net/). Feel free to provide suggestions and discuss our features with the team. We would love to hear from you. Also check the news; we update our news weekly or bi-weekly.

Thanks for having us, good luck with the project!

related links

• http://www.eternal-silence.net/ (Eternal Silence 2 Website)
  
• http://www.eternal-silence.net/4images/ (ES2 Media Gallery)