Dark Operations

for Opposing Force

18th November 2012

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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Author’s Note: “Dark Operations is a mappack for Opposing Force. It has several puzzles to make it more thinking oriented as well as being full of action. You will traverse and do battle in many different places: labs, offices, warehouses, underground areas, silos, and several outdoor areas. You will also encounter a large variety of enemies on your mission. When it seems like everyone wants you dead, you will find many ally grunts to aid you in your mission. You will also see many sequences in Dark Operations. Enjoy.”

Basic Details
  • Title: Dark Operations
  • File Name: of-sp-dark-operations.7z
  • Original Filename: darkop.zip
  • Size : 4.01MB
  • Author: Barry A Bollinger
  • Date Released: 27 November 1999
Story (taken from ReadMe.txt)

This story takes place after the events in Half-Life: Opposing Force. You are Adrian Shephard. After you defeated the Geneworm, you’re transported to another place where you meet the Administrator. After congratulating you, he informs you that you are going to be conveyed to a place where you cannot be harmed and where no harm can come to you. After he leaves, you are transported to a small secluded area of Xen. The chirping of alien bats is all that keeps you sane when you spend what seems like weeks there, alone, eating the same old food, thinking about what you’re going to do when you finally get out of there. Until one day a portal opens…

Since the death of the administrator (see my Resistance series for details), the Black Ops forces and some U.S. marine traitors have gone out on their own and taken control of a U.S. military base and research lab. They and a team of scientists are developing weapons of mass destruction: nuclear missiles, chemical weapons, and biological agents. They have betrayed the United States and must be eliminated. They are close to finishing parts of their arsenal and they will probably be able to use it before help arrives. Therefore it is up to you to stop them. You have the advantage of taking out the base from the inside. Eliminate the entire base personnel and recapture the base. Expect heavy resistance, and leave no survivors. Be sure to eliminate the entire science team as well. You will find help, so keep your eyes open for allies. Good luck.

Additional Notes (taken from ReadMe.txt)

You won’t find any of your old allies in Dark Operations. The barneys will be your enemies and the scientists will be too. Shoot them on sight, don’t expect them to help you.

I included your old nemeses from Half-life in Dark Operations, the military grunts. I mainly did this to make the story more interesting, and to break up the monotony of fighting Black Ops male assassins. Show them the same courtesy as you would the Black Ops. A healthy dose of lead is suggested.

The ally grunts that you will meet will not always follow you well. I did what I could to prevent this, but the following AI in OpFor has its limitations. Just be patient with them.

I have noticed for some reason that the ally grunts will sometimes turn on you after a battle. It’s probably a bug within their AI. Be especially careful when using snarks around them.

I originally had a nuke sequence set up near the end. You would have had to run down a hallway and push the button on the nuke before it detonated. I was forced to kill it because I couldn’t get it to synchronize and work right on different systems.

MapTap Users

Download directly into MapTap [4.01MB]

You MUST have MapTap installed before using this link.

Download Options

Download to your HDD [4.01MB]

You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.

Installation Instructions

Please install with MapTap.

Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!
14 recommendations, average score: 4.86 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.12 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 10 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 5 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 31 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 50 Mins by Dr. Amazing
Longest: 2 Hours, 5 Mins by Hec
Total Time Played: 15 Hours, 5 Mins
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OF Maps Opposing Force Play
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36 Comments

  1. Stef

    According my gaming database this one is by Barry A Bollinger it was one of is best release (recieved a silver award from 10/4)with Intolerable treat (if I remember right)

    what I noted about it, is that it was quite enjoyable with a lot of hallways and a perhaps too easy gameplay took me back in 2003 2 hours to complete I rate it 3/5

    Reply
  2. AI

    Besure to back up your original Gearbox pak1.pak file (157mb) before you put this pak file in your folder, this one is also named pak1.pak (19.6mb)!! This is not stated in the readme file!!

    Reply
  3. AI

    Place pak1.pak in your Sierra/Half-Life/Gearbox directory. Startup Opposing Force in console mode and type “skill X” (X being 1=easy, 2=medium, 3=difficult) and then type “map op1”. These are the install instructions from the readme! I backed up my pak file as I stated in #7 and did exactly as stated, BUT only get error messages!! Anyone else try this mod????

    Reply
  4. pildriver
    Play It Now!

    This file is named pak1.pak.
    The original OpFor file is named pak0.pak.
    No chance of an overwrite unless you’ve put another mod file in there named pak1.pak.
    Worked fine for me.
    Highly enjoyable mod. Starts off slow and builds up well to a series of set-piece battles with most of the enemies in the original. The action dies away towards the end, the end itself is not so exciting.
    You get every weapon there is, and plenty of ammo, health and power. So play on skill 3. not much sublety required – get in there with your team and blast them meanies away!
    Like some other mods, it doesn’t like having your mates invited over to the next map, and does it’s best to stop this but it is possible in a couple of places. Also one small glitch at the end, where you have to jump between maps to avoid getting ‘stuck’. These are minor bugs and shouldn’t put you off trying this one. 4/5

    Reply
  5. bkadar

    trying to install this but not working?this works w?steam. cant find other pak files where this might like to be so I can PLAY, alas i’ll keep trying

    Reply
  6. piledriver

    bkadar. Are you playing with Steam or not?
    Obviously you must have Opposing Force installed.
    If not Steam, then this is what you do.

    Place pak1.pak in your Sierra/Half-Life/Gearbox directory. If you already have a “pak1.pak” in that directory, then that file is not an original OpFor file and should be moved or renamed or overwritten.
    Leave “pak0.pak alone.

    Startup Opposing Force in console mode and type “skill X” (X being 1=easy, 2=medium, 3=difficult) and then type “map op1”.

    Or create a shortcut on your desktop. Right-click it and select ‘Properties’.
    In the ‘target’ box type:-
    C:\SIERRA\Half-Life\hl.exe -console -game gearbox -skill 2 +map op1

    You can change skill 2 to skill 3 if you want.

    Can’t help you with Steam as I don’t have it.
    Let us know how you get on.

    Reply
  7. piledriver

    There’s only one space before -console and before -game

    Reply
  8. bkadar

    got it on steam though I havn’t played it in a while,long while,still got the disc maybe its time for a non steam in stall. thanks for the advice.

    Reply
  9. bkadar

    well I changed the pak1 to pak0 seems to load ,so we’ll see hope it works

    Reply
  10. bkadar
    Play It Now!

    wow big gaming fun!

    Reply
  11. piledriver

    As I said, leave pak0.pak alone. Hope you didn’t overwrite it! Dark Ops is pak1.pak. and can be in the valve folder alongside pak0.pak (which you should leave alone!:)

    Reply
  12. andyb

    In the OP force through steam there is no pak0 so renaming it is ok as it wont work as pak1. I just tried it lol.

    Reply
  13. piledriver

    Interesting. I’m still non-Steam.
    O’box is in the post!

    Reply
  14. vanx

    I haven’t the archive (pak0.pak and DQ2249.ICD ) and I cant install the game !!!!

    Reply
  15. piledriver

    You must have OpFor installed for this mod to work. Read post 3, 4 , 7 and 12 and the read me file that comes with the mod. Got it now?

    Reply
  16. Dravula

    I have placed pak1 into gearbox directory and then and type in thje console of opposing force skill 1 then map op1 and they said that there is no map.Can anyone help me???

    Reply
  17. piledriver

    Dravula, for a non steam installation, see post 7.
    For a steam installation, I think some people have renamed the pak1 to pak0 with success.

    Reply
  18. andyb

    If you have steam there will be no pak files so rename pak1 to pak0.Worse case scenario use pakexplorer and extract the contents.

    Reply
  19. Andrew37
    Personal Favourite

    no problem for me!… it worked in no steam, I loved this mod (: and I miss Opposing Force ):

    Reply
  20. Ten Four Reviews
    Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

    This is Barry’s fourth Half-Life outing and that’s pretty prolific by the current standards. It also represents the first proper entry in our Opposing Force review section because the only other map released so far [reviewed here] doesn’t really count.

    Over his numerous maps, this author’s skills have obviously improved. I didn’t play all of the Half-Life Resistance series [reviewed here, here and here] but judging by the one I did see and by Jiang’s and Chris’s reviews, this is something of an improvement. It was a shame to see that Barry doesn’t seem to have picked up on all the criticisms of his earlier work, however, because many of the same flaws can be seen here to some extent.

    First and foremost is probably the linear and quite basic layouts. They are better than before but they’re still not great and I felt there was a decided lack of surprises. Perhaps this is partly because the last map I played was Peaces Like Us, and pretty much anything would seem derivative after that, but it often felt like these maps were constructed on autopilot. A little more variety or imagination would have gone a long way.

    Connected to that point is the enemy placement, which is often poor. It’s a problem because the combat is consequently very easy and allowed me to play through with remarkably few deaths. As Jiang described in his Resistance 2 review, you’ll frequently open a door, see a group of grunts or Black Ops personnel all in a bunch, and then it’s a simple matter of a single MP5 grenade to dispatch most or maybe even all of them. And, as seems to be a habit of Barry’s, ammo is plentiful, meaning you’ll rarely be short of the necessary explosives. I lost count of the number of different weapons I had by the end, each at least half-full.

    But this is perhaps all a little harsh, and I only comment on it in length because it really should have been fixed, or more dramatically improved, from his previous efforts. Even bearing all of this in mind, this is still a lot of fun to play through. The various extras that Opposing Force provides have been used quite well, adding some welcome change to parts of the levels. Yes, the Black Ops guys are more or less the same as the grunts, but there was plenty of different aliens at least. Your arsenal, as I mentioned, is also significantly enlarged.

    There are some good battles to be found in these maps too, with a couple of the larger ones immediately springing to mind. It was a shame that he didn’t put one of these at the end – the finale, when it arrives, is something of an anti-climax after the big fights you’ll have experienced earlier on – but combat was always solid.

    With perhaps a few more puzzles, or maybe some more interesting set-pieces, this would have been great. As it is, it represents another small improvement on the author’s last release, and is, naturally, far and away the best Opposing Force chapter out there. The levels are always good – in terms of architecture, combat, and every other area you care to mention – but rarely inspired, and that’s what lets this down in the end. Worth the download but don’t expect too much more than your average Half-Life level.

    Notes
    This review was originally published Tuesday, 9th May, 2000 by Morgan.

    This review was originally posted on the Ten Four website, which is now offline. The full review is republished here by permission and more details can be found on the About page.

    Reply
  21. PlanetPhillip
    Phillip says Play It!

    Thank goodness the updates I am posting are getting better. Couldn’t stand much more of those “less than stellar” releases. And so we come to Dark Operations.

    This mod gives us all the weapons and enemies from Opposing Force in a well-rounded package. It’s amazing to think that this was originally released not long after OF.

    The mod takes you through plenty of environments and some sections can be a real challenge.

    I found some connecting areas a bit strange, for example, the large elevator that stops facing a regular door (see image 76).

    And the level changes were in some strange places. Perhaps people played the maps different when it was released because I am surprised the beta testers didn’t highlight those sorts of things.

    Putting those minor issues aside, this is a very good mod, but I never got really excited and felt the excitement level was too even throughout.

    To be honest, the end was a bit of a let down too.

    Don’t let my complaining stop you from enjoying a very good mod.

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 45 Minutes
    Reply
  22. Hec

    Help I attempt to install this via maptap, but the maps folders doesn’t appear once the bar reach 100% of the st up, wierd failure…. im just repporting the bug as I alredy achieved succesfuly to install it and launch it manually

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      Thanks, I’ve updated the file and it should work in MapTap now.

      Reply
  23. Bolx
    Play It Now!

    Considering that this was released in late 1999, it puts a lot of later mods and maps for OP4 to shame!

    If, in the event that there were bugs/flaws in the way this looked, the gameplay stopped me from noticing them. As I’ve said before gameplay, for me at least, is the most important aspect and here it flowed quite well for me. I didn’t read the story before playing so I didn’t ” Eliminate the entire base personnel” so I’m surprised it wasn’t a requirement to finish the game! I’m also glad defusing the bomb was not a timed piece as I like to play at my own pace.

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  24. Dr. Amazing
    Play It Now!

    This map starts out with… camping on Xen. No comment.

    It seemed like Barry threw everything he had in this and it works. This mappack had parts similar to Half-Life 1 and Opposing Force but unlike Double Helix, it added to the experience instead of seeming like he was trying to hard.

    According to my memory, this was the only OP4 mappack/mod that actually let you teleport with the displacer.

    I ran into an odd bug with this where lighting came out of my gun.
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=109053440

    TO PHILLIP: The titles.txt didn’t install with MapTap so when it was supposed to show something from the titles.txt it just said OPMSG#

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    50 Minutes
    Reply
  25. MisterAddy
    Play It Now!

    First of all, let me just say that the story element of the mod is completely stupid. The concept of a continuation of the Opposing Force ending was a nice idea, but the rest of the plot is pretty nonsensical and leads to the rubbish “scientists are evil!” mechanic.

    Luckily that doesn’t distract at all from the consistent high quality of these maps. The graphics are OK, not too blocky but not extremely detailed, but as someone else mentioned it is the gameplay that this one is all about. We get a massive range of all (I think) the HL and Opposing Force enemies, but well spaced out and never overwhelming. We also have access to the entire weapons arsenal, which builds up throughout. Combat is challenging, but ammo and health is plentiful so I didn’t find the difficulty too cruel.

    I was also impressed by the puzzles, there are a few that are quite imaginative but the answer is always logical. I did have an issue with the use of both friendly and hostile marines, it can get confusing when both are present in the same area.

    The ending is also quite a let down. There are a lot of huge dramatic battles that we are a part of throughout this mod, perhaps one of these should have been moved to the end to provide more closure. By the way, I think there is a file missing from this release, as the on screen text shows some kind of default message rather than actual instructions or credits.

    This was one of the best so far in the OFNF. Whilst it will never be a classic it is definitely worth playing.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  26. Hec
    Play It Now!

    This is a big worthy of playing mappack, the beggining feels so random but as the maps goes on improoves really well until you reach some points where actually looks like classic areas of Black Mesa, which is a clever detail from the author, also the combat is really good and the developer just provide all the cool OpF weapons you need to have fun until the end of the mod, you know the end wher u find Freeman, I may expected a more interesting end like escape in an Osprey or so, but I guess it was an Ok ending…

    Overall this is a worthy mod you have to try for OpF as there are not many good available. Thisone makes you pass a pretty good time at combat, or as Shepard says in Duty. Oh also those maps make Bootcamp looks like Disneyland!!! you know…

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours, 5 Minutes
    Reply
  27. EmoLevelDesigner
    Play It Later

    This is a continuation of Opposing Force, and Shepard’s task is to attack base of traitors who develop weapons of mass destruction.

    We appear in the Xen and quickly understand that this is the place where Shepard lived lately. Writing OPMSG1 on the screen shows that titles.txt don’t work, I had to copy this file to Gearbox folder.

    Here we can make a fun jumping exercise by jumping to one of the islands then back. Teleporter takes us to simply designed room where we see Freeman, get equipment and read a note from him. First objective is to take out the base’s containment system. Soon we get a heavy wrench, and it’s fun to sneak behind a Black Op with it.

    The readme says that scientists and guards are our enemies. Scientists run from us, but Otis guard didn’t attack, only Barney did. I noticed z-fighting on the table prefab.

    Then we get through rooms, corridors, outdoor areas. The design is simple and far from outstanding. There are interesting layouts, nice variety of locations and enemies, well balanced combat. But the layouts are 2d, and there’s not much use of third dimension (height). It looks like we’re spending a lot of time in corridors and rooms where ceiling height is constant. It’s good to hear Opposing Force music from time to time.

    In the offices there is z-fighting which covers whole doors, and if you use chair to get into ventilation, you will see a black wall.

    At one point we will see nice replay of Half-Life Gauss Gun introduction scene, but with displacement device this time.

    Garg boss fight room has ammo givers which is a nice way to remind us about which weapon we could use.

    Overall it’s a fun mod which could be excellent if it had better design and didn’t have flaws and bad idea “guards and scientists are enemies”.

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 20 Minutes
    Reply
  28. Unq
    Play It Later

    At the Ten Four review linked above, I wrote a second opinion that holds my thoughts at the time (2000). And for the most part I feel the same way now – I liked the setting and combat but felt that nothing really stood out in the maps.

    Otherwise, Emo really echoed a lot of the problems I wanted to bring up in this review. There’s some really really basic (blocky) mapping that really could have been improved. The story is really dumb. The combat and much of the mapping is really flat (2D), where the author could improve encounters and combat situations by taking advantage of height.

    I did really like the use of unique enemies, like the various tanks you have to conquer. In general this pack could be improved by the addition of a couple puzzles and perhaps some more scripts, but what is there is still passable.

    I also felt the author perhaps threw a little too much of his “Postal” style into the maps. In one place there are about a dozen scientists who don’t attack you but are really just there to be physical obstacles in the sometimes tight hallways – leading one to just do away with them with the wrench so you can actually run through more easily. I thought this was kind of useless.

    In general, Dark Operations is fun and sometimes challenging to play and that’s what I based my recommendation on. It has some issues but if you like Op4, this pack should be on your list.

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 10 Minutes
    Reply
  29. Joe_Freeman

    Well, since I don’t see it anywhere here, I will write how I installed this. ( I know, it is not hard but it took me a litlle bit of thought since I am using Steam version of OpFor and for some reason I have never tried MAPTAP).

    First of all there is no PAK file at all, at least not that I could find, which is mentioned in some of the other posts and I do seem to remember using years ago before Steam.

    Just extract the MAPS and SOUND folders and the file “titles.txt” to:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\your user name\opposing force\gearbox

    (I renamed the original MAPS folder to save it from being overwritten although there was nothing in it and there was probably no reason to do so).

    That’s it. Just start OpFor from Steam, open console and type Map op1

    Reply
  30. dougjp
    Play It Now!

    Nothing to add to the others, except to say it was a delightful mod that used up time in a great way! PIN.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  31. JC

    This is one of the best mods for OppFor and I wonder why it hasn’t been invited to join the “Hall of Fame”… WHY?
    Anyways, this is a must play and a keeper!

    Score: 9/10

    Reply
  32. Ten Four Reviews

    As Morgan said above, Dark Operations is a lot of fun to play through. But some of my reactions and criticisms of the episode differ from Morgan’s.

    Barry certainly took advantage of the extras available when editing for Opposing Force. All of the new weapons are available, and you’ll encounter most of the new aliens and other adversaries along the way. Furthermore, several times throughout Dark Operations, supportive reinforcements will be available to help you out (or at least supply you with some extra ammo when they kick the bucket, which happened a lot in my game because I was trying to get them to do a lot of the fighting).

    There is a basic story supplied – Dark Operations takes place after the disappointing ending of OpFor. You are able to return to Earth, and there you discover that some bad people have taken over a military base / research facility and are up to no good, so your mission is to show everyone that crime (and making weapons of mass destruction) doesn’t pay. The story is straightforward, and the general setting is familiar – a base in the desert.

    I understand why Morgan thought this was too ‘derivative,’ but I see no problem with the familiar story and setting. I have enjoyed every solid Half-Life level that is set in a military base / research facility. I don’t see it as boring or overdone, I see it as expanding the themes of Half-Life and Opposing Force in a similar or sometimes parallel world.

    The combat is solid as well – you face a wide variety of adversaries in Dark Operations. And you certainly have the firepower to wipe them all out, and then some. I agree with Morgan on this point – health, armor, and ammo were in general too plentiful. I definitely recommend playing on the ‘difficult’ setting to balance the combat a little more and provide some more challenge. However, I didn’t think that the placement of enemies was inferior. In fact, I can think of several situations in which the enemy placement was well-thought out and it was quite a challenge to break through.

    The criticisms I have of Dark Operations are all minor. In line with Morgan’s comments, I felt that this episode could have been improved if a couple of puzzles had been added, or if a memorable finale were included. Some more clever sequences or set pieces would have also enhanced this map. I liked the architecture, and although it wasn’t overly impressive, it certainly fit in with the map’s theme.

    If you skipped over this episode based on Morgan’s lukewarm review, I urge you to reconsider. Barry Bollinger’s Dark Operations is definitely an enjoyable pack, and it really lets you have fun with the extras available in OpFor.

    Notes
    This review was originally published Thursday, 2nd November, 2000 by Unquenque.

    This review was originally posted on the Ten Four website, which is now offline. The full review is republished here by permission and more details can be found on the About page.

    Reply
  33. LOZ98
    Play It Now!

    Pretty good, play it!

    Reply
  34. Cardiomyopathy
    Play It Now!

    The most balanced combat mappack, has some tough battles near the end but you have access to most weapons so it shouldn’t be that difficult.
    I really loved the outside areas in spite of them being a bit basic.
    Play it now!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    55 Minutes
    Reply
  35. Dmitry
    Personal Favourite

    The man hero is an alien, he lives in Xen. He has a camping in the Xen environment where he can sleep and the toilet where he can do his necessities. Besides he has some creates with foot where he can clearly eat and live here for months. But something happened to this guy. He abandoned Xen paradise, he saw Freeman and started to kill all scientits for no reason and the poor guys running back and forth away from you the monster. Even Barneys couldn’t defend those scientists against your wrath. Then, an accident, the lab is infested with vortgaunts. What a sad day for scientists they have no luck, today everybody is killing them for no reason.
    I don’t know, maybe he could remove HECU, becuase he placed Ally HECU. They pretty look like the same.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    1 Hour
    Reply

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