Everything looking Ship shape

Monday 24 April 2006
Edinburgh based developer Outerlight is working on a commercial PC release for The Ship this September, a game that originally started life as a Half-Life mod.

Set on a 1930's steam liner, the game works as a target specific Deathmatch where every player is given the name of a certain character that must be killed. This means the target must be stalked, hunted down and taken out with whatever weaponry is available.

The winner of the game is either the last hunter to survive the slaughter or the player with the most money earned from the kills.

The key to success in The Ship is knowing the layout of the steam liner inside out, so that every hiding place, weapon store and secret passage can be used to your advantage.

The Ship originally started life as a Half-Life mod, so is being built with Valve's Source engine and, from the first images, the steam liner certainly looks like a luxurious way to travel. Click on the images tab above to take a closer look.

The gameplay is presented in both third and first-person perspectives and has some RPG elements to it as each character has Sims-like needs such as needing sleep, nourishment and social interaction.

It's an intriguing set up - one that has already proved to be popular in the modding community - and will be out in the shops to buy this September.