Garry’s Mod

Konichiwa.

Today I feel like talking about a game which isn’t exactly a game. It’s called Garry’s Mod, and it costs monies on Steam, although was originally simply a mod that was free. It’s been through ten incarnations and can be shortened to “Gmod”, and has rather a cult following on the internet because of the sheer freedom of things to do in the game.

It’s a custom-made mod of Half-Life 2, and therefore you need at least one Source engine game to play; usually CounterStrike: Source is the best choice because Gmod comes with the HL2 content installed anyway. The basic game allows you to spawn any item from the Source games installed, use any weapon from those games and spawn NPCs from the HL2 games, including just their ragdolls.

The primary weapon that is automatically selected on starting a game is the PhysGun, which allows you to freeze objects in poses, and carefully pose the individual limbs of ragdolls. Posing ragdolls takes SOME getting used to. It is impossible to assume that you’ll be able to pose a ragdoll at a desk simply by starting up the game and getting your hands on the physgun. But the satisfaction from finally getting it done and immediately quicksaving so you don’t lose anything is immense, once you’ve learned how to do it properly. You can then also get the ragdoll to look directly at you and freak the hell out of you the first time.

Other tools gifted to you as a gmod player include the ability to weld things together, stick balloons on things with customisable pulling power, change mass of objects, stick rocket thrusters on stuff (which gets incredibly funny), stick wheels on things. You can turn things invisible or paint them blue and turn them into holograms.

But the real gem in Garry’s Mod is the DLC. There is a MASSIVE database of DLC to get on www.garrysmod.org – after a recent validation system implementation, you have to sync your steam account with the website so that it’s clear you own a valid and legal copy of the game. This therefore entitles you to technical support also. The DLC is very easily installed – every bit comes in a folder with an Info.txt file. You simply stick the whole folder in a Garrysmod directory folder called “Addons” and it’s auto-installed. This does tend to slow down the game start time processing a bit.

I have an Addons folder of around 2.09 GB.

The DLC I’ve chosen to download includes a map of Area 51, a map that’s essentially a greenscreen and bluescreen, pilotable jet fighters and helicopters, atomic bombs, more realistic CounterStrike: Source weapons, the Stargate mod – a mod that enables you to place the Atlantis and SG-1 stargates around any map and link between them using the dialling computers – which includes weaponry and cloaking devices compatible with the core game’s items and NPCs, Halo vehicles NPCs and maps, a black Apache helicopter NPC that flies around the map shooting wildly at everyone, a custom weapon (or SWEP) that allows you to punch like a certain FALCONNNNN (thereby causing the enemy to explode and/or catch on fire), a pack that unlocks the original beta HL2 weapons, tools for creating light bridges and fixing the hydraulics on cars, and multiple extra custom made items and player models/ragdolls including HK-47 from KOTOR, Darth Vader, stormtroopers, past and present Doctor Who incarnations, the TARDIS itself, the INTERIOR of the TARDIS, daleks, the Pillar of Autumn, various spaceships and aircraft, and a map that is a scaled STAR DESTROYER. It’s a beauty to behold.

Get this game right now. It’s really cheap on steam and you can do so much just “for teh lulz”. Garry’s Mod 9 is free on Steam to download, but you’ll receive no technical support. Gmod 10 is down to £5.99 now, and with CS Source is £14.99 but that allows you to use a LOT more content than if you weren’t using CS. Similarly, you can also buy Gmod10 with TF2 for £14.99.

Briefly, another mod I downloaded recently is called SMOD – the SUPER mod for HL2. It is simply hilarious, there’s no other way to say it. Currently I’m in the chapter Follow Freeman. The mod itself is around 60MB of content but adds so much, including better squad control, better enemies, more enemies, more plot points somehow including a mini-episode where the combine steal your airboat and force you to go down the canals on a jeep. If you cheat and get all the weapons you get some crazy cheat weapons including a shovel that you can beat people around the face with. Any gun without a scope allows you to look down the sights (including the holographic sight on the initial HL2 SMG) and hitting a button of your choice will enter bullet time for as long as your suit’s Aux power will last (the power that also controls your sprint and flashlight). It’s so much fun to hit the bullet time key and dodge the combines’ SMG bullets while simultaneously planting your own in their foreheads.

And the best part? You can install its content in Garry’s Mod.

The rating system doesn’t apply here, as it’s how you play that defines your gaming experience.