USS Darkstar
Encyclopedia
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
created by Neil Manke and his team, largely based in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The mod follows Gordon Freeman
Gordon Freeman
Gordon Freeman is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Half-Life video game series. He is a theoretical physicist who finds himself thrust into a battle for survival against both alien and human forces. Throughout the series, Gordon must prevail in hostile situations despite...
and several other scientists on board USS Darkstar in the year 2066, a large exploratory starship that resembles the Nostromo from the movie Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. Very early in the game, a security guard is injured on an away mission to a nearby planet and is taken into the sickbay.
When the scientists are operating on the guard, a headcrab
Headcrab
A headcrab is a fictional alien parasitoid found in the Half-Life video game series created by Valve Software. They are the most numerous and arguably most iconic aliens in the series.- Overview :...
bursts from his chest cavity (coupled with the Nostromo look of the Darkstar, this was most likely also inspired by Alien) forcing the scientists to activate the incinerator. The flame jet kills the headcrab but also detonates a fuel canister, which creates a chain reaction.
This causes a surge which badly damages the Darkstars main computer, deactivating all the force field
Force field
A force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, or deflector shield is a concept of a field tightly bounded and of significant magnitude so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the central axis of the field and reach the...
s and letting loose the aliens. The aliens kill most of the crew, but Freeman manages to reach an escape pod and escape the ship, shortly before it explodes. The game ends with Freeman's pod heading towards the nearby planet, pursued by a large alien vessel.
At least one other scientist also survived the destruction of the Darkstar. During Freeman's entering of the labs, the escape pod elevator can be seen through the window, down which the scientist is heading. When reaching the escape pod launch room, one escape pod has already been launched.
USS Darkstar was selected by Valve Software for presentation at the first Half-Life ModExpo at San Francisco in 1999.