USS Darkstar

for Half-Life

20th July 2011

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USS Darkstar is a futuristic episode for Half-Life set on a Zoological Research Vessel.

To: Mr. Walter Bennett
From: Dr. Einar Saukas
Subject: Offer of Employment

Dear Mr. Walter Bennett,

Black Widow Inc. would like to invite you to join our organization. You would be assigned as a member of the multi-disciplinary scientific team on board of the USS DARKSTAR, in a zoological research expedition to seek out, collect and investigate new alien life-forms in unexplored sectors of the universe.

This mission occurs in the year 2066, but since you have already travelled to the future before, this should not be a problem for you. The space-time window to come to our present time will be available in just a few days, please decide ASAP about your interest in this job opportunity.

You have been selected for this position by Cmdr. Neil Manke due to your broad knowledge on advanced biochemistry and extensive experience interacting with hostile aliens. Your proven capacity to survive under critical conditions was also considered. But actually you don’t have anything to worry about, our project is adopting the most rigorous safety measures to prevent incidents. I can personally guarantee everything is under control and none of the crew will be ever submitted to any risk situations whatsoever. This is certainly going to be a calm, quiet and relaxing journey, as you can already predict from the pictures of our impressive spaceship installations at The Black Widow’s Lair.

We are looking forward to having you on our team!

Dr. Einar Saukas
Administration Office
Black Widow Inc.
Project USS DARKSTAR

Mr. Walter Bennett is one of several famous scientists invited to participate in this mission. You are Dr. Gordon Freeman, a brilliant researcher who has always had problems waking up on time…

This was March 2016’s Classic of the Month mod.

Basic Details
  • Title: USS Darkstar
  • File Name: hl1-sp-uss-darkstar.7z
  • Original File Name: darkstar.zip
  • Size : 7.55MB
  • Author: Neil Manke
  • Date Released: 26 May 1999

Download Options

Download to your HDD [7.5MB]

Installation Instructions
  • Copy the darkstar folder into your Half-Life folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • USS Darkstar should now be listed in your Library tab.

If you require more help, please visit the Help page.

Awards

USS Darkstar is a HALL of FAME entry

Playthrough Videos

The playthrough below is part of the Classic of the Month Event, run by Don AKA Unq.

Screenshots

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

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Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!
45 recommendations, average score: 4.78 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.31 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 18 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 18 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 2 Hours, 30 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by TheFeederXD
Longest: 4 Hours by Handsome-Shrek
Total Time Played: 44 Hours, 55 Mins
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83 Comments

  1. Darth Marsden

    The author of this mod is actually Neil Manke, he of They Hunger fame. You know what that means, folks. Yep, you’re in for a real treat with this one.

    Once again you’re Gordon Freeman, and once again you’re in a lab – only this lab is an a ship flying through space. Of course, something goes wrong (it wouldn’t be much of a mod if it didn’t!) and you have to escape. And escape you will, though all areas of the ship. You’ll see the dark underbelly of the cargo hold, the remains of the research labs and the technology of the mainframe.

    This is an excellent mod. It really conveys the feeling of being in space well, something few HL mods succeed in doing. The maps are very well designed, and the new voices and graphics, limited though they are, are of a high standard. Everything we’ve come to expect of Neil, really.

    Downsides? There aren’t any, really. I seem to have developed a nack for reviewing the best mods out there. Occasionally you may have trouble figuring out where to go, but when you do figure it out you’ll be wondering why you didn’t spot it before. For the most part, it’s al very clear.

    This is a wonderful mod, and is highly recommended. Also, visit Neil’s site to get at all his other work – including some rather impressive Quake 2 mods that you really should try – at http://www.planethalflife.com/manke

    Reply
    1. Duke

      Hmm, well that link doesn’t work anymore..daft to have thought it might really after all this time…

      Reply
  2. Darth Marsden

    Two things I forgot to mention in my little review.

    One) There’s no human marines to fight – it’s all aliens.

    Two) There is a remarkably fun section where you are shrunk down and have to navigate your way across someone’s office.

    Reply
  3. The Abandoned Workshops

    Gameplay:
    The cutscenes in this are well made and some are quite funny too which I won’t spoil. Action can be tough sometimes but possible and not too hard. There is plenty of ammo and health in the mod and you shouldn’t run out of it too soon. Sometimes the mod can get a bit too much of the same thing but it’s still fun to play through and get to the end.

    Design:
    Quite average although good. Texture can be wierd in some areas but generally thought out well and aligned with care with good texture choices. Structure of most rooms is simple but stll defines what the room is supposed to be. Lighting is also good in most places but a few areas could do with improvements. Many areas are also large and well detailed.

    Conclusion:
    A good mod from a well known author with simple yet good design and fair gameplay.

    Rating: NA

    Reply
  4. Syndicated Review

    Introduction
    As I sit in front of the screen I see a gigantic ship, deep in outer space, swoop past the camera, I use the term swoop loosely because the process almost takes a minute due to the size of the ship. When the camera eventually reaches the end, it pans over the ships mighty engines, burning at full thrust, and over the top to give a better view of the ship. Lights, landing bays, glass tunnels and windows suddenly reveal themselves, the camera zooms in to one of the said windows, we can make out some sort of dormitory, a security guard walks in and bangs on one of the doors, but the noise of the bang is drowned out by the sound of the blazing engines. Now anyone reading this, oblivious to the fact that it’s a review for a computer game level, would think I was describing a cinematic scene from a Starwars movie, or similar high budget Hollywood movie. They’d be wrong of course because it’s in fact the splendid scripted intro to Manke’s new single player level pack, USS DarkStar, I’m impressed already and I haven’t even started playing yet. Before I downloaded this level I heard many boast’s and rash statements about this pack, claiming that it bettered any of Valve’s efforts, and that it was worthy as a mission pack on it’s own alongside the upcoming Opposing Force. After playing through DarkStar twice it has to be said these statements aren’t far from the truth.

    Playing through DS is like playing through a real movie, like an interactive movie except that’s there’s no FMV in site, just realtime 3D graphics. The author has made good use of cinematic cut scenes, from the flyby intro to the ending sequence, and scripted sequences such as the sound of scientists getting slaughtered as they call for help over the intercom. There’s plenty more where that came from but I shouldn’t spoil the surprise, this professional use of scripting really helps add to the experience moving the story along at the same time. It draws you into playing the game, so much so that you’ll find yourself playing through the whole thing in one sitting, oh and did I mention that it’s big! The story goes along the lines of Gordon Freeman being assigned onboard a zoological vessel in outer space in 2066. It starts off in the same vein as the original Halflife, you’re late for work and as you make your way through the ship everything is rosey and all systems are go. Until everything goes wrong of course, and then begins the battle for your life as you desperately try to find a way off the ship blasting aside any escaped aliens that get in your way.

    The level design is first rate, it’s if though WorldCraft is Manke’s second home. Glass tunnels that let you see outside the ship, open up into detailed corridors complete with all the trimmings and supporting structures you’d expect in the real ship, these then lead onto offices and labs where even the tiniest of details, such as notebooks and pens, are present. The monster play pens, complete with monsters, that allow you to walk right through them protected by an electrical force field so they can’t touch you, are a great touch. However, although the levels are really detailed, at times it didn’t feel like I was walking through a real spaceship in 2066, the designs tended to resemble the standard corridors and rooms you see in Halflife’s underground bunker/lab type levels at times. This can be forgiven though because the authenticity and attention to detail more than makes up for it. The almost perfect monster and weapon layout is testament to how important beta testing your levels is (like DS was), the game never gets too difficult or too easy, the difficulty remains consistent throughout, and you never find yourself having to battle through parts of the game with just a crowbar because the designer forgot to leave enough ammo.

    These levels are packed with innovation and originality and comical touches that put a smile on your face, for instance, when you come across your first PC Gamer magazine with ‘top 100 Games of 2066″ braising the front cover, and when you come across the security guard laying down on a sofa with a beer can lying on the floor, obviously in a drunken state. Another section of the level sees Freeman shrunk down to the size of a mouse where you get to explore inside a computer system, and even destroy some of the components. And there’s this brilliant bit where….oh I can’t give too much away, it’ll spoil the surprise. But these few examples serve to demonstrate the level of thought and imagination put into making these levels. So much more than a series of rooms where you get to shoot monsters, more of an interactive storybook.

    It is difficult to fault these levels, but perhaps where they can be criticised is in their performance. Some parts of the game slow down to a crawl on all but the best machines. Maybe the beta testers were using fast machines and didn’t test the levels for a decent frame rate, so that there is room to optimise the levels, however I noticed a little slow down on my PII450, 128MB, TNT2 Ultra machine running at 800×600, so I can only guess at how it will perform on slower PC’s. Also DS didn’t contain nearly as many of those scary underpants filling moments that are evident in Valve’s efforts, moments such as monsters suddenly teleporting in from nowhere that would put you into a frenzied panic are mainly absent, I didn’t find myself nervously peering around corners as much as I did in Valve’s levels. But these are pretty much scrape the bottom of the barrel attempts to find faults, the fact that I’m comparing DS with Valve’s levels is an honour in itself.

    Conclusion -So in answer to the two questions put forward in the introduction, it is just as good as Valve’s levels but doesn’t better them, and this probably wouldn’t make a mission pack on it’s own mainly because it’s not big enough, it certainly has the quality of a mission pack though. Play this one in the meantime while you wait for Opposing Force instead, it’s definitely worth the download with even the slowest modems. All in all this is the best single player Halflife pack on the internet, for heavens sake Valve, give Manke a job!

    Rating = 94%

    Copyright:
    This review was written by Dominic Pettifer AKA Sunday Ironfoot and first appeared on Iron Planet.

    Reply
  5. bob

    it sucks you cant play as walter for once

    Reply
  6. Bruno

    i like this mod !! nice

    Reply
  7. Stef

    update release date

    My favorite mod!!!

    Reply
  8. Paul denton
    Play It Now!

    It’s a great mod,it’s only a 10Mb download,and it takes you at least 5 hours on the first try. Great graphics,story and atmosphere.Great mod!!!

    Reply
  9. Paul denton

    Oh, and one more thing I forgot, hey Valve,give Manke a job!!!

    Reply
  10. Dale
    Maybe?

    To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it very much. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very well thought out and put together game, but I just never got into it. I guess space settings just aren’t to my liking, but it’s definately worth a shot to those that it might appeal to.

    Reply
  11. HL Masta
    Play It Now!

    Anyway, at the end why does it say “To be continued”? When will USS Darkstar 2 will be released?
    Response: Sorry, but there will never be a DS2 (USS Darkstar 2). I had DS2 started right after DS1, but then Bill from PC Gamer said he didn’t want a USS Darkstar 2, so I started to work on They Hunger. (Found on the USS Darkstar FAQ)

    Reply
  12. geekofalltrades
    Maybe?

    In my mind, it was thoroughly average in almost every respect… certainly not up to the standard of the developer’s second effort, They Hunger.

    Reply
  13. Dave J

    Seems to freeze under Steam. Any Suggestions anyone?

    Reply
  14. PlanetPhillip

    Seems to freeze under Steam. Any Suggestions anyone?

    Dave, I apologize for not replying sooner.

    Try:
    USS Darkstar FAQ

    Reply
  15. Gilfrarry

    USS Darkstar is a modification for the game Half-Life 1, which is a prerequisite. There are detailed installation instructions in the darkstar.zip file.

    Reply
  16. HL2 Masta (THE NEW HL MASTA)

    Hmmmmmm….
    a great mod is (usually) more then 25 megabytes but less than 12 gigabytes…
    oh yeah… I also changed my name coz I pwn @ HL2… I think you know my HL1 attitude

    Reply
  17. PlanetPhillip
    Phillip's Favourite - revised

    This is a masterclass in how to make a great mod. The level design is detail and interesteing,the gameplay is varied and the overall feelin is onbe of professionalism.

    Definitely a Hallf Of Fame mod.

    This is Blast from the Past in Podcast 17’s Transmission Code 10119

    Reply
  18. Loke
    Personal Favourite

    One of my favorite mods for Half-Life. Anyone who hasn’t played it yet should call in sick for the day and just play this, it’s definitely worth it.

    Reply
  19. bumtown
    Personal Favourite

    Need I say more?

    Reply
  20. Zockopa

    This was the first Mod I ever played in my life. Read about it in a german
    pcmag a couple month before and it was one of the first things I downloaded
    from the web.

    Reply
  21. Red Slug
    Play It Now!

    Instant classic! One of the first and best HL mods.

    Reply
  22. Mel
    Personal Favourite

    If you like HL1 and have never played USS Darkstar then download now, after all these years and over 400 custom mods later this is still one of the all time greats.

    Got my copy from PC Gamer 10 years ago.

    Reply
  23. Len
    Personal Favourite

    Somebody should convert this to a Source Mod, so that everyone can play it now. They did it with Heart of Evil, and this one is just as good. A real classic!

    Reply
  24. GuyFleegman

    I have got to play this one again. Big Neil Manke fan, ever since Coconut Monkey back in the Quake days.

    I remember this as one of my favorite mods back in the day and this one may be enough for me to go back a step in the HL world.

    Reply
  25. ivorybow

    Howdy all, I followed the directions exactly as to setting up the directory structure, but no command “Custom Game is available. However, wonder of wonders!!!! Darkstar available on my Steam Games list, under Half Life Source. It plays beautifully..and what a great intro….can’t wait to get into this one,
    Carolyn

    Reply
  26. Poisonheadcrab
    Play It Later

    A fun little mod with an interesting atmosphere.

    Reply
  27. Barnz
    Personal Favourite

    What can I say? I grown up with Neil Manke’s work.

    Reply
  28. Qwertyus
    Personal Favourite

    One of the first mods I have played, an I have replayed it a few times with great pleasure every time.

    Reply
  29. Dusty_Lions
    Personal Favourite

    I played this one with the old Sierra disk. Downloading this one..This one is a classic! PLAY IT

    Reply
  30. Reuben
    Play It Now!

    This mod is great. Many clever bits, and nothing too annoying (perhaps unclear at times). I liked the bit where:

    [spoiler]you get shrunk and walk into the computer systems :D[/spoiler]

    Reply
  31. PlanetPhillip
    Phillip's Favourite

    Okay, I’ve already reviewed this, albeit 3 years ago, but no HL nostalgia event should be without this classic.

    The first third takes you through much of the same areas but does it so well, that it doesn’t feel repetitive.

    I got confused a few times but most of the time it’s clear where you need to go and what you need to do.

    I didn’t actual realize that this was released 7 months after the release of the game – that’s incredible!

    Anyway, on the off chance you haven’t played this, you must. It took me 2 and a half hours to play it, but it seems to have been advertised as needing 7 to 10 hours.

    It’s a classic.

    Reply
  32. Bolx

    Whoo Hoo! At last a Neil Manke. I may not have time to play this (again) for a few days but I will definitively play this again (at least the fourth time) before I post a recommendation.

    Reply
  33. Stef
    Personal Favourite

    it’s my favorite mod…ever perhaps

    Reply
  34. Loke

    My initial recommendation stills stands. Easily my favorite mod for Half-Life. It’s that good.

    Reply
  35. vancanucksfan
    Personal Favourite

    A great mod from one the best HL modders there ever was. I have been hoping for years that “They Hunger: Lost Souls” would be released but it doesn’t look like anything is happening.

    One question, how do you get to the switch in the room with the mousetrap? I admit I gave up there and noclipped.

    Reply
    1. vancanucksfan

      OK, got it

      Reply
  36. Aaron M

    Me and Neil go back I sent him a email of the kind words via this post

    Reply
  37. Unq
    Personal Favourite

    Welp, finally halfway through the 100 Days I give a score above a 4. USS Darkstar was one of the very first mods I played, and it’s still a really solid and entertaining experience.

    The design and layout are really well done. You get a good amount of time to wander the opening area which you’ll see again later after the inevitable accident. It does a superb job throughout of letting you see areas that you’ll be going to, I think this is one of the reasons I like it so much.

    Another reason is that everything aboard the Darkstar just feels so alive. There are always little scripts or events or just sounds that flesh out the atmosphere and feel perhaps better than any other map that comes to mind.

    I could nitpick a bit on the voice acting, some bland texturing, and lack of real challenge, but in the end this is just a fun ride. If you haven’t played it you’re missing one of the best ever single player mods.

    Reply
  38. K0DAK47
    Maybe?

    Once again I’m sorry for my poor English, but the site is great and I love to do a review. I will not write a lot, in a nutshell.
    So, this mod from the famous Neil Manke. Mapping is good, no doubt. But everything else is a fairly average level. What I noted, so it’s low difficulty, but sometimes too high, the gameplay is not interesting. Maud pretty average, in contrast to They Hunger.

    Reply
  39. m82sniper
    Personal Favourite

    Still one of my top 5 favorite mods, revisiting this classic was a lot of fun. Play it now if you already haven’t 😉

    Reply
  40. Whatever You Want
    Personal Favourite

    This mod is simply brilliant

    Like most of the people here, I’ve played this mod before. I loved it then and I still love it now. Unlike quite a lot of the maps and mods we’ve had recently this doesn’t have grunts in it, just Xen Aliens, and I much prefer them to the grunts. The gameplay was fun with a mix of action and puzzles although nearly all the puzzles are incredibly easy and just result in the player pressing a button to open a door. The action was way too easy in parts which is the only downside to this mod that I can see. The snarks were a little overused too.

    The voice acting was pretty good in my opinion. I think the voices fitted the characters well. There were also many scripted sequences which were well done and is rare to see in most mods. The textures again were well done and polished off this great mod. The textures were similar to the style of Radix.

    Best of the 100SDoN so far and one of my favourite mods of all time. A “Personal Favourite” of mine and a must play.

    Reply
  41. Wesp5

    Indeed this must be considered a real classic among the HL mods, because it first showed off what could be done with the HL engine outside the Black Mesa setting. Still I think it is overrated, because the level design itself is rather chaotic and not fitting to the spaceship setting and many of the scripted sequences made little sense with things suddenly happening without reason. But overall a great effort with a cool shrunk section and lots of spaceship feeling!

    Reply
  42. EmoLevelDesigner
    Play It Later

    We got to the popular USS Darkstar mod. It starts with spectacular cutscene, where camera flies around the spaceship. The atmosphere of the ship is done very well. People rest, read books, try to launch the anticipated hit Gravy Trader. The only flaw is that the lighting is too bright at some points.

    The next levels are similar to the beginning of Half-Life. We enter the zoological labs with interesting exploration.

    The layouts of individual levels and the layout of the whole ship are very complex, but the design is a mix of good and not so good places. I think it has every location that the spaceship should have, but the design is just not pleasing sometimes.

    There are some nice scenes with monsters – they use weapons, throw grenades and at some point an Alien Grunt will launch the train at you. The mod demonstrates very creative use of resources that Half-Life has to offer.

    Surely it has some very nice original ideas, but for me, the design really drags it down and make it feel average. So, my recommendation is: play it, but don’t expect a masterpiece despite many “Personal Favourite” ratings, because if you do, you might be disappointed.

    Reply
  43. Wesp5
    Play It Later

    I agree with the comments above, the illogical maze-like level design which wouldn’t work inside a spaceship ever, annoyed me very much too. Therefore my recommentation.

    Reply
  44. Bolx
    Personal Favourite

    Wow! What can I say, it’s still one of my all time favourites even 12 years since its release.

    I almost certainly got this originally from a PC Gamer cover disc long before I had broadband and I spent a whole night playing and going back to saves to see if I missed anything. That was then, so how does it stand up now? The answer is in my view it’s still a classic. To play this you have to pay attention and explore, run and gun just doesn’t work.

    Rather than gush on about how great this is (and it is a great piece of work (sorry! Gush, Gush)), USS Darkstar is a classic example of the need for testing. This was a commission piece for PC Gamer so almost certainly was paid for and as such would have been thoroughly tested before release. The result is a reasonably well polished mod which we didn’t have to pay for (except the cost of a magazine all those years ago), and boy ” O” boy for a freebie its a good’un. Looking at the release dates here on PlanetPhillip this came out a month after Rogat which judging by its awfulness was probably not tested at all prior to release, the difference shows.

    We need also to remember this was made not only by Neil Manke, but a team from a a professional company, that however doesn’t affect my rating as this is the first mod in the 100 that really does bring a wave of nostalgia. The gameplay, the look, the feel all add up to a game that is genuinely fun to play, if you are even only slightly into the Half Life universe, you must play this. My only criticism is there’s not the part 2 mentioned at the end of the game.

    This will be the only other mod I’ve given a PF to so far on PP.

    Reply
  45. Zekiran
    Play It Later

    I finally managed to get past the frustration of the first level of this mod. I’ll say that it’s worth playing, certainly, though it would never rank in my top ten for any reason.

    The beginning moments are remarkably boring, difficult to figure out what is to be done, and while there is a good amount of humor within the dialog, it’s also just a little weird. I’m guessing that there was some kind of context to the “damn that monkey” thing, but I’ve got no clue beyond the in-game “game’, was that a real game? Did the developer work on it or something?

    After putting the mod aside for a day, I went back and finally started exploring more fully. I will say that I had to resort to a LOT of noclipping in places, in order to find a way through a place that had no obvious OR hidden paths. When I have to do that, any mod is going to lose a little luster. This happened on numerous levels.

    The map layout was very confusing, as someone else commented, this would never have been a “functional” ship. Not enough directions on the walls, which would be pervasive in a real ship particularly of that size or designation. Also, “hanger”. *sigh*

    The added dialog was all right, though I think I missed most of it, since there was no indication by new skins or triggers to click on anyone in any given area. Because of that, I wound up running around frustrated numerous times.

    I enjoyed the [spoiler]tiny teleport accident, because it was very clever how you deal with the outside world inside the computer system.[/spoiler] However, there was really no indication of WHY that would happen, instead of any other disastrous thing like being tported outside the ship or simply killed. I didn’t enjoy [spoiler]having to climb, fall, climb, fall, climb, fall and finally noclip through the room, to get where I needed to be, to get that switch on the wall.[/spoiler]

    I dunno, I see why some folks liked it, but it’s not my favorite thing, and I’d say if you’re easily led astray or confused by multiple-pass travels across the same map, this mod’s going to frustrate the hell out of you.

    Reply
  46. Hec
    Personal Favourite

    Aclassic as Phillip said, and now that I replayed it I know why it is a master piece in the HL1 mod universe, I really don’t know if PC Gamer Magazine, has help this mod project to bacame a classic, but I think that USSDarkstar, had a few impulse thatn the They Hunger mod project which also launch PC Gamer, and was a really marketing modding hit, that maybe actually helped HL modding universe a lot in order to be a stronger community.

    Anyway here we have great mapping layout in which every mm. or inch of the map is well used and the player allways will find really cool battles and is so cool that the spaceship enviroment holds and sourround every detail in this mod, also just to be launched few months after the Hl is a great triunph for the guys who developed this mod.

    The part were ur size is reduced was brilliant and inmediatley rmember the well aclaimed “minimicus” mod, also the part where u get into that computer, is so cool and maybe inspired other cool mods like “Ghost in the machine” for HL2 but I don’t know for sure, but here we see many cool ideas then exploided by further moders.

    When I first played this mod arround 2007, to me was just another old hl mod, but now it’s sure that is a classic thing, and is a good example of what a good mod should be, I mean really dynamic in the gameplay fluid scenarios and cool battles, and also with no nedding grunts!!!. only xenian guys trying to stop you, I mean, having only xennian ennemys could be a hindrance for some mods projects, but here was clear that it also could be an advantage in what making a solid environment respects.

    The only issues with this mod were that maybe the beggining could be a little bit hectic due to the many paths the map contains and u have to remember whern the mess comes out, I forgot to pick up [spoiler]the gauss cannon located in one scienitsists lab, so don’t forget to pick it up![/spoiler] and also the other issue I had was with the security card just before acces the bridge, I have to say I didn’t found it in any part!!, so I had to proceed with noclip to the bridge of the darkstar, appart from those dettails I think this mod is cool and fun, is a classic that u have to play, and I hope the guys develop the continuing story or the 2nd part, which I know is unlikley but , at least they should try for the old nostalgia times!

    Reply
  47. dougjp
    Personal Favourite

    Another PF, let the accolades pile up, they are certainly deserved!

    Reply
  48. Themaster20000
    Personal Favourite

    One of the classic’s.The level design is just excellent and the combat is solid throughout.It had a lot of cool moments,such as being shrunk down and having to go in a computer.This mod really showed what could be done with the HL engine when it was released back then.Now the mod did have a lot of snarks coming out of vents moments but it doesn’t take away from this awesome mod.Download it now if you haven’t!

    Reply
  49. Dr. Amazing
    Personal Favourite

    😀

    Reply
  50. Technic
    Play It Now!

    One of the classic mods, oldie but goldie, worth playing if you haven’t yet!
    Maybe the setting on a spaceship is weird for HL players, but the level design, puzzles, graphics are very good!

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

    It’s been established almost beyond question that Neil is the best amateur mapper around and this latest release has generated almost as much hype – and probably as many delays – as a lot of games. USS Darkstar has a hell of a lot to live up to, both in terms of expectations and of those Quake and Quake II units that have gone before it, and Neil also had to overcome the challenges of working with a new game engine. With these things in mind, I prepared myself for perhaps some disappointment as I loaded it up.

    Approximately three seconds later, I realised I needn’t have bothered. The introduction to this unit is astounding – it’s not just content to be far above anything you’ll have seen in a user map but is almost as impressive as the start to Half-Life itself, albeit in a very different way. From the very instant it began, it was obvious that any doubts about Neil’s ability to maintain his previous standards in this new setting had been unfounded.

    What also soon becomes evident is that he’s adapted his style, and not just his skills, for Half-Life’s demands. Ever since Valve came along and raised the bar a few notches, it hasn’t really been enough to release a straightforward action-oriented Half-Life level. Just as in the full game, the build-up here is slow and deliberate, setting the scene for the chaos to come, and you’ll be waiting a while before you even get your first weapon. Throughout the first few levels, you know exactly what’s coming but it doesn’t matter; just like a good horror film, even though the outcome is inevitable, the path to get there is so well-crafted that the tension just keeps building anyway. It may just be another map but there’s a hell of an atmosphere in USS Darkstar.

    The gameplay is much more about exploration than any of his prior work and does a perfect job of imitating all of the good – ie. early – parts of Half-Life. There is plenty of battles to be fought as you play through but that’s not the focus, probably best illustrated by the fact that you won’t even find any grunts in USS Darkstar. This is about creating a gripping and immersive environment, one that is believable despite the setting, and it couldn’t be more successful in that respect.

    As always, it’s very difficult to find any areas worthy of criticism. If this was a Quake II level, I’d probably have a few things to mention – the fairly low-key combat, perhaps, or the fact that a fair degree of exploration is required in some places to find the route onwards – but in this context that would be somewhat unfair. Anyone downloading this will have played and presumably enjoyed Half-Life and this unit continues very much in the same vein. There’s absolutely nothing significantly wrong here though. Even if there was, it couldn’t possibly warrant skipping this release for the simple fact that USS Darkstar contains what can only be described as The Single Best Moment In A Level EverTM, and I say that without exaggerating in the slightest. I reached a particular point in the level and thought, “this is the single best moment in a level ever.” I can’t possibly say anymore because I’d hate to spoil it for anyone but rest assured that when you reach it, you’ll know it. I’ve seen similar ideas before but the way it’s done here will never be bettered.

    Even without that highlight, this is totally unmissable. Though the setting is pretty different, I think it’s fair to say that Neil has managed to beat Valve at their own game with this latest masterpiece. The fact that the quality of the levels remains so high through every single one of its seventeen levels is made all the more remarkable by the fact this was essentially created by a single person. I don’t think I’m doing much more than stating the obvious when I say that the only mapper that’s going to better USS Darkstar is Neil when he finishes its sequel.

    Notes
    This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Monday, 14th June, 1999 by Morgan.

    This review was originally posted on the Ten Four Website, which is now offline. Permission has been granted to republish the full review and more details can be found on the About page.

    Reply
  52. TolisXTRM
    Personal Favourite

    What would you think I would rate this. It’s USS Darkstar.

    The mod is as classic as it gets, for getting released 7 months after the original game (thanks Phillip).

    The setting is very original if you compare it to other mods; it takes place in a spaceship. Though, everything gets ****ed up and you have to escape.

    Every area is incredibly detailed, it never gets old and, I think this NEEDS a sequel.

    PLAY THIS RIGHT NOW YOU WON’T REGRET IT.

    Reply
  53. Robolovsky
    Personal Favourite

    WOW! Just finished playing this and it is without a doubt one of the very best HL mods I have ever played. Right up their with ETC, Deliverance et al.

    Now I’m not normally a great fan of half life mods, after all we are now in 2016 and games are much smoother and less clunky. The original half life, though undoubtedly great in its time, does take some getting used to after playing HL2 and its Episodes. Obviously Black Mesa has changed all of that but these mods are for the original version.

    That said this was just great and I found myself completely immersed right from the start although it did take a while to get properly going. I would urge anyone who has not played this before to download it now.

    Reply
  54. TheFeederXD

    absolutely bad

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour
    Reply
    1. Unq

      Your recommendation image was removed. Recommendations are only allowed when posted by someone who has completed the mod and posted a proper review or set of comments on the experience.

      Reply
  55. ItsZeroCraft

    i like the mod but i have few problems, my console keep saying:

    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_Primary Button Text.tga
    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_CommandMenu Text.tga
    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_Scoreboard Text.tga
    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_Scoreboard Title Text.tga
    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_Scoreboard Small Text.tga
    Missing bitmap font: gfx\vgui\fonts\1920_Title Font.tga

    Can someone help me

    Reply
  56. Ten Four Reviews

    Although I agree with everything Morgan said, this is just too amazing a level for me to not offer any further insight into it. I do have some minor issues with the level. Mostly it was the fact that Neil really went nuts with the puzzles in this map, more so than earlier releases and I wouldn’t be surprised if the hit counter on his walk-through at his site really builds 🙂 A little less mental anguish with this map probably wouldn’t have hurt, but then people who liked that kind of stuff probably wouldn’t be as happy 🙂 It’s almost irrelevant to this release, however. With most maps, getting confused and lost leads to frustration, with Neil’s releases, it just adds to the addiction.

    The fact that you don’t get to fight marines is something I can’t ignore. Despite the great action setups Neil used, there was never a climatic moment. After that testicle monster (I know, I know, it’s a Gonarch, but it looks like a giant testicle 🙂 scared the crap out of me, there wasn’t another truly memorable fight. It’s hard to have one with just aliens, but I felt a gargantua or another testi… er, Gonarch blocking your end path would’ve been much more exciting.

    The biggest complaint, however, is how truly fun and addictive this add-on really was; playing this is a potential health hazard, no joke! There was no end in plot-enhancing scripts, special effects, and awe-inspiring moments. I started playing this at 5pm and finished just in time for bed with no breaks in between. Had Neil made this a lot longer somehow, I’d probably sooner have starved myself than stop playing Half-Life 🙂

    Notes
    This second opinion review is republished here by permission and was originally published Thursday, 13th July, 2000 by Jiang.

    This review was originally posted on the Ten Four Website, which is now offline. Permission has been granted to republish the full review and more details can be found on the About page.

    Reply
  57. DarkShift
    Personal Favourite

    One part of the “Holy Trinity” of HL mod’s (with They Hunger and Absolute Redemption).

    A master piece and cult classic in the mod universe… it’s fun, it has puzzles, fights, scripted sequences…

    It has a great intro, you encounter many “cut” creatures of HL (such as the kingpin, mr. friendly), there is a great atmosphear, a good gameplay, some incredible sequences such as one where an Ichtyosaur is in an aquarium which breaks and floods the level, really Jaws-like, many fights…

    It is from the same developer of They Hunger, if you know it. USS Darkstar doesn’t have really any flaws : not too short/not too long, no impossible fights, some challenges here and then, diversity in sequences… Well, that’s it.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  58. Marko J

    Does anyone know if Neil Manke is still even alive? Some info on a very famous modder would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply
    1. Maki

      I don’t think he’s dead, but it’s been a long-standing mystery in the modding community.

      Reply
    2. Rob Martens

      It is driving me absolutely crazy not to have found it, but I swear within the past couple of years I stumbled over a claim, maybe in a Reddit thread if I’m remembering the site’s color scheme correctly, that someone had gotten in touch with him.

      For the longest time there was the rumor he’d died; that’s everyone’s go to assumption when someone goes silent, as if there could be no other reason a person would step away from the swirling, chaotic, waking nightmare we call the internet. Over the years following the first appearance of that rumor, dox would occasionally pop up connecting an address and phone number to his name. People would propose calling, but no one ever went through with it.

      Then someone claimed they had worked up the nerve and actually done it. I can’t say I’m comfortable with pestering people out of the blue like that, but I was happy to hear some sort of update. As the story goes, they called the number, Mr. Manke answered, the two talked for a few minutes, and that was it. I remember the specific detail that when the caller asked to confirm the man’s identity, Neil corrected his pronunciation of his surname. “Mankey” as opposed to “Mahnk-uh”, or something along those lines. I’m not sure. I also remember the conversation purportedly ended with the caller thanking Neil on behalf of the community for the maps and mods he’d made, and promising not to bother him with further calls, passing along to the community the request to respect the guy’s privacy. As I recall, the impression was that he’s not in terribly ill health anymore, if he was in the first place, and he simply got out of modding due to lack of interest? But that’s fuzzy.

      And, of course, it’s all up for debate, as I can’t find the damn page now to back up a single thing I’ve said. I haven’t bookmarked it, saved a local copy, or even grabbed a screenshot. I can’t remember where it was, either, to check the Wayback Machine. I imagine a plausible reason for the absence of that story anywhere online is because it was, shall we say, horse plop to begin with. I’m sure that without sources I sound no more believable.

      The most reliable information I can find now is from a user named TeddyBear on Mapcore in early 2015, regarding the never-released “They Hunger: Lost Souls” mod, the Source engine follow up to They Hunger: https://www.mapcore.org/topic/12819-wheres-they-hunger-lost-souls-gone/?page=5&tab=comments#comment-384383

      TeddyBear was apparently a developer working on the project. To summarize his points (in case that Mapcore thread blinks out one day), with developers working in their spare time, and with the mod’s “AAA scope”, it was a challenging project, and that complexity may have contributed to its never seeing the light of day. Contact between team members faded in 2009, but to the best of TeddyBear’s knowledge the game was still on track at the time. A couple of days after relaying that info on Mapcore, TeddyBear came back with news that he’d contacted Einar Saukas (Neil Manke’s programmer partner, who he’d worked with on a number of projects) and learned that a few months earlier, Einar had tried to contact Neil after some years out of touch. He was unsuccessful, I’m sorry to report, and that’s where things stand.

      If I can track down that damn post, I’ll be back with a link, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m irritated and baffled not to have bookmarked it, but them’s the breaks sometimes. Sorry.

      Reply
  59. Handsome-Shrek
    Personal Favourite
    USS DARKSTAR (or how to achieve godlike level designer status in your first goldsrc mod)

    Being the first Half-Life SP mod i’ve ever played, i have quite fond memories of it. Neil Manke being the author you can expect some top notch and extremely creative (and fluent) level design, topping Valve quality at some points.

    The mod doesn’t feature any new weapons, and the texture work is pretty vanilla (although some sections of the ship do have new brushwork) but that doesn’t diminish it’s appeal.

    Plot development it’s pretty funny, USS Darkstar doesn’t ashames itself ripping off Alien (original Half-Life didn’t either) and that makes for a joyful and superbly funny ride. Enemy placement is spot on and the game has it’s fair share of exploration and platforming.

    I’ll never forget that time i entered a portal and ended up being a mini-Freeman. Incredible Duke Nukem 3D knockback.

    Definitely, a 10/10. Which is even more amazing given the fact that this mod belongs to the early escene.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    4 Hours
    Reply
  60. ratare40
    Play It Now! - revised

    This mod is really good. For now , this is oldest mod i played. It is not too short , it is not boring , just normal mod. I would recommend this mod to anyone. Only sad thing is that VALVe can count more than creators of this mod. VALVe can’t count to 3 , creators of this mod can’t count to 2 🙁

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    3 Hours
    Reply
  61. El_WaKa
    Play It Now!

    Before playing it for the first time, I’ve heard a lot about this mod, so I when I decided to finally play it, I was lowering my expectations in case it was just nostalgia talking, but oh boy, just from the intro you’ll know that you are in from fun ride, it’s even more amazing when you realize that this was released only 7 months after the original game

    There’s not much I can say that everyone else has already done, is just a great mod all around, I like how you go around the ship, going back to familiar places but with everything now destroyed, it was a really nice touch, another high point has to be the famous “mini-Freeman” section, but really, this mod was filled with nice sequences and scripted events, in some way it reminded me of Valve’s maps, were you can feel that the place is really alive. There were even some cut enemies like Chumtoads, the Kingpin, and even Mr. Friendly to bring a little more variety to the aliens

    If I have to name the bad points, there aren’t too many, maybe that it gets confusing at times making you wonder were you have to go next, but nothing too bad and I managed to finish it only getting stuck once, which once I looked it up, I felt dumb for not noticing the solution, probably another problem could be the enemies, as they are all aliens and that can get tiring for some people, I started to hate the many headcrabs, snarks, and alien controllers by the end, but these don’t take away from the mod too much

    Overall, give it a try! It deserves its place among the best mods of Half life, and it is as good as it was almost 20 years ago

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours, 30 Minutes
    Reply
  62. Tachyon

    You’ll fight mainly alien enemies in a wonderfully labyrinthine spaceship. This mod doesn’t lose creative steam as you move forward, with new ideas being presented to you constantly along the way.

    There’s secrets!! Be on the lookout for them.
    (One hint: There’s a bit of a jumping puzzle in a room with a lot of crates.)

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    4 Hours
    Reply
  63. Tachyon
    Personal Favourite

    You’ll fight mainly alien enemies in a wonderfully labyrinthine spaceship. This mod doesn’t lose creative steam as you move forward, with new ideas being presented to you constantly along the way.

    There’s secrets!! Be on the lookout for them.

    (One hint: There’s a bit of a jumping puzzle in a room with a lot of crates.)

    (Also whoops, I posted my first review as a comment without a rating. If any admin sees this, can ya help me out?)

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    4 Hours
    Reply
  64. forealdo

    The download provided here is no good. When I try to start a new game, it just crashes to desktop.

    Reply
    1. Unq

      This isn’t the download, this is a brand new problem with the update that just came out for Half-Life. I’ve reported it on Github, hopefully they can fix it soon.

      Reply
      1. forealdo

        Ok, thanks.

        Reply
        1. Unq

          So in the meantime, you can use this workaround:

          Open liblist.gam (text file) in the darkstar folder, and change:

          gamedll “..\valve\dlls\hl.dll”

          to

          gamedll “dlls\hl.dll”

          Reply
          1. forealdo

            I just used the version on ModDB, but thanks anyway.

            Reply
  65. Avantgarde95
    Play It Now!

    Nice mod! I like the scenary of the ship and space.

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

    It’s pretty good, especially for the time, it’s classic half life but the environment is amazing.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    3 Hours
    Reply
  67. Wonkyy
    Personal Favourite

    Fell in love with design of spaceship and inside environments how big the ship is. Neil put a lot of effort into the work, it’s immediately evident.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    3 Hours
    Reply
  68. ThelVadam11
    Play It Now!

    Amazing! Almost feels like a miniature expansion. The ship is quite well made.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    3 Hours, 20 Minutes
    Reply
  69. Cardiomyopathy
    Personal Favourite - revised

    Was this mod of the year 1999, because it should be.
    It offers pretty much everything, amazingly detailed maps, some puzzles and great locations.
    It has lots of combats as well, but only against xenian, there are soldiers in this mod.
    Highly recommended!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 25 Minutes
    Reply
  70. Cardiomyopathy
    Personal Favourite

    Was this mod of the year 1999, because it should be.
    It offers pretty much everything, amazingly detailed maps, some puzzles and great locations.
    It has lots of combats as well, but only against xenian, there are no soldiers in this mod.
    Highly recommended!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 25 Minutes
    Reply
  71. Diclonius Limeony
    Personal Favourite

    Very Good for a one of earliest mods to Half-Life

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  72. ꒌ РΔТΔРΣ 14 ꒌ
    Play It Now!

    Even after more than 20 years since it’s release, I can say that it still stands pretty well in the Half-Life modding community. Even without the release of official SDK tool at the time, mods managed to make a mod of similar quality to original campaign, which is astonishing! Only downside is that level design doesn’t always follow rules of making sure that player knows where to go, so beating this is really hard without taking a look at a walktrought. But it’s short, it won’t take much of your time and is great. Definitely recommended!

    Also important to mention is that there are no Grunts, so some players might not like it.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    2 Hours, 30 Minutes
    Reply
  73. Dmitry
    Personal Favourite

    This mod is number one of all 1999 series. Very high architect level. There’re a lot of areas to explore to the point you can lose yourself, orientation is always a problem during many stages of the game. It’s like a complex map design or even a small city inside the spaceship. Which is good, when you plan to make a hard game, desorientation is a must so players do not feel trustful on themselves on where they are going. If not, you all are going to say, it’s easy. He added too many headcrabs because they add that surprise technique when they throw on you when you don’t see them. It’s a little of horror experience in the level, with those well position headcrabs and zombies crawling behind your back. Vortgaunts are another suprise in the level, they love to catch you unprevented. Generally there’s enough cover from but sometimes you are lack of cover making the experience with this creatures more formidable. And the controllers, they are strong. Maybe the strongest enemy between all, they go in groups and if they really get close they summon that special orb from the head and this bolt is quite damaging and dangerous because it has like chasing ability with wide area explosion. Besides of this he created many situations where you could fall down and die including explosions which damage you nearby. Talking about accidents, snarks are also this, they chase and crash multiple times, there’re quite a good number of them in the level. Every map is even balanced in enemy preasurre over the player. I haven’t seen a quite and relaxed map except the introduction.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Hard
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 45 Minutes
    Reply
  74. Luke Traitor
    Personal Favourite

    It’s hard for me to put a personal favorite on a mod. This one, this takes the cake. This mod is so perfect, I don’t even know where to start. It’s as if I can’t find any bad parts of the game. Did I finally find a perfect mod for Half-Life? Well anyways, let’s dive in and I will divide story, level design, and combat to paragraphs.

    So let’s start with a story. Set in a year 2066 aboard USS Darkstar, Freeman goes to work late again. Man I wonder how many lates he has in his entire career. But of course, there will be a freak accident just like in Black Mesa. Now Freeman has one goal, similar to Black Mesa of course except he must escape from the ship instead of an underground facility. Freeman will be backtracking some areas he has been to, head to new areas, shrink into Antman, and eventually head to the escape pod, the story ends. Or is it? All I can say is that it’s a typical escape from Black Mesa kind of plot, except you’re in USS Darkstar. Simple, but very generic in almost every Half-Life mods.

    Level design is quite exemplary. I got lost a couple of times, but I got a hang of the layout several minutes later. I love the details of the levels once you backtrack, very immersive. Also you can obtain the handgun way before the crowbar. I did that and murder every single scientists and guards possible before the real action began. My only concern in level design is random explosions. They are quite unpredictable but I hate it when you can’t avoid them and the only way to trigger it is to run into it. I remember that one map where you obtain the crowbar. There is one hallway where the explosion is unavoidable and you have to get close to it. The backgrounds and the design of the ship are very appealing like an eye candy. I took screenshots just for a good view of the design.

    Now let’s talk about the combat. It’s pretty easy, thanks to having no grunts and assassins shooting you down. Although some parts of the combat could be very hard but mostly I have difficulties dealing with alien grunts and controllers. Now for the gonarch one, I expected a decent boss battle but I killed it in 3 shotgun shells. What happened? It’s interesting the ship’s cannons have a small role. It’s satisfying to blow up aliens with lasers.

    To be honest, I didn’t die once in the entire run. I took two restarts mainly because of softlocks. First one was I killed the scientist before he unlock the door right at the very beginning but that’s my fault. The second one was the elevator where you have to take from the bridge to escape pod. Jumping down to it would cause the elevator to get stuck, and then softlock. I think I sound very biased when I say this mod is perfect but there are so many great things about it. I’m having difficulty if I like this more or Field Intensity.

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