Tydes of Chaos is an original Half Life 2 modification, developed by Sinister Studios, harnessing the technology currently existing with the Half Life 2: Episode Two Source Engine.

On a mission to find his kidnapped sister, Tyde Takashi battles his way through a fearsome and violent blend of machine and alien, fighting alongside Rebels in a war against extermination. Using alien goggles, he utilises the ability to slow time and hack machines to aid his fight against the evil Nyx.

    Tydes of Chaos features intensely detailed levels and assets, pushing the Source Engines capabilities to its limits. Its high octane gunfights force the player to use his abilities wisely, dodging bullets and debris to make the player consider their surroundings as well as their enemy’s abilities.

As the lead level designer on the team, it was my duty to both supervise and concept the designs of each level, focusing on gameplay, atmosphere, balance and cinematic experience, to ensure strong immersive environments were constructed and maintained throughout the project. I wrote a screenplay for the entire game, using my knowledge of cinematic direction, writing the dialogue and developing the storyboards for each level, which would aid my colleagues during the development period and also serve as the foundation for the gameplay, cameras, sound and music implementation.

    Utilising the Hammer World Editor, I created these levels and designed the gameplay using Sources logic entities to provide more depth to each environment, than just simple non-stop run and gun gameplay. Once a level had been created, textured and filled with gameplay and assets, it was then tested for bugs and glitches, which I would fix and polish for the finished product.

Later on the in the development period, because Sinister Studio’s lacked dedicated programming personnel, I took it upon myself to implement Tydes of Chaos’ unique features, by manipulating the Valve’s C++ Source code. I implemented features such as Overload (slow-motion), Custom A.I. Classes and Custom Weapon Classes. Unique Weapon Upgrades such as laser sights and zooming capabilities were also included, as well as adjustments to the H.U.D. I also wrote the necessary script files required to compile textures and custom assets for Source Engine implementation.

    Throughout the creation of the title, as I handled many different sectors of game development, I found myself inheriting management over the project, becoming a pivot for the other members of the design team.

At the end of the development period, I created a promotional video for the finished product.